In June 2020, just six months after the World Health Organization first learned of a viral phenomenon in Wuhan, China, that would become the COVID-19 pandemic, life in the city where the disease was first identified was largely back to normal. The Chinese government attributed the success of a brutal lockdown period to its citizens voluntarily adopting safety precautions. Even when residents of Wuhan were no longer required to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) in public, 35 year-old resident Pan Yuan told Reuters that people still wear masks.

That same month in the United States, Tim Walters, co-founder of an anti-lockdown protest group "ReOpen Maryland," announced on social media that despite contracting COVID-19, he would continue not wearing a mask and would not be assisting in contact tracing efforts.

These are, of course, just anecdotesthe Chinese government has plenty of incentive to showcase its success in containing the virus, and Walters' actions don't represent American response as a whole. But the contrast illustrates an ongoing conflict over how to react to a global pandemic; a conflict that persists despite overwhelming evidence that masks are effective in slowing the spread of a disease that has killed thousands and injured millions physically and economically. Countries that embrace masks as a cultural norm, however, have been far more resilient to the viruss impact, providing ample incentive for the United States to make mask-wearing a cultural norm.

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Face mask habits dont spontaneously appear in fashion like Ugg boots or a bolo tie; theyre nearly always the product of an environmental or biological catalyst. Japan, one of the countries quickest to embrace face masks as a precaution, has been using them for centuries.

Tomatsu Hirai, a clinical pharmacist in Tokyo and a collector of vintage medical paraphernalia, told The Japan Times that wearing masks to contain unclean breath dates back to the Edo Period (1602 - 1868) at the latest, and the custom became more widespread after Japan suffered back-to-back disasters in the 1918 influenza pandemic and the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, which triggered massive fires that choked the island nation with smoke and ash for weeksnecessitating daily mask wear. When a second flu pandemic hit Japan in 1934, its population had barely had a chance to break the habit.

After that, wearing a mask in Japan became de rigeuer for the sick, the immuno-compromised, and those simply observing an abundance of caution.

Masks serve an entirely secondary function for young people in countries that have adopted masks as casual wear, too: They act as a social firewall. In the U.S., its not uncommon to wear headphones in public not only to listen to music, but as a not-so-subtle hint that you arent interested in conversation. Masks serve a similar purpose, with the added implication that it might actually be dangerous to talk to you, since you may be sick with something nasty.

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While it might seem obvious, the fact remains that masks are only effective with widespread use. Its a community effort achieved by collaboration rather than the efforts of a lone hero, and it's influenced largely by social pressure: Jamie Cho, an immigrant from South Korea living in New York, told the Huffington Post that she always wore a mask when sick during her childhood, but changed that habit when she moved to the United States.

(My mother) was scared of me seeming more foreign than I already was at the time as a young immigrant, she said, because of that, Ive never worn a mask in a Western country prior to COVID.

In 2021, young people are disproportionately responsible for spreading SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) in the U.S., and a Centers for Disease Control study found that social or peer pressure to no wear mask had a large impact on their personal health decisions. Meanwhile, in Asian countries where mask wearing has been common for decades, studies from both the current pandemic and the 2002 SARS epidemic show that normalized mask wearing had a dramatic effect on stopping the spread.

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Its clear that when the U.S. faces its next pandemic, cultural acceptance of masks can play a significant role in mitigating its impact. As for the likelihood of widespread acceptance, New Zealand, which also dealt with anti-mask protests in the early days of the COVID pandemic, provides an example.

There havent been mass protests, but there have been some small ones, Professor David Murdoch, MD, of the University of Otago, Christchurch, told SFGATE. I think for a start that a kind of collective responsibility is stronger in New Zealand. But it was still a transition.

On March 16, 2020, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern mandated that anyone arriving in New Zealand, including citizens returning from abroad, had to quarantine. She made no apologies for what she claimed were the strictest regulations in the world, and by July, New Zealand was free of cases.

Nobody knows exactly how the world will change following this pandemic, but it's naive to think the ongoing lockdown that's approaching a year in length wont have a long-term impact on social norms and customs.

I think face masks will continue to be used by the general public in times when they dont feel well, Dr. Panagis Galatsatos, a critical care doctor who works with COVID-19 patients, told CNBC. And honestly, were realizing that no one feels slighted without a handshake.

Others take a harder line: I do think we need a new culture of masks, said former director of the CDC Dr. Tom Frieden, at least any time not feeling well.

The good news is that the partisan nature of this issue seems to have dissipated over time. According to a PEW Study. In June, 76% of Democrats and 53% of Republicans said they were usually wearing masks in public, but by August, those percentages had increased to 92% of Democrats and 76% of Republicans, reducing the partisan gap from 23 percentage points to 16 percentage points.

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The CDC study also identified confusing messaging as harmful to mask participation. The agency struggled to clarify its message early in the pandemic, and has recently come into conflict with the advice of foreign world leaders. With time and experience, however, that confusion is likely to have less of an impact on the average person's day-to-day decision-making.

Ultimately, masks are effective and simple, making it difficult to argue that the inconvenience of foggy glasses and mild maskne outweigh having to relive the darkest days of 2020. But mask wearing in the future will require mainstream acceptanceand not forgetting the lessons of half a million dead Americans.

The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks!

Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics.

The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc.

The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics.

The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates.

Access to college recruiters and advisors  its harder to line up higher education.

Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family.

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Myanmar has approved Russia'sSputnik V vaccine against the new coronavirus, the Russian Direct Investments Fund said on Saturday on official Twitter account for the vaccine, Yahoo Finance informs.

"Myanmar becomes the 21st country to register Sputnik V," the RDIF said in the tweet.

Registration took place without additional clinical trials on the territory of the state, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) explained reporters.
Suffice to say its hard to spark the flames of romance within the same four walls that youve been looking at for most of the year. Your house might be your office, classroom and gym right now, but that doesnt mean it cant also be the backdrop for a Valentines Day youll never forget (or at the very least, look back on fondly). Here are pointers for lovers and solo fliers of every persuasion and budget.

1. You could try recreating some of Hollywoods most iconic love scenes at home. Its free and definitely doable within your 5km. According to OnBuys adult division, 80pc of respondents of its recent survey want to try the kissing in the rain scene in The Notebook. Other popular movie moments, according to the research, include Fifty Shades Darkers elevator scene, Titanics car scene and Pretty Womans piano scene.

2. Valentines Day has often been a day to hit a fabulous restaurant, but the candlelit action can still very much happen in lockdown.

Berman and Wallaces seven-course dinner with cocktails is an eye-popping menu which includes oyster mousse, fillet steak, chocolate fondant and a French cheese board (180, delivery in Dublin only).

Food By Sally Ann (sallyann.ie) have also created a meal kit that is sure to ensure sparks fly. Enjoy peach bellinis, coquilles St Jacques, duck breast, chocolate mousse and petits fours. Kits are 45 per person.

In Ranelagh, the Butcher Grill is offering a click-and-collect five-course menu for two with smoked duck, smoked salmon and crab roulade, beef wellington and all the trimmings, a chocolate dessert and a cheese course (95, thebutchergrill.ie).

3. If you want to go a more traditional gastro route, the Sligo Oyster Experience have created their oysters and champagne Valentines box (89), which includes a shucking knife, a handmade candle and those all-important oysters and bubbles. See sligooysterexperience.ie for details.

In Galway, Kelly Oysters (kellyoysters.com) are offering a Wild Atlantic medley with 25 wild native oysters, two packs of blue mussels and one kilogram of wild surf clams for 48 (plus 10 delivery nationwide).

4. In the mood for afternoon delight? Splashing out on an afternoon tea is sure to impress. In Cork, Praline have designed a sumptuous afternoon tea box for two (30), which is available for collection from their Mitchelstown store. Pre-order by phone on 086 466 5390.

5. On a slightly tight budget? Aldi has your back. The supermarket is doing a value meal for two, including pizza, wedges, coleslaw and ice cream for less than 8. Its premium meal for two (13.50) includes prawn cocktail, duck breast fillets, potato gratin and Sicilian lemon tart.

6. Get your hands on an indulgent cocktail kit. The Celtic Whiskey Shop offers cocktail tours on Zoom, so that you can get expert help from Great Irish Beverages Oisin Davis. The Movie Night tour costs 41.81, enabling you to make a White Russian and a French 75 (celticwhiskeyshop.com).

7. If you are single this Valentines Day, a serious bout of self-care is a great start. Invest in some beauty products and create a luxurious spa in your own bathroom. I love the high-potency, high-efficacy products in the Oxmantown skincare range. Its lemongrass exfoliating body polish (25) and lemongrass luminous body butter (28) is as close to an exotic getaway as its possible to get. See oxmantownskincare.ie.

8. After its February 14 event sold out in record time, The Nude Wine Company is offering a second virtual wine tasting and hamper on February 12 (69). A 75-minute tour on Zoom aside, a box of wine (organic pink fizz, Sauvignon Blanc and Bordeaux), along with OBriens chocolates and a red rose will be delivered to your door. See thenudewineco.ie.

9. If your date night traditionally means a trip to the theatre, dont worry: you can enjoy plenty of arts and theatre events from the comfort of your own home. Cirque du Soleil have put many of their shows online via its YouTube channel as have Shakespeares Globe. Elsewhere, Andrew Scott stars in Sea Wall, which is available to stream online.

10. An adults-only board game can certainly spice up a night: The date night box set (20 on Amazon) features flirt, talk and dare cards meaning that you never know where the night may take you. Ann Summers never have I ever paryt game (7 on Amazon) is also sure to spark some interesting conversations.

11. You could always show some heart in a completely different  and, some might say, altogether more meaningful  way by taking part in the virtual Love Run on Valentines Day in aid of the Irish Heart Foundation. A 5km run or walk will help raise funds for the Irish Heart Foundation. Register as an individual, a couple, a family or a team on eventbrite.ie.

If you usually prefer a five-star getaway on Valentines, Adare Manors senior wedding and events manager Sandra Flavin (adaremanor.com) offers an itinerary on how to recreate the five-star-hotel experience in your own home. Start with breakfast in bed, take a walk in a nearby park or somewhere special to you both, she says.

Do online Yoga or meditation together. Help your loved one unwind on Valentines Day with a surprise spa experience. Put together a Valentines Day spa date basket filled with special heart-shaped soaps and bath bombs, scented bath salts, and soft red or pink body sponges. Make your bathroom as relaxing as possible with dimmed lights and soft music. In the evening, treat your loved one to a perfectly drawn rose-petal bath. Set the scene by adding a luxuriant tableau of balloons, flowers, candles and champagne.

12. Alternatively, spend the day getting out and about. New research by dating app Bumble has found that one-third of people would choose an active date to mark Valentines Day. We all know that a bit of fresh air does wonders for you mind and body, says Naomi Walkland, Bumbles head of UK and Ireland.

13. Get involved in an online cooking class with SaspanSospan (February 13, 6.30pm-8pm). On the menu is sole or hake meuniere with green beans, lemon and almonds, followed by a rich and decadent French chocolate mousse. Tickets are 20 and while the event is fully booked, its possible to join their waiting list. See allevents.in for details.

14. MyCheekyDate offers single people the opportunity to find a virtual companion for the night thats in it as part of their Be My Valentine virtual speed dating bash. Open to people aged 25-39, the event will match attendees with a new dater every seven to eight minutes on your mobile, tablet or phone, and will let you know about your matches via email later in the evening. Tickets costs 27.37 and are available from eventbrite.ie.

15. Planning a relaxing/uplifting/dirty weekend away somewhere for later in the year is likely to lift spirits and remind you of great romantic getaways past. With 2021 looking like a year of yet more staycations, blow the budget on somewhere truly sumptuous. Irelands Blue Book is a romantic collection of Irish country house hotels, manor houses, castles and restaurants. See Irelands-blue-book.ie.
Paris Hilton, the famous hotel heiress of The Simple Life fame, was at the height of her popularity in the early 2000s.

Despite her successes in various business ventures, her cultivated persona as the rich blonde airhead had her on the receiving end of jokes and public scorn. From her infamous sex tape to her various brushes with the law, Paris Hilton had an uphill battle coming into adulthood and out of that persona.

Now speaking out and using her fame for a good cause that is personal to her and has had a lasting impact on her life.

Paris Hilton got a DUI in 2006

Paris Hilton | Tibrina Hobson/WireImage

Hilton, now 39, has received renewed attention thanks to her newest YouTube documentary. After its release, the Wondery podcast, Even the Rich, featured a 4 part special on the star and went into detail about some of her most infamous life events.

According to hosts Aricia Skidmore-Williams and Brooke Siffrinn, Paris was cruising down a California road on September 7, 2006, in a $500,000 Mercedes when she was pulled over for speeding and reckless driving. She blew a .08 into the breathalyzer, the minimum to be charged with DUI in California.

Hilton attempted to talk her way out of trouble stating that she had only a single drink but hadnt eaten all day. The officer was not hearing any of it and cuffed her and took her down to the station. She was given a $1500 fine and 3 years probation, was required to take alcohol-education classes. Her drivers license was also suspended for 4 months.

Paris Hilton disobeyed the terms of her probation

Fast-forward a few months after the DUI and Hilton was pulled over for speeding and driving without headlights on in a Bentley Continental GTC. Her license was still suspended. Her car was immediately towed and her punishment would be determined in court. On May 4, 2007 with media and paparazzi waiting for her arrival, Hilton showed up for her day in court. Hiltons defense was that she was under the impression that she could drive to and from work. This was not the case and the judge sentenced her to 45 days in jail.

She was to turn herself into jail by June 5th, but in what seemed a clever attempt to avoid media attention, Hilton turned herself in early after attending the MTV Movie Awards on June 3rd. The media assuming shed be attending after parties and missed the event.

After just a few days in jail, her lawyer was able to get her home on house arrest. However, prosecutors soon had her returned to jail with a reduced sentence of 23 days if she maintained good behavior. At the time, her reason for leaving jail was an undisclosed medical condition, but now we are all learning that her reasons for so desperately wanting to leave jail, were far more than most assumed.

Paris Hilton speaks out about the troubled teen industry

RELATED: Where Did Paris Hiltons First Name Come From?

In episodes 3 and 4 of the Only the Rich podcast on Hilton, the hosts made frequent mentions of Provo during the course of their coverage of her time in jail.

She made it through Provo so she can make it through this, said Skidmore-Williams.

Provo Canyon School was a boarding school in Utah for troubled teens that Hilton attended in the 90s. Allegations of abuse against the school were at the center of Hiltons YouTube documentary This is Paris released in September of last year.

Among the allegations are accounts of various types of abuse including verbal and physical, being forced to take medication, and being locked in solitary confinement without clothes. It was because of this that Hilton found herself suffering from claustrophobia and intense panic attacks while in jail back in 2007.

Though she was arrested once more 2010 for cocaine possession in Las Vegas, she was able to avoid further jail time, instead paying a $2000 fine and completing 200 hours of community service.

Provo Canyon changed ownership since Hiltons time spent there and a representative said they cannot comment on what happened prior to that. Despite possibly never seeing and real justice for her own abuse, Hilton continues to speak out. She is now involved with Breaking Code Silence, a group that advocates for survivors of the troubled teen industry and continues to work on behalf of the community.
Ugo Aliogo writes about the expectations from the forthcoming Lagos Economic Summit

Lagos State, a major economic hub in Nigeria and also a financial centre in Africa.

The megacity has one of the largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Africa and has been adjudged as one of the fastest growing cities in the world.

No doubt, the outbreak of the COVID-19 has profoundly changed the world. From being a health crisis which has claimed the lives of more than 2.3 million persons globally, the economic damages caused by the virus which emanated from Wuhan, China, has been unprecedented.

For Lagos State, despite the disruption of economic activities occasioned by the lockdown last year, in a bid to control the spread of the pathogen, the state government has remained focused on its promise to transform the city.

Thus, as economies around the world begin to implement recovery strategies from the shockwave of the virus, the Lagos Economic Summit Group (LESG) is charting the path for the sustainable socio-economic development of the state at the Lagos Economic Summit tagged 'Ehingbeti 2021' scheduled to hold from February 16-18, 2021.

The three-day summit, which will be a hybrid of virtual and live events, is expected to draw participation from different sectors of the economy and across the globe.

As an ingenuous socio-economic apparatus with significant contributions to the evolution of Lagos State into a major economy in sub-Saharan Africa and an admirable megacity, this edition of Ehingbeti has yet another significant role in the wider Rebuild Lagos Agenda of the current government and its developmental campaigns.

Over the last two decades, successive governments in Lagos State since the beginning of the fourth republic, have hosted the summit to consistently redefine the dynamics of public-private sector collaborations for development across social and economic indices in the state

Indeed, with the absence of Ehingbeti between 2015 and 2019, the significance of the Lagos Economic Summit, may have been unwittingly diminished.

However, implementation of some of the consensuses reached at pre-2015 summits, during the hiatus, also demonstrated that Ehingbeti is an unending dialogue in the quest for socio-economic and infrastructural development in Lagos state.

From the beautiful bus terminals across the state, to hundreds of mass transit buses procured to partly tackle the transportation challenges, it was clear that Lagos was beginning to embrace the realities of its megacity status expressed by representatives of the UN Habitat at one of the planning sessions that heralded the inaugural edition of Ehingbeti.

Clearly, Lagos before 2000 was awfully chaotic. Aside from the throbbing of infrastructural deficit, population was growing at a riotous rate.

This was the beginning of the fourth republic, after 16 years of military rule. Democracy ushered in relief, and citizens began to aspire to a decent life after a long era of repression.

The new aspiration put Lagos under pressure because it was the only state in Nigeria, with the possibility of restoration. So, the state became a point of attraction to everyone seeking survival and prosperity, when its newly democratically elected government was struggling with extremely lean resources to start the business - governance, for which it was voted by the people.

Evidence of the decade-long abandonment and halted development was visible in every corner of the state. The indicators that would justify the transition to civil rule were in the urgent need to address infrastructural deficit, poor transportation system, fix bad roads, improve health services, abate growing insecurity improve the socio-economic climate for general habitability in the state.

Lagos offered a glimpse of hope to the people because of its status as a former capital, but the threatening twinkles of expectation had made the need for the State to 'take-off' really necessary, less the State denigrated into total commotion.

Worried about the consequences of inaction, the crop of technocrats and egg-heads pulled to government by the allure of democracy and governor's believability got to work on social services development and planning.

The visual mess had to go, and disintegrating infrastructure needed serve the people, while scaling-up became a major item on the State government agenda.

"The state of things was scary. We had to keep late nights at Akodo resort, brainstorming on how to get tonnes wastes off the streets off Lagos. The disorderliness intensified by the transportation system then was an eyesore.

"Every day in Lagos was a new heartbreak for everyone in government," Chairman, Citibank Nigeria, who was Lagos State Commissioner for Economic and Budget Planning in 1999, Mr. Yemi Cardoso explained.

"The need to create a functional State, with great infrastructure was undeniable. At the Cabinet level, we saw that things needed to transform rapidly, even though our reality was that the transformation can only be gradual.

"With an enduring commitment, the leadership of the State encouraged and supported a rigorous planning process, propelled by a clear vision about the projected development, with tangible milestones", he added.

The nights of sweats and toils in the bush of Akodo did not only have the then Governor and his cabinet wandering for solutions to the socio-economic and infrastructural challenges of Lagos State, most of the leading lights in the private sector in Lagos State were also on the hunt for ideas that would not only make Lagos habitable, but also prosperous, in the Akodo bush.

The fading signs of squalour of the era and sprouting of modern architectures brightened by increasing presence of street lights in the state are testaments to the effectiveness of collaboration between the private and public sector.

In fact, Ehingbeti has proven that tough and sincere conversations are paths to building an enduring relationship and an engendering atmosphere of mutual trust.

There was a gust of ideas from the different working groups, requiring discipline of purpose to translate into executable projects, but more important at the stage was taking the idea to the market. And this required committed partnership, which only a shared vision could deliver.

"When we began all these conversations in some of the cabinet retreats, I took a different position; I took the view that Lagos should aim to be the core of a megalopolis," hinted Professor Patrick Utomi, one of the private sector champions of Ehingbeti.

The quest for a functional state and better city was an area of mutual interest for the government and the private sector, but fine-tuning the workability of their like-mindedness needed a whole lot of dialogues and engagements because of assumed expectations of each other.

"Initially it was like one camp against the other", a moderator describing the interactions between private sector and government at one of the early engagement sessions, "but the image of the beautiful of city that was going to emerge from their collaboration introduced meaning to the dialogue".

"The World Bank Advisor had just interrupted a heated argument between a Senior Executive of Property Development Company and a Lagos State official about taxes and land charges, citing case studies from some notable cities in the world.

Cities like Boston, New York, and London are functional because businesses pay taxes and rates for government to carry-out the social and infrastructural constructions that make cities great!", he said the World Bank Advisor retorted.

"That statement seemed to immediately change the tenor of the argument from the reaction of the parties. It looked like an idea had dropped, but more illumination would make it resonate better, and justify its practicality".

"The public and private sectors are partners in progress. The relationship between them is mutually reinforcing, such that the health of one is the vigour of the other.

"Government requires private sector support to succeed while government creates the enabling atmosphere for the private sector with the instruments of state, just as he walked to the flip chat beside me, opened to an earlier presentation, proposing the fourth Mainland Bridge, and asked "when government desires this for the people, who will make it happen?"

There was a long silence, which he ended by saying "the private sector, once government is able build confidence and earn the trust of businesses. They will become investors in social development and aggressive drivers of socio-economic growth".

This exchange happened in the process of building the consensus enabled rapid infrastructural development in Lagos and distinct positioning of the State an Africa's commercial hub.

"In the last two decades, Ehingbeti has played a pivotal role in the transformation of Lagos State, with useful inputs into Lagos State Development Plans (LSDP)," the current Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, who is also a Co-chair of the Steering Committee, Sam Egube said.

"Our realities from 2000 when the first Ehingbeti held, exactly 20 years ago, have significantly changed. As a state, we now have to cater to the infrastructural needs of more than 22million population and ensure that Lagos remains on the path of continuous growth"

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"These considerations are the groundwork of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration THEMES Agenda, but translating the agenda to benefits for our people will require collaborations amongst stakeholders, and a determination to deepen the foundation for sustainable development and growth of our society. So, Ehingbeti 2020 offers us a platform to address all these," Egube added.

"It is clear that private sector setting an implementable agenda for government and championing the process of implementation has pushed Lagos far ahead of States in Nigeria and countries in the African sub-region," the Commissioner said, adding that, "development of the state is not a destination, but a journey. We need to continue to work at as a government and people".

This view reflects government's thinking towards development in the state. It is safe to infer that the government is keen on stretching its collaboration with the private sector to improve infrastructure, echoing Utomi's thought that as successful Lagos may be in terms of infrastructural development, "the room for improvement exists with the utilisation of a portent economic planning tool like Ehingbeti".

With the theme 'For a Greater Lagos: Setting The Tone For The Next Decade', this edition of Ehingbeti will certainly rekindle the conversations that will enable optimization of the inherent opportunities in Africa's sixth largest economy and offer perspectives on how to manage the peculiar socio-economic landscape of the State in the coming decade.

The Lagos Economic Summit Group (LESG), with this edition of Ehingbeti, is strengthening the existing relationship between government, and emphasising that greater private sector participation in governance is a prerequisite for a functional state.

Since the inaugural summit in 2000, Ehingbeti has gained useful insights from innumerable business and political leaders, renowned economists, notable development experts and outstanding scholars, who have participated from different parts of the world.

Ehingbeti is the first institutionalized economic forum by any state in Nigeria and is an ingenuous socio-economic apparatus that has contributed significantly to the evolution of Lagos State into a major economy in sub-Saharan, with expanding potentials.

The summit, hosted by successive governments in Lagos State since the beginning of the fourth republic, has consistently redefined the dynamics of public-private sector collaborations for development across social and economic indices in the Lagos State.

NEW DELHI - Thousands of protesting Indian farmers blockaded highways across the country for several hours Saturday to press their demands for the repeal of new agricultural laws that have led to months of massive protests.

Heavily barricaded road along one of the three main protest sites outside New Delhi's border to thwart the growing farmers' protest on the edges of the capital, at Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, in New Delhi, India, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. India's agriculture minister on Friday defended the new agriculture reform laws in Parliament, dampening hopes of any quick settlement with tens of thousands of protesting farmers demanding their repeal by blocking three highways connecting New Delhi to northern India for over two months now. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

NEW DELHI - Thousands of protesting Indian farmers blockaded highways across the country for several hours Saturday to press their demands for the repeal of new agricultural laws that have led to months of massive protests.

The protesters used tractors, trucks and even boulders to blockade the roads. They carried banners and flags denouncing the laws, which they say will leave them poorer and at the mercy of corporations.

We will keep fighting till our last breath, said 80-year-old Jhajjan Singh, a farmer at a protest site in Ghazipur. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should know that either he will remain, or we will.

Authorities deployed thousands of security forces mainly outside Indias capital, where farmers have camped at three main sites for more than two months. The farmers have said they wont leave until the government rolls back the laws.

Saturday's blockade started at noon and lasted for three hours. No violence was immediately reported.

Several rounds of talks between farmers with the government have failed to produce any breakthroughs. The government has said the laws are necessary to modernize Indian agriculture.

On Friday, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar defended the laws in Parliament, dampening hopes of a quick settlement as he made no new offer to resume talks with the farmers.

The protests turned violent on Jan. 26, Indias Republic Day, when a group of of farmers riding tractors veered from the protest route and stormed the 17th century Red Fort. Hundreds of police officers were injured as were scores of farmers. One protester died.

Farmer leaders condemned the violence but said they would not call off the protest.

Since then, authorities have heavily increased security at protest sites outside New Delhis border, adding iron spikes and steel barricades to stop the farmers from entering the capital.

Meanwhile, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called on authorities and protesters to exercise maximum restraint.

The rights to peaceful assembly & expression should be protected both offline & online. Its crucial to find equitable solutions with due respect to #HumanRights for all, the UN body said in a tweet late Friday.
New Delhi, Feb 6 : With zero business in last 65 days due to the ongoing farmers' protest at the Singhu and Tikri borders, the Delhi Petrol Dealers Association (DPDA) has said that it is tough for them to sustain as they have to pay the salaries and taxes to government. It also said that the farmers are cooking 'langar' near two petrol pumps which is against the explosives rules.

DPDA Managing Committee member Rajeev Jain said, "All six petrol pumps of Singhu Border and five at Tikri Border are blocked due to the farmers' protest." Jain said that for last 65 days there has been no sale of diesel, petrol and CNG.

"Even a lot of factories, car showrooms and shops around Delhi borders have lost business since past two months and they have to bear all expenses like salary, electricity fixed charges, bank interest EMI, PF, ESI etc without any income," Jain said.

"This is not sustainable for long," he said.

"Farmers are sitting inside two petrol pumps and are cooking 'langar'. This is against the explosive rules and a very big fire hazard. Delhi Police has been informed about this in writing but they have not been removed," Jain added.

Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh have been protesting against the three farm laws at several borders of Delhi since November 26 last year demanding the repealing of the three farm laws.

Eleven round of talks of farmers with the government have remained inconclusive while the January 26 tractor rally of farmers saw violent clashes at several places in the city.

Farmers even hoisted a pennant from the ramparts of Red fort. Delhi Police has filed several cases against farmer union leaders.

Aung San Suu Kyi after the opening ceremony of the 21st Century Panglong Conference in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, May 24, 2017. Photo: Reuters/Soe Zeya Tun

Teachers and students in Myanmar have rallied to a growing civil disobedience campaign as the anti-coup protest movement won the support of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyis party.

Stepping up measures to quell discontent, police arrested one of Ms Suu Kyis veteran aides and dozens of people who had joined noisy demonstrations against Mondays coup.

International pressure on the junta increased with the UN Security Council urging the release of detainees and Washington considering sanctions on the ruling generals.

Teachers became the latest group to join a civil disobedience campaign with some lecturers refusing to work or cooperate with authorities over the coup that halted a long and unsteady transition to democracy.

We want the military coup to fail, said lecturer Nwe Thazin Hlaing at the Yangon University of Education.

The disobedience campaign, which began with doctors, has also spread to some government offices and yesterday won the formal backing of Ms Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party.

In a statement, the party denounced the coup and Ms Suu Kyis detention as unacceptable and said it would help people who are arrested or sacked for opposing the takeover.

Army chief Min Aung Hlaing took power citing alleged irregularities in a November election that the party won in a landslide. The electoral commission has said the vote was fair.

There has been no outpouring of people onto the streets in a country with a bloody history of crackdowns on protests, but there were signs of coup opponents growing bolder  with dozens of youths parading in the southeastern city of Dawei.

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In the biggest city, Yangon, supporters hung red clothing, ribbons and balloons outside their homes to show support.

But authorities also began to step up action against coup opponents. In Myanmars second city of Mandalay, 30 people were arrested over pot-banging protests which have taken place for the last three nights.

The 15-member UN Security Council released a statement on Thursday calling for the release of all detainees and for respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law.

But before it won consensus among members that include China and Russia, which have close ties to Myanmars army, the language of the draft was changed to remove any mention of a coup.

Nobel Peace laureate Ms Suu Kyi (75) has not been seen since her arrest in morning raids on Monday.

Police have filed charges against her for illegally importing and using six walkie-talkie radios found at her home.

President Joe Biden said the United States was working with allies and partners to address the generals takeover.

There can be no doubt in a democracy force should never seek to overrule the will of the people or attempt to erase the outcome of a credible election, he said.
Reporter

Ben Zigterman is a reporter covering business at The News-Gazette. His email is bzigterman@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@bzigterman).


Malindi  Deputy President William Ruto has criticised Opposition leaders banking on Jubilee party endorsement for the 2022 presidential race.

However, he noted that such a scheme would not bear fruits, adding that Kenya was past the politics of endorsements.

"You cannot be in the Opposition and bank on an endorsement from Jubilee. Go out and engage with Kenyans," he said without naming them even though he was understood to refer to former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka, Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi and Senator Gideon Moi of KANU who have lately warmed up to president Uhuru Kenyatta.

Ruto observed that leaders must stop what he described as "political conmanship of wandering around Jubilee."

Ruto has openly fallen out with President Uhuru Kenyatta after voicing opposition to the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) which the Head of State is championing with Odinga after their 2018 handshake.

While Ruto sees the pact as a ploy to lock him out of the race to succeed President Kenyatta whose second and final term ends next year, the two say the BBI process holds the key to ending perennial violence during and after elections and will boost development across the country.

"Organise yourselves politically. We do not want a recurrence of a fake swearing-in ceremony," he added, in an apparent reference to the 2017 swearing-in of Odinga as the People's President when he lost the election to Kenyatta in a repeat poll ordered after the cancellation of initial results by the Supreme Court.

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The Deputy President explained that leaders are defined by their development credentials, policies and agendas.

He spoke Friday during a series of meetings and empowerment programmes in Kilifi and Mombasa Counties accompanied by some of the local leaders among them Aisha Jumwa.

"We are for the economic empowerment of ordinary Kenyans. Our model is that of uplifting millions of Kenyans who are at the base of the wealth pyramid," he explained.

He said he was contented that Kenya's conversation was shifting from politicians, power and positions to basic issues about ordinary people.

He refuted claims that the hustler and wheelbarrow narrative was meant to incite economic classes clash.

"We believe in win-win; if the poor are empowered, it will be helpful at the peak of the wealth pyramid."

Kilifi North MP Owen Baya said Coast region would rally Dr Ruto because of his drive to change the economic status of the ordinary Kenyans.

"We are past empty rhetorics. Kenyans want a leader with solid history in transforming the lives of the people," he said.

Jumwa observed that the ongoing intimidations and threats would not change their resolve to rally behind Ruto.

She appealed to the youth to shun leaders who use them to cause instability in the country.

"We can change this country but not through violence," she argued.

Former Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar said the only endorsement leaders can get is from Kenyans.

"There are no low-lying fruits in politics. You must sell yourself and what you stand for to the people," he said.
Inside details of the Australian Federal Police effort to arrest a Chinese-Canadian drug lord allegedly responsible for 70 per cent of Australia's meth supply and much of Asia's narcotics has been revealed.

Drug kingpin Tse Chi Lop, 57, currently faces extradition tcouro Australia after being apprehended in Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport by Dutch police when the AFP requested an arrest through Interpol on January 22.

One of the world's biggest alleged drug traffickers and Asia's 'most wanted man' was being pursued by 20 agencies around the world in an operation led by police in Australia - a country he has apparently never been to.

Inside details of the Australian Federal Police effort to arrest the Chinese-Canadian drug lord Tse Chi Lop (pictured), who is reportedly responsible for 70 per cent of Australia's meth supply and much of Asia's narcotics, has been revealed

The 57-year-old kingpin was apprehended in Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport by Dutch police after the AFP requested an arrest through Interpol on January 22 and currently faces extradition to Australia. Pictured: A passport of Tse Chi Lop's

Asia's 'most wanted man' was being pursued by 20 agencies around the world in an operation led by police in Australia - a country he has apparently never been to. Pictured: AFP officers display bundles of cash confiscated from a drug syndicate operating across South East Asia

AFP and FBI officials have revealed what went into the arrest, including the controversial decision by the AFP to out Tse as a target of 20 police agencies in Asia, Europe and North America.

In October 2019, it was revealed Tse was subject to a massive investigation, something police said he already knew as he was hiding out in Taiwan, reported the Australian.

Police claimed Tse had an army of Thai kickboxers as bodyguards, flew by private jet and had gambled away $94million one night in Macau using money made by running a drug syndicate called 'The Company'.

The law enforcers said the syndicate was believed to be very sophisticated and profitable, exporting mostly meth, but also heroin and ketamine, to at least twelve countries.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates Tse's alleged network rakes in between $10billion and $23billion a year from organised crime.

AFP and FBI officials have revealed what went into the arrest, including the controversial decision by the AFP to out Tse as a target of police agencies in Asia, Europe and North America. Pictured: Police seized $10M of assets including 42kg of drugs from the syndicate in 2013

The decision to reveal the investigation was controversial, and John Coyne from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute said the decision to use a 'decapitation' - outing a criminal, is divisive.

He said while the strategy can hold criminals accountable it can also create further violence.

'And if we look at El Chapo himself, his cartel, it hasn't fallen apart. In fact, it's still the No 1 drug dealing organisation in Mexico,' he said.

In October 2019, news wire service Reuters revealed Tse was under investigation in Operation Kungur, something police said he already knew, as he hid in Taiwan. Pictured: Police seized this Lamborghini as one of the assets taken in the AFP's operation in 2013

Tse has been on the Australian Federal Police's radar for about eight years, after a major drug bust in Melbourne seized 2kg of heroin and meth, $4million in cash, $5million worth of residential properties, $10,000 in jewellery, 99 designer handbags and wallets, a Lamborghini and $600,000 in casino chips.

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission in 2012 described The Company's members as having a 'well-established network of contacts across many governments as well as legitimate business and company structures'.

The company has been known to smuggle drugs in shipments hidden in tea, rice and other consumer goods.

Police claimed Tse had an army of Thai kickboxers as bodyguards, flies by private jet and had gambled away 60m one night in Macau and ran a drug syndicate called 'The Company'. Picured: AFP officers seized drugs in major Western Australia bust in 2017

'Tse Chi Lop is in the league of El Chapo or maybe Pablo Escobar,' Jeremy Douglas, Southeast Asia and Pacific representative for UNODC told Reuters in 2018.

'The word kingpin often gets thrown around, but there is no doubt it applies here.'

The multinational cartel also develops and maintains relationships with local criminal groups including Japan's Yakuza and Australian outlaw bikie gangs.

'In 2013, the AFP announced that Op Volante had resulted in the arrest of 27 people for importing and trafficking substantial quantities of heroin and methamphetamine into Australia,' the AFP said in a statement.

'The syndicate targeted Australia over a number of years, importing and distributing large amounts of illicit narcotics, laundering the profits overseas and living off the wealth obtained from crime.'

Police alleged 'shore parties' working for The Company unloaded the drugs (pictured) from a The law enforcers said Tse the syndicate was believed to be very sophisticated and profitable, exporting mostly meth, but also heroin and ketamine, to at least twelve countries. Pictured: AFP officers seized drugs in major Western Australia bust in 2017

In 2016, a Taiwanese national was arrested at Yangon Airport in Myanmar strapped with bags of ketamine.

He refused to talk but when local investigators searched his phone they uncovered two torture videos showing a man bound and crying while getting his feet blowtorched and electrocuted with a cattle prod.

The same phone also revealed pictures of Tse, which were handed on to the AFP.

The breakthrough arrest led to 622kg of ketamine and 1.1tonnes of meth getting seized in Myanmar.

Information on the phone also culminated in 1.2 tonnes of meth being nabbed in Geraldton, Western Australia, the following year.

Police alleged 'shore parties' working for The Company unloaded the drugs from the mothership, 500km off the coast.
Clinics that waste COVID-19 vaccination doses could be stripped of their accreditation to administer them as one of the countrys top health officials warned immunisers lack of experience with multi-dose vials was a serious concern.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is also one step closer to approval, with Australias medical regulator now waiting on final answers from the pharmaceutical company before registering the overseas vaccine.

Department of Health Secretary Professor Brendan Murphy said the multi-dose vials required extra training for all vaccine providers. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Appearing before a parliamentary committee on Friday afternoon, Department of Health secretary Professor Brendan Murphy said he has complete confidence in both the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has not yet made a decision on what age range the AstraZeneca vaccine will be approved for, but it is likely it will include those aged over 65.

Chef Szathmarys mastery of food preservation science even allowed him to delve into freeze-dried foods and some of his recipes were used by the NASA space program for astronauts dining on their missions. But Chef Louis first passion remained his restaurants, which were made successful by both his innovations and larger-than-life personality. With his signature long, twirled mustache, he joined his wife Sada and daughter Magda welcoming guests, including notable regulars like Hugh Hefner, Frank Zappa and orchestra conductor Arthur Fielder, to The Bakery which had a BYOB policy (Bring Your Own Bottle/Booze), something very forward-thinking for dining policies at that time. His menu featured favorites like liver pate, beef Wellington, roast duckling and of course, a large glass case of pastries and bakery items.

Nothing chills my blood like a phone call from an unknown number. My evening was rattled by the unfamiliar trill of an incoming call, too late to be a work call and not recognised by my phone as the number of the few people in my life who still ring unexpectedly in this day and age. It was a man in a supermarket who wanted to tell me they had no chicken fillets, and would drumsticks do?

Its crazy in here, he said over beeps and trills and clattering trolleys, like Christmas.

Since the start of this lockdown, Ive been using an app to get my groceries delivered. Like most similar modern conveniences, it has almost eradicated the need to have any contact with another human being throughout the entire process. Stuffed bags of food appear to order at my door; I take them inside. At all times I felt like I was engaged in a fair exchange with a big, anonymous application designed to make a profit from selling convenience to me.

But with the phone to my ear, I could suddenly clearly see this stranger standing in the chilled meats aisle of a chaotic supermarket, wrangling a trolley with one hand and navigating a list of my shopping demands with the other. His voice was muffled by a face mask. Up until that point, I had stupidly failed to bother my conscience by considering how my choice to avoid the risks of the supermarket would involve making another human do it instead.

Because of healthcare concerns in my house, Ive been cautious to the point of paranoid during this lockdown. Well-meaning visitors or invites for distanced outdoor coffees have been politely but firmly eschewed. The only time Ive left the house at all has been for medical appointments, or an off-peak walk. Its easy to frame this self-imposed hibernation as a grand gesture of my civic duty, the personal sacrifice that Im making in the pursuit of the common good. But actually, its an extreme luxury to be able to choose to stay at home.

Its way too easy to hide the lower-paid workers taking risks for the rest of us behind the friendly design of apps that trade on clicks of convenience. Last month, Deliveroo drivers in Dublin went on strike on a Friday night in protest at their working conditions. Deliveroo and its cute logo have always benefitted from the reflected glory of the restaurants we love and miss, as it ferries food to us in huge quantities during lockdown. But its Dublin drivers have been extremely vocal about their concerns over pay and conditions, which deserve even more attention now that theyre working through a pandemic.

I was far too guilty to consider crossing the picket for my usual weekly takeaway. But in truth, the strike for me was one of the most minor inconveniences imaginable. It raised awkward questions about the ethics of the app for a couple of hours before I completely forgot about it and used it again, the following Friday, without even thinking. Any lingering guilt about using Deliveroo is almost assuaged by the app itself, which is designed to prompt you to click to tip after each delivery. I do so willingly, as if it were a conscientious tax, then put my phone away and stop thinking about it.

Gig-economy jobs fuelled by delivery apps have always faced queries and concerns about workers rights, even before Covid-19. But in a pandemic where the necessity and value of these workers have been thrown into sharp relief, there is now an even greater need to make sure they are protected.

When I go down to the door of my apartment building on a Friday night to collect my food from the nameless, faceless people who take the risk of delivering it to me, I notice that a lot of my neighbours are doing the same. We pass stacks of soft parcels from online fashion brands piled under letterboxes, most likely stuffed with comfortable and luxe leisurewear. They sit alongside branded boxes from a low-price online bookselling behemoth, ordered in bulk to fill the void of our leisurely weekends.

Weve been able to shrink the world and bring it to us so that we can feel safe and comfortable. Entire companies are designed to make this as easy as possible for us, but maybe its time we asked harder questions about the cost of our own convenience.

We Need to Talk About...

As I tied my scarf inside a plastic bag, I started to think about superstition. I began the week leaving out my brat Bhride ahead of St Brigids Day on Monday, also known as the festival of Imbolc. (The bag was for fear the scarf became a carrier of Covid-19, very much undoing the whole point of the exercise.)

As my phone dinged with reminders from family and friends about the religious tradition, I realised Ive never before heard or seen so much about the patron saint any other year. Far from being a sign of an unprecedented rush back to Catholicism, I think its a mark of how the collective loss of control over the last year has left us much more open to spiritualism, superstition and a willingness to put our trust in a greater force. One can hardly blame people for looking for small, harmless comforts where they can.
Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Stock splits are back in vogue among big U.S. companies, reviving a debate about whether the practice that had fallen out of favor for years is worth the fuss.Last week, Nvidia Corp. became the eighth company in the S&P 500 Index to announce a split in the past year, joining big names like Apple Inc. and Tesla Inc. Thats the most over a comparable period in six years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.The surge in splits comes amid a rally thats pushed share prices of almost 600 stocks in the Russell 3000 Index above $100. Yet that has done little to settle the age-old-argument among investors about whether such stock-price engineering has any bearing on performance. In fact, recent developments such as soaring retail trading and fractional share ownership have only heated things up.Arithmetically, theres no merit to the notion that stock splits work, said Mark Lehmann, chief executive officer of JMP Securities LLC. But there is an optical hesitancy for certain stocks at certain prices and there is a segment of the investing public where that will never change.The primary motivation cited by companies doing splits is simple: to make each share cheaper to buy. Nvidia, whose share price has more than quadrupled since the start of 2019 to reach almost $650, said in a statement announcing its 4-for-1 stock-split plan that its aim was to make stock ownership more accessible to investors and employees. A representative for the chipmaker declined to comment further.Once a reliable hallmark of bull-market exuberance, the practice had until recently fallen out of favor. In 2006 and 2007, when stocks were again setting records, there were 47 splits in the S&P 500. Three companies -- Nvidia, Paccar Inc. and Cummins Inc. -- even split twice. In 2019, there were only two.For Julian Emanuel, chief equity and derivatives strategist at BTIG, its harder to make the case for splitting a stock these days because of the rise of commission-free trading and brokerages offering fractional shares. Those developments have largely rendered irrelevant the dollar value of a companys share price, he said in an interview.Brokerages like Robinhood now let investors buy a slice of a share for as little as $1 rather than forking over, say, more than $2,300 for a single share of Google-parent Alphabet Inc.Limited Benefits A look at the data backs up the case against splits providing long-term benefits to stock performance. The shares of companies that have split outperformed the S&P 500 on average in four of the last five years in the year the split was announced, according to Bloomberg data. The calendar year following the move, however, those same shares underperformed four of the five years.The recent rash of stock splits has sparked speculation that other large technology companies like Amazon.com Inc. that boast four-digit share prices may be next. Amazon split its stock three times in 1998 and 1999 and hasnt done one since. Shares of the e-commerce giant trade around $3,200 and have gained more than 5,000% since its last split.Regardless of what the historical-performance record shows, the surge in retail trading over the past year may be altering the calculus for companies when it comes to evaluating splits.U.S. retail investors are now second in share trading only to market makers and independent high-frequency traders, according to Larry Tabb, director of market structure research at Bloomberg Intelligence. The retail segment is now larger than quantitative investors, hedge funds and traditional long-only participants, said Tabb.A lot of investing is driven by psychology, said Kevin Walkush, a portfolio manager with Jensen Investment Management. Now, rather than a retail investor facing the challenge of buying a fractional share, a stock split means they can buy it outright. It just opens up the market that much more for retail investors.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P.
Not only facing difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam will also face many information safety and data security risks this year.

According to Kaspersky's report on the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on SMEs in 2020, the epidemic has caused heavy damage to these businesses, so their investment in IT and information security is at risk of "freezing" or being reduced in 2021. Many micro-businesses and household-based businesses have no budget to hire information security personnel. The risk of information and data insecurity will continue to be a concern of SMEs this year.

Ransomware - malicious software that infects your computer and displays messages demanding a fee to be paid in order for your system to work again - flourished in 2020. However, the level of knowledge and vigilance about this type of malware among SMEs is still very limited.

A report by Coveware shows that ransomware favors SMEs with fewer than 100 employees when the number of attacks on this group accounted for 55%.

The vast majority of SME victims of ransomware tended to pay a ransom to get back important data. A new feature of Ransomware 2.0 is that they not only encrypt the data for ransom, but also blackmail the victim from seeing the date being published on the network.

Hackers also use mistakes of employees or even important characters in businesses to penetrate the network to steal financial information and corporate data.

Statistics from Abnormal Security show that the number of phishing emails defaming invoices and payment bills increased by 81%, causing an average loss of $81,000 per phishing attack.

It is noteworthy that phishing methods via mobile messages with links easily deceive victims to click on links on their smartphones rather than on computers, so hackers can exploit it.

Response to information security risks

"The Covid-19 epidemic has forced SMEs to apply remote working regime, and this is a great risk to corporate information security," said Ngo Tran Vu, director of NTS Security Company.

"A safe remote work plan and a response plan to information security incident scenarios are essential for SMEs," Vu said.

"In addition to solutions to protect the computer if frequently exposed on the network environment, offline and online backup on the cloud platform will help reduce the risk as with ransomware," he added.

SME leaders should have a methodical plan for information security, and review of the entire network system, database, equipment and corporate decentralization. The gaps for cybercriminals attack are also loopholes in commonly used software such as Microsoft Office, Adobe PDF, web browsers... that have not been patched by the publisher.

H.N.

Top 10 cybersecurity events in 2020 The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) of the Authority of Information Security has announced the 10 most outstanding cybersecurity events in 2020.
Huntington, WV (25701)

Today

Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low around 50F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low around 50F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) questions then-Attorney General William Barr who appears before the House Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, on July 28, 2020. (Matt McClain-Pool/Getty Images)

2 Republican Lawmakers Face $5,000 Fine for Bypassing Metal Detectors

Two GOP lawmakers are facing $5,000 fines each after being accused of wrongly bypassing newly installed metal detectors inside the U.S. Capitol, violating a new rule adopted earlier this week.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi proposed the rule change that passed 216 to 210 Tuesday night. The change means that any lawmaker who refuses to go through the metal detectors faces a fine of $5,000 for a first offense and $10,000 for a second offense, deducted directly from their paychecks.

Pelosi is also accused of breaking her own rule by allegedly bypassing a metal detector on her way into the House chamber. Republicans from the Committee on House Administration on Friday requested that the House Sergeant at Arms imposes a fine on her.

Reps. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) are the two lawmakers who have been issued the fine. Clyde hasnt immediately commented on the offense, though Gohmert has released a statement on Friday.

Congressman-elect Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) and other Representative-elect arrive at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Nov. 13, 2020. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Gohmert said the incident happened on Thursday, and that for weeks he has been complying with Pelosis unconstitutional metal detector policy.

I stepped off the House floor to use the restroom right beside the Speakers lobby as I have done many times since the metal detectors have been installed, the Republican lawmaker wrote in the statement.

Gohmert said he hasnt been required to be screened for a second time after using the restroom since the metal detectors were installed, claiming that no one ever mentioned or made that a requirement until yesterday.

Unlike in the movie The Godfather, there are no toilets with tanks where one could hide a gun, so my reentry onto the House floor should have been a non-issue, the lawmaker said.

Pelosi proposed the rule after metal detectors were installed outside the House chamber several days after the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol.

Many House Republicans have disrespected our heroes by verbally abusing them and refusing to adhere to basic precautions keeping members of our Congressional community, including the Capitol Police, safe, Pelosi claimed in a Jan. 13 statement.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is seen in Washington on Jan. 15, 2021. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Gohmert said the fine issued against him has nothing to do with following the rules, adding that he thinks its just another way of furthering the Democrats never ending scheme to demonize and punish their political opponents.

The lawmaker wrote in the release he will be appealing the fine and take whatever action is necessary, especially considering this policy is unconstitutional.

Besides fining lawmakers who refuse or wrongly bypass metal detectors, Pelosi has also imposed fines for lawmakers who fail to wear face masks.

Failure to wear a mask will result in a $500 fine on the first offense and a $2,500 for a second offense. The fines will also be deducted directly from the lawmakers paychecks.

Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report.

From NTD News
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The Judicial Panel of Inquiry set up by the Lagos State government to investigate the October 2020 Lekki shooting incident has approved the reopening of the Lekki Tollgate.

The nine-man panel returned the control of the tollgate to the Lekki Concession Company, the operators, on Saturday.

The company, through its counsel, had been praying the panel to allow it to take over the plaza for repair and insurance claims since December 2020.

But the panel said the toll plaza could not be handed over as a forensic expert has been paid by the Lagos state government to examine the toll gate with respect of the October 20 shooting incident.

The prayer of the LCC was answered on Thursday when the panel gave the company access to reopen the toll gate.

The report of the forensic examination, which was meant to be ready on Tuesday, is yet to be disclosed by the panel.

Details later
President Joe Biden speaks about the economy in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on Feb. 5, 2021. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)

Biden Backs Off $15 Minimum Wage as Virus Relief Plan Takes Shape

President Joe Biden is backing away from the push to include a minimum wage hike in the CCP virus relief bill that Democrats are ramming through Congress, after key lawmakers signaled they no longer support it.

Well, apparently, thats not going to occur because of the rules of the United States Senate, Biden said in an interview partially released Friday by CBS.

I put it in, but I dont think its gonna survive, Biden added.

Democrats in the House of Representatives and the Senate on Friday passed a budget resolution that enables them to plug in a relief package thats expected to hew closely to Bidens $1.9 trillion proposal. Bidens package includes a $15 minimum wage. The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25, though many states have their own wage floors.

During an overnight session, the Senate adopted an amendment to not raise the minimum wage during the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic.

Tonight, I got the entire SenateDemocrats and Republicansto agree not to hike the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour during a global pandemic, which would kill jobs and destroy small businesses, said Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who introduced the amendment.

The amendment was nonbinding but showed the danger in placing the provision in the final package, since Democrats cant afford a single defection in the upper chamber because of their razor-thin majority.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is seen prior to the 59th Presidential Inauguration in Washington on Jan. 20, 2021. (Greg Nash/Pool/Getty Images)

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a self-described socialist who has long pushed for a wage hike, said he supported not raising the wage during the pandemic. He has introduced separate legislation which would raise the wage gradually over five years. That is what I believe we have got to do, he said.

Biden said he still backs a minimum wage increase.

All the economics show, if you do that, the whole economy rises. I am prepared, as president of the United States on a separate negotiation on minimum wage, to work my way up from what it is now, which islook, no one should work 40 hours a week and live below the poverty wage. And if youre making less than $15 an hour, youre living below the poverty wage, he told CBS Evening News.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) had said before the vote he didnt approve of raising the wage as high as $15 an hour, already imperiling a hike.

Republicans counter-proposal to Bidens plan doesnt include a minimum wage increase. Democrats are, for now, planning to pass Bidens package without Republican support using a budgetary tool that avoids the 60-vote requirement in the Senate. Democrats hold a majority even though each party has 50 members, because Vice President Kamala Harris can cast tiebreaking votes in her role as president of the body. Harris did so for the first time on Friday to pass the budget resolution.

Republicans have criticized the amount Democrats want to spend. Congress has already doled out over $5 trillion for aid during the pandemic, starting with the mammoth $2.2 trillion CARES Act in March 2020. The federal debt rose by $4.2 trillion as of Sept. 30, 2020, over the previous year, due largely to the CCP virus packages, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Even within the Democratic Party, some say the package should be more targeted. Larry Summers, a former top economic adviser during the Obama administration, said in an op-ed that the aid package passed in 2009 to respond to the recession was too small but Bidens package is too large.

Unemployment is falling, rather than skyrocketing as it was in 2009, and a number of states have seen a return to pre-pandemic levels of employment. Summers also expects a further strengthening of demand as consumers spend down the approximately $1.5 trillion they accumulated last year as the pandemic curtailed their ability to spend and as promised further fiscal measures are undertaken.

Biden told reporters earlier Friday that he feels the legislation passed to stoke the economy during the recession wasnt quite big enough, adding, We need an answer that meets the challenge of this crisis, not one to fall short.
The S.C. Department of Transportation was initially stymied in its plans to remove the scenic trees in the median of I-26. But just 7 years after a public outcry to preserve the tree-lined gateway to the Lowcountry, the DOT is taking another whack at the trees, with a clear-cut planned all the way to I-95.

It represents an astonishing reversal of the 2014 agreement to preserve the median trees along 17 miles of the scenic road. Instead, work is underway to clear-cut the median for the entire 23 miles. And it wont stop there. Plans are to eventually widen the highway to six lanes using the median all the way to Columbia.

The initial decision to save most of the median trees on I-26 east of I-95 came after intense opposition to the clear-cutting plan from local residents and environmental groups and objections by Dorchester County Council, 1st District Rep. Mark Sanford and finally a majority of the governing board of the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments.

Under the 2014 compromise, DOT sharply scaled back its tree-removal plan to 7 miles, and planned safety improvements that included additional guardrails and wire restraints. Some safety-related improvements were made to the existing road.

But as noted in a recent article by Post and Courier reporter Jerrel Floyd, the DOT now plans to remove the trees in Berkeley and Dorchester counties preliminary to a road-widening project.

In Charleston County the I-26 median has already been used to provide for additional road lanes.

The design of the urban portion of I-26 will be largely duplicated through the remaining rural corridor of the interstate to I-95. Motorists can expect opposing lanes of traffic to be separated in the center by a vertical wedge of concrete  the so-called Jersey barrier  along its length. The completed project would represent a triumph of brutal pragmatism.

The accident rate on I-26 is cited as the reason for the renewed tree-cutting initiative, and the project is eligible for full federal funding as a safety initiative. In this instance, the tree removal is preliminary to widening the highway using the median.

But residents said no to the plan when the clear-cut was first proposed. The result of their opposition and that of their elected representatives was the compromise to largely retain the scenic corridor.

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Unfortunately, the Council of Governments is no longer being consulted on the DOTs tree removal plans, even though an ongoing role for the COG should have been assumed under the original compromise. The current plan was approved by the state Transportation Commission in October 2018 along with a number of other projects to be included in a federal highway safety program across the state.

According to the DOT, a public information meeting was held on the revised I-26 project in June 2019 at Harleyville Elementary School in Dorchester County. But the DOT agenda for the meeting doesnt mention road-widening or clear-cutting. Instead, it says the project would include improving the clear zone, installing low-tension cable guardrail and lengthening the existing guardrails. That sounds a lot like the compromise project developed with the Council of Governments in 2014. As described by the DOT, the hearing could hardly be expected to bring out opponents of a new clear-cutting or lane expansion project.

Clearly, the elimination of the tree preservation plan didnt get the public attention it should have, considering the contentious opposition to the original clear-cut proposal.

Scenic values are an essential element in countering the effects of the unrelenting pace of growth and development in the Lowcountry. The community has sought to maintain those values, though all too frequently as a rear-guard action.

In this instance, local residents and their elected officials demanded that the DOT revise its original plans, and it did so, as instructed by a legislative proviso, in 2014.

The community should have been able assume that the DOT would stick to the compromise plan. Having made the agreement, the DOT should be restrained from arbitrarily altering it.

According to our news report, tree removal is underway on I-26 beyond Ridgeville. The DOT should put the brakes on further clear-cutting and return to the 2014 compromise plan to retain the scenic gateway.

Charles Rowe is the former editorial page editor of The Post and Courier.
Although Vietnam began to develop solar power plants just about three years ago, the initially achieved capacities have been outstanding.

However, the short terms of the governments previous two incentive programmes have left many projects stagnating, leading to unused potential.

Industry leaders are looking for longer rate timeframes in order to stabilise development of solar power in the country.

Vietnams solar power story is closely tied to its long-term goal of power diversification. The launch of the countrys first solar power plant in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue in October 2018 by TTC Group became convincing proof that the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has supported development of solar power projects according to Decision No.11/2017/QD-TTg dated April 11, 2020 on support mechanisms for solar power development in Vietnam. With the support of the government, the renewable energy sector, especially solar power, has since then witnessed strong growth, boosted by fixed prices through feed-in tariffs (FiT), especially on a larger industrial scale.

However, the development also exposed inadequacies, as negative impacts reached the market and investors due to the short validity of the first FiT, which ended after just one year as Decision 11 was valid from June 1, 2017 to June 30, 2019.

Exceeding expectations

Vu Phong Solar JSC, a company that operates a 250MW solar power plant in the south-central province of Ninh Thuan, plans to deploy 100 megawatts-peak of rooftop solar this year, but the fact that FiT3 has not yet been agreed on may hinder the companys goal. The problem of the market today is not the technical solution or the source of capital, but the belief in the power source, said Pham Nam Phong, general director of Vu Phong Solar.

He said customers are still afraid of contracts lasting up to 20 years, even though the suppliers state clear commitments during the handover phase, leaving systems operating at 80 per cent of original capacity.

The Vietnamese government issued FiT rates much later than other countries with the same potential, such as Thailand and Italy, or countries with even lower potential like Germany and Slovakia. These nations have all successfully developed solar power through state-led FiT rates.

In 2017, the Vietnamese government enacted Decision 11, with the first FiT for all types of 9.35 US cents per kWh, which expired in June 2019. With these attractive prices, Vietnam emerged as the country with the fastest growth rate of solar power in the world within a short time, with most of the plants located in Ninh Thuan and its neighbouring Binh Thuan province. However, when Decision 11 expired with no follow-up FiT, many projects fell into hibernation. This period lasted for more than nine months until the government issued Decision No.13/2020/QD-TTg regulating FiT2, which priced solar power at 7.09 US cents per kWh. Prices for floating solar arrays on the water stood then at 7.69 US cents and those for rooftop solar power at 8.38 US cents per kWh. Now, Decision 13 has also expired, leaving the market yet again waiting.

Petitions to extend FiT2 at least until the end of 2021 have yet to be approved. The Electricity and Renewable Energy Authority (EREA) under the MoIT said last month that policies and regulations on solar power development should be further reviewed and adjusted to approach a competitive market while ensuring enhancement of management efficiency and quality of operations.

However, the EREA also acknowledged limitations in the FiT mechanism, pointing out that projects focusing on areas with high solar potential led to overloading the grid in some areas, affecting its stability and increasing competition for land.

In addition, price-making mechanisms have limited control over the scale of resource and development planning. At the same time, the price of solar power hardly reflects the changes in technology prices.

The growth of solar power in Vietnam has exceeded expectations. The total installed solar capacity in Vietnam has reached about 19,400MWp (including nearly 9,300MWp of rooftop solar power), equivalent to 16,500MW, and accounting for about a quarter of total installed power capacity within the national electricity system, according to state-run Electricity of Vietnam (EVN).

Nguyen Anh Dung, project officer of the GIZs Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (REE) project observed that the market has been faster than state regulators, despite their transitions in recent years. Compared with the complexity of wind power, the time to install a solar power system is much shorter, helping investors recover capital faster.

Up to now, only about 600MW of wind power has been exploited.

The MoIT and EVN still need more time to learn how to respond to market developments, Dung explained. One of the advantages of the FiT rates for solar power is the created excitement within the Vietnamese market.

However, support for solar power development through FiT in Vietnam is facing two major problems, Dung commented. Firstly, a lot of unprofessional investors pour money into solar power. Competition has left many small investors to stay out of the market. This harshness shows that not all investments in solar power are profitable.

Secondly, many investors lack experience in establishing solar power plants. Some may seek the assistance of electrical engineers, but Vietnam is short of such professionals and may need another 10-15 years to form a generation of professional solar power engineers.

Clear policy help

Currently, Vietnams economy mainly depends on traditional fuels, but these energy sources need to be supplemented by renewable energy sources, with the sun being one of the obvious choices.

However, developing a clean electricity source depends a lot on which direction politicians want the country to develop towards, Sven Ernedal, project manager of the REE project, told VIR.

According to Ernedal, only when there is a clear path with suitable policies in place can proper solutions be implemented.

Data from the Vietnam Institute of Energy showed that Vietnam can theoretically develop about 386GW of solar power, concentrated in the south, in south-central Vietnam, and in the Central Highlands.

Legal restrictions will also have certain effects on the market, making investments in solar power somewhat less meaningful. According to Ernedal, when the FiT3 rates are issued, the projects already completed and installed will reap huge benefits.

The GIZ already has recommendations for FiT rates for furthering renewable energy development in Vietnam, and stated that the current shortcomings will be remedied if the country establishes a long enough timeframe for solar power development. It would be better if Vietnam offered a longer timeframe, perhaps five years, but ideally the contract durations should remain stable for around 20 years, as that is the time it takes to invest and develop large-scale power plants, Ernedal said.

A transparent and competitive market could also help to eliminate investors without enough financial and technological capacities and put the focus more on capable businesses. Without FiT rates, the more capable ones may get discouraged and give up. I think that is the way to eliminate unprofessional investors from entering this field. Then, the market could focus on professional ones, Ernedal stated.

Dung of REE added that the cliff effect will be significantly reduced if Vietnam prolongs its support mechanism through FiT rates for at least five years while reducing prices every six months.

When the FiT3 rates will come remains yet to be determined. But from a business perspective, Phong of Vu Phong Solar still hoped that the rates will be designed in the direction of prioritising the development of distributed rooftop solar power, with higher prices in areas with lower radiation, such as the north.

Each region could then offer more preferential rates for smaller systems under 100 kilowatt-peak due to higher investment rates. These policies, Dung said, will help encourage more people and smaller businesses to invest in rooftop solar power, thereby reducing the risk of power shortages in the vicinity while large sources of electricity and transmission lines could be deployed in the future.

Hai Van (VIR)

Wind, solar power sees new boom Many wind and solar power projects are awaiting approval to be added to the list of projects to be developed under the national power development plan.
A man undergoes a COVID-19 test Friday when the country's daily new infections stayed below 400 for a second consecutive day. This led the government to relax operating hour restrictions for certain businesses outside the greater Seoul area. Yonhap



The country's daily new COVID-19 cases stayed below 400 for a second consecutive day Friday, leading the government to relax operating hour restrictions for certain businesses outside the greater Seoul area.



The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Saturday that it had detected 393 new infections, including 366 local ones, raising the cumulative caseload to 80,524.



This is higher than the 370 reported Thursday but lower than the previous day's 451.



There were also five additional deaths raising the total to 1,464.






Dubai:

According to a media report on Sunday, a bakery in Dubai has claimed to have made the world's most expensive cake worth a whopping USD 25,000.

The epic four-foot high cake, which is baked entirely of sugar fondant and sugar paste, weighs 32 kg and can easily serve 100 to 120 people, Broadway Bakery said here.

The sponge cake was prepared in Dubai as a tribute to "Game of Thrones" character Tyrion Lannister, Gulf News reported.

The bakery posted a video on You Tube on how the special cake, which costs 91,800 dirham (Rs 16.15 lakh) was made.

"This epic four-foot high cake is a majestic tribute to the legendary Tyrion Lannister ? the rightful King of the Seven Kingdoms," the bakery said, adding that the unique cake is made entirely of sugar fondant and sugar paste.

Also Read: Obese children likely to develop painful hip disease in adulthood

The elaborate craftsmanship includes the detailed modeling of Tyrions face and body seated on a meticulously layered Iron Throne, made entirely of fondant, it said.

"The cake is prepared on a sponge base of your favourite flavour, and all designs are created using sugar fondant. The cake weighs 30 to 32kg and can easily serve 100 to 120 people," the bakery said in a statement.

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The old double standard is as alive and well as ever.

I find myself thinking about how women are judged more harshly  especially Black women  when I encounter folks talking about how Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw should resign over missteps made during last summers riots and unrest. My reaction is always, really? Then my eyebrow goes way up. Outlaw had a hard way to go from the jump. It is really hard to come in as an outsider, much less as a Black female, and run a predominantly white male-dominated police force.

Outlaw, who celebrates her one-year anniversary this month, made mistakes. But considering the kind of year that 2020 was, who in her position wouldnt have? I am not trying to justify some of the heavy-handed, militaristic tactics local police used last summer. Some of the things that went down on Outlaws watch were clearly problematic, such as the use of tear gas, which hadnt been used in Philly since the MOVE bombing in 1985. Council has since banned the use of it and rubber bullets.

 READ MORE: Philly police commissioner defends departments response to protests following critical report and says she wont resign

I would like to think thats all behind us now. Its time for the city to move forward. And like the many males who preceded her as the citys top cop, Outlaw deserves a chance to continue growing in the role. After all, she took on the position during one of our worst years in modern history.

Gun violence was raging before she arrived; some had unrealistically pinned their hopes on her to come in and fix the situation. Outlaw hadnt even settled in her new home when Philadelphia went into lockdown to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus. She had barely been in her job a month before tragedy struck when one of her officers, Cpl. James OConnor IV, was killed in the line of duty. Meanwhile, people were critiquing her moves or lack of them  as I also did  when I wrote about the low profile she was keeping.

Then in May, protests and riots broke out the likes of which this city hasnt seen in years after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Outlaw had to have been making decisions fast and furious. Some of them may have been on point. But others werent, such as the decision to deploy tear gas in West Philly. In her defense, Mayor Jim Kenney knew about her use of CS gas and rubber bullets in her previous job in Portland, Ore., before she moved east.

Despite this, the Mayor allowed the Commissioner to make decisions about its use without his express approval. Each of these issues contributed to the lack of leadership and accountability , read a report by City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart, prepared by Ballard Spahr and At-Risk International Inc., with input from a community advisory council.

People shouldnt be so quick to dump on Outlaw. Much of the blame for the citys lack of preparedness and poor leadership last summer should fall on Mayor Kenney and other top officials including former Managing Director Brian Abernathy, who resigned after coming under fire. But Kenney isnt going anywhere anytime soon. Neither should Outlaw.

Im not saying shes doing a great job but Im not going to say shes doing a bad job. Shes doing a challenging job. This job is challenging no matter who you give it to, said David Fisher of the National Black Police Association. We support her. We want her to succeed in this.

He added, Theres a whole lot of blame to go around for a whole lot of things.

Im with him on that. Im sure Outlaw has learned a lot since arriving in Philly. She needs to keep adjusting and learning on the job just as her male predecessors have done. Anyone who thinks something to the contrary needs to back off.
Walking the streets of the New Haven, you never know whats around the next corner.

Chances are its something beautiful.

Bright, cheerful, thought-provoking or simply joyful murals have been springing up throughout the city, unslowed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the pandemic may be bringing more artistic vision into the open air.

There has been this renaissance of public art and murals coming up in the city, said Adriane Jefferson, director of arts and cultural affairs for the city. I think these murals do a lot culturally during a time when people feel very disconnected from the world.

There are murals inspired by the passions of the moment, like the Black Lives Matter mural on Temple Street, splitting the New Haven Green with its frankness. There is an homage to avant-garde jazz musician, poet and philosopher Sun Ra, whose visage gazes out on Crown Street behind the Cafe Nine building.

There is even a mural depicting Dave Higgins, a city bus driver, and Dr. Michelle Salazar, a surgical resident and Colombian immigrant, in bright orange and lilac on Orange Street in the Ninth Square.

And in the Hill neighborhood, the Courtland S. Wilson Branch Library staff is working with city artists Isaac Bloodworth and Kyle Kearson to create a mural on the Five Star Laundromat Center just down Washington Avenue.

To Jefferson, what is important about the murals is not only that they brighten up the cityscape but that they reflect and spring from the community in which they are located. A lot of the murals can be looked at as pillars of social change and the fight that weve been in for racial justice and racial equity, she said.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

In the midst of the protests after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer, the message that Black Lives Matter appeared on Bassett Street and Temple Street. Its just becoming a reflection of the times that were in and almost a memorial of the times that were in, Jefferson said. Ultimately it evokes conversation.

The murals also proclaim loudly that New Haven is home to a vibrant community of artists, including muralists Bloodworth, Candyce Marsh John, Kwadwo Adae, Francisco Del Carpio-Beltran, M.J. DeAngelo and others.

Its a means of therapy for a lot of artists to be able to express themselves during this unprecedented time, Jefferson said. Several have been sponsored by Straight Up Art, a program of the Town Green Special Services District, which is accepting requests for qualifications for 2021 until Feb. 10.

The increase in murals is not just welcomed by the residents and business owners in the neighborhoods where they appear. It does regenerate tourism. It does bring people here, Jefferson said. It intrigues other people  to come to New Haven.

Perhaps most importantly is public arts role in placemaking, Jefferson said. Its vital that people are seeing it as a reflection of what they want to see in their community, she said. You see artists working in tandem to decide what art they want to make or see in their own community.

Luis Chavez-Brumell, deputy director of the Wilson Branch Library, said the idea for a mural was born partly out of a desire to connect with the young people in the neighborhood who have been unable to come into the library during the pandemic.

We are an institution that is about cultural equity, he said. Our job is to make resources available to people. Once the library reopens, there is a plan to bring in a cloth mural from the Yale Center for British Art to add to one created by children and overseen by artist Victoria Martinez.

Joy Meikle / Contributed Photo

Bloodworth is a New Haven native whose work with murals goes back about 10 years when as a student at Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School he helped paint a mural on the buildings across the street. It has since been replaced.

His character Black Kid Joy, whom Bloodworth created as a puppetry student at the University of Connecticut, is a colorful, joyous symbol of Black youth, somewhat inspired by Tamar Rice, a 12-year-old boy who was fatally shot by police when he was carrying a toy gun in Cleveland in 2012. Joy can be seen surfing in three windows behind the Amistad memorial outside City Hall.

Bloodworth said his idea for the laundry wall is having Joy jump out of [a] book on paper airplane pages from the book.  Im kind of exploring this idea of what does it mean to be a Black kid without any isms.

He said he and his girlfriend, Joy Meikle, have been talking about how, back in the day, mural work was really graffiti work to give a message to the unheard.  I see mural work as a form of graffiti; its just accepted graffiti.

Bloodworth said the mural brings positivity, it can bring community engagement, it can bring conversation. But he doesnt see his work as limited to the community it represents.

If I as a Black person was to go into a neighborhood that wasnt predominantly Black and was to do a mural, the image I would decide to put up could spark a lot of conversation that may have been hidden, he said. It can be a first step of having an anti-racist community to have that conversation.

edward.stannard@hearstmediact.com; 203-680-9382

The International Criminal Court said Friday that its jurisdiction extends to territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, potentially clearing the way for its chief prosecutor to open a war crimes probe into Israeli military actions.

The decision was welcomed by the Palestinians and decried by Israel's prime minister, who vowed to fight this perversion of justice. The U.S., Israel's closest ally, said it opposed the decision.

The ICC's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said in 2019 that there was a reasonable basis to open a war crimes probe into Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip as well as Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank. But she asked the court to determine whether she has territorial jurisdiction before proceeding.

In a statement on Twitter, Bensouda's office welcomed the judicial clarity of the ruling, but said it needed time before deciding how to proceed.

The Office is currently carefully analysing the decision & will then decide its next step guided strictly by its independent & impartial mandate, it said.

The Palestinians, who joined the court in 2015, have pushed for an investigation. Israel, which is not a member of the ICC, has said the court has no jurisdiction because the Palestinians do not have statehood and because the borders of any future state are to be decided in peace talks. It also accuses the court of inappropriately wading into political issues.

The Palestinians have asked the court to look into Israeli actions during its 2014 war against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, as well as Israel's construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem.

The international community widely considers the settlements to be illegal under international law but has done little to pressure Israel to freeze or reverse their growth.

The international tribunal is meant to serve as a court of last resort when countries' own judicial systems are unable or unwilling to investigate and prosecute war crimes.

Israel's military has mechanisms to investigate alleged wrongdoing by its troops, and despite criticism that the system is insufficient, experts say it has a good chance of fending off ICC investigation into its wartime practices.

When it comes to settlements, however, experts say Israel could have a difficult time defending its actions. International law forbids the transfer of a civilian population into occupied territory.

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 war, territories the Palestinians want for their future state. Some 700,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. The Palestinians and much of the international community view the settlements as illegal and an obstacle to peace.

Israel says east Jerusalem is an indivisible part of its capital and that the West Bank is disputed territory whose fate should be resolved in negotiations.

While the court would have a hard time prosecuting Israelis, it could issue arrest warrants that would make it difficult for Israeli officials to travel abroad. A case in the ICC would also be deeply embarrassing to the government. Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, led the 2014 war in Gaza, while Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz was the military chief of staff at the time.

In a videotaped statement released after midnight, Netanyahu accused the court of pure anti-Semitism and having a double standard.

The ICC refuses to investigate brutal dictatorships like Iran and Syria, who commit horrific atrocities almost daily, he said. We will fight this perversion of justice with all our might!

Nabil Shaath, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, welcomed the decision and said it proved the Palestinians were right to go to the ICC. This is good news, and the next step is to launch an official investigation into Israel's crimes against our people, he said.

The ICC could also potentially investigate crimes committed by Palestinians militants. Bensouda has said her probe would look into the actions of Hamas, which fired rockets indiscriminately into Israel during the 2014 war.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said the Biden administration, which has said it intends to restore relations with the Palestinians, opposed the decision and reiterated American opposition to the Palestinians even being party to the Rome Statute that created the court.

As we made clear when the Palestinians purported to join the Rome Statute in 2015, we do not believe the Palestinians qualify as a sovereign state, and therefore are not qualified to obtain membership as a state, or participate as a state in international organizations, entities, or conferences, including the ICC, Price said in a statement.

We have serious concerns about the ICC's attempts to exercise its jurisdiction over Israeli personnel, he said. The United States has always taken the position that the court's jurisdiction should be reserved for countries that consent to it, or that are referred by the UN Security Council.

The decision, detailed in a 60-page legal brief, was released late Friday, after Israel had shut down for the weekly Jewish Sabbath.

Human Rights Watch welcomed the decision, saying it finally offers victims of serious crimes some real hope for justice after a half century of impunity.

It's high time that Israeli and Palestinian perpetrators of the gravest abuses _ whether war crimes committed during hostilities or the expansion of unlawful settlements _ face justice, said Balkees Jarrah, associate international justice director at the New York-based group.

The three-judge pretrial chamber ruled that Palestine is a state party to the Rome Statute establishing the ICC. With one judge dissenting, it ruled that Palestine qualifies as the state on the territory in which the conduct in question occurred and that the court's jurisdiction extends to east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.

Last year, the Trump administration imposed sanctions against ICC officials, after earlier revoking Bensouda's entry visa, in response to the court's attempts to prosecute American troops for actions in Afghanistan.

The U.S., like Israel, does not recognize the court's jurisdiction. At the time, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the steps were meant as retribution for investigations into the United States and its allies, a reference to Israel.

The Biden administration has said it will review those sanctions.

Short link:


The immigration debate is back with its usual mix of promise and pitfalls.

The good news is that we are once again having an adult conversation about who should be admitted to the United States and what to do with those who are currently living here without documents. In a country where many systems arent working well at the moment, the immigration system is more broken than most. And real people pay a steep price.

The bad news is that this chapter in our ongoing national dialogue over immigration promises to be as dishonest and dysfunctional as previous ones. Some are still proposing simplistic solutions to complicated problems. Others are keeping secret their true intentions. Still others seem to be letting politics and partisan interests guide them.

Last week, President Joe Biden signed a series of executive orders. One revoked former President Donald Trumps cruel policy of separating families and created a task force to locate the parents of children in U.S. custody. A second order changed the process by which would-be refugees can claim asylum by no longer requiring them to remain in Mexico while claims are evaluated. And a third sought to support legal immigration by rolling back Trump-era policies that sought to make it more difficult for people to migrate, even when they followed the rules.

This was round two of Bidens executive orders on immigration. The first round came on his first day in office, when he sought to protect Dreamers, the undocumented immigrants brought here at a young age; end the ban on immigrants from Muslim countries; and stop construction of Trumps big beautiful wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Another executive order from that early batch  calling for a 100-day moratorium on deportations  hit a roadblock when a federal judge in Texas looked favorably on a legal challenge by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who insisted the federal government has to alert the states in advance of any significant change to immigration enforcement.

At the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, Congress received an immigration proposal on Bidens first day in office that was less than comprehensive. The legislation asks for a lot (i.e., a pathway to U.S. citizenship for an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants). But it doesnt give back much in return (nothing about beefed-up border security, guest workers, employer sanctions for those who hire illegal immigrants).

The omissions raise the possibility that Bidens immigration plan  which will be haggled over for months  could be a sneaky show bill not intended to pass, only to give the administration a gold star for trying.

Biden claims he wants to remedy the abuses that took place during the Trump administration. But we wont know if hes serious about improving a broken system unless he goes back further and also tackles the misdeeds that occurred before Trump took office  during the Obama administration, in which Biden served as vice president.

Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, a son of Cuban refugees, has been confirmed. Pro-immigrant activists are counting on Mayorkas to take a kinder and gentler approach to border security and immigration enforcement.

Not so fast. Rather than Mayorkas changing the DHS bureaucracy, the DHS bureaucracy is likely to change Mayorkas. Dont be surprised if the new secretary decides to quietly keep some of Trumps harsher policies to help control the border, curb illegal immigration and discourage would-be Central American refugees from seeking asylum in the United States.

According to CNN, the Biden administration is opening what both the White House and a compliant media are calling an overflow facility to house migrant children apprehended at the border. This is not to be confused, we are assured, with the practice made popular by Trump  and before him, former President Barack Obama  of putting kids in cages.

Spare us the wordplay. A jail cell on the border by any other name still strips a person of freedom  often without due process, a fair hearing or even access to a lawyer.

Sure, we need to fix the situation on the U.S.-Mexico border, just as we need to fix the immigration system as a whole. But the first thing that needs fixing is the way we talk about immigration in general.

When politicians sink their teeth into that issue, its not a story about good guys and bad guys. More often, its a case of bad guys and worse guys.

ruben@rubennavarrette.com
NSW beaches have been invaded by a bloom of bluebottles swept onshore by a north-easterly wind that continued throughout Friday night, causing large numbers of beachgoers to be stung.

But for all the people complaining, the sight of their pearly sacs and their tentacles has some raving about their beauty.

Bluebottles, a type of jellyfish, have been spotted on the beaches up and down the coast, including Sydneys Narrabeen, Manly, Bondi and Maroubra beaches. They have also been blown onto other beaches in NSW, including Terrigal on the central coast, and Gerroa to the south.

A bluebottle just off the sand at Maroubra on Saturday. Credit:James Alcock

According to Surf Life Saving Australias Sydney branch director of life saving Matt Spooner, there was a large influx on Sydneys beaches.
The U.S. Senate is scheduled to begin a trial on impeachment of Donald J. Trump officially announced for "the week of" February 8. According to C-SPAN, that means 1:00 P.M. EST on February 9, 2021. C-SPAN allows you to watch, live or whenever is convenient on demand, on a special web page.

Here is a preview for thinking Americans of some things to look for. You will be watching something like playing the Super Bowl in five minutes, with the best of players slipping and falling all over each other. No one can elegantly mash a two- to four-week trial into only a couple of half-days, while the Senate also conducts other business in the morning. compression will harm Trump's due process.

Each side has submitted briefs. The Democrat impeachment managers released an 80-page trial brief in small print. Trump's new lead attorneys, Bruce L. Castor, Jr. and David Schoen, submitted an "Answer" from Donald Trump later the same day on February 2, 2021. It is only 13 pages in big type plus a conclusion and signature block.

However, that was not Trump's trial brief. It was a reply to the Articles of Impeachment. It is in the style of "the allegations of paragraph 48 are denied in part and admitted in part." That sort of thing.

Trump's lawyers need to also file an actual trial brief. However, Castor and Schoen came on board only late last week. A case of this magnitude and complexity (more complex than you might think, with lifetime disqualification from public office and even criminal prosecution possibly down the line) would normally afford six months to eighteen months before going to trial. So Castor's and Schoen's Answer for Trump was thin.

Trump's new lawyers hit hard on a "bill of attainder." The U.S. Constitution absolutely forbids two things: an ex post facto law and a bill of attainder. An ex post facto law means that Congress criminalizes something only after you did it already. In fact, the Democrats are changing interpretations so severely that they are violating the ex post facto prohibition.

A "bill of attainder" is a legislature singling out a person for punishment rather than enacting a law of general application. Because the prohibition in the Constitution is absolute, Trump's lawyers raise it as a total bar.

In other words, they have put tyrannosaurus rex teeth into the argument that you cannot impeach a former president. They belabor the circumstances that the articles of impeachment have created: "a class of one" with only Donald Trump in the class.

That supports both an equal protection violation and a bill of attainder violation. They come close to arguing equal protection, but it sounds as though they ran out of time before hammering that point home.

Now, clearly, everyone is focused on whether Trump is disqualified from holding any political office in the future. That could include something like serving on a board, not just running for president. Democrats have made clear that their goal is to not face Trump at the ballot box on November 5, 2024. How convenient and banana republiclike to disqualify political opponents. The Democrats' fever is practically an admission that they might lose a rematch with Trump.

The news media have been in a fit over whether or not Trump (his lawyers) will argue that the 2020 election was stolen. Don't bet the farm on Castor and Schoen being that brave, because most lawyers are really not. But typically trial lawyers would be mystified by the question "are you going to argue A or B?" As my law professor asked in a (pretend) stunned expression: "Why do I have to choose only one?" A good trial attorney would be required to hit and smash each and every accusation against his client, in a row. Leaving any accusation alive is not in a trial lawyer's DNA.

Amazingly, though, Trump's brief reminds us that the Democrats are actually required to prove that the election was not stolen. The articles of impeachment do not merely open the door and allow Trump to prove there was election fraud. They accuse Trump of falsely claiming there was fraud in the election, thereby inciting protests.

Can you cry "fire!" in a crowded theater? Well, is there in fact a fire? Then yes. A prosecutor would have to prove there wasn't any fire.

In order to prove their case, the impeachment managers are actually required to prove that Trump's statements were false. The burden of proof is on the Democrats to prove that there was no fraud anywhere in the election. If Trump's statements were true or he reasonably believed they were true, then the articles of impeachment fail. And Trump should be able to respond. Of course, the Senate won't tolerate that or allow that much time.

Trump's lawyers hit hard on whether Trump's statements were incitement. They argue not only that Trump was exercising his rights of free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment, but also that the impeachment trial violates Trump's constitutional rights for that reason. Trump's Answer argues that the Constitution "specifically and intentionally protect[s] unpopular speech from government retaliation."

The impeachment managers effectively admit that Trump called for peaceful lobbying of the Congress, which is an exercise of their right under the First Amendment to peacefully assemble and "petition their government for redress." On page 14, their brief quotes Trump as saying:

I hope the Democrats, and even more importantly, the weak and ineffective RINO section of the Republican Party, are looking at the thousands of people pouring into D.C. They won't stand for a landslide election victory to be stolen.

This is the classic purpose of a lawful and peaceful protest. Many dozens of protests gather every year in D.C. for this very same purpose: to gather in large numbers and make their demands be known to their elected politicians. Every protest is intended to change the government's policies, positions, or actions.

The Democrats accuse Trump of whipping up his supporters. But their brief is an 80-page rhetorical screed that whips up their own supporters with inflammatory rhetoric. This is where most attorneys will probably try to be too nice and respectable. Most won't even know what hit them in a rhetorical sandstorm. The brief is filled with opinion and incredibly cites the Washington Post as evidence.

The Democrats' brief continues the false narrative that Trump generated the protests. They actually say Trump "announced" the "Save America March"  which was organized by others. Women for America First filed for a permit from the Park Service. The protest at the Capitol was planned earlier than December 23. The Capitol Police media office is staying mum about the permit issued for the northeast corner of the Capitol grounds. But Trump did not suggest that anyone go to the Capitol. There was already a 1:00 P.M. demonstration with a permit pre-planned on the Capitol grounds.

The Answer also challenges the way that the articles of impeachment commingle and confuse allegations of different events and charges, in violation of Senate Rules and the Constitution. In that way, it is impossible to know if senators are all voting for the same charges or some voting for a few charges and others for different charges.

Totally neglected by everyone: the January 2 phone call. But I'm out of space. Maybe in another installment.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Video PlayerClose

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, extends his New Year's greetings to people of all ethnic groups across the country, on a public square of Huawu Village, Xinren Miao Township of Qianxi County, Bijie, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 3, 2021. [Xinhua/Xie Huanchi]

 Xi sends his Chinese New Year greetings in an inspection in SW China.

 Xi says the country will secure the great victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects this year.

 The Chinese leader highlights common prosperity as an important goal of socialist modernization.

 Xi also underlines the special importance of Guizhou in the Long March in the Party's revolutionary history.

GUIYANG, Feb. 5 (Xinhua)  President Xi Jinping has sent New Year's greetings to Chinese people of all ethnic groups, wishing happiness and good fortune for the people and prosperity for the nation.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, extended the greetings during an inspection trip in southwest China's Guizhou Province prior to the Chinese New Year, which falls on Feb. 12 this year.

The trip took Xi to places including the city of Bijie and the provincial capital Guiyang. He visited a village, a residential community and a supermarket from Wednesday to Friday.

On Wednesday, Xi arrived in Bijie, once a typical poverty-stricken area. After over 30 years of effort, the city completed the poverty alleviation task in 2020.

Xi visited a section of the Wujiang River, one of the biggest tributaries of the upper Yangtze River. Checking the ecological environment and water quality of the river, he emphasized blazing a new path that prioritizes ecological conservation and green development.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspects the ecological environment of a major tributary of Wujiang River in Qianxi County, Bijie City, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 3, 2021. [Xinhua/Xie Huanchi]

Xi later went to Huawu Village in Xinren Miao Township. The once extremely impoverished village has eliminated poverty through crop and animal husbandry as well as tourism. Xi visited the home of a villager and a Miao embroidery workshop, urging efforts to promote ethnic and traditional cultures.

"This year, we will secure the great victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, achieving the first centenary goal," Xi told villagers at a public square. "No ethnic group should be left behind."

On Thursday, Xi paid a visit to a supermarket in Guiyang, checking the supply of goods for the Spring Festival holiday and demanding strengthened COVID-19 response measures and food safety supervision.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, checks the supply of goods for the Spring Festival holiday and their prices at a supermarket in Guanshanhu District of Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 4, 2021. [Xinhua/Li Xueren]

While visiting the Jinyuan community, Xi learned about issues including primary-level Party building and public service and required building communities into the safest havens for the residents.

Xi also warned that epidemic control remains a formidable task, urging local authorities to improve services for residents since people are encouraged to stay put for the holiday this year.

"The past year was an extraordinary one. Faced with a violent storm, we fought it with courage and triumphed. Each and everyone of us has experienced it together, and each and everyone of us is remarkable," Xi told local residents at the community's public square.

On Friday morning, Xi met with the project leaders and core scientists of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), the world's largest single-dish radio telescope.

Stressing the importance of science and technology in China's pursuit of building a modern socialist country, Xi called on scientists to scale the heights of global science, and make new and greater contributions to the construction of China's scientific and technological strength at a faster pace, and realizing the country's self-reliance and self-improvement in science and technology.

Also on Friday morning, after hearing the provincial Party committee and the provincial government report their work, Xi stressed efforts to further integrate big data with the real economy, foster and strengthen strategic emerging industries, and accelerate the development of a system of modern industries.

More should be done to stimulate consumption demand and develop new consumption models, so as to unleash the consumption potential to the full, Xi said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits local residents and learns about issues including primary-level Party building and public service at Jinyuan community in Guanshanhu District of Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 4, 2021. [Xinhua/Xie Huanchi]

He also demanded an effective transition from consolidating poverty alleviation achievements to promoting rural vitalization.

An excellent ecological environment is Guizhou's biggest development strength and competitive edge, Xi said, emphasizing that priority should be given to ecological conservation and green development.

Highlighting common prosperity as an important goal of socialist modernization, Xi urged active efforts to resolve issues including the regional development gap, the urban-rural gap and the income gap to ensure tangible changes and benefits for the people.

Xi underlined the special importance of Guizhou in the Long March in the Party's revolutionary history.

Of all the places the Red Army reached, it spent the longest time and had the most extensive presence in Guizhou, leaving later generations an enduring spiritual legacy, Xi said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, talks to local residents at Jinyuan community in Guanshanhu District of Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 4, 2021. [Xinhua/Ding Haitao]

He also noted that while in Guizhou, the CPC convened the Zunyi Meeting, which established Comrade Mao Zedong as the leader of the CPC Central Committee and the Red Army.

"The Party, the Red Army and China's revolution were saved at the most perilous moment," Xi said, adding that the Zunyi Meeting's distinct features, including the establishment of the correct leadership of the CPC Central Committee as well as innovative formulation and implementation of strategies that suited the Chinese revolution's characteristics, still have significance today.

Xi called on Party members to develop a deeper understanding of the Party's original aspiration and founding mission from the spirit of the Long March and the spirit of the Zunyi Meeting, consider people's improved lives as their greatest accomplishment, and resolutely fight undesirable conduct and corruption to continuously purify the political ecosystem.

(Source: Xinhua)
New Delhi:

The Opposition's parties on Tuesday declared Gopalkrishna Gandhi as their candidate for the upcoming vice-presidential poll. Gandhi was the 22nd Governor of West Bengal and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi.

Gandhis name was the only name discussed when 18 opposition parties met on Tuesday to decide on their candidate for the vice presidential poll.



The JD(U), which had broken ranks with the opposition over the presidential poll, also attended the meeting which chose Mahatma Gandhis grandson to be its nominee for vice president.

Polling for the vice presidents post will take place on August 5 if required. The votes will be counted the same evening.

Opposition parties name Gopal Krishna Gandhi as their candidate for the post of vice-president. pic.twitter.com/4O5AWt7smu  ANI (@ANI_news) July 11, 2017

ALSO READ | Vice-presidential poll: Election Commission issues notification, process of filing nominations begins

Opposition parties including Congress, Trinamool Congress, Left, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Nationalist Congress Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Bahujan Samajwadi Party and Samajwadi Party took part in the meeting.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, former PM Manmohan Singh, TMCs Derek OBrien, CPI(M)s Sitaram Yechury, SPs Naresh Agarwal, NCs Omar Abdullah, JD(S) Deve Gowda, BSPs Satish Chandra Mishra and RLDs Ajit Singh were among those who attended the meeting.



Others who participated in the meet include Jai Prakash Yadav of the RJD, Hemant Soren of the JMM, D Raja of the CPI and representatives of the CMK, the NCP, the Kerala Congress.

At the start of the meeting, 'silence' was observed in the Parliament over the recent terror attack on Amarnath Yatra pilgrims wherein seven were killed.

Delhi: Silence observed at the opposition leaders' meeting at the Parliament over terrorist attack on #AmarnathYatra pilgrims pic.twitter.com/gXtHRXcvMv

(With PTI inputs)

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the bankruptcy of capitalism before the eyes of the entire world. More than 2 million people died during the first year of the pandemic; hundreds of millions have been infected. They are the victims of a policy that sacrifices the health and lives of working people for the profits of the financial oligarchy. Instead of shutting down schools and businesses and providing financial support to compensate for the social consequences, the governments have forked over huge sums to the banks and major corporations. The stock markets are now celebrating record gains, while coffins pile ever higher in the crematoriums and hundreds of thousands of workers lose their jobs and incomes.

The pandemic is not the cause of this crisis. It merely exacerbated it. Wages, pensions and welfare benefits have long been under attack and health care and education spending cut to the bone, while a tiny minority has enriched itself to unprecedented levels and vast sums have been used for military rearmament and wars. The capitalist system is dominated by a financial oligarchy, whose rule is no longer compatible with democracy. This is the reason why fascist forces are being promoted everywhere.

But opposition to this is growing. Strikes and protests by teachers, students, health care and other workers against the ruling classs murderous strategy are on the rise. In the US, autoworkers have struck for safe working conditions. In India, millions of farmers are protesting against the government, protests against police violence broke out in every country, and several demonstrations occurred in Germany against the far-right Alternative for Germany and the right-wing agenda of the Christian Democrat (CDU)-Social Democrat (SPD) grand coalition government.

The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party, SGP) is standing in the federal election to give this opposition a voice and a perspective. We do not seek to treat the symptoms of a sick system, but advocate the overthrow of capitalism and the building of a socialist society. Together with our sister parties in the International Committee of the Fourth International, we unite workers across all borders in their struggles against social inequality, fascism and war.

The fundamental contradictions of the global capitalist system, which led to two world wars, are erupting once again. As in the 1930s, workers confront the choice: international socialism or capitalist barbarism. No social problem can be resolved without expropriating the banks and major corporations and placing them under the democratic control of the working class. Their profits and wealth must be confiscated, and the trillions given to them over the past year must be returned. The world economy must be reorganised on the basis of a scientific, rational plan.

To realise this programme, the working class requires its own party. Support our participation in the federal election now with your signature and become a member of the SGP!

Demonstration with SGP placards

Life instead of profits!

The coronavirus policies pursued by all the parties in government at the federal and state levels, from the CDU/Christian Social Union to the Left Party, are determined by the interests of the financial oligarchy. They leave schools and businesses open so that profits continue to flow, and thereby implement in practice the programme of the COVID-19 deniers and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). The result of this murderous policy is the greatest mass death since World War II.

While nurses are worked to death in chronically underfunded hospitals and there is no money for even rudimentary air filters in schools, the federal government and European Central Bank gifted hundreds of billions of euros to the major banks and corporations through stock purchasing programmes and stimulus packages. As a result, the DAX, Germanys main stock exchange, has climbed by 60 percent in 10 months, reaching an historic high. The 10 richest Germans have increased their wealth by 35 percent during the pandemic to $242 billion. The richest 1 percent of the population possesses as much wealth as the poorest 75 percent.

The fight to contain the pandemic is developing into a class struggle, which is showing ever more clearly that the two major classes in society, the capitalist class and the working class, have irreconcilable interests. The official pandemic policy puts profits before human lives. We demand:

The immediate shutdown of all nonessential businesses until the pandemic is under control! Full payments of wages for all workers affected as well as real assistance for the self-employed and comprehensive support for poor households! A globally coordinated vaccine campaign instead of vaccine nationalism and profiteering!

Defend all jobs!

The major corporations are exploiting the horrific consequences of the coronavirus pandemic to carry out long-planned rationalisations so as to destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs. In the auto industry alone, 500,000 jobs are on the chopping block.

We fight for the defence of every single job and demand a programme of public works in socially critical sectors, such as education, health care and environmental protection!

Stop militarism!

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, all of the great powers are preparing for new wars in order to pursue their economic interests. The federal government cut the budgets for health care and education in 2021 and increased the military budget to a record high of close to 50 billion.

In a government statement, Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded that during the coronavirus crisis it is necessary to do everything so we not only retain Germanys strength in the economic sector, but also in the global competition of systems. Millions are to die so that the German financial elite can pursue its imperialist interests with military force.

We demand: An immediate end to all foreign interventions! Dissolution of NATO and the German armed forces! Billions for education and jobs instead of rearmament and war!

Fascism never again!

Mass death, social inequality and war are incompatible with democracy. This is why the ruling elite around the world is turning to authoritarian forms of rule. Donald Trumps attempted fascist coup of January 6 showed that even the oldest Western democracy is breaking down. This will not change under President Biden, who represents the same interests of Wall Street as Trump and preaches unity and reconciliation with his supporters. In Europe, the filth of the past, which was long thought to have been overcome, is being resurrected: Volkish nationalism, racism, militarism.

The threat from the right is particularly acute in Germany. The police, army, and intelligence agencies are infested with right-wing extremist terrorist networks that enjoy support from the highest levels of the state. Despite the deadly terrorist attacks in Halle, Hanau and other places, and the murder of Kassel District President Walter Lubcke, the leaders and backers of these fascist structures remain free men.

By contrast, the state and government clamp down on anyone who resists the far-right. The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei was placed under surveillance by the domestic intelligence agency because it, in the words of the Interior Ministry, agitates against alleged nationalism, imperialism, and militarism and advocates a democratic, egalitarian and socialist society.

In the universities, professors are trivialising the Nazis crimes. The AfD was systematically built up by the political establishment and media. With its decision to continue the grand coalition after the last federal election despite suffering massive vote losses, the SPD and CDU/CSU made the right-wing extremist party the official opposition and integrated it into parliamentary affairs.

All parties then adopted the right-wing extremists inhumane programme and put it into practice: Sealing Europes external borders, mass deportations and inhuman camps for refugees, the building of a police state, the largest programme of rearmament since the Nazis, and lastly, the murderous policy of infecting the population en masse.

The SGP resists the rise of the far-right. We defend all democratic rights and fight against the censorship of the Internet by governments and big business. We demand equal rights for everyone who lives here, a halt to deportations and the closure of all deportation camps. The surveillance of the SGP and other left-wing organisations by the intelligence agencies must be stopped and the domestic intelligence agency must be dissolved. Freedom for Julian Assange!

Workers need their own party

These demands cannot be realised with appeals to the ruling elite, but only through the independent mobilisation of the international working class. The SGP therefore supports all genuine initiatives by workers and calls for the formation of rank-and-file action committees in workplaces, schools and neighbourhoods, which will unite internationally and organise workers struggles.

To enforce their interests, workers require above all their own party. All parliamentary parties advocate social spending cuts, the strengthening of the repressive state apparatus, military rearmament, and the deadly coronavirus policy in the interests of the financial oligarchy. This applies to the openly right-wing and right-wing extremist as well as the nominally left parties.

Under the chancellorship of Gerhard Schroder, the SPD and Greens organised the greatest transfer of wealth from the bottom to the top in history with the Agenda 2010 reforms. With its chancellor candidate, the current Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, the SPD is currently spearheading the anti-worker agenda of the grand coalition. The Greens, which organised the first German military interventions since the Second World War in Kosovo in 1999 and Afghanistan in 2001, are enthusiastic militarists and are keen to establish a governing coalition with the CDU.

The Left Party is also a vociferous defender of German imperialism. Wherever they govern at the state level in coalition with the pro-war, pro-austerity parties, the Left Party cuts social spending, deports refugees and makes deals with the AfD, as in Thuringia. With its roots in the Stalinist state party in East Germany, the SED, as well as the SPD and trade union bureaucracy in West Germany, its hostility to the working class is to be found in its DNA. The Left Party represents the interests of the state and privileged sections of the middle class.

The trade unions also no longer represent the interests of working people. They organise job cuts, smother all opposition, and ensure as the capitalists factory police force that production continues to run smoothly during the pandemic, despite terrible working conditions.

To defend their interests, workers must build the SGP as a new mass socialist party. As the German section of the International Committee of the Fourth International, the SGP stands in the tradition of the Trotskyist movement, which defended the Marxist programme of socialism against both Stalinism and social democracy.

The struggle of the Left Opposition and the ICFI provides living proof that there is a socialist alternative to Stalinism. Stalin embodied the dictatorship of a small privileged bureaucracy, which seized hold of power in the Soviet Union during the 1920s and expanded this after World War II into Eastern Europe and the GDR. Thirty years ago, it was the Stalinists who reintroduced capitalism, with horrendous social and political results around the world.

For the United Socialist States of Europe!

Workers in every country around the world confront the same problems and can only oppose exploitation, militarism and fascism by uniting. This is why our election campaign is not restricted to Germany but addresses itself to workers throughout Europe! We will conduct it together with our European sister parties, the Socialist Equality Party in Britain, the Parti de legalite socialiste in France, and Sosyalist Esitlik Grubu in Turkey.

To the European Union (EU) of the banks, big business, and militarism, we counterpose the unification of Europe from below. The European Union is not an alternative to the growth of nationalism, but rather encourages it. The EU dictates ruthless austerity programmes in the interest of capital, arms the police and intelligence agencies to the teeth, rearms the military and therefore strengthens the most right-wing political forces. Only if the working class unites throughout Europe and takes up the fight for the United Socialist States of Europe can a relapse into barbarism be prevented.

We call on all who are unwilling to tolerate the return of German and European militarism, the growth of poverty and the rise of the far-right to support the SGPs election campaign.

Share and discuss this election statement with friends, colleagues and acquaintances, and collect signatures to support our participation in the election.

Register today as an active supporter of our campaign and donate to our election fund. Read and study the World Socialist Web Site, the daily publication of the ICFI. Become a member of the SGP!
Axios

Southwest and American airlines won't yet resume in-flight alcohol service as planned after a flight attendant was recently assaulted by a passenger and other in-flight incidents.What they're saying: Southwest had initially planned to resume the service in June, but Sonya Lacore, the airline's head of in-flight operations, said in a memo obtained by CNN that "based on the rise in passenger disruptions in flight, I've made the decision to re-evaluate the restart of alcohol service on board."Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free"Given the recent uptick in industry-wide incidents of passenger disruptions in-flight, we have made the decision to pause the previously announced restart of alcohol service onboard,'' Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz told USA TODAY. Catch up quick: Last Sunday, a female passenger allegedly struck a flight attendant during a flight from Sacramento to San Diego  Southwest said two of the attendant's teeth had been knocked out. The passenger was then arrested on suspicions of battery causing serious bodily injury. The flight attendant was taken to a hospital once the plane landed, according to a police report. Southwest said Friday it banned the female passenger from flying with the airline again.The big picture: The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it had received approximately 2,500 reports of unruly passenger behavior since Jan. 1, with about 1,900 reports being of passengers refusing to follow federal mask mandates.Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.
A federal judge will allow a Texas business owner charged in the Capitol riot to visit Mexico for a work retreat.

On Friday, Judge Trevor N. McFadden approved the request by Jenny Cudd, who owns a flower shop in Midland, to travel to Riviera Maya later this month. The four-day trip to the resort area was prepaid before Cudd was arrested and charged for her role in the attack on Jan. 6, the motion to travel filed Monday said.

This is a work-related bonding retreat for employees and their spouses, the motion said.

In the order, McFadden noted neither prosecutors nor Cudds pretrial services officer opposed the request.

The Court also notes the Defendant has no criminal history and there is no evidence before the Court suggesting the Defendant is a flight risk or poses a danger to others, the order said.

On Tuesday, Cudd was indicted along with Eliel Rosa on charges of obstruction of an official proceeding; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building; and aiding and abetting.

The Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol was led by far-right extremists  many of them armed and screaming threats of violence  intent on disrupting U.S. representatives and senators as they approved President Joe Bidens Electoral College victory.

The extremists, along with thousands of other Trump loyalists, had come to Washington, D.C., to support the president in his final days in office. After a high-energy rally at the White House  where Trump urged them to march on Capitol Hill, the mob tore through barricades and smashed windows as they charged and desecrated the Capitol.

Five people died, including a Capitol Police officer.

A week after the attack, the U.S House voted to impeach Trump on charges of incitement of insurrection and the FBI warned of more armed protests leading up to Bidens inauguration on Jan. 20. Those protests never materialized; instead the attacks aftermath has been filled with arrests of those who stormed the Capitol and revelations about what it was like inside the Capitol the day of the siege.

Story continues

Cudd streamed a Facebook Live video of herself after entering the Capitol, saying she broke into House Speaker Nancy Pelosis office with others, according to a criminal complaint. A photograph depicts her inside the Capitol rotunda, the complaint says.

The criminal complaint also cites Cudds interview with a Midland news reporter, who she told we the patriots did storm the U.S. Capitol and I would absolutely do it again.

Cudd is the owner of a flower shop and former Midland mayoral candidate, the Midland Reporter-Telegram reported.

CEO gets prison in scam that convinced Texas patients theyd die soon, feds say

A Delhi court on Saturday issued an arrest warrant against Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief and 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed in a money laundering case related to terror funding in Jammu and Kashmir.

Besides issuing the non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Saeed, Special Judge Praveen Singh also issued warrants against three co-accused  Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, separatist Altaf Ahmad Shah alias Funtoosh and businessman from the UAE Naval Kishore Kapoor  who are currently lodged in the Tihar central jail here, seeking their production before the court.

The court passed the direction while taking cognisance of a chargesheet filed in the matter by the Enforcement Directorate for alleged money laundering.

The judge also issued summons to the representatives of Watali's company M/s Trison Farms and Construction Pvt Ltd, which has also been named as accused in the matter.

Special Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana, appearing for the ED, told the court that the accused hatched a criminal conspiracy to carry out subversive and secessionist activities in Jammu and Kashmir.

The accused established a network of cadres who were funded through Pakistani agencies via hawala dealers and local conduits by raising funds through local donations and funds have also been received from abroad, Rana told the court.

The ED had filed a case based on an NIA matter against Saeed, Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin and others for "conspiring to wage war against the government" and fomenting trouble in the Kashmir Valley.

The separatist leaders have been accused of taking a cut before handing over the money to generate trouble.

Saeed has also been accused of using the services of Watali for passing on the money to the separatists and some individuals who were actively indulging in stone-pelting in various areas of the Valley, the ED said in the charge sheet.

In the NIA's case, besides Saeed, Salahuddin and Watali, the agency had also named hardline pro-Pakistan separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani's son-in-law Altaf Shah alias Altaf Fantoosh, Bashir Ahmad Bhat and Javed Ahmad Bhat as accused.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.

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Panaji, Feb 6 (UNI) Union Minister for Animal Husbandry, Dairy and Fisheries Giriaj Singh on Saturday alleged that leftists and the 'tukde-tukde gang' were trying to spoil the achievements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the agriculture sector.

Addressing a press conference in the city, he pointed out that compared to previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime, there had been tremendous increase in the budgetary allocation for farm sector during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime.

"Some people are trying to pin India down by misleading about the farm sector. Leftists and the 'tukde-tukde gang' are trying to defame Modi's achievements in the farm sector. From 2009 to 2014 (UPA regime), the farm budget was around Rs 88,000 crore. From 2014-2020 the budgetary spending increased to more than Rs four lakh crore. It is more than a 400 per cent increase in budgetary spending," he said.

Mr Singh said there would be growth in the procurement of seasonal crops inspite of ongoing farmers' protest in the national capital.

UNI AKM 1415
ASC Obtains Microsoft Teams Certification for Compliance Recording

Hosbach, February 5, 2020 ? The German software company ASC Technologies AG today announced that its app for compliance recording, ASC Recording Insights, has obtained the Microsoft Teams certification. The Teams-integrated app captures communication and saves it in Microsoft Azure to satisfy legal compliance stipulations of MiFID II, Dodd-Frank or HIPAA.

A large number of customers from the financial services industry have already opted for ASC Recording Insights. The certification confirms that the solution meets all market requirements, is compatible, and offers high-quality and secure user experience. In the certification program, companies must go through a strict procedure focused on five central aspects: functional use case tests, validation of the framework conditions, security and compliance, operation and support as well as market launch strategy for sales and marketing.

?Certification backs our strategy to offer the best user experience and integration with Microsoft Teams,? says Dr. Gerald Kromer, Chief Executive Officer at ASC. ?The tests have corroborated that ASC Recording Insights is secure and meets strict compliance regulations ? and at the same time is unrivalled in offering quick and easy deployment.?

Daniel Canning, Director, Microsoft Teams Platform at Microsoft Corp., adds: ?Technical tools supporting quick and efficient communication and organization are important. We are pleased that ASC Recording Insights has been certified as a solution for Microsoft Teams, which gives our customers the additional flexibility to meet complex regulatory requirements in terms of recording and archiving in Teams.?

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.
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Northern Ireland fashion and homeware retailer Menarys saw its turnover rise by 5% to 21m according to its latest financial report, but it will still close three of its 18 stores here.

The retailer said it made the decision to shut its Tempest stores in Omagh and Cookstown as well as its Menarys store at the Rushmere Centre at Craigavon, so it can concentrate on its more profitable stores .

Director Stephen McCammon said: These closures form an important part of our strategy to ensure the business remains on a firm footing when some normality returns. The greatest impact of these closures is of course human  the loss of any jobs on our high streets is something we all wish could be avoided.

In its financial report for the year to January 31, 2020, Menarys also published an increase in gross profits to 9.2m, up from the previous years 8.7m, but pre-tax profits dropped more than 40% to 208,194.

Mr McCammon has spoken out regularly about the challenges facing his retail chain recently, hitting out at Stormont for a disparity in Covid-19 support received by businesses here and in other parts of the UK. He said Menarys received 77% less financial support that its counterparts in GB, a shortfall which was compounded by numerous forced closures during lockdown.

Last year he said: The logical consequence of the Assembly not addressing this Covid-19 support in Northern Ireland will be the inevitable loss of shops and jobs in the retail and hospitality sectors.

And yesterday he added: We were excluded from the important retail and hospitality grants early on in this crisis, along with many, many others  our crime being for growing our businesses and having more than one shop.

We remain the only part of the UK to be penalised in this very unfair and illogical way, receiving one grant per business rather than per premises. While we remain short changed in comparison to others, the rules around supermarkets, M&S and the major discounters continue to give them huge advantages over the many local businesses who have supported our local high streets for generations.

Our Executive cannot be unaware of the impossible position those forced to close within retail and hospitality are in. I would urge them to look to the inadequacy of the current support and address the unfair exclusion from grants of the many locally owned multiples who have served our local economy so well for so long.

The company faced even more challenges this year when Arcadia, the name behind some of its concession brands, ceased to operate in bricks and mortar settings as it sold its Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge brands to online retail giant ASOS.

Mr McCammon said the closure of three of his stores was in part necessary due to the administrations of our trading partners (Arcadia and Oasis), no doubt hastened by Covid.

Menarys has 20 stores on the island of Ireland  18 are in Northern Ireland. It employs 293 members of staff.

The full impact of Covid-19 on the business will not be visible until next years financial results are published, but Mr McCammon said: I fully expect the shop local movement to gather pace as 2021 unfolds.

DUBAI: Irans foreign minister urged Washington to act fast to return to the nuclear accord, pointing out that legislation passed by parliament forces the government to harden its nuclear stance if U.S. sanctions are not eased by Feb. 21.

Mohammad Javad Zarif also referred to elections in Iran in June. If a hardline president is elected, this could further jeopardize the deal.

Time is running out for the Americans, both because of the parliament bill and the election atmosphere that will follow the Iranian New Year, Zarif said in an interview with Hamshahri newspaper published on Saturday. Irans new year begins on March 21.

The parliament, dominated by hardliners, passed the legislation in December that set a two-month deadline for an easing of sanctions.

Bidens administration is exploring ways to restore the 2015 nuclear deal that Iran signed with major world powers but that was abandoned in 2018 by former President Donald Trump, who restored sanctions.

Iran retaliated by breaching the terms of the accord in a step-by-step response. Last month, it resumed enriching uranium to 20% - a level it achieved before the accord.

Biden has said that if Tehran returned to strict compliance with the pact, Washington would follow suit and use that as a springboard to a broader agreement that might restrict Irans missile development and regional activities.

Tehran has insisted that Washington ease sanctions before it resumes nuclear compliance, and ruled out negotiations on wider security issues.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed Iran on Friday in a virtual meeting with his British, French and German counterparts as the group weighed how to revive the deal.

The more America procrastinates, the more it will lose  it will appear that Mr. Bidens administration doesnt want to rid itself of Trumps failed legacy, Zarif said in the interview.

We dont need to return to the negotiating table. Its America that has to find the ticket to come to the table, he added.

On Monday, Zarif hinted at a way to resolve the impasse over which side moves first, by saying the steps could be synchronized.

YEMEN STANCE

Separately, Irans Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that a new U.S. stand on the Yemen war could be a helpful step, after President Joe Biden said this week Washington was ending its support for a Saudi Arabia-led military campaign in Yemen.

Stopping support  for the Saudi coalition, if not a political manoeuvre, could be a step towards correcting past mistakes," state media quoted ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh as saying.

But he added, This alone wont solve Yemens problem, and the air, sea and land blockade that killed thousands of people in the country due to a lack of food and medicine must be lifted, and the military attacks of the aggressor states led by Saudi Arabia must be ended".

Biden said on Thursday that the more than six-year war, widely seen as a proxy conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has to end." He also named veteran U.S. diplomat Timothy Lenderking as the U.S. special envoy for Yemen in a bid to step up American diplomacy to try to end the war.

(dubai.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; Editing by Frances Kerry)

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
Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 23:33:22|Editor: huaxia

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ALGIERS, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Algeria on Saturday hailed the formation of an interim executive authority in Libya, and assured to cooperate with it to boost stability in the neighboring country.

According to a statement of the Foreign Ministry, "Algeria welcomes the progress that has been reached in the Libyan political dialogue under the auspices of the United Nations through the formation of the interim executive authority, and expresses its full readiness to cooperate with it in order to achieve security, stability and the aspirations of the brotherly Libyan people."

The positive step is likely "to contribute to ending the state of division and reuniting the Libyan ranks ahead of the key general elections scheduled at the end of the year," it said.

Algeria reaffirmed its categorical rejection of "all forms of interference in the internal affairs of Libya, as well as its continuous support for the peaceful efforts aimed at establishing peace and stability in this brotherly country within a comprehensive approach based on the safeguard of sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Libya," it noted.

The new interim government for Libya was announced on Friday following UN-sponsored dialogue forum held in Geneva last week.

Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah was selected as the new Libyan prime minister and Mohammad Younes Menfi as president of the Presidency Council.

The new authority will present a new government to the House of Representatives within 21 days. Enditem
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  City Council members hope their efforts will bring police reform to the city in accordance with a mandate Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued shortly after the death of George Floyd.

A 12-item package introduced Jan. 29 will take steps to limit the authority of the police commissioner and take responsibilities from police officers, like responding to mental health emergencies and investigating traffic accidents.

Police commissioners would no longer have the final say on disciplinary matters, and the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) would in cases involving use of force, abuse of authority, discourtesy, and offensive language.

All police commissioners would also need to be confirmed by the City Council, and the package would include one bill aimed at ending the legal principle of qualified immunity, which protects government agents like cops from most civil lawsuits in the city.

Instead of police responding to mental health emergencies, specialized units to be created in the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene would take that responsibility.

The Department of Transportation would take over the investigation of traffic accidents, and police would be fully removed from the citys school system by August 2021.

School safety agents would no longer make arrests, carry weapons or mechanical restraints, or wear law enforcement uniforms, according to a City Council media release. School safety personnel would also need to be retrained with a focus on de-escalation tactics.

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said the purpose of the bill is to redefine public safety and reduce the NYPDs footprint.

This legislative package will be just one of the steps the City Council is taking toward reforming policing, he said.

From mandating that the council confirm incoming police commissioners to ensuring non-carceral interventions to community safety, this legislation will bring much-needed transparency and accountability to New Yorkers, he said.

The April 1 deadline approaches to meet a reform mandate Cuomo ordered in June at the height of protests against police brutality and racial inequality spurred by the police killing of Floyd in Minneapolis.

Localities across the state risk state funding if they dont meet the deadline, but the governor hasnt offered specifics on what he hopes to see from local reforms. He reiterated Friday that the effort must be done in collaboration with community stakeholders.

I understand that dealing with public safety is not an easy issue,' he said during a press briefing. I get it. I also understand that it is an essential issue. Local governments that dont have a public safety reform plan passed by the legislative body, signed by their chief executive, they will not be eligible for state funding.

According to a June report from the Citizens Budget Commission, about $82 million, or 2% of NYPD funding, comes from the state.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has pointed to a number of efforts during his administration that have been aimed at improving police and community relations, including neighborhood policing efforts which began in 2015.

Regarding the City Councils package, de Blasio hasnt addressed specifics, but said during a Thursday press briefing that the councils involvement will be a crucial part of the reforms the city ultimately puts in place.

Theres going to be a lot more over the course of February and March, and were going to bring together a reform package working with the City Council, he said. What I do know is that process will yield substantial additional reforms on a variety of fronts.

STATEN ISLAND POLS REACT

City Council Minority Leader Steven Matteo (R-Mid-Island) criticized the City Councils package and raised a number of questions about the effects of the legislation.

Those questions included whether police officers would even want to work in a city without qualified immunity, why the City Council would want to turn commissioner selection into a political circus while also removing their disciplinary authority, and whether the agencies with new responsibilities taken from officers would be able to handle them.

As a whole, this package of legislation threatens to further undermine our Police Departments ability to keep us safe, he said. Rather than focusing on ways to improve policing, these reform bills seem more intent on hurting police officers themselves and making their jobs untenable.

City Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore) said she will be working with her colleagues in the City Council to reach a final legislation, that will put into law the reforms necessary for a law enforcement system that protects both public safety and the civil rights of every New Yorker.

This package contains many provisions that I and other advocates have spent years calling for, starting with eliminating the police commissioners final say in all disciplinary actions, she said.

City Councilman Joe Borelli (R-South Shore) also expressed his opposition to the legislative package and raised concerns about previous reforms.

In June, the city shifted about $1 billion away from the NYPD and instituted a number of legislative reforms including a ban on chokeholds named for Eric Garner  a Staten Island man who died during an attempted arrest in 2014.

At the state level, legislators instituted a number of reforms, including the elimination of cash bail for most crimes, which city Police Commissioner Dermott Shea has blamed in part for the 14-year high in shootings the five boroughs saw last year.

Advocates for reform have questioned Sheas criticism of the state legislatures move on bail. Of the 2,000 people facing open gun cases at home in July, only 40 were rearrested on weapons charges, according to data compiled by the Vera Institute for Justice.

Borelli said he is worried about the effect the latest round of legislation will have on crime in the city.
Over the past day, Russia-occupation forces in Donbas violated the ceasefire regime six times, Ukrainian servicemen were not wounded, the press center of the Joint Force Operation (JFO) headquarters said.

"Over the past day, on February 5, six violations of the ceasefire regime were recorded in the area of the Joint Forces Operation. There are no combat losses among our defenders," the headquarters of the JFO said in a statement on Facebook on Saturday morning.

Thus, in the area of responsibility of the Pivnich (North) task force, not far from Novomykhailivka, the enemy opened fire from hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers and small arms.

Also, not far from the village, an enemy UAV was recorded passing through the demarcation line, which carried out remote mining in front of the positions of the Ukrainian defenders with a POM-2 mine. Near Svitlodarsk, the enemy was firing towards the Ukrainian positions from automatic heavy grenade launchers and heavy machine guns.

In the area of responsibility of the Skhid (East) task force, near Bohdanivka, the enemy carried out targeted shelling towards the Ukrainian positions from an automatic easel grenade launcher, and near Vodiane, Azov region - from grenade launchers of various systems and small arms.

"Since the beginning of this day, on February 6, one violation of the ceasefire was recorded. There are no combat losses among our soldiers," the report said, adding that the enemy opened fire from grenade launchers of various systems, large-caliber machine guns and small arms near Vodiane, Azov region.

The OSCE representatives were notified of the facts of ceasefire violation through the Ukrainian side in the JCCC.
Here what to do in Ocean City on rainy days

Even on rainy days Ocean City has a host of indoor activities  like shopping, movie theaters, wineries and breweries  to entertain.
Six out of seven staff at a nursery school who were offered jabs declined to be vaccinated.

Workers at the nursery in southern England were mistakenly offered jabs last week  but just one took up the offer.

The other employees  including childcare workers from South Asia, Bulgaria and Romania  are understood to have refused the vaccine, some of them on religious grounds.

The revelation will fuel fears about lower take-up of the jab among ethnic minority groups.

Six out of seven staff at a nursery school who were offered jabs declined to be vaccinated. Workers at the nursery in southern England were mistakenly offered jabs last week  but just one took up the offer (stock image)

A recent poll of 2,000 adults by the Royal Society for Public Health found that 76 per cent of people overall would willingly have a Covid vaccination  but only 57 per cent of those from minority ethnic backgrounds.

Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, has spoken of 'genuine and deep concern' that vaccination rates may be lower among such groups.

Last month, it emerged that while 80 per cent of staff overall at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London had been vaccinated, the rate was only around 25 per cent among black African and Caribbean staff, and even lower for Filipino workers.

It comes after dozens of school leaders have urged the Government to vaccinate all teachers as they supported plans for children to return to the classroom from March.

It comes after dozens of school leaders have urged the Government to vaccinate all teachers as they supported plans for children to return to the classroom from March (stock image)

Some 135 headteachers, mostly from independent schools, signed a letter calling for staff from all educational settings to be vaccinated.

They said they were heartened by the progress of the vaccination programme and encouraged that the Government's target of 15 million first doses by February 15 is 'likely to be reached'.

In the letter, coordinated by William Goldsmith, headmaster of St George's School Windsor Castle, they said: 'This is saving lives, bringing light to a dark period for many and giving hope that pupils will be back in their schools without any further delay.

'To support this mission, we urge the Government to vaccinate all teachers and school staff, along with other priority groups of workers.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson (pictured) has insisted that it is 'prudent' to stick to the planned March 8 opening date for schools in England, stating that the proposed date was three weeks after the most vulnerable should have been vaccinated

'The emotional and social wellbeing of young people is a significant concern to us, and every day we see the need for pupils to be in school; with each hour that passes the need to be back with their peers and teachers grows stronger.

'Teachers have demonstrated that they are ready for the challenge ahead; without neglecting anyone's safety, reopening schools from March 8 should be the priority under any circumstance.'

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has insisted that it is 'prudent' to stick to the planned March 8 opening date for schools in England, stating that the proposed date was three weeks after the most vulnerable should have been vaccinated.
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My friend Everett Fly, who is a National for the Humanities medalist, and I, both Alamo Heights High School graduates, are trying to identify Black pioneers of the Alamo Heights school system to recognize. These folk integrated Heights during the 1950s and 60s. We have some names and need help finding them so we can recognize them. If you could help, it would make a great column for Black History Month in the Express-News. Joseph and I are determined to use the February event to bring awareness to history that has been denied.

 Joseph B. Lambert

Both you  a research professor of chemistry at Trinity University  and Everett Fly, a local landscape architect and historic preservationist, are distinguished alumni of Alamo Heights High School, as described by district spokeswoman Patti Pawlik-Perales, who worked with you last year to research Black students who attended Alamo Heights during the first 20 years after integration (1955-1975).

Based on a review of yearbooks and other district materials, Pawlik-Perales said, it appears that Fly, a member of the class of 1970, is the third Black graduate of Alamo Heights High School, and classmate Rosemary Sauls was the fourth. Carrie Mae Harbert, class of 1962, was the first. Brenda Louise Pleasants 69, was the second.

Fly, who was featured in this column Feb. 28, 2018, regarding his investigation into the removal of the private Winters-Jackson-Anthony cemetery, has since done extensive research with Lambert on early Black students at Alamo Heights schools.

The earliest were in 1955, after the district announced its decision to integrate. Following the 1955 Supreme Court decision, Brown II, that ordered the lower federal courts to require desegregation with all deliberate speed, San Antonio school districts moved to do so without waiting for appeal of the recent Big Spring court decision. Alamo Heights board released a statement that Negroes would be admitted to their schools formerly limited to the white contingent, as published in the San Antonio Express and News, Aug. 28, 1955.

Alamo Heights ISD was the fifth area school district to change its policy for the 1955-1956 school year, amid concerns that refusal to comply could adversely affect eligibility for state funding.

Black students could choose to attend Alamo Heights schools or to have the district pay tuition if they preferred to stay where they were, said Mary Fisher in One Hundred Years of Excellence: The Story of the Alamo Heights Independent School District, having noted that before integration, the district already was paying for its Black students to be educated in Los Angeles Heights district schools (later part of San Antonio ISD). In 1955, the history book states, The school census counted 22 African-American students living in the district.

The low number reflects the fact that restrictive covenants imposed on property owners in Alamo Heights, incorporated in 1922, prevented houses from being sold or leased to one not of the Caucasian race. When the Alamo Heights school district was founded the next year, however, Black people already were living within its boundaries and continued to do so.

African American domestic workers lived in Alamo Heights as early as 1910, Fly said. Some were children of domestics who lived with their employers, but there also was a small piece of Olmos Park off McCullough (Avenue) that consisted of the homes of some Black families.

Black students who lived in the Alamo Heights School District were required to attend the Sojourner Truth School located in the Kenwood neighborhood west of McCullough and north of Olmos Drive through the primary grades, then transfer to San Antonio ISD schools  typically, Douglass Middle School and Phillis Wheatley High School, both designated as colored schools. This, Fly discovered, was the practice from 1911 through 1955.

The first three Black children to enroll in Alamo Heights schools were from the Smith family, who lived at 201 Annie St. in Olmos Park.

As reported in the Express on Aug. 31, 1955, they were John Henry Smith Jr., 13, and Paulette, 11, who registered for Alamo Heights Junior School; and their brother, William George, 8, who went to Cambridge Elementary. All three previously had attended Sojourner Truth.

The Smiths were not only the first Black students to attend Alamo Heights schools, they were also the first to attend any previously all-white San Antonio junior high or elementary school. Their sister, Shirley Smith (now deceased) would briefly attend Alamo Heights High School, which John Henry also attended but left in his senior year to graduate later from Wheatley High.

Fly and Lambert would like to locate John Henry, Paulette and William George Smith as well as other early Black students who attended or graduated from Alamo Heights schools for future recognition. To share your stories with them, contact this column. All replies will be forwarded.

historycolumn@yahoo.com | Twitter: @sahistorycolumn | Facebook: SanAntoniohistorycolumn


Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year falls on February 12th this year and will no doubt look slightly different with festivals and celebrations being cancelled due to covid-19 restrictions. Whatever celebrations look like for the year of the ox, one thing that cant be stopped is the food. While I am indeed an Irish man who grew up on stew and shepherds pie, Ive always been enamoured with the vast and varied Asian cuisines and have been lucky enough to celebrate the lunar new year on several occasions in Asia and closer to home when we lived in Los Angeles where the food is always at the centre of the festivities.

If you fancy getting in on the action and celebrating at home I have three recipes that should help you create an asian-inspired feast.

Shrimp Toast

Shrimp toast is a common item on dim sum menus and incredibly easy to make at home with only a couple of ingredients. A staple of Irish Chinese restaurants, the salty, crispy triangles of deep fried bread with prawn paste are completely addictive. The recipe also sees them served alongside a coconut green curry sauce for dipping- its an additional element that the chefs at LAs Nightshade restaurant make and makes the toasts all the more delectable. The prawn toasts are best made fresh but can be kept warm in a low oven.

Next up a takeaway classic that originates from the Sichuan province in China, Kung Pao Chicken. Crispy nuggets of chicken tossed in a sweet, salty, spicy and sharp sauce that originally gets its hum of heat from szechuan peppercorns. Served with rice its an ideal dinner dish for any celebrations.

Lastly, another dish from Sichuan, China and one of my favourite dishes to recreate at home, dan dan noodles. The key elements of the dish are twofold, the spicy fried minced pork flavoured with staple Asian kitchen cupboard ingredients and five spice and a nutty, spicy and numbing broth that gets poured over the noodles of your choice.

This is what well be making to celebrate, so wishing you and yours a happy lunar new year!

Cook: Time: 15 mins Serves: 8

The method for this recipe is simple and results in a sweet and savoury appetiser that is guaranteed to impress. Please note that they are best served soon after they are fried. The use of white pepper is also important here, although both white and black pepper come from the same plant, white peppercorns add a light and unique spiciness that is commonly found in Chinese cookery.

Ingredients

250g peeled and deveined shrimp

1 egg white

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp cornflour

1 garlic clove, minced

4 slices of bread, crusts removed and sliced in half

Sesame oil, for frying

50g sesame seeds

To serve

150ml coconut cream

2 tbsp green curry paste

Juice of  lime

2 spring onions, thinly sliced

Large handful coriander leaves

Method

1. Combine the shrimp, egg white, soy sauce, cornflour, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until extremely finely minced and evenly combined. Spread the shrimp mixture evenly over one side of each piece of bread. Add enough oil to a large saucepan so that its about 1-inch deep, and heat to 180C/350F. Place the sesame seeds into a wide dish and dip the edges of the shrimp side in, to evenly coat, but leaving most of the shrimp mix exposed.

2. Using a slotted spoon, gently place into the preheated oil and fry in batches for 2 minutes on each side until golden. Remove onto a plate lined with kitchen paper. Repeat until all the pieces are cooked.

3. While the toasts are frying, whisk together the coconut cream, curry paste and lime juice in a small saucepan over a medium heat, simmer for 3-4 minutes until thickened.

4. To serve, sprinkle the toasts with the spring onions and coriander and serve alongside the sauce.

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Kung Pao Chicken

Cook Time:

30 mins

Serves: 4

This dish is from the Sichuan province of China. Its sweet, sticky and spicy sauce is an ideal coating for crispy nuggets of chicken. Traditional recipes call for Chinese black vinegar for the sharpness it adds. If you cant track it down, you could possibly swap with balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar.

For the chicken

2 egg whites

3 tbsp cornflour

1 tsp sesame oil

500g chicken thighs, skinless, boneless and cut into scant 3cm pieces

500ml rapeseed or canola oil

For the sauce

8 Chinese red peppers or Tianjin peppers (alternatively, use one red chilli, finely sliced)

6 cloves garlic, finely grated

6 spring onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal

1 thumb-sized piece ginger, finely grated

75g roasted unsalted peanuts

50ml Shaoxing rice wine

50ml soy sauce

50ml chicken stock

2 tbsp Chinese black vinegar

2 tbsp cornflour

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp sugar

Salt

Cooked rice, for serving

Method

1. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg whites, cornflour, sesame oil and a pinch of salt. Add the chicken pieces and toss until completely coated.

2. Heat the oil in a large wok over a high heat and once hot, add the chicken and fry until cooked through, golden brown and crisp. Drain in a colander, set over a bowl.

3. Remove the majority of oil, leaving 1-2 tablespoons of it in the wok. Whisk together the cornflour with a little of the chicken stock before whisking in the rest of the stock, rice wine, chinese black vinegar and soy sauce.

4. Bring the heat back up to high on the wok and fry the chillies until blackened before adding the garlic, spring onions, ginger and peanuts. Stir fry until aromatic and the garlic and ginger are lightly browned.

5. Add the chicken back to the pan with the chicken stock mixture, sesame oil and sugar. Bring to a steady simmer and cook until the sauce becomes slightly thickened for a further 3 minutes.

6. Once the chicken is glossy, serve with rice.

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Dan Dan Noodles

Cook Time: 30 mins Serves: 4

A recipe with as many variations as an Irish stew, dan dan noodles are a classic in Sichuan cuisine. The recipe consists of noodles, a spicy peanut sauce and minced pork. You can find udon noodles vacuum-packed in most Asian stores.

For the mince

1 tbsp sunflower oil

250g pork mince

2 tbsp hoisin sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce

 tsp five-spice powder

2 tsp curry powder

For the sauce

1 tbsp chilli oil

4 tbsp soy sauce

4 tbsp peanut butter

2 tbsp tahini

2 tsp chilli paste

 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, ground

4 garlic cloves, finely minced

500ml chicken stock

To serve

250g udon noodles

4 baby bok choi, halved lengthways

4 spring onions, thinly sliced

50g peanuts, roughly chopped

Equipment: Large pot, large wok

Method

1. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the noodles for 5-6 minutes. Drain them and set aside.

2. Heat a large wok over a medium-high heat. Add the oil and fry the pork mince for 5-6 minutes or until browned. Add the hoisin, soy sauce, five-spice powder and curry powder, cook for a further 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.

3. With the wok over a medium-high heat, add the chilli oil, soy sauce, chilli paste, peanut butter, tahini, Sichuan peppercorns and garlic cloves to the pan along with the chicken stock and stir until combined.

4. Blanch the bok choi in boiling water for 1-2 minutes until tender.

5. Divide the sauce between four bowls followed by the noodles, bok choi, minced pork, spring onions and chopped peanuts. Serve straight away.

Patna:

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Monday said, there was no question of Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadavs resignation in the wake of his name appearing in the CBI FIR in the land-for-hotel case.



Senior party leader Jagdanand Singh informed reporters that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had called up RJD president Lalu Prasad last night but refused to divulge what transpired in the telephonic talks between them.



Kumar or the JD(U) has not commented so far on Fridays CBI raids in four cities in connection with a corruption case, in which the RJD chief, his wife Rabri Devi and son Tejashwi are among the accused.



BJP and its NDA partners have been demanding Tejashwis resignation over the issue. Party legislator Mundrika Prasad Yadav told PTI, There is no question of his resignation.



Another RJD MLA Ramanuj Prasad echoed his views. In the RJD Legislature Partys meeting, Tejashwis work as its leader in the Assembly was praised, senior minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui told reporters after the meeting.

ALSO READ | RJD MLAs back Tejashwi, say 'why would he resign'



The finance minister in Nitish Kumars Grand Alliance government, however, said, Yadavs resignation was not discussed at the meeting held at the 10 Circular road residence of former chief minister Rabri Devi.



Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, his minister brother Tej Pratap Yadav were present in the meeting along with legislators and other senior leaders of the party.

ALSO READ | Vice-Presidential poll 2017: Bihar CM Nitish ditches opposition again, decides to skip meet

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Here what to do in Ocean City on rainy days

Even on rainy days Ocean City has a host of indoor activities  like shopping, movie theaters, wineries and breweries  to entertain.
Canada recorded its 20,000th death from COVID-19 last Sunday.

Of those 20,000 deaths, 5,000, or fully a quarter, came in the 36 days between December 26 and January 31underscoring just how much more lethal the second wave of the pandemic is proving to be than last springs.

In recent days, the number of daily new COVID-19 infections has fallen to around 4,000, as a result of a spate of late December-early January lockdown measures. But governments across Canada, flying in the face of the recommendations of the most reputable epidemiologists, are now rushing to lift these restrictions.

They are doing so under conditions where many hospital intensive care units remain almost fully occupied. As of February 2, there were 1,144 hospitalizations in Quebec, 183 of which were in intensive care. Neighboring Ontario reported 1,158 patients in hospital, 354 of whom were in intensive care.

Transmission in the workplace continues, and it is picking up momentum in Quebec schools following their reopening last month. A similar process will soon be under way in Ontario after hard-right Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced Wednesday plans to reopen all schools by the middle of this month.

Meanwhile, with the support of Justin Trudeaus federal Liberal government, provincial governments are reopening the few economic sectors that had been closed.

On Tuesday Quebecs government announced that stores, hair salons and museums will reopen across the province starting February 8. Restaurants and gyms will be reopened in six regions; colleges and universities are encouraged to resume face-to-face education immediately.

In Manitoba, businesses have started to reopen in the southern part of the province with the lifting of various measures. In Alberta, Premier Jason Kenney, one of the strongest advocates of the reckless back-to-work policy of the ruling class, recently said, We need to recognize that we cant suspend businesses indefinitely because many of them simply wont survive that.

With the detection in Canada of scores of cases of the more contagious strains of the coronavirus that were first identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa, this lifting of restrictions threatens to plunge the country into a death spiral.

The ruling elite believes that the price of further mass deaths is worth paying in order to guarantee the profits of big business.

The danger of a resurgence of the pandemic and thousands more deaths is made all the more likely by the ruling elites disastrous mismanagement of the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. The development of multiple effective vaccines against the novel coronavirus within the space of a year is a tremendous scientific achievement. But the domination of for-profit pharma giants like Pfizer and Astra Zeneca over its production and distribution, and the associated phenomenon of vaccine nationalism, have proven calamitous.

Speaking at a press briefing Thursday, Maj. Gen. Danny Fortin, the military officer tasked with leading the federal governments distribution of vaccines, said that he does not know how many doses Moderna will supply during February and March. The first shipment in February, which arrived this week, was reduced by 20-25 percent from the originally agreed upon volumes.

To date, less than 2.5 percent of Canadas population has received the first of the requisite two doses of either the Moderna or Pfizer Bio-NTech vaccines, and less than 0.5 percent both doses.

Leading epidemiologists insist that now is not the time to lift the limited restrictions that the ruling elite adopted through gritted teeth as infections surged in December. According to Covid Strategic Choices forecasts, which agree with those of public health agencies, new daily cases could reach the 9,000 mark in Canada this spring, putting intense pressure on already overwhelmed hospitals.

Among the many experts who deplore the premature lifting of restrictions is Dr. Matthew Oughton. He recommends instead bringing the numbers down and then easing up, especially under conditions where evidence demonstrates that the much more contagious British variant is already being transmitted in the community in at least two of Canadas most populous provinces, Alberta and Ontario.

Other experts warn that with the critical situation in hospitals and potential increases in cases, we could soon face widespread use of triage, which occurs when doctors and nurses are forced, due to equipment and personnel shortages, to choose which patients to treat and which to let die.

According to Dr. Mathieu Simon, the chief of intensive care at the Quebec Heart and Lung Institute, If we were to slacken off in February, there is a risk of overcapacity and a return to the dynamics that we were talking about not so long ago, including allocation protocol and inhumane selection for intensive care beds.

In recent weeks, hospitals in Quebec and Ontario have conducted simulations to train physicians in deciding who willand will nothave access to intensive care in the event of triage.

While governments are blaming citizens for community transmission, statistics show that the majority of infections are occurring in the workplaces or being transmitted from workplaces and schools to homes. In Quebec, for example, workplaces account for more than 40 percent of infections, while nursing homes account for nearly 35 percent of cases.

Across Canada, there have been countless outbreaks among health care workers, in factories and at workplaces. Last week, more than 250 cases of COVID-19 were detected at a Canada Post facility in Mississauga, Ontario, with one worker dying as a result. A Toronto meat processing plant, Belmont Meats, reported 78 cases, including at least two associated with the new British strain.

As for the public agencies that are supposed to ensure the health and safety of workers (such as the CNESST in Quebec), they are turning a blind eye to the flagrant violations of public health measures by businesses. Since the beginning of the pandemic, out of more than 17,000 interventions, the CNESST has issued only 86 statements of offense, resulting in the closure of only two establishments and 23 construction sites.

Numerous studies have demonstrated the central role schools are playing in community transmission, including one conducted in Montreal after the start of the school year last fall. (See: The media falsely claims schools are safe: What the science actually says ).

Falsely claiming that health risks are low among young people, governments are forcing students back to school so that their parents can be ordered to return to work and generating profits for big business.

This has made schools important vectors for the spread of the virus. In Quebec, just three weeks after schools reopened from the Christmas/New Year holidays, there are already 1,450 schools with at least one case, 857 closed classes and three completely closed schools.

In addition to the unknown long-term effects of COVID-19 on young people, the virus can cause hospitalizations and even deaths in this age group.

A 14-year-old boy from Quebec City, Viktor Rousseau, was recently hospitalized after developing multisystemic inflammatory syndrome, a disease similar to Kawasaki disease, weeks after contracting the virus in his classroom. While Rousseau survived after being taken to an intensive care unit, another Ontario youth was not so fortunate. At only 19 years of age, Yassin Dabeh of London, Ontario died of COVID-19 after being hospitalized with respiratory problems.

It is imperative for the working class to intervene and advance its own response to the health and socio-economic crisis that has been triggered by the pandemic.

Workers must establish rank-and-file safety committees, independent of the pro-capitalist unions, in all workplaceshospitals, schools, factories, distribution centers and construction sites.

Through these committees the working class can mobilize its social power to enforce the emergency measures needed to contain the pandemic: mass testing and systematic contact tracing; billions of dollars of additional investments in health care; shutting down schools and all non-essential production, with full financial compensation for affected workers and small businesses until the vast majority of the population is vaccinated.

This program of struggle must be based on a socialist perspective aimed at the establishment of a workers government and the reorganization of the economy to satisfy the social needs of the majority, not creating private profit for a tiny minority.
KABUL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th February, 2021) Taliban's chief negotiator Mullah Baradar Akhund said on Saturday the insurgency would guarantee the implementation of Turkmenistan's infrastructure projects in Afghanistan.

The Taliban delegation arrived in Turkmenistan on Friday for talks with Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Moradov, the militant group's political spokesman Mohammad Naeem said.

Mullah Baradar said Talibs would ensure that the TAPI natural gas pipeline and new rail link projects traversing Afghanistan would be implemented "full and well."

During the meeting, the Taliban leader and Turkmenistan's top diplomat also discussed the Afghan peace process, border security, prisoners, education and health.
Somali leaders kicked off the fifth round of talks in the central town of Dhusamareb on Wednesday to resolve the current electoral impasse that has delayed elections in the Horn of Africa nation.



President Mohamed Farmajo chaired the opening session of the forum which brought together leaders of Galmudug, Hirshabelle, Puntland, Jubaland, and southwest states. Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Roble and the Governor of the Benadir region were also in attendance.



The leaders discussed efforts at the federal and state levels to implement the electoral process, ensure political stability and security in the country, President Farmajos office said in a statement issued in Mogadishu.



Farmajo highlighted the importance of the unity of the Somali people and also emphasized the rebuilding of the country amid difficult times.



Somalia is facing multiple threats to its stability from continued terrorist attacks, increased political polarization, the COVID-19 pandemic, the worst desert locust invasion in decades and floods.





The consultative meeting is expected to arrive at a way forward for the delayed elections, considered critical for the sake of entrenching the federal system of governance, which is required to appease communities and regions claiming systematic exclusion and marginalization for decades.



Regional leaders from Jubbaland and Puntland had proposed talks with leadership from Mogadishu to help strike a middle ground on the politically negotiated electoral model that will allow the nation to hold elections.



Somalia was due to hold parliamentary elections by December 2020 while the presidential poll was to take place in February.



Parliamentary and presidential elections took place in late 2016 and early 2017 through a system of indirect suffrage.

Source: Xinhua









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Rust is not currently ranked highly on programming language popularity indices like PYPL and TIOBE, but it is a rising star in the software development world.

Growing out of a personal project started by Graydon Hoare in 2006, Rust is a programming language that focuses on performance, and guaranteeing memory- and thread-safety.

This not only helps catch many types of bugs when code is being compiled into a program or software library, but it also reduces the risk of critical security vulnerabilities which frequently rely on memory handling bugs.

Hoare stepped back from his technical leadership role within the Rust project in 2013 for personal reasons, and the project is now led by a core team of eight people.

Rust has operated under the umbrella of Mozilla Research and is currently establishing its own foundation.

In the past few years, big technology companies have started to adopt Rust for crucial systems including Cloudflare, 1Password, Discord, and Amazon.

Microsoft has also started exploring how it can use Rust and has posted a job advertisement for an engineer to work on Rust compilers and tools.

Facebook also started hiring Rust compiler and library engineers last year.

Discord, a communications platform popular with gamers, said in a blog post published early last year that it uses Rust in its client application for its video encoding pipeline, as well as on its server side.

The company said that it switched from using Googles Go programming language to Rust due to performance problems it found in its Read States component. Read States in Discord keeps track of the channels and messages you have read.

Retrenchments at Mozilla, uncertainty

Discords blog post came just months before Mozilla retrenched around 250 people from the company. These lay-offs affected various teams within Mozilla, including those working on Firefox and Rust.

Our pre-COVID plan for 2020 included a great deal of change already: building a better internet by creating new kinds of value in Firefox; investing in innovation and creating new products; and adjusting our finances to ensure stability over the long term, Mozilla CEO Mitchell Baker wrote at the time.

Economic conditions resulting from the global pandemic have significantly impacted our revenue. As a result, our pre-COVID plan was no longer workable.

Following the retrenchments, the Rust core team and Mozilla announced plans to create a Rust foundation.

The foundation will take ownership of the trademarks and domain names associated with Rust, Cargo, and crates.io, and will also take financial responsibility for the costs they incur.

Rust Rises

While the lay-offs at Mozilla stirred speculation and caused some uncertainty regarding the future of Rust, the big tech companies of Silicon Valley continued to support the language.

One of Rusts core team members, Nicholas Matsakis, posted at the end of last year that he was leaving Mozilla to start a new job as tech lead of the new Rust team at Amazon.

Amazon has stated that Rust helps its web services teams write highly performant, safe infrastructure-level networking and other systems software.

Amazons first notable product built with Rust, Firecracker, launched publicly in 2018 and provides the open source virtualization technology that powers AWS Lambda and other serverless offerings, the company said.

We also use Rust to deliver services such as Amazon Simple Storage Service, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, Amazon CloudFront, Amazon Route 53, and more.

Using Rust to rewrite critical security module for Apache webserver software

The Internet Security Research Group (ISRG), which looks after projects like the free and open Lets Encrypt security certificate authority, recently announced that it was embarking on a project to rewrite an important security module for the widely used Apache webserver (httpd) in Rust.

One of the biggest issues with httpd is the fact that its written in C, which is not a memory-safe language. Memory safety issues dominate its list of security vulnerabilities, ISRG stated.

Rewriting httpd from scratch or moving its users to a memory-safe alternative would be incredibly difficult, but fortunately we can tackle httpds memory safety problem incrementally.

It will begin with a new Transport Layer Security (TLS) module for httpd called mod_tls.

Transport Layer Security is the protocol that encrypts web traffic between your browser and the web server. It is often represented as the lock icon in your URL bar when you connect to a site that supports encryption.

The new module will use the excellent Rustls library for TLS instead of OpenSSL, said the ISRG. We hope that someday mod_tls will replace mod_ssl as the default in httpd.

ISRG said that it has contracted Stefan Eissing of Greenbytes, who also contributes to the httpd project, to do the work on mod_tls with funding provided by Google.

We currently live in a world where deploying a few million lines of C code on a network edge to handle requests is standard practice, despite all of the evidence we have that such behaviour is unsafe, ISRG stated.

Our industry needs to get to a place where deploying code that isnt memory safe to handle network traffic is widely understood to be dangerous and irresponsible. People need memory safe software that suits their needs to be available to them though, and thats why were getting to work.

As of February 2021, Rust was ranked 16th on PYPL, which bases its index on Google Trends data looking at how much tutorials for a language was searched.

On the TIOBE index for February 2021, Rust is ranked 30th (down from 26th in January). The ratings are based on the number of skilled engineers world-wide, courses, and third-party vendors.

Now read: The plan to bring coding and robotics subjects to South African schools
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EDWARDSVILLE  Two Granite City residents face Class X methamphetamine felonies, among a number of drug- and alcohol-related charges filed Friday by the Madison County States Attorneys Office.

David W. Brand, 44, and Carrie L. Whitehorn, 43, were each charged with unlawful possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, both Class X felonies.

The cases were presented by the Granite City Police Department.

According to court documents, on Feb. 4 the two were found to be in possession of between 15-100 grams of methamphetamine.

Bail was set at $150,000 each.

Other felony charges filed include:

 Christopher S. Leith, 32, of Granite City, was charged with two counts of aggravated driving under the influence while license suspended, both Class 4 felonies. The case was presented by the Edwardsville Police Department. According to court documents, on Feb. 5 Leith was found to be driving a 2013 Honda Accord while under the influence of alcohol, while his license was suspended. Bond was set at $15,000.

 Jamone T. Bester, 30, of Collinsville, was charged with aggravated driving under the influence while license revoked/suspended, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Collinsville Police Department. According to court documents, on Feb. 5 Bester was driving a 2015 Jeep while under the influence of alcohol, while his license was suspended. Bail was set at $15,000.

 Whitney N. Kenshalo, 28, of Alton, was charged with two counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, both class 4 felonies, on two separate dates. The cases were presented by the Alton Police Department. According to court records, on Sept. 4 and Feb. 5 she was found to be in possession of less than 15 grams of fentanyl. Bail was set at $15,000 for each offense.

 Cynthia Rodgers, 58, of East Alton, was charged with unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Alton Police Department. According to court documents, on Feb. 5 Rodgers was found to be in possession of less than five grams of methamphetamine. Bail was set at $15,000.
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Islamabad:

A joint investigation team probing the Panamagate graft case against Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family submitted its final report to the Supreme Court on Monday.

JIT chief Wajid Zia presented the report along with evidence to a three-member special bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Ejaz Afzal, Justice Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan.

The reports contents are not yet known, but the apex court has ordered that its copies should be provided to the parties to the case, including Sharif family.

However, JIT chief Zia asked the court that the 10th volume of the report should not be made public as it consists of correspondence with a foreign government.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party leader Imran Khans lawyer Fawad Chaudhry told media that the report consists of 10 volumes and nine volumes of it would be made public.

The bench adjourned the hearing till Monday.

Members of the JIT arrived at the apex court amid tight security provided by the Islamabad Capital Territory Police and large cardboard boxes labelled Evidence were carted into the court.

Besides other evidence, the report consists of the statements of Prime Minister Sharif, his brother and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif; his children Hussain, Hassan and Maryam Sharif and son-in-law retired Captain Mohammad Safdar.

The six-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was set up in May by the Supreme Court with the mandate to probe the Sharif family for allegedly failing to provide the trail of money used to buy properties in London in 1990s.

The JIT has also probed several of serving and former officials in connection with the case.

The six-member JIT included Federal Investigation Agencys (FIA) Additional Director General Wajid Zia, Military Intelligences Brig Kamran Khurshid, National Accountability Bureaus (NAB) Director Irfan Naeem Mangi, State Bank of Pakistans Amer Aziz, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan?s (SECP) Executive Director Bilal Rasool and Inter-Services Intelligences Brig Muhammad Nauman Saeed.

Last year, the Panama Papers revealed that three of Prime Minister Sharifs children owned offshore companies and assets not shown on his familys wealth statement. The assets in question include four expensive flats in Park Lane, London.

The top court took up the case in October last year on petitions filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Awami Muslim League and Jamaat-e-Islami and reserved the verdict in February after conducting hearings on a daily basis.

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What is the real truth behind the Novocherkassk massacre? Russian filmmaker Andrei Konchalovsky's latest film  premiering at International Film Festival of Rotterdam  explores this in detail.

Andrei Konchalovsky has had one of the odder careers in world cinema. He began by writing a couple of Tarkovsky classics (Ivans Childhood, Andrei Rublev) in the 1960s. By the 1980s, he was in Hollywood, making mainstream fare like Tango & Cash, starring (gulp!) Sylvester Stallone. (You have to admit thats some leap!) And now, in his 80s, hes back to his roots in black-and-white Russian cinema. His latest film, Dear Comrades!, premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Prize. This week, it was part of the line-up at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam.

Its 1962. We are in Novocherkassk, in the erstwhile USSR, and right off, we meet our protagonist, Lyudmila (Julia Vysotskaya). She appears to be a woman of patterns. During World War II, she was a nurse at the front, and she had an affair with a married man. The man she is sleeping with now  her boss  is married, too. Another pattern: She is a staunch Communist. She longs for the days of Stalin! Now, she works as an official in the Communist Party.

But like many of us, her staunchness to causes can be a little flexible during a crisis. Things arent looking good in Novocherkassk. For one, food prices are on the rise, and people are clamouring to stock up on provisions. But thanks to her connections, Lyudmila doesnt have to bother. At the store, she is ushered into a private room, past the other clamouring customers. This Communist doesnt seem to mind this bit of special treatment over the masses on the other side of the door. The director seems to be taking a dig.

The story catches fire when labourers at a heavy engineering plant learn that their wages have been cut by a third (we dont see this scene, exactly, but its context) and stop working. The party workers are stunned at this act of rebellion: A fucking strike in our socialist community. How is this possible? It gets worse. Photographs arrive of people who are branded instigators, of people who are branded hooligans because they were seen breaking the windows of train cars.

Soon, workers from other factories have joined the strike, and are marching towards the city. The KGB lands in town. An emergency meeting is convened, and we get a moving scene where the Army chief is questioned after it is discovered that soldiers have no munitions. The man is clearly torn between his commitment to the Communist cause (he is staunch, too) and his sympathies for the labourers. He says he thought his job was to protect the State from external enemies. The top brass doesnt buy it. They order him to arm his soldiers.

And we get to the films centrepiece: workers assemble at the square near Lyudmilas office and they are gunned down mercilessly. Lyudmila ducks into a shop where she watches it all unfold through the glass windows, as though she were watching a horror movie. And her staunchness is shaken. Later, we learn from people trying to hose down the area that the blood could not be washed off. It seeped into the asphalt and stained it red.

Some of us may be reminded of Steven Spielbergs Schindlers List. There, too, we had a protagonist who  if not exactly committed to a cause, to a set of beliefs like Lyudmila  was indifferent to the lives of the masses around him. But when he witnesses a massacre, something changes inside him. Some of us may also be reminded of the womens pictures (as they were known back then) Hollywood made in the 1950s  because Lyudmilas daughter (who works in a locomotive factory) goes missing in the commotion, and the latter part of the narrative narrows down to a mother searching for her daughter.

This is no doubt an important story. The press notes at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam gave more context of the storys importance: The movie is based on a true story that happened on June 2nd, 1962, in Novocherkassk and kept secret until the Nineties. The investigation was started in 1992. The victims were secretly buried in graves under fake names so they could never be found. Major suspects among the top Soviet officials were dead at that time. Culprits have never been convicted.

But Dear Comrades! never becomes more than an important story. Its proficient. It looks classy. Its well-shot, well-acted. Its a solid history lesson. (Those familiar with the Khrushchev regime will find this history a lot more interesting.) What the film doesnt quite become is something urgent, something that gives us a new angle to a generic story thats been told in so many ways by so many filmmakers from so many different countries. Compare the massacre here to the riot in Alfonso Cuarons Roma, and youll see the difference between staging and statement.

The most interesting angle comes when a KGB agent named Viktor (Andrey Gusev) decides to help Lyudmila. Why should he? Isnt the KGB responsible for the massacre? And didnt he, earlier, come to Lyudmilas house with a search warrant, asking about her daughter? Has Viktor, like Lyudmila, been transformed by the horror that just unfolded? This is the one part where the film acquires texture. Not everything can be explained, seems to be the answer. Maybe going after the missing daughter is a small act of... penance.

I use that word deliberately, because we see that not all of Russia is godless. Lyudmilas father has with him a portrait of Mary and the baby Jesus. He says he would like to be buried with it. When you live in a State where you cannot voice your own beliefs, maybe you begin to think that actions are louder than words. What you cannot say explicitly (maybe that the massacre was an overreaction), you try to remedy by what you end up doing (going after the missing daughter).

Lyudmilas father also reminds us that Truth is an elusive quality, and that not everything thats been written down can be believed. Father and daughter speak of Mikhail Sholokhovs novel, And Quiet Flows the Don, which was published in the early twentieth century and tells the story of Cossacks who settled along the river Don. Its regarded as one of the canonical works of Russian literature, but Lyudmilas father says that had Sholokhov written the truth, no one would have known he existed. He would have been killed. Extrapolate this thought to Dear Comrades!, and we are left with this troubling thought: What is the real truth behind the Novocherkassk massacre?

Iran's foreign ministry said Saturday the US decision to end military support to a Saudi-led military coalition can help fix 'past mistakes', but falls short of a solution to Yemen's six-year war.

US President Joe Biden had announced on Thursday that Washington was terminating all offensive support for Saudi Arabia in the war, including related arms sales to Riyadh, in stark contrast to former President Donald Trump's line.

Regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran are on opposing sides of Yemen's conflict, with the former backing an internationally recognised government and the latter supporting the Huthi rebels.

"Ending the support for and not selling weapons to Saudi Arabia's coalition, if not a political maneuvre, can be a step towards fixing past mistakes," Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement.

"Iran supports any efforts by the global community to support Yemen and end support of the aggressor," he said while adding that the US move will "not solve Yemen's problem on its own".

Khatibzadeh said the "air, sea and land blockade" of Yemen and the "military attacks by aggressor countries led by Saudi Arabia" must end as well.

He hoped that the "warmongering countries realise their strategic mistake in invading Yemen and confess to their mistake".

The war in Yemen has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, triggering what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

The Iran-allied Huthis seized Yemen's capital Sanaa and much of north in 2014, sparking a Saudi-led intervention the following year.
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A woman who was plagued by crippling headaches that were 'ruining her life' claims having Botox in her jaw every three months has left her 'pain free'.

Keira Wallis, 36, from Guildford, told how she began suffering from terrible headaches three years ago, after a prolapsed disc in her back caused nerve impingement.

She was lucky if she went a day without one, and admitted they were so severe that she often felt unable to go to work or see her friends.

Keira Wallis, 36, from Guildford, was plagued by crippling headaches that were 'ruining her life'

Keira said she was lucky if she went a day without a headache, and admitted they were so severe that she often felt unable to go to work or see her friends

Keira was eventually diagnosed with temporomandibular disorder, known as TMD, where the complex system of muscles, bones, and joints stop working in harmony resulting in chronic facial pain.

In December 2018 she visited Dr Rekha Tailor at Health & Aesthetics in Surrey, who suggested injecting Botox into her jaw muscles to 'paralyse' them and prevent them from clenching too much.

Following the five minute procedure, which cost around 300, Keira said she noticed a staggering difference in just a week.

'For the first time in nearly three years I was headache free,' she told FEMAIL. 'I've never looked back! Thanks to Botox I'm pain-free and enjoying life again.'

In December 2018 Keira visited Dr Rekha Tailor at Health & Aesthetics in Surrey, after her husband Jim told her she was grinding her teeth at night. Dr Rekha suggested injecting Botox into her jaw muscles to 'paralyse' them and prevent them from clenching too much

Keira told how her back injury coupled with studying for a post-graduate diploma in Cancer and Clinical Oncology, and a bereavement, left her 'really stressed'.

What is TMD? Temporomandibular disorder (TMD) is a condition affecting the movement of the jaw. Symptoms include pain around your jaw, ear and temple, clicking, popping or grinding noises when you move your jaw, a headache around your temples, difficulty opening your mouth fully and your jaw locking when you open your mouth. The pain may be worse when chewing and when you feel stressed. Advertisement

'I started suffering from terrible headaches,' she recalled.

'They were so severe that I got them for five to six days at a time and for 24/7.

'I was constantly in pain - it stopped me going to work some days and left my mood low and my social life in tatters.

'On one particular day I had gone to London for a client meeting and the pain was so severe that I had to cancel at the last minute and get the train straight home, crippled in agony.'

Presuming she was suffering from stress-induced headaches, Keira said she visited her GP several times but was simply prescribed painkillers.

'The pain was so intense and for such long periods of time that I began to think that if that was going to be my quality of life it wasn't worth it,' she admitted. 'I felt like I couldn't live like that any more.'

After a year of suffering, Keira went to see a neurologist at Mount Alvernia Hospital in Guildford.

He suggested her headaches were a result of 'medication overuse' and advised her to stop taking her prescribed drugs and visit an acupuncturist.

Keira admitted the alternative therapy 'helped a bit' but the pain remained constant, day in, day out.

It when then that her husband Jim remarked on how much she was grinding her teeth in the night, complaining it was keeping him awake.

Keira said: 'After years of headaches that were so painful they were ruining my life, not to mention the time and money spent on acupuncture, physio, osteopathy, neurologist visits, maxillofacial appointments, MRI scans and medication, finally I was pain free and able to enjoy life'

Keira made an appointment with her dentist and was told she had a lot of wear on my teeth from the grinding.

She was diagnosed with bruxism - a a sleep-related movement disorder in which you grind, gnash or clench your teeth.

What exactly is Botox? 'Botox is a brand name that's become synonymous with anti-wrinkle injections,' explains Dr Rekha. 'The technical term for anti-wrinkle injections is actually botulinum toxin, so while a clinic may be advertising a Botox procedure, it might not be the actual product that's used in your treatmenthence why it's important to do your research before you book in. 'Botox is a drug made from a toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. It's the same toxin that causes a life-threatening type of food poisoning called botulism. However, as a cosmetic doctor I can use it in small doses to temporarily smooth facial wrinkles among other things. 'The toxin has been used commercially for medical and cosmetic purposes since 1987 when Vancouver doctors Jean and Alistair Carruthers accidentally discovered cosmetic properties in a toxin normally used by ophthalmologists. 'Nowadays Botox injections are used in cosmetics primarily for their ability to reduce the appearance of facial wrinkles. 'However, more than half of its revenue comes from its therapeutic use for a range of medical conditions including neck spasms (cervical dystonia), excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis), an overactive bladder, lazy eye, chronic migraines, crossed eyes, twitching eyelids, back pain, depression, Bruxism (excessive teeth grinding), and premature ejaculation. 'In causes such as excessive sweating, Botox injections use the botulinum toxin to block the nerve signals responsible for sweating, stopping the sweat glands from producing too much sweat. 'Studies have also shown that Botox injections may significantly reduce chronic neck pain when used in combination with physio. It does this by helping to relax muscles and treat uncontrolled muscle contractions. Advertisement

'I did some research on this and came across a condition called Temporomandibular disorder,' Keira explained.

'Any problem that prevents the complex system of muscles, bones, and joints from working together in harmony may result in temporomandibular disorder.

'As I looked at the symptoms they matched mine completely  especially the crippling headaches.

'So I visited a Maxillofacial consultant who diagnosed me with TMD.

'They explained that my chewing muscles were extremely overdeveloped as a result of the bruxism, and recommended Botox.'

During her session with Dr Rekha, she told ow the Botox would effectively paralyse the muscles in her jaw and allow them to relax, thus reducing the pain.

Keira added: 'After years of headaches that were so painful they were ruining my life, not to mention the time and money spent on acupuncture, physio, osteopathy, neurologist visits, maxillofacial appointments, MRI scans and medication, finally I was pain free and able to enjoy life.

'Dr Rekha Tailor explained that the procedure usually lasts three to six months, so approximately three months later I had Botox injected into my jaw again, as well as into my forehead this time to further prevent the headaches.

'An unexpected side-effect is that my face has slimmed down a lot too, because the overdeveloped jaw muscles have reduced and my skin looks wrinkle-free!

'Although aesthetics is the reason most people get Botox nowadays, for me it was just a welcome side-effect of the treatment that's given me my health and my life back.'

NICE suggests the treatment be considered as an option for the prevention of headaches for people who have chronic migraines that have not responded to at least three prior preventative drug treatments.

Dr Rekha said she has seen a rise in patients using Botox for crippling headaches.

'Botox has become synonymous with "tweakments", however Botox injections have been used to treat headaches and chronic migraines for years now,' she explained.

'Due to its nerve-blocking effects it plays a big role in treating a variety of medical conditions and more and more patients are realising the benefits of using Botox to treat persistent headaches.'

For more information visit www.healthandaesthetics.co.uk
While the EU is heavily criticised for her vaccine management, Kate Bingham can look back at the UKs success story. But she doesnt see Brexit as reason for the smooth rollout.

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WELT AM SONNTAG: How did you achieve this successful vaccine program? For example, how did you know which of the vaccines to pick?

Kate Bingham: The instruction I was given by the prime minister was to save lives as soon as possible, so we had a very clear goal. We had a very clear focus on being quick and securing the most promising vaccines for the UK as soon as possible. So that was my number one priority. And so what we did and Im a venture capitalist in my whole job, Ive spent all my life building companies, developing new pharmaceuticals. So my whole job has always been: look at science, look at data, and then decide what the risks are. And if from my perspective, its an attractive investment or whether or not we should be building a company around that area of science.

So the concept of looking at data and establishing what the different strengths of the different data packages were something that Im familiar with. But also the team that I put together is familiar with. So the first thing we did was to basically narrow down the landscape to those [vaccines] that could enter the clinic in 2020. So that was our first cut off, because if they couldnt get into the clinic in 2020, that means they were going to be probably next generation vaccine  and too late for the immediate pandemic.

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So we focused, first of all, on what could get into clinic first and then we looked at the data. Now, of course, all the different companies have different types of data. None of the models were comparable. And that reduced the list probably to 20. And then we probably did really deep diligence on a dozen, maybe something like that. And then we had to make decisions. And so then that was the basis, the judgment of the team that not only what was the immunogenicity and safety data like, but just as importantly, what was the ability to supply like?

So did we actually have confidence that they would be able to scale and generate the numbers of doses we wanted in time? And so thats why weve been quite public about it. That was the reason we chose Biontech over Moderna. So both of them have good data, but the Biontech supply chain was clearly far advanced for European supply ahead of Moderna who had prioritized supply in the US ahead of Europe. Everyone thinks it was sort of amazing. It wasnt. Its what we do.

WELT AM SONNTAG: Were you told basically you can spend whatever you want?

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Bingham: Well, they asked me what I thought we needed to spend, and the answer was I didnt know when they first asked me. And so we went in and obviously started doing the work and doing the due diligence. Many of the pharma companies said that they would do it on a nonprofit basis.

So Johnson & Johnson or Janssen has auditors in there to establish their nonprofit price, AZ is doing it on nonprofit basis, GSK, Sanofi were doing it on nonprofit. So price was important, but it wasnt the driving force. The driving factor was getting the vaccine quickly. And as it turned out, we paid a little bit more than 10 pounds a dose and its about the same as the US paid. So it wasnt as if we threw money at it.

The government didnt say to me, you have a blank check. We had to prepare a business case to secure an overall framework budget from which we would then make recommendations, eg we suggest you sign this contract for these vaccines. We werent choosing vaccines on the basis of being cheap. We were choosing on the basis of vaccines being effective and available quickly.

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WELT AM SONNTAG: Do you think the UK was better in coordinating the supply of the vaccine?

Bingham: Being quick and nimble was definitely important. The fact that Ive been in the industry for 30 years and the team that I work with have been in the industry at least as long, if not longer, meant that we had connections very broadly across the industry. So that meant I could just pick up the phone and speak directly to a company. With one company we had our first meeting on a Thursday and we had a follow up meeting on Saturday. And would agree the rough outline of a deal the following week.

So we had to make ourselves good customers to make people want to supply to the UK because there was going to be limited amount of vaccine initially. So our goal was to do whatever we could do to encourage the companies to talk to us. So that meant we had a sort of UK offer, as it were, which is if the company needed support in the scale of the manufacturing and fill finish and if we could offer that, we offered it and if the company needed us to help with running the clinical trials, we did that, too.

So if I take Novavax as an example. We have supported them with during the tech transfer of their manufacturing to a company in Teesside so called Fujifilm. So we help them buy the equipment to manufacture the vaccine so that they would be ready to start manufacturing this year, which is what theyve done. And also launched a national citizen registry on the NHS website so that anybody in the UK could sign up on the NHS website indicating their willingness to be contacted about clinical trials.

So weve now got more than 400.000 people registered, of which over a third are of over 60. It was very important to us to be able to have a broad reach of people that we could enroll in clinical trials, especially those people who are most vulnerable, because those we needed to show that the vaccine worked in those people. And so using the registry was the reason that we were able to start that Phase 3 trial and finish enrollment of 15.000 people before the American trial even started.

And so our offer to Novavax was, well help you with manufacturing, well help you with the clinical trials. And then, of course, the broader contribution is that that clinical data can now be used for the European submissions and submissions elsewhere. But our goal basically was really to be a supportive customer as much as we could.

WELT AM SONNTAG: Did you mainly work with places like Cambridge and Oxford?

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Bingham: Oh no. I did not mind where the vaccines came from and in fact, the only vaccine we secured, the only UK based vaccine is Oxford/AstraZeneca. We also secured rights to the UK/French vaccines from GSK/Sanofi and Valneva.

So as far as I was concerned, geography didnt matter. I was only interested in securing the best vaccines. For example Biontech  Sean Marett who is the chief business officer was somebody I had backed in one of my companies before. So Ive known him for, I dont know, 15, 20 years. And so its very easy for me to just pick up the phone and had lunch with him a year or two ago when he was in London. So easy for me to pick up the phone and have those conversations. So I dont think this was anything to do with the UK being better or anything. I think that is the wrong narrative. I think its just a different strategy.

The UK had a very strategic approach, which was to secure vaccines quickly. And the European approach seems to be more sort of a more typical procurement approach, which was more about making sure you got the best value for money for your vaccines. It wasnt related to Brexit and is not related to people being better or more experienced. I think theres plenty of very, very, very good people obviously in the EU and in fact, you know, if you look at the companies are, you know, Biontech is exceptional, CureVac is exceptional. Sanofi is fantastic. Lots of good companies there.

WELT AM SONNTAG: Are the Brits more happy to take a risk?

Bingham: Maybe. I dont know. Our actual upfront cost was 900 million pounds. Its in the public accounts committee transcript. But yes, we were willing to write off the upfront money which was largely for manufacturing if actually those vaccines failed.

WELT AM SONNTAG: In Germany they had individual contracts with AstraZeneca, but they had to wait for the collective contract with the EU. So dont you think that maybe in some way Brexit helped to be faster than other countries?

Bingham: The first thing that was the quickest  the MHRA registered the vaccine under European law, so there was no change. Any other European country could have registered the vaccine under European law, using their own regulator. So in Germany, the Paul Ehrlich Institut could have done exactly the same thing. So that was not to do with Brexit. Whether or not other countries could have done what we did. Again, thats a political matter. I dont understand whether they had to opt in or could have been able to opt out. We chose to opt out. I dont really understand politics, and so I dont know what the constraints are, Im afraid.

WELT AM SONNTAG: The EU insisted more on liability of the pharma companies, which the UK did not do. Is that correct?

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Bingham: No, I dont think so. I dont think our liability claims would be very different from what the Europeans have agreed to.

WELT AM SONNTAG: So its not the case that if something happens to someone who had a vaccine that this will be covered by the taxpayer in the UK while in the EU it will be covered by the pharma company?

Bingham: I think its highly unlikely if thats the case. The fact is that all the companies needed indemnities because of the fact they had not worked with the vaccines for very long and it wasnt a choice. So indemnification was definitely a matter that all the governments, including the UK, were uncomfortable about. But if they/we wanted to secure the vaccines, they/we were going to have to give indemnity. So I think probably the difference is that we just got to that position maybe sooner than others.

And I can completely understand that if you could get 27 countries all to agree very difficult. And if you look at the US, theyve actually incorporated that indemnity protection into law. So they have statutory immunity in whats called the US PREP Act. So we werent doing anything that hadnt already been done in the US.

WELT AM SONNTAG: You secured 400 million doses. What do you think is the right level to start supply of other countries?

Bingham: Thats a political question. So I dont have a view. And the reason weve got so many doses is that we know which if any, of these vaccines would work. So if you go back to May, we didnt know what, no vaccines against any human coronavirus, so we didnt have any confidence that any of these would work. So what we did was to pick the best vaccines, each of the four categories of different types of vaccines.

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So we had contracts for the two most advanced type so the Adenoviral vaccines, which is the AZ and Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) and to the mRNA which is Biontech and Moderna, they were the most advanced, but those are the ones that we knew least about. And so those could all have failed because theyve never been approved for use before. And then we took the less sexy, but the more reliable vaccines which were the protein-adjuvant vaccines and the whole viral based vaccines, which were going to be slower to develop.

But if they were going to work and more likely to work because we knew more about those vaccines, so now people are saying, well, why did you buy so many? We didnt know which if any of these were going to work. And in terms of surplus, that is purely a political decision. The politicians will have to decide when enough is enough. And thats for them. Not for me, Im afraid.

WELT AM SONNTAG: What is the cooperation with German CureVac?

Bingham: The CureVac deal has been done since I left. The purpose of CureVac is to bring mRNA manufacturing onshore. So one of the manufacturing plants that we bought last year was a veterinary vaccine plant, which weve now converted into manufacturing human vaccines. And so that is now a bulk manufacturing plant that can make mRNA vaccines in the UK. We also funded work to improve the lipid nanoparticles process and scale up. Basically, mRNA genetic sequences are encased in a lipid, fatty envelope to make the vaccine

We were able to to develop that lipid nanoparticle technology to support mRNA vaccine manufacturing. So the idea of CureVac is to be able to develop next generation sequences for the new variants. So these could be ready for boosting the UK population for next winter, i.e. October or the beginning of next winter for 2021 to specifically address the variants. The plant is in Essex.

WELT AM SONNTAG: The UK is part of Covax, the global initiative for vaccines. So when do developing countries get the vaccine? Once all British people are immunized?

Bingham: The UK has pledged I think its 548 million pounds to Covax. Thats independent, completely separate from the contracts that weve signed for the U.K. population. So the UK has made a very significant contribution to Covax. And in fact, weve seconded people into Covax to support what theyre doing. Our approach throughout has been as cooperative as we possibly can make it.

So if you take AstraZeneca, for example, we sent out a team in November to the Dutch plant, the Halix Plant, to help them with the scale up and the production of the AstraZeneca vaccine in that plant. So where we can, we try to help. Thats been the same the whole way through. So our approach has been to be as co-operative as we can. And in fact, I spoke to several of the European negotiators along the way.

WELT AM SONNTAG: It would be kind of ethical once you have vaccinated your whole population, then to give the surplus to other countries, whether its Europe or other countries.

Bingham: That would be my view, but its a decision for politicians.

WELT AM SONNTAG: The UK is a pioneer also in the one dose approach. Do you think this one dose approach should be applied also to other countries?

Bingham: I think you need to be a bit careful about calling it a one dose strategy because theres no actual one dose strategy. The only company that is developing a one dose strategy is Janssen. And their data looks very strong in terms of immunogenicity and protection after one dose, so thats the only company thats got a single dose regime. What the Oxford data has shown is that by extending the time between two doses, they can improve the immunogenicity.

And remember, they got theyve got data to show for it because they, like J&J, were planning to do a single dose regime, but it was when they looked and they have had two doses arm and when they looked at the two doses arm, they then realized that they got much better immunogenicity after the second dose. So they went back to that the trialist and said, would they come back please, for a second dose?

Because many of the trials had started in April. By the time they had a second dose, many of them had got to 12 weeks. So the AZ data has a spectrum of data of people who had their second dose after four weeks all the way up to those up to 12 weeks. And what they have been able to show is that the immunogenicity goes up with an extended time between doses. So it is correct that there is data to justify and extended period between doses for the AZ vaccine.

And I think its the right public health response, which is to show that you try and vaccinate as many people as possible as soon as possible. Better to protect everybody a bit rather than to vaccinate fewer people to give them an extra 10 percent protection. So I think it is the right public health response. And if I was making that decision, I would have made the same decision.

WELT AM SONNTAG: Regarding hiccups in the supply chains. What did AstraZeneca tell you when those happened?

Lesen Sie auch Astra-Zeneca-CEO I do believe we treated Europe fairly

Bingham: They told us exactly what the issue is  we were working closely with them throughout. The issue is youre taking a process that normally takes several years and youre trying to do it in several months. And so theres not any sort of single issue. Its just youre trying to accelerate something that is highly complex. So youre taking mammalian cells and youre starting off with a bench scale process and youre scaling this up to a thousand liter scale. And its got to be consistent and high quality.

And youre talking about each dose is has 1011 viral particles in it. And youve got to make sure that everything that you manufacture is completely consistent and has nothing in it that you dont want to include. So its the pace of the scale up which is challenging for AZ  as for all vaccine manufacturers. And we have had just as many scale up issues. And its just a fact of life. You do not build a racing car from scratch in six hours.

It just takes longer than that. And you cant get cells to grow faster than they grow. So I dont think the EU has had any different experiences in the scale-up, and as I said, the difference with the UK was because we started earlier. In fact, before I even started and before the vaccine task force was even created, the companies in the UK bioprocessing industry came together and started pulling together the key elements that were going to help Oxford scale up their vaccine to industrial scale. This was done because it was the right thing to do.

There were no contracts, no agreements to do anything. And so the different companies knew that they could manufacture the virus and the people that could put them into vials came together voluntarily. So it was under the Bio Industry Association leadership, and that was only papered, I just think, in May. And so theyve been going for probably three months plus before the AZ deal had even started. So it meant we already had some of the balls in motion.

We have now scaled up to the thousand liters. But every step you take has to be validated, quality assured and to allow for products to be released and approved and qualified. And its just complex. I mean, its just not something you can do overnight.

WELT AM SONNTAG: There is an AstraZeneca production line in Dessau, in former East Germany, where AstraZeneca vaccine is produced. EU politicians claim that actually the UK has been supplied from there while Germany didnt get the supplies they needed. True?

Bingham: Ive never heard of that. I would bet a lot of money that this is not true. I know that the most productive plant that AZs got is the Oxford Biomedica Plant. Oxford Biomedica that is making the bulk Oxford vaccine. And they were part of the original consortium from February last year. So theyve been working on this for almost a year now. So I think that Im sure thats fake news, Id be highly, highly surprised. Ive never heard that and its news to me, but suggest you ask AZ to confirm it.

WELT AM SONNTAG: You took part in the Novavax trial. There are assessments of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Germany and elsewhere that the vaccine trial has not had enough data for over 65 year old. The French President even said it was not effective. How do you respond to that?

Bingham: The fact is in the Oxford study the way that the trial was designed is that they recruited the older adults later on in the study, after it was proven safe in younger adults. Approximately 10.000 people were recruited initially. And then the last 2000 or 3000 were older adults that were recruited later. And because they were recruited later, there was less time for infection to occur and also older adults, and I am sure its true in Europe as well as in the U.K., are being cautious so that their infection rate relatively to younger people was lower. And so it takes longer to get to an answer on efficacy. But what weve seen is good immune responses in healthy older adults. In the Phase two paper, and that was published in The Lancet. And the MHRA then reviewed further data on the immune response to the Phase three trial, which I have not seen. And so it is fair to say that there is limited information available on the efficacy in elderly patients.

There is nothing to suggest lack of protection or lack of safety. So what the Swiss and French regulators are saying is we want more data  completely fair. We all want more data. And in a perfect world, nothing would get approved without everything, all the data being ready. And its all finished and tied up in a bow. But we dont have that as were not in a perfect world  we are in a global pandemic. And so the main judgment from the regulators is, is there sufficient data to suggest that theres going to be efficacy in the elderly?

And I think the conclusion was there is. And if thats the case, is it safe and if its safe and theres efficacy on the elderly, those are two pretty good reasons to believe that its worth approving it.

So AZ is pretty consistent and of course, it would be better to have complete datasets and be able to pull this out by every age group and cohort, but we dont have that data yet and it just is what it is. If I was sitting in a country that refused to approve AZ, and I was an older person, I would be a little unhappy about that because its a safe, effective vaccine.

WELT AM SONNTAG: Sputnik, the Russian vaccine, is discussed in Europe now as a possible option. What do you make of that?

Bingham: So weve not seen any of this data yet. So thats a problem. So this is whats been reported. I think this looks very good. And if it is good, it may be because it has two different vaccines for prime and boost. This is where you mix and match by priming with one vaccine and then you boost with another. And AZ in is doing a prime boost experiment with Sputnik. And the U.K. is doing a heterologous boost trials with AZ and Pfizer. To see if the different combinations of vaccines can elicit a stronger or more durable immune response.

WELT AM SONNTAG: Would you buy Sputnik?

Bingham: The UK doesnt need more vaccine. But if the experts sees the data and says its effective and safe fine. Then, again, its a political decision.

WELT AM SONNTAG: What is the future of vaccines? Will we have to have a jab every month? Or take a pill? A nasal spray?

Bingham: We dont know how long immune protection will last. Its possible that if there is still virus floating around in the community, that itself may act as an ongoing immune boost for people whove been vaccinated. But I think its probably reasonable to start with the assumption that we will need to do a boost within a year - so this winter and then take a year after that to see how frequently we need to boost after that. And it may be five years, it may be one year.

So I dont know the frequency. We just need to see the data to see what thats going to be. We need to get to a point where you can have a flu and a coronavirus jab simultaneously and not have to do them three weeks apart. Novavax was running a study co-administering with flu I think.

And we need ultimately to get away from two doses because thats incredibly complex and expensive and logistically challenging. And ideally, we need to get away from needles because if you can induce an immune response by putting a patch on or spray or a tablet, that would be much, much easier, because certainly the cost in the UK of the vaccines is doubled when you add the cost of deployment as well. So thats a very substantial cost. And so if you can eliminate the deployment because people can just do it themselves, that would be something that I think we should you know, globally we should be focusing on those new formats and, for example, for respiratory viruses in obviously into your respiratory tract.

And yet were not dosing in the respiratory tract. So a nasal spray might well be a good idea because then you can actually protect in the very compartment where the viruses will be entering. So I do think theres a lot of scope for improvement. I mean, its been amazing to have done as much as we globally have been done. But I think theres a long way to go.

WELT AM SONNTAG: A Whitehall source said to a British paper shes used to doing things quickly and without bureaucratic bullshit. So do you think that the bureaucracy is very much a danger for the development of vaccinations?

Bingham: I wouldnt believe everything you read in The Guardian, theres very little that theyve written that is correct. So I dont suggest you repeat any of that. In terms of bureaucracy. I think our government did a beautiful job because I reported it to the Prime Minister and we created a process and team just like a venture capital investment for the approval of vaccines. I dont touch any money of course; I make no spending decisions nor am I involved in any operational contracts etc

I dont make any spending decisions. I make recommendations. And then the people that make the decisions in the UK with the secretaries of state or business, health, Cabinet Office and Treasury. So we have four very senior ministers who were the decision makers. That was one of reasons why we were able to be quick. So if I called and said we need to have a decision on this in 24 hours, we had a decision in 24 hours.

And I think that is unusual. And it is true to say I was not keen on bureaucracy. Ive never worked in a big company, let alone the government. And I think it was very foresighted by the government to allow us to set it up like that.

WELT AM SONNTAG: How did you deal with the pressure? This was the biggest investment in your life, after all, even if youd made no money but the responsibility you had?

Bingham: Its like any investment. You look at what the opportunity is, what is the potential of the investment youre making, what are the risks and whats the potential balance and how have you mitigate against all the risk wherever possible? And on balance, is this the right thing to do or not? I mean. Here people are dying, so the longer we take, the more people will die.

Ive been involved in the development of lots of new medicines for people who have no other clinical options. So my career has been to stop people from dying. Ive got a company, for example, that was treating people with cystic fibrosis, who had lung transplants where they failed all the medicines to basically control infection in their lungs. And they were going to basically bleed to death and die from infection. And our medicines are basically being able to cure them. So the concept of how can we use pharmaceutical intervention to stop people from dying is something that thats my job.

So this was a 28 year old lady who just had been married and had a lung transplant, had a infection around the stitches where the joint was infection was so bad they couldnt control it. And what was going to happen is, it was going to burst and based on compassionate use, they used our drug, an experimental drug that were developing. And she was cured and went home. So the concept of how can we do things that are of some significant impact is something that I do understand.

WELT AM SONNTAG: Is a global effort on vaccine still possible despite these vaccine wars?

Bingham: I absolutely think it is a global effort to resolve pandemics now and in the future. Its only because we had really good, competent, generous community people that weve made as much progress as we have. And thats going to continue irrespective of political rhetoric. The scientists talk to each other irrespective of borders. The clinicians talk to each other irrespective of borders. Venture capitalists do. So politics is separate. But what actually goes on is co-operative.

So I would believe anything else other than this is cooperative. And this is a wonderful industry. I mean, again, the pharmaceutical industry is often painted as a bad industry. Its not these are very thoughtful, generous people, which is really difficult doing this stuff. And its fantastic that its working. So Im absolutely convinced on that global collaboration.

WELT AM SONNTAG: What is your view of the Prime Minister?

Bingham: I think he was very, very foresighted. It was actually Patrick Vallance who set up a task force. He is the government chief scientific adviser. The Vaccine Taskforce was his idea and he could see basically the progress that was being made in manufacturing outside government with all these companies that got together voluntarily. And thats why he said they need to be able to interact with a government body so that we can actually pull this together. And thats why he then created the vaccine taskforce. So I think Boris did a good job to agree to Patricks advice and to allow us to operate in a nimble way, because its not easy for government to basically put in place an investment committee that will meet quickly and make quick decisions.

But basically, I was subject to all normal civil service conflict of interest procedures. I have no special rights or anything like that, and of course, I know what I dont do, any contracting myself or the contracting of advisers and consultants and experts is all done by the civil service, not by me. In fact, I didnt even know half the time who they contracting with. The detailed operations are handled by the civil service.

WELT AM SONNTAG: The Daily Mail called you a brilliantly batty heroine of our Jabs Triumph. How do you feel about that?

Bingham: I think its entirely fine. I dont have any problem with that.
More than a dozen British universities are under investigation over commercial relationships with the Chinese government that might break laws designed to protect national security and human rights, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The institutions  which include some of the most prestigious universities in the country  could be hit by enforcement notices imposed by Her Majestys Revenue and Customs over alleged breaches of export controls in their dealings with Beijing.

It is understood the security services fear some academics have been sharing pioneering British technology with China that could be facilitating the dictatorial Communist governments repression of minorities and dissidents.

The MoS has agreed not to identify the universities at the centre of the inquiry on the grounds of national security.

Chinese troops take part in marching drills ahead of an October 1 military parade to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China at a camp on the outskirts of Beijing, China, in 2019

The security service investigation, led by MI6 officers seconded to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, was launched amid growing concern in Downing Street that academics were engaged in a new gold rush to strike deals with the Chinese over cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs.

Exporters of military goods and those engaged in transfer of military technology specified in the Export Control Order 2008  including universities and academics  require a licence to export or transfer from the UK, said a Government spokesman.

It is their responsibility to comply with the regulations.

Last week, Manchester University cancelled an agreement with a Chinese military technology company after being warned that it supplied technology platforms and apps used by Beijings security forces in mass surveillance of Uighur Muslims.

The university said it was unaware of China Electronics Technology Corporations alleged role in the persecution of Uighurs until receiving a letter pointing out the links from the Commons foreign affairs select committee.

The Beijing government is developing swarms of suicide drones (file image) to hover in the sky as they locate their target  while communicating with each other and co-ordinating their movements without any human input

Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the committee, writes in todays MoS that some in Britains universities have lost their moral bearings and are not promoting academic freedom, but undermining our strategic interests.

The Tory MP argues that Britain is making a mistake to open up universities too much. We are handing over the secrets that will help an often-hostile country become the greatest military power of the 21st Century.

The Government investigation came after a report by the Henry Jackson Society last October criticised the Government for failing to prosecute any academics for export control violations.

Independently, a report released tomorrow will expose the astonishing extent of collaboration taking place between British universities and Chinese academic centres, many with deep research links to the Peoples Liberation Army. The study by think tank Civitas accuses 14 of the 24 top universities in the UK of having ties with Chinese weapons conglomerates and military-linked research centres involved in nuclear weapons schemes and developing futuristic technology.

It suggests scientific discoveries by our universities risk boosting Chinas drive for military supremacy by assisting its development of hypersonic missiles, radar jamming systems, robotics, spacecraft and stealth vehicles.

A hypersonic missile launches from Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, on March 19, 2020, in an image released by the US Navy

British taxpayers are paying for research that might unintentionally help Chinas military soon attain a potentially dominant position, said Radomir Tylecote, the studys lead author and a former Treasury official. This is strategically incoherent  especially when UK spending on research for its own military needs is so anaemic.

Civitas reveals the China Electronics Technology Corporation  which has admitted its purpose is to leverage civilian electronic systems for the benefit of Chinas armed forces  backs work at four military-linked universities in the Peoples Republic with ties to seven British universities.

The giant firm is seen as one of the main architects of Beijings sinister surveillance state.

The think tank report  entitled Arming China? The Chinese military complex and its potential exploitation of scientific research at UK universities  examines the relationships that 20 UK universities have with 29 military-linked universities and nine military-tied firms, which include some of the countrys biggest arms suppliers.

A dozen of the Chinese universities have been deemed very high risk by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, while another ten are termed high risk.

Civitas, which stresses that all the British universities have benevolent intentions, turns the spotlight on some of the countrys most famous academic institutions as concerns grow over Chinas increasing belligerence.

The universities all insist their work is for wider benefit to society, that many research results are openly published in scientific literature and that they make strenuous efforts to comply with all rules designed to protect security and intellectual property.

A Dongfeng-41 intercontinental strategic nuclear missiles group formation marches to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in Beijing, 1 October 2019

Cambridge University, the Civitas report says, has co-operated with the National University of Defense Technology, a military-run research institution that has been sanctioned by the US.

Beijing has boasted this collaboration will greatly raise the nations power in the fields of national defence, communications and high precision navigation.

A Cambridge spokesman told the MoS: All of the universitys research is subject to ethics governance and export control regulations. Imperial College, another world-leading British scientific centre, has three research units sponsored by major Chinese weapons manufacturers. Science is a global endeavour, and we are proud to work with our peers in academia and industry all over the world, said a spokesman.

Civitas accuses Manchester University of having provided Chinas main nuclear missile conglomerate with a UK taxpayer-funded research centre. A subsidiary of this firm  under US sanctions  also funds a unit at Strathclyde University, which plays a leading role in British space research.

Manchester also co-operates with Chinese funders to exploit graphene, the revolutionary new material that won two of its researchers the Nobel Prize and is seen as having huge military potential given its immense strength and flexibility. Both Manchester and Strathclyde insist they work closely with relevant authorities to ensure they are fully compliant with all policies and export protocols.

Queen Mary of London has established a collaborative partnership with Chinas Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU), praising the particular strengths in aerospace and marine engineering of a university that describes itself as devoted to improving and serving the national defence science and technology industry.

NPU has at least 13 defence laboratories into areas such as jet propulsion, space technology and torpedo guidance. We are proud of our transnational educational and research partnership with NPU, said a Queen Mary spokesman, adding it followed rigorous procedures regarding security and ethics.

Southampton, according to the Civitas report, has links with Harbin Engineering University that were praised for helping the Chinese institution build a world class position in naval architecture. It plays a key role in Chinas ambitions to build the worlds biggest and best-equipped navy.

A Southampton spokesman said their collaborations had potential to create wide-ranging societal benefits, adding that they followed Government advice and the Harbin partnership simply replicated their undergraduate studies. Harbin is also one of 15 Chinese civilian universities that have been implicated in cyber-attacks, illegal exports or espionage operations. China has a long history of weapons sales to some of the worlds most repressive regimes such as Iran, Myanmar and North Korea.

Lianchao Han, a former Chinese government official and now leading pro-democracy activist, said Beijing had long seen academic exchange programmes as a way to modernise its military through exploitation of open Western research institutions. China has invented all kinds of programs from inviting Western professors to lecture in the country through to hiring them for consulting work and funding joint research projects between universities. These schemes enable it to acquire dual-use technologies for both civilian and military gain and build a formidable army. Sadly, most Western universities and research institutions are shortsighted and still fail to see Chinas strategic intent.

British universities have looked increasingly to China as a source of income, having more Chinese students than any other country, paying 1.7 billion a year in tuition fees, and for research funding as they developed a network of academic links in both nations.

Yet concerns have grown over such ties since hardline President Xi Jinping took power in 2013. He has ramped up nationalist rhetoric, spent massively on armed forces, silenced dissidents, unleashed genocide in Xinjiang and showed far more foreign policy aggression  as seen with Chinas brutal crackdown in Hong Kong.

Many leading Chinese universities have long been linked to the military, whether through their own research labs or via funding from conglomerates  often state-owned  that dominate the countrys weapons industry.

These ties have been strengthened under Xi through a policy called military-civil fusion designed to maximise military power. This includes a constitutional obligation for all new technologies to be shared with the 2,250,000-strong Peoples Liberation Army.

Chinas Communist leadership is intent on matching US military might within six years  and then use advanced technology to win the battle for global supremacy by 2049, centenary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China.

The Civitas report calls for a register of Chinese firms and institutions with military ties that should be barred from supporting research in Britain, an audit of university sponsorship policies and a new agency to monitor academic relationships.

One British defence contractor, who has removed all Chinese-made parts from his firms products as a precaution in case of conflict, said he thought some universities might be missing the key point of rules designed to stop misuse of technology.

People fall into the trap of arguing that they only designed the product for civilian use, neglecting the fact that the regulations say can be used for military purposes.
Ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has filed a consent appeal with the SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) to settle an alleged insider trading case concerning the shares of education company Aptech Ltd. The case dates back to 2016.

Besides, the billionaire investor, Aptech board members Madhu Jayakumar, Utpal Sheth, and Ramesh S Damani have also filed consent applications with the markets regulator, the Economic Times reported.

Sheth also serves as the CEO of Jhunjhunwala's asset management company - Rara Enterprises. A consent application is an out-of-court settlement agreement wherein the offender either consents to either pay a pecuniary penalty or voluntarily undergoes a ban from the securities market.

Also Read: Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed gaming firm Nazara Technologies to file for IPO

SEBI had issued show-cause notices to Jhunjhunwala and Aptech's board members, querying why action should not be taken against them for security law infringements, the report added.

The consent procedure comprises multiple states. As these notices are negotiated between the regulator and concerned parties, once the settlement conditions are settled and agreed upon, they are then brought before an independent panel.

Basis the committee's suggestions, SEBI's two whole-time members pass the conclusive order, which is obligatory for the applicants to follow.

Also Read: Rakesh Jhunjhunwala buys stake in this Tata Group firm, stock zooms 10%

Sources further told the publication that the regulator is likely to pass the consent order in the Aptech case soon.

Jhunjhunwala and his family own a 49% stake in the education company and it is the only firm in his portfolio over which he exercises management control.

SEBI has been reviewing alleged insider trading deals in Aptech shares that occurred between May and October 2016. JhunJhunwala had earlier appeared before the regulator in this matter.
A member of the Appointment Committee of Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, has served notice to ministerial nominees that they will have to convince the committee of their competence and readiness to serve the nation before they are approved.



He cautioned that the committee would not be a rubber-stamp committee as it was the case previously and would be doing the citizenry a disservice if they do not demand the best from the nominees.



Mr. Ayariga, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central in the Upper East Region, explained that the nominees must prove that they are up for the task assigned to them by the president and you will have to justify your nomination by the president, and I think that is good for our country.



We will be failing citizens if you come and you are not up to standard and we just pass you, I dont think that the tax payers money, or with the kind of monies that are used to pay us to run the affairs of the public, it will be fair to the taxpayer that we lined up mediocre people to run public affairs.



The make-up of the committee and Parliament is an opportunity for the MPs to advance the interest of Ghanaians, this current structure of Parliament provides an opportunity to screen people properly and if really they dont meet the standards it will raise the red flags, Mr Ayariga noted.



He assured that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs would not use the platform to settle personal scores or antagonize any appointee but rather would do a professional job and if they are able to prove that they are not capable for the job, they would vote according to their conscience.



If we are able to prove that you are not capable of the job, I think that we will vote according to our conscience, no MP is just going to go out there, massacring people out of personal or perceived antagonism towards particular nominees, Mr. Ayariga intimated.



The committee will from February 10, 2021, begin the vetting of the first batch of ministerial appointments made by President Nana Akufo-Addo.

Source: The Ghanaian Times









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(Adds details about CDC vaccine)

By Melissa Fares, Richa Naidu and Lisa Baertlein

NEW YORK/CHICAGO/LOS ANGELES, Feb 5 (Reuters) - U.S. retailers and pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS Health are preparing for a fresh round of "bot" attacks by scalpers hoping to snap up COVID-19 vaccine appointments as they did hoarding Sony PlayStation 5s and Nike sneakers.

For over a decade, the retail industry has battled so-called scalper bots, programmed to cut digital lines and snap up limited-supply products within milliseconds of their release, that are resold at significant mark-ups.

The coronavirus pandemic exacerbated the problem because the boom in online shopping expanded scalpers' sights to new categories from fitness equipment to essential goods like toilet paper and detergents. In Britain, scalpers using bots have also snatched online grocery delivery slots reserved for at-risk senior citizens.

The Joe Biden administration said this week that it will soon start distributing about 1 million doses per week directly to about 6,500 pharmacies in the first phase of a federal program that aims to expand access to vaccines.

Security companies that track this activity now warn that U.S. retailers and pharmacies enlisted to play a big role in COVID-19 vaccine dissemination could be the next target of bot attacks as they begin distributing as early as Feb. 11.

These fears stem from problems retailers have faced this past holiday shopping season, when the latest PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox consoles were nearly impossible to find because scalpers attacked major retailers.

Queue-jumpers are branching out. Their tools are now being used to target other high-demand items, said Matt Gracey-McMinn, head of threat research at bot security firm Netacea.

Walmart told Reuters in December most of the significantly higher traffic for the consoles came from bots, and that the company had to conduct after-sale audits, cancelling orders placed by bots and making those products available to regular consumers.

Story continues

Another attack like the one retailers faced over the holiday shopping season could further snarl a fragile process where just 32 million doses have been administered since federal regulators in December granted emergency approval to two vaccines, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

NOT ENOUGH SLOTS

In recent weeks, people shared on social media networks horror stories of attempting to secure vaccination appointments from government sources, with some blaming bots for site crashes and stolen slots.

The private sector is girding for tech problems. The Walgreens team is working to ensure only authorized and eligible patients will have access to schedule a vaccine appointment, said Jim Cameli, Walgreens Boots Alliances Chief Information Security Officer.

To do so, security measures such as bot detection and prevention will play key roles in delivering this critical service to patients.

CVS said its program could thwart bot attacks. "Our vaccination appointment site has a layered defense that includes capabilities to detect automated cyber attacks, such as botnets. Those capabilities, together with our application design and user input validation, enable us to validate legitimate users," a CVS Health spokesman said.

When asked if it was worried about bots attacking Covid-19 vaccine appointments, Walmart said it would focus on security and any necessary mitigation steps that help us provide fair and equitable vaccination sign-ups.

Walmart said in a blog post on Tuesday that, starting late next week, once the retailer receives doses from the federal government at select pharmacies in 22 states, vaccine-eligible customers can use a scheduling tool to lock in appointments online while allocation lasts.

Such websites, however, make retailers easier targets for bots than the states currently handling vaccine appointments, two cybersecurity experts said.

Securing appointments by going through local governments requires a more complicated process of navigating different websites. This makes it harder for both people and bots to complete the process.

The complexity of securing vaccine appointments from the government, even without explicit evidence of bots tampering the process, inspired a few programmers to create website monitoring programs like Georgia Vax, Visualping and NYC Vaccine List, which alert people to available appointments at a local level for free.

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) said on a media call Friday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plans to launch "Vaccine Finder," a tool the health organization has "developed over time" to help those eligible locate the vaccine.

The CDC was not immediately available for comment.

It would be hard for anyone to really make a lot of money attacking states because every county is different, said Ben Warlick, an Atlanta-based lawyer who has been writing appointment monitoring bots for free to help people get the vaccine. Creating a large nationwide system would just be too difficult to set up.

But for retailers, the threat is real.

Several of our customers have come to us worried about the frightening dilemma they will ultimately face: how do we manage vaccine appointments without it being upended by automated, bot attacks? said Edward Roberts, a specialist at security firm Imperva.

He added, The dam will explode once vaccines are available for all citizens.

(Reporting by Melissa Fares, Richa Naidu and Lisa Baertlein; Editing by Kenneth Li, Vanessa O'Connell, Aurora Ellis, and Nick Zieminski)
News Australian Adviser to Myanmars Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Detained

Economic consultant Sean Turnell told Reuters he is in good condition but does not know what charges he faces.

Sean Turnell, an Australian economic adviser to Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, told Reuters news agency he is being detained, days after the countrys military staged a coup.

I guess you will soon hear of it, but I am being detained, he said. Being charged with something, but not sure what. I am fine and strong, and not guilty of anything, he said in a message, with a smile emoji. Until three days ago, his Facebook was active.

Since December 2017, Turnell has been living in Naypyitaw, where he served as a special economic consultant to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who was the de facto national leader until she herself was detained during Mondays coup. Turnell is one of several foreign consultants who worked for her now-toppled government. Military intelligence units closely monitor their activities.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Urges Myanmar People to Resist Coup

Myanmar Military Charges Against Suu Kyi Assault Rule of Law

NLD Patron U Win Htein Arrested for Sedition After Condemning Coup

Dekon Fashaw Sr., a lieutenant with the Cape May Police Department, sat at his neatly organized desk answering phone calls. A grey stuffed penguin, a reminder of a friend and mentor that Fashaw holds dear to his heart, looked down upon him from the top of a filing cabinet in his new office.

Pinned to the penguin is a sergeants badge that was worn by the man that introduced him to a path that would change his life.

Fashaw made history Monday morning, becoming the first Black police chief for the City of Cape May, which also polices the surrounding boroughs of West Cape May and Cape May Point.

For Fashaw, becoming chief was not just a goal that he set for himself in a career that he loves. He said its about the pride he has in leading a group of police officers that he respects, in a community he deeply cares about.

I think for the time I have left in this career, I can do the best I can in the position of chief, said the 45-year-old father of two.

Lt. Dekon Fashaw Sr., of the Cape May Police Department talks with Detective Sergeant Joseph Walker, left, and Detective Thomas Toland, right, at the West Cape May substation, Wednesday Jan. 27, 2021. Fashaw was sworn in this past Monday as the City of Cape May's first Black police chief.Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

As chief, he will be heading up a department that oversees three tiny towns covering about 4 square miles on the southern tip of New Jersey, about 4,800 permanent residents, and combined, is about 87 percent white. The resort town that had its share of Trump rallies, Black Lives Matter demonstrations and impromptu political protests last year swells into the tens of thousands during the summer season.

People would say that Im crazy taking this job in this climate right now but I love people. I want to do the right thing for people.

Choosing a better path

Fashaw is a 22-year veteran of the Cape May Police Department, but the path that first led him through the department door was not easy. Fashaw said a lot of the events that transpired in his life led him to become the man he is today.

Fashaw was the only child born to Anita Sinnerard, an Italian woman, and Maxie Jr., a Black man.

Im a black man, but I come from a strong Italian family, 100 percent, he said.

In 1977, when he was 2 years old, he moved from Ocala, Florida to Cape May with his mother and stepfather, Richard Rollins.

Fashaw, who grew up in West Cape May, ran the streets around town when he was a teenager eventually befriending patrolman William Alvarez, who would always make sure Fashaw was doing the right thing.

Sgt. William Alvarez of the Cape May Police Department

He was a big teddy bear, Fashaw said about his friend and mentor, who was affectionally called penguin, and died in 2005. He was a big, loud and abrasive sergeant, but he had the biggest, most caring heart that you can ever imagine.

Alvarez, then a sergeant, would always speak to Fashaw about becoming a summer cop and eventually handed him an application. Fashaw said he took the paperwork home, put it on his desk, and did not look at it until after a series of what he called life-altering events.

First, his familys Lower Township home burned down when he was a teenager. Fashaw recalled being enamored as he watched the firemen, which led him to join the West Cape May Volunteer Fire Company. It ultimately provided him the opportunity to get more involved with the police officers he met.

Cape May Police Chief Dekon Fashaw Sr., is also a Battalion Chief for the Townbank Fire Company.

A few years later, Fashaws half-brother, who sold drugs, was murdered in Wildwood by a group from Los Angeles. Eight months after that, his best friend killed himself after an argument with his girlfriend.

So his death, my brothers death, my house burning down all kind of led me into not being disgruntled, but choosing a better path for myself, he said.

Fashaw went back to the application he placed on his desk and reconsidered Alvarezs offer.

Still deciding if he should enter law enforcement, he sought the guidance of the two strong women in his life, his mother and grandmother Edith Sinnerard.

I said I got to choose the right thing to do here, and the right thing was to apply for the police department.

Fashaw worked two summers as a Class II officer for the City of Cape May before moving to the West Cape May Police Department as a full time Class II officer. He then moved on to the Cape May County Prosecutors Office as a detective in the narcotics task force before going back to the City of Cape May in January 1999.

Dekon Fashaw Sr., of the Cape May Police Department, is sworn in as Chief of Police by the City of Cape May Mayor Zack Mullock, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021. Holding the bible is former chief Anthony Marino. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

This is important

Fashaws path to his new position as chief continued Monday with a small swearing-in ceremony due to COVID-19 restrictions. With City of Cape May Mayor Zack Mullock administering the oath and former chief Anthony Marino holding the bible, Fashaw recited his pledge to protect the citizens of the City of Cape May and its surrounding areas and officially became the citys first Black police chief.

Mullock said that while this moment is historic for the city and for Fashaw, his positive can-do attitude that has brought people together is also very important to a small town like Cape May.

Thats the most important thing for the City of Cape May, is you have someone who cares about this community, said Mullock, who was sworn in as the citys new mayor January 1.

Fashaw said that he didnt see being named chief as something huge or different at first.

Lt. Dekon Fashaw Sr., of the Cape May Police Department talks with Patrolman Kelley Walters, left, and Sgt. Ken Cooper, at the West Cape May substation, Wednesday Jan. 27, 2021. Fashaw was sworn in this past Monday as the City of Cape May's first Black police chief.Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

During my entire career, I focused on being a police officer, he said. I never really saw color.

Now, however, he believes it is significant  not just for him.

I had to unwrap my head about just being a cop and say, well, this is important, Fashaw said. This is important for the community and the climate at this current time that they are not seeing something negative. Its a positive thing for a Black person, a man of color, or a woman of color to be put in this position.

Fashaw believes that his police background and personal experiences will help him better lead the department of 20 officers and 10 to 15 seasonal Class II officers.

Lt. Dekon Fashaw Sr., of the Cape May Police Department talks with Chief Anthony Marino, right, Wednesday Jan. 27, 2021. Fashaw was sworn in this past Monday as the City of Cape May's first Black police chief.Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

One person who will be supporting Fashaw is outgoing chief Marino, who first met Fashaw while working with the Cape May County Prosecutors Office. Marino knows what it is like to be in Fashaws shoes, having served 30 years with the department, the last five as chief. In Fashaws office hangs a large American flag made out of wood, a gift Marino left behind.

Im just extremely confident and happy that he got the job, Marino said. I think that for years to come, the police department is going to be in good hands.

Moving forward, Fashaw wants to strengthen the relationship between the community and the police department starting with the younger generation. He wants to increase the communitys awareness of how the police go about their jobs and have his department better understand the communitys concerns.

If I can better train my officers how to deal with them and better train them to deal with us I think we have a better chance at this.

He wants the department to be even more transparent than it has been and show the community that they both can work together.

Were not here to hurt you. Were here to learn with you and grow with you, Fashaw said.

Go, grow and glow with God.

Lt. Dekon Fashaw, of the Cape May Police Department, sits in his office before being sworn in as the city's new police chief, Wednesday Jan. 27, 2021. Behind him a stuffed penguin is a reminder of Sgt. William Alvarez, mentor and friend. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

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Tim Hawk may be reached at thawk@njadvancemedia.com.

Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 22:03:22|Editor: huaxia

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ATHENS, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Greek Foreign Ministry on Saturday announced its plan to reopen the Greek Embassy in Tripoli, the capital city of Libya, and the opening of a Consulate General in Benghazi, a major seaport and the second-most populous city in the Arabic country.

On Friday, members of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) voted for a new prime minister and a new Presidency Council in UN-sponsored talks in Geneva.

In a statement published on its website, the Greek Foreign Ministry said in light of Friday's developments, by the decision of Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, the Greek Embassy in Tripoli will reopen.

It also said that in parallel, the necessary procedures will be undertaken to open a Consulate General in Benghazi.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis welcomed the election of a new interim government in Libya, in a post on social media on Friday.

He wrote on Twitter: "The election of a new unified Libyan government by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum in Geneva is an important step towards peace in our neighboring country. Congratulations to the new leadership. All actors should support the process towards democratic and free elections in December." Enditem
"People said it was poison but it was grand." That was the reaction of 71-year old Seamus Clancy who became the first person in residential services for Older People in Sligo, Community Healthcare Organisation Area 1 (Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan and Sligo) to be vaccinated against COVID-19 last week.

Seamus's vaccine was the first Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to be administered at St John's Community Hospital, Sligo.

"I am like Micheal Martin now I have got it too. I was glad to be the first to get it because I don't like waiting. It's good to have it, it's a great vaccine.

"I'll be glad to get the second one because everyone is looking for it. Tir na nOg is a lovely ward. The staff are very dedicated and kind, they do a great job," said Seamus from the Holy Well Road who was vaccinated on January 21st.

Seamus was given a HSE vaccine information leaflet, along with more detailed manufacturer's patient information leaflet, before getting the vaccine.

Afterwards, each person vaccinated was given a vaccine record card, showing the name and batch of the vaccine they have received.

Expand Close St Johns, Curam, residents Margaret McBrien and Louise Wilkinson who received the vaccine / Facebook

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Whatsapp St Johns, Curam, residents Margaret McBrien and Louise Wilkinson who received the vaccine

Residents and staff will each need to return for their second dose, to be fully protected.

John Hayes, Chief Officer of CHO 1 said: "I am happy for the residents and staff of St John's Community Hospital and we are delighted to be rolling out the vaccine for our community.

"I would particularly like to thank all of the healthcare workers in CHO 1 who worked tirelessly to make this possible. I would also like to thank healthcare staff who have worked so hard at the frontline over the past year to protect our community from Covid-19 and support those who were impacted by this deadly virus.

"While the vaccine does offer us hope, it is important that we continue to adhere with the public health guidelines to keep safe while the vaccine is being rolled out over the coming weeks and months.

"It is important to remember that by wearing a face covering, maintaining physical distancing and practising good hand hygiene, you're supporting frontline workers to maintain essential health services for the people of CHO 1".

The first delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine was received by the HSE on December 26th, and the vaccination programme began on December 30th. Based on advice from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee, NIAC, our first limited stock were given to people in hospital settings, where medical teams can be on call on site. From January 4th the programme was rolled out to long term residential care facilities for older people.

This will be aligned with further and ongoing deliveries of the vaccine, over a 6 week rolling programme throughout all 582 nursing homes, public and private, all over the country.

The vaccination teams will be giving vaccines at each of those locations, making two separate visits, three weeks apart. In the later phases of the programme that will focus on the next priority groups, people may be vaccinated through mass vaccination clinics, GP surgeries and community pharmacies.

This will be done by qualified and trained healthcare workers, including hospital doctors, community medical officers, nurses, GPs and pharmacists. More information will be given about the later phases when they have been agreed and implemented.

Ireland has approximately 580 nursing homes, 80% of which are privately owned, and the vaccination of their residents is a highly complex process requiring the cooperation of all stakeholders. Each CHO is working with their local nursing home providers to finalise their schedules.

As of January 20th, nine nursing homes in Sligo and Leitrim have been vaccinated. This includes both public and private Nursing Homes. The first dose was given in all residential facilities (private and public) by Sunday, January 24th. Staff have been vaccinating 7 days a week to deliver on this target.

The target completion date for all 580 public, private and voluntary nursing homes is February 28th next. bearing in mind that COVID outbreaks may interrupt vaccination.
A total of 24 international companies such as PepsiCo, Schlumberger, Deloitte, PWC, Tim Hortons, Bechtel, Bosch and Boston Scientific have signed agreements with the Saudi authorities to set up their regional offices in capital Riyadh, reported SPA.

The deals were inked by the CEOs of these companies in the presence of Minister of Investment Engineer Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Falih and CEO of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City Fahd bin Abdulmohsen Al Rasheed.

This step reflects the importance and confidence in the Saudi market regionally and globally, stated the report.

The efforts to attract regional offices of international companies come in line with the Riyadh strategy, which aims to double the size of its economy and achieve major leaps in generating jobs, improving the quality of life, and attracting and expanding investments to elevate the Saudi capital to the ten largest city economies in the world by 2030.

The headquarters attraction programme aims to increase the percentage of the local content, reduce any economic leakage, and develop new sectors, in addition to creating tens of thousands of new quality jobs for the best qualified people, stated the report.

Attracting regional headquarters is not an end, but rather one of the economic growth potentials that Riyadh aspires to achieve.

Saudi Arabia is currently working on many systemic amendments with the aim of developing an investment environment that incubates global investments, stated the report.

The kingdom will work to provide many incentives and advantages that raise its competitiveness regionally and globally, to attract these headquarters and give them sufficient time to move and operate without affecting their business.

The incentives offered will be limited to regional headquarters only, excluding their operations outside the regional headquarters, said the SPA report, citing the Royal Commission for Riyadh City.

The Commission will work with these companies on programs and initiatives to qualify young Saudi leaders to work in these headquarters, as attracting regional headquarters will result in more than 35,000 jobs for young men and women in the Kingdom, in addition that each job created at the regional headquarters produces two or three jobs approximately.

It is expected that the establishment of regional headquarters by these global multinational groups in Riyadh will contribute around SR61 to SR70 billion ($16.2 billion to $18.6 billion) to the national economy by 2030 through salaries, operating and capital expenditures of these companies, resulting in a growth in the local content across many important sectors.
The National Guard of Ukraine will receive ten H225 helicopters in 2021-2022 under the contract with Airbus Helicopters, the Interior Ministry said.

In accordance with the agreement between the Ukrainian and French governments, Airbus Helicopters and the state-owned enterprise Ukrainian Aviation and Transport Enterprise Khoryv Avia signed a contract for the supply of 12 H225 helicopters for the needs of the National Guard in 2018-2022, according to a report on Telegram channel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

At the official meeting, representatives of the National Guard of Ukraine and Airbus Helicopters considered the issue of supplying six aircraft in 2021 and sending two helicopters available at National Guard to Airbus Helicopters enterprises. This decision was made in order to carry out modernization in a bid to upgrade the helicopters that were previously transferred.

In 2018-2019, Airbus Helicopters supplied two helicopters. In addition, representatives of the company retrained two crews of the National Guard and part of the engineering and technical staff (in France, Scotland and Germany to ensure the maintenance and operation of these helicopters), the Ministry of Internal Affairs said.
A woman was killed and her husband was arrested early this morning in Huntsville, the authorities said.

Madison County Coroner Tyler Berryhill identified the woman as 40-year-old Jamie Howard. He said she was fatally shot. An autopsy will be performed in the coming week at the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences in Huntsville.

Lt. Jesse Sumlin, a Huntsville police spokesman, said officers were called to the scene on Regia Drive in the southwest part of the city around 12:30 a.m. Investigators said they believe the killing happened during a domestic dispute.

The husband, Russell Howard Jr. is charged with murder, according to Madison County jail records. The 42-year-old is held with bond set at $15,000.

Russell Howard turned himself in to police at the scene, WHNT News 19 reported.

Murder is punishable by up to life in prison.

Further information wasnt immediately available.

This story was updated at 5:31 p.m. to show that a Huntsville police spokesman confirmed the Howards were married.

The head of the IMF on Friday urged advanced economies to provide more resources to low-income countries, warning of an emerging Great Divergence in global growth that could risk stability and trigger social unrest for years to come. International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told reporters that 50% of developing countries were at risk of falling further behind, which raised concerns about stability and social unrest. . To avert bigger problems, she said rich countries and international institutions should chip in more. She also urged heavily ...
In 2004, Chinasa Asonye was an accountant in Lagos with an oil servicing firm. At that time she was married with four children.

Like regular Lagos residents, she woke up very early to prepare for the day and retired as late as 11 p.m.

For Ms Asonye and her family, this was a regular routine except on Sundays.

The mother-of-four had dreams of working in larger firms because she was career-oriented.

Married to a soldier, her husband was always on transfer to different states so she needed to find an alternative job that gives her more time with the children.

On a Saturday morning in 2004, Ms Asonye as usual dressed up and left the house for work. About two hours after she arrived at her office, her husband showed up and demanded the management relieve her immediately.

He made this demand because he needed his wife to stay home and take care of the children. The management agreed and then requested her resignation.

I understood with my husband and honoured his request thereby tendering my resignation, Mrs Asonye said.

With a sad face, she went to her friend who introduced her to fish farming where she started learning about it.

Seventeen years later, Ms Asonye is grateful she resigned as an accountant. She is the chief executive officer of Chielo Farms, Lagos.

She started with about 2000 fishes and N800,000 capital.

Aside from her fish farm, she owns a poultry farm and also cultivates rice, cassava, vegetables and she processes rice.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, she was exporting fishes to the United States of America.

She has 120,000 fingerlings of fishes.

In 2014, She won an award as the food hero of the year in Lagos State.

As an award-winning farmer in the state, she was called Ogbonge Woman.

After this award, she began the Ogbonge Women Association in collaboration with the state government.

She was among the pioneer beneficiaries of the rice for job in the state. Out of 30 farmers, only eight had the perseverance to stay till the end.

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Ms Asonye was the only woman standing among the eight farmers. After the empowerment from the state government, she began her rice farm on five hectares of land in Ijebu.

After her first harvest, she was discouraged so had to reduce her farm size to three hectares.

Currently, she belongs to different associations like Lagos State Catfish Association, Smallholder Women Farmers Association of Nigeria, and Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria.

Unable to get the inorganic fertilizer, she resorted to organic fertilizers. For her crop farm, she uses husks from her rice and the droppings from poultry.

While on her poultry farm, she uses allium (ginger, gallic, and tumeric).

Ms Asonye cannot access loans from NIRSAL due to the demanding protocols.

I have been applying for loans from the bank but nothing is forthcoming. Where I applied for a loan through NIRSAL has not given me anything saying that CBN held it, protocols and other delays, she said.

This actually made the business not to be so fruitful, but the only thing that kept us going is our association that we found together to save money and give loans and at the years end we share the money with the interests.

For cassava, I already have a steady market. Theres a woman who comes to buy off the whole plot as she knows what she wants and she comes every year to buy off the cassava.

For the rice processing, Im still trying to see how to push my rice into other places. Its not easy as the borders are now open but when it was closed I could sell but now selling is a bit difficult for people.

Lagos State extension service has been of huge assistance to me, we have their phone numbers around and Ive worked hand-in-hand with them when I was the female hero of the year.

I have been empowered through the commercial agricultural development project by giving me my rice processing machine where I can dehusk, mill, and also polish my rice.

And Ive also been empowered through packaging. I was given good bags, a sealing machine, and all that and all this was empowerment by Lagos State.

 And through FIRO I have an oven that smokes about 50 to 60kg of fish. The Lagos State government empowered their farmers two to three times in a year.
Tens of thousands of people have set up makeshift camps in the Cabo Delgado area of Mozambique after fleeing from violence within the region.

An insurgence of islamist extremists have seized towns and ports in the country's north, forcing many to seek shelter in safer areas.

Since the violence began in 2017 more the 2,500 people have been killed and over 530,000 people had been displaced, British broadcaster Sky News reports.

And now these refugee camps are dealing with another problem, an outbreak of cholera caused by the unsanitary conditions.

But it's not just cholera people are suffering from in the camps.

Health officials also say there are problems with malnutrition and malaria.

Adamo Alau sought medical assistance for his four-year-old daughter Helena.

She had severe dehydration and was placed on drip by medics at the camp before being taken to a larger treatment facility.

According to Sky News Cabo Delgado has the highest rate of chronic malnutrition in the country, with over half of the children malnourished.

Some in other camps still relive the nightmares of what forced them to flee their homes in the first place.

Lucia Asani's brother was killed by insurgents whilst her nieces were kidnapped.

(Image Credit: AP)

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Sandglass Theatre Performs at Southern Miss Revelry

Fri, 02/05/2021 - 15:37pm | By: Mike Lopinto

Sandglass Theatres presentation of Rock the Boat will be featured at the third annual Revelry, presented by The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) School of Performing and Visual Art (SPVA). The performance will be live streamed on Zoom on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 2 p.m.

The 45-minute performance will be followed by a Q&A with the cast. More information may be found at https://artdesign.usm.edu/revelry/.

SPVA as a school of student and faculty artists is fortunate to have Sandglass Theatre included in the Revelry said Stacy Reischman Fletcher, Director of SPVA. While COVID made so many things difficult for the performing arts, that we can share the artistry of Sandglass Theatre here in Hattiesburg is an example of something gained from this unique time.

Rock the Boat finds a poet in a boat, alone at sea, stuck in a rut of writer's block. While observing his daily routines, he suddenly finds his home filling with new characters seeking shelter and safety. Through evocative visual scenes, we learn that each has fled some disaster: war, fire or flood.

As the newcomers and the poet navigate life together on the vessel, they meet conflict, generosity, kindness and questions about who each other are. The Poets poems become richer and deeper, and the unlikely collection of beings learn to steer threatening waters together.

The show was developed by a multi-ethnic ensemble including slam-poet D. Colin, composer Julian Gerstin and students from two elementary schools in southern Vermont. Work with students included workshops in poetry, listening practice and music led by members of the creative team. The students voices contributed to the script, development of a study guide and touring residency model.

Rock the Boat aims to get young audiences thinking about relocation, displacement and the interconnectedness of racial, climate and social justice. The production addresses attitudes about acceptance of those who come from other countries and cultures, and provides a narrative in which there is room for everyone in an inclusive society.

In addition to a presentation of Rock the Boat on the Revelry Community Day, ensemble members are participating in a virtual residency with local elementary students as well as graduate and undergraduate students at USM.

The Sandglass Theatre is dedicated to the arts of theater and puppetry as means of exploring contemporary issues, inspiring dialogue, and sparking wonder  by creating original ensemble performances and collaborations, presenting diverse theater artists, producing events that serve our communities, and teaching our art.

Revelry is a multi-arts project that boasts over 50 events from Feb. 11 through 25. This event is presented by the USM School of Performing and Visual Arts and celebrates the artistic work of faculty and students. Special programming of artistic and creative activities for the week includes master classes, workshops, guest and visiting artists, family-friendly events, and formal productions.

For more information, contact Stacy Reischman Fletcher at stacy.reischmanfletcher@usm.edu or call 601.266.4995.
Bottom line: Nvidia's change of philosophy with regards to RTX 30-series laptop GPU branding is a big win for gamers, even though it'll be a headache for OEMs that would be more than happy to keep you in the dark about which variant you're getting with a particular laptop.

You need not look further than our review of the GeForce RTX 3060 laptop GPU to understand that while it does offer great value, it comes in several configurations that make it very difficult for the average consumer to differentiate. We're talking about more than 70 different laptop models across various price points.

In the past, Nvidia used a somewhat acceptable approach that helped potential buyers base their decision on the branding seen on product pages of laptop OEMs. There were still many sub-variants to choose from, but people who wanted lower-power versions would look for "Max-Q" in the name, while enthusiasts who wanted the best performance would hunt for the "Max-P" versions.

With 2021 laptops, Nvidia made things more confusing by choosing to name all variants of a given RTX 30-series GPU the same, explaining that optimizations had been made at the system level on all laptops using the new GPUs. After giving it more thought, the company will now require all companies selling these laptops to be more transparent about their graphics subsystems.

In other words, while Nvidia used to encourage manufacturers to state clocks and power consumption on their product pages, now it requires them to do so. However, the Max-Q branding can still be used, albeit for different reasons, such as indicating support for Dynamic Boost 2.0, Advanced Optimus, and Whisper Mode 2.0.

Many RTX 30-series laptop listings have yet to be updated to reflect differences in the clock speed and total power consumption. However, manufacturers like Asus, Acer, Razer, Origin, MSI, Alienware, and Gigabyte have already updated some product pages, so things are moving in the right direction for consumers.

The Indian diaspora which celebrates its 176th Indian Arrival Day in Trinidad and Tobago is not an abstract entity, but one that flowers the socio-economic and cultural growth and development of our peoples.

It remains a proud moment for all of uspoliticians, sociologists, economists, civic, religious and cultural leadersin world history.
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

Raising the next generation of New Mexicans to be successful requires strong families and healthy communities. And to do that, we must listen to the unique needs of our diverse communities and cultures and ensure they all have a seat at the table in shaping a future that works for them.

Contrary to the lies that have been sold to our communities, a clean and healthy environment does not contradict a sustainable and diverse economy for all New Mexicans.

Our communities know very well that over-dependence on revenue from extractive industries is an unsustainable model for our current and future generations. And together, we are striving for a clean and prosperous future for all New Mexicans, one that respects our hard-working families by allowing them to be part of the process for change.

As we move to repair New Mexicos COVID-battered economy, turning it into a clean and prosperous economy, it is vital to put Indigenous, Black, people of color, and other front-line communities at the decision-making table to inform our transition to an energy economy that will address the climate crisis our communities are facing every day.

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After years of community dialogue with directly impacted families  many times excluded from the decision-making of our states economy  front-line communities and members of the Power 4 NM coalition are supporting The Climate Solutions and Resiliency Act, HB 9.

The task is simple. The people most affected by the plummeting revenue, hazardous environment and ecological destruction perpetuated by the extractive industries in our state must be prioritized and heard in how exactly our energy transition should be carried out to ensure no community is left behind.

HB 9 will create the New Mexico Climate Leadership Council to enact guidance on how to achieve economic diversification while taking bold and swift action in saving our land, air and water. The council will be composed of representatives from a variety of agencies and appointed advisory committee members from local and tribal governments, with the goal of implementing a statewide strategy to prepare and support communities for the impacts of climate change and ensure front-line communities directly benefit from a new clean-energy economy, through the creation of high-quality jobs and economic development opportunities.

Our families, who have spent their lives working or being impacted by the extractive industries, deserve to have a say in how we shape our energy future. It begins by respecting our community history and tapping into our homegrown talent and knowledge on how to work together toward a cleaner, stronger New Mexico.

Leaders in our communities, again and again, have expressed the urgency for our state to commit to bold policy changes that put New Mexicans first. HB 9 will be that bold policy.

The road ahead will not be bump-free, but New Mexicans are up to the challenge. Because what sets New Mexicans apart from other states is our courage and creativity to make what seems impossible, possible.

Together we will shape a New Mexico for generations where communities are guaranteed the highest quality of life and a clean environment in which to thrive.

Ahtza Chavez is Dine born for Kewa Pueblo and a member of the Power 4 NM coalition.
The Muslim Institute organised a walk from China Chowk Blue Area to the National Press Club here Friday to express solidarity with Kashmiris

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Feb, 2021 ) :The Muslim Institute organised a walk from China Chowk Blue Area to the National Press Club here Friday to express solidarity with Kashmiris.

A large number of people from different walks of life including members of civil society, political and social sector, students, lawyers and journalists participated in the rally marking the Kashmir Solidarity Day.

Ahmed Quraishi, Executive Director of YFK-International Kashmir Lobby Group, Faiz Naqashbandi, Convener APHC, Lt. General (Retd) Abdul Qayyum, Sahibzada Sultan Ahmed Ali, Chairman Muslim Institute, Prof Dr Muhammad Khan, Former HOD, International Relations, National Defence University, Brig Asif Haroon Raja (Retd), defence analyst, Ms Farzana Yaqoob, Former Minister, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Ghulam Muhammad Safi, Former Convenor APHC, Dr Nasrullah Mirza, Dept of Defence & Strategic Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University, Muhammad Tahir Tabassum, President, Institute of Peace and Development (INSPAD), Ms Shameem Shaal, women rights activist and Abdul Hamid Lone, human rights activist spoke on the occasion.

The speakers urged the world forums, governments and rights bodies to play their role in stopping atrocities in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

They said the Indians would have to end their illegal occupation of Kashmir and Junagadh state. "India is not a country but a region. Like Europe, every nation living here has the right to a separate homeland. Movements like Khalistan have exposed the black face of India in the disguise of so-call world's largest democracy. Now is the time that not only the Indian occupation of Kashmir and Junagadh would end but also other freedom movements in India would see the dawn of their just rights." They said they were grateful to the visionary approach of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah that he timely judged the extremist Hindu mentality and made it possible for the Muslims of India to have a separate state.

The speakers said both the Kashmir and Junagadh issues are based on India's duplicitous policy. There should be regular work on Kashmir and Junagadh issues by Pakistani missions abroad and Pakistanis living there could also play an important role in that regard. Various programs should be organized on the issue of Junagadh along with Kashmir because Kashmir was the jugular vein of Pakistan and Junagadh was its heart.

They said the Pakistani nation stood with the Kashmiri people and would continue every kind of political, diplomatic and moral support till their freedom from Indian occupying forces.

"Kashmir is a disputed territory under the resolutions of the United Nations," they added.

The speakers added that draconian laws had been enforced in the occupied Kashmir by India to suppress the demand for self-determination by its people. They, however, admired sthe trong will of Kashmiris to respond courageously to the torment and illegal detention by India.

They said the settlement of Hindus in held Kashmir was the artificial dressing of Indian democratic front to counter the self-determination struggle. By not giving the right of self-determination to Kashmiris, India had exposed its claim of the so-called world's largest democracy.

The speakers stressed that the Kashmir issue should be resolved in conformity with the UN Security Council resolutions in line with the will of Kashmiris on a humanitarian basis and the international community should play an effective role in that regard.

The human rights organizations should take notice of flagrant violations of fundamental human rights by the Indian state apparatus and declare the same as state terrorism, he added.

The Muslim countries, they said, should put diplomatic and political pressure on India so it resolved the Kashmir dispute according to its pledges. Pakistan should also brief the UNSC on the current situation in Kashmir.
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Stating that he considers himself fortunate to be an Indian and was happy to contribute to the growth and prosperity of the country, veteran industrialist on Saturday requested people to refrain from demanding the for him.

The Chairman Emeritus of the over USD 100 billion conglomerate Tata group asked users to stop the campaign that asked the government to confer on him the highest civilian award of the country.

"While I appreciate the sentiments expressed by a section of the in terms of an award, I would humbly like to request that such campaigns be discontinued," Tata said in a tweet.

He was reacting to various users on Twitter lauding him for his contributions, especially in inspiring the youth with #BharatRatnaForRatanTata trending.

"Instead, I consider myself fortunate to be an Indian and to try and contribute to India's growth and prosperity," he added.

One user, while asking others to join the campaign #BharatRatnaForRatanTata, said Tata has been inspiring young achievers, telling them that believing in one's ability is essential to achieve success in life.

Another user described him as the "Real Hero of India" and said he "really deserves the Award".

Responding to his tweet, users showered him praises further.

"And this is why you are always special to us sir," one user responded to his tweet.

Another one reminded the contributions of the Tata group for the nation and said it would remain "unmatched and unparalleled".

After retiring as Chairman of Tata Sons in 2012, Tata has been active in investing in personal capacity in startups and encouraging young entrepreneurs.

(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 wake of the recent decision to ease COVID-19 restrictions in California, some folks are returning to restaurants and shoppes.

And Reese Witherspoon happily took a break from home quarantine as she headed out to pick up a few items and grab lunch on Friday.

The Oscar-winning actress, 44, stopped by the Brentwood Country Mart, a shopping center that has become a tourist destination in recent years due to its celebrity clientele.

Scroll down to video

Out and about: Reese Witherspoon, 44, stepped out for lunch, and to pick up a few items, at the Brentwood Country Mart in Los Angeles on Friday

The Walk The Line star looked to be in her usual upbeat mood as she offered a friendly wave after chowing down on her lunch.

With the sun shining and the temperatures in the upper 60s Fahrenheit, the actress wore a military-green jacket over a red-and-white checkered shirt.

She also donned faded blue jeans, white sneakers, and a matching blue mask over her mouth and nose, amid the ongoing dangers of the coronavirus.

The mother of three also wore dark sunglasses and had her blonde tresses styled long and straight with a part in the middle.

On the go: The Walk The Line star looked to be in her usual, upbeat and perky self when she dropped by the Brentwood Country Mart in Los Angeles

Casual wear: The Oscar-winning actress wore faded blue jeans with a military-green jacket over a red-and-white checkered shirt and white sneakers

Safety first: The Louisiana native made sure to wear a mask over her mouth and nose amid the still dangerous COVID-19 pandemic

Witherspoon walked out of the establishment holding a coffee or tea to-go in her right hand and a bag filled with her new purchases over her left arm.

It's looks like Witherspoon is on the hunt for her favorite foods and snacks for Super Bowl Sunday this week.

Prior to hitting up the Brentwood Country Mart, Reese checked in with her 25 million fans and followers on Instagram to see what kind of menu they will be serving and eating during Super Bowl LV, which pits the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs.

Super Sunday menu: Earlier in the morning, Witherspoon took to Instagram to check in with her 25 million fans and followers to see what kind of food they will be serving and eating during Super Bowl LV this coming Sunday

Buccaneers or Chiefs: The actress asked her fans and followers who they thought will win

'A big Super Bowl weekend; so who's going to win? Who do you think?' she began in the first clip showing her holding a cup of coffee.

'I don't know about you guys, I love the Super Bowl but it's really all about the snacks. Right?' she followed up, before adding a few other items she likes to munch on during the big game: 'So what are your snacks? I'm thinking nachos, enchiladas, and tacos.'

After pondering for a few seconds she revealed that 'chips and guacamole' are also a menu mainstay along with some sweet treats: 'You got to have some cookies and brownies.'

She ended by revealing her go-to cocktail for Super Sunday.

'You've got to have a margarita. It's the Super Bowl you got have a margarita.'

Go to items: The mother of three revealed 'nachos, enchiladas and tacos' are on her Super Bowl menu along with cookies and brownies
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Nepal inaugurated a road that connects Indian border with several areas of the Himalayan nation on Tuesday, February 2. This was done with grant assistance from India. According to the reports by ANI, the Indian government provided financial assistance of NRs 44.48 million for the road.

Nepal builds a new road

In a press release, the Indian Consulate in Birgunj said that Consul General Nitesh Kumar and Division Chief of Department of Roads, Road Division, Chandranigahpur - Binod Kumar Mauwar jointly inaugurated the road. The road is established with the aim of easing the movement of daily commuters across the border. The release said, The Government of India's grant under 'Nepal-Bharat Development Cooperation' was utilized for construction of the blacktopped road. It has two packages viz. Package-I of 4.46 kims from Indian Border-Laxmipur-Balara-Mirzapur and Package-II of 1.62 Kms from Mirzapur to Gadahiya Road/Hulaki Road. The project was taken up as a High Impact Community Development Project under an agreement between the Government of India and Government of Nepal.

Read: Tens Of Thousands Rally In Support Of Nepal's Embattled PM

It further added, Now the project is under the jurisdiction of Chandranigahapur Road Division. The newly built blacktopped road connecting the Indo-Nepal Border is expected to ease the movement of daily commuters across the border. The project is a reflection of India's development partnership with Nepal and complements the efforts of the Government of Nepal in strengthening infrastructure.

Read: Nepal's Caretaker PM Oli Calls Constitutional Council Meet As 3 Former PMs Lead Protest

India sends Covid-10 vaccine to Nepal

In another significant development, the Serum Institute of India (SII) consignment of COVID-19 vaccines with 10 lakh dosages was delivered to Nepal after which PM Oli took to Twitter and thanked PM Modi for helping Nepal at the critical time when India is rolling out vaccination for its own people. The Nepal Government has arranged to inoculate 72 per cent of its citizens. Nepal has announced that legal and financial preparations for rolling out of vaccines have been completed and everything is set with vaccination drive soon to start in the Himalayan Nation. Earlier, India had provided Nepal with medical equipment, medicines and other logistical support to fight the pandemic.

Read: General Strike Protesting Prime Minister Paralyzes Nepal

Also Read: Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli Expelled From Ruling Communist Party Over Dissolution Of Parliament

(Image Credits: Unsplash)
HALIFAX - Nova Scotia's Liberals named a youthful former cabinet minister and self-described agent of generational change to take the helm as they voted Saturday for Iain Rankin to become party leader and the province's next premier.

Nova Scotia Liberal Party leadership candidates (left to right) Randy Delorey, Labi Kousoulis and Iain Rankin are shown in these recent file photos. THE CANADIAN PRESS/CP

HALIFAX - Nova Scotia's Liberals named a youthful former cabinet minister and self-described agent of generational change to take the helm as they voted Saturday for Iain Rankin to become party leader and the province's next premier.

Rankin, 37, edged out two of his fellow former cabinet ministers in the three-man race to succeed Premier Stephen McNeil, whose retirement announcement last summer triggered the leadership contest that played out virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rankin, who once served as McNeil's lands and forestry minister, garnered just over 52 per cent of the vote after a second ballot. He defeated former labour minister Labi Kousoulis and Randy Delorey, who held the province's health, finance and environment portfolios under McNeil.

Rankin, who ran on a platform of linking environmental and economic concerns, vowed during his acceptance speech to be a collaborative leader when he succeeds McNeil as premier on a yet unnamed date.

He also said his election signals the Liberal Party accepted his focus on climate issues during the campaign.

"This is about what people want to see next. They want to see action on climate change. They want to see us continuing down the path of righting historic wrongs," he said during a news conference after his win.

"The party, by and large, wants to see action in those areas."

Iain Rankin addresses supporters after winning the leadership of the Nova Scotia Liberal party at a virtual convention in Halifax on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan-POOL

Rankin, who entered the leadership race on Oct. 5, was the youngest of the three candidates vying for the top job and will be among the youngest premiers in the province's history.

He secured endorsements from high-profile party members such as ex-party leader Vince MacLean and former deputy premier and finance minister Diana Whalen.

Born in Cape Breton, he was raised in Timberlea, N.S., where he developed interests in sports and music. He currently represents the Halifax-area riding of Timberlea-Prospect.

Rankin said he's only a distant cousin to the musical recording artists from Mabou with the same surname, but has delved into his Gaelic ancestry and culture, studied at the Gaelic College in St. Ann's, N.S, and has learned to play the bagpipes.

He went on to become a member of the Dartmouth Pipes and Drum Band.

He also studied at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax while helping to run the family gas station in Beechville, N.S. Rankin moved on to work in small business before entering politics.

One of his campaign pledges involved a promise to end the province's use of coal to generate electricity by 2030, as well as a goal of having 80 per cent of Nova Scotia's energy coming from renewable sources by that same year.

While reaffirming the environmental commitments on Saturday, Rankin said his first priority is to maintain the province's successful efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rankin also described the fiscally conservative McNeil as a "mentor," and said that he doesn't intend to deviate significantly from the premier's record of keeping a lid on public sector wage increases.

"He's shown more political courage than any premier in our history...I've learned from the premier. He stood up to special interest groups and looked out for the interests of all Nova Scotians. That will continue under my watch," he said.

About 8,100 party delegates cast virtual votes over the past week in support of the three candidates, all of whom held cabinet roles in McNeil's government.

Delorey was considered by some pundits to be a front-runner in the contest, but was dropped from the race after the first-ballot results of the ranked vote.

During his departure speech, an emotional McNeil urged the party to move quickly behind whoever was chosen as the new leader.

Rankin said he will be calling Delorey, Kousoulis and other senior Liberals in the days to come "to determine their role."

"They've run a good campaign and I look forward to working with them," he said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was quick to congratulate the new premier-designate, issuing a statement hours after his win.

I look forward to working closely with Mr. Rankin to continue to do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, to protect and support Nova Scotians and all Canadians during this challenging time," it read.

The legislature is set to return on March 9 for the speech from the throne, and a provincial election must be called in the province by spring 2022.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 6, 2021.
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Candidates who have appeared in the UPSC CDS (I) 2020 exams are advised to visit the official site of UPSC at upsc.gov.in and check their final results

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) declared the final results of the Combined Defence Services (I) or CDS (I) examination 2020 on its official website on Friday, 5 February.

Candidates who have appeared in the UPSC CDS (I) 2020 exams are advised to visit the official site of UPSC at upsc.gov.in and check their final results.

The final merit list has been published on the basis of the CDS (I) exam conducted by the commission and various interviews organised by the Services Selection Board of the Ministry of Defence. A report by Hindustan Times quoted an official notification to state that the UPSC had recommended a set of shortlisted candidates for different academies.

As many as 2,614 candidates had qualified in the written test for the Indian Military Academy, 1,429 for the Indian Naval Academy and 632 for the Air Force Academy. The notice says that the number of candidates who have been finally allowed to qualify are those who managed to pass the SSB test conducted later at Army Headquarters.

The authority mentioned that this merit list did not take the results of medical examination into account and the verification of date of birth and educational certificates of the selected candidates is currently being done by the Army Headquarters.

For the Indian Military Academy, 50 names have been shortlisted, while for the Indian Naval Academy, the number is 39. Lastly, for admission into the Air Force Academy, six names have been selected.

The CDS recruitment drive was conducted for the 150th course of Indian Military Academy in Dehradun, Indian Naval Academy in Ezhimala, Kerala and Air Force Academy in Hyderabad (Pre-Flying) training course.

A total of 95 candidates have been listed in the merit list. Here is the direct link to check the UPSC CDS results 2020.
Axios

Southwest and American airlines won't yet resume in-flight alcohol service as planned after a flight attendant was recently assaulted by a passenger and other in-flight incidents.What they're saying: Southwest had initially planned to resume the service in June, but Sonya Lacore, the airline's head of in-flight operations, said in a memo obtained by CNN that "based on the rise in passenger disruptions in flight, I've made the decision to re-evaluate the restart of alcohol service on board."Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free"Given the recent uptick in industry-wide incidents of passenger disruptions in-flight, we have made the decision to pause the previously announced restart of alcohol service onboard,'' Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz told USA TODAY. Catch up quick: Last Sunday, a female passenger allegedly struck a flight attendant during a flight from Sacramento to San Diego  Southwest said two of the attendant's teeth had been knocked out. The passenger was then arrested on suspicions of battery causing serious bodily injury. The flight attendant was taken to a hospital once the plane landed, according to a police report. Southwest said Friday it banned the female passenger from flying with the airline again.The big picture: The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it had received approximately 2,500 reports of unruly passenger behavior since Jan. 1, with about 1,900 reports being of passengers refusing to follow federal mask mandates.Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.
The White House has said Joe Biden will not have the final say on whether Donald Trump can receive intelligence briefings after the president said his predecessor's 'erratic behavior' means 'he might slip and say something'.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki poured cold water on what had appeared to be Biden taking the unprecedented step to deny Trump access to classified information now he has left office.

Psaki said in a statement Saturday the president was merely 'expressing his concern' and will leave the final decision to his intelligence team.

'The president was expressing his concern about former president Trump receiving access to sensitive intelligence, but he also has deep trust in his own intelligence team to make a determination about how to provide intelligence information if at any point the former president Trump requests a briefing,' Psaki said, according to the Washington Post.

It is not clear when a final decision on the matter will be reached.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has not commented on the decision and referred DailyMail.com's request for comment to the White House.

The White House has said Joe Biden will not have the final say on whether Donald Trump can receive intelligence briefings after the president said his predecessor's 'erratic behavior' means 'he might slip and say something'

The walkback from the Oval Office came after Biden said in an interview with CBS Evening News Friday night he did not think Trump should receive intelligence briefings citing the ex-president's 'erratic behavior'.

'I think not,' he said. When asked why, Biden said: 'Because of his erratic behavior unrelated to the insurrection.'

Biden said he would 'rather not speculate out loud' what his worst fear is if Trump is given access to the highly sensitive information but said there is 'no need' for him to be involved now he has left office.

'I would rather not speculate out loud. I just think there is no need for him to have that intelligence briefing?' he said.

'What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than he might slip and say something?'

Psaki had also indicated in Monday's press briefing that the Biden administration was evaluating whether or not to allow Trump to receive the briefings.

'This is a good question,' said Psaki. 'It's something that's obviously under review.'

It has become tradition for former presidents to be granted routine intelligence briefings and access to classified information once they leave office.

The intel is not at the very highest levels which is reserved for the current officeholder only but are still delivered by current intelligence officers.

The president was asked by CBS Evening News Friday night if he believes his predecessor should receive the briefings. 'I think not,' he said. When asked why, Biden said: 'Because of his erratic behavior unrelated to the insurrection'

Pres. Biden sits down with @NorahODonnell for his first network interview since taking office.



Hear more from the president about his plans for tackling the coronavirus pandemic ahead of the Super Bowl, only on @CBS. pic.twitter.com/zg2rQhUeQo  CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) February 5, 2021

The move is said to enable outgoing presidents to continue to support the nation's interests.

But it is an honor granted out of respect by the new president to their predecessor and the administration has the power to decide whether or not to allow ex-presidents access.

No other president has ever said no to allowing the tradition to continue but, in Trump's case, the briefings would go to a former president who left the White House in a blaze of breaking with traditions.

He refused to concede to Biden when he lost the presidential election and then refused to attend the inauguration - the first time an outgoing president did this in more than 150 years.

Trump also spent his final months in the White House pushing unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud and telling his supporters the election was 'stolen' from him.

This culminated in the January 6 riot where a MAGA mob stormed the US Capitol in a violent siege that left five - including a Capitol cop - dead.

Trump's Senate impeachment trial is set to begin on Tuesday after he became the first president to be impeached by the House twice in the nation's history for his part in 'inciting' the riot.

Biden's comments about Trump letting something 'slip' indicate his reasoning for denying the former president access to classified information was not driven by the events that brought about impeachment.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki walked back Biden's comments saying the decision whether or not to grant Trump access will be left to the intelligence teams

In the days between the MAGA mob riot and Biden's inauguration, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi raised concerns about Trump having access to the nuclear codes.

On January 8 - two days on from the riot - Pelosi took the unprecedented step of calling the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and asking the Pentagon to take 'available precautions' to stop Trump launching nuclear weapons in his last days in office.

But, long before the riots, there have been concerns in the past about Trump leaking classified information while president.

He caused an uproar during his 2017 meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and then-ambassador to the US Sergei Kislyak after it was reported he revealed highly classified information about ISIS in Syria to the US adversary.

The meeting took place in the Oval Office on May 10 2017 - the day after he fired FBI director James Comey after he announced the bureau was probing whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.

In it, Trump gave up highly sensitive information from a US ally, reported to be Israel, including the Syrian city in which the intel was gathered.

The information was highly classified and had not even been shared with US allies.

The leak resulted in the US having to extract a top-level source inside the Russian government who was said to have been instrumental in the CIA's probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

There have been concerns in the past about Trump leaking classified information. Trump caused an uproar during his May 2017 meeting (above) with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (right) and then-ambassador to the US Sergei Kislyak (left) after it was reported he revealed highly classified information about ISIS in Syria to the US adversary

Trump also once tweeted out what appeared to be a classified photo of an Iranian nuclear installation.

He then said he had the power to declassify material.

He repeatedly pushed for the release of information about the Russia probe that he believed would tarnish the investigation he derided as a 'witch hunt.

Ex-principal deputy director of national intelligence Susan M. Gordon voiced concerns over Trump getting access to intel on leaving office in an op ed for the Washington Post in January citing it a 'potential national security risk'.

Gordon, who served under Trump from 2017 to 2019, recommended Biden do not enable him to have any briefings after January 20 'based on my deep understanding of threats to national security.'

She pointed to Trump's business dealings with foreign entities as well as his defiance that he will run again as major risks in him getting access to more intel than the swathes with which he has already left the White House with.

'He leaves, unlike his predecessors who embraced the muted responsibilities of being a former, with a stated agenda to stay engaged in politics and policy,' she wrote.

Ex-principal deputy director of national intelligence Susan M. Gordon (pictured in 2017) voiced concerns over Trump getting access to intel on leaving office in an op ed for the Washington Post in January citing it a 'potential national security risk'

'No departing president in the modern era has hinted at or planned on becoming a political actor immediately after leaving office.'

She added that 'Trump has significant business entanglements that involve foreign entities.

'Many of these current business relationships are in parts of the world that are vulnerable to intelligence services from other nation-states,' she wrote.

'And it is not clear that he understands the tradecraft to which he has been exposed, the reasons the knowledge he has acquired must be protected from disclosure, or the intentions and capabilities of adversaries and competitors who will use any means to advance their interests at the expense of ours.'

Biden doubled down on his previous comments that Trump is an 'existential threat', 'dangerous' and 'reckless' telling CBS's Norah O'Donnell 'I believe it' in his first network interview since taking office.

'I ran like hell to defeat him because I thought he was unfit to be president,' he said

'I watched and everyone else watched when that crew invaded the United Sates Congress.'

Trump was impeached by the House on January 13 for the second time for 'inciting the insurrection' on January 6. Pictured Trump at the rally where he told supporters to 'fight' moments before they stormed the Capitol

Pro-Trump insurgents stormed the US Capitol on January 6 in an attack that left nation stunned

Biden refused to say whether or not he would vote to impeach Trump if he was still a senator saying he would 'let the Senate make that decision'.

Trump was impeached by the House on January 13 for the second time.

In the trial beginning next week, Democrats will argue Trump 'incited an insurrection' and should be convicted.

His defense will argue the MAGA mob rioters planned the attack before Trump's speech where he told them to 'fight'.

Trump is likely to be cleared by the Senate after a procedural vote showed Republicans were unlikely to support his conviction

Trumps first impeachment trial in January 2017 came after it emerged he had pressured the Ukrainian president for information on Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.

He was impeached in December 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress but was acquitted by the Senate in February after only one Republican - Mitt Romney - broke from party lines to back the impeachment article.
Ongoing coastal erosion has resulted in the loss of large parts of the Murrough

A coastal erosion plan commissioned by Irish Rail will cost in the region of 145 million to carry out works along the coastline from Bray to the Murrough in Wicklow town.

Iarnrod Eireann commissioned Arup to review the Irish Coastal Protection Strategy Study (ICPSS) and revise and forecast erosion rates for the coastline from Ringsend to Wicklow town. Irish Rail extended the study to Arklow as Wicklow County Council was interested.

Marc Devereux, senior engineer, Environmental Section, provided the elected members with a presentation of the study findings at Monday's meeting of Wicklow County Council.

The plans fit in with Wicklow County Council's Climate Action and the Department of Transport has approved funding for Irish Rail to progress the project from Merrion Gates in Dublin to Wicklow town.

Bray North Beach isn't included as works are already being carried out by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.

Irish Rail will carry out a cost review under the Public Spending Code and Wicklow County Council will form part of a Project Steering Committee.

Mr Devereux commented: 'The news in the last few weeks has been very good news. Irish Rail have been carrying out studies and let me sit in on meetings. Irish Rail are very concerned themselves about the railway line, particularly in Wicklow. Irish Rail continue to monitor the area of the Murrough at which they carried out emergency works a few years ago. They want a permanent solution in place. It will be funded from the Department of Infrastructure for rail infrastructure projects and the indications are good. The works would be of value to the railway line, as well as various strategies such as the NTA, funded by the Department.'

Works at Bray Head and Greystones North Beach will cost in the region of 10 to 20 million and will significantly benefit the existing railway line. The works will include an upgrade of Bray Head structures and a detached breakwater system at Greystones North Beach, while beach nourishment will also take place.

Planned works from Greystones to Newcastle to Wicklow town, also taking in the Murrough, could cost up to 125 million and will have significant benefits for the existing railway line as well as for the Murrough and Broadlough. From Newcastle to the Murrough, it is planned to upgrade and extend the Wicklow revetment and place detached breakwaters in areas at immediate risk of erosion. Beach nourishment will be carried out at areas adjacent to the detached breakwaters and dune regeneration works will also take place.

A detached breakwater system will be put in place between Greystones and Newcastle, along with beach nourishment at areas adjacent to the detached breakwaters and dune regeneration.

The Coastal Cell including Wicklow Harbour was excluded from the study as the existing structures are deemed to be maintained and thus no new scheme is proposed. Some survey work carried out on the harbour will be of interest to Wicklow County Council for the maintenance of the harbour.

The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications is funding works being carried out by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council at Bray North Beach. The works will include the extension of a rock revetment structure to cover a former landfill north of Bray. Beach nourishment will also take place to prevent the reduction of the beach levels adjacent to hard structures.

'The works being carried out at Bray North Head may address the issues. It will be reviewed when completed to make sure it isn't a threat,' said Mr Devereux.

Coastal cells at Brittas Bay, Arklow North Beach and Arklow South Beach were included in the study but won't be included in the works. Brittas Bay requires dune management, such as dune protection, fencing, the placement of signage, access control and vegetation planting.

Arklow North Beach requires a detached breakwater system, beach nourishment, terminal groyne to prevent the loss of material and dune regeneration. Arklow South Beach needs large-scale nourishment and dune regeneration.

The cost of the combined works for Arklow and Brittas Bay is estimated at 30 million.

'Brittas Bay and Arklow are not included but we plan to bring the study detail to the OPW and get them to show an intent with that area of coastline,' added Mr Devereux.

Cllr Gail Dunne said: 'We all know the Murrough is getting washed away. There is an awful lot of money involved but it needs to be done quickly, otherwise there will be no Murrough left. Whenever there is a storm the Murrough is further damaged. If this weather continues then we are in trouble.'

Councillors Gerry Walsh and Irene Winters welcomed the findings of the study and hoped it could be tired in with plans for an East Coast Greenway from Greystones to Wicklow town.

Mr Devereux stated: 'Irish Rail are aware of the Greenway plans and have a representative sitting on the Greenway Group. As Irish Rail carry out surveys, they will share them with us. We will try and keep the information flowing between both teams. Both will also have to do separate surveys.'

Cllr Sylvester Bourke was worried that Arklow hadn't been included in plans to draw down funding.

'I am concerned that we are being sold out in Arklow again. This has been on our agenda for over 20 years and I am afraid we will be sacrificed for the Murrough and further up.'

Mr Devereux said: 'Unfortunately Arklow is not a concern for Irish Rail. The good news is that Arklow is on the radar with the OPW over the flood relief scheme.'
Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 14:56:09|Editor: huaxia

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MOSCOW, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Wuhan's Huanan seafood market may have made it possible for the novel coronavirus to spread, but it does not mean the virus originated there, a Russian expert has said.

"There is no evidence that the virus originated there" but "hypothetically, there are all conditions for the spread of the virus there," Vladimir Dedkov, a member of the World Health Organization's (WHO) expert team, was quoted as saying by Sputnik on Thursday.

The seafood market was linked to an early cluster of COVID-19 cases, but scientists have yet to come to an unequivocal conclusion regarding the role it played in the contagion.

Dedkov also refuted the theory of a virus leakage while visiting the Wuhan Institute of Virology along with nine other WHO experts on Wednesday.

"Of course, it was important for our mission to visit this facility, talk to our colleagues and see how everything is organized there," the expert said.

"The laboratory is perfectly equipped," he said. "It is hard for me to imagine that something could have leaked from there." Enditem
Caracas, Feb 6 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Feb, 2021 ) :Venezuela jailed two officials from the state oil company PDVSA for five years for providing the US with "strategic and sensitive" details of its sanctions-hit oil operations, prosecutors said Friday.

Alfredo Chirinos, the company's special operations chief, and Aryenis Torrealba, PDVSA's general manager of crude operations, were arrested last year.

They "were sentenced to five years in prison for the crime of disclosing, reserving or supplying information," said a statement signed by the attorney general, Tarek William Saab.

The court relied on witness testimony and "documentary" evidence.

According to the ruling, both former executives handled information on fuel oil inventories and the "refining system, as well as the routes of ships that traded with PDVSA.

" "These officials leaked sensitive and confidential information from the oil industry, which resulted in the imposition of sanctions by the US government, which have caused significant financial damage to the industry by limiting the marketing of its products internationally," the text said.

Washington has already imposed multiple sanctions aimed at toppling the regime of President Nicolas Maduro, particularly by cutting his vital government's oil revenue.

The sanctions include a ban on US citizens and companies from dealing in Venezuelan crude oil, effective from April 2019.

Venezuela's oil production closed 2020 at just over 400,000 barrels per day, the lowest in decades, a fall which experts attribute to years of corruption and mismanagement in the country's main industry.
As Tamil Nadu counts the hours for the return of former CM Jayalalithaa's aide Sasikala, her nephew TTV Dhinakaran came up with a rather cryptic comment about how active she will be after her return.

Dhinakaran, who is currently on a tour of temples, told reporters in Tenkasi that Sasikala will certainly contest elections. Asked whether 'Chinnamma' as Sasikala is known, will contest elections after she returns from Bangalore, Dhinakaran said "undoubtedly she will".

Asked who would be the CM candidate if she contests, he said she herself would decide that. To another question on whether she will contest elections in alliance with the ruling AIADMK, which has distanced itself from her, Dhinakaran merely said "wait and watch".

While it is well known that as per law Sasikala cannot contest an election for another six years, his comment has set off speculation on whether there is any legal loophole by which she can contest the forthcoming polls, or whether he meant she would contest elections at a later point after six years; or whether she would simply remain politically active by fielding her relatives or other chosen candidates. (Anyone convicted for four years under the prevention of corruption act cannot contest an election for six years after serving her sentence).

Dhinakaran is the founder of the AMMK party and is an MLA in the current assembly, having won the byelection in Jayalalithaa's erstwhile constituency RK Nagar after her death.

Asked about the controversy over the use of the AIADMK flag on Sasikala, her nephew said it was laughable that top ministers of the ADMK had gone to the DGP to complain about this.

ALSO READ: Ex-AIADMK Leader Sasikala Discharged from Hospital, Leaves in Car with Party's Flag

"Nobody can object to our use of any party flag, in fact anybody can use party flags, there are no rules to prohibit it. Earlier they had even objected to our use of Jayalalithaa's photos, but that is not valid either. There is no rule that we cannot display her photos. Similarly, not just the DGP, even if the commanders of the three forces come, they cannot stop anyone from using a party flag," he said.
The Russian LGBT Network has warned that two young gay men from Chechnya who were seized in Nizhny Novgorod and driven by car back to the North Caucasus region face "mortal danger."

The Russian NGO reported on its Telegram channel on February 6 that Salekh Magamadov, 18, and a 17-year-old companion had arrived at a police station in Gudermes after being detained by Federal Security Service (FSB) officers earlier this week.

The reason for their detentions in Nizhny Novgorod remains unknown, the LGBT Network reported on its website, adding that one of its lawyers was not being granted access to the detainees prior to their interrogation.

RFE/RL is not revealing the identity of the second man because he is a minor.

The LGBT Network helped both men leave Chechnya and settle in Nizhny Novgorod in July. After police arrived at their apartment on February 4, one of the men contacted the NGO asking for help and its emergency-assistance coordinator reported hearing screaming from unknown people in the background, the LGBT Network wrote on its website.

After arriving on the scene, a lawyer for the LGBT Network noticed that a scuffle had taken place in the men's apartment and was able to confirm that the two men had been detained by police and were being taken by car to Gudermes, Chechnya.

The LGBT Network became involved in the men's case after they were both detained in April 2020 in Chechnya, the Russian region ruled by Kremlin-backed strongman Ramzan Kadyrov.

According to the LGBT Network the two men had been illegally detained at a notorious prison in the Chechen capital in relation to their involvement as moderators on the opposition Telegram channel Osal Nakh 95.

The two were tortured and humiliated by Chechen special police, according to the rights group, and were later seen in videos published on the Internet in which they can be seen apologizing, apparently under duress, saying "they weren't men."

The predominantly Muslim region of Russias North Caucasus was in 2017 accused of carrying out a brutal purge targeting sexual minorities, despite Kadyrov's denials and claims that "we don't have any gays" in Chechnya. In 2019, the LGBT Network reported a second wave of persecution against gays.

"They are tired and frightened," LGBT Network spokesperson Time Bestsvet told AFP on January 6. "All this time they were being pressured to refuse a lawyer."

According to Bestsvet, the father of the detained minor was being pressured to refuse to let his son see an attorney. Bestsvet said the rights group was working to gain access to the men, whom he said faced "mortal danger."

"There have been cases when relatives brought back to Chechnya people that we had evacuated and then these people would die or, we can say, were probably murdered," Bestsvet said.

With reporting by AFP
Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 19:50:20|Editor: huaxia

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-- With the global vaccination drive having begun, a limited vaccine supply has frustrated rollout efforts in the European Union (EU) and the United States.

-- The widespread frustration has raised concerns about international competition for limited vaccine supplies, especially among wealthy nations, which have rushed to secure vaccine deals.

-- China has decided to provide COVID-19 vaccine doses to COVAX to meet the urgent needs of developing countries, at the request of the WHO.





by Xinhua writer Zhang Jiawei

LONDON, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- COVID-19 vaccines are key to bringing life back to normal around the world. Yet, a fair and efficient rollout of the vaccines was never going to be easy.

With the global vaccination drive having begun, a limited vaccine supply has frustrated rollout efforts in the European Union (EU) and the United States, while gaps in access, especially huge disparities between the developed and developing world, have become glaringly evident.

Undated photo shows a vial of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. (BioNTech/Handout via Xinhua)





SLOW ROLLOUT

The EU's vaccination programs have been plagued with supply issues. Italy recently filed a complaint with the bloc against Pfizer, BioNTech and AstraZeneca, for failing to deliver the vaccines quickly enough. Various EU member states have also experienced similar issues as pharmaceutical companies are supplying vaccines slower than anticipated.

On Jan. 15, Pfizer and BioNTech said in a statement that their facility in Puurs, Belgium will experience a temporary reduction in the number of doses delivered in the upcoming week due to "certain modifications of production processes."

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (C), European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides (L) and European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton hold discussions with drug giants about rapid development and production of vaccines specially against the new variants of the coronavirus during a video conference in Brussels, Belgium, Jan. 31, 2021. (European Union/Handout via Xinhua)

The two companies then said in another statement released on Monday that they are back to the original schedule of dose deliveries to the EU.

However, the EU's vaccine supply issue is far more complex. "Shortfalls in COVID-19 vaccine deliveries from U.S. drugmaker Moderna have spread across Europe," Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, the EU has been frustrated by AstraZeneca's previous announcement that it might deliver considerably fewer doses than promised for the first quarter.

Motorists line up to receive inoculation at a COVID-19 vaccination site at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, the United States, Jan. 15, 2021. (Xinhua)

In the United States, the situation is similarly fraught.

"All 50 states in the U.S. are reporting shortages as America's fragmented administrative and health care systems struggle to distribute even the limited vaccine stocks that have been produced," NBC News reported late last month.

The former U.S. administration's vaccine distribution plan was blasted for leaving it up to county and city administrators, who have zero experience with vaccine distribution plans, especially of this magnitude.





HUGE DISPARITIES

The widespread frustration has raised concerns about international competition for limited vaccine supplies, especially among wealthy nations, which have rushed to secure vaccine deals, analysts said.

According to a Bloomberg COVID-19 deals tracker updated on Jan. 30, 8.56 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines have already been reserved, which would be enough to cover more than half the world's population if the shots were distributed evenly, with most vaccines comprised of two doses.

People wearing face masks walk past the Vaccination Centre at ExCel exhibition centre in London, Britain, Jan. 12, 2021. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

However, "rich countries have accumulated extensive supply deals. Some countries may have to wait until 2022 or later before supplies are widely available," the media outlet said.

Speaking at a press briefing on Jan. 29, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "vaccine nationalism might serve short-term political goals. But it's ultimately short-sighted and self-defeating."

More worryingly, the WHO chief last month warned of the moral consequences of the lack of COVID-19 vaccines for poorer countries, calling higher-income countries more privileged compared to developing countries.

Some experts also voiced concern over the global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

People wait to enter the vaccination center to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Hawalli Governorate, Kuwait, Feb. 4, 2021. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua)

"Unfortunately, it is going according to the principle of the strongest: the richer countries like the U.S., Canada, also many EU countries secure the vaccines in bilateral negotiations. In a global pandemic, such behavior is reckless," said Maximilian Gertler, an expert at the Institute for Tropical Medicine and International Health in Berlin, in an interview with the German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel.





GLOBAL COOPERATION

Vaccine shortage has also prompted more to consider diversifying vaccine supply.

"There's a bit of the developing world that produces vaccines and does so very efficiently and provides them to the rest of the world; India and China in the pharmaceutical value chains are right up there," Uma Kambhampati, professor of economics at the University of Reading in Britain, told Xinhua.

The EU and its member states have also expressed their openness to vaccines from developing countries like China.

A senior citizen receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine from Chinese firm Sinovac in downtown Santiago, Chile, Feb. 3, 2021. (Photo by Jorge Villegas/Xinhua)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said that vaccines from Russia and China could be approved for use in the EU if they "show all the data," AFP quoted the bloc's lawmakers as saying.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn said recently that he is open to the use of vaccines from Russia or China in Germany.

For now, Hungary is the only EU member state that has authorized the use of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine and a Russian vaccine.

Health workers receive doses of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine during a mass vaccination program for health workers as a main priority group in Jakarta, Indonesia, Feb. 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Agung Kuncahya B.)

On a global scale, the WHO chief has stressed that COVAX needs to "receive extra doses soon, and not the leftovers many months from now."

The WHO-led initiative aims to accelerate the development and manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines, and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world.

For its part, China has decided to provide COVID-19 vaccine doses to COVAX to meet the urgent needs of developing countries, at the request of the WHO, the country's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

A handover ceremony of a batch of China-donated COVID-19 vaccine is held at Noor Khan Air Base near Islamabad, Pakistan, Feb. 1, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Tian)

"We hope that capable countries in the international community can play an active role and take concrete actions to support COVAX as well as the WHO's work," spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, "so as to help developing countries receive vaccines in time and contribute to the global defeat of the pandemic at an early date."

(Video reporter: Liang Xizhi; Video editor: Zhang Xinyi)
In its first contact with the Biden administration, on Saturday asked the US to rectify the "mistakes" of former President Donald Trump's aggressive policies towards Beijing and flagged Taiwan as the most important and sensitive core issue for it.

resents US support for Taiwan, which Beijing views as a rebel province that must be reunified with the mainland, even by force.

During his tenure, Trump pushed aggressively on all aspects of US- ties, including with his relentless trade war, challenging China's military hold on the disputed South China Sea, its constant threats to Taiwan, the mass detention of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, branding coronavirus as "China virus" after it emerged from Wuhan in December 2019 as well as Xinjiang and Tibet issues.

Newly-appointed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi on Saturday held what observers here say as blunt and outspoken conversation over the phone during which both sides sought to highlight the issues of concerns that will shape the ties between the top two economies of the world in the next four years.

Yang, a member of the Politburo of the ruling Communist Party of China and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC, is Beijing's point man for Washington.

While Blinken told Yang that the Biden administration will hold China accountable for its abuses of the system and raised with him the issue of human rights violations in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong and Myanmar, the Chinese diplomat said both sides should respect each other's core interests and choices of political system.

Yang said the US "should rectify its mistakes made over a period of time," in an apparent reference to hardline policies pursued by the Trump administration towards China, pushing the ties between the two countries to a new low.

He said the US should work with China to uphold the spirit of no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation.

The Taiwan question, the most important and sensitive core issue in China-US relations, bears on China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Yang as telling Blinken.

China considers Taiwan as part of its mainland and apprehends that the US is stepping its engagement with Taipei with military and political assistance.

The US should strictly abide by the one-China principle, Yang said, adding that Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet-related affairs are all China's internal affairs and allow no interference by any external forces.

Any attempt to slander and smear China will not succeed, and China will continue to firmly safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests, Yang said.

He urged the US to play a constructive role in promoting peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region involving the disputed South China Sea, where America looks to step up its engagement with allies to contain Beijing.

China claims almost all of the 1.3 million square-mile South China Sea as its sovereign territory. China has been building military bases on artificial islands in the region also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

On the Myanmar coup, Blinken and Yang presented different views.

While Blinken condemned the military coup in Myanmar and threatened sanctions against the military government, Yang stressed that the community should create an enabling external environment for the proper settlement of the Myanmar issue.

Yang pointed out that all countries in the world should safeguard the system with the United Nations at its core and not pursue a rules-based international order championed by a few countries.

On Thursday, Biden in his first foreign policy speech flagged a twin policy approach of confrontation with Beijing on challenges it posed and cooperation to further American interests.

Biden described China as the most serious competitor to the US and vowed to confront Beijing on various fronts, including human rights, intellectual property and economic policy.

"But we are ready to work with Beijing when it is in America's interest to do so, he said.

Commenting on Biden's speech, a report in the state-run Global Times said, Chinese scholars found the speech a little bland with no new eye-catching expressions.

Biden conveyed a clearer perspective on certain issues other than on China issues, proving that the new administration is still unready to make a clear China policy, it said.

Biden mentioned China or Beijing six times in his speech but only one sentence about cooperation, with the rest all about competition and threat, the report said.

From the speech we can understand the most serious competitor is a basic and common consensus regarding China among US decision-makers, and US concerns over China are much greater and clearer than intentions to cooperate, the report quoted Diao Daming, an expert on US studies at the Renmin University of China, as saying.

(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.)

School director accused of rape now also faces firearms charge

SONGKHLA: A school director facing an allegation of raping a girl student now also faces a firearms charge for allegedly pulling out a gun after apologising publicly during morning assembly.

violencesexcrimepolice

By Bangkok Post

Saturday 6 February 2021, 09:57AM

Police at Thepha station are now investigating two cases against the school director  the alleged rape of student and carrying a firearm in public. Photo: Assawin Pakkawan Bangkok Post

The school director is accused of producing a pistol during morning assembly in front of the flag, causing panic among students and teachers. Photo: Assawin Pakkawan / Bangkok Post

The gates were firmly shut on Friday at the school in Thepha district of Songkhla where the director faces charges of raping a student and carrying a gun during morning assembly. Photo: Assawin Pakkawan / Bangkok Post

Sayan Chaleephol, 60, director of Thepha School in Thepha district, has also been transferred to Education Office Zone 16 to allow further investigation, reports the Bangkok Post.

Pol Col Thammarat Phetnongchum, the Thepha police chief, said on Friday (Feb 5) that investigators were now handling two cases against the accused school director - the alleged rape of a girl student, and carrying a firearm in public.

The mother of the Mathayom Suksa 3 student filed a complaint with police, acccusing Mr Sayan of rape and depriving a child of parental protection.

The mother had provided some evidence to back her charges, he said. Her daughter had been referred to Thepha Hospital for a medical examination, and psychologists and child welfare officials would be present when she was questioned by police.

If the evidence justified it, the director would be summonsed to hear the charges, Pol Col Thammarat said.

Meanwhile, officers would question witnesses to the gun incident.

He said the gun was registered, but Mr Sayan was at fault for carrying it in public.

Investigators would prepare their case, then he would be called in to hear the additional firearms charge, Pol Col Thammarat said.

On Thursday, in front of hundreds of students and their teachers, Mr Sayan suddenly flashed a gun after addressing the assembly during morning flag raising.

He had first talked about school management and then changed topic, apologising to everyone for his personal problem.

He said, I have already made my apology to them, and will make this louder than they did. He did not mention names or details.

According to reports, he then unbuttoned his suit jacket and pulled a pistol from his waist, sending students and teachers into shock and panic. As the students fled, some teachers intervened to prevent Mr Sayan from his seeming intention of committing suicide.

Classes were then suspended for the rest of the week and parents called to take their children home. The school gates were closed and outsiders refused entry.

Media reported that Mr Sayan went to Thepha police station by van after the incident and handed the pistol over to police.

Officers found the gun was registered, but asked him to supply documents to confirm ownership. He then left the police station.

Banchop Phisutthipan, deputy school director, said media reports Mr Sayan had pulled out his gun were incorrect. Mr Sayan only unbuttoned his jacket, and that revealed the gun.

Media reported that investigators questioned the students father on Friday, and that the mother had handed police copies of chat messages between the director and her daughter.

Officials from the Songkhla Dhamrongtham centre and other agencies also visited the students home to offer help.






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Kolkata: BJP president J P Nadda is set to launch the party's 'Rath Yatra' in West Bengal on Saturday (Feb 6) to mobilise public support ahead of the assembly elections but confusion prevails over the grant of permission for the march during which party leaders intend to crisscross the state.

Nadda is scheduled to kick off the 'Parivartan Yatra' from Nabadwip, the birthplace of 15th century saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Nadia district. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is also likely to inaugurate two of the five proposed yatras later this month.

However, confusion prevailed till Friday evening over its prospects as Nadia district administration is yet to accord permission for the Rath Yatra.

Although the BJP claimed it has received permission, the district police insisted it is for a public meeting and not the Rath Yatra.

"We have provided no objection for the public rally of J P Nadda. But no permission has been given for the so-called Rath Yatra as the matter is sub-judice," a senior police official said.

Earlier this week, the West Bengal BJP had sought permission from the state government for the month-long event.

BJP state vice-president Pratap Banerjee, in a letter to Chief Secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay, said the party intended to launch five rallies at different places beginning February 6.

Several top BJP leaders are scheduled to arrive in West Bengal during the month-long campaign to start from Nabadwip on Saturday. The party proposed to launch similar yatras from Coochbehar, Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas, Jhargram and Tarapith in Birbhum between February 6 and 11.

The state government asked the BJP to seek permission from the local district administrations.

"We have got permission from Nadia district. The administration is permitting us according to the jurisdiction of police stations. The police have taken all the details regarding the route and rallies," Banerjee claimed.

BJP state president Dilip Ghosh accused the state administration and the ruling TMC of dilly-dallying the matter.

"The Rath Yatra will be a game-changer in West Bengal politics. It will kick off a wave of support in favour of the BJP and act as the final nail in the TMC government's coffin. The TMC has been trying to delay the permission just like it did the last time," Ghosh said.

The Trinamool Congress, meanwhile, accused the BJP of indulging in "malicious propaganda" by claiming denial of permission to hold the campaign.

"GoWB has not denied permission to any Yatra, as claimed by @BJP4Bengal. They are indulging in malicious propaganda with neither substance nor truth.

"BJP must show material evidence of GoWB denying permission to their Yatra. This is BJP's attempt to claim victimhood," the TMC tweeted.

State minister Bratya Basu said it would have been improper for the state government to accord permission for the events from a "single point". The BJP was therefore asked to obtain permission for district administrations concerned.

"A PIL was also filed regarding the same in the High Court & the matter is now sub judice. We thereby clarify that AITC has nothing to do with this issue," the TMC said.

A PIL was filed before the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday, praying for its intervention to prevent the BJP's planned 'rath yatra' across the state, claiming that it would impact the COVID-19 situation and law and order in the state.

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, "Rath Yatra symbolises hatred and fear".

"Rath Yatras since the 1990s by the BJP have led to communal tensions. It is a symbol of hatred. In Bengal also they want to destroy the communal harmony," he said.

Terming the allegations as baseless, BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said the TMC is afraid of allowing the saffron party from carrying out its political programmes.

In 2018, the BJP had planned Rath Yatras across the state but the programme had to be called off as the state government declined permission.

After having a limited presence in the politically polarised state for decades, the BJP has emerged as the main rival of the ruling Trinamool Congress ever since it won 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in the 2019 general elections. Elections to the 294-member state assembly are due in April-May next year.

Live TV

Minister of Health Paulette Lenert is pleased with the Grand Duchy's vaccination campaign, as 50% of hospital staff and 86% of care home staff have received a jab already, she said in an interview on RTL Radio on Monday morning.

"It was a huge challenge to get the logistics up and running, but the invitations are working, the [vaccination] centres are working, so to that extent I am really pleased with the situation", she said. Even if the awareness campaign to boost trust amongst the population needs to continue, the minister is content with the public's response.

The Ministry of Health is hosting a press conference on Monday morning on Luxembourg's vaccination campaign, which we will also cover on our site in the afternoon.

AstraZeneca delivery expected next week

A total of 23,000 vaccines were delivered to Luxembourg as of last weekend, which covers 11,500 people. The government expects a further 11,700 doses from AstraZeneca to arrive next week, even if there is no official confirmation of that number.

Should this shipment come to Luxembourg, however, the first phase of the Grand Duchy's vaccination campaign could be finished sooner than expected.

Invitations to receive the jab are sent out several days prior to the arrival of new doses.

So who will get the AstraZeneca vaccine? While some countries have said that this vaccine may not offer sufficient protection for those aged 65 and over, Luxembourg will await specific guidelines from its own experts.

"Nobody has to worry. We're not bunkering vaccines and not using them. We're making sure that everyone receiving their first dose will also get their second."

There has been criticism for Luxembourg's slow vaccination campaign, with vaccines lying in freezers awaiting to be administered. As of Thursday, 9,890 people had received the first vaccine dose in Luxembourg, and 1,483 had received a second dose, which is not far from the actual number of deliveries, as the second dose is reserved.

"Nobody has to worry. We're not bunkering vaccines and not using them, but we're making sure that everyone receiving their first dose will also get their second." Other countries raced ahead and vaccinated as many people possible with their first dose, speculating that sufficient vaccines will arrive in time for the follow-up jab. "That is an option we're not taking, because there's a lot of uncertainty regarding production", says Lenert.

"It was a conscious decision to guarantee this second dose."

Interview: Should the vaccination strategy be adjusted to the AstraZeneca shot?

Vaccinations in hospitals and care homes

50% of hospital staff and 86% of care home staff have been vaccinated to date. To cut down on or completely avoid travel time to vaccination centres, personnel can register to be vaccinated by mobile teams on site. "If you're working long hours and then have to travel far for a vaccine, it's not very encouraging", said Lenert.

Residents receiving a vaccination invite may choose which centre they would like to visit.

In the second phase, highly vulnerable persons will be vaccinated. There are several categories of vulnerability. More details will be provided in Monday's press conference at 10.30am, which RTL will also cover.

Generally speaking, there are no illnesses which could prevent a patient from getting the vaccine. Prior to every vaccination, a doctor discusses the patient's health condition, so patients can be sure that this is checked. It is not clear yet whether youths and children will also be vaccinated, but for now they are last in line, according to the minister.

The EU has pushed countries to inoculate 70% of its population by the summer, which Lenert says will be possible if the rate of vaccination continues at the current tempo.

FFP2 masks in Luxembourg?

"The Health Directorate has recommended the use of these masks, especially if one has an increased vulnerability or a group gathers in a room and cannot maintain social distance", says Lenert. They are, however, not mandatory.

They are also accessible and can be purchased at all pharmacies, and there is no emergency in the country's stock.

Do's and Don'ts: How to properly use FFP2 masks
Beauty guru Zoe Foster Blake and comedian husband Hamish Blake moved into a lavish $9million dwelling in Sydney's Vaucluse in December.

And it seems that the couple are loving life in their new hometown.

On Friday, the pair enjoyed a family day out in their new neighbourhood with their children, son Sonny, six, and daughter Rudy, three, with Zoe, 40, stunning in a floral dress.

One hot mama! On Friday, Zoe Foster Blake stunned as she showed off her trim pins in a floral dress while enjoying a family day out in Vaucluse with her husband Hamish Blake and their two children

The brunette wore a floral maxi-dress which gave fans a glimpse at her toned legs.

Her frock featured a bustier-design and two leg splits at the front.

She adorned her neck in a long gold-chained necklace and donned 1970s style sunglasses.

Locals: Beauty guru Zoe and comedian Hamish moved into a lavish $9million dwelling in Vaucluse in December

Looking good! The brunette wore a floral maxi-dress which gave fans a glimpse at her toned legs

Meanwhile, Zoe dressed her daughter in clashed prints, opting for a floral-printed T-shirt and nautical shorts.

A casually dressed Hamish, 39, appeared to be guiding his son as the two trailed behind Zoe and Rudy.

Just before Christmas, the Blakes spent $8.925million on a property in the upmarket suburb of Vaucluse.

The five-bedroom, six-bathroom estate sits on 885 square metres and features two sets of garages.

While the four-level home does not have ocean views, it is considered architecturally noteworthy and was featured on Grand Designs Australia in 2013.

The beauty guru and her husband inspected 'a number of properties' across the eastern suburbs before finally settling on their home.

The house is just a short drive from the Surry Hills headquarters of Zoe's highly successful Go-To beauty company.

Sydneysiders: The beauty guru and her husband inspected 'a number of properties' across the eastern suburbs before finally settling on their new home

Before the big move, Hamish had announced on social media his family was moving from Melbourne to Sydney.

'Exciting times ahead: we are moving to Sydney baby! For a long time I have known that stealing my wife from Sydney would mean one day we'd venture there to live for a while,' wrote the Lego Masters host.

'The loose plan is for a few years, but however long it's for, we're excited for this adventure with our little family.'

The family's move comes after Zoe made her debut on Australia's 2020 Young Rich List.

She has an estimated net worth of $36million after her skincare company enjoyed a boom in sales during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In August, Go-To's peach-packaged facial oil named Face Hero was crowned the number one skincare product in Australia.

Zoe founded Go-To six years ago, and the brand launched in the U.S. in 2018.
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From POANG to BILLY, IKEAs unique product names have long been a talking point for home furnishing fans. IKEA has launched its new series, Learning at Home with IKEA, offering children the chance to learn basic Swedish phrases through the medium of IKEA and its notoriously hard to pronounce products.

Parents up and down the country have been working flat out since the beginning of Lockdown 3.0 to find solutions to balancing work with homeschooling. Through these three educational but fun lessons, IKEA hopes that they can go a little way in helping to keep children entertained  even if just for a (valuable and much needed) couple of minutes!

Having brought the world affordable, stylish furniture for the past 70 years, this is the first time IKEA has entered the linguistic space. The lessons include explanations behind the meaning of the home furnishing experts seemingly unusual range of product names  all of which have been carefully curated from a database of Swedish words.

Bookcases are named after professional occupations or boys names, outdoor furniture is named after Scandinavian islands, whilst bed sheets, comforters and pillowcases are named after flowers and plants. There are some exceptions, with some products being given names that evoke their function, most recently IKEAs collaboration with Lego, BYGGLEK, which means to build and play.

The episodes cover a number of themes including typical introductory language topics: geography, family and nature. The content is simple and interactive to give children their first taste of Swedish, while also incorporating some counting to help towards their daily dose of maths. The lessons are subtitled, with the phonetic pronunciation shown at the bottom of the screen so everyone can easily follow along.

Some of the surprising meanings behind IKEA products featured in the lessons include:

GNARP (Noun): a small Swedish town in the county of Gavleborg; a 3-piece kitchen utensil set

GRILLA (Noun): barbeque; a non-stick IKEA grill pan

VESSLA (Noun): a weasel; an IKEA storage crate

KOLJA (Noun): a haddock; an IKEA mirror

Thomas Parker, Childrens Business Leader at UK & IE at IKEA, says: Juggling work and homeschooling is no easy task, with parents around the country doing an incredible job in a really tough situation. Weve created these fun, educational lessons to keep children entertained for a short while and give parents some much-needed time back in their day, whether thats in-between lessons or when home schooling has finished.

"We know that Swedish pronunciations might not come easily to native English speakers, so wed recommend watching the videos a few times to perfect your accent. While their children have fun pronouncing family members in Swedish, parents can grab a well-deserved five-minute Fika break!

All three video tutorials are now available on the IKEA Website.
 Notable new research on criminal justice impact of a safe consumption site | Main | "Can Prosecutors Help To End Mass Incarceration?" 

This new Associated Press article details the conclusions of its investigation concerning the spread of COVID-19 in and around the federal facilities responsible for executions at the tail end of the Trump Administration. Here is how the lengthy piece gets started:

As the Trump administration was nearing the end of an unprecedented string of executions, 70% of death row inmates were sick with COVID-19. Guards were ill. Traveling prisons staff on the execution team had the virus. So did media witnesses, who may have unknowingly infected others when they returned home because they were never told about the spreading cases.

Records obtained by The Associated Press show employees at the Indiana prison complex where the 13 executions were carried out over six months had contact with inmates and other people infected with the coronavirus, but were able to refuse testing and declined to participate in contact tracing efforts and were still permitted to return to their work assignments. Other staff members, including those brought in to help with executions, also spread tips to their colleagues about how they could avoid quarantines and skirt public health guidance from the federal government and Indiana health officials.

The executions at the end of Donald Trumps presidency, completed in a short window over a few weeks, likely acted as a superspreader event, according to the records reviewed by AP. It was something health experts warned could happen when the Justice Department insisted on resuming executions during a pandemic.

Its impossible to know precisely who introduced the infections and how they started to spread, in part because prisons officials didnt consistently do contact tracing and havent been fully transparent about the number of cases. But medical experts say its likely the executioners and support staff, many of whom traveled from prisons in other states with their own virus outbreaks, triggered or contributed both in the Terre Haute penitentiary and beyond the prison walls.

Of the 47 people on death row, 33 tested positive between Dec. 16 and Dec. 20, becoming infected soon after the executions of Alfred Bourgeois on Dec. 11 and Brandon Bernard on Dec. 10, according to Colorado-based attorney Madeline Cohen, who compiled the names of those who tested positive by reaching out to other federal death row lawyers. Other lawyers, as well as activists in contact with death row inmates, also told AP they were told a large numbers of death row inmates tested positive in mid-December.

In addition, at least a dozen other people, including execution team members, media witnesses and a spiritual adviser, tested positive within the incubation period of the virus, meeting the criteria of a superspreader event, in which one or more individuals trigger an outbreak that spreads to many others outside their circle of acquaintances. The tally could be far higher, but without contact tracing its impossible to be sure.

Gardai will be able to fine NI motorists from Monday.

The SDLP has refuted claims that plans by the Irish police to close the border to non-essential travel from 7am on Monday amounts to a 'hard border'.

Unionist politicians, however, said the Garda action undermined Irish Government claims the border could not be policed.

Northern Ireland holiday makers heading to Dublin airport could be hit with a 100 fine from Monday and the new measures will apply to anyone who is "not ordinarily resident" in the Republic.

Buses and trains will also be checked, a Garda spokesperson said, and stressed that fines will be only be enforced as a last resort.

The force explicitly warned that travel to airports to go on holiday was "non-essential".

"An Garda Siochana is also continuing to conduct checkpoints on access roads to airports and ports, as well as in departure areas, to check on whether people travelling to these locations are undertaking an essential journey.

"Travelling to an airport or port to take a holiday abroad is not an essential journey," the Garda said in a statement.

The force said if enforcement is required a fixed payment notice for 100 will be issued to each person who is in breach of the regulation.

The new rules mean the Garda can turn back day-trippers from Northern Ireland.

Under the Republic's current Covid-19 restrictions, travel is restricted to within 5km of a person's home except for essential reasons.

People travelling to an airport or port to take a holiday abroad may also be liable for a 500 fine.

Matthew OToole MLA, the SDLP Brexit spokesman, denied claims the move amounts to a hard border on the island of Ireland.

"Garda are enforcing rules on non-essential travel rules - as they are also doing between counties in the Republic - is clearly not a hard border.

"Constantly amping up misinformation like this helps no one," he said.

East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson, however, said: "This is a bit awkward for Simon Coveney and the 'no hard border' sledgehammer brigade.

"Seems like the RoI government is taking a decent go at hardening the existing international border between their country and Northern Ireland.

"It would seem the Republic can enforce a north-south border when it suits - which once again blows apart their arguments about the NI Protocol and it also demonstrates how hollow their antics have been for the last four years.

"The Irish position was never about the Belfast Agreement or peace. It was entirely self-serving.

"The border deniers will have been left scratching their heads on this one," the MP said.

UUP MLA Doug Beattie said the Garda move was "a game-changer".

"We have been told for four and a half years that not only can we not have a hard border, we cannot have a single camera on the border," he said.

"Within the past week we have seen that the EU is prepared to instigate a hard border and today we find the Garda are ready, willing and able to secure the border from 7am on Monday.

"This is an absolute game changer and means that the entire Brexit negotiations took place under false pretences. Given the fiasco that the Protocol has turned out to be, it is now time to reassess the situation.

"A border was put in the Irish Sea to placate those who promoted veiled threats of a potential return to violence should the hardening of the land border be considered. That has now been exposed as a sham. We must now negotiate an agreement which restores the trading links with the rest of the UK and undoes the damage done to the Belfast Agreement by the Protocol."
Maharashtra COVID-19 tally more than 5 lakhs; Daily cases still under 30,000

Toolkit used by BJP to target opponents, says Sanjay Raut

Maharashtra Lockdown-like Covid curbs to continue beyond June 1, unlocking to be in phased manner

Maharashtra: Abducted Navy sailor burnt alive, hunt on for kidnappers

India

pti-Deepika S

Palghar, Feb 06: A 26-year-old Navy sailor who had been abducted in Chennai on January 30 was set on fire by the kidnappers in jungles of Maharashtra''s Palghar district and he died of injuries, the police said on Saturday.

Suraj Kumar Dubey, the victim, died while he was being shifted to hospital in Mumbai on Friday, district police said.

Dubey, who hailed from Ranchi, was posted at INS Agrani near Coimbatore, said Palghar district police spokesperson Sachin Navadkar.

As per the preliminary information, when he was returning from vacation on January 30, three men abducted him at gun point outside Chennai Airport around 9 pm and demanded ransom of Rs 10 lakh.

He was kept captive in Chennai for three days and later shifted to area near Vevji in Talasari area of Palghar district of Maharashtra, close to Mumbai and 1,400 km away from the Tamil Nadu capital.

On Friday morning, the abductors tied his hands and legs and set him on fire in jungles near Gholvad, and fled leaving him for dead, police said.

Dubey managed to run away and with the help of some locals, reached Dahanu Primary Health Centre.

As he had more than 90 per cent burn injuries, he was rushed to the naval hospital in Mumbai but he died on the way, police said.

Before dying, he narrated the ordeal to police, Navadkar said.

A Navy spokesperson said that Dubey was on leave when he was abducted and found in Palghar with 90 per cent burns on Friday morning.

He was brought to INHS Asvini -- the Navy hospital -- but was declared dead on arrival.

A case of murder under section 302 of IPC and other relevant sections has been registered against the unidentified trio and probe is on, the district police spokesperson said.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 19:44:00|Editor: huaxia

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MOGADISHU, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Two UN agencies on Saturday called on the Somali government to commit to ending female genital mutilation (FGM) by passing a law that eliminates the practice.

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the UN children's fund (UNICEF) called on the government to revive efforts for passage of the FGM Bill which has been stuck in the legislative process for several years.

"FGM is a harmful practice that scars girls and women and endangers their health for life depriving them of their rights and denying them the chance to reach their full potential," UNFPA Representative for Somalia Anders Thomsen said in a joint statement issued in Mogadishu to mark the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM.

Thomsen also urged the government to pass the Sexual Offences Bill to act expeditiously to end the practice and protect the rights of girls and women.

According to the latest Somali Health and Demographic Survey, the Horn of Africa nation has one of the highest rates of FGM in the world.

The survey says 99 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 49 have been subjected to this extremely harmful and unacceptable practice.

According to the UN agencies, there are various forms of FGM practiced and two out of three Somali women have undergone the most extreme type of FGM called infibulation.

The UN agencies said providing a legal framework that bans FGM will empower families and communities to stand firm and refuse to let their daughters be cut, putting an end to this gross violation of human rights.

"We must collectively renew our commitment to ending this harmful practice and work with all stakeholders to change attitudes so that the next generation of girls can live healthier lives," Jesper Moller, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Somalia.

The UN says there are many reasons that FGM is almost universally practiced in Somalia including the fact that many religious and community leaders encourage the practice, wrongly justifying it as a religious necessity.

Families also view cutting as a way of protecting their daughter's chastity and that it is a prerequisite for marriage, the UN agencies said. Enditem

An altercation between neighbours in Mohill resulted in three people appearing before Carrick- on-Shannon District Court last week.

The court heard that in the course of the altercation there was an uncivilised attack with a hurley and a knife being produced by two of the parties.

After hearing the evidence, Judge Kevin Kilrane described it as an appalling episode and remarked that the people involved are strangers and wherever they came from, they came with trouble.

Appearing in court were Christopher Murray, 25 Cappagh, Mohill who pleaded guilty to threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour, and producing an article, a knife, capable of inflicting serious injury, on July 31, 2020 at 38 Cappagh, Mohill.

Jasmin Rogan, 25 Cappagh, Mohill pleaded guilty to threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour and producing an article, a hurley, capable of inflicting serious injury, on July 31, 2020 at 38 Cappagh, Mohill.

Monica Arkins, Cattan, Mohill pleaded guilty to threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour on July 31, 2020 at 38 Cappagh, Mohill.

Sgt Michael Gallagher said that on the above date at about 11.40am Garda Mimnagh called to the Cappagh estate in Mohill to deal with a public order incident.

Ms Arkins and her daughter Ms Rogan were banging on the door of their neighbour's house. Ms Rogan had a hurley in her hand and her partner, Christopher Murray, had some type of flick knife.

He said there was some sort of falling out and there was general roaring and shouting which went on for five or ten minutes.

The complainant, Ms Kennedy, said in her statement there were obscenities being shouted at her. There were children in the house at the time.

John McNulty, solicitor for Ms Arkins, said she is 61- years -old and has no previous convictions. She was aggrieved that people were annoying and hassling her grandchildren. He said she played a minor part but did engage in threatening and abusive words and behaviour and sincerely regretted it.

Mr McNulty said she no longer lives in the area and has nothing to do with her daughter or her daughter's partner.

Niamh McGovern, solicitor for Ms Rogan, said she is 29-years-old and has two boys aged 8 and 6 with her partner, Mr Murray. She said she was deeply sorry and had learned a lot from the incident and knows now to ignore things and not get involved.

Ms McGovern said her client rowed in on her mother's coat tails and she told Judge Kilrane this had taught her a valuable lesson and the court would not be seeing her again.

She said Ms Rogan told her she will no longer have any contact with the neighbours.

Asked how long she had been living at the address, Ms McGovern said Ms Rogan came from Dublin and was there nearly two years and Ms Kennedy was there about one year.

Ms Rogan has previous convictions from Carrick-on-Shannon District Court in September 2020 for possession of drugs and a similar conviction from Longford District Court in January 2020. She also has a conviction from Carrick-on-Shannon District Court for a theft offence in 2017.

Ms McGovern said her client is now drugs and alcohol free.

John Anderson, solicitor for Mr Murray, said his client is 30-years-old and has two children with Ms Rogan.

He said he has had a difficult life and has spent time in St Patrick's Institution from an early age and also in Cloverhill and Wheatfield Prisons.

He said Mr Murray has had difficulties with addiction in the past.

Mr Anderson said he volunteered the knife to the Gardai himself which he had hidden in his trousers.

He said Mr Murray was deeply apologetic and described it as an unfortunate incident but said it has settled down and he won't come back before the court again.

The court heard he had previous convictions from Longford District Court in February 2020 for possession of knives and other articles and from Carrick-on-Shannon District Court in October 2019 where he was given a four month suspended sentence for criminal damage.

Previous convictions to those were from Dublin and dated back to 2014 and earlier.

Judge Kilrane said the people involved are strangers in a quiet Cappagh estate and wherever they came from, they came with trouble.

He said Ms Rogan and Mr Murray have young children and she has been a regular user of drugs and he has spent time in prison.

Judge Kilrane told Sgt Gallagher he wanted a report sent to the Child and Family Agency concerning the couple.

He said a completely uncivilised attack was made by them, with a hurley stick and a knife, on their neighbour who had children in the house.

He said it would have been frightening for those children to have three people appear at the door, one armed with a knife and another with a hurley stick.

Judge Kilrane said he appreciated there were allegations of children fighting with children which he said has, from time immemorial, resulted in parents getting excited and angry.

It was an appalling episode and the Child and Family Agency should be involved in this case, he said.

He said Ms Arkins was in a different category to the others. He said she is 61 and was brought along by her daughter and her boyfriend for some sort of moral support. He said she did not have a weapon and he applied the Probation Offenders Act, Section 1.1., in her case.

Judge Kilrane said the hurley stick Ms Rogan had with her was a very serious and threatening weapon to be produced at anyone's front door.

He said the lady, Ms Kennedy, was doing nothing to them and there was a vague allegation of some children's problem.

He said the date of the offence was during school holidays and for children to be exposed to that type of violence by adults was absolutely shocking and very worrying.

Judge Kilrane said that wherever Ms Rogan and Mr Murray came from it was unfortunate that they came next, nigh or near this quiet estate.

He convicted and fined her 200 for the offence involving the hurley stick and convicted and took into consideration the public order charge against her.

Judge Kilrane described Mr Murray as the greatest offender of all here and said he was a male attacking a female, a defenceless lady, while armed with a knife.

He questioned why he should not be sent to prison.

Mr Murray said it shouldn't have happened. He said Monica Arkins went over, Jasmin Rogan followed and he saw them all roaring at each other and he went halfway over.

He said he was deeply, deeply sorry and repeated it shouldn't have happened and will never happen again.

He asked the Judge to give him a suspended sentence and he would keep his head down.

Asked why he had the knife, he said he was terrified of another man at the time, but he genuinely wasn't going to use it.

He said he has not been in prison since 2011 and has never been locked up since he has had children.

Judge Kilrane told him he had received chances in the past and suspended prison sentences and had been dealt with fairly generously by the courts.

Describing it as a very serious knife offence, Judge Kilrane said the lady involved, Ms Kennedy, had her house attacked with weapons.

He convicted and sentenced him to six months in prison, suspending the final four months on the condition there be no allegation of assault, illegal drugs, criminal damage or any offence under the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act for the next two years.

Recognisances were fixed in the event of an appeal but were not taken up.

The hurley stick was forfeited to the State.
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Mr. Sidiki Qudus, a young music producer in Tumu in the Sissala East Municipality has been burgled.



His dream of helping improve the music industry in the area is almost shattered as the burglars broke into his shop and made away with almost everything on sale including cash.



Mr Sidiki Qudus also known as Asaynigi Records a beat producer told the GNA on Friday that the burglars made away with nine 32-inch television sets,12 master decoders and a studio sound card worth over GH20,000.00 as well as picking an unspecified amount of money.



I was having a slight fever the night of the operation, which made me to go home to sleep without picking the daily sales. I always sleep in the shop and more often I don't pick my daily sales unless I'm to purchase other things into the shop," he explained.



He said it was his brother who noticed that the shop had been broken into and when they went in, everything had been taken away.



He said, When I rushed to the shop, my fears were all confirmed as all the new television numbering thirteen had nine taken away whilst other sound woofers and pen drives of ongoing music being produced were all stolen".



The Tumu police when contacted confirmed the burglary and said investigations had started.



No arrest has so far been made.



Mr Qudus is passionately appealing to the general public to help him track down the burglars to save his young business from a near collapse just after a year in operation.



I am into the selling of electronic gadgets to raise resources to improve my existing recording studio to help young and stranded upcoming music talents in the Sissala area.



Asaynigi as he is affectionately called has produced several Sissali classic songs for notable artiste, including Bwoyfreshs Coronavirus track in Sissali which helped in the Covid-19 education in the Municipality including, Thugx Empire Onasaabignaa, Apacos Lakalakubala and, Saadia Suunawiade hit tracks.

Source: GNA









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Even as Pakistan continues to open heavy fire along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir and attempt to infiltrate terrorists into India, Pakistan's Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Tuesday said that both the countries must resolve the Kashmir issue in a "dignified and peaceful manner" and bring "this human tragedy to its logical conclusion."

'Pakistan is a peace-loving country'

General Bajwa was addressing the graduation ceremony at the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Asghar Khan Academy in Risalpur in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, according to the Army. He said Pakistan is "firmly committed to the ideal of mutual respect and peaceful co-existence" and that "it is time to extend peace in all directions". He maintained that Pakistan is "a peace-loving country that has rendered great sacrifices for regional and global peace".

"We stand firmly committed to the ideal of mutual respect and peaceful co-existence. It is time to extend the hand of peace in all directions. Pakistan and India must also resolve the longstanding issue of Jammu and Kashmir in a dignified and peaceful manner".

According to a statement by Pakistan's Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR), Gen Bajwa said Pakistan will not allow anybody or any entity to misinterpret its "desire for peace as a sign of weakness". He said Pakistan armed forces are fully capable to thwart any threat. The Pak Army chief's message comes against the backdrop of unprecedented opposition to the Pakistani Army and deep state from the Opposition parties and public, for allegedly rigging the elections to put Imran Khan in power apart from purportedly being the real power in the country and a tacit ally of terrorist networks active on the country's eastern and western borders.

10,752 ceasefire violations by Pakistan in 3 years

Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday that a total of 10,752 cases of ceasefire violation have taken place along India's border with Pakistan in the last three years in which 72 security personnel and 70 civilians were killed. Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said 364 security personnel and 341 civilians were injured in these ceasefire violations along the International Border and the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

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During the three years, 1,452 terrorist attacks have taken place in Jammu and Kashmir in which 233 security personnel and 115 civilians were killed, he said in a written reply to a question. As many as 635 terrorists were also killed in gunfights with security forces in 2018, 2019 and 2020, he said. Reddy said a total of 484 security personnel and 373 civilians were injured in terrorist attacks.

The minister said the government has adopted a policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism, and immediate and effective retaliation is undertaken by the security forces in cases of ceasefire violations or cross-border firings. "There has been a substantial decline in terrorist attacks over the last three years due to a slew of pre-emptive measures undertaken by the government," he said.

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READ | 'Punjab Assembly to pass laws to counter Centre's Farm Laws again': CM at all-party meet

(With agency inputs)

After several years of studying the idea, the City of Winnipeg will soon consider a long-term plan to replace all of Winnipeg Transits diesel buses with a greener fleet.

After several years of studying the idea, the City of Winnipeg will soon consider a long-term plan to replace all of Winnipeg Transits diesel buses with a greener fleet.

A new proposal calls for the city to make an initial purchase of 16 zero-emission buses, including eight hydrogen fuel cell battery electric models and eight battery electric buses. Transit expects to test those buses for up to two years, beginning in 2022, if the proposal receives council approval and secures senior government funding.

Transit hopes to replace 100 to 110 diesel buses with zero-emission models by the end of 2027, which is expected to cost $280.4 million (test buses included.)

The goal is to switch 30 per cent of the diesel fleet to zero-emission buses by 2030 and replace an entire 700-bus fleet by 2047.

"We do see this as the first phase in fleet replacements, as opposed to a technology trial," said Erin Cooke, the project manager for Winnipeg Transits bus electrification program.

The city leased and tested four battery-electric buses from 2014 to 2018, but Cooke said the technology has advanced since then.

"The buses are now in operation in multiple cities. The issue is, how do we actually integrate these into (Winnipeg Transit) operations?" said Cooke.

For example, some models require time and electricity to charge, with travel ranges that differ from diesel vehicles, she said.

Cooke said the test buses will help determine how many of each type of bus the city should order, while the program helps the city meet its goal to combat climate change.

"Each of these buses is removing about 62 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year. So its really a huge advantage," she said.

For years, the city has cited the cost of greener buses as a key obstacle to buying them. A public service report notes it would cost $160.6 million to continue replacing buses with new diesel models over the next seven years, or about $120 million less than the zero-emission proposal.

Coun. Matt Allard, councils public works chairman, said the lengthy timeline for the proposal would help council ensure the plan makes financial sense for the city.

"I think a cautious, incremental approach is warranted because we want to make sure that were going to be getting value for money," said Allard.

The councillor said its critical to ensure that more Winnipeggers switch their mode of transportation from individual vehicles to mass public transit to combat climate change, which he believes is even more important than the type of bus they ride on.

"In terms of greenhouse gases and transit, the No. 1 policy is having an efficient transit system that gets people wanting to take the bus," said Allard.

The city hopes to secure provincial and federal grants through the Investing Canada Infrastructure Program to support the $280.4-million, seven-year portion of the project, which it hopes would reduce the citys cost to 28 per cent, or $78.4 million.

After the first seven years, Winnipeg Transit would also need to create a $211-million zero-emission facility to make room for additional green buses. The city would also seek senior government funding for that project, though details havent been sorted out, Cooke said.

Transit will ask council to approve the proposal within its Winnipeg Transit Master Plan, which it expects to release in March.

Joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga


As officials make strides to improve accessibility to Covid-19 vaccines in the United States, some states are turning their focus to the underserved and vulnerable communities that have not yet been eligible for protection.

Though the country's vaccination rate is not at President Joe Biden's hoped-for level of 1.5 million shots per day, the US has recently gotten closer, having averaged 1.3 million new shots a day over the last week, according to federal data.

States initially raced to vaccinate their priority populations, often health care workers and people in long-term care facilities, followed by seniors and/or essential workers, with many states saying demand for vaccines was exceeding supply.

How to find vaccine information for your state

Now New York, with about 75% of hospital workers inoculated, may become the first state to offer vaccine access to people with the simultaneous presence of two or more medical conditions, no matter their age. The governor's office listed cancer, chronic kidney disease, pulmonary disease and heart conditions as some of the comorbidities and underlying conditions that the state will use to determine eligibility for the Covid-19 vaccine.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo also said Friday that the state is now vaccinating those in the prison system along the same guidelines as the general public.

And in Texas, the Houston Health Department said Friday that it will prioritize "vulnerable populations" and "underserved communities" as it receives additional vaccine allotments.

Houston leaders said Saturday that publicly run hospitals serving the uninsured were getting a smaller percentage of vaccine doses than private hospitals.

"If you want to address the disparity, you've got to send the doses to the venues that are reaching those regions," Mayor Sylvester Turner said at a news conference.

US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee said the disparity is making it more difficult to wipe out the virus Texas.

"The state is majority Hispanic, but the largest number of people who've gotten vaccinated are Anglos," Jackson Lee said.

When it comes to reaching the underserved, such as people who are homeless, those without insurance and migrant workers, local pharmacies and health centers are a better option than trying to "reinvent the wheel" with mass vaccination sites, Adm. Dr. Brett Giroir said in a radio interview aired Friday.

"I think trying to set up a big federal site in the middle of Dallas that will immunize 10,000 a day, that's much less amenable," the former Health and Human Services assistant secretary said on SiriusXM's "Doctor Radio Reports." "It's not meeting people where they are, and it's much less efficient than having the distributed network that we've already established and have been using for decades."

As of Saturday, more than 39 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's more than 2 million more than reported Friday. More than 30.2 million people have received at least one dose, according to CDC data.

Variant surges are possible but not inevitable

Health experts have warned that the spread of new coronavirus variants, some of which appear to be more transmissible, could lead to them becoming predominant and spur more case surges.

But that is "not necessarily an inevitability," Dr. Anthony Fauci told MSNBC's "The Beat" on Friday.

One of the best ways to keep variants from spreading and to prevent more mutations, he said, was "to double down on public health measures to prevent the virus from going from one person to another: the masking, the distancing, the avoiding congregate settings."

Another is for the public to get vaccinated as soon as possible, said Fauci, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"As soon as the vaccine becomes available, please go out and get vaccinated, because the combination of vaccination and public health measures will bring the level of virus down so low you won't give it a chance to mutate," Fauci said.

AstraZeneca study on variant first identified in South Africa

AstraZeneca, whose vaccine has been approved in other countries but not in the US, said Saturday that a study in a small Phase I/II trial suggests the vaccine isn't effective at protecting again mild and moderate Covid-19 caused by the variant first identified in South Africa, one of the most concerning variants identified so far.

The trial subjects were "predominantly young healthy adults," an AstraZeneca spokesperson said in a statement, so the company hasn't been able to "properly ascertain" the vaccine's protection against mild and moderate disease.

The company said the vaccine could protect against severe disease, and it's working to modify the vaccine.

"Oxford University and AstraZeneca have started adapting the vaccine against this variant and will advance rapidly through clinical development so that it is ready for Autumn delivery should it be needed," the spokesperson said.

The study will be released Monday.

Schools navigate returning to campus

Teachers and school staff have also been prioritized for vaccination as many states look to resume in-person instruction for the first time in nearly a year.

As of Friday, 24 states and Washington, DC, are allowing some or all of their teachers and school staff to receive coronavirus vaccines.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky has said that with proper distancing, masking and testing in place, schools could safely resume in-person classes even before teachers get vaccinated. She has said that the CDC will release official guidance on school reopenings in the coming week.

Vermont has begun to even allow sports competition to resume February 12, so long as teams have no more than two games in a seven-day period, keep a minimum of three days between competitions and bar spectators.

However, following months of remote learning, officials at the Escondido Union School District in San Diego County brought students back on campus Tuesday.

But two days later, more than 100 students and staff were ordered to quarantine due to Covid-19 infections reported across their various K - 8th grade campuses.

The fear of such transmission between students and staff has snarled negotiations in the Chicago public school system, the third largest in the country.

Now a showdown is looming between the Chicago Teachers Union and the Chicago Public Schools, after weeks of negotiations over the resumption of in-person classes.

Late Friday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPS Chief Executive Officer Janice Jackson said in a letter sent to teachers that pre-K and cluster program teachers and staff without accommodation who fail to report to work Monday will be locked out of the school's online systems.

The union, for its part, said that city leaders had "walked away from the bargain table again."

Officials plead against Super Bowl parties

Officials and public health experts are pleading with people to avoid Super Bowl parties on Sunday, to cut down on chances for the virus to spread.

"Now is not the time for a Super Bowl party," Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said Friday. "Now is not the time to fumble the ball, because you got careless by spending time with a bunch of people that are not in your household."

Dr. Carlos del Rio, executive associate dean of Emory University School of Medicine at Grady Health System, said he worries these parties could send cases surging again.

"If there's a lot of Super Bowl parties and a lot of superspreader events, we will start (to see) cases start to come up again," del Rio said Saturday. "I sure hope that doesn't happen because we really need cases to come down ... so eventually mortality will also come down.

"I want to back down to less than 1,000 deaths per day."

The US has not averaged fewer than 1,000 Covid-19 deaths a day across a week since early November, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

The country's current average across a week is 3,250 deaths a day -- not far from the peak average of 3,357 reached January 13, according to Johns Hopkins data.

Case and hospitalization levels, however, have been dropping recently after holiday surges.

The country has averaged more than 125,800 new Covid-19 cases a day over the last week -- down 49.6% since a pandemic-peak average of 249,836 on January 8, Johns Hopkins data shows.
Local haulage company Nolan Transport was dealt a serious blow over the last weekend after a landslide caused damage to part of its property.

Images of the dramatic incident show one of the company's buildings partially collapsed under the weight of the earth, which came from an adjoining field.

The cause of the landslide has not yet been confirmed but recent unsettled weather, including storms over the weekend, is believed to have contributed to the incident.

Nolan's recently expanded its warehouse space to provide extra storage space and also had the first trailers arriving in Cherbourg from the Brittany Ferries Cap Finistere ship in Rosslare.

The New Ross Standard contacted Nolan Transport for comment but the company declined to respond.
Jennifer Horn, Chairwoman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, at at Concord High School on March 14, 2015 in Concord, New Hampshire. (Darren McCollester/Getty Images)

Lincoln Project Co-Founder Jennifer Horn Resigns

Jennifer Horn resigned from the Lincoln Project, which she co-founded, on Friday, according to a statement from the organization.

Upon careful consideration, I have terminated my relationship with the Lincoln Project, effective immediately, Horn told the New York Times.

Horn resigned amid a scandal surrounding the allegations of sexual harassment made by 21 men against John Weaver, another co-founder.

Forty-eight hours ago, at a moment when the Lincoln Project was under attack from the Trump organization and their propaganda allies, Jennifer Horn, in written communication, requested from the Lincoln Project an immediate signing bonus payment of $250,000 and a $40,000 per month consulting contract, the organization said in a statement.

This followed a Christmas Eve communication from Jennifer, where she demanded a board seat from the Lincoln Project, a television show, a podcast hosting assignment, and a staff to manage these endeavors. She also stated her goal was to establish immediate and long-term financial security,' the statement continued. These demands were unanimously rejected by the management committee and board. We immediately accepted Jennifer Horns resignation from the Lincoln Project.

Weavers alleged solicitations included messages to a 14-year-old boy which became more pointed after he turned 18. In a statement last month, Weaver admitted to sending inappropriate messages and apologized to the men I made uncomfortable.

The Lincoln Project is a political action committee run by current and former Republicans. The project endorsed Democrat Joe Biden for president and worked to prevent the reelection of President Donald Trump.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, The Lincoln Project raised more than $87 million and spent more than $81 million during the 2019-20 election cycle. The groups aggressive, blunt ads drew the attention of Democrat strategists, who said the Republicans on the project were fighting harder against Trump than some Democrats.

Let me tell you, the Lincoln group and The Bulwark, these Never Trumper Republicans, the Democrats could learn a lot from them. Theyre mean. They fight hard. And we dont fight like that, Jame Carville, a Democratic operative, told MSNBC.
US President Joe Bidens first major speech on foreign policy, delivered at the State Department Thursday, was hailed as a sharp reversal of Trumps thuggish and bullying relations with other countries.

Launch of Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, January 26, 2013 (Photo: MDA)

In a speech dubbed by Foreign Policy magazine as a Kinder, Gentler Spin on America First, Biden called on the United States to lead not just by the example of our power but the power of our example.

Unlike Trump, who made a point of never using the terms democracy and human rights in connection with US foreign policy, these words were liberally sprinkled throughout the speech. Biden declared America would unite the world in fighting to defend democracy.

He added that America would defend the rights of women and girls, LGBTQ individuals, indigenous communities, and people with disabilities, the people of every ethnic background and religion, and so on and so forth.

With the world having teetered on the brink of a series of major wars throughout the Trump presidency, millions of people who voted for Joe Biden did so, among other reasons, because they believed he opposed the type of nuclear brinksmanship expressed in Trumps threats to unleash fire and fury on North Korea.

But the military is making clear that the new administration will not change what many in the US foreign policy establishment see as the Trump White Houses signature policy: the massive buildup of the US military and, in particular, the US nuclear forces in preparation for what Trumps 2018 national security strategy called great-power competition.

Writing in Proceedings, the magazine of the US Naval Institute, Adm. Charles A. Richard, the head of the US Strategic Command (STRATCOM), made clear that the United States nuclear buildup, begun under Obama and massively expanded under Trump, will continue.

Nuclear employment is a very real possibility, Richard bluntly declared, saying that the US must prepare for such a war.

There is a real possibility that a regional crisis with Russia or China could escalate quickly to a conflict involving nuclear weapons, he wrote. Consequently, the U.S. military must shift its principal assumption from nuclear employment is not possible to nuclear employment is a very real possibility, and act to meet and deter that reality.

Richard continued, we must also accept the gauntlet of great power competition with our nuclear-capable peers.

In 2016, the Obama administration initiated a massive expansion of the US nuclear forces, planning to spend a total of $1 trillion on nuclear weapons over the next three decades. As part of this program, the military initiated the development of a nuclear-tipped cruise missile, which experts warned was a uniquely destabilizing type of weapon.

The title of a report by Andrew F. KrepinevichRethinking Armageddonsummed up the madness of this campaign. The longtime Pentagon advisor said the United States had entered the second nuclear age.

The four years of the Trump administration saw one guardrail after another removed from Washingtons use of nuclear weapons.

In August 2019, the Trump administration withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty as part of its efforts to vastly expand the US arsenal of nuclear weapons and loosen restrictions on their use.

The INF treaty, signed over 30 years ago by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, banned a whole class of weapons that had vastly increased the risk of a nuclear conflict.

As part of the treaty, the two countries agreed to end all use and production of ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,417 miles).

By December 2019, the US military had tested a nuclear missile that would have been banned under the treaty. In February of last year, the US deployed a new, smaller usable low-yield nuclear weapon.

The systematic buildup of nuclear forces was accompanied by the Trump administrations constant threats to use them. In 2017, as Trump threatened to unleash fire and fury upon North Korea, Defense Secretary James Mattis reportedly slept in his gym clothes every night so he would have a head start in case a war between the two nuclear-armed powers broke out.

In June 2019, Trump ordered the bombing of Iran from air and sea, only to call the attack off at the last moment. When, on January 3, 2020, Trump ordered the murder of Iranian General Qassem Suleimani in Iraq, Iran retaliated by sending cruise missiles at American bases, miraculously only injuring, but not killing, US troops.

For all his invocations of democracy and human rights, Biden accepts the entire framework of great power competition initiated by Trump in preparation for a major conflict with Russia or China.

Like former President Barack Obama, who sought to capitalize on opposition to the Iraq war but started US wars in Syria and Libya and massively expanded the US drone wars throughout the Middle East, Bidens invocations of democratic ideals and diplomacy are nothing but a cover for a warmongering policy.

Under conditions of a global pandemic, in which more than 3,000 people are dying every day in the United States alone, the US ruling elites preparations for nuclear war are a testament to the utter madness and irrationality of the entire capitalist system.
How and why does psychosis play a role when defining someone as criminally insane and lacking capacity for responsible action? Professor Linda Groning at The Faculty of Law has been given 12 million NOK from The Research Council of Norway to learn more about the nuances of this question.

Psychosis is central to a western idea of criminal insanity. There exists, however, disagreement and controversy on how criminal insanity relates to mental disorders, as was demonstrated in the 22 July case in Norway.

Professor Linda Groning at The Faculty of Law, University of Bergen (UiB) will receive 12 million NOK from The Research Council of Norway over a 5-year period to study the legal understanding of psychosis and how it relates to criminal insanity.

The project will focus on how the law understands mental illness and especially the relation between psychosis and criminal insanity. Our aim is to develop a more nuanced legal understanding of mental illness." Professor Linda Groning, The Faculty of Law, University of Bergen

Legal ambiguity

In legal terms, criminal capacity and sanity refers to the ability to take responsibility for one's actions and is fundamental for decisions about punishment. Most countries have rules that exempt children, as well as serious mentally ill and intellectually disabled offenders from criminal responsibility.

"Psychosis is central to the law's decisions about who should be held criminally responsible and punished, and who should not, in all countries. At the same time, the law is unclear about why and how psychosis is relevant for criminal responsibility," Groning points out.

"This lack of clarity has in practice led to an association between criminal insanity and psychiatric diagnosis, and many of those acquitted due to insanity are diagnosed with schizophrenia. This connection between insanity and diagnostic categories is problematic and may be stigmatizing to persons with mental illnesses," says Groning.

Collaboration with philosophers and mental health researchers

To expand the legal understanding of criminal insanity and psychosis, Groning is collaborating with world-leading philosophers and researchers in psychiatry and psychology.

"Our collaboration will emphasize recent mental health research on psychosis, that approaches this phenomenon as dimensional, and beyond the constraints of diagnostic categories," Groning says.

The researchers in the project are planning interdisciplinary publications, seminars and workshops. They will also invite representatives from prosecuting authorities, lawyers, legislators, and other relevant persons to share their experiences in the field.

A focus on the Norwegian model

To develop a legal framework for understanding criminal insanity and psychosis, the researchers will also relate their work to existing models for insanity currently used around the world today.

"An important dimension of the project is to explore the Norwegian legal model. Little research has been done on the Norwegian model internationally. Our exploration of insanity and psychosis within the legal framework of this model may provide a valuable contribution to the global discussion," says Groning.

"Hopefully, the project will develop needed legal knowledge and help to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness and crime," Linda Groning says.
ISTANBUL (AP)  Turkeys president has ordered the establishment of two new departments in the countrys most prestigious university, which has been rocked by weeks of protests.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogans decision, published in the Official Gazette Saturday, says law and communications faculties are to be launched in Bogazici University.

Critics say the establishment of new departments would allow the presidentially appointed rector to staff them with government loyalists. Student groups involved in the protests tweeted against the new decision, saying it was an occupation attempt against academic freedoms.

For weeks, students and faculty have led mostly peaceful protests against the new rector, Melih Bulu, who has links to Erdogans ruling party. They are calling for Bulus resignation and for the university to be allowed to elect its own president.

Police have detained hundreds of demonstrators at the university and in solidarity protests elsewhere, some taken away following raids of their homes. Most were later released.

Top government officials have said terrorist groups are provoking the protests, and Erdogan has called the protesting students terrorists.

Officials from the United States, the United Nations and the European Union have criticized Turkeys handling of the protests as well as a series of homophobic comments that were made by Erdogan and other officials while denouncing the demonstrations.
The letter, dated Aug. 30, says the C.D.C.s specifications mirror the system Ms. Tate created  including a new feature that eventually found its way into VAMS. Ms. Tate, who is African-American and whose work has focused on minority communities, said the rejection was especially painful in the thick of a pandemic that disproportionately affects people of color.

I was in shock, and I really was heartbroken because Ive worked with these people my entire career and I respected them and I trusted them, Ms. Tate said in the interview. It was very, very upsetting.

Ultimately, the marketplace spoke. VAMS, which Mississippis state health officer, Dr. Thomas E. Dobbs, described this week as suboptimal, is being used in about 10 states. Ms. Tate offered to license her own system for $15 million  about a third of what the C.D.C. has committed to pay Deloitte  so the agency could give it free to states. When the C.D.C. rejected her, she said, she sold it to states herself.

Now, 27 states and jurisdictions are using it, including North Dakota, which as of Friday had administered the first shot of a two-dose coronavirus vaccine to a higher percentage of its population than all but four other states. Louisiana is expected to sign on, which would bring the number to 28, and Virginia has abandoned VAMS for the system, known as PrepMod, Ms. Tate said.

She is a reputable person, said Claire Hannan, the executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers, who said that she, too, had assumed that the C.D.C. was buying Ms. Tates platform after hearing agency officials describe their coming system in conference calls last year. This is a good system. It is built out of experience running these clinics. Does it do everything? No. Is it the perfect solution that everybody wants at the drop of a dime? No. But its working in many states.
Two days before Thanksgiving, on the eve of a turkey giveaway for dozens of jobless residents in an impoverished Miami neighborhood, Sherina Jones got word that one of the free community refrigerators shed been stocking was stolen.

It could have been a holiday disaster. It turned into a Christmas miracle.

Jones had been helping to feed the poor in Miami for months. Early on in the coronavirus pandemic, she was forced to shut down her beauty salon. By scrimping she managed to get by, but she knew that many in her mostly Black, low-income neighborhood were still hurting.

Worried that children were missing meals after COVID-19 closed schools, the 36-year-old cancer survivor used her meager savings to buy her first community refrigerator in August.

Take what you need, donate what you dont, the sign on the fridge read.

Jones gets up at 5:30 every morning to serve hot breakfasts to residents in need. One homeless man who was a frequent visitor later told her proudly that hed gained 10 pounds.

With an online fund-raising effort she named Village Freedge, Jones expanded to three refrigerators, which she placed in different neighborhoods of Miami. About half of her clients are homeless; others are day laborers who take to-go lunches or single moms who cant feed their kids.

When one of the refrigerators was stolen just before the Thanksgiving Day turkey giveaway, it was more than a theft. It felt like an act against a community in need.

I cried for three days, Jones said. I was devastated that someone would do something to hurt the community. You hurt the 80-something people I feed a day.

Just when it seemed the Grinch-like act would ruin the holiday, something magical happened: Residents of a community where many can barely afford rent pulled together, each giving a little until they ended up collecting quite a lot.

Jones former high school classmate Tamesha Glegg hadnt been in touch with Jones for years, but saw a post on social media and felt a tug on her heart. She and her husband decided to replace the fridge  and then some.

I said, Lets just buy her two of them, said Glegg, an ICU nurse. I just really love what shes doing. I really feel like its our spiritual duty to do those things.

The Rev. Michael Daily heard about the stolen refrigerator on the news. He works at a community agency that helps local churches and knew that many parishioners were counting on those meals.

He used agency funds to buy Jones a fancy double-door refrigerator and enlisted a construction worker to help build protective housing so it cant be stolen. A group of artists designed T-shirts and donated the proceeds.

The Community Agency advertising firm scaled back on a fancy holiday party, donating huge boxes of food and about $3,500 for the refrigerator project.

All together, more than 330 people raised over $23,000 on a fund-raising website.

Even after the pandemic upended her job, Joanne OBrien still helped stock the refrigerator occasionally. But she wanted to do more. Jones introduced her to a single mom who feeds her kids breakfast from one of the community refrigerators. OBrien bought the family a Christmas tree, as well as desks for online schooling and curtains and bedding for the home.

The kids were jumping up and down when I was finished with the tree, OBrien said.

The 4-year-old told her with grave concern that this was going to be a bad Christmas with no presents, but OBrien secretly purchased and collected toys, clothes, and stockings with the childrens names.

The communitys response to a toy drive in December allowed Jones to give away dozens of bicycles, dolls, and other presents to 400 families.

Jones still operates three free community refrigerators. She uses the extra ones to store food and donations. She has volunteers, but mostly runs the charity with her mom and aunt.

She has one leftover holiday wish: a van to transport food and warehouse space to store it in. She has applied for nonprofit status and is transitioning to become a food bank.

People come by and stock the fridge during the evenings or buy a bulk of things and drop it off. Im so appreciative, she said. Weve all come together to take care of each other.
Bengaluru, Feb 6 : Karnataka reported 531 fresh Covid-19 cases and three persons succumbed to dreaded virus till Friday, the health department said here on Saturday.

According to a health bulletin released by the health department as many as 434 patients were discharged after recovery, leaving 5,968 active cases.

Cumulatively, 9,42,031 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 12,233 deaths and 9,23,811 discharges, the health department said in a bulletin.

Of the active cases, as many as 144 patients are in Intensive Care Units of various hospitals, it said.

One death each was reported from Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural and Chamarajanagar districts.

Positivity rate was 0.71 per cent and case fatality rate 0.56 per cent on Friday.

Bengaluru Urban district accounted for 318 of the fresh cases reported on Friday and 28 of the 31 districts reported nil fatalities.

A total of 1.74 crore samples have been tested so far, out of which 74,591 were done on Friday and of this, only 4,215 were through Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) and 70,376 are RT-PCR method.

Meanwhile, 22787 beneficiaries took the Covid-19 jab against the 96,872 beneficiaries, which amounts to 24 per cent and no severe side effects reported across the state.

Highest number of health workers were given the vaccine in Bengaluru Urban with 2,072 persons getting the jab, while Yadgir district stood lowest with 23 beneficiaries turning up for the vaccine.

In terms of coverage, Davangere and Haveri district only five per cent each of total beneficiaries turned out to take the jab.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Journal-Courier

BLUFFS  The village is looking to the future, especially the celebration of its founding.

Mayor Linda Sapp told village board members that this years sesquicentennial is more important than an ordinary event because it marks the 150th anniversary of the village. Sapp said it is a time to celebrate the history of Bluffs and the people who live there who now are a part of that history.
Four years after it kickstarted its money transfer and exchange operations in the second largest internet market globally, India will no longer have access to the American giant's domestic business due to the PayPal shutdown in the country.

According to the company spokesperson, the PayPal shutdown will take effect locally in India starting April 1, 2021. They will focus their attention on enabling more international sales for Indian businesses and shifting their focus away from India's domestic products.

It means that PayPal will no longer offer domestic payment services within India, the spokesperson added.

According to the American giant's statement, their priorities had shifted in India, but it did not explain why the business's winding down, Payments Journal reported.

Moreover, a recent report regarding the company, which has accumulated more than 360,000 merchants in the Indian nation, stated it struggled to make inroads in the country.

Based on a December report of The Morning Context, an Indian news outlet, PayPal was abandoning its local payments businesses in India. However, the company refuted the said claim at the time.

According to TechCrunch, the spokesperson of PayPal shared that some of their employees have been reassigned to new teams.

Their focus is always to minimize the impact on their people whenever possible. Overall, the spokesperson added that their Indian workforce is growing, and they are currently recruiting across their sites in India in large numbers.

But the PayPal shutdown surprised the Indian market as the company mentioned last year that it was building a payments service powdered by the UPI railroad of India, which suggested an increase in the level of investments it was making in the country.

Over the years, the American giant also partnered with numerous Indian businesses, including BookMyShow and MakeMyTrip, both a ticketing service provider; and Swiggy, a food delivery platform that offers a faster check out experience.

However, the references have now been removed from the Indian website of PayPal.

India has emerged as one of the world's largest battlegrounds for mobile payment firms in recent years.

The list of heavily-backed firms, including PhonePe, Google, Paytm, Facebook, and Amazon, compete against one another to increase their share in India, where the market is estimated to be worth $1 trillion by 2023.

A number of these firms also offer a range of payment services for merchants.

The company added that it processed $1.4 billion worth of international sales for merchants in India last year. It mentioned that it would continue investing in product development, enabling Indian businesses to reach close to 350 million PayPal consumers worldwide, increasing international sales, and helping India's economy return to its growth.

PayPal has been offering cross-border payments support in India for more than a decade, paving the way for Indian consumers to pay online merchants with their local currency.

Paypal's shutdown in India will profoundly affect the country's economy.

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Almost a year after being caught up in one of the biggest privacy scandals and outed over some sickening treatment of vulnerable customers, three with suicidal thoughts, the Chinese-owned energy giant Alinta is trying to make amends.

Its public mea culpa began with a press release and video of Alinta boss Jeff Dimery apologising for some shabby behaviour to customers experiencing financial hardship.

Alinta CEO Jeff Dimery deeply sorry to customers. Credit:Louie Douvis

We got it wrong and Im deeply sorry, Dimery said.

These customers were asking for help and they didnt get that from us. What they were told was wrong, confusing and unfair and that is unacceptable, he said.
With every New Year comes a new beginning. It is that time of the year when everyone reminisces over past year events and prays for an auspicious year ahead.

The Covid-19 pandemic has put a damper on Vietnamese peoples Lunar New Year (Tet) plans. Virtual Tet reunion should obviously be encouraged.

Homecoming, New Year greetings, and visits to relatives are manifestly inseparable when it comes to Tet in Vietnam.

My hometown is in the central region. Most of my family members build their career in big cities where they spend the majority of their time. We ourselves and especially the grandparents who are now over 80 all long for this sacred occasion for everyone to reunite. Older generation does not have much time left to enjoy these cozy gatherings," shared one reader.

Minh, another reader said: Ask yourself how many times you could possibly visit your loved ones who are far away amongst this hectic pace of life. If not for Tet, it would be almost impossible."

Nearly all of the readers, nonetheless, share the same opinion that health and safety is of utmost importance for the time being.

We can always celebrate New Year again as Tet returns, your health wont. No contribution will be too little to help curb this pandemic," said Ha Anh.

Pham Cuong shared his view: Each and every one of us is a soldier on the anti-epidemic front, so need to be highly disease-conscious. A perfect Tet is not always associated with how soon you could celebrate it.

Reader Phung Anh agreed: There will be another and another and another Lunar New Year to do celebrations as long as our well-being is maintained. Everyone staying put for now is a priority.

Words have become actions. Mr. Hoang, a VietNamNet reader, wrote: Our family has cancelled all home return tickets booked for Tet. My parents in the countryside, despite missing their offspring, support this decision and choose to be understanding.

A similar situation faces Cam Thu (36 years old). Her family in spite of having spent over VND10 million on plane tickets from Ho Chi Minh City to the North for Tet, also cancelled now due to the severe development of the epidemic. "10 million is, of course, not a small amount. I also immensely miss my family and my hometown, but this is the only way to keep everyone protected," she said.

Ive been looking forward very much to this day for homecoming, which is now an inadvisable thing to do, so I will just stay here in a rental accommodation for this year Tet. Hopefully this ends soon, wrote reader Ngoc Bich.

The majority of the readers themselves believe the rush for New Year greetings is now no longer worth standing on, to say nothing of this Covid-19 situation.

Hoang said: My family still has to drive around for Tet by car with the purpose of storing more New Year gifts in the large trunk. That is to say, we spend a huge amount of money for gifting. If it werent for giving presents, people wouldnt be complaining how uneconomical Tet is.

Many VietNamNet readers share the same view that it is advisable to limit visiting and partying during Lunar New Year. Families, instead, should take time to relax and enjoy to compensate for the hard-working days throughout the year. Greetings or blessings can easily be done via face calling, texting... We should take advantage of the technology development that has enabled everyone to express their feelings conveniently.

"Even without Covid-19, I hope the New Year days will be the time for me to wind down, in place of forcefully, tiresomely dragging from house to house for Tet greetings," said one reader.

Tet holidays should be considered a resting time for everyone. We should embrace this little moment with our family and ourselves, and contemplate it to the fullest, said Nguyen Nga.

Per Vietnamese tradition, Tet is the time to visit and gather in the flesh for celebrations. However, more and more people now find it hard to keep the holiday pleasurable with immoderate eating and constant alcohol consumption ... fewer and fewer people feel the true excitement, joy, happiness.

Why not together shift our focus on the simple familial glee to keep everyone truly joyful when the New Year comes?

Nam Phuong

Kitchen Gods ceremony a tradition of Tet The Vietnamese traditional New Year (Tet) festival actually begins on the 23rd of the last month of the lunar year, which falls on February 4 this year, with the Ong Cong - Ong Tao (Land Genie and Kitchen Gods) ritual.
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The commuter who was slashed across the face in a random attack on a Manhattan subway train has spoken out, as the NYPD continue the hunt for his assailant.

Noel Quintana, 61, was on his way to work in Harlem on Wednesday when the unknown attacker kicked his bag and then whipped out a box cutter and slashed him across the face from ear to ear.

'I was scared because I thought I was gonna die and nobody helped me,' Quintana told WABC-TV of the attack.

Despite the shocking attack and a recent spate of subway pushing incidents in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio insists that the transit system is safer than ever.

Noel Quintana, 61, was on his way to work in Harlem on Wednesday when the unknown attacker kicked his bag and then whipped out a box cutter and slashed him across the face

The NYPD is seeking the attacker, who was wearing a Louis Vuitton face mask and fled the L Train at the 1st Avenue stop on 14th Street

'The bottom line is the subways in New York City have been made safer and safer over years,' de Blasio said at a press conference on Thursday.

'We can talk about facts and encourage the people to understand the facts. Or we can just create fear for the sake of fear. We choose the former,' he added.

Quintana said the assailant (above) kicked his backpack and then slashed him

'We choose to tell people that the NYPD is out there every day protecting their safety. That subways have been made much safer over time.'

Subway crimes are down more than 50 percent so far in 2021 from the same period last year -- but ridership is down roughly 70 percent in the pandemic, suggesting the crime rate per passenger may have actually increased.

Qunitana, who works two jobs, says that he was on his way to one of them at 8.30am when a disturbed man approached him and began kicking his backpack, which was sitting on the floor of the train.

'I said, "What's wrong with you?" and I went toward the door to get away from him,' Quintana told the Daily News.

The man, who was wearing a Louis Vuitton face mask, lashed out, and Quintana thought at first that he'd just been punched, he said.

'I thought he punched me or something  and when I saw the reaction of the people in the train I thought I was hit,' Quintana said.

It was only when he touched his face and saw the blood on his hands that he realized he'd been slashed.

Qunitana works two jobs and was on his way to one of them when he was attacked on the L Train at 8.30am on Wednesday

The suspect exited the train at the 1st Avenue train stop and proceeded to flee the scene down 14th street

'I saw my hand [was bloody] because I put my hand on my face. It was bleeding profusely,' he said.

'I was so scared. There was a lot of blood flowing,' he added. 'I knew from watching movies that most of the people die because of lots of blood lost. I was so afraid of dying.'

The suspect fled the Manhattan-bound L Train at the 1st Avenue stop on 14th Street.

Quintana staggered off the train at the next stop and sought help from an MTA worker in a booth, who called 911. He was rushed to Bellvue Hospital for treatment.

Police are still seeking the assailant, described as a man in his 20s or 30s with black hair.

He was last seen wearing a black North Face jacket, red hoodie, blue jeans, red bandana, light color sneakers and a brown Louis Vuitton face mask.

The attack came a day after another passenger was pushed onto subway tracks in Lower Manhattan, prompting NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea to remark that transit attacks in recent months were 'too common and something that is very disturbing.'

Despite the shocking attack and a recent spate of subway pushing incidents in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio insists that the transit system is safer than ever

Since November 17, there have been six attacks on the L train alone, NBC New York reported.

On Thursday morning, another woman was pushed in front of a train at Union Station. The woman, in her 40s, miraculously survived by rolling between the tracks as the train passed over her.

A suspect, Aditya Vemulapati, was held at the scene by transit workers and is charged with attempted murder, felony assault, and reckless endangerment. His last known address is in Michigan and he is believed to be homeless.

According to the NYPD, there were 16 subway pushing incidents in all of 2019. So far this year, there have been just as many.

When asked about what the department and city would be doing help alleviate people's worries about the trains, de Blasio dismissed the notion that New Yorkers needed to live in fear.

'NYPD has done a remarkable job improving safety in the subway over years and years,' he said.

'We have now the ability of the NYPD to go out there, in fact we brought the neighborhood policing strategy into subways.'
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

The State Ethics Commission on Friday approved an advisory opinion finding that three elected officials did not violate the Governmental Conduct Act, or misuse IPRA, the states Inspection of Public Records Act, in their interactions with the New Mexico Martin Luther King Jr. State Commission.

The findings were in response to a request for an advisory opinion from the MLK Commission, claiming that state Auditor Brian Colon, state Treasurer Tim Eichenberg and state Sen. Jacob Candelaria, through public comments criticizing the MLK Commissions auditing process, exerted undue pressure on, and caused negative publicity of, the MLK Commission.

Those public comments and other actions resulted in citizens inundating the MLK Commissions office with complaints, endangering the safety of executive director Leonard Waites and MLK commissioners, and hurting the MLK Commissions reputation and ability to attract speakers for their events, according to the eight-page advisory opinion request.

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Waites declined to comment on either the advisory request or the findings in the advisory opinion. He referred questions to MLK Commission secretary Bobbie Green, who signed the request. She did not return calls to the Journal.

Colon has been vocal and public in his criticism regarding MLK Commission audits going back to 2015, pointing to weaknesses in internal controls and a failure to provide supporting documentation for expenses. He has further criticized Waites for delays in completing the audits and failing to provide him with a written copy of policies and procedures implemented to address the audit problems.

Waites has said that MLK Commission audits were not delayed due to negligence or attempts to conceal information, but because of investigations into financial misappropriations under a former executive director and two others. They were convicted in 2019 of felony embezzlement and fraud.

The advisory opinion, posted on the Ethics Commissions website, said, It does not violate the public trust for the head of an oversight agency, such as the State Auditor, to release to the public his concerns about the operation of a state agency, or to convey that concern publicly as a way to apply pressure to remedy those shortcomings.

Candelaria, in his capacity as a private lawyer, filed two lawsuits alleging discrimination on behalf of clients  one former MLK Commission employee and one prospective employee  and a separate lawsuit resulting from the MLK Commissions failure to respond to an IPRA request. In all, Candelaria filed six IPRAs. He later spoke publicly about the litigation, according to the advisory request.

State Treasurer Eichenberg, who by statute is a member of the MLK Commission, filed three IPRAs requesting documents related to employee timesheets, the worklog of the commissions external auditor, and information related to Commemoration Grants the commission awarded in 2018 and 2019, according to the advisory request.

The advisory request questioned whether Eichenberg and Candelaria, both elected officials, were misusing IPRA to harass and interfere with the operation of the MLK Commission. The response from the Ethics Commission was that an IPRA request may be submitted by any person, and that it is not a violation of the Governmental Conduct Act for a legislator, public officer or public employee to submit an IPRA request to a public agency.

The MLK State Commission is a standalone state agency created in 1978 through an act of the State Legislature. Its mission is to promote Martin Luther King Jr.s philosophy of human rights, equality and social change through various events and celebrations. It currently has an annual budget of about $356,000.

Included in the advisory opinion was a recommendation that the MLK Commission be administratively attached to an agency, such as the Office of African American Affairs.

They doubled down

Colon said he was pleased with the Ethics Commissions advisory opinion and its recommendation that the MLK Commission be attached to another agency as a way to provide additional support and oversight, he said.

The work of the MLK Jr. Commission is deeply important to me, and now that it has received this opinion, I hope the executive director will shift his priorities back to addressing the numerous findings in the audit reports, while serving the mission to commemorate and celebrate Dr. Kings important philosophies and legacy.

Candelaria also said he was pleased with the advisory opinion, noting that We have a state agency that is not functioning, and instead of taking action to come into compliance, they doubled down and made accusations against those who were trying to hold them accountable.
India and Bahrain have embarked on a programme for promoting bilateral co-operation in the field of renewable energy as part of its efforts to meet climate change goals.

Both the sides agree to forge deeper ties in the field of solar, wind and clean hydrogen, reported Wam.

The announcement was made at the virtual meeting of the Joint Working Group in the field of Renewable Energy which was attended by Dr Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza, President of Sustainable Energy Authority, who led the Bahraini delegation.

The Indian delegation was led by Dinesh Dayanand Jagdale, Joint Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy at the meeting. Piyush Srivastava, Ambassador of India to Bahrain also took part.

Dr Mirza said this builds on a MoU signed between India and Bahrain in July 2018 for promoting bilateral cooperation in the field of Renewable Energy.

The ministry said it was "a very productive meeting, in which both sides underscored importance of renewable energy to meet climate change goals, and presented the initiatives taken, progress made and future targets set by their respective governments as well as opportunities available in this sector."

The two sides agreed on sharing experience, expertise and best practices in addition to forging deeper engagement in capacity building and focused cooperation between concerned agencies as well as the private sector of the two countries in this sector, particularly in the field of solar, wind and clean hydrogen, the report added.

In another initiative by India to engage governments in the Gulf, the first meeting of senior officials of the Saudi-India Committee on Political, Security, Social and Cultural Cooperation was held simultaneously.

The meeting took place under the aegis of the Saudi Arabia-India Agreement for Strategic Partnership Council. The Indian side was led by Sanjay Bhattacharyya, Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs and the Saudi side by Dr Adel Siraj Merdad, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Political and Economic Affairs.

The Indian ministry said in a readout of the meeting that the Strategic Partnership Council reflects the desire of the leadership of both sides to impart further momentum to their bilateral relationship.

"Both sides agreed to give impetus to the work of existing mechanisms and establish Joint Working Groups for regular dialogue covering political, consular, Haj, defence, security, culture, health and education, said the Wam report.

Discussions were also been held under the Committee on Economy and Investment between the two sides, it added.
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, back left, attends a signing ceremony with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, back right at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China on April 26, 2019. (Kyodo News/Parker Song, Pool).

Proposal to Build Chinese City Near Tip of Australia Speculation: Aussie PM

CANBERRA, Australia  Prime Minister Scott Morrison has dismissed concerns over Beijings interest in building a $39 billion (US$29.4 billion) city just 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the tip of Australia.

The proposed site is an island named Daru in the southwest of Papua New Guinea (PNG), which lies to the north of Australia.

Morrison downplayed concerns on Friday, calling them speculation.

I have a very good relationship with Prime Minister Marape of Papua New Guinea, and we regularly discuss the various pressures in our region, and I think we are very much on the same page of those issues, Morrison said.

The proposed development would span 100 square kilometres (38 square miles) and include an international seaport, free-trade zone, and agricultural and manufacturing facilities.

It will be built under a Build-Own-Transfer or BOT arrangement, where China would own the asset for an unspecified period of management before it was turned over to PNG control, The Australian reported.

The proposition comes after Chinese state-owned enterprise Fujian Zhongshong Fishery Company inked a deal in November last year. The deal would see the company build a fish processing plant on the island for Chinese vessels entering the region and as a place to process catches taken from the Torres Strait as part of PNGs Belt and Road agreement. PNG signed on to the Belt and Road Initiative in 2018.

PNG Fisheries Minister Lino Tom at the time said the project was a priority for the PNG government as it wanted to realise the potential of the Torres Strait fishery.

This large investment project will bring employment to the local area and promote the economic development of Western Province and PNG, Tom said. On behalf of Prime Minister Marape, I thank Chinese investors for investing in Western Province and the Chinese Embassy in PNG for supporting the project.

Chinas investment in the province is also heavily supported by the provincial governor Toboi Awi Yoto.

Yoto took to Facebook on Jan. 27 to criticise Australia for its lack of real action and aid in his province after a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade delegation met with Yoto in Daru last month.

They came with no alternative plans to counter and deter any foreign direct investment especially to alleviate poverty and improve social services, which is actually good for me to advance my plans to explore opportunities that are available. Its regrettable that all they want is for us to be subsistence farmers and fishermen and maintain our current status quo, he said.

He also accused the Morrison government and the ABC of being part of a campaign to turn his people against him.

I am aware that Australians are working behind my back to have my people not to support any foreign direct investment. Recently they have funded an awareness team to promote Australian interest against any foreign investment along the coastline of South Fly including Daru Island, Yoto said.

However, strategic experts believe that the proposal faces significant challenges.

The Lowy Institutes Pacific program director, Jonathan Pryke told The Australian: Western Province has immense development challenges, including some of the worst TB (Tuberculosis) in the world, so you can see why these opportunities sound appealing.

But frankly they are too good to be true, Pryke said.

It seems the strategy is to try and get a politician of some level to sign off, generate enough attention around it that Beijing notices, and hopefully something will come out of it that gets the money flowing, he said.

The World Health Organisation declared Daru a hotspot for drug-resistant Tuberculosis after an epidemic broke out in 2016.
Photo: The Canadian Press Candles are seen in front of a picture of Amanda Todd during a memorial for her in Surrey, B.C., Friday, Oct. 19, 2012. A Dutch man accused of extorting and harassing Todd, who ultimately killed herself, has been extradited to Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

A Dutch man accused of extorting and criminally harassing British Columbia teenager Amanda Todd, who ultimately killed herself, has been extradited to Canada.

The B.C. Prosecution Service says Aydin Coban is in custody and made his first appearance in a courtroom in the province on Dec. 8.

Coban is charged with extortion, criminal harassment, communication with a young person to commit a sexual offence and two counts of possession of child pornography.

He has not entered any pleas and his next appearance is Feb. 12 in a B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster for a pre-trial conference.

His Amsterdam-based lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Todd was 15 when she killed herself in 2012, when her suicide drew international headlines because of a YouTube video she posted before her death in which she used handwritten cards to describe the online torment she had faced.
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The Galaxy F62 is the rumored re-brand of the Galaxy M62 smartphone said to be exclusive to India. Samsung has reportedly unveiled its marketing campaign for this device on Flipkart. It seeks to hold consumer attention until February 8, 2021, whereupon the phone might either be launched or leaked officially in more detail.

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The Galaxy M62 is rumored to launch with the same massive 7,000mAh battery as its predecessor the M51, but will improve on it with specs such as a new 256GB internal storage limit that may have helped it get mistaken for a tablet rather than a phone in its initial leaks. It may be available in a number of markets, India included; however, the OEM is said to be on the point of rebranding it as the F62 in that country.

The leaker @TechnicalGujuri claims to have gleaned more information on the Galaxy F41 successor's promotional efforts, which will apparently be presented in conjunction with Flipkart. The F62 has apparently acquired the new tagline of #FullonSpeedy, which might refer to the Exynos 9825 processor only heretofore seen in the Note 10 series.

This spec seems to have been confirmed in a new hype poster, as has its new design, square rear camera and all. Flipkart's mobile app also now allegedly contains a page advertising "more" on the F62 to be revealed on February 8, 2021. Whether this is the phone's actual launch date or not is uncertain - however, as it is also that of the Xiaomi Mi 11 (global edition), that would be a slightly odd choice.

It remains to be seen if a glimpse of the Galaxy F62 can outshine that of a whole Snapdragon 888-powered flagship - then again, with its rarified battery capacity (and hype), it might stand a much better chance than the average mid-ranger. It is rumored to come in at around INR 25,000 (~US$343) on its debut, which makes sense as the M51 is currently INR 22,999 (~$316) on Amazon.in.
(Newser)  When actor Dustin Diamondaka "Screech"died of lung cancer this week, it illustrated something showing up more and more in cancer stats: The 44-year-old had never smoked, reports Health.com. As a deep dive into the issue by Sharon Begley at STAT News makes clear, smoking is still far and away the leading cause of lung cancer, with a December study finding 84% of women and 90% of men who receive a new diagnosis can be classified as current or former smokers. But also clear is that the proportion of non-smokers being diagnosed is on the rise. For example, a 2017 study in US hospitals found that the percentage of lung cancer patients who were "never-smokers" rose from 8% in 1990 to 1995 to nearly 15% in 2011 to 2013. The researchers' take: "the actual incidence of lung cancer in never-smokers is increasing." A separate study in the UK found an even greater increase, from 13% to 28% from 2008 to 2014.

story continues below

"If lung cancer in never-smokers were a separate entity, it would be in the top 10 cancers in the US," surgeon Andrew Kaufman of Mount Sinai Hospital tells STAT. He calls it "an epidemiological shift" that's been underway since the 2000s. One factor is that fewer people are smoking these days, meaning that never-smokers will take up more of the statistical pie, explains an epidemiologist with the American Cancer Society. His stance is that a never-smoker does not have a greater chance of getting lung cancer today than in the past. Indeed, scientists are split, with one oncologist saying the issue is made murkier by the fact that most old lung-cancer records don't include smoking status. Still, there's a growing push to learn more about the phenomenon, and even to declare it a disease of its own and treat it accordingly with tailored drugs. One important part of the puzzle: Female never-smokers are twice as likely to get lung cancer as their male counterparts. (Rush Limbaugh, long a cigar smoker, is battling the disease.)



IN NUMBERS: 11,713 new infections reported nationwide

11,713 new infections were recorded in the last 24 hours nationwide, taking the cumulative caseload to 10.81 million, according to a report in Deccan Herald. 95 deaths were reported, taking the total death toll to 1,54,918, according to central health ministry data updated on Saturday. With 14,488 people making recoveries in the last 24 hours, the total recoveries have surged to 1,05,10,796. The national recovery rate has climbed to 97.16 per cent. Read more here

SII sits on a stockpile of 55 mn shots awaiting Centre's call

Pune-based vaccine maker is sitting on a stockpile of 55 million shots of Covishield and has temporarily halted production as there is no offtake from the central government, according to a report in The Wire. Trade association Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is actively lobbying the Centre to take the unused Covishield stock. The delay persists despite a need for more doses even by the governments own goal of administering 3.33 million a day, the report said. Read more here

Indians locked out of Saudi Arabia upset over export of vaccine to the kingdom

India's move to export Covid-19 vaccine to Saudi Arabia has caused resentment in its expatriate community who are locked out by the kingdom's months-long flight ban, according to a report in Al Jazeera.



While India ramps up its "vaccine diplomacy" through worldwide shipments of the shots developed by AstraZeneca together with Oxford University, the Saudi flight ban has become an irritant. Indian officials have pointed out, in vain, that the active caseload in Saudi Arabia has fallen steadily. The kingdom has even allowed flights from other worse-affected countries prompting some workers to question if the ban is a strategy to reduce the expatriate workforce in the kingdom. Read more here

Indias R-value remains steady at 0.92 this week

Indias effective reproduction value (R) for Covid-19 remained the same as last week, at 0.92, according to a report in ThePrint. The R-value is a key measure of how quickly the virus is spreading. In simple terms, it is the average number of people who become infected by an infected individual. If the R-value is above 1, the virus will spread quickly. If it is below 1, the virus will slow. The overall R-value has been steady for India since the past several weeks. Kerala, which has the biggest active caseload, saw a fall in the R-value for the second week in a row. Last week, the R was at 0.99, but the value dropped to 0.94 this week. Read more here

India fastest to inoculate 5 million people

Since the Covid-19 vaccination programme began on January 16, India has inoculated over 5 million people, according to a report in HindustanTimes. The health ministry said India is the fastest to hit the milestone so far. To date, total hospitalizations after the vaccination amount to 27. Read more here
State-run engineering firm BHEL on Saturday reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 217.86 crore for the October-December quarter due to lower revenues.

The consolidated net profit of the firm was Rs 161.81 crore in the quarter ended on December 31, 2019, a BSE filing stated.

Total income of the company dipped to Rs 4,532.39 crore in the quarter from Rs 5,827.74 crore in the same period a year ago.

About the impact of pandemic, the company said, "During the quarter, the group operations recovered as compared to Q2/20-21 (second quarter this fiscal), but pre-COVID level of operations are yet to be achieved.

"Based on its assessment of business/economic conditions as on date, the company expects to recover the carrying value of its assets.

Also Read: Microsoft suspends funds through 2022 to lawmakers who opposed Biden's certification
Emergency landings: Two flights have had to be redirected to Buckna due to poor visibility

Two flights have had to be redirected to a Co Antrim airfield beside a mountain due to poor visibility since it opened last summer.

A meeting of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council's planning committee has heard the flights were sent to the isolated Slemish Airfield in the Buckna area, close to the famous mountain where St Patrick is reputed to have tended sheep.

On the council agenda was a planning application for the installation of lights at the runway at Buckna Road, outside Broughshane. The 750-metre private landing strip at Slemish Airfield was constructed in 2017 and is operational with 52 flights permitted annually. The first landing took place in July.

The proposed new LED lights, which are 26cms off the ground, can be activated by the pilot when five miles from the landing strip and would operate for 15 minutes.

The application was made by Ernie Graham and his wife Dr Karen Graham. They built the luxurious Slemish Retreat and Spa near the landing strip in the picturesque Braid Valley.

The proposal has resulted in 13 objections on potential impact on wildlife and concerns over noise.

Planning officers have said they are "confident these issues have been addressed".

Speaking remotely at the meeting, TUV leader Jim Allister said: "I think the treatment of objectors by the Planning Department in the council has been quite shameful."

He claimed that a request for a Zoom meeting in December with objectors was "ignored". He criticised what he described as "procedural unfairness" saying that "each party must have the right to be heard".

Mr Allister proceeded to describe the application as "creeping development".

He suggested that it is being sought in a bid to "facilitate night-time flights".

"This is an idyllic part of the Braid Valley. It is farmland. What are night-time flights going to do? Think of the impact on livestock.

"I urge the committee to refuse this brazen application."

DUP MLA Paul Frew told the meeting that he considered the proposal to be "industrialisation" of the Braid Valley.

He questioned why lighting had not been part of the original application.

"I would urge the committee to think of the flora and fauna, river basin, issues around milking cows and sheep with lambs," he said.

Larne Lough DUP councillor Paul Reid said that he had lived a mile-and-a-half from Belfast International Airport previously and "not one sheep ever ran when a plane came into land".

Carnlough Road resident Judy Irwin, who lives opposite the runway, highlighted what she described as a "massive shocking change in the local area".

She maintained that if "50 multi-coloured runway lights" are "essential for health and safety, they should have been included in the original application".

Carrickfergus Ulster Unionist councillor John McDermott pointed out that the lights are a safety feature and would not affect wildlife.

Braid DUP councillor William McCaughey stressed that the application has been made in the interest of safety.

"To date, two daytime flights have been redirected to this airstrip due to poor visibility and light," he stated.

"This airstrip is integrated into the landscape in such a way it is barely distinguishable from the ground without the landing perimeter being highlighted."

He went on to say that the landing strip lights will only be "visible for 15 minutes per flight".

"I do not see it breaking any regulations. I welcome the recommendation to grant approval of this application."

Engineer Ivan Scott, who has been involved with the scheme since the start, said: "It is for private purposes. The client has a dwelling adjacent to this site. The purpose of the lights is to ensure the perimeter of the airstrip is clearly marked for the pilot's approach. It is a grass airstrip."

He stressed that the lights would be at ground level and "not lamp posts".

Proposing approval of the application, former RAF Wing Commander and Alliance councillor Noel Williams said: "We are not talking jumbo jets going into Belfast International type lighting."

Nine councillors voted in favour of the application with one against. The council's solicitor stated that the correct procedure for dealing with objections had been applied.

Ready for another wrinkle in the rumors around Apples Project Titan automotive efforts? A report by Bloomberg says that despite (or perhaps because of) all the information leaking out about a possible deal between Apple and Hyundai/Kia, talks have paused recently.

The unnamed source did back up other reports indicating that Kias Georgia plant could serve as a likely manufacturing base for an autonomous electric vehicle if the companies make a deal, and the report maintains that project has ramped up recently. In the last few days, a report by Japans Nikkei indicated that as many as six Japanese automakers are also in talks to work on the project, so time will tell who is in, who is out, and whether or not this project turns into a real car at all.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare branch in the Northern Red Sea region reported that over 17 million Nakfa has been disbursed in support of disadvantaged citizens in the region.

According to Mr. Ismail Osman, head of the branch office, over 10 million Nakfa has been disbursed to families of martyrs, about 3 million Nakfa to war disabled veterans, and about 4 million Nakfa for the rehabilitation of disadvantaged citizens.

Likewise, 238 members of the Eritrean National War-Disabled Veterans' Association have been extended financial support with a view to enabling them to become self-supportive and productive members of the society.

In related news, Eritrean nationals in the Diaspora contributed over 2 million and 170 thousand Nakfa in support of 479 families of martyrs.
UHN-led study indicates treatment can speed up clearance of the coronavirus in non-hospitalized patients, with potential to improve clinical outcomes and curb community spread

TORONTO (February 5, 2021) - A clinical study led by Dr. Jordan Feld, a liver specialist at Toronto Centre for Liver Disease, University Health Network (UHN), showed an experimental antiviral drug can significantly speed up recovery for COVID-19 outpatients - patients who do not need to be hospitalized.

This could become an important intervention to treat infected patients and help curb community spread, while COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out this year.

"This treatment has large therapeutic potential, especially at this moment as we see aggressive variants of the virus spreading around the globe which are less sensitive to both vaccines and treatment with antibodies," says Dr. Feld, who is also Co-Director of the Schwartz Reisman Liver Research Centre and the R. Phelan Chair in Translational Liver Research at UHN.

According to the study, published today in Lancet Respiratory Medicine, patients who received a single injection of peginterferon-lambda were over four times more likely to have cleared the infection within seven days, when compared to a group treated with placebo.

"People who were treated cleared the virus quickly, and the effect was most pronounced in those with the highest viral levels. We also saw a trend towards quicker improvement of respiratory symptoms in the treatment group," explains Dr. Feld - who translated his knowledge of peg-interferon lambda usage for viral hepatitis to research on COVID-19 treatment.

Participants with higher viral levels (above 1 million copies per mL) were much more likely to clear infection with treatment than placebo: 79% in the treatment arm compared to 38% in the placebo group; and virus levels decreased quickly in everyone in the treatment group.

Treatment benefits and public health impact

Rapid clearance has many benefits, particularly in those with high viral levels, as those cases are associated with more severe disease and a higher risk of transmission to others. Among the 60 patients followed in the study, five went to emergency rooms with deteriorating respiratory symptoms. Of those, four were in the placebo group, while only one was in the group which received the actual drug.

Bringing down the virus level quickly prevents people from getting worse and likely reduces the risk of spreading the disease to others. This may have important additional public health impact.

"If we can decrease the virus level quickly, people are less likely to spread the infection to others and we may even be able to shorten the time required for self-isolation," says Dr. Feld.

Interferon-lambda

Interferon-lambda is a protein produced by the body in response to viral infections. It has the ability to activate a number of cellular pathways to kill invading viruses.

The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 prevents the body from producing interferons, which is one way it avoids being controlled by the body's immune system. Treatment with interferon-lambda activates those same virus-killing pathways in the cells.

Because interferon activates many virus-killing pathways, resistance due to 'new strains' of the virus, which could be an issue with some therapies, is not a concern with interferon-lambda.

Interferon-lambda is different from other interferons because it uses a receptor that is only present in some tissues in the body. It is very active in the lung, the liver and the intestine, all places where the COVID-19 virus is able to replicate, but it is not active in other places leading to a lot fewer side effects than other interferons. In the trial, those treated with interferon-lambda had similar side effects to those who received placebo.

Peginterferon-lambda (used in this study) is a long-acting version of the drug developed by Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, which can be given as a single injection under the skin with a tiny needle (like insulin).

Next steps

This was an investigator initiated phase 2, double-blind randomized study, done in Toronto, with a total of 60 participants - 30 who received the drug while 30 received placebo. The study was conducted from May to November 2020, with referrals from six outpatient assessment centres.

Additional studies are ongoing at the University of Toronto, Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University with peginterferon-lambda in hospitalized patients, and in settings where it can be used to prevent infection in those who have been exposed.

###

Drs. Mia Biondi, nurse practitioner and researcher at UHN, Christopher Kandel, infectious disease specialist at Michael Garron Hospital, and Bettina Hansen, senior statistician at UHN, co-led this clinical trial.

Funding

This study was supported by Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation, Toronto COVID-19 Action Initiative, University of Toronto and the Ontario First COVID-19 Rapid Research Fund. Medication was supplied by Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Palo Alto, CA, USA.

Conflict of Interests (COI)

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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* Photo gallery: https:/ / photos. app. goo. gl/ QUCgcGGsf8jSQo7Q7

(Drs. Jordan Feld and Mia Biondi portrayed at UHN's Francis Family Liver Clinic; Anonymous participant receiving dose of the medication; Credit: Courtesy UHN)

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(Anonymous participant receiving dose of the medication; Credit: Courtesy UHN)

About University Health Network

University Health Network consists of Toronto General and Toronto Western Hospitals, the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, and The Michener Institute of Education at UHN. The scope of research and complexity of cases at University Health Network has made it a national and international source for discovery, education and patient care. It has the largest hospital-based research program in Canada, with major research in arthritis, cardiology, transplantation, neurosciences, oncology, surgical innovation, infectious diseases, genomic medicine and rehabilitation medicine. University Health Network is a research hospital affiliated with the University of Toronto.

For more information, visit: http://www. uhn. ca

For media inquiries, please contact:

Ana Fernandes

Senior Public Affairs Advisor, University Health Network

+1 (437) 216-4597 ana.fernandes@uhn.ca
This week, U.S. health officials announced that more Americans had received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine than have tested positive for the virus. "These are all promising signs," Tassios said. "But we still have a way to go."

With more than a quarter of Israel's population of 9 million inoculated in the world's fastest vaccination drive against COVID-19, Israelis, too, are expected to follow suit, as are Americans.

What's more, a burst in bookings from the U.K. has industry officials banking on British travelers to spearhead the nation's travel revival. "Greece has long been a favorite holiday destination for the British," said Grigoris Tassios, president of the country's hoteliers federation. "But with the rate of inoculations in the U.K. largely outpacing all others across Europe and beyond, British travelers will be among the safest to travel here by as early as May."

Yet a year since the deadly bug hit this sun-kissed nation of 11 million, causing mass travel cancellations and wreaking financial havoc unseen since Greece's economy went into freefall over a decade ago, tourism officials say they are now marshaling an industry comeback. They are preparing to reopen the country to world travelers by June 1 with a new "safe travel" plan that lets visitors bypass quarantine regulations with a negative coronavirus test taken within 72 hours of their departure.

 Tourism Stalled

Global tourism has been among the industries hit hardest by the public health emergency. The pandemic has affected 75 million people employed in a sector brought to a near standstill by travel bans and closed borders. But for Greece, where tourism accounts for 20 percent of GDP, providing one in five jobs in a country still crawling out of its worst financial crisis in recent times, the stakes are higher.

A recent report by the financial risk advisory services group Ernst & Young showed Europe's weakest economy shrinking an additional 10 percent in 2020 because of an 80 percent drop in tourism revenue. It forecast a 50 percent rise this year -- half of the record 30 million travelers that flooded Greece ahead of the health crisis in 2019 -- but only if, as experts warn, the conservative government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis delivers on the daunting task of balancing the safety of a nation with the economic boost more visitors would bring to a country in dire need of financial recovery.

It is not an easy challenge. After five strict months, three national lockdowns and a surge in infections that has seen COVID-19 cases here rocket from 3,000 in September to 160,000 this week, Mitsotakis and his closest aides are now said to be considering the fiercest national shutdown orders yet in a bid to stunt a third wave of COVID-19 sweeping Greece -- and to salvage the nation's anemic economy.

But until then, tourism businesses and hoteliers, who preferred to remain closed last year, are wasting no time positioning themselves for a stake in the estimated $10 billion in revenues that British travelers are set to bring to Greece this year, beginning in June.

 'The Chips Are Down'

As many as 2 million foreign travelers will be redeeming vouchers for vacation packages canceled last summer because of the pandemic, according to industry data. The number of Israelis and Americans following suit remains unclear.

"Not opening is not an option this year," said Alexis Komninos, a leading hotelier on the iconic island of Santorini. "The chips are down, and it's clearly crunch time." "But while I and others in the industry are doing our part, doling out the cold cash to refurbish, rebuild and slash my prices by 40 percent in flash sales to lure British, German and other customers, the government must do its part in helping subsidize this national reopening.

"This isn't about some sort of business experiment," said Komninos. "It is a national gambit. And if this season is lost -- well, then we're all in for a really rough ride."

Tourism ministry officials say they have received assurances from the government that it will subsidize salaries in the industry during the summer. Still, it has yet to decide when and whether incentives will be introduced to cover startup and reopening costs and support a hoteliers bill seen by some as key to any comeback in Greek tourism.
New Delhi:





At least 7 piligrims were killed,including six women,and 19 injured in a terrorist attack on Monday. Similar attack happenend in past on Amarnath yatris.

Here is a brief account of past terror attack that have been carrried out against Amarnath yatra



2000: In august month,terrorist did a series of attack.First they opened fire on over 95 people,killing 89 people,and later five places in the valley were attacked killing around 58people.



2001- Terrorist hurled two grenades at a camp and later opened fire near Sheshnag,killing 13 people,including 3 women and two police officers.

2002:In a deadly attack on the Nunwan camp on the way to Amarnath by terrorist killed 8 people.

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White evangelicals most likely to say they've experienced online harassment because of their religion

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A recent survey from the Pew Research Center found that white evangelicals are the most likely religious group to say that they have experienced harassment online for their religious views.

The survey, released Monday, was an addendum to an earlier report published on Jan. 13 that examined the state of online harassment in the United States as a whole. The new data focuses specifically on the Americans who said they have been harassed on the internet because of their religion. The survey was conducted between Sept. 8 and Sept. 13, 2020.

According to Pew, 19% of the American adults who said they had experienced online harassment attribute such harassment to their religion. Since 41% of U.S. adults claim to be victims of online harassment, the share of Americans who have experienced online harassment due to their religion amounts to 8% of the population as a whole.

Broken down by religious denomination, 29% of white evangelical Protestants said they had been targeted online for their faith, making them the most likely group to say that they experienced faith-based harassment. While 23% of Protestants as a whole experienced harassment on the internet because of their religion, mainline Protestants were significantly less likely to experience such harassment than their evangelical counterparts.

Just 11% of white non-evangelical Protestants reported faith-based harassment online. Fifteen percent of Catholics claimed to have experienced online harassment due to their faith, along with 10% of those unaffiliated with any religion.

Within the group of Americans who identify as unaffiliated, 21% of atheists, 6% of agnostics and 8% of those who claim "nothing in particular" when asked about their religion alleged that they were victims of online harassment.

Republicans were more likely than Democrats to cite their religion as the reason for their online harassment, with 22% of voters who are Republicans or lean Republican claiming to have experienced faith-based harassment compared to 16% of voters who are Democrats or lean Democratic.

Among white voters, 21% of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters reported online faith-based harassment, as did 14% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters.

Twenty-one percent of men claim to have experienced harassment on the internet due to their faith, while 16% of women said the same. Eighteen percent of whites claimed that they had been harassed online because of their faith, along with 16% of blacks and 21% of Hispanics.

Additionally, the Pew survey asked Americans if they had experienced any online harassment. Harassment was broken down into two categories: Severe harassing behaviors such as stalking, physical threats, sustained harassment or sexual harassment and less severe behaviors. Although white evangelicals were the most likely group to claim that they had experienced faith-based harassment, religiously unaffiliated voters were more likely to say that they had experienced any form of harassment.

Among U.S. adults as a whole, 41% claim to be victims of online harassment. That number rose to 47% among religiously unaffiliated voters, with 53% of atheists and 52% of agnostics reporting online harassment.

By contrast, only 37% of white evangelicals said that they had experienced some form of online harassment. That figure dropped to 35% among white, non-evangelical Protestants and 33% among black Protestants, who are tied with white Catholics for the group with the lowest share of members who claim to have experienced online harassment.

Forty-six percent of Hispanic Catholics reported experiencing any form of online harassment, making them the most likely religious group besides the religiously unaffiliated to experience such harassment.

White evangelicals frequently find themselves as outliers regarding the issues facing the country. A poll conducted in September by the Public Religion Research Institute found that white evangelical Protestants had outlier opinions on every issue facing the country ahead of the 2020 presidential election, including abortion, same-sex marriage and their approval of former President Donald Trump.

White evangelicals, an important bloc in American politics, gave 76% of their support to the former president in the 2020 presidential election, according to CNN exit polling. Based on exit polling following the 2016 presidential election, which Trump won, 80% of white evangelicals supported him.

Sam Rockwell as officer Dixon and Frances McDormand as Mildred Hayes in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Monday, Film4, 9pm)

Saturday: Horrible Bosses (2011) ITV, 10.50pm - Nick Hendricks (Jason Bateman) has been denied a promotion by his cold-hearted boss Dave Harken (Kevin Spacey).

Meanwhile Kurt Buckman (Jason Sudeikis) is forced to stand by as the company he works for is run into ground by the owner's cocaine-snorting son Bobby (Colin Farrell), and dental nurse Dale Arbus (Charlie Day) is sexually harassed on a daily basis by his employer, Dr Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston). So, when jailbird Dean Jones (Jamie Foxx) plants the idea of a chain reaction of seemingly accidental deaths, the three friends are intrigued.

Horrible Bosses is a filthy-minded black comedy that borrows its central premise from Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, and the cast throw themselves at the material with admirable gusto.

Sunday

Despicable Me 3 (2017) ITV2, 5.45pm

Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) and wife Lucy (Kristen Wiig) are fired from the Anti-Villain League (AVL) by new head honcho Valeria Da Vinci (Jenny Slate).

In the midst of this upheaval, Gru discovers the family history spun by his bespectacled mother Marlena (Julie Andrews) is a fabrication and he has a twin brother called Dru (Carell again). The siblings reunite just in time to witness the rise of former child star-turned-master thief Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker).

The third chapter relies heavily on the franchise's break-out stars, the googly-eyed yellow sidekicks the Minions, and there are giggles involving the stooges and their high-pitched lingo of Esperanto meets gobbledygook.

Monday

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) Film4, 9pm

Hell hath no fury like a grief-stricken mother scorned in writer-director Martin McDonagh's blackly comic drama. It has been seven months since Angela Hayes was abducted, raped and murdered on her way home. The dead girl's mother Mildred (Oscar-winner Frances McDormand) is infuriated by the lack of progress under police chief Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson).

So, she rents three advertising hoardings on the outskirts of town and emblazons each billboard with a message aimed directly at the man responsible for apprehending the culprits. However, bigoted officer Jason Dixon (Sam Rockwell, who also won an Oscar) reacts violently to Mildred's public spat with his station.

Impeccably scripted and blessed with a blistering lead performance from McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is a truly remarkable film.

Tuesday

The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) Channel 5, 11pm

The 1968 Steve McQueen movie is given a makeover, with Pierce Brosnan taking the title role. A bored billionaire (the heart bleeds, all that money and nothing to do), Thomas Crown decides - just for a laugh - to steal a valuable Monet piece from the New York Museum.

However, Catherine Banning's (Rene Russo) insurance company underwrites the painting, and the feisty employee is determined to retrieve it from the crook. You can guess the rest - bad boy billionaire meets sexy wannabe detective, and romance blossoms, but both have their own motives.

The chemistry between the pair makes for a thrilling and absorbing plot, doing the original movie justice without losing any of its intrigue or gutsiness. It's also refreshing to see the female love interest being portrayed by a mature woman and not a twenty-something.
Lou Dobbs, with Fox News, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Md., on Feb. 24, 2017. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)

Trump Says Hes Watching Lou Dobbss Next Move Closely After Fox Shows Cancellation

Former President Donald Trump said Friday hes watching closely Lou Dobbss next move after Fox News canceled Dobbss program.

Lou Dobbs is and was great. Nobody loves America more than Lou, Trump said in a statement.

He had a large and loyal following that will be watching closely for his next move, and that following includes me.

Foxs business network earlier in the day announced the cancellation of Lou Dobbs Tonight.

A Fox spokesperson told news outlets that the move had been in the works since last year.

Fox News Media regularly considers programming changes and plans have been in place to launch new formats as appropriate post-election, including on Fox Business, the Fox spokesperson said. This is part of those planned changes.

Dobbs was one of the defendants in a defamation lawsuit filed Thursday by Smartmatic, a London-based multinational that produces voting machines.

Dobbs and fellow Fox hosts Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro joined Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and attorney Sidney Powell in championing the disinformation campaign against Smartmatic, the lawsuit alleged.

Dobbs, for instance, knowingly made false statements about the company in a bid to gain viewers for his show and stay loyal to Trump, according to the filing.

Dobbs didnt appear on his show on Friday and has not commented directly on the lawsuit or the programs cancellation.

Fox said in a statement responding to the suit that the network was committed to providing the full context of every story with in-depth reporting and clear opinion.

We are proud of our 2020 election coverage and will vigorously defend against this meritless lawsuit in court, the company said.

Dobbs shared a number of policy views with Trump and was known as a defender of the former president, who periodically called in to Lou Dobbs Tonight.

Dobbs, 74, worked for CNN in the 1980s, hosting his own business program. Dobbs left the network in 2009 and started his own radio show. His Fox program started in 2011.

The show aired on weekdays for an hour at 7 p.m.

The page for the show was removed from Foxs website as of Saturday. His biography remains live.

The biography describes the show as featuring a breakdown of the days top stories and how they impact the economy. It listed awards Dobbs has won, including the Emmy for Lifetime Achievement and the Luminary Award by the Business Journalism Review.

Dobbss slot will be filled Monday by Fox Business Tonight featuring Jackie DeAngelis and David Asman.
It would seem to me that every mayor in the city, and Lightfoot is no exception, needs to play to significant educational successes, University of Illinois professor Robert Bruno, who wrote a book about the 2012 teachers strike, said. Its a whole lot easier to do that if youre not dealing with lockouts, work stoppages, school closings or legal battles with your teachers because regardless of what the mayor may think is the best way to approach running schools during a pandemic or after, she cant do it successfully without the teachers.

Spike in capital sees screening ramped up

BANGKOK: The Public Health Ministry is stepping up COVID-19 surveillance in western Bangkok following a spike in infections, a senior official said on Friday (Feb 5).

COVID-19Coronavirushealth

By Bangkok Post

Saturday 6 February 2021, 09:47AM

People wait for their turn to go inside Siam Rattana near Wong Wiang Yai on Friday as the shop offers discounted items to help those affected by the coronavirus outbreak. Photo: Apichart Jinakul / Bangkok Post

Dr Chakkarat Pittayawong-anont, director of the epidemiology division at the Department of Disease Control (DDC), said public officials are ramping up proactive screening in six districts after a large number cases were confirmed, reports the Bangkok Post.

The six districts are Bang Kae, Phasi Charoen, Bang Khunthian, Chom Thong, Nong Khaem and Bang Bon.

He said the cases are linked to factory workers and surrounding communities in Phasi Charoen district. However there is no indication that the virus has spread to schools or to the public transport system.

Residents in these districts are advised to take extra health precautions, particularly wearing face masks when visiting markets, he stressed.

Pongsakorn Kwanmuang, spokesperson for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), said on Friday that so far the "Sentinel Surveillance" programme launched in the six districts had uncovered 54 new infections.

He said that a total of 13,042 workers in 113 factories had been tested so far.

To help with contact tracing and disease control, the workers are now required to download and use the Mor Chana application, he said.

Dr Apisamai Srirangsun, assistant spokeswoman of the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), said a study on viral infections in urban communities indicated that people are more at risk of contracting Covid-19 from social gatherings and at work places than anywhere else.

She said an investigation into COVID-19 infections at a beauty clinic in Bangkok, where five out of seven workers were infected, found the group had meals together every day and shared utensils.

Another investigation into infections at a department of a company also in Bangkok showed that the employees had not not worn face masks while socialising. The department had 10 employees of whom nine had tested positive.

The CCSA on Friday reported 586 new COVID-19 cases across the country  573 local infections and 13 imported, raising the total to 22,644.

Bangkok had 18 new cases, all testing positive at hospitals, comprising 14 Thais and four Myanmar people. Samut Sakhon province continued to record the highest number with 548 new infections, although that marked a decrease from the 700-800 a day being reported last week.
Deputy First Minister, Michelle ONeill, has hit out at the PSNI following the arrest of one of the victims of the Sean Graham bookies massacre at a commemorative event yesterday.

Mark Sykes, who was shot several times in the attack, was arrested on suspicion of disorderly behaviour before being taken to Musgrave Street police station, before being released later in the day.

In a statement, the Chief Constable said the crowd had initially been approached by police to talk about Covid-19 regulations.

Videos and images of Mr Sykes arrest circulated widely on social media yesterday sparking anger from people from all communities in Ulster who criticised the polices handling of the situation.

Michelle O'Neill said that she has requested a meeting with the Chief Constable to discuss the response to the "awful scenes".

She added: The man was arrested at an event to commemorate the 29th anniversary of the Massacre, in which five people including a child were killed by loyalist gunmen using weapons brought into Ireland by a British agent.

The arrest by the PSNI of this man who was at a wreath laying ceremony attended by family members of those killed has caused unprecedented anger and distress across the community.

The PSNIs response tonight (Thursday) is inadequate. It further adds insult to injury to the families of the victims who have been waiting almost three decades for truth about the deaths of their loved ones.

I have also contacted the families and am seeking to meet with them as soon as possible.

The Chief Constable needs to understand the damage that the actions of his officers today has had on community confidence in policing.

This standard of policing is not acceptable and should not be acceptable to any section of this community.

Read More

Yesterday marked the 29th anniversary of the attack.

On February 5, 1992, two men wearing boiler suits entered the Ormeau Road bookies shop armed with an assault rifle and pistol.

They fired 44 shots into the packed room, murdering five people.

They were William McManus (54), James Kennedy (15), Peter Magee (18), Christy Doherty (52) and Jack Duffin (66).

The UDA later claimed responsibility for the attack saying that it had been in retaliation for the IRA's Teebane bombing in County Tyrone a few weeks earlier in which six Protestant tradesmen were murdered as they made their way to work.

After he was released from Musgrave Street police station Mr Sykes lawyer said that the incident had "wreaked havoc on community relations both on the Ormeau Road and in the wider community".

In a statement, justice minister Naomi Long said: This was always going to be a painful and difficult day for the survivors and the families of those murdered at Sean Grahams bookmakers. Our thoughts are with them as they continue to grieve the loss of their loved ones on this 29th anniversary.

I understand why the events this afternoon have left emotions running high. However, we now need calm and cool heads to prevail.

As I have said publicly many times, funerals and memorials are particularly sensitive when it comes to enforcement of the Coronavirus regulations which, at their core, are designed to keep people safe and save lives.

Policing is an incredibly difficult job at the best of times but is even more so during this pandemic. It is therefore important that as a community we all continue to try our best to work together through these challenges.

Where there are concerns or frustrations in relation to police actions, those should be channeled through the Patten accountability structures of the Policing Board and the Police Ombudsman, designed specifically to ensure impartial and independent oversight.
An Australian fashion brand is selling the 'ultimate summer bag' at a remarkably affordable price.

Monogrammed mini-basket bags from Jasmine and Will, a label beloved by some of Australia's top models including Elle Macpherson and Lara Worthington, are already receiving 'hundreds' of pre-orders every month - and it's not hard to see why.

Designed in Australia and handwoven in Morocco from premium palm leaf, the bags can be embroidered with initials, names or catchphrases for just $59 a piece.

Words can be stitched in a range of colours including white, black, navy and 'ballet slipper pink'.

These monogrammed mini-basket bags from Australian fashion brand Jasmine and Will are already receiving 'hundreds' of pre-orders every month

Designed in Australia and handwoven in Morocco from premium palm leaf, the bags (right) can be embroidered with initials, names or catchphrases

Jasmine and Will founder Jasmine Edwards told Daily Mail Australia she predicts a further uptick in sales from late March into April.

'I expect them to be really popular around Easter time,' she said.

Supremely versatile, the bags aren't just for carrying.

They can also be repurposed as an interior home accessory, hamper basket or as a wedding gift.

Customisation ideas on the brand website include initials, new surnames for newlywed brides, nicknames, children's names and catchphrases or private jokes.

Customisation can be done in a range of colours including white, black, navy and 'ballet slipper pink'

Photos of the bags (left and right) have drawn delighted responses, with many saying they 'can't wait' to get theirs delivered

Promotional photos of the bags on Instagram have drawn delighted responses, with many saying they 'can't wait' to get theirs delivered.

'So cute,' one woman wrote, while a second added: 'Love these.'

Jasmine and Will bags and monogrammed silk sleepwear are available to buy online at David Jones and The Iconic.

Bags ordered before Friday, February 19 are slated to be delivered by mid-March.

For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe.

Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime.


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A GUIDING light in the darkness of life has been lit in the west wing of St Marys Cathedral, overlooking the river.

The Dean of the city cathedral, the very Reverend Niall Sloane has installed a lamp in a small window, which will remain on for 24-hours-a-day, 365-days a year.

With the window looking out onto the riverside, the hope is people will be able to look towards the building, see the light and realise they are not alone.

The idea is we are reaching out. And that is part of our mission here - reaching out to the city. We are conscious of the fact Limerick has a high suicide rate and the bridges play a role in that. We hope that individuals if they feel down, they may see the light in the tower and know there is always someone else thinking of them. There are other options there, he explained.

From a Christian perspective, Jesus is also the light in the darkness for us. But It is also saying that there is light in the darkness, especially at this time of year with all that is going on globally, said the Dean.

This is a beacon overlooking the river. The tower was built to overlook the river. Now it has a different use for the modern day.

Thank you @Nick468official in @Limerick_Leader today highlighting our new installation. The Light in the Darkness. A symbol that people care, they are here to offer love and support and there is light in the darkness. @FocusIreland @treatysuicide @PMVTrust @Limericksuicid2 pic.twitter.com/7cJEGC4KSG February 4, 2021

Revd Sloane points out that St Marys Cathedral has presided over the citys development for the last 850 years and in that time has witnessed its joys as well as its sorrows.

He said he is conscious Limerick sadly still has one of the highest rates of suicide in the country and is are all too aware of the role the river has played in these tragic events.

He paid tribute to the work of the volunteer groups within Limerick which offers support and comfort to those facing dark and troubling times.

The light which is visible from the river may remind everyone who sees it that there is light, whatever darkness may be overshadowing them.

The light, he added, is a symbol that people care, and that ultimately there is light in the darkness.
Chaim Kanievsky cant use a phone, rarely leaves his house, has never made a cup of tea successfully and doesnt know the name of Israels prime minister, according to those who know the rabbi who studies the Torah for 17 hours a day, give or take.

Yet despite his seeming detachment from worldly life, Kanievsky has become one of the most consequential and controversial people in Israel.

The spiritual leader of hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews, he has landed at the centre of tensions over Covid-19 between the mainstream and the growing ultra-Orthodox minority.

Throughout the pandemic, authorities have clashed with the ultra-Orthodox over their resistance to antivirus protocols, particularly their early refusal to close schools or limit crowds at religious events. Similar conflicts have played out in the New York area.

Kanievsky, issuing pronouncements from a book-filled study in his cramped apartment in an ultra-Orthodox suburb of Tel Aviv, has often been at the forefront of that resistance. Twice, during the first and second waves of the pandemic in Israel, he rejected state-imposed antivirus protocols and would not order his followers to close yeshivas, independent religious schools where students gather in close quarters to study Jewish scripture.

God forbid! he exclaimed. If anything, the pandemic made prayer and study even more essential, he said.

He eventually relented and it is unlikely that he played as big a role in spreading the virus as accusers said but the damage was done.

Many public health experts say that the ultra-Orthodox  who account for about 12 per cent of the population but 28 per cent of infections, according to Israeli government statistics  have undermined the national effort against the virus.

The reaction has been fierce, much of it centred on Kanievsky.

The rabbi must be arrested for spreading a disease, blared left-wing newspaper Haaretz. This rabbi dictates the scandalous conduct in the ultra-Orthodox sector, said the Yedioth Ahronoth.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews study in a hall with plastic sheets against the spread of Covid-19 (AFP via Getty)

The backlash exaggerates both the rabbis role and that of the ultra-Orthodox in general. Ultra-Orthodox society is not monolithic and other prominent leaders were far quicker to comply with antivirus regulations. Ultra-Orthodox leaders say the majority of their followers have obeyed the rules although their typically large families, living in tight quarters under what is now the third national lockdown, have inevitably contributed to the spread of the contagion.

Kanievskys position has also been more nuanced than sometimes portrayed but he has contributed to one of the biggest-ever showdowns with the mainstream.

I dont remember such a case in the history of the state of Israel, said professor Benjamin Brown, an expert on ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In the past, he said, ultra-Orthodox leaders have tried to avoid direct confrontation with the state.

Born in what is now Belarus in 1928, Kanievsky immigrated to what was then Palestine before the Second World War. He has spent most of his subsequent waking life studying Jewish texts, gradually building a following among the so-called Lithuanian Jews, a non-Hasidic sect with Eastern European roots who form roughly a third of the Haredim in Israel.

When the sects previous leader died in 2017, Kanievsky was one of two senior rabbis who filled the vacuum, which gave him considerable authority over the sect as well as an ultra-Orthodox political party that now forms part of the government.

Without Torah learning, we dont have any reason to live. Its written in the Bible  if you stop learning, the world will collapse

His pedigree adds to his prestige. His father and uncle were legendary spiritual leaders but it is his relentless Torah study that gives him his authority  his followers believe his encyclopaedic knowledge of Jewish teachings endows him with a near-mystical ability to offer guidance.

They see him as a holy man, says Eli Paley, chair of the Haredi Institute for Public Affairs, a Jerusalem-based research group. They see their existence as relying on Rabbi Chaim and his Torah learning.

On a recent afternoon in his apartment in the ultra-Orthodox enclave of Bnei Brak, Kanievsky appeared oblivious to the controversy raging around him. He sat silently at a small wooden table covered in a silvery tablecloth, surrounded by religious books. His wrinkled and reddened hands gripped a white book of scripture. Since rising before dawn, he had been studying the Chullin, a rabbinical text on the laws of ritual slaughter and would continue to study late into the night.

He never gives interviews and barely registered my presence, glancing at me only briefly to offer the short blessing he gives to most visitors.

It is this devotion to religious study that made Kanievsky  sometimes nicknamed the Prince of Torah  so reluctant to tell his followers to close their yeshivas at the start of the pandemic. The pandemic, he believed, according to his interlocutors, made prayer and study more important not less.

He believes the Torah sustains the world, says his grandson Yaakov Kanievsky, his main mediator with the outside world. Without Torah learning, we dont have any reason to live. Its written in the Bible  if you stop learning, the world will collapse.

For a few hours each day, Kanievsky stops studying to take questions from his followers, who either put their requests in writing or pose them in person during visiting hours. Since he is hard of hearing, the questions are relayed by his grandsons, who shout them in the rabbis ear and, when necessary, contextualise the questions and clarify their grandfathers terse, mumbled answers.

A few such exchanges, at the start of the pandemic, quickly gained national notoriety.

There is now a great epidemic in the world, a disease called corona and it affects many people, one grandson shouted in the rabbis ear last year, following a question from a visitor, according to a video of the conversation. He asks what they should take upon themselves so this disease does not get to them and there are no problems.

Mediator: Yaakov Kanievsky, grandson of Rabbi Chaim (AFP via Getty)

They should learn Talmud, the rabbi whispered.

On a separate occasion, Yaakov asked his grandfather: The question is, if grandfather thinks that they should close the schools because of this?

God forbid! the rabbi replied.

Yaakov, better known as Yanki, says these brief clips dont tell the whole story. The rabbi, he says, has long complied with government policy.

There are things that get misunderstood, Yanki says. He takes Covid very seriously, and he takes the patients very seriously.

Several weeks into the pandemic, the rabbi ordered his followers to obey social distancing guidelines, even equating those who scoff at the rules to murderers. In June, he said facemasks were a religious obligation. In December, he gave his blessing to the vaccine, not long after recovering from the virus himself. In recent days he condemned a group of Haredi youths who clashed with police trying to enforce virus regulations.

And he ultimately reversed himself on closing the yeshivas, which remain closed or under quarantine during the current lockdown.

If you look at the news tonight, there will be one Haredi school open and people will say, Oh, its all Rabbi Kanievskys fault, Yanki says. But its really not.

Yanki Kanievskys dominant role in his grandfathers life has led to questions about who is really in charge and whether Rabbi Kanievsky is alert enough to judge matters of national importance. Critics say the grandson controls who can and cant reach the grandfather  even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not been granted the privilege of talking to Rabbi Kanievsky.

It is usually Yanki who shapes the way questions are put to the rabbi, potentially influencing the way that he might answer them.

Professor Kimmy Caplan, an expert on Haredim at Bar-Ilan University, says: Its all a question of how things are presented; the man does not have the ability to figure out how things are projected to him. Were talking about a person who has been living in bubble wrap for quite a few years. The man is 93. Im not taking away from his wisdom but he is in many ways detached from reality.

The younger Kanievsky says his grandfather is entirely his own man and that it would be impossible to influence him even if he tried. Everyone has the right to ask him anything  they just have to line up and wait their turn.

I cant tell the rabbi what to say, Yanki says. If he thinks Im trying to manipulate him, I am finished.

But without speaking to the rabbi directly, it is hard to know exactly what he thinks. As the interview with Yanki draws to a close, we ask for a final audience with the rabbi.

Yanki shakes his head Rabbi Kanievsky is taking a nap.

 The New York Times
Laurentians Financial Woes Are a Warning to All Canadian Universities

Commentary

If you want stability, a university is one of your best bets. Some of Canadas oldest universities are well over 100 years old and still going strong.

Universities give significant benefits to the cities they are located in. They provide a large number of well-paying jobs, increase the local population by attracting students from other regions, and contribute to the local culture and intellectual life of cities. These are all good things.

This is why it was such sad news when Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, announced that it was financially insolvent and had already filed for creditor protection. This announcement came as a shock to faculty, students, and community members.

Obviously, Laurentian administrators are trying to put a positive spin on a terrible situation. An official announcement on the universitys website explained that the restructuring of the university will ensure that students will continue to have access to a high-quality post-secondary education at Laurentian for years to come. The question-and-answer section on the website emphasizes that Laurentian plans to continue educating students for the long term.

Nevertheless, one cannot paper over the seriousness of Laurentians present situation. Declaring insolvency is a drastic step, and frankly it is an acknowledgment that the university cannot meet its financial obligations. Simply put, Laurentian University is spending far more money than it is taking in through government grants, tuition fees, and support for research projects. This cannot continue.

Hopefully, the restructuring process is successful. It would be a shame for northern Ontario to lose this university, particularly since Laurentian is such an important institution in the region.

Laurentians insolvency is a stark reminder that universities are not immune to market realities. They do not have infinite resources and they cannot afford to offer programs that interest only a handful of faculty members and students. While they receive public funding, that funding is typically contingent on the fees generated by student enrolment. If enrolment declines, so does a universitys income.

Unfortunately, Laurentian experienced a steady decline in enrolment in recent years, largely because of the declining number of high school students in northern Ontario.

Interestingly, the strategic plan on Laurentians website makes no mention of this reality. Instead, the plan extols lofty goals such as being a leader in the process of reconciliation, serving as a catalyst for vibrant Francophone cultures, and creating interdisciplinary knowledge to offer compelling solutions for societys complex challenges.

To put it politely, it looks like there is a serious disconnect between Laurentians strategic plan and its fiscal reality. Its all well and good to have grandiose plans about reconciliation, revitalizing a culture, and creating interdisciplinary knowledge, but a university must set attainable and measurable goals that it can afford.

In other words, instead of trying to be all things to all people in northern Ontario, Laurentian should prioritize academic programs for which there is student demand, and it must eliminate those programs that attract little interest from students, even if faculty members are committed to them.

Laurentians financial predicament should serve as a stark reminder to universities across the country that they too are not immune from fiscal reality. Universities that do not adapt to the financial constraints during these times could find themselves in a similar situation.

Its also important for provincial governments to consider whether it makes sense to continue creating new universities at this time. For example, as of mid-January, the newly established Universite de lOntario francais, located in downtown Toronto, had just 39 student applications for its first academic year. They had been planning for at least 200 students this fall.

That is an embarrassingly low number, especially when we consider that the federal and provincial governments in 2019 pledged $126 million over eight years to support this university. Considering that Toronto is already home to several major universities, it would have made far more sense to use this money to strengthen Francophone programming in one of the existing universities.

Clearly, the Universite de lOntario francais was established for political reasons, not because of student demand. The simple reality is that students who want a Francophone education already have many options in Canada. There was no need to create another university in Toronto. It will not come as a huge surprise if this university closes.

COVID-19 has forced all Canadian universities into a period of adjustment. They should take this opportunity to make the hard choices that are needed to ensure they remain fiscally viable. Universities add considerable value to Canadian society, but, as weve seen with Laurentian, they are not immune to the present fiscal reality.

Michael Zwaagstra is a public high school teacher, a senior fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, and author of A Sage on the Stage: Common Sense Reflections on Teaching and Learning.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has signed a memo ordering commanding officers and supervisors to hold a one-day "stand-down" to discuss extremism within the armed forces in the next 60 days, the Department of Defense announced Friday.

Why it matters: After multiple current service members and veterans were arrested for their actions during the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol siege, the Pentagon has increased efforts to combat white supremacy and other forms of extremism in its ranks, according to the New York Times.

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What they're saying: "This stand-down is just the first initiative of what I believe must be a concerted effort to better educate ourselves and our people about the scope of this problem and to develop sustainable ways to eliminate the corrosive effects that extremist ideology and conduct have on the workforce," Austin, the first Black man to lead the Pentagon, said in the memo.

"We will not tolerate actions that go against the fundamental principles of the oath we share, including actions associated with extremist or dissident ideologies. Service members, DoD civilian employees, and all those who support our mission, deserve an environment free of discrimination, hate, and harassment."

"We owe it to the oath we each took and the trust the American people have in our institution."

Between the lines: It is unclear whether the stand down announcement was largely meant to be a symbolic move, or if the Pentagon is planning concrete steps to deal with extremism within the armed forces.

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Washington: NASA has selected tech billionaire Elon Musks private aerospace company, SpaceX, to provide launch services for an astrophysics mission to survey the sky in the near-infrared light.

The planned two-year mission is called SPHEREx, short for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer.

The near-infrared light, which, though not visible to the human eye, serves as a powerful tool for answering cosmic questions involving the birth of the universe, and the subsequent development of galaxies, according to NASA.

SPHEREx will also search for water and organic molecules, essentials for life as we know it, in regions where stars are born from gas and dust, known as stellar nurseries, as well as disks around stars where new planets could be forming, the US space agency said this week.

The mission is currently targeted to launch as early as June 2024 on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, US.

Astronomers will use the mission to gather data on more than 300 million galaxies, as well as more than 100 million stars in our own Milky Way galaxy.

The total cost for NASA to launch SPHEREx is approximately $98.8 million, which includes the launch service and other mission related costs.

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Is it really increasing? In effect, no, although the explanation is also not so simple. Long-term analysis of overall statewide crime data by the Queensland Government Statistician's Office shows the number of reported offences against property and people  adjusted for population  has declined over the past 20 years. However, after a significant drop in property crimes throughout the 2000s, there has been an "increasing trend from 2015-16" across all offences, it noted in the latest crime report published in March. This found that since 2009-10, the age of offenders has "shifted" towards 25 and older, while there has also been a small increase in those aged 10-14, largely offset by a drop in the 15-19 age group. At a regional level, the overall crime rate in Townsville jumped 1.5 per cent from 2017-18 to 2018-19, and 9.5 per cent across the past nine years to 14.1 offences for every 100 people  one of the highest above the statewide average of 10.3, but below inner-city Brisbane and Queensland's sprawling outback region.

But the jump represented one of the smaller at a regional level when compared with single-year increases of between 5 per cent and 10 per cent across some parts of the Brisbane, Moreton Bay and Wide Bay regions, and more than 20 per cent over the nine-year period. The longer-term list also expands to include Ipswich, Toowoomba and the Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday regions. Many so-called signal crimes climbed across both the year-on-year and nine-year data. While robberies largely dropped in Brisbane, they rose almost everywhere else  including in the Townsville, Logan-Beaudesert, Moreton Bay and Ipswich regions, which feature rates above the state average. Assaults have remained relatively stable apart from an increase on the Gold Coast. Beyond some increases in Townsville, Moreton Bay and Brisbane's west, it's a similar story for sexual offences  all sit on or above the state average. Unlawful entries rose slightly in the past year but dropped across the longer-term, while the unlawful use of motor vehicles rose statewide.

Loading Compared with the 2017-18 report data, the number of children who committed alleged offences against the person statewide (which includes homicides, assaults, sexual offences and robberies) dropped by 16 to 4839. Property offenders (including those who committed theft and unlawful entry or use of a vehicle) rose by about 1000 to 27,641, while those who committed other offences (spanning traffic, domestic violence, drug, and good-order offences, such as disobeying a move-on direction) fell by about 1000 to 17,623. Respectively, each group represented about two-, three- and one-in-10 of all offenders. Is there more to it than just numbers? The data, based only on crimes that are reported to police and recorded, does not provide a full picture. Mark David Chong, a Townsville-based criminologist at James Cook University, pointed to the "social dimension" of crime, which can include a more proactive police presence leading to an enforcement jump or boosted media coverage of certain crimes raising the number of victims who report it.

"Official crime data will always be somewhat deficient in terms of providing us with the true extent of crime," he said. The role of media coverage, along with community and crime-watch groups on social media, which have raised fears of vigilantism, should also not be discounted." Both can create "vortices of anxiety, excitement and reassurance" among their audience. "These in turn then inform our perceptions of crime, as well as that of law and order within the city, and may then spark heightened concerns about increased levels of crime," he said. Terry Goldsworthy, an associate criminology professor at Bond University and a former police officer of 28 years, says "fear of crime is as debilitating as the crime itself". Who are these young people?

The child offenders in the broad crime data, which does not represent a unique count of individuals, are mostly male repeat offenders  a trend that is also seen in the broader population. (Unique offenders aged 10-17 did drop 5.5 per cent across the previous year to a total of 11,936.) The data captures offenders who faced criminal proceedings but not those who were cleared by police. Meanwhile, statistics from the Youth Justice Department showed that in 2018-19, about seven in 10 young people with proved offences were male, almost eight in 10 were older than 15, and one in 10 had committed 44 per cent of all offences. The data also showed they were among some of the most vulnerable groups. Loading A 2019 department census of 1846 young people found 80 per cent had used at least one substance. More than half of these had either drunk alcohol or used marijuana, and one-fifth had used ice or another methamphetamine. More than 40 per cent had mental health or behavioural issues. Like the broader justice system, young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were over-represented, at 59 per cent. More than one-third had parents who had been held in adult custody, and half were disengaged from school, training or work.

A total of 63 per cent had experienced or been affected by family and domestic violence  including 14 per cent who were under a child protection order  and about one-fifth lived in unstable or unsuitable accommodation. Dr Goldsworthy said the varied and complex experiences of the young people largely traced back to their home environment, adding: "The causes are multifactorial." Most young people also tend to "grow out" of offending, Dr Goldsworthy said. "If someone loses their car ... and they want justice, that's totally understandable. "But I guess if we're taking the long-term view, it's far better to move these children out of the criminal justice system rather than keep them in there and necessarily hardwire them to be part of that system." What is being done and what more could change?

The Palaszczuk government announced a "historic" boost to police numbers statewide late last month after an extra 130 officers were sent to Townsville from a "flying squad" to target recidivist offenders and carry out prevention work. A four-year Youth Justice Strategy, released by the government in 2019, included "four pillars" recommended by former police commissioner Bob Atkinson in an earlier review: intervene early, keep children out of custody, keep them out of court, and reduce reoffending. This later morphed to include new laws denying bail to repeat offenders. Loading Announcing a Townsville crackdown on a "small, hardcore" group of young people in June, Youth Minister Di Farmer also announced that Indigenous-led rehabilitation programs would begin trials in that city, Cairns and Mt Isa. In July, LNP leader Deb Frecklington also touted early intervention as part of an overhaul of the youth justice system should her party win government. This would include a three-strike detention policy to crack down on "young thugs", and laws to ensure a child's record stayed with them into the adult court system.

The LNP would also move to scrap youth bail houses and trial five "community payback farms", which youth advocates quickly linked to its infamous "boot camps". Similar ideas have been backed by Katter's Australian Party and One Nation. But many of those working within the sector have long argued that such tough approaches don't help. A report released last month by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found 66 per cent of young people in Queensland who were released from a supervised sentence in 2017-18 returned within one year  the highest rate in the country. Along with detention, young people dealt with under the Children's Court can also be given unsupervised sentences in the community, such as good-behaviour bonds. Diversionary actions, such as warnings, cautions and restorative justice conferences, are also available. In Townsville and beyond, community-based committees have sought to bring police, experts and local leaders together to form tailored responses. An Australian Institute of Criminology report, released in August and reviewing 44 studies into effective youth offender programs, found that while there was no "one-size-fits-all" approach, those that considered the individual needs of young people and were culturally sensitive were "best placed" to address the underlying causes of offending. Meanwhile, a strong and sustained campaign is pushing to raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14  in line with global calls from the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.
Tens of thousands of police deployed across India on Saturday in a bid to smother threatened new protests by farmers fighting government agriculture reforms

New Delhi (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Feb, 2021 ) :Tens of thousands of police deployed across India on Saturday in a bid to smother threatened new protests by farmers fighting government agriculture reforms.

Ten metro stations were closed in central New Delhi -- where a tractor rally last month turned into a violent rampage -- and thousands of police manned barricades and roadblocks at key intersections.

Farmers unions called for protest roadblocks across the country in the latest day of action. Media reported isolated farmers and their supporters occupying roads and toll booths in several states but no trouble.

Tens of thousands of farmers have been camping on the outskirts of Delhi since November calling for a repeal of the reforms that free up farm produce markets.

The farmers say the changes mean the crucial agriculture industry will be taken over by major conglomerates.

After the troubles in the capital on January 26, farmers unions had vowed that any new action would be peaceful.

Outside of Delhi major police deployments were ordered in the key farm states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab.

"There is an adequate deployment of force at sensitive locations" around Delhi, Uttar Pradesh police spokesman Atul Srivastava told AFP. "We will ensure there is no law and order issue."
The ex-wife of Carlos Uresti, the disgraced former state senator now behind bars, has sued a San Antonio adult nightclub for allegedly using her photo to promote the business on Facebook.

Lleanna Elizondo says Capisce Gentlemens Club has inflicted emotional distress on her by using her photograph to promote a sexually explicit business and by making it appear that shes associated with the establishment.

Elizondo seeks more than $100,000 in damages from Capisce; DAngelos Italian Grill, which operates inside the club; and principal Arturo Velarde. The suit was filed last month in state District Court in San Antonio.

The defendants are aware that (Elizondo) is a well-known individual in San Antonio and (the) surrounding community and utilized her likeness that was lifted without her permission from her Facebook profile in order to promote their business, her lawsuit says.

Elizondos photo appeared on Velardes personal Facebook page, the complaint says. She had posted the photo, which features her smiling in a neon orange mini skirt with matching midriff-baring top while seated at a bar, on her own Facebook page in October 2019.

Velarde said no one ever contacted him about the photo.

The only thing she has to do is tell us, and Ill make sure  that we take it down, Velarde said. Shes probably trying to make some money.

On ExpressNews.com: Ex-wife of imprisoned San Antonio politician, feds fight over his state pension

Elizondo was by Urestis side entering and leaving the courthouse for much of his 2018 trial on 11 felony charges, including securities fraud and money laundering. The charges related to his role in a now-defunct oil field services company that ripped off investors.

A jury convicted Uresti on all counts, and he was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $6.3 million in restitution. Hes serving time in a correctional facility in Louisiana and is slated to be released in May 2029, when hes 65. The case cost the Democrat his long political career, his law practice, his wealth and his marriage.

About a week after Urestis conviction, Elizondo filed a divorce petition to end their nearly six-year marriage.

Elizondo landed in the spotlight again last fall, embroiled in a tussle involving the pension Uresti earned as a public official.

The issue was over whether the federal government could garnish 25 percent of Urestis monthly annuity before what Elizondo received as alimony under the terms of her divorce settlement. She argued the government should get its cut after the deduction for her alimony. The dispute was over a little less than $200 a month.

Elizondo could not afford an attorney to represent her, and she declined to have one appointed by the court.

I lost everything, she told a judge during a hearing. I came out of this marriage with less than I had.

In November, Senior U.S. District Judge David Ezra ruled against the federal government  entitling Elizondo to $647.61 a month from the pension.

Elizondos legal claims in her complaint are for appropriation of likeness, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

San Antonio attorney Juanita Pelaez-Prada, who represents Elizondo, declined to say how they learned of the photo appearing on Velardes Facebook page.

Hes seeking to make financial gain off of her face, the lawyer said.

On ExpressNews.com: Retired Spurs star Tim Duncan settles lawsuit over altered photo

Velardes Facebook page includes numerous photos of women  including actress Scarlett Johansson and model Tyra Banks  to promote Capisce Gentlemens Club. A caption above those photos mentions that the club is under new management and that patrons can get a shot courtesy of Velarde. The club is at 9504 Perrin Beitel.

Especially (since) she doesnt work for us, we dont need to use her for any reason, Velarde said of Elizondo. If she would have called me and say, Hey, somebody posted something, I would have taken it down immediately. Were not out to offend anybody.

Velarde described Capisce as a restaurant and bar. It had been closed because of COVID-19, but he said it reopened about a month ago. Women who work at the club are clad in bikinis, and there is no nudity, he added.

Elizondos lawsuit is reminiscent of 2016 litigation filed by retired Spurs forward Tim Duncan over an altered photograph showing him holding a sign promoting a Keller Williams real estate agent on Facebook. A caption with the photograph said, Wow. Just WOW! TD took the time to give us some love! Thanks Tim! We love you too man!

The lawsuit was eventually settled, and the agent resigned.

pdanner@express-news.net
Axios

Southwest and American airlines won't yet resume in-flight alcohol service as planned after a flight attendant was recently assaulted by a passenger and other in-flight incidents.What they're saying: Southwest had initially planned to resume the service in June, but Sonya Lacore, the airline's head of in-flight operations, said in a memo obtained by CNN that "based on the rise in passenger disruptions in flight, I've made the decision to re-evaluate the restart of alcohol service on board."Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free"Given the recent uptick in industry-wide incidents of passenger disruptions in-flight, we have made the decision to pause the previously announced restart of alcohol service onboard,'' Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz told USA TODAY. Catch up quick: Last Sunday, a female passenger allegedly struck a flight attendant during a flight from Sacramento to San Diego  Southwest said two of the attendant's teeth had been knocked out. The passenger was then arrested on suspicions of battery causing serious bodily injury. The flight attendant was taken to a hospital once the plane landed, according to a police report. Southwest said Friday it banned the female passenger from flying with the airline again.The big picture: The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it had received approximately 2,500 reports of unruly passenger behavior since Jan. 1, with about 1,900 reports being of passengers refusing to follow federal mask mandates.Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.
President Joe Biden paid a visit to the orthopedists office near his Delaware home to have a foot injury evaluated.

He made the doctor visit on his first trip away from Washington as president, about ten weeks after his injury was diagnosed. He was found to have hairline fractures in his foot after an injury sustained while playing with his dog Major, a German Shepherd.

According to physician to the president Dr. Kevin OConnor, it was a regularly scheduled 10 week post-injury weight-bearing X-ray visit.

President Joe Biden had X=-rays taken of his foot fracture as his doctors determine how his injury is healing

Biden went to the same Delaware Orthopedic Specialists in Newark, Del., where he went for care during the transition.

According to a statement by OConnor: The President will receive a regularly scheduled 10-week post-injury weight-bearing X-ray at the Delaware Orthopedic Specialists, where he was evaluated initially.

The Presidents symptoms have improved as expected, and he is adhering to a strict physical therapy regimen. As we explained initially, sprains of the foot can sometimes be a more significant injury than the bony fractures which accompany them. This x-ray is to check to assure that he has achieved good ligamentous stability.

Biden showed no difficulty jogging up the steps to Air Force One Friday

Biden injured his foot while playing with his rescue dog, Major

TIME TO HEEL: Major is believed to have stayed home for the weekend. He was not spotted aboard Air Force One

President Joe Biden arrives at the Delaware Orthopaedic Specialists for a check up on his foot injury in Newcastle, Delaware, U.S. February 6, 2021

Biden injured the foot in late November. He was told at the time he might have to wear a surgical boot for some time, but was soon spotted in ordinary footwear.

Biden has been seen walking and briefly jogging with no apparent signs of injury.

According to a November statement by OConnor, Initial x-rays did not show any obvious fracture, but his clinical exam warranted more detailed imaging. Follow-up CT scan confirmed hairline (small) fractures of President-elect Biden's lateral and intermediate cuneiform bones, which are in the mid-foot. It is anticipated that he will likely require a walking boot for several weeks."

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Apple's talks with auto manufacturers Kia and Hyundai for the development of their recently-confirmed car has been put on hold indefinitely, according to a Bloomberg report.

It is not clear why the American tech giant has suspended talks with the two auto manufacturers.

At the start of the year, the Korean car manufacturer released a statement saying it was in talks with Apple for the production of the car. However, Apple is known for the secrecy of its products and this may have upset the company, the report suggests.

According to the report, if talks resume, it is still unclear whether Hyundai or Kia Motors will get the manufacturing contract. At the moment, Kia, in which Hyundai owns a controlling stake is seen as more likely to build the Apple car at its plant in Georgia.

The report also mentions that people close to the situation have confirmed that the company is in talks with other manufacturers as well. But even within the small number of auto manufacturers with the capability to mass-produce Apples car, how many of them will be interested in a collaboration, remains to be seen.
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The culture, heritage and history of Eastern Washington  indeed all of Washington and Oregon history  is under fire again in Olympia.

Im talking about an effort this year in the House to erase Marcus Whitmans significance from the halls of the Capitol building in Olympia and the national statuary in Washington, D.C.

Pushed by lawmakers, who obviously lack a full understanding of Whitmans significance, House Bill 1372 seeks to replace the bronze Marcus Whitman statues with a new statue of Billy Frank Jr.

Yes, Billy Frank Jr. has been prominent in state matters involving Washin...


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There are auditions. A lot of them.

Before White House hopefuls can step even onto a soap box at a state fair, those candidates need a message, connections to members of Congress, realistic ways to make money, and more. Much more. This is the shadow primary, which is already getting started, at least in the Republican Party, as a slew of ambitious politicians position themselves to compete for a chance to challenge President Biden.

Enter the Republican Study Committee, the largest GOP caucus on Capitol Hill. If you are a 2024 hopeful, the groups chairman, Rep. Jim Banks, told RealClearPolitics, it's not hard to look around and see that this is where the action is at.

Those keeping an eye on who is up and who is down on the right could do worse than watch the RSC. It is an easy, if not exact, way to keep tabs on a race that hasnt officially begun. Banks and the 147 other members of the group have held court with a handful of likely hopefuls already and expect more to make their way to the Hill in the months ahead. Founded during the Carter administration, the RSC has served as much as an ideas factory as a hangout: Its where committee members draft white papers and build partnerships, then work to put those policies into law.

With the GOP not only out of power but struggling with an identity crisis, there is a sense of urgency. We are developing the agenda in the post-Trump era, Banks told RCP, bringing Republicans back together at a time when we haven't been all that united recently.

While big name Republicans routinely work with the RSC, potential presidential candidates see it as vehicle for the party to unite around them. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo huddled with committee members just off Capitol Hill to discuss the future of the conservative movement a dozen days before his boss left office (Tucker Carlson of Fox News also addressed that gathering).

Other rumored candidates, such as Nikki Haley, make a point to keep in touch.

Hat tip to Congressman Jim Banks and the Republican Study Committee for focusing and getting to work on the policies that will unite the Republican Party and move our country forward, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations tweeted. Lets get to work. A spokeswoman for an advocacy group Haley founded added that more outreach is on the horizon, saying that Haley and our team at Stand for America have enjoyed working with [the RSC] on strong policy that unites conservatives.

One early area of unity has been opposition to federal funding for abortion. The committee drafted a letter to both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pledging their opposition to any legislation that undoes the Hyde Amendment, the longstanding provision prohibiting federal funding of abortion. The letter was signed by 200 House members.

The RSC also rallied opposition to the granting of a waiver for retired Gen. Lloyd Austin when he was nominated to be the next defense secretary. It was, Banks said, a joint effort with Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton. He added that the group has worked with others mulling a presidential bid, such as Florida Sen. Rick Scott, on his election-integrity initiatives.

The biggest name expected to run for president is former VP Mike Pence. This week, he locked up key spots critical for organizing grassroots and motivating donors by teaming with both the conservative Heritage Foundation and the Young Americas Foundation. He also has an open invitation at RSC. Pence was himself chairman of the committee, which proved to be a steppingstone to House leadership and eventually Indiana governor. Banks, who expects Pence to run in 2024, told RCP that the former vice president is in regular touch with the committee.

MUSKEGON, MI  When its bitterly cold and Michigan is blanketed with snow, a small Muskegon County farm brightens winter with fresh flowers.

Despite a dreary forecast, Septembers Flowers is currently growing with freesias, double tulips, poppies, delphiniums and gerbera daisies in its heated greenhouse while spring plants sprout in six other hoop houses (lightweight mini-greenhouses without the glass) at the Montague farm.

The colorful collection will be available at Septembers Flowers first pop-up event on Saturday, Feb. 6. Starting at noon, the farm will be selling bouquets of springtime cheer to the community at Fetch Brewing, 100 W. Colby St., in Whitehall.

People are just so excited to get their hands on some fresh, locally grown flowers, said September Dykema, an owner of the business.

Alright friends! Details for our pop-up shop are here!!!  We are so excited to partner with our friends at Fetch... Posted by Septembers Flowers on Monday, February 1, 2021

Septembers Flowers is true family operation  run by September and Simon Dykema and their 9-year-old son, Rylan. They started the farm about a decade ago, initially selling vegetables at the local farmers market and pivoting to flowers in 2016.

For the past five years, the Dykemas have been steadily increasing their growing space and focused on supplying wholesale flowers to local grocery stores and florists across the state.

It seems so magical, but theres a lot of hard work that goes into it, said Dykema.

Simon Dykemas two decades of experience working at a nursery supply company helped them grow the plants, set up hoop houses and properly irrigate.

During peak seasons, Septembers Flowers produces an estimated 200 bouquets a week and delivers weekly van loads of flowers to local florists.

Its a lot to crank out, said September Dykema.

Related: Clems Market offers little bit of everything as a Norton Shores neighborhood store

The Dykema family runs the farm on their own, learning along the way. The work is rewarding, September Dykema said, especially hearing from customers who find joy and happiness in the flowers.

Theres such a beautiful connection between our flowers with our customers, and how it makes them feel that theyre supporting something local, Dykema said.

The farm is closed to the public, but Septembers Flowers maintains a strong local support with more than 1,200 followers on Facebook and 1,500 on Instagram. They use their social media platforms to communicate where their flowers will be sold and updates on the farm.

During the summer, the family runs a two-acre U-Cut field at 6107 Eilers Road, about two miles away from their farm. The U-Cut field was closed last summer due to flooding and COVID-19, but Dykema said theyre excited to open it again this year.

Its beautiful up there, she said.

Septembers Flowers will also be launching a flower subscription program in the spring, where customers can pick up a weekly bouquet of flowers from the U-Cut flower shed.

More on MLive:

Time to gear up for Michigans winter Free Fishing Weekend

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Posted Friday, February 5, 2021 4:56 pm

I am writing to share my concerns about the possibility of commercially expanding the Toledo airport. The reasons my family resides in Lewis County consists of the lifestyle quality, rural beauty, quiet, safe and small-town community atmosphere, all of which are now at great risk. We have a young family and think this is a great place to raise our kids. We did not move here, nor does anybody else choose to live in Toledo, to be next to SeaTac 2, which is now under serious consideration. After attending the CRAT (Citizens for Responsible Aviation in Toledo) meeting this last Wednesday, it is clear that many others share the same values and feelings as my family.

If you have been following any of the recent developments for this proposition, you may have heard rhetoric there is no chance that it will happen. I would like to remind you that there are in fact many reasons why building a large airport here is enticing such as the low cost of land, fewer residents impacted and the resistance will be less intimidating due to our small community, just to name a few.

If a commercial airport is indeed constructed here, we will leave, of course, those of us that can. We do not want to hear commercial aircraft taking off, taxiing and landing within walking distance from our homes 24 hours a day. Lets also not forget the obvious  that it will destroy the existing community landscape, be unhealthy as a result from aircraft pollution, bring in an abundance of new crime and permanently significantly increase the traffic delays in the entire county, despite any mitigation efforts. Building a commercial airport in Toledo will also have a negative effect on all of the surrounding communities as well. Does anybody live in rural Lewis County because they want any of those big city, urban problems? Unfortunately, those who are making the decisions do not live locally. Therefore, we all need to step up in opposing this proposition now.

If any of you reading this letter share the same concerns as my family, I urge you to get involved and support the cause. If you are unsure what you can do, I invite you to visit CRATs site at: www.toledoforaviation.com or facebook.com/toledoforaviation. There are also several contacts listed on CRATs website including the Lewis County commissioners and the Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission that you should write to and voice your concerns. It is the only way you will be heard.

Scott Seroshek

Toledo
The wife of Republican Sen. Josh Hawley has filed a criminal complaint against the organizer of a protest which took place outside the couple's Virginia home.

Erin Morrow Hawley filed the complaint in a Fairfax County court on Friday, with the defendant identified as Patrick Young.

On January 4, Young - who describes himself on Twitter as an 'organizer, agitator and educator' - led a noisy demonstration outside Hawley's home, angered by the senator's plans to object to Electoral College counts confirming that Joe Biden won the Presidential election.

Video from the event shows about a dozen protesters chanting and shouting through megaphones before writing on the sidewalk with chalk and walking up to the couple's doorstep.

Erin Morrow Hawley, the wife of Republican Sen. Josh Hawley has filed a criminal complaint against the organizer of a protest which took place outside the couple's Virginia home. The couple is pictured together in recent photo

On January 4, around a dozen protesters descended on the Hawley's Virginia home. The protesters were filmed chanting and shouting through megaphones before writing on the sidewalk with chalk and walking up to the couple's doorstep

Hawley, who serves as the junior senator from Missouri, was out of state at the time, but his wife, Erin Morrow Hawley, and their baby were inside the three-story home as the demonstration took place

Erin Morrow Hawley filed the complaint in a Fairfax County court on Friday, with the defendant identified as Patrick Young (pictured). Young- who describes himself on Twitter as an 'organizer, agitator and educator' - says he has heard nothing about the criminal complaint

Police were called to the premises and the crowd was dispersed.

At the time, law enforcement officials described the protesters as 'peaceful' and there were no reports of arrests.

Hawley, who serves as the junior senator from Missouri, was out of state at the time, but his wife and their six-week-old daughter Abigail were inside the three-story home as the demonstration took place.

The senator subsequently tweeted: Tonight while I was in Missouri, Antifa scumbags came to our place in DC and threatened my wife and newborn daughter, who cant travel,' Hawley wrote on Twitter.

'They screamed threats, vandalized, and tried to pound open our door. Let me be clear: My family & I will not be intimidated'.

He later added that his family were 'terrorized'.

Hawley claimed his family were 'threatened' and 'terrorized' during by demonstrators

On Friday, Young told ABC News he had heard nothing about a criminal complaint.

According to the news network, a magistrate found 'probable cause' to issue a misdemeanor summons in the case.

Young subsequently released a statement saying: 'If a summons has been issued, it is outrageous that a rich and powerful person -- a United States senator -- can go to their magistrate to get a summons to harass a normal person'.

The demonstration did little to deter Hawley from voting against confirming the Electoral College count on January 6 - two days after the protest.

The Missori senator even chose to go ahead with his objection to the vote in spite of the siege on the US Capitol Building which occurred the same day.

The demonstration did little to deter Hawley from voting against confirming the Electoral College count on January 6 - two days after the protest. He is pictured giving a salute to supporters on the day

Hawley (pictured with President Trump last November) objected to the Electoral College Count confirming Joe Biden won the 2020 election

Hundreds of violent Trump supporters stormed into the building on January 6, just hours after Hawley spoke at President Trump's 'Stop the Steal' rally.

Hawley has been married to his wife Erin since 2010.

The couple has two sons, Elijah and Blaise, and a daughter, Abigail, born in November of last year.

Morrow Hawley is an associate professor of law at the University of Missouri.

Hawley has been married to his wife Erin since 2010. They share three children together

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LAST Monday was St. Brigids Day, La Fheile Bride, a time when the people of Ireland traditionally celebrate the beginning of Spring, heralding as it does the arrival of longer and warmer days, and the beauty of new beginnings as the natural world reawakens.

Throughout the centuries, the day of veneration of St. Brigid, which itself was inspired by the Celtic celebration of Imbolc associated with the fertility goddess Brigid, has been an opportunity for people to make a symbolic journey, either tangibly, as a pilgrimage to a holy well, or more symbolically, re-connecting with the sacredness of the land and the splendour of the sky.

It is from this tradition that La Fheile Bride has evolved to become, in contemporary times, a celebration of the creativity, genius, courage and achievement of Irish women, the President, Michael D. Higgins noted in a special address to mark the feast day.

He added: St. Brigid was a woman who rejected the conventions of her time, who dedicated herself to innovation in the realm of education, and who, in seeking to ensure that her voice was heard in a male-dominated world, had to summon an extraordinary courage, transcend obstacles, and not just survive but put a new version of things in place. How appropriate, then, our invoking her is for our present circumstances.

Generations of Irish women have benefited from her inspiration and legacy. Today, as we recall her story with admiration, may we also resolve to seek inspiration in her example, to pursue our ideal of equality, universal respect for rights, and a better world for all our citizens, male and female.

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, thousands of people have lost their lives to the virus. Many of those they left were without the intimacy of their passing or the opportunity to grieve as they would wish. Countless people too have seen their lives radically altered, their livelihoods curtailed and the social bonds, from which they drew comfort and joy, ruptured.

President Higgins stressed that it is appropriate that we all pause to acknowledge the distress of all those for whom the pandemic has brought such pain and loss, and all those who are now experiencing loneliness and isolation from the contacts with those who previously sustained them.

And so, as we celebrate the courage and commitment of St. Brigid in her day, we in our day pay tribute to all of those who, in their different ways, continue to put their lives at risk as they continue their important work, for the benefit of all of us their fellow citizens.

As we prepare to move into the brighter, warmer days of Spring, with the renewed hope that it brings, the reality of the present, the present we share, is that the winter of the Covid pandemic is still upon us, and continues. The dark days of the pandemic will continue to challenge us for some time, and while lockdown fatigue is very real and palpable for so many, we must continue our journey within and muster up courage.

Spring and springtime offer rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection and regrowth.

Now as we move closer to the Spring Equinox, let us hold firm in solidarity and take solace in the transformations that Spring will bring and the joys of Summer which, although we still have some distance to travel to them, are surely awaiting us.
Residents temporarily evacuated from Homestead after fire, no injuries

A Saturday afternoon fire in an apartment at a senior living complex was quickly extinguished and nobody was injured.
1. Yes. The public must have assurances that ethical standards are met by everyone.

2. Yes. As long as an independent board hears the grievances, its a worthwhile idea.

3. No. The concept is too broad. It should be limited to the citys elected officials.

4. No. There are plenty of stipulations in place already. An ordinance is a waste of time.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say without seeing how it would be structured and applied.

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New Delhi:

Union minister Venkaiah Naidu On Monday questioned the secrecy over the meeting between Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui, an interaction that has raised eyebrows in the political circles.

The Congress first denied in the morning that Rahul Gandhi met the Chinese envoy and then made a U-turn hours later.

The Congress leader met the Chinese ambassador. What is so secret about it? They should make it public. Why should they try to hide it Naidu told reporters in reply to a question on the sidelines of an event here".

Gandhi took to Twitter in the evening to defend his meeting with the Chinese envoy and said it was his job to be informed on critical issues, referring to the India-China stand-off.

He said if the government was concerned about his meeting with the Chinese ambassador, they should also question the three Union ministers who are availing Chinese hospitality when the border stand-off is on.

Gandhi also posted on his Twitter handle a photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chinese President Xi Jinping sitting on a swing to take a dig at the government.

And for the record I am not the guy sitting on the swing while a thousand Chinese troops had physically entered India (sic), he tweeted, referring to Chinese presidents visit to Gujarat in 2014.

Reacting to this, Naidu said there was no need to respond to such comments.

Diplomatic relations, meeting foreign dignitaries ... There is a procedure, there is a practice and it is transparent.

The prime minister, as the head of the government ... Whenever he goes out for an international conference ... on the sidelines, he meets the heads of the States, hold discussions, and sometimes there is only meeting and greeting. What is there to criticise, I am not able to understand, he said.

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January 22

Plainview police arrested Manuel Antonio Amaro Caldera on Jan. 22 just after 8 a.m. during a traffic stop at the 2800 block of Olton Road. Caldera was found with amphetamine and arrested for possession of a controlled substance.

An assault was reported at the 3500 block of W. 25th St. on Jan. 22 around 2:30 p.m. The victim reported that the arrest occurred during an argument in which the victim was struck in the head with a firearm. No arrests were reported.

A crash was reported at the 300 block of S. Columbia St. on Jan. 22 around 3:15 p.m. Vehicle damage was reported.

January 23

Burglary of vehicles were reported at the 1400 block of Garland St. on Jan. 23 around 10:15 a.m. The victim reported a stolen pistol.

An aggravated assault was reported at the 3400 block of Olton Road on Jan. 23 around 1:15 a.m. the victim was assaulted outside of El Patrol. Witnesses observed a suspect strike the victim on the head with a metal pipe. The victim was transported to Covenant Hospital Lubbock. The case is under investigation.

January 25

An assault was reported at the 700 block of Fresno St. on Jan. 25.

An aggravated assault with a weapon was reported at the 2200 block of Independence St. on Jan. 25. No arrests were indicated.

Theft from a vehicle was reported at the 1400 block of Garland St. on Jan. 25.

Stolen property was found at the 1500 block of W. 12th St. on Jan. 25.

A burglary was reported at the 2000 block of W. 20th St. on Jan. 25.

Plainview police arrested a 61-year-old man for public intoxication on Jan. 25 at the 400 block of W. 7th St.

A burglary was reported at the 2000 block of W. 19th St. on Jan. 25.

January 26

A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the intersection of Quincy and 5th Streets on Jan. 26.

Plainview police were called to the 1900 block of S. Columbia St. on Jan. 26 in reference to a DWI investigation.

January 27

A crash was reported at the 100 block of S. Columbia St. on Jan. 27. Possession of marijuana was reported. No arrests were indicated.

Officers responded to what was reported as a miscellaneous incident at the 500 block of W. 10th St. on Jan. 27.

Theft was reported at the 3500 block of Olton Road on Jan. 27.

Forgery was reported at the 400 block of W. 5th St. on Jan. 27.

Harassment via electronic communication was reported on Jan. 27 at the 2000 block of Joliet St.

A traffic stop involving amphetamine was reported at the 3100 block of N. Interstate 27 east frontage road on Jan. 27. Possession of a controlled substance is a felony but no arrests were indicated.

Police arrested a 54-year-old man at the 400 block of S. Date St. on Jan. 27. The individual was arrested for a warrant, possession of marijuana, possession or delivery of drug paraphernalia and public intoxication.

January 28

An assault was reported at the 600 block of W. 11th St. on Jan. 28.

A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the 1500 block of Quincy St. on Jan. 28.

Burglary from a vehicle was reported on Jan. 28 at the 1000 block of Zephyr St.

Forgery was reported at the 1000 block of N. Interstate 27 on Jan. 28.

Officers responded to a miscellaneous incident at the 800 block of Austin St. on Jan. 28.

Harassment was reported at the 300 block of SE 5th St. on Jan. 28.

Criminal mischief was reported at the 500 block of W. 10th St. on Jan. 28.

Theft from a building was reported at the 2400 block of N. Columbia St. on Jan. 28.

Theft was reported at the 2400 block of N. Columbia St. on Jan. 28.

Theft was reported at the 3100 block of Edgemere on Jan. 28.

A threat was reported at the 3200 block of Milwaukee St. on Jan. 28.

January 29

Criminal mischief was reported at the 600 block of N. Columbia St. on Jan. 29.

Burglary was reported at the 1600 block of N. Date St. on Jan. 29.

Criminal mischief was reported at the 800 block of Nassau St. on Jan. 29.

A theft was reported at the 2900 block of W. 16th St. on Jan. 29.

Theft of a firearm was reported at the 300 block of Lometa St. on Jan. 29.

A stolen vehicle was reported at the 400 block of Juniper St. on Jan. 29.

An assault was reported at the 1600 block of N. Date St. on Jan. 29.

A crash resulting in a damaged vehicle was reported on Jan. 29 at the 2100 block of W. 20th St.

Possession of marijuana was reported at the 2700 block of Olton Road on Jan. 29.

Burglary was reported on Jan. 29 at the 2200 block of W. 5th St.

January 30

A stolen vehicle was reported at the 1300 block of W. 24th St. on Jan. 30.

Racing was reported on the 1700 block of 32nd St. on Jan. 30.

January 31

Found property was reported at the 2000 block of Portland St. on Jan. 31.

Theft from a vehicle was reported at the 3000 block of Dimmitt Road on Jan. 31.

Criminal mischief was reported at the 1100 block of Kokomo St. on Jan. 31.

Criminal mischief was reported on Jan. 31 at the 200 block of SE 8th St.

Criminal mischief was reported on Jan. 31 at the 1700 block of W. 14th St.

Theft was reported at the 100 block of S. Joliet St. on Jan. 31.

A threat was reported at the 1400 block of Galveston St. on Jan. 31.

February 1

Theft of a vehicle was reported at the 700 block of W. 20th St. on Feb. 1.

Criminal mischief was reported at the 4100 block of Villa Dr. on Feb. 1.

Theft was reported on Feb. 1 at the 1300 block of Mesa St.

A crash was reported at the 1800 block of W. 5th St. on Feb. 1.

A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported on Feb. 1 at the 2500 block of W. 24th St.

A domestic disturbance was reported at the 900 block of W. 28th St. on Feb. 1.

February 2

A 31-year-old man was arrested at the 2000 block of W. 20th St. on Feb. 2. The individual was charged with two active warrants and with criminal trespass with a deadly weapon.

A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the intersection of N. Interstate 27 and Olton Road on Feb. 2.

An assault was reported on Feb. 2 at the 1300 block of Independence St.

A burglary was reported at the 200 block of NE Alpine St. on Feb. 2.
Residents temporarily evacuated from Homestead after fire, no injuries

A Saturday afternoon fire in an apartment at a senior living complex was quickly extinguished and nobody was injured.
The Indian diaspora which celebrates its 176th Indian Arrival Day in Trinidad and Tobago is not an abstract entity, but one that flowers the socio-economic and cultural growth and development of our peoples.

It remains a proud moment for all of uspoliticians, sociologists, economists, civic, religious and cultural leadersin world history.

Ballydaly paid tribute on the centenary of the death of the late Con Murphy, who gave his life for the pursuit of Irish freedom at a dignified ceremony that remembered a life cut short in an atrocity on February 1st, 1921.

A grand nephew of the Irish Volunteer, Tim Murphy spoke of the efforts of the War of Independence hero and his legacy resulting with the ultimate Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

"That's the cornerstone of our commitment to peace and stability on this island. It was agreed and overwhelmingly approved in two referendums in both parts of Ireland prompted by those involved in the War of Independence", he said.

Earlier in his career, Con Murphy was appointed Officer Commanding of the Rathduane Company with 40 men involved. That stemmed from a visit by Terence MacSwiney to Millstreet and Ballydaly, the Cork martyr and later Lord Mayor had been key to reviving the Irish Volunteer movement in the Millstreet area.

A significant date of November 1, 1915, Fair Day in Millstreet coincided with a church holiday, and arrangements were made for a parade of local Volunteers and a public meeting.

The Cork Brigade Headquarters sent Terence MacSwiney, who addressed the parade and recruits for the Irish Volunteers were sought. As a result of the meeting three companies were formed immediately, Millstreet, Rathduane and Mushera, with the Keale Company established shortly afterwards.

Subsequently, MacSwiney was arrested by the British Government on charges of document possession and imprisoned in Brixton Prison where he remained until his death on October 25, 1920.

"After the Easter Rising of 1916 and the executions of the rising leaders, the RIC searched Ireland for signs of potential threat to the Crown. Con and his brother Denis were arrested as part of a nationwide crackdown and held in Frongoch camp in Wales", said Tim Murphy.

A keen Volunteer activist, on his release Captain Murphy worked fervently for the cause and narrowly missed capture by the armed forces on a number of occasions. Involved with an IRA flying column, he participated in a duel against the Black And Tans in Millstreet during the latter days of 1920.

On a brief return to his native home in Ballydaly in January 1921, Captain Murphy was captured by the RIC Auxiliaries and the Black and Tans. Imprisoned at the Cork Military Barracks, he was courtmartialed on the charge of holding possession of a firearm.

Captain Murphy received the full blunt of a law enacted the previous month and became the first man to be executed by a British firing squad for possession of firearms on St. Bridget's Day in 1921. However, his life inspired comrades with a new resolve and determination to end oppressive injustice.

Captain Murphy is buried in the former grounds of the Cork County Gaol, the location is situated on the University College Cork main campus, just inside the College Road entrance where he was also remembered earlier this week.

Twenty years ago, to mark the 80th anniversary of Con Murphy's death, his relatives and the wider community convened to erect a monument in Ballydaly. The impressive work, engrained with an oak leaf, stands as a fitting tribute to a great War of Independence hero.
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Fr Tommy with Stephen Faul at the launch of a book on the priests and nuns of the Louth Village area

Ardee and Collon, not long after losing Fr John O'Leary, said farewell to another of its great priests with the death of Fr Tommy McGeough.

Born at Corderry near Louth Village on August 30, 1932, Fr Tommy entered St Patrick's College in Armagh at the age of 12, just a few years after the death of his father.

He'd go on to Maynooth and was ordained on June 17, 1956. He was just short of 65 years as a priest.

Speaking at his funeral mass in Ardee last week, Fr John Murphy PP spoke with a passion about the man that Fr Tommy was, a gentle soul who never spared himself when it came to others. 'He was always gracious, kindly and generous,' he stated, 'no-one was ever turned away from his door.'

Fr Tommy spent the first three years of his priestly life as a missionary in Nigeria and from 1960 to 1962, was a chaplain to the Irish workers in England, living amongst them in huts that often numbered 2,000, with a small chapel on site.

He'd return to Ireland and Ballygawley but in 1982 answered the missionary call again and returned to Nigeria.

He was back to Crossmaglen in 1991 as PP and followed the Rangers in their glory years.

In 2006 he was appointed assistant priest in Ardee and spent eight years in the service of the people of Ardee and Collon.

How they grew to love him, a holy man who loved preparing the children for First Communion and Confirmation and enjoying his role as spiritual director with the Legion of Mary.

Fr Murphy revealed he was a talented bridge player and in 2014 he moved in to Moorehall Village, becoming the chaplain there.

'We all learned so much from him and the outpouring of grief from around the parish is testimony of the affection people had for him,' Fr Murphy stated. 'We have lost a wonderful friend and colleague.'

Bishop Michael Router also spoke of Fr Tommy's great works and said he had left a great mark and so many 'fond memories'.

He said there had been many condolences paid to him, including from the Medical Missionaries of Mary who served with him in Nigera.

Fr Tommy passed away peacefully, at his nephew Thomas's home, 25th January 2021. Son of the late Thomas and Margaret and brother of Annie and the late Peter, James, Mollie Conlon, and Margaret and uncle of Thomas, Margaret, Christine, Bernadette, Mary, Margaret and Patricia and the late John and James. Fr Tommy will be sadly missed by his sister, nephew, nieces, grand nephews, grand nieces, Cardinal Sean Brady, Archbishop Eamon Martin, Bishop Michael Router, the Clergy and Religious of the Diocese, relatives and many friends.

Bea Agnes Rogers who celebrated her 100th birthday at Ballymote Community Nursing Unit. She is pictured beside her birthday cake and a letter received from President Michael D. Higgins

The 13th of January was a special day in Ballymote Community Nursing Unit as resident Bea Agnes Rogers celebrated her 100th birthday.

Born on the 13th of January 1921 in Oldrock, Bea Agnes Muldoon married Paddy Rogers and settled down in Deechomade.

She loves to reminisce about the "good times". Bea Agnes particularly enjoyed ceili dancing, Irish music and entertained many on numerous occasions with a song or two, her favourite being "The Pride of Ballymote".

She always had a keen interest in arts and crafts in which she was extremely talented.

Bea Agnes's birthday was made extra special by the wonderful nurses and staff in the Community Nursing Unit who presented her with a letter and cheque from President Michael D.Higgins.

As her family could not celebrate her birthday with a party, the nurses and staff made sure that it was a birthday to remember.

Throughout the day Bea Agnes received countless cards, flowers, gifts and phone calls from relatives, neighbours, friends and well-wishers, both near and far who wanted to mark this special day.

Both Bea Agnes and her family would like to thank everyone for their good wishes, generosity and kindness.
Heavy security all over Delhi-NCR, 'chakka jam' across India today

Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait, who has become the face of the anti-farm law protests, said the chakka jam will not take place in Delhi, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, but will be done in other parts of NCR and the rest of the country, including the southern states. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Defying a ban, thousands of people attended a mahapanchayat at Shamli in western Uttar Pradesh in solidarity with the farmers who have been protesting for over two months against the three agricultural laws at the borders of Delhi. Security, meanwhile, has been beefed up all across the Delhi-NCR area in the wake of the farmers unions calling a nationwide Chakka Jam (blockading of roads) protest on Saturday.

Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait, who has become the face of the anti-farm law protests, said the chakka jam will not take place in Delhi, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, but will be done in other parts of NCR and the rest of the country, including the southern states.

Dilli mein hum nahi kar rahe, wahan to raja ne khud qile-bandi kar li hai humare jaam karne ki zaroorat hi nahi hai (We are not going to do anything in Delhi, the king there has already fortified it, there is no need for us to do a blockade now), he said, in a veiled jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government over the fortification of the protest sites at the Ghazipur, Tikri and Singhu borders.

Tikait, however, did not attend the mahapanchayat in Shamli, saying his outfit had nothing to do with the meeting. But his brother Narendra Tikait attended it in his personal capacity. The state government had not given permission for the mahapanchayat, organised by the Rashtriya Lok Dal and Samajwadi Party, on the ground of the unruly behaviour of the farmers during the Republic Day tractor rally and violation of Covid guidelines by protesters. The administration even imposed Section 144 CrPC prohibiting the gathering of more than four persons from February 4 till April 3.

Despite the ban, a large number of people joined the mahapanchayat, where songs imploring the Prime Minister to listen to the voice of farmers played in the background. Chants of Inquilab Zindabad were also raised by farmers who walked or drove to the venue on tractors.

We are saying in one voice, if anyone raises a lathi to the farmer, we will crush that finger. Lets take a decision today, if this government is not hearing you out, you do the same in next years election, RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary said.

After Section 144 was imposed to ban large gatherings, Mr Chaudhary tweeted on Thursday: 144 reasons why I will go to Shamli tomorrow!

Addressing the gathering, Mr Chaudhary accused the BJP of hatching a conspiracy for the Republic Day violence. The Delhi police chose to remain a mute spectator to the acts of vandalism by rowdy elements on January 26 in Delhi.

Chaudhary also accused the Centre of treading the path of rigidity and arrogance. He advised the Narendra Modi government not to make it a prestige issue and repeal the laws.

At another mahapanchayat in Dausa, a resolution seeking repeal of the three farm laws and withdrawal of cases filed against farmers for the Republic Day was passed. The resolution also sought compensation for the families of farmers who died during the protests which started in November last year.

Addressing the mahapanchayat, former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot said: While making these laws, none of the state governments or farmers organisations were consulted. The Government of India claims these farm laws are in the interest of the farmers but they are being opposed across the country. The farmers are protesting in a Gandhian manner, but the way barricades were put up and electricity and water supply discontinued, it is unjustified.

Yet another mahapanchayat was held at Sirsa in Haryana, where Indian National Lok Dals Abhay Chautala, who recently quit as an MLA in support of the farmers, addressed the meeting.

Several mahapanchayats have been held over the past few weeks across UP and Haryana in support of the farmers agitation against the new farm laws. The recent mahapanchayats in UPs Bhagpat and Haryanas Jind were also attended by thousands of farmers.

Tikait, who has planned a series of meetings across UP till February 18, is scheduled to address a mahapanchayat in Dadris Charkhi village on Sunday. The three khaps of Dadri district -- Sangwan, Phogat and Sheoran  have socially boycotted Haryana deputy CM Dushyant Chautala, Bhiwani-Mahendergarh MP Dharambir Singh and former Dadri MLA Rajdeep Phogat.
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) has launched its online bus booking services that went live on January 29.

IRCTC has partnered with more than 50,000 state road transport and private bus operators from 22 states and three union territories to provide the service, Mint reported.

"IRCTC under the leadership of Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution is gradually moving towards firmly positioning itself as the first government 'One Stop Shop Travel Portal' of the country," the newspaper quoted the IRCTC as saying.

The service that went live on January 29 would provide a more holistic travel experience to the customers, the ticketing and catering arm of the Indian Railways said.

The bus booking service is being integrated into the IRCTC Mobile app, which will be completed in the first week of March, the report said.
Bangkok: The Australian government has serious concerns about Sean Turnell, an Australian economic adviser to Myanmars former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained by police.

Suu Kyi was overthrown in a military coup days ago and, in a message sent to the Reuters news agency on Saturday, he said he was being detained.

Dr Sean Turnell an associate professor in economics at Macquarie University, Sydney, Credit:File

I guess you will soon hear of it, but I am being detained, he said. Being charged with something, but not sure what. I am fine and strong, and not guilty of anything, he said with a smile emoji. He couldnt be contacted again.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said the Australian government was deeply concerned about reports of Australian and other foreign nationals being detained arbitrarily in Myanmar.
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New Delhi:

Refusing interaction between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping on the side-lines of the G-20 summit at Hamburg last week, China on Monday said that no bilateral meeting took place between the two leaders.



India also didnt describe the interaction and said that a range of issues were discussed by the two leaders. The interaction between PM Modi and Jinping lasted for five minutes, India added.



Facing several questions related to the meet, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang repeatedly said that no bilateral meeting took place.



According to my information, the two leaders did not hold any bilateral meetings, Shuang said.



On the side-lines of the G20, President Xi also presided over the informal BRICS leaders meeting. Prime Minister Modi and other leaders of the BRICS countries also attended that event, he added.

ALSO READ: Picture speaks more than a thousand words, says MEA on Modi-Jinping Hamburg meet



When asked about the meeting again, he said: So my answer is that the two heads of state of India and China did not hold any meetings on the side-lines of the G20 summit in Hamburg.



Chinas insistence on the set-piece wording, and its refusal to waver from it, apparently was aimed at reiterating its view made clear before the Hamburg meeting: that the atmosphere was not right for a meeting between the two leaders due to the standoff between the two militaries at Doklam area in Sikkim sector, where Indian troops stopped road construction by Chinese soldiers.



China has been repeatedly calling for immediate withdrawal of the Indian troops from the area. He was also asked about a photograph tweeted by the Indias Ministry of External Affairs showing the two leaders in conversation with interpreters, Geng stuck to his stand.



As I said many times, the two state leaders of India and China did not hold any bilateral meeting ... But President Xi chaired the informal BRICS meeting during which Prime Minister Modi was also present, he said.



We demand the Indian side to withdraw their border personnel on to the Indian side of the boundary. This is the precondition for the any meaningful dialogue, Geng on the boundary standoff issue.



With PTI inputs.

ALSO READ | G20 Summit: PM Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping discuss range of issues amid Sikkim standoff

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After an unprecedented year in 2020, Indias manufacturing sector is already facing its first major challenge in 2021 - rising raw material prices. Since the economy started opening up in May last year, prices of key inputs such as steel, copper, aluminium, rubber, plastic and cement have gone up sharply.

Depending on the grade, prices of steel have shot up between 24 and 50 per cent. Since August, the average monthly price of hot rolled coil - a benchmark grade of the commodity - has risen by over Rs 14,000 per tonne to Rs 65,044 per tonne in December, a near 30 per cent jump. Similarly, copper prices have gone up by 25 per cent, rubber by 35 per cent and aluminium by 13 per cent. Prices of cement have grown at a more sedate pace, but over a much longer period of time - more than 16 per cent since January 2019.

Most of it is largely due to global factors. A strong rebound in China, the world's second-largest economy and the largest consumer of base metals, created a demand-supply gap, pushing up prices of most commodities. Domestic prices have mirrored the trend, putting pressure on sectors ranging from automobiles and consumer appliances to housing and infrastructure. Most companies had to absorb part of the cost and pass on the rest to consumers at a time when overall economic recovery is still circumspect.

Since January 1, car and two-wheeler companies have hiked prices by 2-5 per cent, while consumer durable firms have increased prices of appliances, including television sets, washing machines, air conditioners and dish washers, by 3-4 per cent.

"We made all efforts to reduce our costs and have deferred price increases for a significant duration, but the quantum of input cost increase is such that we could not have held on for much longer," says Veejay Nakra, CEO, Automotive Division, Mahindra and Mahindra.

Concerns are being raised within the government as well. Minister for Road Transport, Highways, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Nitin Gadkari has cautioned steel and cement companies to not profiteer. He even shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister for Steel Dharmendra Pradhan expressing his concerns on the issue.

"A long-term policy is needed for steel and cement manufacturers... a uniform policy," he said, while addressing an event organised by industry body ASSOCHAM on December 17. "If the price hike had been in the range of 15-20 per cent, it could have been justified, but it is abysmally high. It inflates project costs and makes them unviable."

On January 23, Gadkari went a step further, saying he would permit the use of synthetic fibre and composite fibre bars as alternatives to steel for construction of roads and bridges. "Nearly 40 per cent of steel and cement are used in highway construction. If they dont reduce prices, we will formulate alternative policies," he said. "I am going to settle my issue with them. Now, we are planning to allow synthetic fibre in place of steel."

The hike in prices could not have come at a more inopportune time for consumer-facing industries. Following the un-lockdown phase where most sectors saw better-than-expected sales on account of pent-up demand, the festival season gave more reasons for hope of a full recovery in demand. In December for example, retail sale of automobiles logged its first growth in a month in the current fiscal. Questions on whether this was sustainable in the New Year were already in the air, and companies fear a price hike, howsoever small, may act as a dampener.

"The prospects for January are bleak... it could be a very challenging month," says Vinkesh Gulati, President, Federation of Automobile Dealers Federation (FADA). "Demand has slowly crept up, but there are a lot of uncertainties and these are still challenging times. It would have been better if there was no price hike at this time."

The fear is that there may be more price escalations in future. In its latest report, rating agency CRISIL said domestic prices of steel are still 6-8 per cent below global-landed prices. "Put in another way, there is room to raise domestic prices further given they move in sync with the world trend," it said. "We expect steel prices to remain high in the January-March 2021 quarter with a sequential price hike of Rs 7,000-8,500 per tonne. Consequently, flat steel prices are seen 14-15 per cent higher year-on-year this fiscal." This could mean another round of price hikes, something industries are already bracing themselves for. But nobody is happy about it.

"Between October 2020 and January 2021, we have seen a 15 per cent increase in raw material prices, which means a 5-6 per cent increase in cost of products. We have passed on 3-4 per cent of it and absorbed the rest," says Manish Sharma, President and CEO, Panasonic, India and South Asia. "The trend is towards another potential price hike in April as commodity prices are still rising, which is not a good situation."

Anil Rai Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of the Rs 10,000-crore Havells Group, believes the impact of price rise will be two pronged - on the margins of companies as well as on consumers.

"After the lockdown, the industry has been quick to rebound and demand has been robust. On the consumption side the forecast continues to be good, but there is a worry that a price escalation may dampen it," he says. "We are trying to absorb it as much as possible, but some part of it will have to be passed on in the coming months."

While global commodity prices are generally high due to strong demand from China, its largest consumer, which recovered from the virus faster and sooner than the others, there are local factors at play as well. Shutdown of India's largest copper smelting factory, Sterlite Copper's plant in Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu, has created a shortage of the metal in the domestic market, not only impacting prices, but turning India into a net importer.

From a peak output of 848,000 tonne in FY18, production of copper in India fell sharply to 409,000 tonne in FY20. Similarly, exports fell from 421,000 tonne, or $2.7 billion, in FY18 to just 31,000 tonne, or $186 million, in FY20. Imports, on the other hand, have risen sharply from 215,000 tonne, or $1.4 billion, in FY18 to 341,000 tonne, or over $2 billion, in FY20.

"While on the one side the country is aspiring to become self-reliant, the illogical shutdown of India's largest copper smelter has now made the industry dependent on imports," said Pankaj Kumar, CEO, Sterlite Copper, while speaking to Business Today in December 2020. "The shutdown of our factory has also pushed up prices of copper. We have maintained since the beginning that there is no basis for the shutdown and we should be allowed to reopen it. It is in the larger interest of the country."

On their part, steel companies argue their own costs have gone up as well due to a steep hike in the cost of iron ore - a key raw material in steel-making. Global iron ore prices have surged by 47 per cent between April and November 2020. In India, it has been exacerbated by a shortage of ore as production took a hit in 2020 due to closure of 21 mines in March 2020.

"Steel prices have gone up in India, but it is in line with global trends. Our costs have also gone up as iron ore prices have increased as well," says V.R. Sharma, Managing Director of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd. "Steel prices affect everybody in the economy and viability of projects depend on it. We need to tread with caution and I do not expect any increase in prices in the next few months"

Unfortunately for real estate companies, the current round of price hike has happened when the first greenshoots of demand became visible after a near seven-year downturn. Real estate firms say buyers are slowly coming back into the market and the sector witnessed an uptick in demand for projects during the festival season.

"Real estate prices are at historic lows, so are home loan rates, while consumers have saved more during the lockdown. That along with pent-up demand has resulted in some recovery," says Pankaj Bajaj, President, CREDAI NCR. "The gap between the cost of a flat and a consumer's affordability has come down to hit a sweet spot, which can potentially usher in an upcycle that can last a few years. Ours is an industry that badly needs it, but high raw material prices threaten to upset the favourable mathematics."

An analysis of the financial performance of 41 cement companies by CARE Ratings shows the operating margin of the industry improved to 26.2 per cent in the first half of FY21, from 22.5 per cent in H1 FY20. This is largely on the back of favourable raw material costs - limestone, coal and petcoke in the case of cement - which fell 20.3 per cent during H1 FY21.

Profitability of steel companies has also improved. CRISIL says large steel mills excluding public sector ones saw a 7.4 percentage point improvement in margins in the second quarter after plunging 6 percentage points in the first quarter of FY21. For the fiscal as a whole, margins would improve by 5.5-6.5 percentage points. "Improved realisation, healthy demand and lower coking coal prices augur well for operating margins of steel mills, especially in the second half of the current fiscal," according to the report. Not surprisingly, the clamour for reigning the industry in by putting a cap on prices or making imports favourable, has increased. It is also making companies nervous.

"Steel companies have been carrying losses on their books for so many years and this (high prices) will enable us to offset those losses," says Sharma of JSPL. "In an open-market economy, nobody can say how much profit a company can make. You can punish us if there are unfair trade practices like hoarding of goods or cartelisation."

One industry's profit is another's loss. The perfect balance between the two is often elusive, but for an economy technically in a recession, high raw material prices could impede recovery.

@sumantbanerji
February 06, 2021 / 11:00 PM IST

issues. Thousands of farmers, especially from Punjab and Haryana, are staging a sit-in protest along Delhi borders. The protest started on November 26. The farmers are demanding a complete rollback of the new farm reform laws and a guarantee on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system being retained. Multiple rounds of talks between the Centre and the farmers union leaders have ended in a stalemate. Protesting farmers fear that the new laws will dismantle the MSP system and corporatise farming. The Supreme Court had earlier ordered a stay on the implementation of these contentious laws, hoping it will end the protest. The farm union leaders have also rejected Centre's proposal to suspend implementation of the laws for the 18 months. On January 26, the protest turned violent when some farmers deviated from a pre-decided route for their Republic Day tractor rally and clashed with police. Some protesters scaled the ramparts of the Red Fort. Several protestors and police personnel were injured in the ensuing clashes.

The 'Delhi Chalo' farmers' protest at border points of New Delhi has entered the 73rd day today. Farmer unions held a countrywide 'chakka jam' on February 6 where they blocked national and state highways between 12 pm and 3 pm to protest the internet ban in areas near their agitation sites, harassment allegedly meted out to them by authorities and other
The heartbreak of families being torn from loved ones who are locked in prison and deported is being explored in an exhibition by Queensland photographer Tammy Law.

Fractured Dreams & Indefinite Scars at the Museum of Brisbane focuses on how immigration laws and processes affect families.

Photographer Tammy Law, whose exhibition at the Museum of Brisbane explores immigration.

Nothing has really changed in terms of processing, Law said. It hits home that its a recurring process of the larger bodies of power.

Its not about people, its more about numbers. Its quite horrifying.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expresses solidarity with the diplomats of Germany, Sweden and Poland, whom Russia expelled from the country yesterday for participating in unauthorized actions on January 23 in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

"We express our solidarity with German, Swedish and Polish diplomats expelled by Russia for far-fetched reasons. Russia's decision contradicts the Vienna Convention and is yet another example of Russia's gross violation of its obligations under international law," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Twitter.

As reported, the Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier on Friday that Russia is expelling diplomats from Sweden, Poland and Germany for participating in unauthorized actions on January 23 in support of Navalny.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in connection with the expulsion of the German diplomat from the Russian Federation, recalled that Germany retains the right to expand sanctions against this country.

On January 23, 31, and February 2, unauthorized actions were held in Russia in support of Navalny, who was arrested after arriving in Russia on January 17.

On February 2, Simonovsky District Court of Moscow replaced his suspended sentence in the Yves Rocher case with a real one of three and a half years in prison.
Here what to do in Ocean City on rainy days

Even on rainy days Ocean City has a host of indoor activities  like shopping, movie theaters, wineries and breweries  to entertain.
 Flash

Nearly 10 days have passed after global COVID-19 cases surpassed 100 million. While the number is still climbing and new strains of the coronavirus are running wild, China has been busy creating a global safety net through solid vaccine cooperation.



As a strong supporter of the World Health Organization (WHO)'s appeal to make COVID-19 vaccines a public good, China decided on Wednesday to provide vaccine doses to COVAX, the WHO-led initiative for equitable global access to coronavirus vaccines, to meet the urgent vaccination needs of developing countries.

Vaccinations on track



Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Friday that an inoculation drive against COVID-19 will start from Feb. 10 after the first batch of China-donated Sinopharm vaccines is due to arrive in the kingdom on Sunday.

The Southeast Asian country officially approved the emergency use of China's Sinopharm vaccine on Thursday.

Pakistan formally started the drive to administer the Sinopharm vaccine doses to its frontline healthcare workers on Wednesday, the Pakistani National Command and Operation Center said.

Zimbabwe will be among the first African countries to receive the COVID-19 vaccine from China, said Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Guo Shaochun on Tuesday.

Though on track now, to some extent, COVID-19 vaccination in many developing countries was far from easy only a month ago.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus once said that global vaccine sharing was a "catastrophic moral failure," referring to a huge gap between the amount of shots administered in developed countries and that in the developing world.

In January, the comparison between administered doses in higher-income countries and one of the lowest-income countries had been 39 million versus 25, said the WHO chief in an executive board session. "Not 25 million, not 25,000, just 25."

With its willingness to make a difference in vaccination disparity on a global scale, China is providing COVID-19 vaccines to developing countries including Brunei, Nepal, the Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Palestine, Belarus, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea, said Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin at a press conference Monday.

Actions build trust



China officially joined COVAX in October 2020 and maintained close communication with the WHO, vowing to make joint efforts to turn COVID-19 vaccines into global public goods.

"We hope that capable countries in the international community can play an active role and take concrete actions to support COVAX as well as the WHO's work, so as to help developing countries receive vaccines in time and contribute to the global defeat of the pandemic at an early date," said Wang.

Thanks to its commitment and actions to make COVID-19 vaccines more accessible and affordable, China has gained trust in the global combat against the virus, especially in vaccine cooperation.

In a livestream, Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Jan. 13 received his first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chinese company Sinovac Biotech, kicking off the nation's mass inoculation campaign.

On Jan. 19, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte also expressed willingness to receive the Chinese-made vaccine shots through his spokesperson, saying the Chinese vaccines are "safe, sure, and secure."

When China's Sinopharm coronavirus vaccines arrived at the Belgrade Airport in mid-January, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic was there to welcome the shipment. "As an ordinary person and the president of Serbia, I am convinced of the quality of the Chinese vaccine," he said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday that coronavirus vaccines from China and Russia could be approved for use in the European Union (EU) once they pass the EU tests, AFP reported.

If Chinese producers "show all the data... then they could get... a conditional market authorization like the other ones," von der Leyen told EU lawmakers at a meeting.


A New York Times journalist at the center of sexual harassment claims has resigned, while protesting that his previous mistakes were being inaccurately used to transform him 'into a symbol of larger societal evils'.

Audio producer Andy Mills had been involved in the controversial Caliphate series. In December, the Times retracted much of the story on which the popular podcast had been built after it emerged that the team had been tricked by a fantasist.

Yet the scandal over the editorial errors made in the creation of the series also resulted in the resurfacing of allegations of harassment made against Mills during his time working at WNYC.

Mills in a resignation letter posted to his website on Friday claimed that he was stepping down not due to the problems with Caliphate, but because of the stories now being shared about his 'past personal conduct'.

The producer's resignation comes as the Daily Beast reports that Caliphate's host Rukmini Callimachi has been reassigned within the paper to cover higher education.

New York Times audio producer Andy Mills has resigned after harassment allegations. He worked on the controversial Caliphate series that had been tricked by the story of a fantasist

Caliphate's host Rukmini Callimachi (pictured above) has been reassigned within the New York Times to cover higher education, it was revealed on Friday

In December, the Times retracted much of the story on which popular Caliphate podcast had been built after it emerged that the team had been tricked by a fantasist

It also comes as Donald McNeil, a Times science reporter who has been heavily involved in COVID pandemic coverage, also resigned after staffers called for him to go because of his use of the n-word.

Mills had faced previous backlash over claims of misconduct in the workplace, including references in a New York Magazine article that reported he had been the subject of complaints during his time at 'Radiolab'.

The article included claims from women he worked with that said he asked them for dates, gave unsolicited back rubs and poured beer on the head of one woman in a bar.

Mills said in his resignation note on Friday that the Times had defended him publicly when the article was published just two months before the start of Caliphate.

He said that after being cautioned for his conduct in WNYC, when he joined the Times in 2016, he 'was open with my bosses and colleagues about this experience and what I'd learned from it'.

He said that resigning for the Times were 'not words I ever wanted to write' as he noted he 'never even imagined that I would get the chance to live in New York City or to work in media - let alone at the paper of record'.

Mills continued that he was 'proud of our team and what we were able to accomplish with Caliphate' and that 'getting any aspect of any story wrong, by any degree, is a journalist's worst nightmare'.

'When it came to fact-checking support for the project, the Times' leadership told us that they had their own internal system in place for stories of this nature,' Mills claimed.

'That system broke down. And they did not blame us.

'But in the meantime, another story emerged online: that my lack of punishment came down to entitlement and male privilege. That accusation gave some the opportunity to resurface my past personal conduct.'

In a resignation letter posted to his website on Friday, audio producer at the Times Andy Mills claimed that he was stepping down not due to the problems with Caliphate, but because of the stories now being shared about his 'past personal conduct' (as pictured above)

Mills claims he remains proud of the team that produced Caliphate

Mills claimed that the original allegations and his 'past mistakes' had been added to with 'gross exaggerations and baseless claims', as pictured in his resignation letter above

Mills admitted that he previously 'made mistakes that I wish I could take back' while attending meetups during his tenure at WNYC where he 'looked for love' and 'earned a reputation as a flirt.'.

'Eight years ago, during a team meeting, I gave a colleague a back rub. Seven years ago, I poured a drink on a coworker's head at a drunken bar party. I look back at those actions with extraordinary regret and embarrassment,' he said.

Mills added that once he was cautioned over the behavior, he 'took this reckoning seriously and I continued to work at WNYC for nearly two more years without further incident'.

'At the Times, I have strived to continue to grow and be a better co-worker and person, and not repeat the mistakes of my 20s,' he said.

Yet in his letter, Mills claimed that the original allegations and his 'past mistakes' had been added to with 'gross exaggerations and baseless claims'.

'Several people have even alleged that I am a predator and a dangerous threat to my colleagues,' he wrote.

'I have been transformed into a symbol of larger societal evils. As a journalist, it has been especially discouraging and upsetting to see fellow journalists make such claims or retweet them.

'The entire experience has been extraordinarily painful. I know I'm not supposed to say that because people will claim that I'm trying to make myself the victim  But public shaming is very painful. That is the truth. So is leaving the job you love.'

Andy Mills and Rukmini Callimachi were two of the biggest names involved in Caliphate

The producer said that his resignation came as a 'it is in the best interest of both myself and my team that I leave the company at this time'.

'I do this with no joy and a heavy heart,' he concluded.

'At some point, maybe I'll tell this story more fully, but I got into this work to tell other people's stories. And for now, I'm going to get back to that.'

Mills' resignation was also confirmed in a memo to staff from the paper's executive editor, Dean Baquet, and managing editor, Joe Kahn, yet they did not go into details about his decision to leave.

Scandals that rocked the New York Times in 2020 June 7: New York Times' opinion editor, James Bennet, resigned following a controversial op-ed from Senator Tom Cotton. The opinion piece, entitled Send in the Troops, advocated using federal troops to quell unrest across the US caused by the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Bennet, who had revealed in a meeting that he had not read Cotton's piece before it was posted online, had defended it following the initial protests, saying it was important to hear from all points of view. Yet more than 800 staff members signed a letter protesting its publication. Bennet then resigned from his position after the Times disowned the incendiary opinion piece. Following a review, the newspaper said Cotton's piece should not have been published, at least not without substantial revisions. July 14: One of Bennett's hires, conservative opinion editor writer Bari Weiss, announced she had quit in a scathing letter that slammed the newspaper for fostering an 'illiberal environment' that allowed her to be bullied by coworkers. Weiss, who joined the Times in 2017, said the paper of record was among the media institutions now betraying their standards and losing sight of their principles as she accused them of only publishing stories that 'satisfy the narrowest of audiences'. In her lengthy resignation letter addressed to publisher A.G. Sulzberger, Weiss claimed that intellectual curiosity and risk-taking was now a 'liability' at the Times. The controversial editor and writer said the opinions of those on Twitter had become the newspaper's 'ultimate editor'. Weiss also accused the outlet of creating a 'hostile work environment' for employees that essentially had anything other than left-of-center views. She says this mentality resulted in her being constantly bullied by coworkers who have called her a 'Nazi and a racist' because of her 'own forays into wrongthink'. Staffers had previously called for Weiss to be fired after her tweets regarding the Tom Cotton scandal. September: Trump repeatedly criticized the New York Times 1619 Project claiming it seeks to 'change our history'. Trump was asked about instructors using the project, named after the year the first ship with African slaves arrived in the U.S., to teach slavery in America and whether he wanted the subject to be taught. 'We grew up with a certain history and now they're trying to change our history. Revisionist history,' Trump claimed. Senator Cotton was also caught up in this incident, introducing legislation that would ban schools from teaching the curriculum through the Saving American History Act of 2020. Advertisement

'We know this is a difficult stretch for our audio team,' they stated.

'We are committed to helping build the systems and structures necessary to support audio's rapid growth and management needs and making the team a far more integrated part of the newsroom,' the memo added.

'We owe each other a culture of collaboration, collegiality and respect in our workplace.

'We all want and need a culture in which any of us feels comfortable coming forward with complaints or concerns and can trust they will be examined fully and fairly. It is essential to making sure that we can do our best work.'

The Caliphate podcast has caused a massive fallout for the Times which appeared to culminate December when it acknowledged that it had been misled in the production of the series by Canadian-Pakistani man Shehroze Chaudhry, 25, who had fabricated his story of working as an ISIS executioner.

Yet the backlash continued even further as the Times treatment of the staff involved in the podcast was called into question, and as the actions of some of the journalists themselves were also criticized.

On Friday, the Daily Beast confirmed that host Callimachi, who was formerly one of the paper's highest-profile reporters on ISIS and extremism in the Middle East, is moving to higher education, covering Ivy League schools and the goings on at college campuses across the country.

And Daily podcast host Michael Barbaro was forced to repeatedly apologize after his personal links to the show emerged and it was reported that he was privately messaging and blocking Twitter users who criticized Caliphate.

In January, a group of 20 influential public radio stations condemned the Times for a 'lack of transparency' in Barbaro's role.

The host was in December tasked with speaking to the Times' executive editor Dean Baquet in an episode of The Daily - which is also broadcast on public radio - in which the paper retracted much of the story on which popular series Caliphate had been built.

Yet in hosting the episode, Barbaro failed to disclose that much of the production team involved in 'Caliphate' had come from 'The Daily' - and that he is engaged to the series' executive producer Lisa Tobin.

According to NPR, Barbaro also pressured at least five journalists via social media to play down the errors in Caliphate and to get them to pull back their public criticism of the series.

In a letter sent to the New York Times Audio division, the Public Radio Program Directors Association said it had to question the paper's decisions as they needed to ensure their programming upheld 'the high standards that our listeners expect'.

The association accused the Times of having a 'serious lapse in judgment' in also allowing Barbaro to host the thirty-minute retraction episode and said that the decision was 'flawed'.

'How are we to trust that difficult questions would be asked, answers would be demanded, and the truth be sought,' the station executives asked.

'This was a moment for transparency, that moment is now lost, and there should be accountability for this lapse in judgment.'

The letter had also raised concerns over the presence of Mills, highlighting that several women had come forward during his time at WNYC.

Mills had presented the episode of The Daily coming straight after the Caliphate retraction. He had been a co-creator and co-star the series, acting as sidekick to main 'Caliphate' host Rukmini Callimachi.

While Callimachi has been reassigned within the Times, the letter questioned why Mills, at the time, was being given 'greater visibility'.

'We fully recognize that this is a vast simplification of the situation, we understand the complexity of this issue and the many considerations that went into making the decision,' the letter continued.

'It seems, however, that the optics of this decision may not have been carefully considered. Over the past several years, public media has undertaken strenuous efforts to create diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces.

'We have felt the inequity, exclusion and dominant white culture since #MeToo, carrying forward to the Black Lives Matter movement and the important cultural reckoning we experience in 2020 after the killing of George Floyd.'

Michael Barbaro is engaged to Lisa Tobin, who as an executive producer on 'Caliphate', but he failed to disclose his personal link to the series on The Daily episode about the retraction

A group of 20 influential public radio stations condemned the New York Times for a 'lack of transparency' after it emerged the star host of 'The Daily' Michael Barbaro is engaged to the executive producer of 'Caliphate' Lisa Tobin, pictured together above

Michael Barbaro and Lisa Tobin pictured working together above

The letter added that the Times' decisions on Barbaro and Mills were 'not just tone deaf' but 'blind to the current landscape in which we now exist'.

'The times are changing and yet based on this decision, it appears that The Times is not changing along with them,' it claimed.

In a response seen by the Washington Post, the Times said that Barbaro 'deeply regrets' placing pressure on reporters from other publications to control the spin on Caliphate's grievous editorial errors.

Yet it argued that it did not think that Barbaro was required to disclose his relationship with Tobin during the retraction episode as it was 'an audio version of our editors' note, not an accountability interview'.

Last December, the Times admitted to 'an institutional failure' in the production of its podcast 'Caliphate' by giving 'too much credence' to the story of a man now revealed as a fantasist pretending to be a terrorist.

In a devastating internal review released, it was found that the paper had failed to corroborate the sensationalist claims made by Chaudhry and that the podcast team was duped by his fake story of working as an ISIS executioner.

A group of 20 radio stations in the Public Radio Program Directors Association voiced their concerns in January in a letter to the New York Times Audio Division

The review began after Chaudhry was arrested by Canadian authorities in September and charged with 'a hoax regarding terrorist activity' as his lies fell apart.

Chaudhry's remarkable, yet untrue, story of being a fighter and executioner with the Islamic State in Syria had been the centerpiece of the award-winning 'Caliphate', for which reporter Callimachi was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and won a Peabody Award.

Yet, the Times found that the podcast, launched in 2018, dropped far short of the paper's standards following widespread failings, right up to senior management.

They branded Chaudhry a 'fabulist' who concocted stories as an escape from his more mundane life in a Toronto suburb or living with grandparents in Pakistan.

Dean Baquet, the executive editor of the paper, took personal responsibility for the errors in the editorial process, saying that the blame fell on him and other newsroom leaders.

During his interview with Barbaro, he said: 'When the New York Times does deep, big, ambitious journalism in any format, we put it to a tremendous amount of scrutiny at the upper levels of the newsroom,' he said in an interview with The Daily, another New York Times podcast.

'We did not do that in this case,' he continued.

'And I think that I or somebody else should have provided that same kind of scrutiny  and I did not provide that kind of scrutiny, nor did my top deputies with deep experience in examining investigative reporting.

'I think this guy, we now believe, was a con artist, who made up most if not all that he told us.'

Reporter Rukmini Callimachi, pictured above, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and won a Peabody Award for her work on the 'Caliphate' podcast. She has remained at the Times

Shehroze Chaudhry, 25, from Burlington, Ontario, has been charged with a terrorism hoax

The Times said the two-month review had concluded that the 12-part podcast featuring award-winning correspondent Callimachi, who has frequently reported on IS, 'gave too much credence to the false or exaggerated accounts' of Chaudhry.

The Times had ample reason to be suspicious of Chaudhry's account, since an episode of 'Caliphate' was devoted to discrepancies in his story and its own fact-checking.

But the newspaper should it have worked harder to verify the claims before deciding to make Chaudhry a central character.

Chaudhry had claimed he traveled to Syria in 2016 to join the terrorist group ISIS and committed acts of terrorism, including two killings.

He went by the name Abu Huzayfah in the podcast and described in harrowing detail his role in executions.

His account, as told to Callimachi, was incredibly graphic, in particular as he describes killing a man in an 'orange jumpsuit.'

The account caused an uproar in Canada's parliament, with opposition Conservatives expressing outrage that Chaudhry was living freely in Ontario province after making the terror claims.

At the time, the Times claimed they had managed to secure a photo of Abu Huzayfah on the banks of the Euphrates River in Syria, an indication that he had indeed made the trip.

Investigators have now found that Chaudhry had passed along photos taken by others in Syria as his own.

There is also still some dispute over whether he even traveled to Syria. Canadian officials say he never did, nor did he ever join the Islamic State, although American intelligence officials still have some doubt, the newspaper said.

'Caliphate' marked a foray into narrative audio reporting for the Times, which is increasingly seen as a major revenue stream for the paper.

The show became a major hit, rising to the top of the Apple podcast charts in 2018.

However, red flags surrounding the series' veracity were never far away.

The scandal has led to intense backlash for the paper of record, especially from other news organizations, which have accused it of allowing for fearmongering regarding the radicalization of Muslims.
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News Myanmar Copper Miners Join Anti-Coup Strike

The civil disobedience movement has reached Sagaing Regions Chinese-backed copper mines.

YANGON  Hundreds of Myanmar workers at the Chinese-back Kyisintaung copper mines in Sagaing Region have joined the civil disobedience movement against Myanmars military coup.

Around 300 out of 2,000 miners stopped work on Friday at the Kyisintaung copper mines in Monywa District, which has been a joint venture between the military-owned Myanma Economic Holding Public Co. Ltd. (MEHL) and Myanmar Yang Tse Copper Limited, a subsidiary of Beijing-based Wanbao Mining Limited, since 2010.

The rest of the miners have joined the red-ribbon campaign to show their defiance against military rule, according to Ko Sithu Tun, a senior maintenance mechanic at the project.

We will be on strike until our elected leaders receive their power back. As a citizen, we are responsible and we must join this movement, Ko Sithu Tun told The Irrawaddy on Saturday.

Currently, thousands of government staff across Myanmar are participating in the disobedience movement that was launched by hundreds of doctors and nurses on Wednesday to defy military rule.

The movement has called for the release of President U Win Myint, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, other senior government members and public figures who have been arrested since Mondays coup.

The movement also called the parliament to convene with the democratically elected parliamentarians who won seats in the November 8 general election.

The detained state counselor also called on the public to oppose and resist the military coup in a prepared Facebook message.

As of Friday, thousands of government staff from the Labor, Transport, Health, Education, Information, Foreign Affairs, Electricity and Energy and Social Welfare and Relief and Resettlement ministries have joined the campaign against the coup.

Meanwhile, peaceful protesters have been clapping, releasing red balloons, honking car horns and banging pots and pans at 8pm every night across the country with the movement gaining momentum.

The National League for Democracy on Friday issued a statement saying it appreciated the peaceful protests.
PORT ARANSAS, Texas, Feb. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On both environmental and economic grounds the Port Aransas Conservancy (PAC) has been contesting the industrialization of Harbor Island, within the city limits of Port Aransas. After receiving hundreds of complaints about the Port of Corpus Christi Authority's (PCCA) plans for a desalination plant there, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) referred the matter to the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) for a contested case hearing before two administrative law judges (ALJ). The judges recommended to TCEQ that they deny PCCA's discharge permit application.

Among other favorable rulings, the ALJ concluded, "After considering the evidence and argument the Port Authority has not met its burden to prove that the proposed discharge will not adversely impact the marine environment, aquatic life, and wildlife, including spawning eggs and larval migration."

PAC President James King was understandably upbeat. "The contested case ruling today by two administrative law judges recommending the denial of the TCEQ Discharge Permit is a huge victory for the city of Port Aransas, our coastal ecosystem, and the folks who love this part of Texas. This victory was made possible by our excellent team of attorneys and by the overwhelming support of many donors, citizens, and our strong local science community. The Port Aransas Conservancy is pushing back on the Port of Corpus Christi on its plan to industrialize our backyard and PAC is fully engaged in opposing that folly."

About the Port Aransas Conservancy

The Port Aransas Conservancy is a 501(c)(4) environmental advocacy non-profit whose goal is to foster a balance of conservation and economically sustainable uses for Port Aransas and its surrounding neighborhood and waterways while recognizing that our community and economy is dependent on tourism and fisheries within a healthy barrier island coastal ecosystem.

Media Contact:

John Donovan

512-673-9585

[email protected]

SOURCE Port Aransas Conservancy
BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- A leader's footprints always reveal his vision and agenda. Clear messages have been sent as Chinese President Xi Jinping has once again joined ordinary people just days ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, bringing warm greetings and best wishes for them.

From Wednesday to Friday, Xi inspected Guizhou, a southwestern province inhabited by many ethnic minorities and once home to the country's largest poor population, also the last to eradicate extreme privation nationwide.

For nine years in a row, Xi has made it a tradition to visit ordinary people, especially the disadvantaged groups, ahead of the Spring Festival, the most important holiday in China.

Since becoming the leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2012, Xi has made poverty alleviation a top priority in his more than 80 domestic inspection tours. His people-centered philosophy and focus on the poorest members of society is a common thread throughout his political career from grassroots positions right up to the top job.

The crucial year of 2021 marks the beginning of China's marching toward modernization from a new historical starting point. Xi's special concerns during his Guizhou tour this year speak volumes as he has charted a path to seize new opportunities amid challenges China faces in the new stage of development.

The general secretary of the CPC Central Committee came for a first-hand inspection of the results of the eight-year battle against poverty he and the Party led. Xi made a house call on local villagers in an ethnic Miao township, visited a Miao embroidery workshop and talked to people who were participating in festive activities. He also inspected the ecological environment of the Wujiang River.

Consolidating the foundation for agriculture, rural areas and work related to farmers is "the ballast" for the country to tackle the changing situations and open up new prospects. Building on a major victory in poverty alleviation, China is shifting its focus of rural work to all-round rural vitalization, the most effective means to secure the achievements of poverty alleviation yet another protracted war that is more challenging and will last longer.

With China at a historical juncture of marching toward its second centenary goal, Xi chose Guizhou for a reason. The once deprived province with poor initial endowment has become a model of high-quality development by fully tapping its late-mover advantage and an implementor of the country's new development philosophy, with its economic growth rate remaining in the front of the ranks across the country over the past decade thanks to innovation-driven and green development.

Innovation, as the primary driving force for development, determines the speed, effectiveness and sustainability of development. China has put innovation first in its new development concepts as well as the 14th Five-Year Plan, sending a clear message that the world's second-largest economy attaches unprecedented importance to target its Achilles' heel -- an inadequate capacity for innovation -- as Xi once noted.

"Green" is also of fundamental significance in high-quality development and one of the major tasks in the latest five-year plan. There is no substitute for the ecological environment, without which one can hardly live.

China has made a strategic choice to forge a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other. Its super-large market and massive domestic consumption potential have emerged as new comparative advantages that make the Chinese economy resilient to external uncertainties.

Safe and stable industrial and supply chains hold a fundamental position in the new paradigm, and efforts should be taken to make them more independent and controllable. China's complete industrial system and sound industrial and supply chains have made it capable of contributing to the global anti-pandemic fight.

Making mid- and long-term plans to guide socio-economic development has been an important process of the CPC's governance of China since the 1950s. The Party has united the Chinese people of all ethnic groups and led them to unprecedented miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability.

Despite various challenges, the country is still in an important period of strategic opportunity for development with opportunities by and large outweighing challenges. For China, the best way to forestall and defuse various kinds of risks and proactively address challenges brought by external changes is to focus on taking care of its own matters and improving the quality of development.
DEAL OF THE WEEK

Avid Nabs Debut for Seven Figures In a seven-figure deal, Avid Reader Presss Jofie Ferrari Adler took world rights, after an exclusive submission, to T.J. Newmans debut, Falling. The two-book deal was brokered by Shane Salerno at the Story Factory. Newman is a former bookseller and flight attendant who, Salerno said, wrote much of Falling at 35,000 feet on red-eyes while her passengers slept. The title, Salerno explained, deals with a terrifying event that could result in a significant loss of life. Falling is set for summer and will be the first thriller published by Avid.

FROM THE U.S.

Pantheon Is Sweet on Warrell

After a six-way auction, Lisa Lucas at Pantheon won world rights to Laura Warrells debut, Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm. Deborah Garrison will edit the novel, which is Lucass first fiction acquisition since joining the Penguin Random House imprint as publisher. Chad Luibl at Janklow & Nesbit brokered the deal. He said Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm follows an alluring jazz musician and the diverse cast of women who, at first charmed by him and later scorned, find the power of their own voices.

Joseph Does a Double

Frederick Joseph sold Better Than We Found It (to be coauthored with Porsche Landon) to Candlewicks Kaylan Adair. The YA nonfiction title, a follow-up to Josephs bestselling debut The Black Friend, was acquired in a six-figure preempt. Alexander Slater at Trident Media Group handled the North American rights agreement and called Better Than We Found It a universal guide for young people interested in instigating positive change and making a difference in their own communities. In a separate, simultaneous deal, Slater sold Josephs adult nonfiction debut, Patriarchy Blues, to Sarah Ried at Harper Perennial in a North American rights agreement. Slater said the essay collection is a rumination on masculinity and patriarchy. Both titles are set for 2022.

Allens Photo Book Goes to Legacy Lit

For Legacy Lit, Krishan Trotman bought Devin Allens No Justice, No Peace from Johanna Castillo at Writers House. The book showcases Allens photos of recent Black Lives Matter protests, juxtaposed with images from the civil rights movement. Castillo said the book creates a vision of the past and future of Black activism and leadership in America to show where we meet and where we differ. No Justice, No Peace is set for winter 2022.

Babalola Spices Things Up at Morrow

In what William Morrow is calling a deal for a significant six-figure sum, Elle Keck bought North American rights to Bolu Babalolas novel Honey & Spice. Morrow said the book follows the sharp-tonguedand secretly softheartedKiki Banjo and her friends from the Afro-Caribbean Society at Whitewell University, and their romantic intrigues and heartbreaks. Babalolas Love in Color, shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year 2020 in the U.K., will be published in the U.S. by Morrow in April. Honey & Spice is set for summer 2022. Juliet Pickering at Blake Friedmann handled U.S., Canadian, and open market rights agreement.

Zgheib Makes Land at Atria

In a six-figure world rights agreement, Daniella Wexler at Atria Books bought Yara Zgheibs sophomore novel, No Land to Light On. Amy Tannenbaum at the Jane Rotrosen Agency brokered the deal. Atria said the book is about borders and belonging, following a young Syrian refugee couple in the throes of new love, who dream of building a future in the country that brought them together, until a travel ban arrives like a bomb on the eve of their sons birth.

Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 19:15:55|Editor: huaxia

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A resident takes photos during the 9th Otaki Kite Festival held on the beach of Otaki, New Zealand, Feb. 6, 2021. Hundreds of colourful kites were flying Saturday in the skies of Wellington's Otaki Beach. These kites were made by local designers under the initiative of the China Cultural Centre in Wellington, which attended this festival for the third year running and has attracted significant attention and affection from viewers. (Photo by Zhang Jianyong/Xinhua)

WELLINGTON, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of colourful kites were flying Saturday in the skies of Wellington's Otaki Beach.

A Chinese-dragon-shaped kite stole the show at the 9th Otaki Kite Festival, held on February 6 and 7.

As well as the 'Loong' (Chinese dragon), Chinese kites in the shape of giant pandas and Peking Opera masks soared high in the sky harmoniously with kites in the form of different ocean creatures.

These kites were made by local designers under the initiative of the China Cultural Centre in Wellington, which attended this festival for the third year running and has attracted significant attention and affection from viewers.

Guo Zongguang, director of the China Cultural Center in Wellington, saw the performances as an opportunity to strengthen ties between both countries, promote the people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and to forge the "Happy Chinese New Year" cultural brand.

There were inevitably less overseas participants this year due to COVID-19. Professionals and enthusiasts from across New Zealand steered the kites over the beach and ocean. Characteristic kites crafted by kiwi artists, featuring in Maori and marine culture still made it an iconic event.
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Construction crews have begun work on a $5.2 million expansion of the city's low-barrier homeless shelter, adding more than two hundred new beds as City Hall works to increase housing for the city's poorest residents during the pandemic.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell spoke at the groundbreaking on Thursday, where she also discussed $25 million in new rental aid for landlords and renters that will be made available in coming weeks.

The two programs are aimed at addressing homelessness in the city, which has only been made worse by the job losses caused by the pandemic.

The shelter expansion will create 228 additional beds, a larger kitchen and more office space at the Central Business District site by May.

It is a project, Cantrell said, that is happening "in the heart of the city of New Orleans, and where the needs are the greatest as it relates to our homeless community."

The expansion comes nearly a year after officials first began trying to help protect some of New Orleans' most vulnerable as the coronavirus swept through the city. During the first wave of cases in March and April, 619 homeless residents were moved off of the city's streets and into hotels in a bid to reduce their risk of catching and spreading COVID-19.

More than half of those people were eventually moved into apartments. UNITY of Greater New Orleans, a group that coordinates the care provided by dozens of agencies for the citys homeless residents, has worked in recent months to house those who remain, a Louisiana Housing Corporation spokesperson said. There are no more hotels for the homeless operating in the city.

The current low-barrier shelter, with only 100 beds, is routinely filled to capacity. Its expansion will make use of about 30,000 square feet on the second and third floors of the old Veterans Affairs Hospital, where the current shelter is located.

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The second floor will see its warming kitchen upgraded to a full commercial kitchen, laundry services expanded, the building of a new staff break room and locker room and more office space. The third floor will see a new sleeping area, shower and restrooms, more staff work areas and more storage space.

The work won't be done until May. But Shannon Reed, who has been homeless since 2008, said he hopes to receive at least some help from UNITY this week.

"I have been everywhere from Uptown New Orleans, to Canal Street, to here," he said, waving his hand around the parking lot of the old Winn Dixie on Chef Menteur Highway in Gentilly Woods, where he sleeps.

"We look forward to working with the mayor and with the shelter to speed the process of finding permanent housing for the folks in the shelter, to make sure that multiple people get into the shelter," said Martha Kegel, Unity's executive director.

Meanwhile, the city's rental aid program will cover back rent for up to 12 months. The city will begin taking applications for rental aid on Feb. 15, according to Cantrell's housing director, Tyra Brown. Cantrell said the city has $11 million in federal funding and expects to receive the remaining $14 million from the state later. Rental aid was a key feature of Congress' recent coronavirus relief package.

The program will build on the city's own rental aid program that it put together last year. Though that program cobbled together more than $3.8 million last year to help tenants and landlords, need quickly outstripped supply.

Officials said they will release more details about who is eligible for the new rental aid program and how many people are expected to benefit from it in the coming weeks.
In a first contact between the UN and Army since generals seized power in a bloodless coup, the Secretary General's special envoy on spoke with the country's deputy military chief and expressed strong condemnation of its action and called for the immediate release of all detained leaders.

Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, spoke overnight with Deputy Commander-in-Chief Vice-General Soe Win in capital Nay Pyi Taw, Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told reporters at the daily press briefing on Friday.

Through the virtual meeting with the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of Myanmar, Burgener reiterated the Secretary-General's strong condemnation of the military's action that disrupted the democratic reforms that were taking place in the country, Dujarric said.

Dujarric said Burgener also reiterated her call for the immediate release of all detained persons.

She emphasised the need to advance progress on key areas on the safe, dignified, voluntary and sustainable repatriation of the Rohingya refugees, the peace process, accountability and particularly engaging with the Court of Justice (ICJ) on the ongoing case.

Dujarric added that Burgener and the deputy military chief had quite a long and a very important conversation since it was the first contact the UN had with the military authorities since the coup on February 1.

The 15-nation Security Council, the most powerful organ of the world organisation, issued a press statement Thursday on the situation in three days after the military seized power in the Southeast Asian nation.

The Council members expressed deep concern" at the declaration of the state of emergency imposed in Myanmar by the military on February 1 and the arbitrary detention of members of the Government, including State Counsellor and President Win Myint and others.

They called for the immediate release of all those detained, the press statement said.

Dujarric described the Council statement as a very positive first step in terms of a unified voice from the organisation's body entrusted with keeping peace and security. He added that the Secretary General continues to have various contacts and his Special Envoy also continues to have her contacts.

Burgener has spoken to various representatives of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), including the bloc's Secretary-General to ensure that we're all working with the same goal.

As the Security Council deliberated a statement on the situation in Myanmar, India played the role of an important bridge among various views and engaged very constructively to ensure a balanced outcome that strongly underlined the importance of the democratic process and transition while not being condemnatory in nature, sources have said.

An initial draft statement, prepared by the Council president for the month of February the UK, had called on the Security Council members to condemn the military coup, according to a report in the Politico.

In the final Council statement, the language was changed to not have any mention of a coup.

India, into the second month of its tenure as non-permanent Council member, engaged very constructively during deliberations over the press statement.

Sources told PTI that India played the role of an important bridge, bringing together various views and wanted to ensure an outcome which was balanced. It also wanted a statement which was not condemnatory in nature, but one which helped the process and not become counter-productive.

(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.)
As more than 20 days have passed since the government launched the world's largest inoculation drive, many people are still unaware of how to register themselves to take a COVID-19 jab. According to Union Health Ministry, over 54 lakh people in the country have been vaccinated with the two coronavirus vaccines- Covishield and Covaxin, so far. Although the numbers are fairly good, there's still less awareness when it comes to registration for the coronavirus vaccination.

The Centre has created Co-WIN (COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network) app, a digital platform for real-time monitoring of COVID-19 vaccine delivery and distribution of the vaccines.

The app has five modules, including the registration module where people can register themselves for vaccination. For the registration, a beneficiary must have any of the ID with a photo before registering for the COVID-19 jab.

These IDs include: "Aadhar Card, Driving License, Health Insurance Smart Card issued under the scheme of Ministry of Labour, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) Job Card, Official identity cards issued to MPs/MLAs/MLCs, PAN Card, Passbooks issued by Bank/Post Office, Passport, Pension Document, Service Identity Card with photograph issued to employees by Central/ State government/ PSUs/Public Limited Companies, Voter ID, Smart card issued by RGI under NPR," the ministry noted. However, the photo ID should be produced at the time of registration and verified at the time of vaccination.

Union Minister of State for Health Ashwini Choubey informed Lok Sabha on Friday that Aadhaar is not mandatory for registration on Co-WIN portal.

The Union Health Ministry said India has become the first country in the world to reach the 50 lakh COVID-19 vaccination mark in just 21 days. The USA, the UK, and Israel have reached 50-lakh vaccinations in 24, 43 and 45 simultaneous days respectively.

So far, a total of 27 persons have been hospitalised which translates to 0.0005 per cent of the total vaccinations done so far. No new hospitalization has been recorded in the last 24 hours, the ministry said.

The ministry further said a total of 22 deaths have been recorded to date and none of these deaths have been causally linked with COVID-19 vaccination.

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Cape Town  President Joe Biden has struck a new tone in U.S.-Africa relations, recording a video message which promotes a "shared vision" of more trade and investment, peace and security for all Africans, a commitment to democratic institutions and the promotion of human rights for all, including women and girls and the gay community.

In a message sent to participants in the African Union Summit, being held virtually, the U.S. president also called for more investment in global health and defeating Covid-19, and pledged to partner with the AU's Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (African CDC).

On climate change, he stressed the importance of ensuring that developing nations can mitigate and adapt to its impact.

The sending of a personal message and its contents mark a sharp divergence from the approach of former president Donald Trump.

Biden said the U.S. wanted to partner with Africa "in solidarity, support and mutual respect." He added: "We believe in the nations of Africa, in the continent-wide spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation."

Read the full text of his message >>
Government will be moving to clamp down on food establishments which have been trying to beat the COVID restrictions, by bringing out their staff to prepare meals, which are then put on sale at other locations.
The campus and city news desks have compiled a list of events going on throughout the upcoming week that are open to the public. The list features lectures and celebrations of Black history, a Valentine-themed event at the zoo, movies and more.
A gym owner has been forced to board up his premises after repeatedly refusing to close during the national lockdown.

Steven Todd of Reps Gym in Preston, Lancs, ignored 11 previous warnings and fixed penalty notices ordering him to close his doors during the current national lockdown.

He claimed his gym provided an important public service to protect the mental health of its users.

But Preston City Council has now been granted a Closure Order on the 10,000 square foot gym.

Preston Magistrates' Court granted a closure order on Reps, the gym owned by Steven Todd who is pictured arriving for today's appearance

The councils barrister Sarah Clover said Reps posed a significant threat of nuisance, disorder and criminal behaviour by remaining open during the pandemic.

Preston Magistrates Court was also told Mr Todd was in breach of Coronavirus regulations 2020.

Miss Clover said: There was a direct threat to the gym and general anger from the public about this business defiantly remaining open when theirs must close and they must suffer the consequences.

Also from people who would like to go out but dont because they are complying with the national lockdown.

There is an undercurrent of anger that can lead to disorder.

Mr Todd, who has operated the gym on the Red Scar Industrial Estate since 1987, had vowed to keep his gym open to protect the mental health of his members.

In recent weeks, visitors had travelled to Lancashire from Greater Manchester and Merseyside to work out.

Mr Todds barrister Tom Lord said his clients views were honestly and genuinely held.

Police have visited the businessman's gym in Preston, Lancs, several times during lockdown and handed over thousands of pounds of fines

The popular gym has been forced to shut as Preston City Council was granted a Closure Order

He sees himself as performing a very important public service to the people in Lancashire by way of mental health provision.

Earlier in the trial the court was told the owner called police to report an anonymous threat to burn down his gym if he continued to operate.

Mr Todd denied he was breaking the law by opening Reps as he said he had not entered into a contract with Preston City Council relating to Coronavirus regulations.

Granting the Closure Order, District Judge Hirst said: We are living in a country where we have seen more than 100,000 deaths related to coronavirus.

Lancashire has one of the highest infection rates in the country.

You have actively encouraged people to travel from outside the local area to visit your gym.

Nobody can operate outside of legislation simply because they dont agree with it.

Mr Todd and his businesses must also pay 9,098.50 in legal costs.
The United States is pleased to "express its strong support" for Nigeria's former finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to be the next director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO) , the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced on Friday.

"Dr. Okonjo-Iweala brings a wealth of knowledge in economics and international diplomacy from her 25 years with the World Bank and two terms as Nigerian Finance Minister. She is widely respected for her effective leadership and has proven experience managing a large international organization with a diverse membership," the USTR's Office said in a statement.

"The United States stands ready to engage in the next phase of the WTO process for reaching a consensus decision on the WTO Director General," the USTR's Office said, adding the Biden administration looks forward to working with a new WTO chief to find paths forward to "achieve necessary substantive and procedural reform" of the WTO.

The statement came after South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee on earlier Friday withdrew her candidacy for the post of the WTO chief. Yoo was one of the two finalists for the head post of the Geneva-based trade body, together with Okonjo-Iweala.

"The United States respects her decision to withdraw her candidacy from the Director General race to help facilitate a consensus decision at the WTO," the USTR's Office said.

A reading activity will get underway during the winter vacation as part of the public welfare campaign "Yiqi Yunzhijiao" that will involve college students assisting with rural education.

The campaign, launched on Jan. 7 by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Youth League and the China Guanghua Foundation, is committed to providing a free and open online teaching platform for underdeveloped areas and is supported by top universities and enterprises.

During this winter activity, college students will offer one-to-one instruction to rural primary school pupils from western China via phone calls.

Around 60 college student volunteers are scheduled to begin a co-reading activity with five and six graders from rural areas this weekend. For the following three weeks, volunteers will be responsible for reading books together with children and exchanging reading notes with them. In addition to that, volunteers will enter their students into an online note-taking contest.

More than five universities in Beijing are involved in the project, including Beijing Normal University, Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), Beihang University, Beijing Institute of Technology and Beijing University of Chinese Medicine.

Over 200 college students from BFSU registered to volunteer, according to Hu Danmeng, who is responsible for this student program at BFSU. After phone interviews, BFSU announced 12 chosen volunteers on Feb. 1. They have now been paired up with pupils from Congjiang county of Guizhou province.

Wu Yuwei, a graduate student volunteer of BFSU, expressed her great expectation when she signed up for the program.

"My parents seldom accompanied me in my childhood because of their busy work and the lack of availability of books," she said. "But there was one book that had a huge impact on me and that was 'Robinson Crusoe.' The book inspired me to be brave and led me to eventually leave the countryside like a pioneer. I think leading children to discover a wider world through reading is more important than any form of material rewards. They may yearn for more possibilities just as I did."

Based on an online survey, what Chinese children want to read most are related to traditional Chinese culture, such as "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Heroes of the Marshes." Many are also interested in international works like "The Little Prince" and "Three Days to See."

This winter activity is expected to enrich the holiday life of rural kids while helping them to cultivate a reading habit.
There were no casualties in the past day.

The Command of Ukraine's Armed Forces has reported six violations of the latest ceasefire agreement committed by Russia-controlled armed groups in the Donbas warzone on Friday, February 5.

"In the past day, February 5, six ceasefire violations were recorded in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) zone," the press center of the Ukrainian JFO Command said on Facebook in an update as of 07:00 Kyiv time on February 6, 2021.

In particular, the Russian Federation's armed formations fired hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers and rifles near the village of Novomykhailivka. Also, an enemy UAV was spotted crossing the contact line in that area, which remotely planted a POM-2 anti-personnel mine in front of Ukrainian positions.

Read alsoMinister tentatively assesses damage from Russian occupation in DonbasThe occupiers also fired automatic grenade launchers and heavy machine guns toward Ukrainian positions near the town of Svitlodarsk.

What is more, the enemy used an automatic grenade launcher near the village of Bohdanivka, as well as grenade launchers of various systems and rifles near the village of Vodiane.

There were no casualties in the past day.

Since Saturday midnight, February 6, one ceasefire violation was recorded in the JFO zone. In particular, the Russian occupation troops fired grenade launchers of various systems, heavy machine guns and rifles near Vodiane.

The violations were reported to OSCE representatives through the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) of the ceasefire in Donbas.

The situation is under full control of the Ukrainian military.

Donbas ceasefire: Background

Participants in the Trilateral Contact Group (Ukraine, Russia, and the OSCE) on the peace settlement in Donbas on July 22 agreed on a full and comprehensive ceasefire along the contact line from 00:01 on Monday, July 27.

On the very first day of the newly-agreed truce, Russia's hybrid military forces mounted three attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine.

Reporting by UNIAN

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 6)  Despite need for further action, the Philippines and the European Union reaffirmed their commitment to uphold and protect human rights.

In a joint statement, both countries said their commitment was reiterated during the launch of the first sub-committee on good governance, rule of law and human rights under their Partnership and Cooperation Agreement on Feb. 5. This body will serve as a formal platform where views and concerns on issues related to human rights will be raised and discussed.

The respect of human rights as laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and relevant international human rights instruments, to which the EU and its Members States and the Philippines are parties, is an essential element of the PCA, the statement read.

One of the issues raised was the Philippine governments controversial war against illegal drugs. Strengthening accountability and investigative measures regarding this issue, as well as on death penalty, were specially highlighted. The EU urged the Philippines to address extra-judicial killings, provide remedies to victims, and hold perpetrators accountable.

It also encouraged the Philippines to continue engagements and address issues raised by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, who said in a report that the anti-illegal drugs campaign of the administration is being carried out without due regard for the rule of law, due process, and the human rights of those who may be using or selling drugs.

RELATED: UN rights council approves 'technical assistance' to PH amid killings

For the part of the Philippines, it said efforts are being implemented to address and strengthen the fight against impunity, which includes the inter-agency panel tasked to investigate killings linked to thousands of anti-drug operations.

RELATED: Palace to UN human rights council: New panel to assure fair probe of drug war-linked deaths

Asked to comment, foreign policy expert Richard Heydarian said this could be the way of the EU to pave the road for the restoration of accountability and democratization under the next administration.

I think the European Union is playing the long game and at the same time they are encouraged that in America there is a new administration with a clear commitment to human rights and democracy in ways that we didnt have under the Trump administration, he told CNN Philippines.

Heydarian said the EUs focus might also be on capacity building, and long-term institution building through restoring accountability in the Philippine National Police and strengthening the Commission on Human Rights as well as safeguards to prevent further occurrence of extrajudicial killings and violent drug war policies come the next chief executive.

"I think the relationship with the current president is too fraught for any significant breakthrough, but things can dramatically change in the coming year or so as the Biden administration ramps up its foreign policy," he added.

Also discussed during the meeting was freedom of opinion and expression, media, and information, including the cases of journalists in the country like Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, as well as the case of Senator Leila de Lima, a known critic of the administration who has been detained since 2017 due to drug charges.

Both countries recognized their role in making sure that these freedoms are protected and promoted.

The sub-panel also highlighted and agreed to uphold the rights of human rights defenders, and to fight issues like human trafficking, and racial discrimination.

They will again convene in the Philippines in the first semester of 2022.

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In major financial relief to residents of Delhi, the Arvind Kejriwal government has decided to reduce the current circle rates related to residential, commercial and industrial properties by a flat 20% across all categories of colonies and areas in the national capital.

This will be applicable till 30 September this year. The decision was taken in the Delhi Council of Ministers meet today, which was chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Also Read | Vaccination drive picks up slowly

CM Kejriwal hoped that the step will help in giving a boost to the economy post the coronavirus pandemic.

"While we are slowly recovering from the economic contraction in the post-COVID era, it is the duty of our government to take all steps to further reduce the financial burden on the common man," Kejriwal said.

The decision is expected to make it "substantially cheaper" for people to do property transactions, revive the real estate sector which has been hit severely by the corona pandemic and create new jobs, he added.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the decision will be a big relief for people willing to buy properties in the national capital.

Taking to Twitter, Sisodia wrote, "A big decision by Hon CM @ArvindKejriwal. Circle Rates of Residential/Commercial/Industrial Properties in Delhi reduced by 20% across all categories for next 6 months. This would be a big relief for people willing to buy property and a big boost up for Real estate sector."

A big decision by Hon CM @ArvindKejriwal. Circle Rates of Residential/Commercial/Industrial Properties in Delhi reduced by 20% across all categories for next 6 months. This would be a big relief for people willing to buy property and a big boost up for Real estate sector.  Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) February 5, 2021

How to calculate circle rates in Delhi?

Generally, commercial properties have higher circle rates, as compared to residential properties. However, it may also vary, based on the type and age of the property. Properties built after the year 2000 have a maximum multiplier of 1 while the older buildings have it in the range of 0.5-0.9.

View Full Image Calculate the circle rates in Delhi by visiting the Delhi governments online registration information system.

One can calculate the circle rates in the national capital by visiting the Delhi governments online registration information system.

Here are the steps below to calculate the circle rate in Delhi:

1) Determine whether the property is used for residential or commercial purposes.

2) Consider the type of property  whether it is a flat, apartment, independent house, or a plot of land. The circle rates of different property types vary, even if they fall in the same area.

3) Factor in the 'age multiplier' to arrive at property valuation and determine the circle rate accordingly.

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Axios

Southwest and American airlines won't yet resume in-flight alcohol service as planned after a flight attendant was recently assaulted by a passenger and other in-flight incidents.What they're saying: Southwest had initially planned to resume the service in June, but Sonya Lacore, the airline's head of in-flight operations, said in a memo obtained by CNN that "based on the rise in passenger disruptions in flight, I've made the decision to re-evaluate the restart of alcohol service on board."Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free"Given the recent uptick in industry-wide incidents of passenger disruptions in-flight, we have made the decision to pause the previously announced restart of alcohol service onboard,'' Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz told USA TODAY. Catch up quick: Last Sunday, a female passenger allegedly struck a flight attendant during a flight from Sacramento to San Diego  Southwest said two of the attendant's teeth had been knocked out. The passenger was then arrested on suspicions of battery causing serious bodily injury. The flight attendant was taken to a hospital once the plane landed, according to a police report. Southwest said Friday it banned the female passenger from flying with the airline again.The big picture: The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it had received approximately 2,500 reports of unruly passenger behavior since Jan. 1, with about 1,900 reports being of passengers refusing to follow federal mask mandates.Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.
On the FactCheck page, The Associated Press tracks down some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals that were shared widely on social media. The AP takes those untrue stories, checks them out and sets the records straight in this weekly series of news articles.


MFilm producer Ronnie Screwvala on Saturday said shooting of his upcoming production Mission Majnu, featuring Sidharth Malhotra and south star Rashmika Mandanna, has commenced in Lucknow. Set in the 1970s, the film is inspired by real events, follows the story of Indias most courageous mission in the heart of Pakistan that forever changed the relationship between the two nations. Screwvala, known for films like Uri: The Surgical Strike and The Sky is Pink, will be producing the espionage thriller via his RSVP Movies along with Bajrangi Bhaijaan producer Amar Butala and Garima Mehta.

The first chapter of one of Indias deadliest covert operations begins today! #MissionMajnu commences shoot in Lucknow, the post shared on RSVPs official Twitter handle read. Madanna too expressed her excitement on the commencement of shoot and wished the team good luck.

Ahhhhh.. my boys start rolling today! All the bestest yall.. have fun without me, she posted on her Instagram Stories.

Written by Parveez Shaikh, Aseem Arrora and Sumit Batheja, Mission Majnu is the debut directorial venture of ad filmmaker Shantanu Bagchi. The film also marks Mandannas foray into Hindi movie industry. She is best known for starring in Kannada film Anjani Putra and Telugu title Geetha Govindam.

Malhotra will be seen as a RAW agent, who leads the mission, while details regarding Madannas role have not been revealed yet.

Seoul, Feb 6 : Samsung has asked Texas state officials to give tax breaks for its potential new chip plant, news reports showed Friday, raising speculation that the South Korean tech titan could make a big investment in the US.

The world's largest memory chipmaker has requested authorities in Texas to grant tax abatements over 20 years, which would be worth a total of $805.5 million, for its new $17 billion chip facility in Austin, Texas, according to the Austin American-Statesman newspaper and other foreign news outlets.

Samsung reportedly wanted tax breaks worth $718.3 million from Travis County and $87.2 million from the city of Austin, they reported.

In documents filed with the state officials, Samsung said it would start construction in the second quarter of this year and that the new facility will be able to operate in the third quarter of 2023 if Austin is selected as the site for its new chip plant, according to the news reports, adding that the investment would create some 1,800 jobs.

In the documents, Samsung also said it is inspecting other sites in the U.S., including Arizona and New York, as well as South Korea, for its new chip plant project.

Samsung said that it is reviewing multiple sites for the project, but nothing has been confirmed, reports Yonhap news agency.

The company already announced during a conference call last month that no decision has been made yet for the US investment, though it admitted that it is considering expanding its chip facilities.

Samsung already runs a chip factory in Austin, Texas, but it is apparently seeking to build another one to bolster its production to catch up with foundry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC).

In 2019, Samsung unveiled a plan to become the world's No. 1 logic chipmaker by 2030 by investing 133 trillion won to bolster its competitiveness in the system chip and foundry businesses.
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A globalist coup in Myanmar is in progress as globalists line up hapless useful idiots on the streets to defend a recent vote steal that took place in the country.

Students and teachers lined up at the behest of the globalists to defend the vote steal and demand the military allow the election to be rigged. The military has taken control after finding a colossal amount of evidence indicating election fraud.

The duped students and teachers used symbols from The Hunger Games, echoing propaganda from Hollywood media content to do their masters bidding. The useful idiots chanted Long live Mother Suu, referring to deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is a product of the George Soros network.

Suu has met with Soros personally, and she is a linchpin of the Open Society Foundations Burmese Project to impose globalist influence on the nation. There are over 100 organizations in Myanmar constantly agitating to inflict Soros far-left agenda on the nation regardless of whether the people want it or not.

I have been and remain very much guided by her vision in my involvement in Burma, Soros said after meeting Suu in 2012.

Former Secretary of State and failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton even talked up Suu in her book, Hard Choices.

After so many years of reading and thinking about this celebrated Burmese dissident, we were finally face to face, Clinton wrote of her first meeting with Suu. I felt we had known each other for a lifetime, even though we had just metSoon we were chatting, strategizing and laughing like old friends.

Clinton was influential in the launch of Suus career, and she was awarded the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal in 2012 by former president Barack Hussein Obama, who also slapped crippling economic sanctions on Myanmar to coerce the nation into giving Suu more authority.

What is happening in Myanmar follows the globalist color revolution playbook to overthrow established governments, which Big League Politics has reported about extensively:

A Soros-backed election integrity group is setting the stage for a revolution against President Donald Trump after Novembers election Revolver believes that this TIP group may be the organization tasked with fomenting a color revolution to get President Trump out of office regardless of the results of Novembers election. They compared Brooks recent Washington Post op/ed with The Democracy Playbook, a guide to color revolutions published by the globalist Brookings Institution. They concluded that TIP is about creating a self-fulfilling prophecy that keeps Trump from a second presidential term regardless of what the American people decide.

Do not be surprised if U.S. troops are occupying Myanmar before long. President-imposed Biden will enforce voter fraud not just in the homeland, but throughout the entire world, as part of the Great Reset plan.

LAFAYETTE, La. (AP)  A Louisiana prosecutor has filed charges against an activist who grilled hot dogs and hamburgers near the mayor's home during last summer's protests against racial injustice. Her attorney says Tara Fogleman will plead not guilty on Tuesday to misdemeanor charges of disturbing the peace and obstructing a public passage. She was arrested in August while many in Lafayette were protesting against the death of a Black man shot by police outside a convenience store and against a decision to close four recreation centers in a predominantly Black part of Lafayette. Mayor-President Josh Guillory has said his wife and children had to witness civil unrest.
(@FahadShabbir)

As many as seven more patients of Coronavirus died overnight lifting the death toll to 4,066 and 545 new cases emerged when 9,981 tests were conducted

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Feb, 2021 ) :As many as seven more patients of Coronavirus died overnight lifting the death toll to 4,066 and 545 new cases emerged when 9,981 tests were conducted.

This was stated by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in a statement issued here on Friday.

He added that seven more patients of COVID-19 lost their lives lifting the death toll to 4,066 that constituted 1.6 percent death rate.

Murad Ali Shah said that 9,981 samples were tested which detected 545 case. He added that so far 2,778,294 tests have been conducted against which 250,042 cases were diagnosed, of them 91 percent or 226,752 patients have recovered, including 338 overnight.

The CM said that currently 19,224 patients were under treatment of them 18,581 were in home isolation, 15 at isolation centers and 628 at different hospitals.

He added that the condition of 580 patients was stated to be critical, including 77 shifted to ventilators.

According to the statement, out of 545 new cases, 272 have been detected from Karachi, including 72 from East, 71 Central, 60 South, 30 Korangi, 24 Malir and 14 West. Hyderabad has 130, Sujawal 13, Tando Muhammad khan and Tando Allahyar 11 each, Mirpurkhas ten, Thatta nine, Khairpur, Sanghar and Kashmor eight each, Larkana seven, Nawabshah, Ghotki, Jacobabad and Umerkot five each, Sukkur, Dadu, NausheroFeroze, Matiari and Jamshoro four each, Qambar two, Badin one.

The chief minister urged people of the province to follow SOPs.
According to information released by the Turkish naval defense industry, the new generation of Istanbul-class frigate will be fitted with the Gokdeniz naval version of the Korkut self-propelled short-range air defense system that will be mounted on new Istanbul-class of Turkish Navy. a naval version of the Korkut short-range air defense system that was unveiled in May 2019 during the defense exhibition in Istanbul, Turkey.

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Gokdeniz naval version of the Korkut self-propelled air defense system that will be mounted on new Istanbul-class frigates of the Turkish Navy.(Picture source Screen Shot Defence Hub YouTube)

On January 23, 2021, Navy Recognition has announced the launching of the first Istanbul-class frigate built for the Turkish Navy. The new ship was developed under the MILGEM Turkish national warship program that includes the development of multipurpose corvettes and frigates that can be used for a wide range of missions, including reconnaissance, surveillance, early warning, anti-submarine warfare, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air warfare, and amphibious operations.

The Istanbul-class frigate will be armed with local-made weapon systems including 35 mm (1.4 in) Aselsan Gokdeniz dual barreled CIWS (Close-in Weapon System), two 25 mm (0.98 in) Aselsan STOP automatic cannons, 16 ATMACA Vertical launching system anti-ship cruise missile, 16-cell (total 64 missiles) MDAS Vertical Launching System able to fire the HISAR Surface-to-air missile.

The Gokdeniz is a short-range air defense system armed with a 35mm twin-cannon developed by the Turkish company Aselsan and able to fire Airburst Ammunition (ATOM). An airburst round is a type of tactical anti-personnel explosive ammunition, typically a shell or grenade, that detonates in midair, causing air burst effect fragment damage to an enemy. Each barrel has a rate of fire of 1,100 rounds per minute with a magazine of 100 rounds. The turret has a traverse of 360 and elevation from -15 to +85. It has a maximum firin range of 4 km.

The new Close-In Weapon System was developed and designed based on the Korkut self-propelled air defense systems mounted on tracked armored chassis.

The Gokdeniz is designed to destroy current aerial threats including fighter, helicopter, UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), as wells as subsonic and supersonic anti-ship missiles. The system with the Automatic Linkless Ammunition Feed Mechanism allows loading both HEI and Airburst Ammunition at the same time and switching between ammunition types as needed.

The Gokdeniz air defense system is fitted with an automatic target tracking with an integrated tracking platform including a tracking radar and electro-optics sensors. In option, the system can be fitted with a 3-D radar. The system can detect air targets at a range of up to 70 km.
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San Francisco Fire Department

The San Francisco Fire Department rescued a man Friday who fell an estimated 100 feet down a steep cliffside at Dead Man's Point at San Francisco's China Beach, department spokesperson Lt. Jonathan Baxter said.

The fire department, U.S. Park Police and the National Parks Service responded to the incident at 1 p.m.

(CNN) -- UK scientists have launched the world's first study examining whether different coronavirus vaccines can safely be used for two-dose regimens, an approach they say could give extra flexibility and even boost protection against Covid-19 if approved.

Participants in the 13-month study will be given the Oxford/AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines in different combinations and at different intervals, the UK Department of Health and Social Care said in a news release.

"If we do show that these vaccines can be used interchangeably in the same schedule this will greatly increase the flexibility of vaccine delivery, and could provide clues as to how to increase the breadth of protection against new virus strains," said Matthew Snape, chief investigator and associate professor in pediatrics and vaccinology at the University of Oxford.

Enrollment in the UK government-funded study is currently underway and preliminary results are expected over the summer, the news release said.

The current vaccine dosing regimen for the general public will remain unchanged in the UK, it said. But should the study show promising results, the government may consider revising the recommended vaccine regimen.

The study will also seek to determine if vaccination is more effective with a four-week or 12-week gap between the two doses. More than 800 people are expected to take part in the trial and will begin receiving their shots by mid-February.

Analysis released Wednesday by Oxford scientists but not yet peer reviewed suggested there could be higher efficacy with more spaced-out doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Minister for Covid-19 Vaccine Deployment Nadhim Zahawi said the new trial would provide vital evidence on the safety of the two shots when used in different ways.

"Nothing will be approved for use more widely than the study, or as part of our vaccine deployment programme, until researchers and the regulator are absolutely confident the approach is safe and effective," he said.

Jonathan Van-Tam, England's deputy chief medical officer, said that given the challenges of rolling out mass vaccination of populations and "potential global supply constraints," there were advantages to having data to support a more flexible immunization program, if needed and approved by the regulator.

"It is also even possible that by combining vaccines, the immune response could be enhanced giving even higher antibody levels that last longer; unless this is evaluated in a clinical trial we just won't know," said Van-Tam.

Currently, official guidance from the UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation states that the second dose should be with the same vaccine as for the first dose. "Switching between vaccines or missing the second dose is not advised as this may affect the duration of protection," it adds.

However, in certain circumstances where a patient attends a site for a second vaccination and what was given for the first dose is either unknown or unavailable, it is "reasonable to offer one dose of the locally available product to complete the schedule," guidance states, particularly if the individual is at high risk of infection or is unlikely to attend again.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization do not currently recommend interchanging coronavirus vaccines, since no data is currently available that examines whether doing so would still provide the same level of protection.

Successful vaccination rollout

The UK has been one of the world's worst-hit nations during the pandemic, with among the highest confirmed Covid-19 deaths proportionate to its population.

It has, however, shown global leadership by launching a successful vaccination program, becoming the first country to approve and administer a clinically tested vaccine. More than 10 million people in the UK, around 15% of the population, have received at least one dose to date.

Other countries are struggling to overcome problems with vaccine supply and distribution. Last week, a war of words erupted between the European Union and AstraZeneca after EU officials said they had been told by the company that it intended to supply "considerably fewer" doses in the coming weeks than had been agreed because of production problems.

And South America accounts for roughly 15% of the world's reported Covid-19 cases, but less than 3% of the global vaccine doses administered so far, according to data collected by Oxford University.

Meanwhile, the vaccine rollout is picking up pace in the United States.

Nearly 34 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered so far in the US, according to data published Wednesday by the CDC. That means just over 8% of the US population -- more than 27 million people -- have now received at least one dose of the vaccine, and about 6.4 million people have been fully vaccinated, CDC data shows.

At the current rate, every adult in the US could be fully vaccinated in about a year. Assuming 75% of US adults must be fully vaccinated to achieve herd immunity, the US could reach this threshold by around Halloween.

The UK aims to have offered everyone in the groups identified as most vulnerable -- including all those over 70 and frontline health and social care workers -- a first vaccine dose by mid-February.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said earlier this month that vaccines would be offered to every adult in the UK "by the autumn."

Pandemic handling judged

A new poll from the Pew Research Center, conducted in November and December, finds widely differing views in the four nations surveyed -- the United States, Germany, France and the UK -- about their own country's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Just 41% of Americans approve of how their country is handling the pandemic, a new survey from the Pew Research Center finds. Asked simply whether the country is doing a bad or a good job, 58% of those polled came down in the "bad" category.

Meanwhile, Germans overwhelmingly approve of their country's handling of the pandemic, with 77% rating it as "good." In France, 54% of those polled approve of their country's handling and in the UK, 48% did.

The survey of 4,000 adults across the four countries also found that 74% of Americans say the pandemic is affecting their everyday lives a great deal or a fair amount, up from 67% in June.

"Only in Germany do fewer than half of those surveyed say the coronavirus has changed their life, while 52% say their life has not changed much or not changed at all," Pew said.

But people in all four countries are optimistic about future pandemics. In the US, 67% say they feel optimistic about the country's ability to handle future crises. In Germany, 77% do, while in the UK that figure stands at 68% and in France at 60%.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Can you mix vaccines? UK trial aims to find out"



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According to information published by the U.S. Department of Defense on February 5, 2021, the U.S. State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Chile of Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) Block IIIA Missiles and related equipment for an estimated cost of $85.0 million.

According to information published by the U.S. Department of Defense on February 5, 2021, the U.S. State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Chile of Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) Block IIIA Missiles and related equipment for an estimated cost of $85.0 million.

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Chilean Navy Capitan Prat FFG 11 Adelaide-class frigate. (Picture source Pinterest)

The Government of Chile has requested to buy up to sixteen (16) Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) Block IIIA missiles (rail launched) (including two (2) missiles with manufacturer installed telemeter); two (2) MK 89 Mod 0 Guidance Sections; and one (1) Target Detection Device Kit (including shroud), MK 45 Mod 14. Intermediate Level Maintenance Facility; spare parts and associated containers; personnel training and training equipment; publications and technical data; U.S. Government and contractor technical assistance and other related logistics support including ordnance handling equipment; and other related elements of logistics and program support. The total estimated program cost is $85.0 million.

The Standard Missile-2 also called RIM-66 is a medium-range surface-to-air missile (SAM), also used as an anti-ship missile, originally developed for the United States Navy (USN) by the American company Raytheon.

The SM-2 missile is all solid-fueled and tail controlled, designed to launch from either a Mk 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) or Mk 26 Guided Missile Launching System (GMLS). The SM-2 variants include radar seeker technologies in continuous wave and interrupted continuous wave guidance modes, tail controls, and solid rocket motor propulsion to engage high-speed maneuvering threats and updated radar targeting and directional warhead

The Block III missiles differ from earlier blocks by the addition of the MK 45 MOD 9 target detecting device, for improved performance against low altitude targets. The Standard SM-2 Block IIIA is a Block III follow-on capable of lower flying target engagements. It features a new optimized warhead.

The principal contractor will be Raytheon Missiles and Defense, Tucson, Arizona. There are no known offset agreements in connection with this potential sale. Implementation of this proposed sale will not require the assignment of any additional U.S. Government or contractor representatives to Chile.

This proposed sale would support Chiles anti-air warfare capabilities for the two recently transferred former Adelaide-class frigates to the Chilean Navy. Chile will have no difficulty absorbing the equipment and services into its armed forces.

The Adelaide is a class of guided missile frigates constructed in Australia and the United States of America for service in the Royal Australian Navy. Currently, two ships are in service with the Chilean Navy including the Almirante Latorre FFG 14 and the Capitan Prat FFG 11.

The Adelaide-class frigate is armed with Mk 41 VLS (Evolved Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missile) Mk 13 missile launcher (40-missile magazine, Harpoon, and SM-2 (MR) anti-ship missiles), one OTO Melara 76 mm naval gun, one 20 mm Mk 15 Vulcan Phalanx, and two triple 324 mm Mk 32 torpedo tubes.

KILLINGWORTH  A brown pelican rescued from the wintry waters of the Connecticut River last week flew south Thursday. But not under his own wing-power.

Christine Cummings, co-founder of A Place Called Hope in Killingworth, got up at 4 a.m. Thursday to put the shore bird on a small, private plane that flew out of Meriden Markham Municipal Airport at 6 a.m.

Pilots and members of Spirit of Meriden Flight Club, mother and daughter Laurie and Ariana Strand, were flying the plane to Jupiter, Fla., to the birds new home.

The waterbird will live in its natural habitat at Busch Wildlife Sanctuary.

While the bird wasnt flying first class, it was housed in a soft crate, with plate warmers underneath and surrounded in fleece, Cummings said.

Cummings cared for the lone pelican, a native of warmer climes, nearly around the clock for about a week  feeding him warm fluids and food every three hours. The bird was suffering from hypothermia and the early stages of frostbite when it was found.

Im exhausted, Cummings said, laughing, about the care and feeding of the bird that consumed some 4 pounds of fish daily with its 11-inch bill.

Cummnings also played ocean sounds  complete with crashing waves and gulls crying  on a sound machine to make the pelican feel more at home at the rescue center, which mostly cares for injured or sick raptors and local birds.

I think it helps them  I think its calming, she said about the familiar sounds of the pelicans habitat.

While under her care, the pelican was slowly warmed with heat disks that were placed beneath his crate and warm fluids that were fed via tube.

Slow warming was key, she noted. You cant throw him into hot. Its hard enough on the system to shut down and a strain on the system to restart, she said.

To get the bird back to eating, Cummings fed him live minnows  about a pound per day  part of his daily 4-pound intake of fish.

That was a snack, an appetizer, Cummings joked. Indeed, she posted a 17-second video of the bird scarfing down the live fish through its bill. What I needed was the live fish to stimulate him to eat and to keep his mood elevated.

Cummings said she will be living with the smell of fish for a while.

She sounded tired but pleased with the whole experience and its happy conclusion.

I feel very privileged and honored to work with that species. If anyone (another pelican) ever ends up here, Ill know whats in store.

Now hes gone, we can enjoy him, she said about her memories.

The pelican has had a long, interesting trip up north here. DEEP officers rescued the stranded bird Jan. 27 after Andy Griswold of Connecticut Audubon Society Eco-Travel tracked down the bird from cove to cove in Essex and finally found it listing against a dock in the icy river. Griswold first learned about the unusual pelican sighting from a Facebook post.

The pelican most likely was blown off course from the area off Virginia Beach, due to a storm at sea, Griswold said.

Once the bird was found, Audubon Society Executive Director Patrick Comins coordinated the rescue with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and contacted A Place Called Hope.
Investigators believe the partner of a missing Epping mother is intentionally avoiding police contact and may have travelled interstate.

Ju Zhang, also known as Kelly, was last seen about 5pm on Monday, February 1 at the Winchester Avenue home she shares with her eight-year-old son.

Police say Ju Zhangs disappearance is extremely out of character.

Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper said she had been described as a loving mother who would never disappear on her son.

The 33-year-old was without shoes and wearing a pink pyjama top and shorts when she was last seen. She had no personal belongings with her other than her mobile phone, which has not been located.
Kisan Andolan Committee (KAC) leader Jagtar Singh Bajwa on Saturday said the 'Chakka Jaam' will be peaceful, and it is government's responsibility to ensure that no anti-social elements create violence.

"Our entire protest so far has been peaceful. The whole farmer fraternity wants to peacefully organise 'Chakka Jaam'. But the government has to ensure, with the help of its agencies and security forces to prevent rowdy elements are conspiring to create violence, it should be prevented."

"We will organise 'Chakka Jaam' everywhere in the country barring Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand as Tikait announced last evening. We will register our protest against farm laws in front of authorities in these two states by submitting the memorandum," he added.

He further said that people from protest camps have gone back to their villages to ensure peace during 'Chakka Jaam' in their regions.

Around 50,000 personnel of Delhi Police, Paramilitary and Reserve Forces have been deployed in the Delhi-NCR region to maintain law and order. At least 12 metro stations have also been put on alert. Heavy deployment of police personnel was also seen at the Red Fort.

Farmer unions on Monday announced a countrywide 'Chakka Jaam' on February 6 from 12 pm to 3 pm.

Farmers have been protesting at different borders of the capital since November 26 last year against the three newly enacted farm laws: Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

(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 Securities and Exchange Commission charged Stephen Scott Moleski (a/k/a Steve Scott) and David Michael with fraud in connection with an investment adviser and private fund enterprise they operated. The SEC also charged Moleski, Michael, and their agent, Erik Christian Jones, with engaging in unregistered offerings of securities and acting as unregistered brokers.

According to the SEC's complaint, during 2018 and 2019, Moleski, Michael, and Jones solicited investors to purchase securities offered by a pair of unaffiliated companies. As alleged, approximately 30% of the funds raised from investors in connection with these two securities offerings were paid, directly or indirectly, to the defendants as commissions. The complaint alleges that none of the defendants were registered as broker-dealers or affiliated with registered broker-dealers at the time. The complaint also alleges that Moleski and Michael, operating through various business entities, acted as investment advisers in connection with three private investment funds that they and their agents, such as Jones, offered and sold to investors beginning in 2019. Moleski and Michael, the complaint alleges, misled investors into believing that the monies investors entrusted to Moleski and Michael would be invested in one or more securities. According to the complaint, however, very little of the money was invested; the complaint alleges that Moleski and Michael instead misappropriated the money and used it to pay personal and business expenses, including sales commissions to agents such as Jones.

The SEC's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, charges Moleski and Michael with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933; Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder; and Sections 206(1), 206(2), and 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and 206(4)-8 thereunder, and also charges Moleski, Michael, and Jones with violating the registration provisions of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act and the broker-dealer registration provisions of Section 15(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act. The complaint also names certain business entities associated with Moleski and/or Michael as relief defendants.

The SEC seeks injunctions, disgorgement plus prejudgment interest, and civil penalties against the defendants, and disgorgement plus prejudgment interest from the named relief defendants.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by James Thibodeau and was supervised by Amy Oliver. The litigation will be led by Casey Fronk.

The SEC encourages investors to check the background of anyone selling or offering them an investment using the free and simple search tool on Investor.gov.
Jaipur, Feb 6 : Farmers in Rajasthan blocked many national and state highways for three hours on Saturday, from 12pm to 3 pm, demanding the withdrawal of three farm laws and protesting against the internet ban near their protest sites and alleged harassment by authorities, among other issues.

The Congress government had already extended its support to farmers. Following orders from the AICC, Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasara on Friday directed all party officials to fully cooperate in making the highway jam a success, after which Congress leaders took to the streets for the chakka jam.

The protests started around 12 noon. In Jaipur, tractors were placed on roads to jam the traffic while in Alwar, stones and thorny shrubs were placed on roads to check the traffic on roads.

In Kota, a massive tractor rally was taken out.

The Delhi-Jaipur highway was completely blocked as the lane passing through the Shahjahanapur border (Alwar) was also closed around 11 am in morning. It shall remain closed till 3 pm, said farm leaders.

Former deputy CM Sachin Pilot, who started a kisaan mahapanchayat on Friday from Dausa, reached Bharapur on Saturday to address a farmers' gathering as a part of this chakka jam protest.

Many associations extended their support in making the chakka jam a success in Rajasthan. A 50-member delegation of advocates came at the protest site from Shri Ganganagar and donated Rs 80,000 for langar.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
In this Jan. 27, 2021, file photo, Nepalese doctor receives receives the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, at Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal. India has gifted neighbors, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, with more than 5 million doses. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha, File)

With coronavirus cases still climbing, Honduras got tired of waiting to get vaccines through a United Nations program, so the small Central American country struck out on its own, securing the shots through a private deal.

Honduras "cannot wait on bureaucratic processes or misguided decisions" to give citizens "the peace of mind" offered by the COVID-19 vaccine, said Juan Carlos Sikaffy, president of the Honduran Private Business Council, which helped complete the purchase by providing a bank guarantee.

Other nations are getting impatient too. Unlike past disease outbreaks, where less wealthy countries have generally waited for vaccines to be delivered by the U.N. and other organizations, many are now taking matters into their own hands. Experts are increasingly concerned that these go-it-alone efforts could undermine a U.N.-backed program to get COVID-19 shots to the neediest people worldwide.

Countries including Serbia, Bangladesh and Mexico recently began vaccinating citizens through donations or commercial dealsan approach that could leave even fewer vaccines for the program known as COVAX, since rich countries have already snapped up the majority of this year's supply.

Led by the World Health Organization, a coalition for epidemic preparedness known as CEPI and a vaccine alliance called GAVI, COVAX was created to distribute COVID-19 vaccines fairly. Countries can join either to buy vaccines or to get donated shots.

This Jan. 21, 2021, photograph provided by the High Commission of India, Dhaka, shows boxes of COVID-19 vaccines arriving in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Countries including Serbia, Bangladesh and Mexico recently began vaccinating citizens through donations or commercial dealsan approach that could leave even fewer vaccines for the program known as COVAX, since rich countries have already snapped up the majority of this year's supply. (High Commission of India in Bangladesh via AP)

Mustaqeem De Gama, a diplomat at the South African mission in Geneva, cited "a level of desperation" fueled by spreading virus variants and "the uncertainty of when any COVAX vaccines might arrive." He doubted that countries that signed up for COVAX "will even get 10% of what they require."

Even if the effort succeeds, COVAX's stated goal is to vaccinate less than 30% of people in poor countries, meaning that governments must seek other sources to obtain enough shots to achieve herd immunity.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said his country was forced to cut its own deals after watching rich countries scramble for the scarce shots. He criticized nations that, he said, bought more doses than they needed.

"It's as if they intend to vaccinate all their cats and dogs," he said.

Although Serbia paid 4 million euros to COVAX last year, it has not yet received any shots and last month began its immunization campaign with vaccines from Pfizer, China's Sinopharm and Russia.

In this Feb. 1, 2021, file photo, South African law enforcement vehicles provide security for two refrigeration trucks transporting the AstraZeneca vaccine that arrived earlier from India, near Johannesburg. Some countries are getting tired of waiting to get vaccines through a United Nations program, so they are striking out on their own. To ensure South Africans got doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine quickly, government officials reluctantly agreed to pay a higher price per shot than Europe or North America. (AP Photo/Alet Pretorius, File)

Recent manufacturing delays in Europe raise concerns about whether drugmakers will be able to fulfill the multiplying orders.

"There are so many deals being signed that I think it's hard to see how the numbers could possibly add up for all the doses ordered to actually be produced in the foreseeable future," said Amanda Glassman, a public health expert and executive vice-president of the Center for Global Development.

Last week, the African Union completed a deal for 400 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, to be produced by the Serum Institute of India. That's on top of a previously negotiated African Union deal for 270 million doses from several pharmaceutical companies and in addition to the 600 million doses Africa expects to receive from COVAX.

Some experts warn that these new deals could move COVAX further to the back of the line, especially if some countries are willing to pay a premium for speed.

In this Jan. 29, 2021, file photo, Sri Lankan nursing staff administer COVID-19 vaccines to front-line health workers in Colombo, Sri Lanka. India has gifted neighbors, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, with more than 5 million doses. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, File)

To ensure South Africans got doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine quickly, government officials reluctantly agreed to pay a higher price per shot than Europe or North America. The first shipments arrived this week.

COVAX hopes to start sending its first vaccine batches to Africa later this month, but those plans are subject to change depending on manufacturers' production capacities and countries' immunization plans.

Mexico began vaccinating health workers in December because of a direct purchase agreement with Pfizer, but progress has been slow. In recent weeks, the country gave emergency approval to Russia's Sputnik V vaccine but said the first batches weren't due until sometime later this month.

Kate Elder, senior vaccines policy adviser at Doctors Without Borders, said developing countries should not be criticized for securing private vaccine deals since that is precisely what rich countries did last year.

In this Dec. 30, 2020, file photo, health workers and soldiers stand in line for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19 at the N-1 military base in Mexico City. Countries including Serbia, Bangladesh and Mexico recently began vaccinating citizens through donations or commercial dealsan approach that could leave even fewer vaccines for the program known as COVAX, since rich countries have already snapped up the majority of this year's supply. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)

"Every country is just doing what it feels it needs to do to protect their people," she said, but the ability of poor countries and regions to get vaccine faster than COVAX could hurt future U.N. efforts.

"If countries are getting vaccines on their own, then how are WHO and GAVI delivering for them?" she asked.

Although India is contracted to provide COVAX with several hundred million doses of vaccine, the shots have not yet been authorized by the WHO, meaning India cannot release them for the U.N. program. In the meantime, India has already gifted neighbors, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, with more than 5 million doses.

Dr. Haritha Aluthge of Sri Lanka's Government Medical Officers' Association, called for the WHO to intervene amid the intense competition for vaccines and the failure of COVAX to deliver.

In this Jan. 21, 2021, file photo, Nepalese airport ground staffs pull a trolly full of boxes containing AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine, manufactured under license by Serum Institute of India, arrive at Tribhuwan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal. India sent 1 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine to Nepal on Thursday, a gift that is likely to help repair strained ties between the two neighbors. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha, File)

"Not a single dose (from COVAX) has been received," Aluthge said.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned recently that the world is on the brink of a "catastrophic moral failure" if COVID-19 vaccines are not distributed fairly, but the agency has no authority to force rich countries to share.

Its entreaties for countries to act in solidarity have mostly been ignored.

Norway is the only country that said it would send vaccines to developing countries as its own citizens are immunized, but it has not specified how many would be donated. Britain said it would not divert any vaccines until it finishes its own immunization program. Australia, which has mostly stamped out COVID-19, has no timeline for when it might share vaccines with its poorer neighbors in southeast Asia and the Pacific islands.

In this Jan. 27, 2021, file photo, a Nepalese health worker, right, instructs another on administering COVID-19 vaccine at Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal. Neighboring India gifted Nepal 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine manufactured under license by the Serum Institute of India. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha, File)

In this Dec. 24, 2020, file photo, a health worker is vaccinated for COVID-19 at the General Hospital in Mexico City. Countries including Serbia, Bangladesh and Mexico recently began vaccinating citizens through donations or commercial dealsan approach that could leave even fewer vaccines for the program known as COVAX, since rich countries have already snapped up the majority of this year's supply. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)

In this Dec. 23, 2020, file photo, the first shipment of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is unloaded from a DHL cargo plane at the Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City. Countries including Serbia, Bangladesh and Mexico recently began vaccinating citizens through donations or commercial dealsan approach that could leave even fewer vaccines for the program known as COVAX, since rich countries have already snapped up the majority of this year's supply. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)

In this Jan. 29, 2021, file photo, Sri Lankan health workers leave after receiving COVID-19 vaccines in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The island nation has received 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine donated by India and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, File)

The unrelenting pressure on the world's vaccine supplies might only lift when more shots prove successful, said Krishna Udayakumar, director of the Duke Global Health Institute.

"COVAX is the only global, multilateral platform to enable something close to global access and equity, and yet, it has access to a relatively small amount of vaccines," he said. "The only way out is to have more vaccines."

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Despite discussions around 'quarantine hotels' for travellers entering the country without a negative Covid-19 test to undertake a mandatory 14 day isolation period, no plans for such a facility have yet been put in place at Rosslare Europort according to gardai.

While quite a few of the ships arriving in Rosslare from the continent are freight only at the moment, there is a small amount of passenger travel on board the Irish Ferries and Stena Line services to Wales.

Since January 16, it's become a legal requirement for travellers wishing to enter the country to provide a negative Covid PCR test, taken a maximum of 72 hours before undertaking their journey. This is something that will now be checked by gardai upon entry at the Europort and last week, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris paid a visit to the Wexford port to see for himself how effective policing has been in the wake of hugely increased traffic.

Chief Superintendent for the Wexford Garda Division Denis Ferry says that garda resources at the port have recently been expanded and that the additional manpower will definitely be required going forward.

'There's obviously been a huge increase in traffic in the port in recent weeks,' he said. 'I think we have 16 ferries coming and going now. From our point of view, immigration wise we'll be making sure everybody is doing their duties. There's now a need for a negative Covid test on entry, so we will be checking for that. If you don't have a negative Covid test, you will be brought aside for interview about your travel plans etc.'

Chief Supt Ferry says that there hasn't been too many incidents since legal requirements changed in recent weeks and that Irish nationals returning to the country from the UK are merely 'advised' of their obligations to isolate.

'Currently, we're just seeing a lot of Irish nationals and they are advised to isolate at home themselves,' he said. 'At the moment, it's very much about advising people. I think people now know of the obligation to have a valid Covid test and I think this will once again result in people not travelling unless it's absolutely essential.'

The new legislation says that passengers who arrive in an Irish airport or sea port without evidence of a negative/'not detected' test result, or a valid exemption, commit an offence and may be subject to prosecution, punishable by a fine not exceeding 2,500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both.

However, truck drivers and other transport workers are exempt from this, although to enter France they are required to return a clear Covid antigen test. Test centres to provide this became operational last week at Holmestown and off the M11 in Gorey.

Chief Supt. Ferry said that he was unaware of any plans to set up a 'quarantine hotel' or facility in Rosslare for those who enter the country without a negative PCR test, but he presumes that this may be subject to change.

With an increase in ferries to mainland Europe, another topic of concern for gardai will be people attempting to gain access to the country illegally.

'We'll just be making sure we do our job as always, immigration and security wise,' Chief Supt. Ferry said. 'I won't comment specifically for operational reasons, but I suppose we've always seen people attempt to come in via Rosslare. The more routes that are available, the more opportunity there is for them. This is something that we have to manage and everyone involved, including the ferry operators and staff at the ports, will work together on this.'

Meanwhile, the Chief Superintendent said that compliance had been quite good in Wexford in terms of people sticking to their 5km limit apart from essential journeys.

'I think last weekend we may have seen 10 or 15 fines handed out,' he said. 'Wexford's numbers are actually quite low. It's all about checking and engaging with people and turning them back where required. You will get the odd person that just will not listen and it's only in these cases that fines are issued.'

Garda checkpoints have remained a constant presence on certain roads around Wexford since Level 5 lockdown has been in place.

Millions of people suffer from respiratory problems, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Some natural therapy devices out there are outdated and not everyone with those conditions can use them. After consulting with those who have respiratory issues, as well as medical professionals, AirPhysio has created an award-winning Mucus Clearance Oscillating Positive Expiratory Device that helps improve your breathing by assisting your bodys natural cleaning process.

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We really want to help people breathe easier, naturally, says Paul OBrien, Managing Director of AirPhysio. We want to help turn back the decline of lung function in respiratory conditions and make sure those suffering from these conditions are educated properly, so they can gain a better understanding of their condition and how to treat it. Working with AsSeenOnTV.pro has been another opportunity that allows us to empower people to help them change their lives for the better.

"Theres no denying AirPhysios breakthrough OPEP Device has helped save lives," says Lisa Vrancken, Executive Vice President of AsSeenOnTV.pro. "Its crucial for so many."

As part of its DRTV campaign with AsSeenOnTV.pro, OPEP Device will be appearing in 60 second spots set to air nationwide and feature the original Shark himself, Kevin Harrington. AsSeenOnTV.pro is comprised of an award-winning team of producers, writers, videographers, and editors as well as industry veterans dedicated to finding the latest, most innovative products and ideas, and putting them on the DRTV map.

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Headquartered in South Florida, AsSeenOnTV.pro is a full-service production, branding, and marketing company that specializes in direct response television, short- and long-form commercials, 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. For nearly two decades, AsSeenOnTV.pros veteran staff of writers, producers, videographers, and editors has amassed more than 50 Telly Awards, thousands of prestigious clients, and over $20 million in television placements.

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For more information on the OPEP Device, please visit http://www.airphysio.com.
Tourism leaders are calling on the Andrews government to rescue ailing Melbourne hotels, attractions and experiences through a city-specific travel voucher scheme that asks regional Victorians to return the holiday favour.

The vouchers would be similar in design to those encouraging Melbourne vacationers to the regions  many of which are enjoying bumper seasons in what is becoming an increasingly stark two-speed recovery, chief executive of the Victorian Tourism Industry Council, Felicia Mariani, said.

Balloon Man chief pilot Chris Shorten said a voucher scheme to drum up Melbourne tourism was sorely needed. Credit:Chris Hopkins

Melbourne lord mayor Sally Capp and the Accommodation Association of Australia have thrown their support behind the voucher proposal as a means to pull the city, which is particularly reliant on international visitors, business travel and events, through one of its worst periods ever.

The city needs the support more than the regions at the moment, said Accommodation Association boss Dean Long. He said some country areas within three hours of a major Australian city were experiencing the best trading conditions they have in the last 50 years.

Admin gears up as Hisar farmers get set to protest today

Punjab MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu hoists black flag at his residence in support of protesting farmers

Internet suspended again at borders where farmers are protesting

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 06: Internet has been suspended again at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur on a day the farmers held the three hour long chakka jam.

The suspension of internet services has been announced in the interest of maintaining public safety and averting public emergency, the order said. The Tikri, Ghazipur and Singhu areas come under the purview of the suspension order.

The first such order was issued on January 26, when the farmers led a violent tractor march. Similar orders were passed in Haryana and Punjab as well on January 26.

Chakka jam: No untoward incident, but farmers block several highways

On Thursday National Security Advisor met with Union Home Minister, Amit Shah amidst the farmer protests and the propaganda by few foreign personalities.

Delhi's police commissioner, S N Srivastava was also at the meeting with the Home Minister along with the NSA.

Shah also with Intelligence Bureau chief, Arvind Kumar. The meeting takes place in the wake of the chakka jam call by the farmers on February 6.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, February 6, 2021, 15:52 [IST]
A pair of paper-folding enthusiasts in Brazil broke a Guinness World Record when they combined their efforts to create a display featuring 1,010 origami dogs.

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Sao Paulo residents Danilo Schwarz and Meire Matayoshi used the Japanese paper-folding art form to create the 1,010 dogs in colors including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and purple.

The duo said it took them 60 days to fold all of the origami dogs and arrange them into the color-coordinated display.

Matayoshi, who is of Japanese descent, is a professional origamist and instructed Schwarz, who had very little experience with the art form, on how to create a perfect origami dog.

The pair said they hope their display of origami dogs will bring awareness to the large number of homeless dogs in Brazil.
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SANTA FE  The sponsors of a proposal to establish a state Civil Rights Act said Friday that a new version of the bill will include a $2 million cap on damages  a change intended to address the financial concerns of cities and counties.

But supporters of the bill also made it clear they arent necessarily convinced the financial fears are justified.

In an online news conference, retired state Supreme Court Justice Richard Bosson said he and other members of a commission that worked on the bill sought testimony from insurance agents and government officials about the financial impact of the legislation.

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And they made changes to reflect that input, including a prohibition on punitive damages. The new version of the bill will also include a $2 million cap on overall damages.

I dont know how they can still argue the sky is falling, Bosson said.

Cities and counties were evaluating the new version Friday. They have previously raised concern about increased costs borne by taxpayers and argued it would be better to pursue preventative measures  such as better training  to curb government wrongdoing.

The proposal, House Bill 4, is set for a hearing Monday before the House Judiciary Committee, which will consider whether to send it on to the full House.

The measure would establish a New Mexico Civil Rights Act, allowing plaintiffs to file a lawsuit in state court against a public body to recover damages for violations of their rights under the state Constitution.

Government agencies already can be sued in federal court for violating the U.S. Constitution, and plaintiffs can recover monetary damages if theyre successful. But New Mexico doesnt have a similar state law allowing the recovery of damages in state court for violations of the state Constitution.

The state tort claims act allows certain claims, though damages are capped at a little over $1 million.

In federal court, meanwhile, defendants can employ the legal doctrine of qualified immunity, a standard that makes it easier to win dismissal of a suit. The proposed Civil Rights Act prohibits qualified immunity as a defense against claims filed under the act.

Rep. Georgene Louis, an Albuquerque Democrat and co-sponsor of the legislation, said the new version would help address the financial fears of governments while leveling the playing field in court.

For many New Mexicans who have had their rights violated, she said, it is very much a David and Goliath situation.
LET'S PLAY A GAME: This Monopoly board shows how gentrified Third Ward is

Tenants of Barbee Street Apartments, a 16-unit apartment complex at 2210 and 2216 Barbee Street, received a "Notice to Vacate" last Monday informing them they had until Feb. 10 to move out, as reported by Houston Chronicle's Anna Bauman. At that time, the new owner is set to begin renovations and will cut off all utilities.

Longtime residents are now struggling to find new and affordable housing on short notice and with few resources.

Youre in business to make money, I understand that  but its about how you treat people, said resident John McClenon, as reported by Bauman. At least try to be fair about it.

Rocket House Buyers owner Ehab Shoukry said he isn't to blame, as the current owner should have given residents more notice. He is now working with a local church to help residents find nearby affordable housing and has offered to give them financial assistance.

The property is in violation of multiple housing codes and must be fully renovated, according to Shoukry.

Concerns of gentrification and eviction out aren't new to Third Ward residents. A 2019 survey of more than 1,600 residents published by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy found that majority of residents were "extremely concerned" about a local loss of African American culture and nearly one-third were worried about being forced to relocate within the next year.

HIT HARD: Study shows Black, Hispanic students have been hit hardest by COVID school closures

Residents hoping to avoid the push say they have few options.

I dont see this as gentrificaton, said Shoukry, per Bauman. I see it as improving the property values, improving the look of the area, because a lot of these properties were buying are abandoned properties.

Frankie Johnson, a local resident now living with his sister after nearly a dozen years in the Third Ward, disagrees. He shared with Bauman that he "knew this would happen" after the brand new four-story LGBTQ affirming affordable housing complex and townhomes went up down the block.

Theyre trying to bring suburb people back in," Johnson told Bauman.

Bauman reported that the deadline for residents to vacate the Barbee Street property has since been extended to Feb. 25.
A portrait of Kilkenny campaigner Vicky Phelan has raised over 55,000 at auction for frontline workers.

The triptych portrait by artist Vincent Devine was auctioned by Sheppard's Irish Auction House and all proceeds , including the donation of Sheppards auctioneer fees, brings the total to over 55,000 which will go directly to Heroes Aid a charity supporting frontline healthcare workers.

Vicky, who is from Mooncoin, who is currently undergoing treatment for her cancer in the US said she is thankful for the generosity shown and shared a special story behind the man who bought the painting.

"The painting was bought by a very, very close friend of my family, David Brennan.

David wanted to buy the painting to thank my parents, John and Gaby Kelly, for being so good to him when he was a young lad. David practically lived in our house when he was a teenager. His hope for the painting is that it will be made publicly available to the people of Ireland and that it will continue to do good and raise awareness for cancer and will keep my candle lit for generations to come," she said.
A tech entrepreneur, who is determined to live for 180 years, claims his bizarre strategies will soon be as popular as cell phones. Dave Asprey firmly believes one of the keys to living longer is skipping breakfast. The American lifestyle guru has asserted that he can at least live to the year 2153 by using a variety of techniques, including a cold cryotherapy chamber sitting and intermittent-fasting. The 47-year-old millionaire devised the term 'Biohacking' to detail his methods of turning back the biological clock. In an effort to survive for as long, Dave has spent over $1,000,000 on hacks and techniques to improve the overall functioning of his body. He has parts of his bone marrow removed to re-inject his own stem cells back into his body.

Appearing on ITVs This Morning today, he joined host Holly Willoughby for a virtual conversation. Holly quizzed Dave why he wants to live so long, to which he replied that as a curious person, he feels there is a lot in the world that can be fixed and improved that he thinks he has not done yet. Dave confirmed that some of the things he wants to pioneer are expensive. However, there are other ways that are free of cost like fasting.

Dave also speculated that after applying his methods for longer life, people under 40 will be 'happy and highly functional' over a 100-years-old. He stated that he won't be the only one as his wife both is also racing to get to 180 years old. In comparison to others, Dave has set himself up for much less inflammation by controlling what he eats and how he sleeps, besides several other anti-ageing treatments. Explaining the benefits of reintroducing his own stem cells in his body, he said people heal when they are young. With age, the stem cells of the body get exhausted, so he opts for ways which gives him more stem cells.

Dave also follows cryotherapy, which is also known as cold therapy. It involves using low temperatures to treat a variety of tissue lesions. He is also taking cold showers for more than ten years. Dave uses another technique to live a long life known as intermittent fasting. This involves controlling the number of times that one eats meals to create periods of fasting over a certain period. According to Dave, it helps in disease prevention as fasting periods lets his body to 'repair itself' while not digesting food.
The company, which does a Rs 3,500 crore business in the country, recently appointed India CEO Sandeep Kataria as its global head. Kataria, who had taken over as India head in 2017 and under whom Bata India's profits rose 46 per cent, tells Ajita Shashidhar how India's diverse footwear consumption habits have given him a unique understanding of customer needs across the globe. Edited excerpts:

It will be interesting to know what the pandemic has taught you ...

The pandemic has been a great learning experience. The first is the huge effort of the team to ensure that our stores are open and our supply chain fully functional despite working remotely. The huge collaboration has flattened the organisation in many ways. The other part is ability to take innovations forward. The organisation has shown tremendous agility. We have launched store-on-wheels to get close to consumers, and WhatsApp calling, through which our people have been able to reach out to Bata Club members and meet their requirements at home, apart from new collections such as washable footwear. The pandemic has shown us organisation muscles we were not aware of. It will put the company in a great position to go forward.

What did you tell your team when operations came to a halt and business began to shrink?

When the pandemic first broke out, the most important thing was to ensure that everyone was safe, and more importantly, aware of what was going on in the organisation. That was a period of over-communication, having town-halls with our managers across the country every fortnight, every functional leader reaching out to their teams at least twice a week to make sure they knew what was happening and how we were moving ahead. We said there would be phases, and the first phase was survival. Then came revival. We started reaching out to consumers. Then there was the revitalise phase, when we said we can see footfalls, so how can we expand our reach, how can we get closer to consumers? We are in the revitalise phase, getting sharper, getting our act on products and channels right. Our ability to bring in learnings from several markets and use some of those in India helped us plan for the future.

You talked about the pandemic helping you flatten the organisation. Can you elaborate?

When you are working in a physical environment, the number of people you can reach out to is limited. Let me give you an example. Pre-Covid town-halls had people only from our head-office in Gurgaon as we could accommodate only 100-150 people. When we went into the new world, all our 1,100 managers, across locations, could hear me at the same time.

Did those town-halls generate ideas for some of your recent innovations?

The ideas came from everywhere, from our team's experiences, from other markets of Bata. The idea for store-on-wheels came from an experience one of the managers had when his friend said his elderly parents in Bangalore needed footwear and if there was a way to deliver at their home. We started with a test in Gurgaon, but within three weeks, were active in 40 cities and putting up 170 stores every week. WhatsApp calling started in Indonesia where lockdown started earlier than in India.

What kind of innovations have you come out with in past few months?

There are three-four big innovations that we started to work on this year, two of which we did in the midst of the lockdown, and rolled them out in the beginning of the unlock phase. The first was the washable collection. We also launched the work-from-home collection, easy to put on, comfortable footwear. Though Bata is synonymous with comfort, we took it forward by saying we will also deliver to homes. We also said that footwear could play a role in how one turns up in the video call.

We also launched an anti-bacterial range. We had introduced this for children last year. It had a natural anti-bacterial agent. We forayed into masks too. Initially, we made masks for our factory workers and also supplied to Kolkata Police personnel close to our Batanagar factory and ESIC hospital workers and then ramped up production to sell in the stores as well.

Has the pace of innovations increased during the pandemic?

The innovation cycle has become shorter. The overall need is in line with the demand. I wouldn't say the overall pace or quantum has been too different but speed and agility has been higher. The innovations are based less on seasonal and fashion trends and more in response to consumer needs.

Rural and Tier II/III markets have shown higher resilience compared with metro markets for most businesses. What kind of trends is the footwear sector witnessing?

Demand came faster in Tier III/IV markets for us too because metro consumers worked from home for a longer period. But metro markets bounced back during the festival season. The interest in smaller towns is continuing. In towns with population of 50,000-3,00,000, where we have franchise stores, the interest is much higher. Our franchise partners are showing interest in opening second and third stores.

You mentioned that you entered into a lot of partnerships during the pandemic. Can you give us some details?

There have been several, one being taking our digital play to the next level. For example, we were able to put in a simple feature on our app and WhatsApp that helped buyers check their footwear size by using the smartphone camera. We were able to find a start-up which developed and integrated the feature with our website.

An omni-channel strategy is a must-have today. However, companies with traditional DNA have been finding it difficult to switch. How has been your experience?

We were omni-channel prior to Covid. If you were a digital native, you could use bata.in, where we have 5,000 articles, or one of the marketplaces. If you were a digital adopter and a little hesitant to make card payments, you could do assisted ordering in stores. The pandemic allowed us to launch a WhatsApp-based ordering system. We were able to reach out to not just digital natives but also adopters. We went further down to digital novices (who are not comfortable with digital) for whom we had store-on-wheels. Our people were able to book orders through their tablets. Consumers could also use our tablets to choose.

Is business back to pre-Covid days?

We are moving up every week, slowly but steadily. A lot of our categories are back to pre-Covid numbers but there are other categories such as school shoes (40 per cent business) which are still impacted. Overall, in value terms, we are at 75-80 per cent of last year. We should get into growth towards the end of quarter one.

A lot of people think Bata is an Indian brand. It is also better known as a school shoe brand. Are you doing anything to change these perceptions?

We are extremely proud of the first part. I don't think I would want to change that. Bata's strength has always been that it is seen as a local brand in all the 70 countries where it operates. That's how we have developed the brand. We have looked at demand in respective markets and that has reflected in our products. In India, for instance, we sell a lot of open footwear like chappals and sandals, whereas in the Czech Republic, open footwear is a minuscule part of our offerings. People's belief that Bata is an Indian company is a huge strength for the brand.

Yes, it's a brand we have worn to school, but it's also a brand one buys when one starts working. We realised our customers saw us as a school shoe brand and we needed to bring a wider variety of products. Our campaign tried to change perceptions. Consumers came to check out merchandise at our stores and website. This added to our profitability.

What is the perception of Bata in the global market?

There is lot of love for the brand in the 70 countries we operate in. The brand universally stands for comfort, durability and great value for money. What we need to do even globally is to make sure that we reach out to millennials. We are market leaders in most of the markets where we operate.

What are the lessons from the Indian market that you intend to take with you?

The past three years have given me fantastic introduction to the footwear industry. The best part about the Indian market is the diverse learning. Right now, we have cold in hills in the North, while temperatures in several other parts of the country are high. The footwear needs are quite different. This will help me understand the diverse needs of consumers in various countries.

What kind of investments are you planning to make in India in the months to come?

The investment decision will depend on needs through the year. It will depend on market conditions and the way demand picks up.

@ajitashashidhar
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Months after winning praise from Connecticut legislators for straight answers on his utilitys response to Tropical Storm Isaias  but criticism from some quarters for the response itself  Tony Marone is retiring as the head of Avangrids utility businesses.

His replacement is Catherine Stempien, who most recently led the Florida territories of Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy. She brings experience in hurricane response and recovery, in addition to broader legal and regulatory background.

Based in Orange under new CEO Dennis Arriola, who came on the job last summer, Avangrid lumps United Illuminating, Southern Connecticut Gas, and Connecticut Natural Gas under its Avangrids Networks subsidiary that Stempien will lead as of March 15, along with utilities in New York, Massachusetts and Maine.

In October, Avangrid installed Berkshire Gas chief Frank Reynolds to lead its electric and natural gas operations in Connecticut and Massachusetts, reporting to Marone.

Avangrid has been expanding a separate renewable energy business, that includes the Vineyard Wind and Park City Wind turbine farms planned for off the southern New England Coast.

Active on Twitter  where she styles herself a Yankee girl softened by the south alongside the #womeninpower hashtag  Stempien grew up in Simsbury before attending Dartmouth College and then studying law at Boston University. Before joining Duke in 2003, she worked as an attorney for AT&T in Basking Ridge, N.J. Her spouse Jim Bolin is a Charlotte attorney.

No woman is among the 10 senior-most executives Avangrid lists online. Three of its 14 board seats are held by women  including Pattie Jacobs, AT&Ts top executive in New England based in Boston.

Marone has spent his career with Avangrid and its predecessor companies, dating back to 1987 when he joined United Illuminating as an assistant engineer. The past year was the most demanding, after Isaias brought down power lines throughout the state.

That prompted the Connecticut General Assembly and the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to demand answers from Marone and his counterparts at Eversource Energy on why the electric utilities were not better prepared to handle a storm of that magnitude. The legislature subsequently crafted a take back the grid law that stiffens penalties on utilities if their storm response is deemed inadequate.

United Illuminating provides power for 17 communites in the New Haven and Bridgeport area.

Stempien had been on the Duke job for only a matter of months in 2018 when Hurricane Michael delivered a similar wallop in Florida, referencing the experience the following spring during a commencement ceremony at Lake Sumter State College.

After the devastating impact of Hurricane Michael over the panhandle last fall, our team did what many thought was impossible  they rebuilt the entire electric system ... in three weeks, she said. You assess the situation, put a plan together, and you start.

Includes prior reporting by Tara ONeill and Luther Turmelle.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman
Rudy Giuliani lashed out at New Yorks 77 Talk Radio WABC which recently announced that his afternoon programme would now come with a disclaimer. Giuliani had vehemently backed former US President Donald Trumps claim of fraudulent Presidential elections, claimed that Venezuelan software led to Bidens victory, tried to blame the Capitol riots on socialist group Antifa, all without evidence. Alarmed by the former New York Mayors conspiracy theories, the radio station issued a disclaimer stating that the views, assumptions and opinions expressed by Mr Giuliani and his guests are strictly their own and do not necessarily represent that of the station or its advertisers.

Read: Rudy Giuliani Won't Be Trump's Impeachment Lawyer As He Could Be A Witness

Read: Trump Now Turns Against His Lawyer Rudy Giuliani; Reportedly Refusing To Pay Legal Fees

'Rather Insulting'

However, the disclaimer attracted the ire of the Trump ally who has said it was rather insulting. I would have thought they would have told me about that before just doing what they just did. Rather insulting, he said on-air. Lampooning the radio station further he said that it was America and Not east Germany where they could curtail a persons freedom of speech.

Gives you a sense of how far this free speech thing has gone, and how they frighten everybody, the former mayor said adding, I mean, were in America, were not in East Germany. Theyve got to warn you about me? Im going to have to give that a lot of consideration. I also think putting it on without telling me  not the right thing to do. Not the right thing to do at all."

Read: Lincoln Project To Sue Rudy Giuliani Over Defamatory Remarks About Capitol Riots

Read: US: Lawyers Call For Suspension Of Rudy Giuliani's Law Licence, Demand Investigation

Giuliani, a close ally of the former President had drawn backlash for leading Trumps legal team to claim voter fraud in November elections without evidence. He also sparked a slew of negative comments after his tweet asked Trump supporters to fight light hell just before the mob attempted to take down the US Capitol complex. Last month, a group of prominent lawyers asked New Yorks judiciary to suspend Rudy Giulianis law license for making false claims in post-election lawsuits and urging Donald Trumps supporters to engage in trial by combat shortly before they stormed the US Capitol.

(Image source: AP)
Ukraine has registered around 600 cases of reinfection with coronavirus (COVID-19), Ukrainian Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said.

"Around 600 reinfections have been registered so far," Stepanov said at a meeting organized by the European Business Association on Friday.

Reinfections are registered within three to six months after the first infection, he said.

This matter will be taken into account during the vaccination campaign, in order to make the use of vaccines more efficient, Stepanov said.

To date, Ukraine has recorded a total of 1,237 million infections, 22,707 deaths, and 1.064 million recoveries since the start of the pandemic. In the past 24 hours, it has recorded 4,923 new cases, 158 deaths, and 8,185 recoveries.
Srinagar, Feb 6 : The arrest of self-styled chief of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Mustafa (LeM) on Saturday is a major success for the Jammu and Kashmir police, officials said.

The police said that in order to dismantle the structure of LeM, a front organisation of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), the efforts of Anantnag Police led to the arrest of its self-styled chief Hidayatullah Malik alias Hasnain in Jammu city by a joint team of Anantnag police and Jammu police.

The police said the first arrest in this chain was Ayaz Bhat of Anantnag from whom one pistol was recovered on January 18. On his disclosure, two more terror associates, Rayees Mir of Pampore and Shakir Itoo of Shopian, were arrested from whose possession two grenades were recovered.

Four more terror associates hailing from Anantnag were arrested and two pistols, AK-47 rounds and hand grenades were recovered from their possession.

The police said that during further course of investigation, the arrested terror associates revealed that Hidayatullah Malik was putting up in Bathindi area of Jammu and planning a major attack in Jammu city, which is the winter capital of the Union Territory of J&K.

Accordingly, a special team of Anantnag police was constituted and deputed to Jammu to launch the operation.

The police said on Saturday that at about 3:30 pm, an operation was launched with the assistance of Jammu police at the Kunjwani area in Jammu.

"During the joint operation, the said terrorist attacked the police party and tried to escape from the spot, but the team displayed exemplary discipline and dedication to apprehend him tactfully, given that the Kunjwani area in Jammu is a very crowded place. Incriminating materials, arms and ammunition, including two pistols and grenades, have been recovered from his possession," the police said.

The police also said that Malik is one of the 10 accused in a case pertaining to the detection of a powerful car bomb which was later destroyed on the spot to avert any major mishap.

Further investigation is underway.
NEW YORK (AP)  Over the course of 24 hours this week, House Republicans voted to defend a freshman conspiracy theorist with a history of violent rhetoric and a mainstream party leader who backed Donald Trump's impeachment.

The seemingly conflicting moves signal that Republican leaders, particularly in the House, are betting they can return to political power by cobbling together a coalition featuring both pro-Trump extremists and those who abhor them. The votes also suggest that Washington Republicans are unable, or unwilling, to purge far-right radicals from their party, despite some GOP leaders' best wishes.

I do think as a party, we have to figure out what we stand for, said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., warning Republicans to get away from members dabbling in conspiracy theories."

House Democrats voted Thursday to do what their Republican counterparts would not the night before, stripping first-term Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., of her committee assignments and leaving her effectively powerless to influence policymaking. The move follows outrage over Greene's use of social media to promote bigotry, anti-Semitism and violence against Democrats linked to the pro-Trump conspiracy theory group known as QAnon.

The Georgia congresswoman delivered a speech on the House floor before Thursday's vote indicating that she stopped believing in QAnon in 2018. She declined to apologize for her specific claims, which included suggesting that a wealthy Jewish family may have used space lasers to ignite California forest fires for financial gain.

I never said any of these things since I have been elected for Congress. These were words of the past, and these things do not represent me," Greene said, concluding her remarks by likening U.S. media reports to QAnon conspiracy theories.

QAnons core theory embraces the lie that Democrats are tied to a global sex-trafficking ring that also involves Satanism and cannibalism.

The GOP's high-stakes reckoning comes as the party struggles to move past Trump's norm-shattering presidency and the deadly attack on the Capitol he inspired in its final days. With Democrats now controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress, the Republican Party's political success  and maybe its survival  depends on its ability to unify its warring factions. And whether Washington Republicans like it or not, those who think like Greene make up a significant portion of the party's base.

Giddy Democrats celebrated the obvious perils of their rivals' political dilemma, particularly after all but 11 House Republicans voted to defend Greene's committee assignments on Thursday. But as they cling to a thin majority in the House and Senate, Democrats face structural challenges of their own ahead of next year's midterm elections.

Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., who leads the House Republican campaign arm, accused Democrats of focusing on Greene simply to draw attention away from President Joe Biden's left-leaning early policy moves, including those designed to fight climate change that threaten jobs in the fossil fuel industry.

This is the same QAnon playbook they tried in 2020, and they lost 15 seats," Emmer said. I promise this cycle will be even worse for them.

In a nod to the party's anxious establishment wing, House Republicans also voted by secret ballot Wednesday night to preserve Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney's place in party leadership. Trump loyalists had called for her removal after she blamed Trump for inciting last month's attack on the Capitol and voted to impeach him.

But it was the House Republicans' refusal to distance themselves from Greene that threatened to haunt the party for the foreseeable future.

Marjorie Taylor Greene will be the face of the party, the face of the midterms, the face of the extremists," said Steve Schmidt, a Republican strategist who co-founded the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, which expects to be a major player in the 2022 midterms.

At the same time, the pro-Democrat group House Majority Forward released a new television ad accusing House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of empowering extremists.

The QAnon conspiracies sound wild. But the danger is real, the narrator says in the ad, ticking down Greenes list of false claims, which include denying the authenticity of school shootings in Florida and Connecticut and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The new ad will run in McCarthys California district and on Washington, D.C., cable beginning Friday.

Republicans gave Greene a standing ovation in their closed-door caucus after she explained herself Wednesday night. McCarthy condemned her past statements but defended her right to serve on House committees.

Despite their challenges, many Republican leaders were optimistic about their political future as they see a real opportunity to seize control of at least one chamber of Congress, if not both.

History is on the GOP's side.

Democrats are clinging to a 10-seat House majority. And since 1994, the party that occupies the White House has lost no fewer than 40 seats in the first midterm election of a new presidency. The one exception is the 2002 midterms, held in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Republican strategist and former White House aide Ari Fleischer was among the optimists.

As noisy and as messy as this has been, Republicans are in a much better position now than the last time the White House went from Republican to Democrat, he said, reflecting on the 2008 transition from President George W. Bush to President Barack Obama.

That year, Democrats had much larger congressional majorities, and in the subsequent midterms, Republicans seized 63 House seats and the House majority.

Fleischer described the votes on Cheney and Greene as a key pivot point for Republicans plagued by infighting in recent weeks.

They pounded each other and got it off their chest. And Kevin McCarthy successfully walked the tight rope to get them there, Fleischer said. "It gave them the unity they need to now concentrate on taking Nancy Pelosis job."

With their party largely unified behind Biden, at least for now, Democratic leaders indicated that they would not let voters forget the Republicans' unwillingness to confront pro-Trump extremists anytime soon.

Kevin McCarthy and his Washington Republican caucus just showed theyre too weak to stand up to the violent QAnon mob that is consuming their party," said Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., who leads the House Democrats' campaign arm.

If theyre too weak to do that, he added, "they cant be trusted to get the job done for the American people.
Healthcare workers take their COVID-19 vaccinations in Singapore. (PHOTO: Reuters/Edgar Su)

SINGAPORE  The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed 25 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore as of Friday (5 February), taking the countrys total case count to 59,649.

There are two new cases of locally-transmitted infection, one from the community and one from a dormitory. The remaining 23 are imported cases.

Amongst the new cases today, 21 are asymptomatic and were detected from our proactive screening and surveillance, while four were symptomatic, said the MOH.

The community case is a 56-year-old Singaporean man who works as an import officer at Yusen Logistics and is based at Changi Cargo Megaplex 1 at 119 Airport Cargo Road. His job does not entail interaction with flight passengers.

He developed a cough on 2 February but did not seek medical attention and continued to go to work.

As he had been identified earlier as a contact of a tuberculosis (TB) case at his workplace, he went to the Tuberculosis Control Unit on 4 February for TB screening.

There, he was tested for COVID-19 after he reported his symptoms, the MOH said. His test result came back positive on the same day, and he was conveyed in an ambulance to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

His earlier test from a testing operation of airport cargo workers on 18 January had been negative for COVID-19 infection. His serological test result has come back negative, indicating that this is likely a current infection, said the MOH.

The second local infection is a 31-year-old Bangladeshi man, a work pass holder residing in a dormitory at 1 Soon Lee Street, who arrived in Singapore on 13 December last year.

He served his stay-home notice at a dedicated facility until 27 December and has not started work since his arrival here.

His swab done on 23 December during his notice was negative for COVID-19.

The man is asymptomatic, and was detected when his test taken on 4 February as part of the rostered routine testing (RRT) programme came back positive for COVID-19, said the MOH.

Story continues

His earlier test from RRT on 13 January was negative for COVID-19. His serology test has come back positive, but given the relatively long time interval between his travel and positive COVID-19 test, we have classified this case as locally transmitted, added the ministry.

The MOH also said the number of new cases in the community has increased from none in the week before to four in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from none in the week before to three in the past week.

Several new places were also added to the list of public venues visited by community cases while infectious, including White Sands and its ValuDollar outlet, Jurong Point, and Sun Plaza. Three additional trips to Northpoint, which was already on the list, were also added.

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23 imported cases, including 4-year-old girl

Among the 23 imported cases, three are Singaporeans and two are permanent residents who returned from Canada, India, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.

Two others are dependants pass holders, including a four-year-old girl, who arrived from India and the United Arab Emirates.

Four others are work pass holders who arrived from India, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Eleven cases are work permit holders who arrived from Indonesia and Myanmar, all of whom are foreign domestic workers.

The remaining case is a short-term visit pass holder who arrived from the Netherlands for a work project in Singapore.

All imported cases were placed on the stay-home notice upon their arrival here and were tested while serving their notices.

99% of total cases have recovered, 1 in ICU

With 25 more patients discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities on Friday, 59,373 cases  or 99.5 per cent of the total  have fully recovered from the infection.

Most of the 41 hospitalised cases are stable or improving, and one in the intensive care unit.

A total of 206 patients  with mild symptoms or are clinically well but still test positive  are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

Apart from 29 patients who have died from COVID-19 complications, 15 others who tested positive for the virus were determined to have died from unrelated causes, including three whose deaths were attributed to a heart attack and another four, whose deaths were attributed to coronary heart disease.

Amongst the 200 confirmed cases reported from 30 January to 5 February, 114 cases have tested positive for their serology tests, 34 have tested negative, and 52 serology test results are pending.

WATCH: Free COVID-19 vaccine in Singapore

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

Other Singapore stories:

ACS(I) student's death: Outdoor adventure education group to tighten guidelines after Safra Yishun accident

Permanent resident has status revoked after conviction for COVID-19 offences

Police alerting public to 'Hock Moon Hiong' bak kwa online scam

Jaime Teo admits to failing to ensure Twelve Cupcakes paid 7 foreign employees full salaries
Parkland student activist David Hogg has a new fight on his hands. This time hes bringing a pillow to battle.

On the same day Hogg announced his business endeavor, his name hit national news again when three of South Floridas House Republicans voted Thursday to remove Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene off congressional committees. The newly elected Greene had questioned whether the 2018 Parkland school shooting really happened, and video showed her harassing Hogg and other Parkland survivors who fought for gun control.

Hogg, 20, said he, along with Los Angeles software developer and entrepreneur William LeGate, are starting a pillow company to compete against MyPillow, the company led by Mike Lindell.

Lindell is the founder and CEO of MyPillow, whose product was pulled by several major retailers after he voiced support for former President Donald Trumps baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election.

Lindell pitched his pillows on late-night infomercials.

Hogg and LeGate are turning to social media  namely the former presidents former favorite platform: Twitter.

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William LeGate and I are going to prove that progressives can make a better pillow, run a better business and help make the world a better place while doing it., Hogg posted Thursday.

LeGate, 26, said in a video clip posted to Twitter: I dont know about you guys, but I like pillow companies that dont fund insurrections against the U.S. government.

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LeGate, a 2013 Thiel Fellow, is the CEO of PredIQt, a decentralized prediction market, according to Crunchbase. At 14, LeGate created an iOS app development company, Imagination Research Labs, after teaching himself computer coding from online Stanford courses.

People underestimate what two kids can do selling pillows, LeGate said on Twitter, adding that the pair are not looking for investors.

I am funding 100% of our pillow venture, he wrote. It will be 100% owned by me, David, & our strategic partners. We want to retain complete control so no compromises on values.

Story continues

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Hogg, whose goal for the first year seems modest: $1 million, says on Twitter the two are up for the pillow fight with the MyPillow founder.

Mike isnt going to know what hit him. This pillow fight is just getting started.

LeGate said the pair will rely on social media and are soliciting memes to push their as-yet unnamed pillow. They also havent revealed its design.

We plan to spend exactly $0 on marketing to compete against industry giants  and we will win  with MEMES!

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The feathers wont fly on Twitter, though. Lindells personal and corporate accounts were permanently banned on Twitter because of his claims that Trump won the November election, USA Today reported.
CINCINNATIBy all logic, the case of the State of Kentucky versus L.D. Management Company, which owns the Lion's Den adult store location in Upton, Kentucky, should have ended when U.S. District Judge Justin R. Walker issued his ruling in the case last April, since the issue was pretty clear: Kentucky was trying to trample Lion's Den's free speech rights by ordering the store to take down the billboard it had erected on the side of a tractor-trailer sitting on land owned by a former Lion's Den employee just off I-65, which advertised that the store could be found at the next exit off the highway.

"Kentuckys regulations are content-based restrictions on speech," the judge wrote in his Memorandum Order. "Thats because the legality of Lions Dens sign depends on what the sign says. If it refers to on-site activities, it doesnt need a permit. If it refers to off-site activities, it needs a permit, cant be mobile, and must be securely affixed to the ground."

But Kentucky's Transportation Cabinet, which has its own Office of Legal Services, wasn't having any of that. After all, no less than three sections of Kentucky's Administrative Regulations (KAR) prohibit, according to 603 KAR 10:010 Section 1(4)(m), "The erection or existence of a static advertising device ... in a protected area if the device ... [i]s mobile, temporary, or vehicular," and two other regulations contain similar prohibitions.

But it's hard to believe that the Transportation Cabinet doesn't have a hard-on for adult businesses, since as Judge Walker pointed out, "Kentucky admitted that it has no evidence that Lions Dens billboard interfered with aesthetics along I-65 in a different manner than if it referred to on-premises activities. Kentucky also admitted it has no evidence that Lions Dens billboard has distracted any driver. And rather than vindicating property owners rights, Kentucky has undermined them by denying a landowner the right to continue leasing his property to Lions Den."

However, the state decided to appeal Judge Walker's ruling nonetheless, and in arguing Kentucky's case before a Sixth Circuit panel, Transportation Cabinet attorney Kyle W. Ray argued that aside from whatever aesthetic problems the state has with the billboard, the real issue is the fact that the billboard is commercial advertising, and therefore doesn't rate as much speech protection as it would if the message being advertised were non-commercial.

According to Ray's pre-argument brief, "Kentucky adopted the statutes and regulations governing advertising devices for the following purposes: '(1) to provide for maximum visibility along interstate highways...; (2) to prevent unreasonable distraction of operators of motor vehicles; (3) to prevent confusion with regard to traffic lights, signs or signals or otherwise interfere with the effectiveness of traffic regulations; (4) to preserve and enhance the natural scenic beauty or the aesthetic features of the aforementioned interstate highways...; and (5) to promote maximum safety, comfort and well-being of the users of said highways.' Moreover, the statute distinguished between signs relating to on-premises activities, which are okay under the statute, versus signs related to off-premises activities, which are prohibitedanother thorny logic problem.

Trouble was, the Lion's Den billboard didn't violate any of Kentucky's enumerated aesthetic standards ... so Ray took a different tack in oral argument.

"This case is a commercial speech case...," Ray told the panel. "The ordinance does apply to both commercial speech and non-commercial speech, but in this case, the only speech involved is commercial speech, and because it's commercial speech, the Kentucky Billboard Act which regulates this outdoor commercial advertising device of the appellees is subject to intermediate scrutiny under Central Hudson and the seminal Supreme Court case of Metromedia vs. the City of San Diego."

Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission is a seminal commercial speech case which established four criteria for when commercial speech can be regulated. Those criteria are, briefly, 1) if the speech is untruthful or likely to deceive; 2) if the state has a substantial interest that can be achieved by regulating the speech, although 3) the restriction on the speech must directly advance the state's interest; and 4) the regulation may not censor more speech than is necessary to achieve the state's goal. However, Kentucky presented no arguments that its censorship of the Lion's Den billboard advanced any state interest.

In the Metromedia case, a divided U.S. Supreme Court reversed a California Supreme Court decision which had found that San Diego's anti-outdoor sign law was constitutional, and though the high court plurality found that San Diego's attempt to ban commercial speech on outdoor signage met the criteria set forth in Central Hudson, it noted that similar restrictions could not constitutionally be applied to non-commercial speechand in fact, two justices found the entirety of San Diego's law unconstitutional no matter what type of speech was targeted.

The other problem Ray faced before the panel was that Kentucky's ordinance made no distinction between commercial and non-commercial speech on such a non-anchored billboard, inspiring one panelist to suggest, "If they were told you're okay if you somehow put up non-commercial speech, why couldn't they do an ad, 'Lion's Den here; get off at this exit, and by the way, vote in the next election'? It's not that simple just to say it's true, the actual billboard you regulated may be just classic commercial speech, but once they know how this works, it wouldn't be very difficult to add a non-commercial speech component to it, so I'm not even sure what good this does for you. Once you decide to regulate both, of course someone's gonna say, 'Oh, I see; I can do this as long as I add some non-commercial speech?'"

Ray didn't really have an answer for that, short of admitting that the legislature could rewrite the ordinance if it wanted to, but for Lion's Den's attorney J. Michael Murray (a name quite familiar to the adult industry for, among many other cases, his work opposing the federal recordkeeping and labeling law known as 2257), the case was a basic free speech case, and under several Supreme Court cases, most notably Reed v. Town of Gilbert, such cases are to be decided using strict scrutiny, which requires that a speech restriction be justified by a compelling governmental interest, be narrowly tailored to achieve that interest as well as be the least restrictive way to achieve that interestand the Kentucky statute meets none of those criteria.

But in his argument before the panel, Murray went even further: "We think Judge Walker was correct that even under intermediate scrutiny, on this record, the statute and regulations do not satisfy even the Central Hudson decision. ... We have them [Kentucky] responding to requests for admissions indicating that none of the interests that they advance are implicated by our sign; that it doesn't distract motorists, it doesn't interfere with aesthetics; it doesn't do any of the things the statute is supposed to further, and we also asked them to produce any documents, reports, studies, anything that would support the governmental interests, and they produced nothing. They produced emails that had nothing to do with it."

In his brief to the Sixth Circuit, Murray laid out the history of the billboard, noting that Lion's Den's Director of Marketing had testified that the store needed a sign to make its presence known to travelers on the interstate, and that "the constitutionally protected message that it communicates'Lions Den Adult Superstore Exit Now'is essential to the stores ability to attract customers. More particularly, approximately 70 percent of the customers are drawn from the highway, and there are no reasonable alternative avenues of communication available to get the stores message to patrons and potential patrons as they travel along I-65." Not only that, but Murray noted that, "When the Lions Dens advertising agent contacted LaRue County officials about placing the sign there, the county officials advised that so long as the sign was located at least 90 feet off of the interstate right-of-way, it was lawful to place it there and no permit was necessary," but that later, an employee of the Transportation Cabinet told the store that the sign did not comply with Chapter 177 of Kentucky's Revised Statutes and needed to be removed.

Murray's brief goes into much detail on the various ways the Kentucky statutes restrict both commercial and non-commercial speech, both as to its location and its content, and quotes the deposition of John Devine, former policy analyst for the Transportation Cabinet's Central Office Permits Branch, and others regarding the lawfulness of a number of signs adjacent to I-65, some of which he found to be illegally placedbut the Transportation Cabinet's officers have done nothing about those.

The brief also goes into much analysis regarding billboard and other public sign cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, including most notably Thomas v. Bright, and the Sixth Circuit itself, International Outdoor, Inc. v. City of Troy Michigan, concluding that all are in concert with the Supreme Court's ruling in Reed.

Following both attorneys' arguments, the Sixth Circuit took the case under advisement and will likely issue a ruling on the matter with the next few months.

"This is an important First Amendment case," Murray told AVN. "We felt the argument went well. The panel was well prepared and asked excellent questions. We believe we have compelling arguments and remain hopeful. Now we wait for the court's decision and opinion."
A California man used video-sharing app TikTok to find the rightful owner of a package that mistakenly was delivered to his house.

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Scotty Trujillo, of Fresno, said he received a Walmart package that was damaged and had mold on it, and he saw it was addressed to Rosalind Freye.

Trujillo said he went to the address listed for Freye on the package's label, but there was no answer at the door, so he decided to try using TikTok to get her attention.

"I just said 'Hey can you help me find this person?'" Trujillo told KMPH-TV. "It's a TikTok thing, almost exclusive to TikTok. I said I'd put this out in the atmosphere out in the environment and see what happens."

Trujillo said he hoped the video would spread, but he was shocked to discover the next day that it had gone viral.

"The next thing you know, we get almost a million views the next morning. I woke up to 15,000 followers. It just started growing and growing and I'm like, she is going to have to see this," he said.

One of the comments on the video came from a woman who identified herself as Freye's niece.

Freye said her family showed her the video.

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"I saw the video and said, 'That's totally my house!'" she recalled.

Trujillo was able to connect with Freye, who had some answers as to why the box was moldy.

"It was food for the Armageddon virus," Freye said. "I had spaghetti sauce that was broken and that's why it was wet and moldy and it ate through the box."
Officials of the Electoral Commission (EC) in the Ashanti Region have begun receiving nomination forms filed by persons seeking to contest in the Council of State elections for the region.



It opened nominations for the election of regional representatives to the Council of State on Monday ahead of the poll slated for February 12, 2021.



The commission explained that every nomination must be proposed and seconded by two registered voters and supported by 20 registered voters in the region and the consent of the candidate must be endorsed.



It said copies of the nomination forms may be downloaded free of charge from the ECs website (www.ec.gov.gh) and completed in triplicate.



Benjamin Bannor-Bio, Ashanti Regional Director of the Commission, said three persons had successfully filed their nominations to contest for the Council of State regional elections and indicated that as it is required by law, every region must have a representative on the Council of State and in line with preparation from February 1 to 4 applicants had started filing.



This time they (applicants) did not have to come to our office to pick the forms but download them from our website and print them out and after completion, they submit within the stated time period.



They need to get a proposer and a seconder and 20 other persons to serve as supporters and all of them must be registered voters in the region and the candidate must also be a registered voter in the region.



So far, we have received nominations from three candidates and others are also working on completing the processes of filling the forms and filing same and one of the aspirants expressed his intention for contesting the polls, Mr Bannor-Bio disclosed.



I stand for the youth, I must say I have the course of the youth at heart because there must be a bridge of the gap between the youth, the grassroots, and the presidency again we can say that there is a lot of abandoned projects.



If I become a member of the Council of State, periodically I will meet with the Ashanti Regional Caucus of the Members of Parliament, the ministers from the region, and the Chief Executive Officers of the various agencies of the government to sit and find ways of making the region better, she stated and pleaded anonymity.

Source: The Ghanaian Times









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Delhi Police asks social media giants for information on creators of toolkit

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 06: The Delhi Police on Friday asked Google and some social media giants to provide information about email ids, URLs and certain social media accounts related to the creators of a "toolkit" shared by teen climate activist Greta Thunberg and others on Twitter in connection with the farmers' protest.

The Cyber Cell unit of the Delhi Police had on Thursday lodged an FIR against "pro-Khalistan" creators of the "toolkit" for waging a "social, cultural and economic war against the Government of India".

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Cell) Anyesh Roy said a letter has been written to Google and other entities seeking information from them about people who created these accounts and uploaded these documents including the toolkit on social media.

Khalistan, the real intent: Why demand for repeal of farm laws is just an excuse

Police said they have sought details about the email ids, domain URLs and certain social media accounts mentioned in the "toolkit". This document was uploaded through Google doc and shared later on Twitter.

Delhi metro stations to avoid amid farmers Chakka jam | Oneindia News

As of now, we are waiting for details from the concerned entities and based on information provided by them, we will proceed with the investigation further, Mr Roy said.

A senior police officer said that the original document will help the investigators in identifying the creators of the "toolkit" and the person who has shared it.

He said the document in question was created, edited and pushed by certain people and it is important to identify them since there is an "element of conspiracy".

The case against unnamed persons have been registered on charges of criminal conspiracy, sedition and various other sections of the Indian Penal Code, police said.

According to a senior Delhi Police officer, initial investigation has suggested the document's link with a pro-Khalistan group, named "Poetic Justice Foundation".

He said considering the unfolding of events in the past few days, including the violence on January 26, it has revealed "copycat execution" of the action plan mentioned in the ''''toolkit'''' which was also aimed at waging "a social, cultural and economic war against the Government of India."

The Khalistan infiltration: What we are witnessing in Delhi is exactly what SJF planned

According to police, the toolkit has a particular section which says --- digital strike through hashtags on or before January 26, tweet storms on January 23 onwards, physical action on January 26 and watch-out or join farmers march into Delhi and back to borders.

The document "toolkit" was aimed to spread disaffection and ill-will against the government of India and creating disharmony among various social, religious and cultural groups, the police added.

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Story first published: Saturday, February 6, 2021, 8:31 [IST]

Secretary-General pledged Friday that the will do everything it can to unite the community and create conditions for the military coup in to be reversed.

The UN chief told a news conference it is absolutely essential to carry out the Security Council's calls for a return to democracy, respect for the results of the November parliamentary elections, and release of all people detained by the military, which means the reversal of the coup that took place.

It is absolutely essential that that moves forward, and for that, I believe, we need to have all possible areas of pressure to make it happen, Guterres said.

Myanmar's military announced Monday on the eve of the meeting of new Parliament that it will take power for one year, accusing leader Aung San Suu Kyi's government of not investigating allegations of voter fraud in the November elections, where its party did poorly.

It detained Suu Kyi, whose party swept that vote, and other lawmakers, activists, journalists and members of civil society. The election commission had refuted the military's allegations.

In its first statement following the military's takeover on Thursday, the Security Council stressed the need to uphold democratic institutions and processes, refrain from violence, and fully respect human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law.

It also emphasized the need for the continued support of the democratic transition in

Guterres said Christine Schraner Burgener, the UN special envoy for Myanmar, had a first contact Friday with the military since the coup and expressed the UN's strong opposition to the takeover.

According to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, she reiterated to Deputy Commander-in-Chief Vice Gen. Soe Win the secretary-general's strong condemnation of the military's action that disrupted the democratic reforms that were taking place in the country.

Schraner Burgener also reiterated her call for the immediate release of all detainees and emphasised the need for progress on the safe and voluntary repatriation of the Rohingya refugees, Dujarric said, calling it an important conversation.

More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled from to Bangladesh since August 2017, when the military launched a clearance operation in response to attacks by a rebel group.

The security forces have been accused of mass rapes, killings and the burning of thousands of homes. A year ago, the UN's top court, the Court of Justice, ordered Myanmar to do all it can to prevent genocide against the Rohingya, a Muslim minority.

Guterres said Schraner Burgener is also in contact with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Brunei, which chairs the 10-nation regional group, including Myanmar, issued a statement Monday noting the bloc's principles include the adherence to the principles of democracy, the rule of law and good governance, respect for and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The statement encouraged the pursuance of dialogue, reconciliation and the return to normalcy in accordance with the will and interests of the people of Myanmar, but it made no mention of any action by ASEAN to take the lead in returning Myanmar to a democratic path.

On Friday, the leaders of Malaysia and Indonesia expressed concern about the coup and asked ASEAN foreign ministers to hold a special meeting to discuss the issue.

Indonesia and Malaysia take the political situation in Myanmar seriously, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said after meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Jakarta.

This is a step backwards in Myanmar's democratic transition. We fear the political unrest in Myanmar could disturb the security and stability in this region.

Widodo also said both countries remain concerned about the Rohingya issue, saying all ASEAN members must respect the organisation's charter particularly rule of law, good governance, democracy, human rights, and constitutional government.

ASEAN's members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Guterres said the UN is also in contact with the 15-member Security Council, which is in charge of peace and security.

We will do everything we can to make the international community united in making sure that conditions are created for this coup to be reversed, the secretary-general 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.)

Australian swimming glamour couple Kyle Chalmers and Madison Wilson have reportedly called it quits on their romance for a second time.

According to The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, the athletes remain friends, as they both prepare to compete in the July Olympics.

Kyle, 22, and Madison, 26, began dating in 2015 and reunited back in 2017 following their first split.

Gone their separate ways? According to The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, Australian swimming glamour couple Kyle Chalmers, 22, and Madison Wilson, 26 (both pictured), have split for a second time, ahead of the July Olympics

The stars are also noticeably absent on one another's Instagram accounts - with Madison having not posted a photo with Kyle since June 2020.

Kyle has not posted a photo with Madison to his Instagram page since April 2019.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Kyle and Madison's management for comment.

Back in 2018, Madison told The Advertiser that the key to making their romance work is separating their professional and personal lives.

Amicable: The pair, who began dating in 2015 and reunited back in 2017 after their first split, are believed to have remained friends

'Swimming is a full-time job and you have to be a full-time professional,' she said.

'Either way, we were going to make it work, it's just lucky it worked out this way.'

Kyle, who made headlines for winning gold in the 100 metre freestyle at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, also praised Madison in an interview in 2018.

Support system: Kyle, who made headlines for winning gold in the 100 metre freestyle at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, also praised Madison in an interview with SwimSwam in 2018: 'Madi has been an amazing support to me over the past couple of years'

'Madi has been an amazing support to me over the past couple of years and especially this year at the Commonwealth Games,' he told SwimSwam.

Referring to her missing out on competing at the Commonwealth Games that year, he continued: 'It was such a shame she wasn't able to compete; however it's motivated her moving forward and I know she'll be back better than ever in the coming years.

'Having her as a training partner and watching how she approaches the sport is very inspiring. Madi is one of the most professional athletes I know.'
In 2020, under Vietnams chairmanship and thanks to the joint efforts of member countries, partners, and friends, ASEAN managed to weather challenges, strongly affirm its centrality in the region,

and promote its stature and prestige in the world, according to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung (Photo: VNA)

Also head of the countrys delegation at ASEAN senior officials meetings, Dung made the assessment in a recent article reviewing Vietnams successes in its ASEAN Chairmanship in 2020 amid numerous difficulties caused by complex and unprecedented developments in the global and regional geo-political and economic environments as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.

He noted that as Chair of ASEAN, Vietnam further affirmed its standing as one of the core and leading members actively contributing to the building and shaping of rules in the bloc and the region.

Dung quoted Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc as saying that Vietnam was a solid and trustworthy, partner when ASEAN faced many difficulties and challenges.

The outcomes will form an important prerequisite for Vietnam to join other ASEAN members to continue steering the ASEAN vessel through every challenge and help the bloc become more cohesive and responsive and obtain new successes in the time ahead, he stressed.

By navigating the unprecedented difficulties and challenges, ASEANs central role was consolidated even further in 2020, he said, adding that the bloc succeeded in sustaining momentum for the building of the ASEAN Community despite pandemic-related problems.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (centre) chairs the plenary session of the online 37th ASEAN Summit on November 12, 2020 (Photo: VNA)

More than 550 meetings were converted to online gatherings last year, which not only helped maintain dialogue and cooperation in the region but also shaped a new working method that will enhance flexibility and responsiveness.

The bloc made efforts to help settle common challenges and issues, and its cooperation with the UN and relevant agencies was strengthened, according to the Deputy Foreign Minister.

In addition, ASEAN continued to assert its important role and voice in essential issues linked with regional peace and security. In complicated issues like the East Sea, it has always maintained close coordination, consensus, and a common voice.

In particular, he added, the role of international law was emphasised strongly by member countries in 2020, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea - the legal framework regulating all activities on seas and oceans.

The bloc last year continued efforts to expand and intensify existing partnerships, with ASEAN-EU relations elevated to a strategic partnership and numerous measures taken to reinforce ties with other partners.

In the face of some partners seeking to persuade ASEAN to follow their own initiatives or strategies, the bloc remained persistent regarding the targets, principles, and priorities stated in the document on the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific. It also called on partners to offer support in implementing its orientations and priorities for common peace, stability, and development, Dung said./.VNA

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration finally published the full list of nursing home deaths in the state after months of resisting demands to release the data on COVID-19-linked fatalities

Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration on Thursday finally published an updated list showing the totals of all nursing home deaths linked to COVID-19.

After a judge ordered New York States Department of Health to comply with a Freedom of Information request, the updated list shifted more than 4,000 deaths to the states official tally as of Thursday.

The new official total of deaths of nursing home residents who were either confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 or presumed to have come down with the illness stood at 12,743 - 50 per cent higher than the state previously acknowledged.

Cuomo has come under fire for months for the state's nursing home policy, which was blamed for thousands of COVID-19 deaths after a Department of Health order last year required the facilities to readmit patients discharged from hospitals, in keeping with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

For the first time, the newly updated data released by the state included some 4,000 nursing home residents who died after they were transferred to hospitals.

The list published by the Health Department shows the complete tallies of all confirmed and presumed COVID-19-linked deaths among residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the state.

The hardest hit nursing home in the state was Harris Hill Nursing Facility in the Erie County town of Williamsville, just outside of Buffalo. According to the state, 117 nursing home residents from Harris Hill Nursing Facility were confirmed to have died of COVID-19. Nineteen others died of the disease after they were transferred to a hospital

Suffolk County on Long Island reported the highest number of COVID-related nursing home deaths with 655 confirmed fatalities as well as 267 presumed.

The second highest number of deaths was reported in Erie County with 621 confirmed and nine presumed.

The hardest hit nursing home in the state was Harris Hill Nursing Facility in Erie County, just outside of Buffalo.

According to the state, 117 nursing home residents from Harris Hill Nursing Facility were confirmed to have died of COVID-19. Nineteen others died of the disease after they were transferred to a hospital.

Another Buffalo area nursing home that was ravaged by COVID-19 is the Father Baker Manor in nearby Orchard Park. According to official state data, 81 residents at Father Baker Manor were confirmed to have died of COVID-19. Twenty eight residents died of the disease after they were taken to a hospital

In nearby East Aurora, the Absolut Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation lost 42 residents to COVID-19 while another 23 died of the disease after they were transferred to hospital

Two residents at that nursing home are presumed to have died of COVID-19.

Another Buffalo area nursing home that was ravaged by COVID-19 is the Father Baker Manor in nearby Orchard Park.

According to official state data, 81 residents at Father Baker Manor were confirmed to have died of COVID-19. Twenty eight residents died of the disease after they were taken to a hospital.

Nearby, the Absolut Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in East Aurora, lost 42 residents to COVID-19 while another 23 died of the disease after they were transferred to hospital.

In Queens, the Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehab lost 83 residents who were confirmed to have died of COVID-19. Thirty-two residents of the facility died after they were admitted to a hospital.

On Long Island, the Huntington Hills Center for Health and Rehabilitation in Suffolk County reported 35 confirmed deaths, 6 who died after they were transferred to hospital, and 36 presumed COVID-19 deaths.

The Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation in Queens, New York is seen in the above file photo. This nursing home lost 83 residents who were confirmed to have died of COVID-19. Thirty-two residents of the facility died after they were admitted to a hospital

In Manhattan, The Riverside nursing facility reported 50 confirmed deaths, 16 who died after they were admitted to hospital, and 18 presumed COVD-19 deaths.

Another Manhattan facility, the Isabella Geriatric Center, reported 25 confirmed dead, 34 who died after they were sent to a hospital, and 43 presumed to have died after contracting COVID-19.

The Plaza Rehab and Nursing Center in The Bronx reported 27 confirmed dead, 12 who died after being transferred to a hospital, and 49 presumed dead from COVID-19.

In Brooklyn, the Cobble Hill Health Center reported six residents confirmed to have died of COVID-19; one who died after being rushed to a hospital; and 50 who are presumed to have died of COVID-19.

After Cuomos administration released its updated tally on Thursday, New York went from the 35th highest COVID-19 nursing home mortality rate in the country to 13th, according to an Empire Center analysis.

The organization calculates the figure by analyzing the number of deaths in relation to the percentage of the 2019 nursing home population.

The findings were released almost a week after a New York State Supreme Court judge sided with Empire Center in its Freedom of Information lawsuit demanding that Cuomos administration publish the updated, official totals.

In the months leading up to the release of the data, Cuomos top health official, Health Commissioner Howard Zucker, refused repeated requests from the media and lawmakers to publish the full tally.

Suffolk County on Long Island reported the highest number of nursing home deaths of anywhere in the state. The Huntington Hills Center for Health and Rehabilitation in the hamlet of Melville reported 35 confirmed deaths, six who died after they were transferred to hospital, and 36 presumed COVID-19 deaths

In Manhattan, The Riverside nursing facility reported 50 confirmed deaths, 16 who died after they were admitted to hospital, and 18 presumed COVD-19 deaths

Zucker changed his mind after the office of Attorney General Letitita James concluded an investigation last month that found that Zuckers department undercounted nursing home deaths statewide by as much as 50 per cent.

Days after James' office announced its findings, Albany Supreme Court Justice Kimberly O'Connor ruled on Wednesday, in a 16-page decision, that the Department of Health must provide the records to the Empire Centerwithin five business days and pay their legal costs.

Cuomo has defended his decisions related to the nursing home policy.

'But who cares [if they] died in the hospital, died in a nursing home? They die,' Cuomo callously said during a news conference on Friday, after the revelation.

The Cuomo administration had only acknowledged 8,711 residents who had died in the nursing homes until James' report was released.

Angry Republicans accused the governor - who won an Emmy for his daily COVID press briefings and has written a book about his handling of the crisis - of a 'cover up' that stems back to a March 25 directive which he oversaw that mandated nursing homes had to accept COVID-19 patients to free up hospital beds.

It meant more than 6,000 COVID-19-positive people were sent back into the nursing homes, potentially exposing staff and other residents to the virus which attacks elderly people at a far higher rate than younger people.

House Rep. Steve Scalise, who is also a ranking member of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, said the findings constitute an 'outrageous' cover-up.

Tarkwa-Nsuaem Member of Parliament (MP), George Mireku Duker says the Supreme Court must charge the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) with contempt of court.



According to Hon. Mireku Duker, the NDC, their petitioner and lawyers are all wasting the time of the court and Ghanaians.



He noted on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'' that the opposition party's decision to waste time is intertional.



The Supreme Court has started hearing the election petition by former President John Dramani Mahama and already two witnesses in the persons of NDC General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia and Dr. Michael Kpessa-Whyte, former National Service Secretariat boss have mounted the witness box.



Another witness who has filed his statement before the court is NDC stalwart, Rojo Mettle-Nunoo.



As the Supreme Court Justices hear the petitioner's case, Hon. Mireku Duker is praying the court to sanction the petitioner and his party.



''The NDC is intentionally wasting our time and the time of the Supreme Court. I feel they must be charged for contempt because, when you look at the code of conduct of lawyers, you can't waste the court's time. It's part of your ethics; so what I'm saying, I mean it. They must charge them and award cost to it as well. Because you have gone through a profession where you're taught that don't waste court's time and you're wasting their time is contempt of court," 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.

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London, Feb 5 (PTI) COVID-19 patients who suffer a cardiac arrest either in or out of hospital are far more likely to die than those who are not infected with the novel coronavirus, according to a study published on Friday which found that women, in particular, have the highest risk.

The research from Sweden found that women infected with the COVID-19 virus are nine times more likely to die as compared to men after suffering a cardiac arrest in hospital.

The study, published in the European Heart Journal, included 1,946 people who suffered a cardiac arrest out of hospital (OHCA) and 1,080 who suffered one in hospital (IHCA) between January 1 and July 20, last year.

The researchers from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, noted that during the pandemic phase of the study, COVID-19 was involved in at least 10 per cent of all OHCAs and 16 per cent of IHCAs.

COVID-19 patients who had an OHCA had a 3.4-fold increased risk of dying within 30 days, while IHCA patients had a 2.3-fold increased risk of dying within 30 days, they said.

"Our study clearly shows that cardiac arrest and COVID-19 is a very lethal combination, said first author of the study, Pedram Sultanian, a doctoral student at the University of Gothenburg.

"Patients with the coronavirus should be monitored intensively and measures taken to prevent cardiac arrest, for instance with the use of continuous heart monitors for patients at high risk," Sultanian sad.

When the researchers compared pre-pandemic cases with COVID-19 cases, they found that the overall risk of dying following an OHCA nearly tripled.

It was increased 4.5-fold for men and by a third for women, they said.

According to the study, the overall risk of dying after an IHCA more than doubled.

It was increased by a half in men and more than nine-fold in women, the study found.

The researchers also found a 2.7-fold increase in the proportion of OHCAs caused by breathing problems, and an 8.6 per cent increase in compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) during the pandemic.

The percentage of people who were treated with both chest compression as well as mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, fell from 33 per cent pre-pandemic to 23 per cent during the pandemic, they said.

In March the European Resuscitation Council and the Swedish Resuscitation Council issued guidelines recommending that bystanders who see a cardiac arrest should avoid mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and concentrate on chest compressions in the case of suspected COVID-19 infection.

"Although previous studies have indicated that compression-only CPR delivered by bystanders may be as effective as compressions and ventilation combined, this may not apply to cases with COVID-19, since they are primarily suffering from respiratory failure," said senior author of the study, Araz Rawshani, physician and researcher at the University of Gothenburg.

"We believe this is an important finding that could possibly help authorities in handling the pandemic," Rawshani added. PTI

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Frank Shankwitz, an Arizona Highway Patrol officer who, after helping a terminally ill boy realize his dream of becoming a motorcycle cop, co-founded the Make-a-Wish Foundation and served as its first president, died on Jan. 24 at his home in Prescott, Ariz. He was 77.

His wife, Kitty Shankwitz, said the cause was esophageal cancer.

Mr. Shankwitz was on patrol in April 1980 when one of his supervisors radioed him to return to headquarters in Phoenix. The department had learned about a boy named Chris Greicius who wanted to be a motorcycle officer when he grew up, just like Ponch and Jon, the main characters on his favorite television show, CHiPs. Chris had end-stage leukemia.

The department had decided to make Chriss wish come true, if just for a few days. A police helicopter ferried him to police headquarters from the hospital where he was being treated. Mr. Shankwitz was to greet him out front, next to his motorcycle.

Figuring hed be brought out in a wheelchair, I was surprised when the door opened and a pair of sneakers emerged, Mr. Shankwitz wrote in his memoir, Wish Man (2018). Out stepped Chris, an excited 7-year-old boy who seemed so full of life, it was hard to believe he was sick.

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A glamorous blonde sweeps into the room, all floating scarves, armed with a bag of tricks to while away a weary day. May as well sing it as cry it, she announces to those around her. Keep the sunny side up. A younger woman beside her in the bay purses her lips and says nothing.

And you look good doing it, says another woman supportively.

Bit of auld makeup, she says dismissively, her defiance bullish in the medicinal hush.

An officer about to go over the top into the No Mans Land that is a breast cancer diagnosis, twinned with the early weeks of a global pandemic. Something that looks so terrifying, so ludicrous, written down that its almost funny. You might as well sing it as cry it  she is quite right about that.

A sudden diagnosis comes down like a suffocating blanket over the head.

I think Ill be going back to work that wet, grey morning at the end of November 2019. I have three young children. A dog. A man is coming to service the boiler. Christmas is coming too. There is barely a moment to spare. Then a medic draws her probe across my breast to reveal  even to an uninitiated person like me  an unmistakable tumour, almost toadstool-like, with a sinister swoop to its formation, clearly hell-bent on worldwide domination. Unignorable, at long last. And my world bottoms out.

I shouldnt be telling you this but Im not going to lie to you. Youre going to need surgery, she advises urgently. But of course, I already know by now, so I say thank you and I mean it.

I always thought that things would be different when you hear the word cancer for the first time. The funny thing is, I dont actually remember them using that word. At least, not at first, and by the time they do, I dont really notice. Instead, they speak of invasive ductal carcinoma. Stage one. Grade two to three.

It was one night last summer when I was struck by something about the structure of my ribcage that I had never noticed before. Instead of lying flat, it seemed to curve snugly up in one spot, towards the centre. Curious. I shrugged it off but something brought me back to that place again and again, exploring with a fingertip this feature that must have been there all along. Because if it was a new thing, Id realise. Of course I would.

I was only 44 and there was no breast cancer in my family. I exercise. I do all the things they advise you to do to prevent breast cancer. This was clearly a non-event.

I put it off. And I cant explain that now.

I carry the letter of referral from my GP around with me for a long time before I actually get around to doing anything about it. When it gets a bit ratty from being bashed around my handbag, I transfer it to my bedside locker to keep it safe. Im going to send it off. Of course I am. But I dont have any stamps right now and I cant seem to find the time to make it to the post office because I really am pretty busy. These really were my excuses.

A whisper starts inside me that something is wrong, though.

I start to feel tired. Weirdly tired. Even if I have an easy day, I go to bed as exhausted as if Id had a mammoth one.

And then one night, in October, I get a fright. The lump has grown. There is no denying it now. It is time to wise up. I find the letter again and smooth out the creases, and put it in an envelope. Again, for reasons I cannot quite explain, I still dont post it right away. I carry it around for another week or so. But the voice inside me has turned to an urgent scream by now and, eventually, I go down to the post office to purchase a stamp and, finally, push it down into the post box almost with a sob of relief. Then I wait.

When the oncologist asks if Id felt any different during this time, I mention the tiredness but add that it was probably nothing. She shakes her head, saying, The longer I do this job, the more I hear that.

Playing chicken with a potentially lethal tumour. No, not something I could possibly recommend.

After my diagnosis, I try to go back to my normal life for a bit as I wait for them to come up with a plan. But its impossible now that breast cancer is my constant companion. Its now bigger than anything else in the room. And its certainly bigger than sleep.

In some ways, perhaps, I was lucky. My treatment began just as Covid-19 was creeping into the country, unbeknownst, at the end of December. I was in the system by the time it took hold. Plenty of people were not so fortunate. And this is scary. From the moment a tumour is known about, there is a rapid acceleration, a palpable sense of urgency. You have become a problem to solve. Not just for one person. For a whole team of people. You are their job. And there may not be much time to waste. But if the tumour is not known about? What then?

Seamlessly and without my knowing, I acquire an oncologist, a surgeon and a radiologist. As time goes on, a cardiologist joins my squad, just to keep an eye. And a physiotherapist. Not to mention a host of skilled cancer nurses. All incredible, talented people driven to do their best to give their patients the best possible fighting chance. Theyll understand perfectly if I say I hope I never have to see them again. Aside from the check-ups, of course..

Just have it in your head that next year is going to be a write-off, advises a medic kindly on my first official appointment, preparing me for the onslaught of treatment. How much of a write-off it was to prove for all of us.

Part of the consolations of illness  and, believe it or not, there are some, perhaps even many  is the dazzling wave of kindness that engulfs you like a tsunami, buoying you up, leaving you breathless.

The friends that step up to the plate with a slew of text messages, consoling phone calls, lunch dates and comforting coffees as you attempt to digest this bizarre new reality, and mercifully distract you from the fact that life has just taken a sudden violent swerve into a ditch.

Theoretically, being sick while not actually feeling sick messes with your concept of reality. Youre being told that you are sick  and that medics will need to do battle on several fronts, trying all the weapons in their armoury, though all the while reassuring you that your prognosis is excellent. But you feel well. You feel normal, in fact. And then you start to wonder for how much longer you will feel normal, because its beginning to dawn on you that, any day now, the treatment will probably start to make you feel as sick as you actually are. And thats a scary thought to try to wrap your head around: the anticipation of illness in the bid to make you better.

A plum stone of grief, hard and jagged-edged, has settled in my diaphragm. I cant seem to shift it.

Its coming up to Christmas and I expect to feel as lonely and as isolated as the year when I lost my mother very suddenly, again in the month of November, to an undiagnosed heart condition at the age of 49, and found it unbearably sad to be amongst festive crowds of shoppers.

But this time, when I watch the vast crowds milling on Grafton Street, I realise with a jolt that among so many people, there are bound to be hundreds of us, maybe even thousands, all suffering in our own way. Not just poor me, poor all of us. Now hardship makes me feel like I belong more to humanity, not less.

I am greedy, soaking up the Christmas spirit like I have never seen a festive season before; I am hyper-aware, even noticing the swirls of the bark on the tree on OConnell Street.

My oncologist at St Vincents Private Hospital in Dublin is Professor Janice Walshe. Shes a bit of a superstar on the Oncology Day Care ward, combining supreme expertise and skill with warmth, compassion and humour. Not to mention style  which is not to be overlooked as a cheering-up mechanism when her patients are feeling gloomy.

When she asks when I had first noticed the lump, I say it was the summer. But thats very strange, she exclaims. It should have been growing much faster than that. I say nothing because something inside me had told me that I was running out of time, not that it was too late. But, yes, that does sound pretty crazy.

A lesson, courtesy of cancer: worrying and procrastinating are way worse than doing something about it.

Of course, I ignore this as I embark on a habit more toxic than any hardcore chemo drug. I awaken every night  due to fear at the start, and then due to the uneasiness and agitation from steroids and chemo drugs  pick up my phone, and I start to Google, fuelling my worry almost to the point of frenzy. Occasionally, I find things that give me hope, but I zone in on the fearful stuff to the point of sheer exhaustion. I cant help myself.

I start off basic because I really dont have a clue about any of this. What is hormone-positive, HER2-positive breast cancer? Stage one breast cancer, prognosis? What are the side-effects of breast cancer treatment? Can I live a long life after breast cancer diagnosis? Night after night, I come up with endless new search possibilities.

As the months go on, Im getting prompts about fresh articles in The Lancet about cancer trials and prospective new drug regimes. My phone thinks I have changed career.

Nobody admits to Googling but everybody does it, a nurse shakes her head grimly.

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The only thing that makes things better and eases the worry, is  no, not to stay off Google, of course not  but to start forensically researching the good stuff. The positive steps I can take. The things that might help to stop this thing from coming back. And if not, well, at least Ill have done my best. And so, now Im taking cod liver oil, magnesium and vitamin C. I eat more cruciferous vegetables and I drink more green tea. Im trying to fast at night for at least 13 hours. Im running. Im attempting to meditate  but its hard. All these things have been linked to breast cancer survival. They might help, or they might not.

I have two scars, fast-fading, almost invisible, but those arent the scars that bother me. In fact, Im almost fond of them. Two darts in a vintage piece of clothing skilfully remodelled by the surgeon to bring it up to date. He seems a bit taken aback when I tell him that he did a good job but I mean it in an artistic sense, not medically.

The scar that can still make my stomach flip is the tiny pinprick from the biopsy on that very first day, when everything started to go wrong and I felt like Id been gutted with a spiraliser, even though theyd barely laid a finger on me.

The numbness of disbelief had already begun to set in and so when the doctor withdrew the biopsy needle, saying, Sorry now, I know that hurt, I genuinely hadnt felt a thing.

A week later, I am sitting before my new surgeon and I am stunned at the things he is saying. I would need chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy. I would be on Herceptin for a whole year. All this for one tiny lump? And afterwards, I would need to take a drug for five years called tamoxifen to try to stop it from ever coming back. My reply is shrill: Five years? He seems surprised that I am surprised.

Breaking the news to my children is the hardest thing Ive ever had to do.

Two sumptuous silk pillowcases arrive in the post. A lumpy package from London bearing a trio of new books. A lavender spray to charm sleep. A huge pot of homemade chilli delivered to my door, complete with a bag of rice and tortillas. So many beautiful bouquets of flowers. A magazine I mentioned once in passing, slid silently under my doormat. A bounty of gifts and of kindness.

In my last week in work, I had returned to my desk to find a lovely journal with a hard silk-print cover, with the instructions that: Writing is medicine for the soul.

So, for the first time in a long time, I begin to keep a diary. Maybe it is the pretty pink cover that makes me feel that it is too nice to fill with a relentless catalogue of gloom. And besides, life as a cancer patient is much more than treatment. It actually turns out to be a year that is enjoyable in many ways. I find myself skimming over the bad stuff and noticing more and more things that please me  like the fact that the cherry tree I had planted a few years ago is, at last, deemed sturdy enough by a blackbird to use as a perch.

But some bad stuff creeps in nonetheless. Pure chemicals. I am putrid. Disgusting. A broken cadaver washed in by a low tide, my bed a tangle of rotting bladderwrack. I mean, you can imagine.

The first chemo session on December 30, 2019, comes as a body blow. I enter the ward feeling relentlessly chirpy, thinking I am coping like a trouper. But a nurse understands me more than I do myself. Oh, youre so hyper, she sympathises, placing a comforting arm on mine.

I dont lose my hair because I opt for the cold cap, which freezes your scalp. I do, eventually, lose a toenail. My eyes stream and I feel very weak for about 10 days each round. And then I spring miraculously back to life for the last week, before going through the cycle all over again. Sharing the experience with other patients one day, we settle on a word that best describes chemo: miserable. Not unbearable but not easily borne. Nothing shockingly bad but just a series of things you would much rather do without.

The mantra everyone hears is: Youll get through it. And, you do.

The addition of the pandemic ball into the juggle of the hospital regime is barely perceptible, it seems to happen so gradually. The patients in the chemo ward dont start to wear masks straight away. In fact, masks seem a little rude, at first. Like we dont trust the hospital staff, or something. But by early March, fear looms large and everyone is already weary. Lockdown comes almost as a relief. And now everybody in the hospital wears a mask. Talk with other patients dries up to a trickle because its too hard to make yourself understood without facial expressions. My sisters cant accompany me to the chemo sessions anymore. No visitors are allowed. Thats the saddest fallout.

We hear they are moving all of the cancer patients over from the main hospital to St Vincents Private to keep everyone safe from Covid. This sounds like things are going to get much busier. Instead, fewer and fewer people seem to be on the oncology day ward and the atmosphere is one of growing unease. In the unfamiliar new silence of the hospital, one day, I hear someone cry out.

One night, with two chemo sessions still left to go, I get a phone call from my oncologist. They are bringing my surgery forward because of Covid. It would be next week, on April 1, almost two months ahead of schedule. I just want it out, she says of the tumour.

The last two chemos are cancelled. But as it turns out, chemotherapy didnt seem to work for me anyway. There was no discernible effect on the tumour, the examination afterwards revealed  a comment that leaves me in turmoil.

Once I get into hospital for the operation  a lumpectomy and sentinel lymph-node removal  Im told that Im very lucky. Amid the frightening unknown of the first lockdown, this is the last day theyre carrying out surgery. The corridors are eerily quiet as Im shown to a room with a view over the Dublin Mountains. It feels like Im one of the very few in here  and it turns out that I am.

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I do feel lucky, but I am also petrified. As Im wheeled into the operating theatre, Im shaking uncontrollably. Id be the exact same in your shoes, the exact same, the surgeon reassures me, with immense kindness, while also making me laugh.

Keen-eyed over her mask, the anaesthetist takes one look at me and says, Dont worry, Im going to give you something nice. In fact, Im going to give you two.

Finding room for cancer is easy  everything in life shrinks away until all that is left to focus on are family and hospital treatment. Its a minimalist experience. Throw in a pandemic and those horizons shrink even further, until life reaches the scale of a scene in a snow globe. Peaceful, yet fearful. Cosy, yet claustrophobic. But you can get used to anything. Even cancer. Even a pandemic.

And it wasnt just the patients, obviously, who were affected by this. A nurse says she was walking with her family on the beach one weekend and she was telling them, Isnt it lovely. But it wasnt lovely  I just wanted to be on my own in Brown Thomas, spraying perfume, she says briskly, to cascades of understanding laughter. Turns out the worst thing about a blockbuster pandemic  so long as you dont succumb, that is  is the monotony.

After the operation, I feel a weight has lifted. Its gone. I dont look much different. I wont be getting any more chemo. The worst, hopefully, is over.

The radiotherapy a month later isnt so bad, either. Then I start to try to concentrate on getting better. I start to walk longer and longer distances. Progress is slow but steady as I build myself back up. I start feeling good again. Two funny little chunks of new hair appear at the front. Turns out I did lose quite a bit after all.

In November, a year after it all began, a mammogram comes back, reported normal.

Mostly because of lockdown, I buy a treadmill and start to use a fitness app. I settle early on a nice, positive hill-climbing audio programme with a San Francisco-based trainer called Leah, who says things like, Dont let up on me here  you have come so far.

She speaks to me. Its time to start thinking ahead. Whats on the other side of this mountain for you?

Health, I answer silently. I go back again and again to her, even though there are plenty of other options, but I find her comforting.

Weeks go by and then I mention the app to my sister when she tells me Im looking much better these days. Oh, one of my friends from San Francisco is a fitness trainer on that app, she says, interestedly. Oh yeah? I say. Yeah, Leah, she tells me.

And then, at last, comes my final Herceptin infusion in the middle of December. The blood-pressure check leaves tiny little haemorrhages on my right hand. With immaculate timing, it appears my body has had enough.

The click-clack of an elderly mans chemo infusion. Almost peaceful, lulling. His face is written across with pain. And yet, as he closes his eyes, he smiles.

This place can be cosier than youd think. The soft, confidential hush of talk between nurse and patient. The worst of lifes frights are dragged out into the open and examined in the glare of the overhead lights on the Oncology Day Care ward.

The soup is terrible today. The tea too strong. But this is a celebration. Private festivities for one. Ive made it. This far, at least.

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Dalondo Moultrie is the assistant managing editor of the Seguin Gazette. You can e-mail him at dalondo.moultrie@seguingazette.com .
1 February 2021

All India Kisan Sabha

Statement on Union Budget 2021

Budget Betrays the Farmers Demands

The Union Government continues to peddle lies and brazen privatisation

The Union Financial Budget presented today in the Parliament for the year 2021-22 had almost nothing new to offer for Indian agriculture. It has completely disregarded the farmers protesting across the country demanding fair remuneration of their toil and labour. In 2020-21, the budgeted allocation for agriculture was Rs 134349 crore, which has fallen to Rs 122961 crore in 2021-22. There has been an overall reduction of 8 % in allocations towards agriculture even in nominal terms. While in 2019-20 and 2020-21, the procurement of rice and wheat was higher because the open market prices were too low and the government was forced to procure more grain although the procurement levels remained much less than the requirement and a vast majority of farmers ended up selling their produce at low prices. On the other hand, distribution of grains through the Public Distribution System (PDS) had to be raised in 2020-21 given the Covid situation. If we keep these aside, the spending for most schemes in agriculture declined in 2020-21, and shows no promise of rise in 2021-22. For instance, the PM-Kisan scheme was provided a budget allocation of Rs 75,000 crore in 2020-21, but the actual expenditure was only Rs 65,000 crore. This shows the hollowness of the governments claim that it used the PM-Kisan scheme to help farmers during the lockdown period. Further, only Rs 65,000 crore has been allocated for 2021-22. Just to give another example, in the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, the actual expenditure in 2019-20 was Rs 2700 crore and the budgeted expenditure for 2020-21 was Rs 4000 crore. But the actual expenditure in 2020-21 was Rs 2563 crore, which is lower than the actual expenditure in 2019-20.

The Finance Minister continued to state the falsehood that MSPs are already 50% above the cost of production. The truth is that the government considers the A2+FL cost as the cost of production and not the C2 cost as suggested by the Swaminathan Commission. It is also a fact that a majority of farmers in India are still outside the procurement network, and are denied access to MSPs. However, the government has announced no plan on how to expand the access of farmers to procurement or MSP. In fact, the Finance Minister has tried to mislead by comparing in her budget speech procurement of last year with procurement in 2013-14, when open market prices were higher than the MSP for many crops and farmers did not need to sell the produce to government agencies. The Finance Minister has herself stated that only 1.54 crore farmers benefited from MSPs for paddy and wheat in 2020-21. This is an admission that a vast majority of farmers have not benefited from the MSP-based procurement. In fact, its medium-term plan is to reduce procurement, which is visible through its insistence on implementing the three Farm Acts.

The rise in food subsidy is just illusory. The government has, over the past few years, failed to pay its dues to the FCI and was forcing the FCI to borrow high-interest loans from the NSSF. It is welcome that the budget has announced its intent of not burdening the FCI with loans, but it has remained silent on the past dues to be paid to the FCI. Unless these dues are paid, the financial viability of the FCI will remain stressed. It also remains to be seen whether the government would meet this obligation to the FCI in 2021-22.

The Budget provides a road plan for greater privatisation garbing it under monetisation. The privatisation of public infrastructure includes warehouses run by NAFED. This is in continuation with already existing agreements between the Food Corporation of India and Adani Logistics for building and managing silos. Further, the Union government has announced extension of the Operation Greens scheme to 22 perishable commodities. The scheme provides credit subsidy to promote agri-logistics, which at present is largely controlled by large agro-based companies. The Union Budget therefore provides the vision of agri-business led infrastructure development.

The budget speech gave much emphasis on infrastructure development. This again was a hollow claim. The actual allocations for Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana or the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in rural areas are stagnant for about two years now, and receive no rise in allocations in the budget. With a focus on large scale infrastructure projects through private partnerships, the Budget maintains a dead silence on land acquisition and compensation. Large scale land acquisition of farm lands would be required for the highway projects that have been announced.

Considering the unemployment scenario in rural India, which was at 9 per cent even in December, 2020 according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), it is inexcusable that the Finance Ministers speech did not have a single mention of MGNREGS. The Scheme has proved to be an essential lifeline under Covid for the rural poor and returning migrants. The budgeted estimates under the scheme for 2021-22 have been slashed significantly by 34 per cent as compared to the revised estimates of 2020-21. In fact, if we compare the actual expenditure in 2019-20 (Rs 71686 crore) with the budgeted expenditure in 2021-22 (Rs 73000 crore), there is a fall in spending in real terms. The budget was a good opportunity for the government to raise the number of days of employment through MGNREGS to 150 days. The government has made it clear that it has no such intention. This will definitely have an impact on generation of employment days as well as creation of public infrastructure, and overall demand generation in the rural economy.

The budget has also given a raw deal to the livestock farmers of India. This shows the sheer doubletalk of a government, whose spokespersons praise the role of cattle as gau-mata. The actual spending for the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying was Rs 2706 crore in 2019-20. This fell to Rs 2630 crore in 2020-21. The budgeted allocation for 2021-22 is Rs 3057 crore, which is hardly a rise in real terms.

In sum, the government appears to be following a strategy of squeezing the peasantry. There are no major additional allocations in agriculture or major new schemes. The Covid lockdown period had seen the Indian peasant show stellar commitment to the maintenance of food security in the country. The government, however, has paid them nothing in return. A significant rise in allocations to agriculture was expected, but the government has disappointed the peasantry.

Hannan Mollah, General Secretary

Ashok Dhawale, President
Candles are seen in front of a picture of Amanda Todd during a memorial for her in Surrey, B.C., on Oct. 19, 2012. (The Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward)

Dutch Man Accused of Harassing B.C. Teenager Amanda Todd Extradited to Canada

VANCOUVER  A Dutch man accused of extorting and harassing British Columbia teenager Amanda Todd has been extradited to Canada, more than eight years after her suicide drew global headlines.

The B.C. Prosecution Service said Friday that Aydin Coban is in custody and made his first appearance in a courtroom in the province on Dec. 8.

Coban is charged with extortion, criminal harassment, communication with a young person to commit a sexual offence, and two counts of possession of child pornography.

Todds mother, Carol Todd, said she felt a shock to her system when she learned on Dec. 7 that Cobans plane was landing in Canada.

I was fearful that it would never happen, because of what the pandemic did to the world, she said. It actually brought me back emotionally to October of 2012.

That was the month when Todd, 15, killed herself. Shortly before her death, she posted a YouTube video in which she silently used handwritten notes to describe the online torment she had faced.

In the video, she said she was in Grade 7 when she was asked to expose her breasts during an online chat. She said she received a Facebook message from a man a year later threatening that if she didnt put on a show for him, he would send the webcam picture to her friends and family.

Her story spurred a national conversation about online harassment and sexual exploitation. Todds case and others prompted the Canadian government to introduce legislation that criminalized the distribution of intimate images without the persons consent.

Coban has not entered any pleas to the charges and his next appearance is Feb. 12 in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster for a pretrial conference, the prosecution service said.

His Amsterdambased lawyer, Robert Malewicz, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Coban has previously denied the allegations against him.

In 2015, one year after RCMP initially announced charges against him while he was awaiting trial in the Netherlands on a separate matter, Coban penned an open letter professing his innocence.

Im not the socalled tormentor of Miss Amanda Todd or of anyone else for that matter. Ive been in jail exactly a year now for things I havent done, he wrote.

In 2017, Coban was convicted by a Dutch court and sentenced to nearly 11 years in prison for online fraud and blackmail of 34 young women and five men.

A Dutch court approved his extradition to Canada shortly afterward.

Carol Todd went to Amsterdam in February 2017 so that she could see Coban facetoface at his trial there. She described it as a surreal moment, and said it prepared her somewhat for seeing him at his trial here.

The mother has become an advocate against online exploitation and she said her daughters story lives on through social media in order to help others.

I am just blessed that (the extradition) has happened and that Amandas voice can still be heard, and itll bring another chapter to her story.

By Laura Dhillon Kane

With files from The Associated Press
In February, Hearst Television celebrated Black history by having courageous conversations. The fight for civil rights and justice goes back generations and has looked different each decade. Were speaking with community leaders, elders  those who have lived through victories and troubled times, to talk about their experiences, and compare them with what we still struggle with today.

You can watch all of our conversations with these community leaders below.

Cincinnati, Ohio

As the daughter of one of the most impactful civil rights leaders, the late Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, Ruby Shuttlesworth Bester had a front-row seat to historic moments and movements. The 76-year-old made her own history along the way.

"Our history, as a people, has been and is hope. Because we've been moving forward," she said.

Read more of Ruby Shuttlesworth Bester's story here.

Sacramento, California

Now the president and CEO of the Greater Sacramento Urban League, Cassandra Jennings grew up in a segregated North Carolina town. Jennings talked about where she grew up and how life has changed since the 1950s and '60s.

"People are resistant to say there are some things that are wrong. I know some people apologize to me saying, you know that this is awful what's happening and what they've allowed to happen. Others act like it doesn't exist," Jennings said.

Read more of Cassandra Jennings story here.

Portland, Maine

Maine civil rights pioneer Gerald Talbot shares his story of hope and renewed faith. Talbot, 89, participated in the March on Washington in 1963 and became the president of the Portland chapter of the NAACP in 1964. He served in the Maine Legislature from 1972 to 1978, making him the first Black legislator in the state.

I lost my belief in God because of what we went through in housing, in jobs, Talbot said.

Read more of Gerald Talbot's story here.

Montgomery, Alabama

Author Karen Gray Houston was a little girl when her hometown of Montgomery, Alabama, became a focal point in the civil rights movement of the 1950s. One day, her mother dressed Houston and her brothers in their Sunday best attire to go on a bus ride to sit with children in the front of the bus. Little did Houston know that the seat was something her family helped fight for  and planned from inside her family home.

What happened in 1955 gave a lot of Black people courage to engage in some other movements that made a difference in history, Houston said.

Read more of Karen Gray Houston's story here.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Civil rights activist Howard Fuller, 80, former Milwaukee Public Schools superintendent and retired Marquette University professor, said he fights every day for people who look like him, and draws comparisons of the civil rights movements of years past and the social justice protests of 2020.

"Let's be clear, this is not the first time nor the last time we'll have conversations about race. Unless we address the lack of Black power in this society, you will be talking about this when you are as old as me. Although I don't see the potential for radical change in this country, it's necessary for me to continue to fight for it, because not to fight is to accept it," he said.

Read more of Howard Fuller's story here.

Greenville, South Carolina

Retired Greenville County, South Carolina, educator Pearlie Harris taught for 30 years and recalls being harassed because of the color of her skin by students and parents at an all-white school.

"The superintendent approached me and said, 'We're going to send you to a new school next year and it will be all-white,' and he said, 'How do you think you'll do?' and I said, 'I'll do fine, children are children,'" she said. "And it was neither hard nor easy, but the children literally called me a (N-word). And the parents did too. Big PTA meetings, they'd say, 'We never wanted a (N-word) to teach our children because they don't know what the white teachers know and they don't have the education.'

Read more of Pearle Harris' story here.

Baltimore, Maryland

From Baltimore to the White House, Larry Gibson overcame poverty and segregation to become a lawyer, who, in the wake of the civil rights movement, helped to free a group of falsely accused protesters.

"Things are changing, and I think they are probably changing positively. There were many demonstrations where the overwhelming majority of the people were not African Americans. There were demonstrations around the world, inequities, and more and more Americans are understanding that it is not enough to just individually not discriminate, but that the necessity that they get involved in dealing and addressing the issues of the systemic racial issues. Improvements are occurring. Things are getting better, but we still have a ways to go," Gibson said.

Read more of Larry Gibson's story here.

Des Moines, Iowa

Simon Estes is an internationally acclaimed opera singer. The 82-year-old was born and raised in Centerville, Iowa. Estes can still recall the early racism he experienced in Southern Iowa. He said he felt it throughout most of his life. He grew to fame during the civil rights movement. But even after, he said it was hard to perform in U.S. opera houses due to his race. As someone who lived through the civil rights movement, Estes said seeing the killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and others made 2020 a tough year.

I said to my wife, 'Im tired,' Estes said. Im just tired. They say we dont have any discrimination in America. It does still exist. The only way I think that were going to reduce discrimination in the United States is parents need to start teaching their children at a very young age.

Read more of Simon Estes' story here.

Sacramento, California

Sacramento State University political science professor Robert Stanley Oden moved to the Sacramento area in the summer of 1967. There were only 40 African Americans at the University of California, Davis.

Oden's advice to younger generations: "Get involved. Get involved in your community. One of the things I've done as a professor is, I've gotten students involved in service-learning, going and working in organizations and agencies who are paid to learn from what's going on. But also to engage in the community, community issues and community problems so they can really understand the lived experiences that people have."

Read more of Robert Stanley Oden's story here.

Savannah, Georgia

From the end of slavery to the civil rights movement and the inauguration of the first Black president, Black people like former Savannah, Georgia, Mayor Otis Johnson have had a front-row seat to history. With all these firsts, it can give the illusion of outright equality, which Johnson says isnt necessarily correct.

So, yes, we have these one-offs all the time. I've been a lot of one-offs. But I don't take any great pleasure in being the 'first' or the 'only' because I look around and I see my people. And the condition of the collective is not what it ought to be," Johnson said. "And until the condition of the collective is what it ought to be that I will never be satisfied with just being the one-off.

Read more of Otis Johnson's story here.

Kansas City, Missouri

Alvin Brooks has been a leader in Kansas City, Missouri, since becoming one of the city's first Black police officers in the 1950s. After his time in the police department, Brooks would become one of the citys few Black elected officials and later a civil rights activist for decades.

"We can pass laws, have slogans, have marches, and all those things are important because they do make a difference, but the question becomes, 'How do they impact America's structural racist system?" Brooks said.

Read more of Alvin Brooks' story here.

West Palm Beach, Florida

Dan Calloway, of Rivieria, Florida, played baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1957 and then spent 20 years as a deputy with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. He also marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in New York City on multiple occasions

"He was so much of a nonviolent and most of us wanted to fight back, we had to restrain ourselves not to fight back and that was probably the hardest thing I had to do because growing up in Riviera Beach ... when the Ku Klux Klan came into this town, and my mother had to put us under the bed and jump on top of us to try to protect us, my three brothers  we wanted to fight back. But with MLK, you couldn't do that," Calloway said.

Read more of Dan Calloway's story here.

Greensboro, North Carolina

Charles Bess was working as a busboy at a Woolworth's white-only lunch counter when, 61 years ago, four North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University first-year held a sit-in and asked to be served. The students refused to leave even after they were denied service  and stayed until the store closed.

"When a waitress would tell them, 'We don't serve colored people here,' they ignored it and kept on sitting and asking for coffee," Bess recalled. "I never heard them asking for nothing else but coffee."

Read more of Charles Bess' story here.

Cincinnati, Ohio

Betty Daniels Rosemond, 87, grew up with Jim Crow laws and segregation being the norm in New Orleans, Louisiana. She saw firsthand how racism held her family back when her mother tried to vote or buy a home and was ultimately denied.

Rosemond, who now lives in Cincinnati, joined the Freedom Riders when she was 21. Her job was to see if facilities were following the law and report to headquarters.

"When I got to the phone booth, a truck of men in a pickup truck, white men, pulled up at the little bus station. They literally dragged Frank and three girls out, put them in the back of a truck and drove off. Now, I knew if they found me, it would have been another lynching that night," Rosemond said.

Read more of Betty Daniels Rosemond's story.

New Orleans, Louisiana

Army veteran Norman C. Francis was the first Black law student at Loyola University in New Orleans. He later served as president of Xavier University of Louisiana  the nations only historically Black Catholic university  for 47 years. Though his parents didnt graduate from high school, Francis credits them for teaching him how to live, respect people, always remember who you are and how to make a living.

We're not going back, but we got to know how to handle that, and what we've seen lately, we held our own, like Martin Luther King would have would have done  hold your ground, wait till your time comes," Francis said.

Read more of Norman C. Francis' story.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Joyce Jackson is a journalism and civil rights pioneer. She was a part of the Katz Drugstore sit-in in Oklahoma in 1958  the beginning of a movement that changed the country forever. She also became the first Black woman on television in Oklahoma.

We think that were so different that were trying to overpower each other. We cant go back," she said. We will not go back to a time where we were subservient and placed in situations where we did not have a voice. Today, everyone has a voice. And we need to use it.

Read more of Joyce Jackson's story.

Boston, Massachusetts

While civil rights leaders marched in the 1960s for equality and against racism, activism showed up in Herlda Senhouse through her jazz dance shows. The 110-year-old founded what was Boston's Clique Club, a social club of dancers and musicians to help educate Black students.

When asked whether it was more difficult being Black or a woman, Senhouse said: It was a double-whammy. It was so hard."

Read more of Herlda Senhouse's story.

Jackson, Mississippi

A civil rights activist from Mississippi became the youngest Freedom Rider nearly 60 years ago and almost lost his life in the pursuit of equality. Hezekiah Watkins, 73, now spends his days working at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. Hes not just an employee, hes a part of history.



I remember watching the evening news. I would see dogs biting individuals. I saw individuals being spat on. I saw individuals being beaten and I could not understand why, Watkins said of growing up during the civil rights movement. But I keep hearing these words, Freedom Riders.

Read more of Hezekiah Watkins' story.

Fayetteville, Arkansas

Virginia Smith Denton, 82, said she was at home with her mom when she learned about the Supreme Court's milestone Brown v. Board of Education decision. The court ruled in 1954 that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional. In the fall of 1954, the then 16-year-old and six other teens became the first Black students to attend Fayetteville High School.

"We weren't scared. We were a little nervous," Smith Denton said.

Read more of Virginia Smith Denton's story.

Des Moines, Iowa

From the inner city of Washington, D.C., to the middle of Americas heartland, Wayne Ford came to the Midwest to play football. He stayed and became an agent of change, dedicating years of service as a state lawmaker and community leader in Iowa.

Des Moines is a much better city than it was when I got here but it has many challenges to go. The school systems  Blacks are still not getting the education. The economic situation  we have some of the poorest Blacks in America. We got Blacks that dont even have bank accounts."

Read more of Wayne Ford's story.

Birmingham, Alabama

Veraneice Wheeler was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. The 91-year-old lived through the civil rights movement and worked as a nurse for 15 years during segregation when Black nurses were limited on their duties. Her late husband was involved in the local NAACP chapter and he made it a family mission to help register Black people to vote amid constant threats of violence.

"They hung nooses for him because he was a real fighter for civil rights. One time the children were small, I don't think they even remember, we had threats on our home because of segregation. One time they had to watch our house because we had bomb threats."

Read more of Veraneice Wheeler's story.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Phyllis Bennett, of suburban Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is known to many as a speaker, radio host, consultant and award-winning advocate. Bennett applauds the efforts of the new generation for taking a stand against racial inequalities but said it wont be enough to eliminate the issues.

"As long as we have systemic racism and different aspects of our society  racism in education, medicine, police  unless and until we get some reforms in economic, social and judicial justice, it's going to continue to be a problem."

Read more of Phyllis Bennett's story.

Seaside, California

John Nash, who grew up in the segregated south before he moved to Seaside, California, where he's lived for more than six decades, said he's hopeful for change.

"We can't sit back and wait (for) somebody do it for us. ...We got to get out and push. ...We get a little ways and we get comfortable," Nash said.

Read more of John Nash's story.

Omaha, Nebraska

Patricia Brown remembers the night she cooked dinner for Martin Luther King Jr. Decades later, she reflects on the civil rights era and its impact today.

When Dr. King walked across the bridge and they had the hose on them, trying to keep them from coming down the bridge and John Lewis was hit in the head, you could see that. But the thing is, Im thinking with George Floyd theyre starting to say enough is enough. Enough is enough, Brown said.

Read more of Patricia Brown's story.

Louisville, Kentucky

As she watched coverage of the January insurrection from her West Louisville, Kentucky, home, Mattie Jones was reminded of "Bloody Sunday" in 1965.

I was there when they beat John Lewis to a bloody pulp and when I saw them climbing the walls and taking over the Capitol, my thoughts then said, 'Look what we have created here by allowing the institutionalized  or slick racism  to keep on existing,'" Jones said.

Read more of Mattie Jones' story.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Joseph Powdrell grew up in Crosbyton, Texas, at a time when its schools were still segregated.

"I always wanted to experience things like microscopes and stuff like that," Powdrell said. "We had none of that. We simply had a classroom, paper and none of that. And that's when I started to feel like we're missing something here. There was a white high school right down the street from us. They had everything. Biology labs  they did everything, and then I'm starting to wonder, 'Why do they have that? ... Why are we deprived of certain things?' And the word 'racism' wasn't mentioned."

Read more of Joseph Powdrell's story.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Jim Crable took a moment to reflect on a painful history he had with racism, starting with his time in Brownsville, where he was born and went to grade school.

"I knew that I was different. I knew I was a different color," Crable said. "And in a lot of cases, when some folks got mad at me, they'd let me know I was a different color when they'd pick up a pet name to call me."



Read more of Jim Crable's story.

Orlando, Florida

George Starke Jr. was the first African American to ever attend the University of Florida Law School.

"On Sept. 15, 1958, when I went to University of Florida, I didn't know what to expect," he said. "I got to meet some of my classmates. Some of who really weren't my classmates, I didn't know it at the time. Two of them were Florida Highway Patrol. They had been assigned to ensure my safety. They didn't know what to expect either."



Read more of George Starke Jr.'s story.

Savannah, Georgia



Decades of service to her community have driven former Savannah, Georgia, Mayor Edna Jackson from a young age. Jackson would spend years participating in sit-ins, marches and other protests across the South.

We would sit in. They wouldnt serve us," she said. "People would yell, throw coffee and just intimidate them."

Learn more of Edna Jackson's story here.
Another 19,114 people in Britain have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 3,911,573, according to official figures released on Friday.

The country also reported another 1,014 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 111,264. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test, Xinhua news agency reported.

The latest figures were revealed as Downing Street confirmed that all British adults aged 50 and older are expected to be offered a first dose of the coronavirus vaccine by early May.

Nearly 11 million people in Britain have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures.

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed that Britain remains "on track" to complete the vaccination of the top priority groups, which cover 15 million people, by mid-February. Britain aims to offer all adults their first dose by autumn.

Earlier on Friday, the British government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said Britain's coronavirus reproduction number, known as the R number, has dropped slightly to between 0.7 and one.

The R number, one of many indicators scientists use to determine how fast Covid-19 is spreading in the country, is slightly narrower than last week's number, which was between 0.7 and 1.1.

The growth rate for Britain is between minus 5 per cent and minus 2 per cent, which means the number of new infections is shrinking by between 2 per cent and 5 per cent every day, according to the SAGE.

England is currently under the third national lockdown since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country. Similar restriction measures are also in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
To really make a difference in fighting the scourge of sytemic racism, it takes not only Black people, who've been fighting this fight for generations, but also White people committing to actively live as anti-racists.

Moving into Black History Month, Amateur Films today announces the use of their 30-minute non-commercial documentary  Spark: A Systemic Racism Story  as a complimentary resource for individuals, companies, academic institutions, and organizations to explore racisms roots and remedies. Since the films release in December 2020, teachers, professors, CEOs, and diversity equity and inclusion (DE&I) leaders began utilizing Spark as a racial justice, equity, and sensitivity resource.

Spark is an historical and present-day assessment of systemic racism, a review of historys black justice-fighting changemakers, and the actions whites can take to become black community allies. Sparks educational, gripping, and bipartisan content, narrated by Bruce Greenwood (JFK in 13 Days), makes it unique among racial justice and racial equity films. Spark has gained traction as a catalyst for DE&I programs at myriad organizations. In addition, the thirty-minute film has been implemented into educational programs from California to New Jersey, including Stanford Universitys Anti-Racism and Allyship 7-Day Journey.

The tragic death of George Floyd sparked the largest global protest in the history of the world, a nationwide discussion, and a more profound look at deep-seated, systemic racism in America. The producers participation in a local demonstration inspired these white allies to create a non-commercial educational documentary to encourage recognition of unconscious bias and show a path to unlearning the historical narrative that redefined an entire race.

The documentary is an aggregator of interviews and clips of prominent racial justice advocates providing historical context of policies and procedures that led to the oppression of the black community. Spark also proposes pragmatic, creative remedies in policing, criminal justice, and society.

While watching the George Floyd protests unfold, it was clear the nation was experiencing a moral awakening, said Trent Gegax, story and editor producer. Spark: A Systemic Racism Story aims to educate through awareness, listening, and the daily practice of anti-racism because until everyone is free, no one is free.

The documentary is presented in complete, abbreviated, and mini versions and can be viewed at http://www.spark-doc.com.

About Amateur Films, LLC

Amateur Films, LLC is based in Minneapolis, MN, created in 2020 by Tom Gegax and Mary Wescott of the Gegax Family Foundation. The production team is made up of volunteers and includes talented and passionate neighbors in addition to the retention of top Hollywood writers, editors, composer, and sound and color expert. Amateur Films was inspired by the June 2020 George Floyd protests as well as Gegaxs personal experience during the late 60s civil rights uprisings, when, working in Chicago with 14 black service station owners in his territory, he developed deep personal and business relationships as they protected him from harm during these uprisings and their aftermath.

Media Contact:

Stephanie Ramirez

Associate Producer

stephanie@gegax.com

(619) 701-7187

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP)  An investigative news outlet in El Salvador said Friday that a decision by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights confirming it has been the victim of harassment sets an important precedent defending press freedoms in the region.

The regional body called on El Salvadors government to take steps to protect 34 journalists at the online outlet El Faro who have faced threats and harassment.

The commission is saying that in El Salvador there is an alarming, worrisome situation and that really the press or the reporters who do the investigative work and who have a critical function for the citizens are at risk, said El Faros Deputy Editor Sergio Arauz. What the commission also does is sound an alarm and a spotlight for the international community.

It is a grand precedent in legal terms on the freedom of expression and also sends a message to all those bureaucrats accustomed to bullying and intimidating journalists, he said.

El Faro has argued that since President Nayib Bukele took office in June 2019, its journalists have been blocked from government news conferences, threatened by government institutions, the news outlet has faced a government audit and anonymous articles appearing in government-connected outlets have waged a campaign against its work.

The commission on Thursday issued a statement calling on El Salvadors government to adopt measures that would allow El Faro to go about its work without interference and harassment. The petition to the commission was made by the Foundation for Due Process and the Center for Justice and International Law.

Bukeles government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As an outside candidate, Bukele rode a wave of popular discontent with El Salvadors traditional parties into the presidency. His brash style includes savvy use of social media to communicate directly with his supporters. He has been criticized for sharp attacks on the press, as well as other government institutions, including the Supreme Court and congress.

Photo: The Canadian Press

A man is warning people against using headphones while falling asleep after health care workers had to remove a wireless earbud from his esophagus.

Worcester resident Brad Gauthier, who detailed his bizarre experience in a Facebook post, went to bed Monday listening to music. He woke up Tuesday, shovelled snow for about an hour, and then went inside to take a sip of water. But the liquid wouldn't go down, and he had to lean over to drain it from his throat.

Gauthier also noticed he was missing one of his two wireless earbuds, which he said typically uses as he falls asleep.

Gauthier's son suggested that perhaps his father had swallowed the earbud, which is exactly what an X-ray at a local emergency room revealed. The small plastic device was lodged in his lower esophagus.

Doctors removed the earbud during an emergency endoscopy. Gauthier said he never experienced more than minor discomfort. Still, he cautioned others not to sleep with their headphones because you never know where they'll end up.

It never occurred to me that (sleeping with headphones) could be a safety hazard. I was really quite lucky, Gauthier told WWLP-TV.

India has registered a record by crossing the landmark 20-crore total cumulative coronavirus tests. Out of the 20,06,72,589 total tests, India has conducted 7,40,794 tests in a span of 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed.

Progressive countrywide expansion in testing infrastructure has played a crucial role in the steep rise of testing numbers, an official statement by the ministry said.

"With 2,369 testing labs in the country including 1,214 government laboratories and 1,155 private laboratories, the daily testing capacity has got a substantial boost. The cumulative positivity rate is also declining and presently pegged at 5.39 per cent," it said.

High level of comprehensive testing on a sustained basis has also resulted in bringing down the national positivity rate in the country. The higher daily testing combined with low daily cases have resulted in a low positivity rate.

However, the country's total active caseload continued to follow a consistent downward slope. It has dropped to less than 1.5 lakh (1,48,590) today and is the lowest in eight months.

The present active caseload now consists of just 1.37% of India's total positive cases. The country has seen less than 100 fatalities (95) in the past 24 hours.

The total number of vaccinated beneficiaries surpassed 54 lakhs (54,16,849) under the countrywide coronavirus vaccination drive, as per today's record till 8 am.

Meanwhile, India reported 11,713 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the positive cases tally in the country to 1,08,14,304, according to the data released by the Union Health Ministry on Saturday morning.

With 95 more deaths due to the Covid-19 infections, the total number of fatalities in the country has climbed to 1,54,918.

The national recovery rate is at 97.19% and the Covid-19 case fatality rate stood at 1.43%.

The number of beneficiaries being vaccinated every day has shown a consistent and progressive increase.

The ministry said India is the fastest country to reach the five million mark in coronavirus vaccination. This feat was achieved in merely 21 days. Several other countries have had a head start of over 60 days in the coronavirus vaccination programme.

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Lahore Confidential

Cast: Richa Chadha, Arunoday Singh, Karishma Tanna, Khalid Siddiqui

Direction: Kunal Kohli

Rating: * and a half (one and a half stars)

BY VINAYAK CHAKRAVORTY

Few films manage a level of absolute uniformity in the quality they peddle -- in terms of writing, direction, acting and tech-specs. Lahore Confidential is that film. It is absolutely, uniformly a mess.

Once upon a time Kunal Kohli made a romantic thriller about India, Pakistan, Kashmir, and terrorism that went on to be a blockbuster primarily riding the superstardom of Aamir Khan and Kajol. That was Fanaa in 2006. A decade and half later, and after a few forgettable films along the way, Kohli takes the Fanaa trail again, with focus more on Indo-Pak tension and espionage this time.

Beyond serving suspense drama with some great music, Fanaa had the odd burst of Bollywoodish shayari voiced by Aamir and Kajol. People loved it, which probably gave Kohli the brainwave to expand on the idea this time, mixing spy drama in Lahore Confidential with a dose of Urdu poetry.

In Kohli's latest, shayari creates the common ground for the film's two protagonists to meet and come closer. Ananya (Richa Chadha), a RAW employee, has been roped in for an assignment in Pakistan. Although deemed far too emotional by many for the job of spying, Ananya's love for literature -- particularly Urdu poetry -- is the deciding factor. Her task in Lahore is to forge a bond with Rauf Ahmed Kazmi (Arunoday Singh), a man known for his connections among the Pakistani power set as well as his love for shayari.

What follows is boringly clockwork. Ananya and Rauf will be attracted towards each other -- yes, thanks to mushairas and shayari. Of course, there will be a twist in their tale of love.

The characters in the story are as unimaginative as the storytelling and dialogues, with the writers (S. Hussain Zaidi and Vibha Singh) showing amateurish form. Everything about the narrative is a quickfix to fulfil formula essentials. If Ananya is the reticent and softspoken heroine, Karishma Tanna's supporting act as Yukti, her close friend and associate in Lahore, is predictably fiery, carefree and soaked in hedonism. Yukti's execution of top secret operations is hilarious, actually -- almost as if she is organising a college play.

The bigger downer is the lead pair. Arunoday Singh and Richa Chadha look least interested as they go through the motions. One would suspect Kohli himself lost interest somewhere down the line, which is why he ended the film at just 68 minutes -- mercifully, he must have realised at that point he never had much of a 'story' to tell.

The biggest glitch that mainstream Bollywood has suffered down the decades while trying to narrate Indo-Pak sagas about espionage, insurgency or terror strikes is they flinch from stating cold, hard truths. Watching Lahore Confidential, you realise it's still the same in 2021.

-- Syndicated from IANS
Donald McNeil Jr. (above) resigned Friday over his use of the N-word

A top New York Times reporter has resigned and apologized for his 'extraordinarily bad judgement' over his use of the N-word after his Pulitzer Prize-winning colleague Nikole Hannah-Jones threatened to launch her own investigation into him.

In a letter to staff Friday, Donald McNeil Jr. announced he was standing down from the paper after 45 years saying he 'originally thought the context in which I used this ugly word could be defended' but now realized 'it cannot.'

Top bosses had previously said he should be 'given another chance' saying McNeil hadn't used the word with 'malicious or hateful intent' during the Times-sponsored school trip but also changed tact Friday telling staff 'we do not tolerate racist language regardless of intent.'

The ousting of the man who was the paper's star COVID-19 reporter came after a group of 150 staffers sent a letter to the executive leadership Wednesday stating they were 'deeply disturbed' by the paper's handling of the incident and demanding a full investigation into 'newly surfaced complaints' against McNeil.

Hannah-Jones, the reporter behind the 1619 Project which aims to reframe America's history to put the impact of slavery at the center of the narrative, also vowed to call parents and students who took part in the trip in question to find out what McNeil said and in what context, sources told the Daily Beast.

The leadership team responded to the letter vowing to 'improve our workplace culture' and promising staffers they will see 'results' over how the company handles issues.

The Daily Beast first reported last week that multiple students and parents had lodged complaints against McNeil back in 2019 after he allegedly used the N-word, said white privilege does not exist and made disparaging comments about black people during a company-sponsored school trip to Peru.

The Times has been rocked by a number of scandals of late. The same day McNeil resigned, audio producer Andy Mills also announced he had left the paper in the midst of sexual harassment claims and the Caliphate podcast embarrassment.

McNeil broke his silence over the 2019 incident in an email to the Times staff Friday announcing his exit where he issued an apology to both his colleagues and the students on the trip.

'I should not have done that,' he said. 'Originally, I thought the context in which I used this ugly word could be defended. I now realize that it cannot.'

McNeil admitted his use of the racial slur was 'deeply offensive and hurtful' and that his initial thoughts he could defend his actions also showed 'extraordinarily bad judgement.'

The top New York Times reporter resigned and apologized for his 'extraordinarily bad judgement' over his use of the N-word in a letter to staff Friday (above)

The veteran journalist described the 2019 incident saying he said the N-word when asked by one of the students whether he believed a classmate should be suspended for using the racist slur.

'On a 2019 New York Times trip to Peru for high school students, I was asked at dinner by a student whether I thought a classmate of hers should have been suspended for a video she had made as a 12-year-old in which she used a racial slur,' he said, according to the Washington Post which obtained a copy of the note.

'To understand what was in the video, I asked if she had called someone else the slur or whether she was rapping or quoting a book title. In asking the question, I used the slur itself.'

He extended his 'sincerest apology' to the students on the trip as well as his colleagues who he said he 'let down.'

'For offending my colleagues - and for anything I've done to hurt The Times, which is an institution I love and whose mission I believe in and try to serve - I am sorry.

'I let you all down,' he wrote.

McNeil's message to staff was included in an email sent from Executive Editor Dean Baquet and Managing Editor Joseph Kahn to staffers Friday where they vowed not to tolerate racist language and to better tackle issues of workplace misconduct.

'We do not tolerate racist language regardless of intent,' they wrote.

Hannah-Jones, the reporter behind the 1619 Project, vowed to call parents and students who took part in the trip to find out what happened, sources said

His resignation came after 150 staffers wrote a letter to bosses citing new allegations of 'bias against people of color' and slamming the paper's handling of the incident

'We are committed to building a news report and company that reflect our core values of integrity and respect, and will work with urgency to create clearer guidelines and enforcement about conduct in the workplace, including red-line issues on racist language.'

McNeil's departure was a marked turnaround from last week when the Times responded to the Beast's expose to say it had conducted an investigation and decided not to fire him because they believed he showed 'poor judgment' but did not use the words with 'hateful or malicious' intent.

The paper faced a backlash over its handling of the crisis with a group of over 150 staffers sending a letter to execs Wednesday both slamming their handling of the scandal and calling for a full investigation and an apology from McNeil.

The letter has not been made public but The Daily Beast reported that staff wrote in it: 'The company has a responsibility to take that experience seriously.'

The company employs 4,300 people, of which some 1,600 are journalists.

'Our community is outraged and in pain,' the employees wrote adding that, as McNeil's colleagues, they 'feel disrespected by his actions.'

Employees called on the Times to fully investigate both the 2019 trip as well 'any newly surfaced complaints' that have arisen in the days since the incident came to light.

They wrote that a number of current and former colleagues have since come forward to complain of 'bias against people of color in [McNeil's] work and in interactions with colleagues over a period of years'.

The nature of these complaints is not known.

Executive Editor Dean Baquet. Top bosses had previously said he should be 'given another chance' saying McNeil hadn't used the word with 'malicious or hateful intent' but also changed tact Friday telling staff 'we do not tolerate racist language regardless of intent'

As well as hitting out at McNeil, the staff members also took aim at their employer writing that they were 'deeply disturbed' by the paper's handling of the allegations and demanding a probe into how it was initial dealt with.

The letter hit out at the paper for its 'seeming commitment to diversity and inclusion, [while they had] given a prominent platform  a critical beat covering a pandemic disproportionately affecting people of color  to someone who chose to use language that is offensive and unacceptable by any newsroom's standards.

'He did so while acting as a representative for The Times, in front of high school students.'

McNeil fast became one of the Times's top reporters covering the pandemic less than six months after the trip when he is accused of making offensive and racist comments.

'The company has a responsibility to take that experience seriously,' the staffers wrote.

'[Company guidelines] make clear that what matters is how an act makes the victims feel; [McNeil's] victims weren't shy about decrying his conduct on the trip,' the letter read.

McNeil, a 45-year veteran of the paper, (above) was accused of using the racial slur and making racist and derogatory comments while on a Times-branded student trip to Peru in 2019

Scandals that rocked the New York Times in 2020 June 7: New York Times' opinion editor, James Bennet, resigned following a controversial op-ed from Senator Tom Cotton. The opinion piece, entitled Send in the Troops, advocated using federal troops to quell unrest across the US caused by the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Bennet, who had revealed in a meeting that he had not read Cotton's piece before it was posted online, had defended it following the initial protests, saying it was important to hear from all points of view. Yet more than 800 staff members signed a letter protesting its publication. Bennet then resigned from his position after the Times disowned the incendiary opinion piece. Following a review, the newspaper said Cotton's piece should not have been published, at least not without substantial revisions. July 14: One of Bennett's hires, conservative opinion editor writer Bari Weiss, announced she had quit in a scathing letter that slammed the newspaper for fostering an 'illiberal environment' that allowed her to be bullied by coworkers. Weiss, who joined the Times in 2017, said the paper of record was among the media institutions now betraying their standards and losing sight of their principles as she accused them of only publishing stories that 'satisfy the narrowest of audiences'. In her lengthy resignation letter addressed to publisher A.G. Sulzberger, Weiss claimed that intellectual curiosity and risk-taking was now a 'liability' at the Times. The controversial editor and writer said the opinions of those on Twitter had become the newspaper's 'ultimate editor'. Weiss also accused the outlet of creating a 'hostile work environment' for employees that essentially had anything other than left-of-center views. She says this mentality resulted in her being constantly bullied by coworkers who have called her a 'Nazi and a racist' because of her 'own forays into wrongthink'. Staffers had previously called for Weiss to be fired after her tweets regarding the Tom Cotton scandal. September: Trump repeatedly criticized the New York Times 1619 Project claiming it seeks to 'change our history'. Trump was asked about instructors using the project, named after the year the first ship with African slaves arrived in the U.S., to teach slavery in America and whether he wanted the subject to be taught. 'We grew up with a certain history and now they're trying to change our history. Revisionist history,' Trump claimed. Senator Cotton was also caught up in this incident, introducing legislation that would ban schools from teaching the curriculum through the Saving American History Act of 2020. Advertisement

Staff members demanded McNeil apologize to the students and parents who attended the tour in question, tour staffers, as well as his colleagues.

Three top bosses - Baquet, Publisher A.G. Sulzberger and CEO Meredith Kopit Levien - were forced to defend their handling of the complaints responding in a joint email just hours later that they 'largely agree' with staff concerns.

They told staff they had been discussing their concerns and promised to 'examine the way we manage behavioral problems among members of the staff'.

'Every member of our leadership team has been seized with the urgency of addressing the problems raised in the letter,' read the email, seen by The Washington Post.

The execs said they planned to 'take concrete actions to improve our workplace culture' and were determined to 'learn the right lessons from this incident.'

'You will see results,' they promised.

While they said they 'understand that when a distressing incident like this arises, people do not want to hear calls to 'be patient,' they emphasized that issues involving 'legal and union protections' can take time.

'We ourselves are impatient,' the bosses wrote, adding that: 'The three of us have no higher priority than getting this right.'

McNeil, a 45-year veteran of the paper, was accused of using the racial slur and making racist and derogatory comments while on a Times-branded student trip to Peru in 2019.

At least 26 students took part in the $5,000-a-head Times 'Student Journey' that focused on community-based health care in the country with McNeil selected by the Times to help lead the trip as an expert journalist.

At least six students or their parents complained after the trip that McNeil used racially insensitive or racist language, the Daily Beast first reported.

Two students said he used the N-word and said he didn't believe white privilege exists while three others claimed he made racist remarks and stereotypical comments about black teens.

'I expect immediate action on the actions taken by Donald, I am deeply disappointed about the New York Times because of the comments he made during our trip. I think firing him would even be appropriate,' one traveler complained after the trip.

'Not only did Donald say various racist comments on numerous occasions, but he was also disrespectful to many students during mealtimes and in other settings,' another stated in their review.

'I would change the journalist. He was a racist,' a third person wrote.

'He used the 'N' word, said horrible things about black teenagers, and said white supremacy doesn't exist.'

'He made students in the program feel uncomfortable with his remarks. I was really disappointed after hearing great things about his work,' added a fourth participant.

The Times confirmed last week it had investigated McNeil over the allegations and that he had been 'disciplined.'

'In 2019, Donald McNeil, Jr. participated in a Student Journeys as an expert. We subsequently became aware of complaints by some of the students on the trip concerning certain statements Donald had made during the trip,' the Times said.

'We conducted a thorough investigation and disciplined Donald for statements and language that had been inappropriate and inconsistent with our values.

'We found he had used bad judgment by repeating a racist slur in the context of a conversation about racist language. In addition, we apologized to the students who had participated in the trip.'

It is not clear how McNeil was disciplined.

Executive editor Dean Baquet also sent an email to staff last Thursday saying an investigation into the incident found McNeil's intentions were not 'hateful or malicious' and that the reporter should be 'given another chance.'

'When I first heard the story, I was outraged and expected I would fire him. I authorized an investigation and concluded his remarks were offensive and that he showed extremely poor judgment, but that it did not appear to me that his intentions were hateful or malicious,' Baquet wrote.

'I believe that in such cases people should be told they were wrong and given another chance. He was formally disciplined. He was not given a pass.'

Baquet and assistant managing editor Carolyn Ryan also met with Times journalists last Friday to speak about their concerns, the Beast reported.

McNeil, whose writing on the coronavirus pandemic over the last year has been submitted for a Pulitzer prize, has not published any work on the Times since before the Beast story broke on January 28.

McNeil's exit comes the same day as that of another Times journalist who was also under scrutiny for past behavior.

New York Times audio producer Andy Mills also resigned Friday amid harassment allegations He worked on the controversial Caliphate series that had been tricked by the story of a fantasist

Caliphate's host Rukmini Callimachi (pictured above) has been reassigned within the New York Times to cover higher education, it was revealed on Friday

In December, the Times retracted much of the story on which popular Caliphate podcast had been built after it emerged that the team had been tricked by a fantasist

Audio producer Andy Mills, who was involved in the controversial Caliphate series, posted a resignation letter posted to his website Friday claiming he was stepping down not due to the problems with Caliphate, but because of the stories now being shared about his 'past personal conduct'.

Mills has been at the center of sexual harassment, including references in a New York Magazine article that reported he had been the subject of complaints during his time at 'Radiolab'.

The article included claims from women he worked with that said he asked them for dates, gave unsolicited back rubs and poured beer on the head of one woman in a bar.

Mills said in his resignation note on Friday that the Times had defended him publicly when the article was published just two months before the start of Caliphate.

He said that after being cautioned for his conduct in WNYC, when he joined the Times in 2016, he 'was open with my bosses and colleagues about this experience and what I'd learned from it'.

He said that resigning for the Times were 'not words I ever wanted to write' as he noted he 'never even imagined that I would get the chance to live in New York City or to work in media - let alone at the paper of record'.

Mills continued that he was 'proud of our team and what we were able to accomplish with Caliphate' and that 'getting any aspect of any story wrong, by any degree, is a journalist's worst nightmare'.

The producer's resignation comes as the Daily Beast reported Friday that Caliphate's host Rukmini Callimachi has been reassigned within the paper to cover higher education.

The Caliphate podcast, which featured Canadian-Pakistani man Shehroze Chaudhry, 25, who claimed to have worked as an ISIS executioner, has caused a massive fallout for the Times.

In December the Times was forced to acknowledge it had been misled in the production of the series by Chaudhry, who had fabricated his story and paper returned a coveted Peabody Award that the project earned.

This is just the latest saga to rock the Times in recent months.

The paper divided opinion over its disciplinary action against another staff member last month.

The subsequent backlash against the paper comes after it took a more heavy-handed approach to disciplining one of its other employees, when it fired editor Lauren Wolfe (above) last month following a tweet about Joe Biden's inauguration

Lauren Wolfe was axed after tweeting: 'Biden landing at Joint Base Andrews now. I have chills'

The week before the allegations surfaced against McNeil, it emerged the Times had ended the contract of editor Lauren Wolfe following a tweet about Joe Biden's inauguration.

Wolfe, who joined the paper last May, had tweeted days earlier that she had 'chills' watching Biden's plane landing at Andrew Air Force Base shortly before his inauguration.

'Biden landing at Joint Base Andrews now. I have chills,' she posted.

Wolfe also tweeted that Trump was 'mortifying' and 'childish' for refusing to send Biden a military plane to bring him to DC.

She later deleted that tweet after learning Biden had made the choice not to take a military plane.

Wolfe's contract was ended with the paper with the editor claiming she was fired over the 'chills' tweet 'because I expressed emotion publicly on something I should not have, according to the publication.'

Meanwhile, the Times claimed her dismissal was not on the basis of the tweet alone, but did not comment any further on the reasons for letting her go.

Prior to this editorial page editor James Bennet who was once tipped to take over Baquet in the top role resigned after publishing a controversial op-ed by Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.)

The piece, entitled Send in the Troops, advocated using federal troops to quell unrest across the US sparked by the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

More than 800 staff members signed a letter protesting its publication.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

New York Times journalist quits over claims he is a 'predator and a dangerous threat to colleagues' - as his collaborator on discredited 'Caliphate' podcast is moved from terror beat

A New York Times journalist at the center of sexual harassment claims has resigned, while protesting that his previous mistakes were being inaccurately used to transform him 'into a symbol of larger societal evils'.

Audio producer Andy Mills had been involved in the controversial Caliphate series. In December, the Times retracted much of the story on which the popular podcast had been built after it emerged that the team had been tricked by a fantasist.

Yet the scandal over the editorial errors made in the creation of the series also resulted in the resurfacing of allegations of harassment made against Mills during his time working at WNYC.

Mills in a resignation letter posted to his website on Friday claimed that he was stepping down not due to the problems with Caliphate, but because of the stories now being shared about his 'past personal conduct'.

The producer's resignation comes as the Daily Beast reports that Caliphate's host Rukmini Callimachi has been reassigned within the paper to cover higher education.

Mills had faced previous backlash over claims of misconduct in the workplace, including references in a New York Magazine article that reported he had been the subject of complaints during his time at 'Radiolab'.

The article included claims from women he worked with that said he asked them for dates, gave unsolicited back rubs and poured beer on the head of one woman in a bar.

In a resignation letter posted to his website on Friday, audio producer at the Times Andy Mills claimed that he was stepping down not due to the problems with Caliphate, but because of the stories now being shared about his 'past personal conduct' (as pictured above)

Mills claims he remains proud of the team that produced Caliphate

Mills claimed that the original allegations and his 'past mistakes' had been added to with 'gross exaggerations and baseless claims', as pictured in his resignation letter above

Mills said in his resignation note on Friday that the Times had defended him publicly when the article was published just two months before the start of Caliphate.

He said that after being cautioned for his conduct in WNYC, when he joined the Times in 2016, he 'was open with my bosses and colleagues about this experience and what I'd learned from it'.

He said that resigning for the Times were 'not words I ever wanted to write' as he noted he 'never even imagined that I would get the chance to live in New York City or to work in media - let alone at the paper of record'.

Mills continued that he was 'proud of our team and what we were able to accomplish with Caliphate' and that 'getting any aspect of any story wrong, by any degree, is a journalist's worst nightmare'.

'When it came to fact-checking support for the project, the Times' leadership told us that they had their own internal system in place for stories of this nature,' Mills claimed.

'That system broke down. And they did not blame us.

'But in the meantime, another story emerged online: that my lack of punishment came down to entitlement and male privilege. That accusation gave some the opportunity to resurface my past personal conduct.'

Mills admitted that he previously 'made mistakes that I wish I could take back' while attending meetups during his tenure at WNYC where he 'looked for love' and 'earned a reputation as a flirt.'.

'Eight years ago, during a team meeting, I gave a colleague a back rub. Seven years ago, I poured a drink on a coworker's head at a drunken bar party. I look back at those actions with extraordinary regret and embarrassment,' he said.

Mills added that once he was cautioned over the behavior, he 'took this reckoning seriously and I continued to work at WNYC for nearly two more years without further incident'.

'At the Times, I have strived to continue to grow and be a better co-worker and person, and not repeat the mistakes of my 20s,' he said.

Yet in his letter, Mills claimed that the original allegations and his 'past mistakes' had been added to with 'gross exaggerations and baseless claims'.

'Several people have even alleged that I am a predator and a dangerous threat to my colleagues,' he wrote.

'I have been transformed into a symbol of larger societal evils. As a journalist, it has been especially discouraging and upsetting to see fellow journalists make such claims or retweet them.

'The entire experience has been extraordinarily painful. I know I'm not supposed to say that because people will claim that I'm trying to make myself the victim  But public shaming is very painful. That is the truth. So is leaving the job you love.'

Andy Mills and Rukmini Callimachi were two of the biggest names involved in Caliphate

The producer said that his resignation came as a 'it is in the best interest of both myself and my team that I leave the company at this time'.

'I do this with no joy and a heavy heart,' he concluded.

'At some point, maybe I'll tell this story more fully, but I got into this work to tell other people's stories. And for now, I'm going to get back to that.'

Mills' resignation was also confirmed in a memo to staff from the paper's executive editor, Dean Baquet, and managing editor, Joe Kahn, yet they did not go into details about his decision to leave.

'We know this is a difficult stretch for our audio team,' they stated.

'We are committed to helping build the systems and structures necessary to support audio's rapid growth and management needs and making the team a far more integrated part of the newsroom,' the memo added.

'We owe each other a culture of collaboration, collegiality and respect in our workplace.

'We all want and need a culture in which any of us feels comfortable coming forward with complaints or concerns and can trust they will be examined fully and fairly. It is essential to making sure that we can do our best work.'

The Caliphate podcast has caused a massive fallout for the Times which appeared to culminate December when it acknowledged that it had been misled in the production of the series by Canadian-Pakistani man Shehroze Chaudhry, 25, who had fabricated his story of working as an ISIS executioner.

Yet the backlash continued even further as the Times treatment of the staff involved in the podcast was called into question, and as the actions of some of the journalists themselves were also criticized.

On Friday, the Daily Beast confirmed that host Callimachi, who was formerly one of the paper's highest-profile reporters on ISIS and extremism in the Middle East, is moving to higher education, covering Ivy League schools and the goings on at college campuses across the country.

And Daily podcast host Michael Barbaro was forced to repeatedly apologize after his personal links to the show emerged and it was reported that he was privately messaging and blocking Twitter users who criticized Caliphate.

In January, a group of 20 influential public radio stations condemned the Times for a 'lack of transparency' in Barbaro's role.

The host was in December tasked with speaking to the Times' executive editor Dean Baquet in an episode of The Daily - which is also broadcast on public radio - in which the paper retracted much of the story on which popular series Caliphate had been built.

Yet in hosting the episode, Barbaro failed to disclose that much of the production team involved in 'Caliphate' had come from 'The Daily' - and that he is engaged to the series' executive producer Lisa Tobin.

According to NPR, Barbaro also pressured at least five journalists via social media to play down the errors in Caliphate and to get them to pull back their public criticism of the series.

In a letter sent to the New York Times Audio division, the Public Radio Program Directors Association said it had to question the paper's decisions as they needed to ensure their programming upheld 'the high standards that our listeners expect'.

The association accused the Times of having a 'serious lapse in judgment' in also allowing Barbaro to host the thirty-minute retraction episode and said that the decision was 'flawed'.

'How are we to trust that difficult questions would be asked, answers would be demanded, and the truth be sought,' the station executives asked.

'This was a moment for transparency, that moment is now lost, and there should be accountability for this lapse in judgment.'

The letter had also raised concerns over the presence of Mills, highlighting that several women had come forward during his time at WNYC.

Mills had presented the episode of The Daily coming straight after the Caliphate retraction. He had been a co-creator and co-star the series, acting as sidekick to main 'Caliphate' host Rukmini Callimachi.

While Callimachi has been reassigned within the Times, the letter questioned why Mills, at the time, was being given 'greater visibility'.

'We fully recognize that this is a vast simplification of the situation, we understand the complexity of this issue and the many considerations that went into making the decision,' the letter continued.

'It seems, however, that the optics of this decision may not have been carefully considered. Over the past several years, public media has undertaken strenuous efforts to create diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces.

'We have felt the inequity, exclusion and dominant white culture since #MeToo, carrying forward to the Black Lives Matter movement and the important cultural reckoning we experience in 2020 after the killing of George Floyd.'

Michael Barbaro is engaged to Lisa Tobin, who as an executive producer on 'Caliphate', but he failed to disclose his personal link to the series on The Daily episode about the retraction

A group of 20 influential public radio stations condemned the New York Times for a 'lack of transparency' after it emerged the star host of 'The Daily' Michael Barbaro is engaged to the executive producer of 'Caliphate' Lisa Tobin, pictured together above

Michael Barbaro and Lisa Tobin pictured working together above

The letter added that the Times' decisions on Barbaro and Mills were 'not just tone deaf' but 'blind to the current landscape in which we now exist'.

'The times are changing and yet based on this decision, it appears that The Times is not changing along with them,' it claimed.

In a response seen by the Washington Post, the Times said that Barbaro 'deeply regrets' placing pressure on reporters from other publications to control the spin on Caliphate's grievous editorial errors.

Yet it argued that it did not think that Barbaro was required to disclose his relationship with Tobin during the retraction episode as it was 'an audio version of our editors' note, not an accountability interview'.

Last December, the Times admitted to 'an institutional failure' in the production of its podcast 'Caliphate' by giving 'too much credence' to the story of a man now revealed as a fantasist pretending to be a terrorist.

In a devastating internal review released, it was found that the paper had failed to corroborate the sensationalist claims made by Chaudhry and that the podcast team was duped by his fake story of working as an ISIS executioner.

A group of 20 radio stations in the Public Radio Program Directors Association voiced their concerns in January in a letter to the New York Times Audio Division

The review began after Chaudhry was arrested by Canadian authorities in September and charged with 'a hoax regarding terrorist activity' as his lies fell apart.

Chaudhry's remarkable, yet untrue, story of being a fighter and executioner with the Islamic State in Syria had been the centerpiece of the award-winning 'Caliphate', for which reporter Callimachi was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and won a Peabody Award.

Yet, the Times found that the podcast, launched in 2018, dropped far short of the paper's standards following widespread failings, right up to senior management.

They branded Chaudhry a 'fabulist' who concocted stories as an escape from his more mundane life in a Toronto suburb or living with grandparents in Pakistan.

Dean Baquet, the executive editor of the paper, took personal responsibility for the errors in the editorial process, saying that the blame fell on him and other newsroom leaders.

During his interview with Barbaro, he said: 'When the New York Times does deep, big, ambitious journalism in any format, we put it to a tremendous amount of scrutiny at the upper levels of the newsroom,' he said in an interview with The Daily, another New York Times podcast.

'We did not do that in this case,' he continued.

'And I think that I or somebody else should have provided that same kind of scrutiny  and I did not provide that kind of scrutiny, nor did my top deputies with deep experience in examining investigative reporting.

'I think this guy, we now believe, was a con artist, who made up most if not all that he told us.'

Reporter Rukmini Callimachi, pictured above, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and won a Peabody Award for her work on the 'Caliphate' podcast. She has remained at the Times

Shehroze Chaudhry, 25, from Burlington, Ontario, has been charged with a terrorism hoax

The Times said the two-month review had concluded that the 12-part podcast featuring award-winning correspondent Callimachi, who has frequently reported on IS, 'gave too much credence to the false or exaggerated accounts' of Chaudhry.

The Times had ample reason to be suspicious of Chaudhry's account, since an episode of 'Caliphate' was devoted to discrepancies in his story and its own fact-checking.

But the newspaper should it have worked harder to verify the claims before deciding to make Chaudhry a central character.

Chaudhry had claimed he traveled to Syria in 2016 to join the terrorist group ISIS and committed acts of terrorism, including two killings.

He went by the name Abu Huzayfah in the podcast and described in harrowing detail his role in executions.

His account, as told to Callimachi, was incredibly graphic, in particular as he describes killing a man in an 'orange jumpsuit.'

The account caused an uproar in Canada's parliament, with opposition Conservatives expressing outrage that Chaudhry was living freely in Ontario province after making the terror claims.

At the time, the Times claimed they had managed to secure a photo of Abu Huzayfah on the banks of the Euphrates River in Syria, an indication that he had indeed made the trip.

Investigators have now found that Chaudhry had passed along photos taken by others in Syria as his own.

There is also still some dispute over whether he even traveled to Syria. Canadian officials say he never did, nor did he ever join the Islamic State, although American intelligence officials still have some doubt, the newspaper said.

'Caliphate' marked a foray into narrative audio reporting for the Times, which is increasingly seen as a major revenue stream for the paper.

The show became a major hit, rising to the top of the Apple podcast charts in 2018.

However, red flags surrounding the series' veracity were never far away.

The scandal has led to intense backlash for the paper of record, especially from other news organizations, which have accused it of allowing for fearmongering regarding the radicalization of Muslims.

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Before the pandemic, lingerie magnate Aliza Reger spent thousands of pounds a year on handbags and shoes. Now, her luxuries are nightly chocolates and bouquets of fresh roses.

Reger, who took over her mother Janet's lingerie business after she died from breast cancer in 2005, grew up wealthy.

But after wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds on a 'horrendous' money mistake, she says she has learned the hard way to be resourceful.

Highs and lows: Aliza Reger grew up wealthy but losing a court case left her fearing she might lose her business

What did your parents teach you about money?

My parents had different attitudes to money. My father, Peter, was extravagant  so from him I learned how to spend money. My mother, Janet, was the sensible one.

She taught me to always have a bit of rainy day money and a 'runaway' fund once you got married.

But if she was ever short of money, she didn't believe in cutting back. She'd say: 'I'm not tightening my belt. We need to find a way to make more money.' She believed in earning more, not saving more.

Due to the success of my parents' lingerie business, I was brought up in an affluent home. I had a nanny and then I went to boarding school.

We lived in Central London and I was materially indulged. Birthdays were a big deal, especially because mine was at Christmas when money really poured in. Looking back, I'd say it was a charmed life.

Did your parents ever worry about money?

Oh yes, because their business was seasonal and cyclical. One minute, my father would be splashing the cash and the next minute my mother wouldn't be allowed to so much as buy an egg cup.

Growing up with my father was an emotional rollercoaster. He was a troubled soul who had found himself in a refugee camp in Germany at the age of five.

He had a tough childhood and for him financial success was everything.

Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?

Yes. The most difficult time was probably around 2006. The business lost a massive court case: we had a dispute with our landlord about some damp which ended up costing us a huge amount of money.

We had to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds in legal fees and I thought I wouldn't have enough money left to keep the business going. I'd go to bed worried and wake up at 3am, unable to get back to sleep from the stress.

Luckily, we were the top-selling lingerie brand in Debenhams. I learned that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger  it certainly made me more resourceful.

Aliza Reger's best financial year was around 2016, before Debenhams hit its rocky patch

Have you ever been paid silly money?

Yes. When I was 18, in the early 1980s, I earned tens of thousands of pounds a week working with a family of very wealthy Saudi princesses. Actually, they weren't 'very wealthy'  they were stratospherically rich.

My friend and I were paid to supply them with clothes and jewellery from shops. They would order one of everything they liked in every colour and in every possible look.

I earned commission on every sale on top of my fee for bringing them what they were interested in buying.

They didn't even leave the hotel where they were staying  they just hired an entire floor for us to display the stuff. My friend and I worked for them for about ten months. We earned so much money we still call each other 'Sheikha'.

But I can't even say how much it was in total because I was also spending ridiculous amounts. We were tipping, we had limos, we took people out for lunch. As fast as it came in, it went out.

What was the best financial year of your life?

Probably around 2016, before Debenhams hit its rocky patch. Our Janet Reger lingerie was selling really well in all stores and we had other lucrative licences going. Life was easy and relatively stress-free and I earned a good, six-figure income.

The most expensive thing you have bought for fun?

My Mini. I bought it straight out of the showroom ten years ago for 25,000. It was black with a leather interior and all the add-ons I could get.

Aliza Reger's luxuries are nightly chocolates and bouquets of fresh roses

What is your biggest money mistake?

Litigation and that court ruling in 2006. Something that could have been put right for 25,000 cost me the shirt off my back. It was the most horrendous period of my life and the biggest waste of money.

Do you save into a pension or invest in the stock market?

Yes, I do both. I started my pension in my late-20s after I married my husband Andrew Claremont. He was saving into his pension and told me I needed to as well. So I did.

Andrew is brilliant with money. He's steadfast, sensible and calm  and has been a stabilising influence in my life. He picks our shares and looks after our investment portfolio and pensions. Some of our money is invested in blue-chip stocks, some is in retail companies.

Do you own any property?

Yes, we own our own home and a small property portfolio that, again, my husband manages.

Our home is a fairly well-sized three-bedroom apartment in London's Hampstead which we bought 20 years ago.

I'd rather not say how much it is worth, but certainly less than it used to be, due to the pandemic. Still, I think it has probably quadrupled in value since we bought it.

What luxury do you treat yourself to?

Before lockdown I was spending thousands of pounds a year on bags and shoes. Nowadays, it's luxurious chocolates and fresh flowers.

I like to have roses in the house and will spend 10 to 15 on a bouquet every ten days or so. And I'll eat one or two chocolates a night. So it's not a mad extravagance.

If you were Chancellor, what would you do?

I would raise taxes on anything that comes in a plastic or polystyrene cup. Not only for environmental reasons, but because you see them as litter strewn across the pavements.

I also think the obesity problem in this country is not helped by junk food and fast food, so I'd tax that more, too.

Do you give to charity?

Yes, especially breast cancer charities such as Breast Cancer Care and Future Dreams because my mother passed away from this cancer.

What is your number one financial priority?

To live well, pay all my bills as they come in and not feel financially stressed.

The Janet Reger Rouge collection, a new lingerie line aimed at contemporary women, is on sale in Ann Summers and Kaleidoscope and will soon be available from Next.

From last April to December, Jose Romero met weekly with other vaccine and infectious disease experts to discuss how the nation should dole out early doses of lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines in the most effective and fair way.

He and other members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which advises federal health officials, knew there wouldnt be enough vaccine for everyone who wanted it. So they spent untold hours devising a phased vaccination system that would slowly increase eligibility for shots as manufacturing ramped up.

In December, days after the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine received emergency approval, ACIP recommended that the first doses go to 24 million frontline health workers and people who lived and worked in long-term care facilities. Once those groups were vaccinated, doses could go to 19 million people age 75 and up and to 30 million more essential workers. The guidelines were meant to prioritize the people most likely to die of COVID-19 and those who faced frequent exposure at work.

Then things got crazy.

There was even less vaccine than the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had expected and pressure was increasing to vaccinate people fast. States, counties, and cities started tweaking the rules. By the end of December, Florida and Texas had pushed essential workers like teachers and grocery workers aside, making everyone 65 and up and younger people with certain chronic health conditions eligible instead.

Then the federal government turned the flood of demand into a torrent. During the last full week of the Trump administration, Alex Azar, then secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, and former CDC Director Robert Redfield announced that shots everywhere in the United States should now go to people 65 and up  an additional 28 million  and younger people with chronic health problems that raised COVID-19 risk  an additional 81 million. (Theres some overlap between the groups.) They claimed bigger shipments of doses to states would come from a stockpile that later proved nonexistent.

 READ MORE: Montco, Chesco, and other counties got thousands fewer vaccine doses than expected this week

I was floored, said Romero, who was ACIPs chair. I was really scratching my head as to why was there this opening of the floodgates.  We had been told all along there was not enough vaccine. 

Why would you do that? The American public then expects this, and we  cant deliver.

Romero, a pediatric infectious diseases physician at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas secretary of health, now wonders if even setting the floor at age 75 made too many people eligible.

He and other members of ACIP, along with members of a panel formed by the National Academy of Sciences at the behest of the CDC and National Institutes of Health to provide guidance on vaccination priorities, have watched with dismay as federal, state, and local governments assembled a hodgepodge of rules and systems. It soon became clear, they said, that the Trump administration had ignored their advice to pump money and effort into distributing vaccines and communicating to the public about them.

 READ MORE: In race for COVID-19 vaccinations, older residents in rural Pa. face tough obstacles

Daniel Polsky, a health-policy expert at Johns Hopkins University who served on the National Academy panel, said his group, which worked from July to October, could get little information from the federal government about how vaccines would be distributed. He was dumbfounded to discover once vaccines were approved that they werent hiding information from us. There was no information to share.

Chaotic free-for-all

The result is that states were left with much of the planning and responsibility for vaccine delivery, but got little federal support. Meanwhile, millions of people frightened of a mutating virus were told they were eligible for shots and should get them. People who might have been willing to wait under the earlier rules wanted shots now. They overwhelmed phone lines and online reservation systems. They resented friends who found a way to work the system. They saw the rules were different across state and even county lines and resented that, too. Confusion and anger abounded.

Baruch Fischhoff, a psychologist on the National Academy panel who studies risk assessment at Carnegie Mellon University, likened the swarm for vaccines to the toilet-paper panic last spring.

This was an officially generated shortage, he said. Surveys in the fall showed most people accepted risk-based priorities, he said. He thinks most would have been more willing to wait their turn if priorities had been clear and consistent.

The crush has worked against the disadvantaged people of color  a group disproportionately harmed by the virus  that both committees wanted desperately to protect.

 READ MORE: Phillys rough COVID-19 vaccine rollout adds challenge to reaching skeptical Black residents: Our reticence is sacred

It has been pretty awful, said Sarah Long, a pediatric infectious diseases doctor at the Drexel University College of Medicine who joined ACIP in December.

Releasing too much demand caused predictable chaos, she said. All of a sudden, it was this chaotic free-for-all with the usual suspects winning.

The system would have worked better, she said, if states had followed the rules  the first rules.

Varying rules erode trust

Both Pennsylvania and New Jersey now largely follow the new CDC guidance and allow vaccines for people 65 and up, along with those who have any of 12 health conditions, including cancer, kidney disease, and type 2 diabetes. But Philadelphia has hewed more closely to the original ACIP guidelines, vaccinating those 75 and up and those having a shorter list of health problems while continuing to give shots to essential workers. There still arent nearly enough doses even for that smaller group.

William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University Medical Center infectious diseases specialist who represents the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases on ACIP as a liaison, said the committee always expected variation, particularly when it came to essential workers. Agriculture workers, for example, are more important in some places than others. Experts had learned in the past that if you were too rigid, then vaccine would go unused.

But the committee did not anticipate this much variation. Nor did it expect that so many of the health workers in the top priority group would be wary of the new vaccine. Health systems had to do more educating and coaxing than expected, and that slowed the process down early on.

 READ MORE: Essential workers in Philly region were 55% more likely to get COVID-19, Wharton/IBC study finds

He thinks ACIP should have moved more quickly. By the time it made its final recommendations, many states had already devised their own plans. Romero counters that allocation plans had to be tailored to specific vaccines and were passed within days of FDA approval.

The variability in rules just increases wariness. Polsky, who formerly worked for the University of Pennsylvania and still lives in Lower Merion, said it doesnt seem fair to a 66-year-old in Philadelphia that he cant get vaccinated when people his age who live a few blocks away across City Avenue can. Anything that kind of erodes the foundation of trust is going to have an impact on vaccination rates, he said.

So far, white people, the racial group most likely to want the vaccines, have been the dominant group receiving them. Black people, who surveys show are much more likely to be skeptical about the shots, have been vaccinated at lower rates. Fischhoff said such numbers are misleading. Even if many Black people dont want the shots, more than enough do to use their share of the current supply if they have adequate access.

Ana Diez Roux, dean of Drexels Dornsife School of Public Health and a National Academy committee member, said it is just and equitable to make extra efforts to protect underserved groups who have been most harmed by the virus. Plus, she said, if large pockets of unvaccinated people remain, the pandemic will continue.

No one expects that public health officials can put the genie back in the bottle when it comes to eligible groups. What is needed now, the experts said, is clear messaging about priorities from the federal government, money, and other help to make vaccination more efficient at the local level, better communication to hesitant groups from people they trust, and much more transparency about how many shots are available, whos getting them, and how many others are waiting.

Without having basic information and communication, you just open the door to chaos, Fischhoff said.

 READ MORE: When your chance for a COVID-19 shot comes, experts say dont worry about the numbers

In Maryland, where Polsky works, about two million people are now eligible for vaccines that require two doses. The state gets about 10,000 doses a day.

Do the math, he said. Its really bad.

Polsky said public health officials need to realign expectations with reality. At some point, God willing, everyone who needs it will get it. It just takes time, he said.

Its not that everyones going to get an appointment tomorrow. Everyone needs to understand that.

On a more hopeful note, he said it will likely be easier to get a vaccination appointment in March, as production continues to grow and a third vaccine from Johnson & Johnson is expected to receive emergency authorization.

Romero thinks it will be easier by early summer.
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Police have resumed searching along the shore of the Connecticut River Saturday morning for a missing Chicopee boy after efforts were suspended last night.

Authorities are searching for 11-year-old Aiden Blanchard who was last seen walking in Willimansett near Front Street, police said.

Investigators said evidence indicates Aiden was seen alone in the area of the Medina Street boat launch Friday sometime between 11 and 12. His family reported him missed Friday evening, police said.

Chicopee police and fire department boats have been launched along with overflights by small remote-controlled drones and the Massachusetts State Police Air Wing helicopter to pick up where searchers ended Friday night.

Police personnel from area departments are conducting systematic searches along the shores of area waterways as well.

Authorities describe Aiden as standing 5-foot tall with blue eyes and brown hair. He was last seen wearing a red coat, black ski pants and black sneakers.

Anyone with information about Aidens whereabouts is asked to contact the Chicopee police detective bureau at 413-594-1740
Fox News is cancelling its highest-rated show Lou Dobbs Tonight, which will air for the final time on Friday, according to reports.

Dobbs, 75, is the network's staunchest supporter of Donald Trump and consistently pushed the former President's claims of voter fraud on air, and assertions that he was won the 2020 election.

Trump on Friday praised Dobbs saying in a statement that the host 'is and was great'.

'Nobody loves America more than Lou,' Trump added. 'He had a large and loyal following that will be watching closely for his next move, and that following includes me.'

The cancellation comes a day after voting software company Smartmatic sued Fox News and three of its hosts - Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro - for defamation over their coverage of Trump's election fraud claims.

The software company is looking for $2.7billion in the suit, claiming that Fox knew the election wasn't rigged but spread the narrative of a stolen election which damaged its business.

Fox has stood by its coverage and said it will 'defend this meritless lawsuit in court'.

Lou Dobbs Tonight will air for the final time on Friday night as Fox News is reported to be parting ways with the 75-year-old host (pictured) who is among its staunchest Trump loyalists

The cancellation comes a day after voting software company Smartmatic sued Fox News and three of its hosts - Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo (pictured right) and Jeanine Pirro (pictured left) - for $2.7billion for defamation over their coverage of Trump's election fraud claims

It also comes as Fox executives feared a shake-up after owner Rupert Murdoch (pictured above) arrived in New York following a months-long quarantine in the U.K.

It also comes as Fox executives feared a shake-up after owner Rupert Murdoch arrived in New York following a months-long quarantine in the U.K.

The News Corp. boss reportedly took on a more hands-on role at the right-wing network after his arrival alongside his son Lachlan.

Top of the priority list is to tackle the decline in ratings seen since Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election in November, insiders said.

After a successful 2020, Fox had fallen behind CNN and MSNBC in the ratings since the election as conservative viewers switched off.

The network has recently hired former Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow who is believed to be in the running for his own daily program.

The Times reports that the former longtime CNBC host may be a candidate to replace Dobbs on a more permanent basis.

A Fox representative confirmed the cancellation of the Dobbs' show, which airs at 5pm and 7pm on the Fox Business Network, with the Los Angeles Times.

While his program had the largest audience on any business news channel, with around 300,000 viewers a night in the 7 p.m. Eastern slot, it continued to make a loss for Fox.

Advertisers steered clear of the show over fears of consumer boycotts due to Dobbs' provocative style.

Dobbs had pushed unfounded claims about flaws with Smartmatic during his show

Former Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow (pictured) is a favorite to replace Dobbs

The 75-year-old remains under contract with Fox but according to the Times, it is unlikely he will appear on the company's networks again.

His show will be renamed 'Fox Business Tonight' from next week with Jackie DeAngelis and David Asman acting as rotating substitute hosts. Asman had already filled in for Dobbs on Friday.

Dobbs has also frequently appeared on the Fox News Channel as commentator, as well as hosting his own Business Network show.

The Times reports that the discussion about replacing him was already underway before the Smartmatic suit was filed on Thursday.

Dobbs' anti-immigration stance had previouls led to his departure from CNN in 2009

'As we said in October, Fox News Media regularly considers programming changes and plans have been in place to launch new formats as appropriate post-election, including on Fox Business,' the representative said in the statement.

'This is part of those planned changes. A new 5 p.m. program will be announced in the near future.'

The network has already made some changes as it transitions from covering Trump to the Biden administration.

As well as hiring Kudlow, high-profile news anchor Martha MacCallum was moved from her 7pm slot and a fixture of rotating hosts are now overseeing an opinion program in her stead before a permanent new host is named.

The removal of Dobbs could be seen as an attempt to offer balance to programming while not alienating less ideological voters.

He was originally signed to Fox by its former chief executive Roger Ailes in 2011 and has remained loyal to Trump as an outspoken advocate of his economic and immigration policies.

Dobbs' tough anti-immigration stance had previously led to his departure from CNN in 2009.

While at CNN, he had been regarded as a pioneer of TV business news and led the show 'Moneyline', winning a Peabody Award in 1987 for his coverage of the stock market crash.

Yet his incendiary rhetoric was let loose at Fox where he immediately made a name for himself with the false claims that President Obama was not born in the United States.

Fox anchor Lou Dobbs was originally signed to the network by former CEO Roger Ailes in 2011

Trump's election fraud lawyers Rudolph Giuliani (pictured above) and Sidney Powell appeared on Dobbs' show and were given a platform to push the unfounded claims even further

Both Giuliani and Powell (pictured) have also been named in the Smartmatic defamation suit

Dobbs was particularly angered that Republicans did not do more to argue Trump's baseless voter fraud claims and often voiced his anger on his show.

Trump's election fraud lawyers Rudolph Giuliani and Sidney Powell appeared on his show and were given a platform through which to push the unfounded claims even further.

In a show following the election on November 30, Dobbs told Powell that Trump must take 'drastic action, dramatic action to make certain that the integrity of this election is understood or lack of it, the crimes that have been committed against him and the American people'.

'And if the Justice Department doesnt want to do it, if the FBI cannot do it, then we have to find other resources within the federal government,' he added.

Both Giuliani and Powell have also been named in the Smartmatic defamation suit.

The suit  on the heels of another by Dominion Voting Systems  blasts the election fraud narrative that Trump's lawyers put forward as he sought to cling to power  and claimed Fox used its powerful airwaves to defame the company in the process.

'The Earth is round. Two plus two equals four. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 election for President and Vice President of the United States,' the suit begins.

'The election was not stolen, rigged, or fixed. These are facts. They are demonstrable and irrefutable.'

The suit names Giuliani, who spearheaded his election fraud claims in TV interviews, on his own podcast, and in testimony before panels organized by Republican lawmakers as Trump sought to overturn results.

It also names former Trump campaign lawyer Powell, who the campaign sought to separate itself from after the press conference, although Powell showed up at the White House in the last weeks of the administration.

The complaint filed in New York State Court names the Rupert Murdoch-owned Fox Corp., the Fox News Network and Fox hosts Bartiromo, Dobbs and Pirro as defendants.

The suit filed on Thursday identifies the three Fox hosts by name

Rudy Giuliani points to a map as he speaks to the press about various lawsuits related to the 2020 election, inside the Republican National Committee headquarters on November 19

Unlike Dominion, whose technology was used in 24 states, Smartmatic's participation in the 2020 election was restricted to Los Angeles County, which votes heavily Democratic.

Smartmatic's limited role notwithstanding, Fox aired at least 13 reports falsely stating or implying the company had stolen the 2020 vote in cahoots with Venezuela's socialist government, according to the complaint.

This alleged 'disinformation campaign' continued even after then-Attorney General William Barr said the Department of Justice could find no evidence of widespread voter fraud.

'Night after night, publication after publication, Fox News reached out to its millions of viewers and readers around the world with a story: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris did not win the 2020 election; Smartmatic stole the election for them,' it said, pointing to the role of the network, which aired Trump surrogates and allies making the claims.

The suit says the election fraud claim not only caused direct financial harm to the election company, but harmed the country as well. 'The story turned neighbor against neighbor,' it says. 'The story led a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol.'

Under the theory spelled out in the suit, the defendants knew Trump lost, but wanted him to win.

'Defendants had an obvious problem with their story. They needed a villain. They needed someone to blame. They needed someone whom they could get others to hate'  prompting them to invent the tale involving Smartmatic.

'Without any true villain, Defendants invented one. Defendants decided to make Smartmatic the villain in their story,' it says.

Smartmatic's 285-page complaint said the defendants 'have always known these facts.

'They knew the election was not rigged or fixed,' it said, but they 'decided to tell people that the election was stolen' and to 'make Smartmatic the villain in their story.'

In December, Dobbs aired a bizarre segment taking on election fraud claims, evidently after receiving a 20-page letter from the company threatening legal action.

''There are lots of opinions about the integrity of the election, the irregularities of mail-in voting, of election voting machines and voting software,' the host said.

The network later aired fact-check segments in December which included an expert saying he had not seen any evidence of the software being used for fraud.

Pirros' show and Bartiromo's aired similar segments.

In a statement, Fox said 'Fox News Media is committed to providing the full context of every story with in-depth reporting and clear opinion.

'We are proud of our 2020 election coverage and will vigorously defend this meritless lawsuit in court.'
Elizabeth Sobinoff recently split from Seb Guilhaus, but the resilient reality star is determined to enjoy Valentine's Day regardless.

On Saturday, the Married At First Sight star, 29, revealed she was looking forward to the special day, despite nursing a broken heart.

While promoting a number of Valentine's Day gift ideas on Instagram, Lizzie explained in her caption that she's still giving presents to loved ones - and perhaps a few for herself, too.

Ready to celebrate! Elizabeth Sobinoff (pictured) recently split from Seb Guilhaus, but the resilient reality star is determined to enjoy Valentine's Day regardless. On Saturday, the Married At First Sight star, 29, revealed she was looking forward to the special day

She wrote: 'Valentine's Day is fast approaching... It doesn't matter what your relationship status is, I'm all about self love and celebrating loved ones.'

Lizzie also said that she loved 'fairytale' themed gifts, indicating she's perhaps still hoping to find her happy ending.

In the photo, Elizabeth looked stunning in a red dress, perfect for the romantic theme, her long hair in curls around her face.

Over: Lizzie and Seb, 31, (left) found love on season seven of the show, before announcing their split in January

Lizzie and Seb, 31, found love on season seven of the show, before announcing their split in January.

They appeared on the Married At First Sight Grand Reunion special, which was filmed in December and aired last week in Australia.

In an Instagram post, the pair said they had 'mutually decided to end' their relationship.

Bye: In an Instagram post, the pair said they had 'mutually decided to end' their relationship

Special: They appeared on the Married At First Sight Grand Reunion special, which was filmed in December and aired last week

'We are both respectful of each other and are still involved in each other's lives. We both have cherished each other and have grown together,' Lizzie wrote.

Seb explained how a string of setbacks led to the pair growing apart after he moved from Adelaide to Sydney.

He cited various reasons for the couple's split, including the death of his cat, feeling 'isolated' after moving to Sydney from Adelaide and his car bursting into flames.


Ireland is suppressing the third wave of Covid-19 infection faster than any other country in Europe, the chief medical officer has said.

Dr Tony Holohan said the country was now in a strong position in a fight against the virus despite daily numbers remaining above 1,000 cases.

Friday saw 35 additional deaths due to Covid-19 and 1,047 new cases of the virus confirmed in Ireland.

As of 2pm on Friday, there were 1,221 people with coronavirus in hospital, of which 181 were in ICU.

The national 14-day incident rate now stands at 369 cases per 100,000 population.

We are in a strong position, Dr Holohan said.

Thanks to the efforts of the population in staying home, limiting contacts and following public health advice there has been a substantial decrease in disease incidence and we can see that we are suppressing this third wave of Covid-19 infection faster than any other country in Europe.

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It is very important that we keep this up.

With a daily case number in excess of 1,000 we know we need to make more progress with the measures that Government has mandated until March 5.

Please continue to stay safe and follow public health advice and we will get through this pandemic together Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan

It is especially important that those who have been vaccinated keep following the same advice as everyone else because we dont yet have enough good evidence that vaccination can stop them spreading the infection.

Please continue to stay safe and follow public health advice and we will get through this pandemic together.

Dr Holohan said people should have hope for a different future in which vaccines are a key part of our public health response.

It is beyond any expectations we had when the first case of this infection was reported in Ireland on February 29 last, that within one year we would have multiple vaccines developed, tested and being made available to our population, he said.

It is an immense scientific and public health achievement.

Last week the European Medicines Agency authorised a third vaccine, the Oxford AstraZeneca jab, for distribution.

Dr Holohan said, following the authorisation of the AstraZeneca vaccine, he asked the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) led by Professor Karina Butler to provide advice on the use of this vaccine in older adults and to consider the appropriate time interval between the first and second doses.

Based on their advice, I recommended to the Minister for Health that we provide only the mRNA vaccines, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, to people over the age of 70, he said.

This is because trials of both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines showed higher efficacy overall including among older adults.

Data on efficacy among older adults with AstraZeneca vaccine is lacking at this time.
Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise enjoyed a mother-daughter shopping trip in the swanky SoHo area of New York City on Friday afternoon.

As the 42-year-old Dawson's Creek star walked down the street in an olive green jacket, her 14-year-old looked like a total fashionista in a light blue puffer coat and light-wash denim.

The actress' mini-me completed her trendy look with a hot pink shirt and matching tote bag, which read: 'I don't use plastic bags' in white lettering.

Fun afternoon: Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise enjoyed a mother-daughter shopping trip in the swanky SoHo area of New York City on Friday

The close-knit pair walked closely together as they both wore face masks amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

While strutting down the block in her brown leather boots, Holmes chatted away with Suri, who partially braided her long chestnut locks.

Suri appeared to be holding an iced coffee and looked nearly as tall as her five-foot-nine mom.

Holmes' sleek brown tresses, the same shade as her mini-me, were left down to cascade over her shoulders.

As the 42-year-old Dawson's Creek star walked down the street in an olive green jacket, her 14-year-old looked like a budding fashionista in a light blue puffer jacket and light-wash denim

Growing up: Suri appeared to be holding an iced coffee and looked nearly as tall as her five-foot-nine mom

Katie shares Suri with her ex-husband Tom Cruise but she parents the teen on her own as it has been reported that the actor hasn't seen his daughter in years.

The Batman Begins actress initially began dating Tom in 2005, and seven weeks into the relationship, they were engaged.

Their Scientologist wedding was held at the Castello Orsini-Odescalchi in Bracciano in November 2006, seven months after their daughter Suri was born.

Budding activist: The actress' mini-me completed her trendy look with a hot pink shirt and matching tote bag, which read: 'I don't use plastic bags' in white lettering

Recently, Katie has been spotted out more and more with her new love, 33-year-old Emilio Vitolo Jr.

She and he restaurateur boyfriend seem to be getting more serious these days and even spent Christmas Eve together.

On December 18, Holmes's birthday, Emilio uploaded an adorable black-and-white photo of the new couple laughing with one another to Instagram.

Way back when: Katie shares Suri with her ex-husband Tom Cruise but she parents the teen on her own as it has been reported that the actor hasn't seen his daughter in years (Pictured in 2010)

In the caption, he wrote, 'The most amazing, kindest, beautiful person . Every time I see your face it makes me smile . Happy Birthday !!! I love you !!'

And Katie responded in the comments section of the post in kind, with 'Thank you so much my Love I love u too!!!!!'

Since the couple got together in 2020, the Dawson's Creek star has been a frequent guest at her chef-boyfriend's popular, family owned, Italian restaurant, Emilio's Ballato.

Katie and Emilio reportedly met for the first time last year, though it wasn't until September that they launched their romance.

Love birds: Recently, Katie has been spotted out more and more with her new love, 33-year-old Emilio Vitolo Jr (pictured in November)

L word: On December 18, Holmes's birthday, Emilio uploaded an adorable black-and-white photo of the new couple laughing with one another to Instagram and dropped an 'I love you' in the caption

DailyMail.com confirmed exclusively on September 10 that Emilio broke off his previous engagement with his live-in fiancee Rachel Emmons, 24, via text when handsy photos of him and Holmes were first published.

Prior to being romantically linked with Vitolo, Katie spent years dating Jamie Foxx, whom she split from in 2019.

Katie and Jamie only went public as a couple in late 2017, though there had been speculation they were an item since 2013.

There was a swirl of rumors that Katie's divorce agreement prohibited her from publicly dating anyone for five years after her 2012 split with Tom Cruise.

Watch Dawson's Creek on Stan in Australia.

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Actor Christopher Plummer seen at a press conference for "The Forger" during the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 12, 2014, in Toronto. Plummer, the dashing award-winning actor who played Captain von Trapp in the film "The Sound of Music" and at 82 became the oldest Academy Award winner in history, has died. He was 91. Plummer died Friday morning at his home in Connecticut with his wife, Elaine Taylor, by his side, said Lou Pitt, his longtime friend and manager. AP-Yonhap



Christopher Plummer, the dashing award-winning actor who played Captain von Trapp in the film ''The Sound of Music'' and at 82 became the oldest Academy Award acting winner in history, has died. He was 91.



Plummer died Friday morning at his home in Connecticut with his wife, Elaine Taylor, by his side, said Lou Pitt, his longtime friend and manager.



Over more than 50 years in the industry, Plummer enjoyed varied roles ranging from the film ''The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,'' to the voice of the villain in 2009's ''Up'' and as a canny lawyer in Broadway's ''Inherit the Wind.'' In 2019 he starred as murdered mystery novelist in Rian Johnson's whodunnit ''Knives Out'' and in the TV suspense drama series ''Departure.''



But it was opposite Julie Andrews as von Trapp in 1965 that made him a star. He played an Austrian captain who must flee the country with his folk-singing family to escape service in the Nazi navy, a role he lamented was ''humorless and one-dimensional.'' Plummer spent the rest of his life referring to the film as ''The Sound of Mucus'' or ''SM.''



''We tried so hard to put humor into it,'' he told The Associated Press in 2007. ''It was almost impossible. It was just agony to try to make that guy not a cardboard figure.''



A GIF of the captain ripping a Nazi flag became a popular meme in recent years, and gave Plummer a new dose of fame.



''The world has lost a consummate actor today and I have lost a cherished friend. I treasure the memories of our work together and all the humor and fun we shared through the years,'' Andrews said in a statement.



The role catapulted Plummer to stardom, but he never took to leading men parts, despite his silver hair, good looks and ever-so-slight English accent. He preferred character parts, considering them meatier. His memoir in 2012 was titled ''In Spite of Myself.''



Plummer had a remarkable film renaissance late in life, which began with his acclaimed performance as Mike Wallace in Michael Mann's 1999 film ''The Insider,'' continued in films such as 2001's ''A Beautiful Mind'' and 2009's ''The Last Station,'' in which he played a deteriorating Tolstoy and was nominated for an Oscar.



''He was a mighty force both as Man and Actor,'' Helen Mirren, his co-star in ''The Last Station,'' said in a statement Friday. ''He was fearless, energetic, courageous, knowledgeable, professional and a monument to what an actor can be.''



In 2012, Plummer won a supporting actor Oscar for his role in ''Beginners'' as Hal Fields, a museum director who becomes openly gay after his wife of 44 years dies. His loving, final relationship becomes an inspiration for his son, who struggles with his father's death and how to find intimacy in a new relationship.



''Too many people in the world are unhappy with their lot. And then they retire and they become vegetables. I think retirement in any profession is death, so I'm determined to keep crackin','' he told AP in 2011.



Plummer in 2017 replaced Kevin Spacey as J. Paul Getty in ''All the Money in the World'' just six weeks before the film was set to hit theaters. That choice that was officially validated in the best possible way for the film  a supporting Oscar nomination for Plummer, his third. ''I was just hopeful that at my age, my memory would serve me,'' he said at the time. ''I had to learn my lines very quickly.''



Director Ridley Scott said he had ''a wonderful experience'' with Plummer on the film. ''What a guy. What a talent. What a life,'' Scott said in a statement.



There were fallow periods in his career  a ''Pink Panther'' movie here, a ''Dracula 2000'' there and even a ''Star Trek''  as a Klingon, no less. But Plummer had other reasons than the scripts in mind.



''For a long time, I accepted parts that took me to attractive places in the world. Rather than shooting in the Bronx, I would rather go to the south of France, crazed creature than I am,'' he told AP in 2007. ''And so I sacrificed a lot of my career for nicer hotels and more attractive beaches.''



The Canadian-born actor performed most of the major Shakespeare roles, including Hamlet, Iago, Othello, Prospero, Henry V and a staggering ''King Lear'' at the Lincoln Center in 2004. He was a frequent star at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada.



''I've become simpler and simpler with playing Shakespeare,'' he said in 2007. ''I'm not as extravagant as I used to be. I don't listen to my voice so much anymore. All the pitfalls of playing the classics  you can fall in love with yourself.''



He won two Tony Awards. The first was in 1974 for best actor in a musical for playing the title role in ''Cyrano'' and his second in 1997 for his portrayal of John Barrymore in ''Barrymore.'' He also won two Emmys.



Plummer was born Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer in Toronto. His maternal great-grandfather was former Canadian Prime Minister Sir John Abbott. His parents divorced shortly after his birth and he was raised by his mother and aunts.



Plummer began his career on stage and in radio in Canada in the 1940s and made his Broadway debut in 1954 in ''The Starcross Story.'' While still a relative unknown, he was cast as Hamlet in a 1963 performance co-starring Robert Shaw and Michael Caine. It was taped by the BBC at Elsinore Castle in Denmark, where the play is set, and released in 1964. It won an Emmy.



Plummer married Tony-winning actress Tammy Grimes in 1956, and fathered his only child, actress Amanda Plummer, in 1957. Like both her parents, she also won a Tony, in 1982 for ''Agnes of God.'' (Grimes won two Tonys, for ''Private Lives'' and ''The Unsinkable Molly Brown.'')



Plummer and Grimes divorced in 1960. A five-year marriage to Patricia Lewis ended in 1967. Plummer married his third wife, dancer Taylor, in 1970, and credited her with helping him overcome a drinking problem.



He was given Canada's highest civilian honor when he was invested as Companion of the Order of Canada by Queen Elizabeth II in 1968, and was inducted into the American Theatre's Hall of Fame in 1986. (AP)


- 1902

- Boundary treaty in delimiting the Ethio-Sudan border was signed between the Government of Ethiopia and British Colonial administration of Sudan

- The treaty declared the establishment of a Joint Boundary Commission for the demarcation of the common boundary ...

- 1903

- The representative of British (Major Gwynn) unilaterally carried out the demarcation process without the presence of the representative of Ethiopia or the authorization of the Ethiopian Government.

- As a result, the Gwynn demarcation particularly in the area North of Mount Dagleish remained controversial and disputed.

- 1972

- In order to solve the long overdue boundary dispute between the two countries, the Government of Ethiopia and the Sudan through their Foreign Ministers Exchange of Notes agreed:

to proceed the re-demarcation process from Mount Dagleish southwards

to study the problem resulting from settlements and cultivation by nationals of either nation in the territory of the other with a view to finding an amicable solution

- Two months after the signing of the Notes, the Foreign Minister of Sudan wrote a letter to Ethiopia informing the later that the government of the Sudan had written a letter to the then Chairman of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) informing that the conclusion of an agreement governing the longest frontier between the two African countries

- In addition to this, they informed Ethiopia that the government of the Sudan had ratified and deposited the 1972 Exchange of Notes in accordance with article 102 of United Nation Charter.

- As it is clearly envisaged under the 1972 Exchange of Notes, finding of an amicable solution for the problem resulting from cultivation and settlement is a prerequisite for the re-demarcation of the Gwynn Line north of Mount Daeglish

- 1974

- Immediately after the signing of the 1972 Exchange of Notes both countries set up a joint boundary commission to re-demarcate the boundary south of Mount Dagleish but due to change of government in 1974 in Ethiopia the agreed upon re-demarcation project did not materialize.

- 2000

- Both Ethiopia and the Sudan decided to implement the 1972 Exchange of Notes and establish a Joint Special Committee that was mandated to find an amicable solution for the problem resulting from settlement and cultivation in the area north of Mount Dagleish

- Moreover, both countries agreed and set up Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) and Joint Technical Boundary Committee (JTBC) to re-demarcate the boundary line between the two countries, based on the amicable solution of the Joint Special Committee, particularly for the boundary sector north of Mount Dagleish

- The Joint Special Committee, even though it held eight meetings, it did not complete its task given to it under the 1972 Exchange of Note and its Terms of Reference adopted by the agreement of our two countries

- 2005

- While negotiation was on going the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2005 to give temporary solution to a specific challenge until a final agreement is reached on the amicable solution that the two countries will agree on

- It must be underlined that the MoU reasserted the status quo holdings of Ethiopian nationals by agreeing not to displace them and prohibited new penetration

- the 2005 MoU is a supplementary and temporary solution, which supports the 1972 Exchange of Notes. Therefore, it is by no means intended to replace the mandate entrusted to the Joint Special Committee by the 1972 Exchange of Notes

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Ethiopia Governance Sudan By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

2. The way forward

- The Joint Special Committee which was formed according to the 1975 Exchange of notes shall be reactivated to reconvene its meeting and submit its final report recommending an amicable solution to the appropriate body. It is, therefore, essential that the finding of an amicable solution has to be accomplished prior to the re-demarcation of the Gwynn line in the sector north of Mount Dagleish.

- The boundary line should not be a point of separation wall, rather it is contact point that would enhance and cement cooperation and collaboration among nationals of both countries. It is an international norm and practices that boundary issues are resolved by negotiation and dialogue between the concerned parties.

- Any type of unilateral exercise is not helpful in finding a lasting solution. What the Sudan is doing at the moment is unprecedented and it did not reflect the interest of its people.

Source: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia (12 Jan.2021)
4G internet services were restored in entire Jammu and Kashmir on Friday in view of the overall security situation in the Union Territory.

AFP

The service was snapped nearly one-and-a-half years ago ahead of the nullification of Article 370.

Farmers To Hold 'Chakka Jam' Today, Will Not Enter Delhi

Day. Over 50,000 personnel, drawn from Delhi Police, reserve police forces and paramilitary, will be deployed at various points of the national capital, including the border.

BCCL

The protesters have said it will happen only on national and state highways and nothing will take place inside Delhi.

Delhi Police To Approach Google Over Thunberg Toolkit Document

Delhi Police has written to Google seeking details of the document tweeted by Swedish environment activist Greta Thunberg.

AFP

An official probing the case said Delhi Police had asked for "registration details" and "activity log" of the account through which the toolkit was uploaded.

No 'Love Jihad Law In Gujarat, For Now

The Gujarat government has decided not to enact the 'anti-love jihad' law for the time being.

Representational Image

The decision was made after legal experts, including the advocate general, opined that the new law might not be legally sustainable.

International Criminal Court Paves Way For War Crimes Probe In Palestinian Territories

The International Criminal Court ruled Friday that it had jurisdiction over the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, paving the way for the tribunal to open a war crimes investigation.

AFP

ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda had asked the court for its legal opinion on whether its reach extended to areas occupied by Israel, after announcing in December 2019 that she wanted to start a full probe.

Joe Biden Says Donald Trump Should Not Receive Intelligence Briefings

President Joe Biden said his predecessor, Donald Trump, should not receive the intelligence briefings that are typically given to former presidents because of his erratic behavior.

AP

I think not, Biden said when asked during an interview with CBS News if Trump should still be briefed. Because of his erratic behavior unrelated to the insurrection, he added, referring to Trumps supporters who stormed the Capitol last month.
TROY For over six years John Penney has owned a large three-unit home which he rents to guests via three Airbnb listings. Penney and his guests have never paid a sales tax to New York State, according to Penney.

That could be changing soon, if Governor Andrew Cuomos budget proposal passes, which will shift the responsibility of collecting local and state taxes to platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo. The proposal will simplify the process of collecting taxes which have previously existed, but there was no accountability for how they were getting paid.

Once implemented for a full year, the proposal is predicted to bring in $18 million in revenue for the state, according to Freeman Klopott, a spokesman for the state budget division.

Airbnb, tourism agencies, hotel industry groups, and state legislators who have supported short-term regulations for years, welcome the proposal as a first step in cashing in on the tourism Airbnb has brought to the state  especially during a time when New Yorkers saw the privacy of an Airbnb experience as essential to keeping them safe from Covid-19. Vrbo representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

In the summer of 2020 in popular areas in Upstate, New York [Airbnb] hosts made more money than they did in the summer of 2019, said Alex Dagg, the Northeast Policy Director for Airbnb. The company expects people who have been shut in their homes will want to travel even more this year.

Representatives from Airbnb say their company has supported taxes on Airbnb contributing to state economies for years. Certain counties in New York have entered into a voluntary agreement with Airbnb where the platform automatically collects an occupancy tax. In 2019, the company reports collecting approximately $3.3 million of total taxes in New York counties.

Rensselaer County, where Penneys home is located, collects a 3 percent room occupancy tax. If two guests stay at Penneys home for 8 nights, at about $60 per night, Airbnb would collect $16 from the guests. Cuomos proposal would make sure the four percent state sales tax would be collected in addition to any county occupancy tax.

We have never seen taxes impact a visitors booking, said Jill Delaney, President and CEO of Discover Albany. Its never what local taxes or fees that are being collected that determines if a large group comes in or a family for vacation. Convenience is always more important.

But the Airbnb host Penney is not so convinced. Penney worries that if the proposal passes he will have to lower his prices to keep attracting customers.

I dont know why there should be another tax. That cuts into what I can charge people, Penney said. At some point people are going to go oh that is too expensive because of the taxes and, well, with the nightly fee, the cleaning fee, the occupancy tax already, that tax might make the difference.

For other Airbnb hosts like Julyne Derrick, the additional tax is not a worry and the governors proposal would help make her job easier. Right now she pays a 2 percent occupancy tax to Ulster County on her home in the Catskills, which she sometimes rents out via Airbnb.

Its just an annoyance, Derrick said about mailing in a check to the county to pay the tax. But Im happy to do it because I believe in taxes.

Derrick doesnt believe a 4 percent tax for the state will deter her guests from booking. If I have to drop my price by $20 a night, no big deal, Derrick said. Weve been very lucky that we havent had to pay a tax to the state up until now. The percentage [of the tax] frankly, could be much higher.

Delaney at Discover Albany thinks the proposal is a great start, however, she points out it does not address the fact that counties like Albany do not have an occupancy tax on Airbnb rentals and therefore are not taxed like hotels. Over the last couple of years, Albany saw its highest direct visitor spending ever over a billion dollars but its occupancy tax collection declined, according to Delaney.

That clearly shows that correlation between an increase in short-term rentals and a decrease in our occupancy tax, Delaney said. Airbnb and Vrbo are able to have people come in, they are not having people pay the state and local taxes and they are not paying occupancy tax so we are actually serving more visitors with less resources to do it.

This not only creates a competitive advantage for Airbnbs, but it leaves out funding for Discover Albany, the countys tourism bureau, to create competitive proposals when bidding on bringing new conventions to the city, said Assembly member Patricia Fahy.

Fahy, who has a bill which if passed would enforce stricter safety regulations on Airbnb, believes the budget proposal will open the doors to a broader conversation around regulating short-term rentals.

Airbnb also supports a Senate bill, introduced by New York State Sen. James Skoufis, which would similarly require Airbnb to collect occupancy and state sales taxes, as well as meeting additional regulations.

[The proposal] helps a little bit with leveling the playing field for the hotels in the state that are following all the rules and regulations required by the state, said Mark Dorr, the president of the New York State Hospitality and Tourism Association. It helps with accountability and knowing who is renting rooms because taxes are associated with them. It will really help with communities that have been overrun by Airbnb and there hasnt been any accountability at all.

The housing nonprofit United Tenants of Albany does not see the budget proposal as a step in the right direction  they see it as a way of sanctioning a service, Airbnb, that is responsible for creating a lack of affordable housing in the area.

It is worrisome and a red flag because by taxing and regulating Airbnb it sanctions it and gives it a level of legality that it hasnt had in New York State, said Laura Felts, the executive director at United Tenants of Albany.

We hope that in this budget we see some progressive taxing items that will impact really wealthy New Yorkers who wont leave the state if they are taxed Felts said. We need to see that action to get at the horrible deficit and the enormous amount of debt that the state is currently facing.
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Vaccination and trust in science and patience is the only way out of this pandemic

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A COVID-free future is within our reach  a future where its safe to hug again and where our smiles no longer need to be hidden behind a mask. To get there, we will need a robust vaccination drive. We will need Canadians to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated. But we will also need to be patient. Immunizing the country wont happen overnight. It will be an incremental process informed by science and one that seeks to immediately stem the loss of life.

Earlier this month, the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions encouraged all health care workers, all essential workers, and the general public to receive the vaccine when they become eligible. We also urged governments across Canada to speed up the rollout of the vaccine, especially to those most likely to experience severe illness, such as seniors, Indigenous people and racialized people  all of whom have been shown to be most at risk of infection.

Nurses have also signaled that they are ready and willing to step up and help the government with the vaccine rollout by joining health care teams at vaccination clinics across Canada. While the news of some delays in delivery of the Pfizer vaccine may give us pause, governments must strive to speed up the immunization and rapidly increase the number of clinics where the vaccine is available. This is how we will contain this virus and counter its spread.

Whats also been lacking in Canadas vaccine delivery program is evidence-based information. Within this vacuum, misinformation, vaccine myths, and mistrust have thrived. Sadly, many Canadians are hesitant to get vaccinated, particularly among marginalized communities who, we recognize, have all too often experienced negative interactions with the medical community.

As nurses, we believe that any risk posed by the vaccine is far outweighed by the benefits in being protected from COVID-19.

As with any other medical treatment, informed consent is required. As health professionals, its our job to provide facts  and yes, empathy  when patients express concerns about being vaccinated. Everyone who gets the vaccine must understand the benefits of immunization, as well as any potential risks. All Canadians should be empowered to make an informed decision.

Some individuals have expressed concerns about the record turnaround time for these vaccines. Producing multiple vaccines in less than a year was the result of a momentous global effort, harnessing the ingenuity of a scientific community united in a common objective. Large-scale trials on vaccines efficacy involved tens of thousands of participants, including many from diverse backgrounds. The trials resulted in high rates of protection with few or no reported serious adverse events. Despite the compressed timelines, no shortcuts were taken: the same standards were applied to these vaccines as for any other vaccines that have been developed.

In Canada, we know the approval process by Health Canada is safe and effective; their assessment of scientific and clinical evidence is done independently and is known to be stringent. We also know that historically, immunization programs have saved countless lives worldwide. The COVID-19 vaccines approved thus far have the potential to provide much-needed protection against the continued spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but this will only happen if sufficient numbers choose to be vaccinated.

As Canadas nurses, we want to encourage all those living in Canada to receive the vaccine as soon as they are able. Together, we can contain this virus, end the pandemic, and participate in Canadas post-pandemic recovery.

Linda Silas is a nurse and president, Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com



John Abraham is currently shooting for Lakshya Raj Anands next film Attack. The film is fully loaded with action sequences and Johns fans are eager to watch him in this avatar yet again. John has created a niche for himself in the industry with his body of work over the years and now he is mostly seen doing action films or films that have a social message. Johns next Attack is currently being shot in Mumbai and today the actor took to Instagram to share a picture from the sets of the film.





The picture has John sitting on a super bike with make-up on from a fight sequence as he is seen with bruises on his face. The actor captioned the image as, Doing what I do best on my favorite place . #Action #bikes Well, this still from the sets of the film is sure to make the wait for its release seem longer.
With video-conferencing and tele-conferencing getting legal sanctity from the Supreme Court, e-proceedings have gained pace across all courts, the prime minister said

Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday praised the country's judiciary, saying that it has performed its duty well in safeguarding people's rights and upholding personal freedom, and added that it has also strengthened the Constitution.

He said the Supreme Court in India has conducted the highest number of hearings via video-conferencing from among the top courts of all the countries in the world during the coronavirus pandemic.

Modi also said that in order to make the country's justice system future-ready, the possibility of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) was being explored. He was speaking after virtually releasing a commemorative postage stamp on the Gujarat High Court for sixty years of its establishment.

"Every countryman can say that our judiciary has worked with firmness to uphold our Constitution. Our judiciary has strengthened the Constitution by its positive

interpretation," Modi said.

"The Supreme Court has conducted the highest number of hearings through video-conferencing in the world during the pandemic," he said. Through constructive and creative interpretation of the Constitution, our judiciary has strengthened the Constitution itself, he added.

"Whether it is to safeguard the rights of citizens, question of personal freedom, or a situation wherein the interest of the country is to be given top-most priority, the

judiciary has both understood and fulfilled its responsibilities," he said.

He said the root of good governance is in law, as has been held in the ancient Indian scriptures, he said. "This idea has been a part of our 'sanskar' since ancient times. This mantra gave moral strength to our freedom struggle, and the makers of our Constitution also gave it top priority," he said.

This trust towards the judiciary has given confidence to the common man, given him the strength to stand for truth, Modi said. The prime minister said that "the proud structure of justice stands on the pillar of Bar".

"Since decades, bar and judiciary have together been fulfilling the basic purpose of justice in our country," he said. Modi also highlighted that the Gujarat High Court

became the first court in India to start live streaming of proceedings during the pandemic.

"For us, it is a matter of satisfaction that the digital infrastructure created by the justice department under its e-court integrated mission mode has in such a short span of time helped our courts work in virtual mode," he said.

"Digital India mission is rapidly modernizing the justice system. Today, more than 18,000 courts have been computerised in the country. With video-conferencing and tele-conferencing getting legal sanctity from the Supreme Court, e-proceedings have gained pace across all courts.

"We feel proud to hear that our Supreme Court has become the top among the apex courts in terms of conducting hearings through video conferencing," he said.

Facilities like e-filing of cases, unique ID and QR codes to access case details, have given a new dimension to ease of justice, he said.

Talking about the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), Modi said that the system will help lawyers and litigants see cases and orders with a click of mouse. "This ease of justice is not only improving the ease of living of our people, but has also helped in ease of doing business. This has given confidence among foreigners that

their judicial rights will be safe in India. In its 2018 ease of doing business report, the World Bank has also praised the NJDG," he said.

Modi said that a Supreme Court committee and National Informatics Centre (NIC) are working together to further ease the justice system in India. "To make our justice system future-ready, the possibility of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also being explored," he said.

"With AI, the efficiency and speed of judiciary will increase. In these efforts, the country's Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign is going to play a big role. Under it, the video conference platform is also being encouraged," he said.

Modi said that e-seva kendras are also being opened in the high courts and district courts to bridge the digital divide.

He said e-Adalat has become "timely and convenient means of justice". During the pandemic, online e-Lok Adalat has become a new normal, he said. Modi further said the first Lok Adalat was held in Junagadh in Gujarat around four decades back and it was the first state to begin evening courts and took many initiatives

for the benefit of the poor.

Modi praised judiciary for presenting an excellent example of its dedication and duty during the COVID-19 pandemic period, by dispensing justice through video

conferencing, SMS callout, e-filing and e-mail my case status services, streaming on court's display boards, uploading of orders on the daily basis, and others.

Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Supreme Court judge Justice MR Shah, Gujarat HC Chief Justice Vikram Nath, state Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and others attended the event.
The health secretary also reiterated the need for adequate attention to issuance of provisional digital vaccination certificates after the first dose and final certificate after completing the second dose

India's COVID-19 infection tally climbed to 1,08,14,304 with 11,713 new cases being reported in a day, while 1,05,10,796 people have recuperated so far pushing the national recovery rate to 97.19 percent on Saturday, according to Union Health Ministry data.

Meanwhile, the country is also gradually improving its vaccine coverage.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that all states and Union Territories will complete the administration of first doses to all health care workers by 20 February and to all frontline workers by 6 March. The total number of beneficiaries has reached 56,36,868, including 52,66,175 healthcare workers and 3,70693 frontline workers, as of 6 pm on Saturday.

Active cases under 1.5 lakh in India

There are 1,48,590 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which accounts for 1.37 percent of the total caseload, the data stated.

The toll from the novel coronavirus , however, climbed to 1,54,918 with 95 deaths reported in a span of 24 hours in the country, the data updated at 8 am showed. The COVID-19 case fatality rate stood at 1.43 percent.

The 95 fatalities reported in the last 24 hours include 40 from Maharashtra and 19 from Kerala.

The total 1,54,918 deaths reported so far in the country include 51,255 from Maharashtra, followed by 12,379 from Tamil Nadu, 12,230 from Karnataka, 10,873 from Delhi, 10,201 from West Bengal, 8,682 from Uttar Pradesh, 7,158 from Andhra Pradesh, 5,635 from Punjab, and 4,393 from Gujarat.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 percent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

"Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research," the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 20,06,72,589 samples have been tested up to 5 February with 7,40,794 samples being tested on Friday.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed 20 lakh on 7 August, 30 lakh on 23 August, and 40 lakh on 5 September. It went past 50 lakh on 16 September, 60 lakh on 28 September, 70 lakh on 11 October and crossed 80 lakh on 29 October and 90 lakh on 20 November, and one crore on 19 December.

Vaccination

India managed to inoculate 4,57,404 in the past 24 hours, health ministry data suggested, taking the total number of beneficiaries to over 56 lakh.

India had started the vaccination programme with its healthcare workers on 14 January, while inoculation for frontline workers had begun on 2 February. The country has managed to vaccinate 54.7 percent of all healthcare workers registered in the national database while 4.5 percent of frontline workers have also received their first doses since 2 February.

The health ministry has also set a deadline for completing phase 1 of the nationwide inoculation for all states and UTs after which phase 2, including citizens above 65 years of age and those under it but with comorbidities, will begin.

"Every State/UT must schedule all healthcare workers for vaccination at least once before 20 February, 2021, and immediately thereafter organise mop-up rounds for them. Similarly, all frontline workers must be scheduled for vaccination at least once before 6 March 2021 and immediately thereafter organise mop-up rounds for them," a press release from the Health Ministry said.

The second dose of the vaccine is also scheduled to start from 13 February for people who were vaccinated on 16 January.

The ministry also released state-wise data on inoculation stating that 13 states/UTs have recorded more than 60 percent coverage of the registered healthcare workers while 12 states have covered less than 40 percent of their total health care workers.

#IndiaFightsCorona Figures of 12 states which has covered less than 40% of their total health care workers are as follows: @MoHFW_INDIA

#LargestVaccineDrive #StaySafe pic.twitter.com/JRQhiOkazX  #IndiaFightsCorona (@COVIDNewsByMIB) February 6, 2021

In a statement, the health ministry said there remains substantial scope for improvement in the number of average vaccinations per inoculation session.

"The state health secretaries were asked to analyse the daily variation in the number of average vaccinations and take necessary steps to increase them. States/UTs were advised to ensure 100 percent saturation of people who have already been registered on CoWin digital platform. They were also asked to organise simultaneous vaccination sessions/day in the health facility wherever possible. Each state/UT was advised to devise a state-specific strategy to achieve this target," it said.

The states/UTs were also advised to ensure regular review meetings of the state, district, and block task force to assess emerging challenges, understand ground issues and promptly address them at appropriate levels, it said.

The health secretary also reiterated the need for adequate attention to the issuance of provisional digital vaccination certificates after the first dose and final certificate after completing the second dose; the importance of authentication of beneficiaries; and timely data reconciliation on CoWin application. He added that CoWin 2.0 version will be released soon, adding that feedback from all states and UTs had been collected regarding the same.

Unwilling to wait, poorer countries seek their own vaccines

With coronavirus cases still climbing, Honduras got tired of waiting to get vaccines through a United Nations programme, so the small Central American country struck out on its own, securing the shots through a private deal.

Honduras cannot wait on bureaucratic processes or misguided decisions" to give citizens the peace of mind offered by the COVID-19 vaccine, said Juan Carlos Sikaffy, president of the Honduran Private Business Council, which helped complete the purchase by providing a bank guarantee.

Other nations are getting impatient too. Unlike past disease outbreaks, where less wealthy countries have generally waited for vaccines to be delivered by the UN and other organisations, many are now taking matters into their own hands.

Experts are increasingly concerned that these go-it-alone efforts could undermine the UN-backed programme, known as COVAX, to get COVID-19 shots to the neediest people worldwide.

Countries including Serbia, Bangladesh, and Mexico recently began vaccinating citizens through donations or commercial deals  an approach that could leave even fewer vaccines for the COVAX programme since rich countries have already snapped up the majority of this year's supply.

Led by the World Health Organisation, a coalition for epidemic preparedness known as CEPI and a vaccine alliance called GAVI, COVAX was created to distribute COVID-19 vaccines fairly. Countries can join either to buy vaccines or to get donated shots.

Mustaqeem De Gama, a diplomat at the South African mission in Geneva, cited a level of desperation fueled by spreading virus variants and the uncertainty of when any COVAX vaccines might arrive". He doubted that countries that signed up for COVAX "will even get 10 percent of what they require".

Even if the effort succeeds, COVAXs stated goal is to vaccinate less than 30 percent of people in poor countries, meaning that governments must seek other sources to obtain enough shots to achieve herd immunity.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said his country was forced to cut its own deals after watching rich countries scramble for the scarce shots. He criticised nations that, he said, bought more doses than they needed.

Its as if they intend to vaccinate all their cats and dogs, he said.

Although Serbia paid 4 million euros to COVAX last year, it has not yet received any shots and last month began its immunisation campaign with vaccines from Pfizer, China's Sinopharm, and Russia.

Recent manufacturing delays in Europe raise concerns about whether drugmakers will be able to fulfill the multiplying orders.

There are so many deals being signed that I think its hard to see how the numbers could possibly add up for all the doses ordered to actually be produced in the foreseeable future, said Amanda Glassman, a public health expert and executive vice-president of the Centre for Global Development.

Last week, the African Union completed a deal for 400 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, to be produced by the Serum Institute of India. Thats on top of a previously negotiated African Union deal for 270 million doses from several pharmaceutical companies and in addition to the 600 million doses Africa expects to receive from COVAX.

Some experts warn that these new deals could move COVAX further to the back of the line, especially if some countries are willing to pay a premium for speed.

To ensure South Africans got doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine quickly, government officials reluctantly agreed to pay a higher price per shot than Europe or North America. The first shipments arrived this week.

COVAX hopes to start sending its first vaccine batches to Africa later this month, but those plans are subject to change depending on manufacturers' production capacities and countries' immunisation plans.

Although India is contracted to provide COVAX with several hundred million doses of vaccine, the shots have not yet been authorised by the WHO, meaning India cannot release them for the UN programme. In the meantime, India has already gifted neighbours, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, with more than 50 lakh doses.

Dr Haritha Aluthge of Sri Lankas Government Medical Officers Association, called for the WHO to intervene amid the intense competition for vaccines and the failure of COVAX to deliver.

Not a single dose (from COVAX) has been received, Aluthge said.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned recently that the world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure if COVID-19 vaccines are not distributed fairly, but the agency has no authority to force rich countries to share. Its entreaties for countries to act in solidarity have mostly been ignored.

With inputs from agencies
Lou Dobbs has taken to Twitter to thank his followers for their support while retweeting fans blasting Fox News after it abruptly pulled his high-rated show off the air.

The cancellation of Fox Business Network's Lou Dobbs Tonight on Friday came as a shock to viewers, many of whom have accused the network of trying to silence the outspoken host.

Dobbs, 75, on Saturday responded to a flood of messages of support from fans, including Donald Trump who released a statement saying the host 'is and was great' and that 'nobody loves America more than Lou.'

'He had a large and loyal following that will be watching closely for his next move, and that following includes me,' Trump added.

Dobbs replied to the message in a tweet saying: 'Thanks for your kind words Mr. President. God bless you and all the American patriots who make this country great'.

Lou Dobbs Tonight aired for the final time on Friday night as Fox News is reported to be parting ways with the 75-year-old host (pictured) who is among its staunchest Trump loyalists

Dobbs responded to messages of support from fans, including Donald Trump, who released a statement praising the longtime news host

Dobbs, 75, also retweeted numerous posts attacking the network which had famously stood by the president in times of scandal. He shared a tweet by former Trump advisor Sebastian Gorka who warned 'Fox is Finished'

Dobbs was one of Fox News' staunchest supporters of Trump and had repeatedly pushed the president's claims of voter fraud and assertions that he won the 2020 election on air.

The cancellation of show, which had aired on the channel for nearly a decade, comes a day after voting software company Smartmatic sued Fox News and three of its hosts - Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro - for defamation over their coverage of Trump's election fraud claims.

Whether the cancellation ends Dobbs's career with Fox Business has not been addressed, and the network has not commented further on the decision.

Dobbs in the meantime has been active on Twitter where he has retweeted numerous posts from followers slamming Fox News's decision to pull the plug.

Among them was a tweet by former Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka saying: 'He's a Patriot. He speaks the Truth. He doesn't back down. That's why @FoxNews had to cancel @LouDobbs #FOXisFinished'.

Another tweet reposted by Dobbs said: '[Dobbs] is one of the best anchors in the business. Fox is in a race with itself to the bottom.'

'Fox News is desperate to be accepted by people who will not accept them. Cancelling [Dobbs] is not going to satisfy the blood lust of the rage mob,' said another retweet.

Dobbs has not directly responded to Fox News regarding the shock decision, but has replied to some followers expressing their support

Dobbs did not directly comment on the show's cancellation but replied to some followers tweeting about the news, saying, 'Thank you for your kind words!'

In a statement Friday, Fox News Media said the move was part of routine programming alterations that it had foreshadowed in an announcement last fall.

Fox News Media 'regularly considers programming changes and plans have been in place to launch new formats as appropriate post-election, including on Fox Business - this is part of those planned changes,' the company said.

The statement appeared to distance the cancellation from a multibillion-dollar defamation lawsuit filed against the company Thursday by Smartmatic.

The software company is looking for $2.7billion in the suit, claiming that Fox knew the election wasn't rigged but spread the narrative of a stolen election which damaged its business.

Fox had previously stood by its coverage and said it will 'defend this meritless lawsuit in court'.

It also comes as Fox executives feared a shake-up after owner Rupert Murdoch arrived in New York following a months-long quarantine in the U.K.

The cancellation comes a day after voting software company Smartmatic sued Fox News and three of its hosts - Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo (pictured right) and Jeanine Pirro (pictured left) - for $2.7billion for defamation over their coverage of Trump's election fraud claims

It also comes as Fox executives feared a shake-up after owner Rupert Murdoch (pictured above) arrived in New York following a months-long quarantine in the U.K.

The News Corp. boss reportedly took on a more hands-on role at the right-wing network after his arrival alongside his son Lachlan.

Top of the priority list is to tackle the decline in ratings seen since Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election in November, insiders said.

After a successful 2020, Fox had fallen behind CNN and MSNBC in the ratings since the election as conservative viewers switched off.

The network has recently hired former Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow who is believed to be in the running for his own daily program.

The Times reports that the former longtime CNBC host may be a candidate to replace Dobbs on a more permanent basis.

A Fox representative confirmed the cancellation of the Dobbs' show, which airs at 5pm and 7pm on the Fox Business Network, with the Los Angeles Times.

While his program had the largest audience on any business news channel, with around 300,000 viewers a night in the 7 p.m. Eastern slot, it continued to make a loss for Fox.

Advertisers steered clear of the show over fears of consumer boycotts due to Dobbs' provocative style.

Dobbs had pushed unfounded claims about flaws with Smartmatic during his show

Former Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow (pictured) is a favorite to replace Dobbs

The 75-year-old remains under contract with Fox but according to the Times, it is unlikely he will appear on the company's networks again.

His show will be renamed 'Fox Business Tonight' from next week with Jackie DeAngelis and David Asman acting as rotating substitute hosts. Asman had already filled in for Dobbs on Friday.

Dobbs has also frequently appeared on the Fox News Channel as commentator, as well as hosting his own Business Network show.

The Times reports that the discussion about replacing him was already underway before the Smartmatic suit was filed on Thursday.

Dobbs' anti-immigration stance had previouls led to his departure from CNN in 2009

'As we said in October, Fox News Media regularly considers programming changes and plans have been in place to launch new formats as appropriate post-election, including on Fox Business,' the representative said in the statement.

'This is part of those planned changes. A new 5 p.m. program will be announced in the near future.'

The network has already made some changes as it transitions from covering Trump to the Biden administration.

As well as hiring Kudlow, high-profile news anchor Martha MacCallum was moved from her 7pm slot and a fixture of rotating hosts are now overseeing an opinion program in her stead before a permanent new host is named.

The removal of Dobbs could be seen as an attempt to offer balance to programming while not alienating less ideological voters.

He was originally signed to Fox by its former chief executive Roger Ailes in 2011 and has remained loyal to Trump as an outspoken advocate of his economic and immigration policies.

Dobbs' tough anti-immigration stance had previously led to his departure from CNN in 2009.

While at CNN, he had been regarded as a pioneer of TV business news and led the show 'Moneyline', winning a Peabody Award in 1987 for his coverage of the stock market crash.

Yet his incendiary rhetoric was let loose at Fox where he immediately made a name for himself with the false claims that President Obama was not born in the United States.

Fox anchor Lou Dobbs was originally signed to the network by former CEO Roger Ailes in 2011

Trump's election fraud lawyers Rudolph Giuliani (pictured above) and Sidney Powell appeared on Dobbs' show and were given a platform to push the unfounded claims even further

Both Giuliani and Powell (pictured) have also been named in the Smartmatic defamation suit

Dobbs was particularly angered that Republicans did not do more to argue Trump's baseless voter fraud claims and often voiced his anger on his show.

Trump's election fraud lawyers Rudolph Giuliani and Sidney Powell appeared on his show and were given a platform through which to push the unfounded claims even further.

In a show following the election on November 30, Dobbs told Powell that Trump must take 'drastic action, dramatic action to make certain that the integrity of this election is understood or lack of it, the crimes that have been committed against him and the American people'.

'And if the Justice Department doesn't want to do it, if the FBI cannot do it, then we have to find other resources within the federal government,' he added.

Both Giuliani and Powell have also been named in the Smartmatic defamation suit.

The suit  on the heels of another by Dominion Voting Systems  blasts the election fraud narrative that Trump's lawyers put forward as he sought to cling to power  and claimed Fox used its powerful airwaves to defame the company in the process.

'The Earth is round. Two plus two equals four. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 election for President and Vice President of the United States,' the suit begins.

'The election was not stolen, rigged, or fixed. These are facts. They are demonstrable and irrefutable.'

The suit names Giuliani, who spearheaded his election fraud claims in TV interviews, on his own podcast, and in testimony before panels organized by Republican lawmakers as Trump sought to overturn results.

It also names former Trump campaign lawyer Powell, who the campaign sought to separate itself from after the press conference, although Powell showed up at the White House in the last weeks of the administration.

The complaint filed in New York State Court names the Rupert Murdoch-owned Fox Corp., the Fox News Network and Fox hosts Bartiromo, Dobbs and Pirro as defendants.

The suit filed on Thursday identifies the three Fox hosts by name

Rudy Giuliani points to a map as he speaks to the press about various lawsuits related to the 2020 election, inside the Republican National Committee headquarters on November 19

Unlike Dominion, whose technology was used in 24 states, Smartmatic's participation in the 2020 election was restricted to Los Angeles County, which votes heavily Democratic.

Smartmatic's limited role notwithstanding, Fox aired at least 13 reports falsely stating or implying the company had stolen the 2020 vote in cahoots with Venezuela's socialist government, according to the complaint.

This alleged 'disinformation campaign' continued even after then-Attorney General William Barr said the Department of Justice could find no evidence of widespread voter fraud.

'Night after night, publication after publication, Fox News reached out to its millions of viewers and readers around the world with a story: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris did not win the 2020 election; Smartmatic stole the election for them,' it said, pointing to the role of the network, which aired Trump surrogates and allies making the claims.

The suit says the election fraud claim not only caused direct financial harm to the election company, but harmed the country as well. 'The story turned neighbor against neighbor,' it says. 'The story led a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol.'

Under the theory spelled out in the suit, the defendants knew Trump lost, but wanted him to win.

'Defendants had an obvious problem with their story. They needed a villain. They needed someone to blame. They needed someone whom they could get others to hate'  prompting them to invent the tale involving Smartmatic.

'Without any true villain, Defendants invented one. Defendants decided to make Smartmatic the villain in their story,' it says.

Smartmatic's 285-page complaint said the defendants 'have always known these facts.

'They knew the election was not rigged or fixed,' it said, but they 'decided to tell people that the election was stolen' and to 'make Smartmatic the villain in their story.'

In December, Dobbs aired a bizarre segment taking on election fraud claims, evidently after receiving a 20-page letter from the company threatening legal action.

''There are lots of opinions about the integrity of the election, the irregularities of mail-in voting, of election voting machines and voting software,' the host said.

The network later aired fact-check segments in December which included an expert saying he had not seen any evidence of the software being used for fraud.

Pirros' show and Bartiromo's aired similar segments.

In a statement, Fox said 'Fox News Media is committed to providing the full context of every story with in-depth reporting and clear opinion.

'We are proud of our 2020 election coverage and will vigorously defend this meritless lawsuit in court.'
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This article focuses on the processes, mechanisms and legitimating discourses used to roll out changes in legal structures and state policy relating to land acquisition, development projects, and setting up of business ventures. It points to the moral force of a discourse of development in furthering the agenda of capital accumulation. The ideological character of the mainstream notion of development can only be challenged by articulating a counter-hegemonic conception of development that demands peoples needs are met through a system of production that places their needs at the centre and not that of capital.

The draft Environment Impact Assessment notification, 2020 (EIA 2020) has caused a stir in civil society and amidst people threatened by forcible land acquisition and displacement in the name of national development. The notification is the latest in changes to state policy to facilitate the smooth functioning of businesses and corporations, removing bureaucratic hurdles along the way that allegedly slow down and complicate the establishment of new industries. Introduced during the CoViD-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) released the draft on its website on 23 March 2020, a day after a nationwide lockdown was announced by the central government. It gave the public a span of just over three months to read and respond to the draft notification, raising questions over the governments willingness to enable citizen participation in discussions on the proposed changes. The notification was widely criticised for its pro-business bias.
She once described herself as happily self-partnered  but Emma Watson is now so happily coupled-up that a ring on her finger has sparked speculation she might have become engaged.

The Harry Potter star was spotted embracing boyfriend Leo Robinton as they returned from a pre-Valentines Day trip to Mexico.

The 30-year-old actress wore a 19.99 T-shirt bearing the French slogan Femme Liberte but all eyes were on her jewellery collection and the ring, albeit modest, on her wedding finger.

But as well as the small band, she looked to be sporting an injury  as she had her right foot in a flip-flop and the left in a sock, and needed help to get about from a knee scooter.

Emma Watson (right) is now so happily coupled-up with Leo Robinton (left) that a ring on her finger has sparked speculation she might have become engaged after their trip to Mexico

The 30-year-old actress wore a 19.99 T-shirt bearing the French slogan Femme Liberte

Gallant boyfriend Leo, 31, a business owner, was on hand to help Emma, whose other films include Beauty And The Beast and Little Women, as she leaned on him while they made their way out of Los Angeles airport in California.

Leo is from Los Angeles but he and Emma are not believed to be living together.

Ms Watson, who is an advocate for social movements such as Black Lives Matter and MeToo, is famously tight-lipped about her private life.

But it seems she has met a kindred spirit in Leo, who in 2017 took part in the Womens March in Washington DC.

Emma was spotted embracing boyfriend Leo Robinton as they returned from a pre-Valentines Day trip to Mexico

They are believed to have been dating for about 18 months  and have been spotted together in Britain too, pictured together several times near Emmas London home, getting coffee and visiting a bakery.

It has been reported that she has introduced him to her lawyer parents.

She has previously spoken positively about the men in her life. The boyfriends or partners Ive had have generally made me feel really cherished. Theyve built me up, she has said.

The actress, best known as student wizard Hermione Granger, famously told Vogue magazine in November 2019 that she was self-partnered rather than single.

I never believed the whole Im happy single spiel, she said.

She looked to be sporting an injury  as she had her right foot in a flip-flop and the left in a sock, and needed help to get about from a knee scooter

It took me a long time, but Im very happy [being single]. I call it being self-partnered.

The type of scooter Emma was using is often prescribed by clinicians to help patients with knee, ankle or tendon injuries. She adorned hers with orange, green and blue fur covers

Before meeting Leo, Emma was rumoured to be dating Potter co-star Tom Felton, 32, after they posted a picture together in their pyjamas. He later revealed he was single. Her last relationship was with New York businessman Brendan Wallace, 38, in 2018.

There is, unfortunately, no magic way to find out if Emma definitely has become engaged, and her team isnt telling  they did not respond to calls last night.
February 06, 2021 New York Times Editors Lie, Obfuscate Facts, To Reinforce Their False Russia Narrative It is amusing to what extent the editors of the New York Times resort to lying in their attempts to portray the incarceration of the right wing racist Alexei Navalny as a best thing that happened since the invention of sliced bread. Today's editorial is as delusional as it can get. Aleksei Navalny Is Resisting Putin, and Winning

The opposition leader was sentenced to prison, but he has mobilized a vast movement thats not done growing. Beyond being delusional the editorial is full of lies and disinformation: A Russian court on Tuesday opened a new and fateful stage in the gripping power struggle between Aleksei Navalny, Russias tough-talking and internet-savvy opposition leader, and President Vladimir Putin, by sentencing Mr. Navalny to his first serious stint in prison. On the face of it, this would appear to be a clear victory for Mr. Putin, who has effectively proclaimed himself president for life.

...

But in this David v. Goliath saga, the 44-year-old Mr. Navalny has succeeded through raw courage and perseverance in putting Mr. Putin on the defensive. The imprisonment was Mr. Navalnys move. Mr. Putin had tried for years to give him only brief sentences to avoid making him a martyr.

...

The Kremlin attempted to give the court proceedings a veneer of legitimacy by moving them to a large courtroom in central Moscow and allowing Mr. Navalny to do all the talking he wanted to. But the outcome was preordained: Mr. Navalny was accused of violating parole from a 2014 conviction that the European Court of Human Rights had debunked as arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable. The accusation served to underscore the main reason Mr. Navalny couldnt make the requisite visits to the authorities: Evidence suggests he was nearly poisoned to death in August by the secret police. He was subsequently evacuated to Germany. The sentence in bold is an outright lie. On January 17 the Russian Foreign Ministry relayed a statement (in English!) by the Moscow Directorate of Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service which debunked that claim: Earlier, on 30 December 2014, Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow sentenced Mr. Navalny to serve 3 years and 6 months in prison and pay a fine of 500 thousand rubles on the charges of fraud and money laundering. The court ruled the sentence to be suspended with a 5-year probation term. On August 4, 2017, Simonovsky District Court of Moscow extended Mr. Navalnys probation period by twelve more months. However, Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia has registered multiple violations of the probation terms by Mr. Navalny during the year 2020; namely, Mr. Navalny has failed to check in for registration at the Department of Corrective Services of the Federal Penitentiary Services Moscow Directorate twice a month as per the assigned schedule. There were two registration appointments missed in January 2020, and one in each of the following months: February, March, July and August, 2020. Last time Mr. Navalny checked in with the Department of Corrective Services was on August 3, 2020. All this time the Department of Corrective Services has been warning Mr. Navalny that these violations could lead to his suspended sentence being revoked and replaced with an actual prison term. Department of Corrective Services suspended the requirement for Mr. Navalny to check in for registration for the duration of his treatment at the Charite Hospital in Berlin, Germany. However, Charite Hospitals official statements indicated that Mr. Navalnys treatment there was completed on September 23, 2020. Later, Mr. Navalny confirmed this fact in a notification he sent to the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia. In the apparent absence of any valid reasons Mr. Navalny has not appeared for any of the regular check-in appointments with the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia from October 2020 until the end of his probation period, thus violating the probation terms again. Either the editors of the New York Times do not know the facts or they are avoiding them because they do not fit their narrative: It was Mr. Navalny in the glassed-in prisoners dock. But it was Mr. Putin and his corrupt cohort who were on trial behind the army of riot police officers gathered in central Moscow to prevent the sort of mass protests across all of Russia that followed Mr. Navalnys return to his country on Jan. 17. Hundreds of thousands cannot be locked up, Mr. Navalny declared from court to his millions of followers on social media. More and more people will recognize this. And when they recognize this  and that moment will come  all of this will fall apart, because you cannot lock up the whole country. There were, at max, some 40,000 people protesting all over Russia when Navalny returned. Many of those were school children. In total there were way less protesters than on other occasions. Nina Byzantina @NinaByzantina - 15:11 UTC  Jan 23, 2021 Neon sign on the building above these anti-govt protesters in Russia reads: Circus: trained animals. Yes, yes they are.

bigger The following week less than half took again to the streets. Navalny's organization has since stopped all calls for further demonstrations. They know that no one would follow them. The "vast movement" the NYT claims to see does not exist. Massive police repression and winter frosts may quell the demonstrations. But the vast movement Mr. Navalny has mobilized is quantitatively different from earlier opposition forces, and still growing. The opposition now has 40 offices across Russia, and most of its millions of followers are young people who have not challenged the Kremlin before. Among people ages 18 to 24, Mr. Putins popularity has slid from 36 percent in December 2019 to 20 percent. The last sentence is an outright and intentional lie. The link provided goes to a Washington Post story which does not include any such numbers. There are however fresh poll numbers from Russia. The New York Times ignores these because, again, they do not fit its narrative: Something has changed, we are told again and again. After two decades of misrule, Russians are getting increasingly fed up with Vladimir Putin and his regime. The recent protests caused by the arrest of Alexei Navalny are just the tip of the iceberg, underneath which is a huge wave of dissatisfaction just waiting to burst loose. But is it?

...

To answer that question, we turn to the Russian sociological organization known as the Levada Centre. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, Levada has been doing surveys for a long time, so one can compare data over a prolonged period. And second, Levada is well known for its liberal, anti-government orientation, and so cannot in any way be accused of biasing its surveys to favour the Russian state. Today, Levada published its latest set of indicators. So, lets take a look at these, starting with the one that everybody is always interested in  Vladimir Putins approval rating. This records that when asked the question do you approve of Vladimir Putins activities as President?, 64% of respondents said yes. Thats down from 69% in September of last year, but up from the 60% recorded in July at the peak of the first wave of coronavirus. If there is any reason for Putin to be concerned it is that his approval rating is lower among younger people than older ones. Whereas 73% of people aged 55 or over approve of him, only 51% of those aged 18 to 24 do so. But then again, 51% is still a majority. The New York Times claims that Putin's popularity with younger people has 'slipped' down to 20%. It deceivingly gives a link, which few will follow, as source of its claim even when the linked page fails to support it. This when current polls show that a majority of Russian youths approve of Putin. The Times and other 'western' media are constantly and intentionally building a narrative of Russia that has little to do with reality. That is dangerous as the false narrative over time forms the basis of 'western' policy making towards Russia. When Russia reacts harshly to unrealistic 'western' demands and policies the outcry and disappointment is great. But no lesson is ever learned from it. Posted by b on February 6, 2021 at 12:33 UTC | Permalink Comments next page  next page 
Advertisement

Organizers of the King of the Hammers off-road race and festival have pushed forward with the event despite concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

The nine-day event in Southern California's Johnson Valley is set to conclude on Saturday, and organizers say they took careful precautions to hold the race safely.

The annual event is held at the federally-managed Johnson Valley OHV Area near Joshua Tree National Park, but does not take place within the park itself, where off-roading is prohibited to protect the park's flora and fauna.

The race normally draws a crowd of about 60,000 people, who set up camp in the temporary 'Hammertown' settlement. Exact estimates were not available for this year's attendance, and many participants said the crowd appeared to be noticeably smaller than usual.

Organizers have required a negative COVID-19 test from all who attend, and mask wearing is mandatory. The organizers also promoted an option to view the popular race from home via a livestream.

Scroll down for video

The nine-day King of the Hammers race in Southern California's Johnson Valley is set to conclude on Saturday, and organizers say they took careful precautions to hold the race safely

The race normally draws a crowd of about 60,000 people, but this year's crowd is thought to be smaller

Organizers have required a negative COVID-19 test from all who attend, and mask wearing is mandatory. The organizers also promoted an option to view the popular race from home via a livestream

As well, all spectators are having their temperature checked, and rapid tests are available on-site for $30

As well, all spectators are having their temperature checked, and rapid tests are available on-site for $30, organizers told SFGate.

As Southern California emerges from its deadliest phase in the pandemic, the decision to move forward with the festival drew concern from some quarters.

While many local residents are glad for the economic boost that the event brings to the area, some are fearful that the large crowds could spread the virus.

'I do not know how this happened,' Becky Boyer-Whitehurst, a retired school teacher who is 'holing up' in her house in the area, told SFGate.

'Roads are packed. Grocery stores are packed. Everything is packed,' she said.

As Southern California emerges from its deadliest phase in the pandemic, the decision to move forward with the festival drew concern from some quarters

While many local residents are glad for the economic boost that the event brings to the area, some are fearful that the large crowds could spread the virus

However, the event was given explicit approval from the San Bernardino County Public Health Department and the BLM

The vehicles used in King of the Hammers are known as Ultra 4 vehicles, and each one is custom fabricated by the race teams that participate.

However, the event was given explicit approval from the San Bernardino County Public Health Department.

In December, San Bernardino County Public Health Director Corwin Porter issued a statement saying, 'the COVID-19 response plan that King of the Hammers and MedNext staff devised is comprehensive, thoughtful, and puts into place mitigation measures that address my concerns from a healthcare perspective.'

The federal Bureau of Land Management, which owns the land the race is held on, also signed off on the event.

The race, which is beloved in the off-road community, began in 2007 with a test-run that had no spectators. The 13 participants in the original race, known as the OG13, are automatically invited back every year, as are each year's winners.

The 165-mile main course contains both flat desert stretches where speeds exceed 100mph, as well as steep rock-climbing segments that require gear ratios in excess of 100 to one

Originally a single race, the event has expanded into a nine-day festival with multiple races

The race, which is beloved in the off-road community, began in 2007 with a test-run that had no spectators

Originally a single race, the event has expanded into a nine-day festival with multiple races.

The 165-mile main course contains both flat desert stretches where speeds exceed 100mph, as well as steep rock-climbing segments that require gear ratios in excess of 100 to one.

The vehicles used in King of the Hammers are known as Ultra 4 vehicles, and each one is custom fabricated by the race teams that participate.

Photos and video from this year's event show the enthusiastic fans gathering to watch the races during the day and the fireworks at night.

Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-05 21:25:02|Editor: huaxia

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Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela (R) meets with Chinese Ambassador to Malta Yu Dunhai at the Prime Minister's Office in Valletta, Malta, Feb. 4, 2021. Malta is looking forward to strengthening cooperation with China in the post-pandemic process of economic recovery and creating a better future for the two countries together, Robert Abela said on Thursday. (Photo by Jonathan Borg/Xinhua)

VALLETTA, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Malta is looking forward to strengthening cooperation with China in the post-pandemic process of economic recovery and creating a better future for the two countries together, Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Thursday.

Abela made the remarks when he met with Chinese Ambassador to Malta Yu Dunhai at the Prime Minister's Office in Valletta, capital city of Malta.

Abela welcomed Yu to his new post, saying that Malta and China have traditionally friendly relations and the bilateral ties have maintained a good momentum of development in recent years.

Abela said Malta sincerely thanked China for its assistance in helping the Maltese side to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties nearly 50 years ago, China-Malta relations have maintained vigorous vitality, said Yu, adding that the two governments in 2018 signed a memorandum of understanding on jointly building the Belt and Road, which has injected new and strong impetus into the development of bilateral relations.

Noting that China and Malta have complementary advantages, Yu said the two sides can actively conduct cooperation in infrastructure construction, digital economy and new energy, and explore cooperation in the third-party market.

China is willing to share development opportunities with other countries including Malta, and jointly promote economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, said Yu. Enditem

Get the finger out is the clarion call from that messiah of the airline industry, Michael OLeary. Covid restraints and restrictions proposed by Tony Holohan and his medical collective are firmly in his sights.

Our politicians were also included in a classic sideswipe by the Ryanair boss. The countrys most loquacious businessman rarely passes up a a sound bite that may lure more

passengers to his planes.

Once the over-50s are vaccinated, he wants to see the end of lockdowns. And with classic gung-ho hyperbole, he assures us people will fly in their millions to Mediterranean sun spots this summer.

But the ever phlegmatic Nphet chief is clearly underwhelmed by the idea of swarms of pale Irish bodies soaking up summer sunshine on foreign beaches. Its not going to happen, he suggested. And when asked to comment on the unbridled optimism of perhaps our foremost businessman, he kept his tongue firmly in his cheek.

I have nothing but admiration for Mr OLeary, he gushed.

Given his long experience at the often fraught intersection where medicine meets politics, the man pivotal to our Covid battles has no problem batting away critics and criticism.

He has retained an unerring stoicism and sense of certainty, as the trajectory of this disease has ebbed and flowed. When the full story of the pandemic is told, he will be proven right in many of his judgments.

Ironically, his caution on the risks of travelling abroad were this week also echoed by his Northern Ireland counterpart, Dr Michael McBride. Dont take foreign holidays, he too warned.

All the while political point scoring has resumed inside and outside the Dail. The classic mantra is: Why does the Government not have a clear plan going forward?

However, the opposition parties are often left flailing about, desperately seeking neat solutions to intractable and ever-changing events. Vaccine supply  over which this country has little control  is the latest challenge to be overcome. Monitoring foreign travel remains a logistical and legal nightmare.

How do you police somebody in their bedroom? an exasperated Micheal Martin asked Deputy Roisin Shortall in what was surely the quote of the week.

Read More

Meanwhile, we remain part of what was supposed to be the great EU buy-up of the AstraZeneca vaccine, once it came on stream. But in this instance, Brussels was outmanoeuvred and outfoxed by the Boris

Johnson government.

What seems like excessive dithering on procurement  compounded by a cardinal error on Northern Ireland and its post-Brexit trading deal  has seriously dented the reputation of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Yet despite such setbacks, there are grounds for real optimism on the vaccines front. There is unstoppable momentum involving a growing number of drug companies  we will surely have enough medicines to go round by early autumn.

But how mass inoculation will play out when it comes to opening up the country, is the great unknown. It seems the virus will still stalk us. Its capacity to mutate into different strains of infection is just one of many risks that lie ahead.

Great uncertainty remains as to when things will return to an acceptable new normal. Nobody seems to know when this killer disease will allow us to let our guard down.

As for OLearys wish for millions to lap up a summer balm offered by the Canaries, the Greek islands, or the south of France, we can but dream.

Even if we do risk lying on a socially distanced sunlounger  with lapping waters of the Mediterranean nearby  will mask wearing and hand washing be part of our sojourn in the sun?
The CEO of a consumer appliances company was telling me this week that he cannot wait for his 7,000-strong workforce to fully resume working from office. I presumed that this was owing to low productivity or drop in sales. But, the reason was neither. This chief executive was simply annoyed with his staff balancing household chores with work-from-home (WFH).

One employee was washing dishes when I called. Another employee was soothing a crying baby during an online meeting. It is better that they work from office, was his response. This included male and female employees.

He also candidly admitted that there was no impact whatsoever on such activities on the overall productivity or daily tasks/assignments. So, what is his problem?

When one is in WFH mode, how does it matter if he/she takes a break to attend to a child or other duties at home?

We are no longer in the 18th century where household work is to be done by only women (mother, wife, sister) in the house. Everyone is meant to split these chores and WFH gives more opportunities to do that.

But, amid WFH, several senior corporates are now considering full physical offices only to prevent their staff from doing house work during the working day.

Mind you, this house-work does not mean an employee taking a break for 1-2 hours during office hours to start making an elaborate meal or deep cleaning the house. It is merely a 10-15 minutes break, probably one or twice to attend to family members or do quick washing or cleaning.

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, WFH is preferred for non-customer-facing roles across Indian companies since it is cost-effective. So, it is indeed perplexing to me that top executives want to let go of this practice because of their own prejudices.

All is not well purely because of the rudimentary views of some senior officials across Indian companies.

The head of finance at an insurance company told me that he was shocked when an employee skipped a virtual team lunch citing that he was busy cooking one Saturday in a particular month. He said WFH is spoiling these guys. We need to start physical offices soon.

This was despite Saturday being a weekly holiday and this virtual lunch being a regular affair since March 2020.

Well, it was not shocking to me. If someone chose to spend their Saturday cooking or cleaning, how does it matter to his/her company? Employees are not required to report their daily tasks at home to their organisation 24/7.

It is understandable if there is an informal briefing over a working lunch with senior management presence on an important strategic matter. This meeting cannot be skipped. But when it is just informal office banter over a video call, why shouldnt the employee get the freedom to opt out of it on some occasions?

On one hand, companies wax eloquent about gender diversity, inclusiveness and work-life balance while on the other the mindset still doesnt seem to have changed. The expectation that an employee working from home must be glued to their laptop 24/7 is unacceptable. Employees have a life beyond work and they are only paid for working 8/9 hours a day.

Another fact is that toxic masculinity also seems to be seeping deep into some workplaces. The head-human resources (male) of a Mumbai-based edtech firm recalled how his entire team including the companys co-founder made fun of the fact that he chose to take half-day to make bland food for his daughter who had contracted Jaundice in November.

It was sort of an inside-joke in the company for almost two months. During every other virtual meeting, my team (including women) would mock me saying see, he is becoming a housewife now. How does it matter to my organisation how I utilise my day? My wife is abroad for official work. Yes, work is equally important to me as well but does that mean I ignore my duties as a father? I completed all my daily tasks on time and only then took the rest of the day off. It is infuriating how this flexible work hours and work from anywhere concepts exist only on paper, he added.

The fact that women predominantly still do the household work across Indian families is well established. According to a 2019 Time Use Survey by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 81.2 percent of Indian women spent their daily time in unpaid activities at home while only 26.1 percent men spent time on this. Here, only 5.6 percent of men cooked compared to 75.2 percent of the women.

WFH was probably able to bring in some changes in this behaviour with this arrangement also nudging men in the household to lend a helping hand. Since maids were unavailable in the initial phases of the lockdown, it was only natural that men too share the household chores. This was especially true in homes with both the husband and wife working.

But, probably the organisational culture in the country has not evolved to accept this fact.

Remote working has its disadvantages. You do not get to meet your team physically so quick ideation and team building get hampered. Virtual interactions do exist but those cant replace a short tete-a-tete between two colleagues.

But, employees using WFH structure to also help out at home is the least of concerns for a company and its management. Yes, if he/she is only doing household chores and not meeting basic productivity targets, go ahead and reprimand them. Else, let them breathe!

If you pull up an employee for doing household duties only because you are not used to doing it or think that these are menial tasks, it is you who is part of the problem.
The pandemic has caused endless misery. But it also takes the pressure off Valentines Day  a holiday that causes angst for many people.

This year, no one will be booking overpriced meals at a Michelin-starred restaurant or sending (or receiving) conspicuous balloon bouquets at the office. Theaters, concert halls and cinemas are closed.

Still, the need for a connection remains strong as we approach the one-year mark of life under lockdown, with most activities relegated to home or outdoors.

Here are some suggestions for new ways to mark the day.

Plan a romantic date: If you are already in a relationship and live together, focus on Valentines Day activities that fall under the purple tier of Californias reopening plan  which applies to all Bay Area counties. That includes dining outside, watching a drive-in movie (if available) or going on an Instagram date, in which you walk around the city taking pictures with scenic backdrops.

Couples going outside for Valentines Day, that seems very appropriate, said Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease expert at UCSF.

Swipe right with care: Things get trickier if you are hoping to meet up with someone new you have clicked with on a dating app. Public health officials say virtual dates are the safest.

We keep advising Zoom (for dates) and it just doesnt cut it, Gandhi said. To tell single people for the last 12 months that you just cant have that aspect of your life is really cruel.

As long as you plan an activity that allows for the three pillars of pandemic control  masks, social distancing and ventilation  you can get together in as safe a way as possible. Going to the park for a socially distanced walk or picnic is OK. An outdoor dinner date could also work if you keep your mask on between bites.

Oh, and skip the goodnight kiss.

Kissing can easily pass COVID-19, says the official guidance from the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Avoid kissing anyone who is not part of your small circle of contacts.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

Make it a cozy night at home: Whether you live with a partner or not, Valentines Day provides the perfect excuse to curl up on the couch and rewatch Ali Wongs Always Be My Maybe. Light candles, order dinner and a take-home cocktail kit from a local restaurant, and keep the pressure off.

If you have already worked your way through the end of Netflix and exhausted every single topic of conversation, you can sign up for an online cooking course or art class, or spread the love by catching up with friends and family members who may be alone.

Practice safer sex: Sex is a very high-risk activity unless it is with a live-in partner.

Since the coronavirus is spread primarily through airborne droplets, you do not want to get in the breathing zone of someone who has not been isolating with you  and especially the heavy breathing zone.

Technically, having sex indoors with someone who doesnt live with you is not allowed  because under the states purple-tier rules, members of different households are only allowed to gather outside. But some public health experts are more realistic.

Its ridiculous in my mind to message sexual abstinence. Its exactly what got us in trouble in the HIV pandemic, Gandhi said.

Getting intimate can help lower stress and blood pressure, make it easier to sleep, boost your immunity and relieve all kinds of body pain.

If you decide to have sex with someone you recently met, take the time to plan.

It is OK to have a blunt discussion about COVID safety practices before getting intimate. You can set ground rules  such as avoiding kissing and keeping condoms and face coverings on, and not seeing the other person if they have recently felt at all sick. Wash your hands often.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

You can also reduce risk by testing negative for the coronavirus before your date, Gandhi said. If you plan ahead, lab-processed polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests are the gold standard because they are extremely accurate. But you may have to wait up to three days for results. If you are feeling more spontaneous, rapid antigen tests could provide results within hours but are less sensitive.

Everyone is going to decide for themselves what risks they are going to take, Gandhi said.

For those who want to play it safe, the health department suggests, You are your safest sex partner. Masturbate, use toys, take this time to find out what makes you feel good.

Put your phone aside: If your phone is within reach, you will inevitably open up Instagram or Facebook and see all kinds of people out on spectacular dates, proposing to each other on faraway beaches, and generally behaving as if there is not a pandemic happening that has killed more than 450,000 people in the U.S.

Save yourself the mental duress by stashing your phone away for the night and going analog with a favorite movie or book.

Ultimately, it is just another day in what feels like an endless year, and sometimes ordering an extra a pint of ice cream may be all it takes to make it feel special.

Aidin Vaziri is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: avaziri@sfchronicle.com
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West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is unlikely to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modis event to launch key infrastructure projects in Haldia district on Sunday in what will be his second visit to the poll-bound state in as many weeks.

Sources told CNN-News18 that Mamata Banerjee has taken the call to give the event a miss after her humiliation at the event organised at Victoria Memorial in Kolkata on the birth anniversary of Subhash Chandra Bose on January 23.

Banerjee had been heckled by a section of the audience and is wary of a repeat of the January 23 episode, sources said, and hence, has decided to skip the event in Haldia despite being invited for it.

The chief minister had refused to address the programme held to celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, citing humiliation after a section from the audience shouted Jai Shri Ram when Banerjee was about to deliver her speech.

This is a government programme and there must be some decorum and discipline here. It should have some dignity. It is not a political programme. You cannot invite people here and insult them. I am invited and humiliated. In protest, I am not saying anything, she had said and gone back to her seat.

PM Modi and Governor Jagdeep Dhankar were present at the event when this happened. TMC sources said that since the BJP did not even spare an event in honour of Netaji to score a political point, there was no chance that the saffron party will behave any differently on Sunday.

They said that not only will Banerjee not attend the event, but other TMC representatives have also been asked not to go.

Modi will inaugurate an LPG import terminal built by the state-run BPCL in Haldia, which the Prime Ministers Office said will cater to the growing requirement of LPG in West Bengal and other states in eastern and north-eastern India.

He will also lay the foundation stone for a crucial project for the Haldia refinery of the Indian Oil Corporation. Another project to be inaugurated by the prime minister is a four-lane ROB-cum-flyover at Ranichak in Haldia on NH 41. It has been built at the cost of 190 crore, the PMO said. "These projects are in line with Prime Minister's vision of Purvodaya, of driving growth of the eastern India," the PMO said.

Myanmar saw its largest anti-coup protests yet on Saturday with young demonstrators spilling on to the streets to denounce the countrys new military regime, despite a nationwide internet blackout aimed at stifling a growing chorus of popular dissent.

Soon before nearly all lines of communication in and out of the country went dark, an Australian advisor to ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi told media he had been detained and was unable to leave his hotel.

The shutdown did not stop several thousand demonstrators from gathering on a road near Yangon University, many holding up the three-finger salute that has come to symbolise resistance to the army takeover.

Down with the military dictatorship! the crowd yelled, many donning red headbands  the colour associated with Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party.

A large riot police contingent blocked nearby roads, with two water cannon trucks parked at the scene.

Some protesters left the area without confrontation while others remain at the scene, with no reports of clashes with police so far.

At least two other groups of demonstrators are marching through other parts of Myanmars biggest city, while as many as 2,000 people were marching further north in Mandalay, AFP reporters on the ground said.

All were out to condemn the dawn raids that brought a sudden halt to the countrys brief 10-year experiment with democracy on Monday, just as lawmakers elected in national polls last November were due to sit in parliament for the first time.

They dont respect our peoples votes and I think they are betraying the country, one protester told AFP. Our revolution starts today.

Australian professor Sean Turnell became the latest figure associated with Suu Kyi  and the first confirmed foreign national  to be detained by the junta.

Im just being detained at the moment, and perhaps charged with something. I dont know what that would be, Turnell, a longtime economics advisor to the Nobel laureate, told the BBC.

 First contact 

Online calls to protest the army takeover had prompted increasingly bold displays of defiance against the new regime, including the nightly deafening clamour of people around the country banging pots and pans  a practice traditionally associated with driving out evil.

Some have shown their opposition by gathering for group photographs with banners decrying the coup and flashing a three-finger salute earlier adopted by democracy protesters in neighbouring Thailand.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said a special envoy to the country had made first contact with Myanmars deputy military commander to urge the junta to relinquish power to the civilian government it toppled.

State media in Myanmar reported Saturday that junta figures had spoken with diplomats the previous day to respond to an international outcry and asked them to work with the new leaders.

 Civil disobedience 

As protests gathered steam this week, the junta ordered telecom networks to freeze users out of access to Facebook, an extremely popular service in the country and arguably its main mode of communication.

We strongly urge the authorities to order the unblocking of all social media services, a Facebook representative said. The people of Myanmar need access to important information and to be able to communicate with their loved ones.

The platform had hosted a rapidly growing Civil Disobedience Movement forum calling on strikes at civil service offices and hospitals.

The military widened its efforts to stifle dissent on Friday when it demanded new blocks on other social media services including Twitter.

Norway-based Telenor said Saturday it had complied with an order instructing telecoms to shut down the countrys entire mobile data network.

We have employees on the ground and our first priority is to ensure their safety, a statement from the firm said.

Some internet-savvy users had managed to circumvent the social media block by using VPN services but by midday, online traffic had slowed to a standstill.

People in Myanmar have been forced into a situation of abject uncertainty, said Ming Yu Hah of Amnesty.

An expanded internet shutdown will put them at greater risk of more egregious human rights violations at the hands of the military, she added.

An immensely popular figure despite a tarnished reputation in the West, Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since the coup, but a party spokesman said Friday she was under house arrest and in good health.

US President Joe Biden was among world leaders this week to demand the generals relinquish power release advocates and activists and officials they have detained, lift the restrictions in telecommunications, and refrain from violence.

SOURCE: AFP
Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 16:04:52|Editor: huaxia

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People row boat on the Opara River near Christchurch, New Zealand, Feb. 6, 2021. New Zealanders celebrated their National Day, the 181st anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, on Saturday with services and performances across the country. (Photo by Li Xiaogang/Xinhua)

WELLINGTON, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- New Zealanders celebrated their National Day, the 181st anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, on Saturday with services and performances across the country.

The highlight of the day was the dawn service and a following free breakfast at Waitangi served by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, wearing an apron, and other government officials for people at the service.

Hundreds of celebratory events were also held across New Zealand.

In the South Island, the Okains Bay Museum Waitangi Day Commemorations was held on Saturday. It has been a signature event on the New Zealand calendar since the museum first opened in 1977.

It's a fun day full of family activities, demonstrations, workshops and exhibits set amongst the extensive museum grounds in the beachside village of Okains Bay, which attracted several thousand visitors.

Wellington celebrations featured a film night, a film festival, a kite festival, Maori dancing performances and a delicious hangi to present Maori way of cooking food.
The senior diplomats of Britain, France, Germany and the United States met on Friday for the first time in almost three years as the European allies welcome Americas return to centre stage in world affairs under President Joe Biden.

Britains Foreign Office and the US State Department said the foreign ministers of the three European nations and the US secretary of state held virtual talks on topics that included Iran, China, Russia, Myanmar, climate change and the coronavirus pandemic.

The last time the top foreign affairs officials from the four countries met as a quartet was in April 2018.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (Evan Vucci/AP)

The meeting of UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian came a day after Mr Biden told US diplomats at the State Department: America is back. Diplomacy is back.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the ministers had affirmed the centrality of the Transatlantic relationship in dealing with security, climate, economic, health, and other challenges the world faces.

He added that Mr Blinken underscored the US commitment to coordinated action to overcome global challenges. The statement offered no other details.

Mr Biden has turned sharply away from the America first policies of his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, on issues such as climate change and Russia. One of Mr Bidens first acts as president was reversing Mr Trumps withdrawal of the US from the 2015 Paris climate accord.

President Joe Biden: America is back. Diplomacy is back (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Mr Biden said on Thursday the days of the US rolling over to Russian President Vladimir Putin were over.

He committed to reversing Mr Trumps order to withdraw US troops stationed in Germany and ending support for Saudi Arabias military offensive in Yemen.

Britain, which is heading the G-7 group of industrialised nations this year and is set to host a global climate conference in November, has welcomed the United States renewed focus on engaging with its allies around the world.

The UK is also seeking new ways to exert influence now that it has left the European Union, such as working with small groups of like-minded countries on major issues.
New Delhi, Feb 6 (UNI) A day after President Joe Biden vowed to counter China's aggressive behaviour and economic abuses, the US warned Beijing it would be held "accountable" for threatening regional stability.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during a phone call with China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi, said that the US will work together with its allies and partners and hold Beijing "accountable for its efforts to threaten stability in the Indo-Pacific, including across the Taiwan Strait, and its undermining of the rules-based international system."

Blinken also pressed China to join the international community in condemning the military coup in Myanmar, said the State Department in a statement accessed here.

He told Yang, director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, that the US will continue to stand up for human rights and democratic values, including in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong.

"The Secretary reaffirmed that the United States will work together with its allies and partners in defense of our shared values and interests to hold the PRC accountable for its efforts to threaten stability in the Indo-Pacific, including across the Taiwan Strait, and its undermining of the rules-based international system," Blinken told Yang during their first known conversation since he became secretary of state late last month.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry quoted Yang as telling Blinken, "The Taiwan question, the most important and sensitive core issue in China-US relations, bears on China's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

In addition, "Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet-related affairs are all China's internal affairs and allow no interference by any external forces," Yang said.

"Any attempt to slander and smear China will not succeed, and China will continue to firmly safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests," he told Blinken.

On Thursday, Biden in his first major foreign policy speech said that his administration will "compete from a position of strength, by building back better at home, working with our allies and partners, renewing our role in international institutions, and reclaiming our credibility and moral authority.

"We will confront China's economic abuses, counter its aggressive, coercive action, to push back on China's attack on human rights, intellectual property and global governance."

He also said, "We are ready to work with Beijing when it's in America's interest to do so."

But the Blinken statement made no mention of this aspect of the US foreign policy.

UNI SRJ SHK1808
Attorney Alan Dershowitz, then-member of President Donald Trump's legal team, speaks to the press in the Senate Reception Room during the Senate impeachment trial at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 29, 2020. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Congress Put Itself Above the Law in Trump Impeachment: Dershowitz

Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said Feb. 6 that congressional lawmakers are violating the U.S. Constitution with what he described as a show trial against former President Donald Trump.

The House impeachment brief (pdf) alleges that Trump incited a mob to breach the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 while lawmakers were convened in a joint session to consider the certification of Electoral College votes.

Trumps legal team denies the allegation and argues in a memo (pdf) that the trial is unconstitutional because Trump is no longer president. The team also argues that Trump exercised his First Amendment rights in calling into question the results of the election.

Dershowitz argued that an effective legal defense is based on challenging the constitutionality of the allegations against Trump.

The best arguments he can make, and his lawyers will make, are the constitutional ones, namely the Senate has no jurisdiction over a former president, and the speech was covered by the First Amendment, Dershowitz told Newsmax in an interview.

Congress has put itself above the law, Dershowitz said. They say the president is not above the law; theyre right, but Congress is not above the law, and the law makes specific provisions for when a president can be impeached, and you cant impeach a president in violation of the First Amendment.

Meanwhile, Trumps lawyers sent a letter to Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the House of Representatives lead impeachment manager, on Feb. 4, rejecting his attempt to get Trump to testify in the impeachment trial.

We are in receipt of your latest public relations stunt. As you certainly know, there is no such thing as a negative inference in this unconstitutional proceeding, attorneys Bruce Castor and David Schoen wrote to Raskin.

Your letter only confirms what is known to everyone: you cannot prove your allegations against the 45th President of the United States, who is now a private citizen. The use of our Constitution to bring a purported impeachment proceeding is much too serious to play these games.

Dershowitz, in his remarks to Newsmax, said Trump made the right call in refusing to testify.

The president made the right decision. You dont walk into a perjury trap when you have people who you know are going to be hostile to you, Dershowitz said.

He said on Feb. 4 that the House impeachment brief against Trump, which seeks to undermine the former presidents First Amendment-based argument in his defense, amounts to a dangerous broadside against the freedom of speech of all Americans.

Writing in an earlier op-ed for The Hill, Dershowitz made a case against a key argument contained in the impeachment brief, namely that the First Amendment does not apply at all to impeachment proceedings, which the legal scholar said signals congressional willingness to take aim at the freedom of speech more broadly.

The brief filed by the House managers advocating the conviction and disqualification of citizen Donald Trump contains a frontal attack on freedom of speech for all Americans, Dershowitz wrote.

Trump adviser Jason Miller echoed the sentiment that the reasoning featured in the impeachment brief is a threat to freedom of speech more broadly, writing in a Feb. 4 statement that not only will President Trump be on trial next week. The First Amendment will be on trial next week because the Democrats arent going to stop with attacking President Trump, they want to go after the free speech and the rights of all Americans.

Democrats face an uphill battle in the Senate in their pursuit of an impeachment conviction against Trump. Forty-five Republican senators voted in favor of a resolution calling the trial unconstitutional, since Trump is now a private citizen. With the Senate split 5050, the impeachment managers would have to convince 17 Republicans that the trial is constitutional and that Trump is guilty of inciting an insurrection.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
OAKRIDGE, Ore.  An Oakridge family is setting the record straight about their loved one after he was shot and killed by police during an altercation in October 2019. Family members of Marcus Hartsfield, 27, said toxicology reports confirmed he was not on drugs, contrary to what was initially reported by the Lane County District Attorneys Office.

Hartsfield was killed by an Oakridge Police officer after the officer responded to a home on Rainbow Street for reports of a suicide in progress. When he arrived, the officer found Hartsfield in a fight with several other people, all covered in blood. The officer said Hartsfield lunged at him with what was later determined to be a razor blade before he shot him.

The shooting was later ruled justified by Lane County District Attorney Patricia Perlow, who also noted that a preliminary toxicology report found methamphetamine in Hartsfields body.

RELATED: HE WOULD HAVE KILLED ME: DA RULES OAKRIDGE OFFICER WAS JUSTIFIED IN SHOOTING

However, this finding immediately stuck out to Hartsfields family, including his mother Rhonda Gilbreath and uncle Marcus Cayson.

Hartsfields family said he suffered from depression and bipolar disorder and did not do drugs for fear it would complicate his mental health conditions.

He had a hard enough time controlling his disorder as it was, so he didnt do anything else, Cayson said.

With the help of an attorney, Hartsfields family obtained the final toxicology reports months after Hartsfield died that confirmed what they already believed. There were no controlled substances found in his body at the time of death.

My nephew was completely negative, Cayson said.

Perlow later verified that the final toxicology report conducted by the state medical lab did not find any controlled substances, in contradiction to the preliminary findings from the time that Hartsfield died.

A spokesman for Oregon State Police, which oversees the states medical examiner division, said rapid toxicology tests can be helpful in the initial stages of investigations but lack sensitivity and specificity and both false positives and false negatives may occur.

OSP said that is why results of rapid tests must be confirmed by more robust toxicology testing performed in state crime labs.

Hartsfields family said the damage has already been done now that some in Oakridge believe their family member was on drugs.

He was a really good kid. Fun to be around. A lot of people liked him, Gilbreath said. So for them to say that - [it] wasnt okay.
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Sputnik also lauds the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusions efforts in blood collection through campaigns. (Photo: VNA)



Vietnam has applied the world's advances in blood cancer treatment, successfully conducted a nationwide epidemiological survey on Thalassemia, and ensured blood reserves amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the article said.



It cited statistics by Globocan 2020 as saying that Vietnam registered 182,563 new cases of cancer and 122,690 cancer deaths last year, with blood cancer making up 3.4 percent of the new cases.



The field of genetics - molecular biology also achieved positive results in the study of genetic mutations in blood cancer, contributing to improving treatment quality and diagnosis of hereditary blood disorders.



The article also lauded the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusions efforts in blood collection through campaigns amidst the spread of the pandemic.



It said scientific-technological application in Vietnam has facilitated blood donation, noting an application and a Zalo account launched by the institute in this regard./.

With a sweeping new mask mandate requiring face coverings on all public transit, planes and in federal buildings, clashes over masking up are inevitable.

Only, in New Jersey, two separate incidents saw patrons penalized not for refusing to wear face coverings, but for the opposite.

Brothers Rob and William Joseph were kicked off a United flight for wearing a Narwall full-face respirator, according to NorthJersey.com.

The Narwall mask, which costs $85, includes a polycarbonate face shield and a secure, airtight seal modeled after a snorkeling mask.Courtesy of Narwall Mask

And a gym-goer was turned away from his local Planet Fitness in Union for wearing a surgical mask instead of a cloth one, according to ABC7 New York.

Incidents of shoppers fighting with store managers over mask policies have gone viral recently (even Bruce Willis picked that fight). Yet, few have made headlines for wearing too much protection.

The Joseph brothers planned on boarding an 11 a.m. flight to Florida on Jan. 23 when United employees stopped them. They tried to explain that the $85 Narwall masks include a high-efficiency filter and are specially designed for high-risk situations but were kicked off the flight instead.

Is it goofy? Absolutely. Is it something you want to be seen in public? Not exactly, Rob Joseph, a Mahwah native, said of the masks modeled after a snorkeling headset, according to NorthJersey.com. But to have that peace of mind for me and my family, Im willing to take some stares to get down there safely.

The Narwall mask, which costs $85, includes a polycarbonate face shield and a secure, airtight seal modeled after a snorkeling mask.Courtesy of Narwall Mask

A United spokesperson told NJ Advance Media the Narwall masks violated its mask policy.

We do not accept that particular mask as it could potentially create certain impediments in emergency scenarios, such as preventing clear communication between customers and crew-members, the spokesperson said.

Over in Union, no fancy headgear was involved. The gym dispute was simply over cloth masks versus surgical masks, both ubiquitous across the state.

Jordan Binenstock told ABC7 he was turned away at the door for wearing a surgical mask, the same type hes seen Gov. Phil Murphy wear at his press briefings.

Its so plainly stupid, if you dont mind me saying this, Binenstock said, according to ABC7. It just makes no sense. The whole time, its made no sense.

Unlike United, which is standing by its stance, Planet Fitness attempted a mea culpa.

The safety and wellbeing of our staff and members continues to be our number one priority, reads a Planet Fitness statement sent to NJ Advance Media. We can confirm that members and guests are allowed to wear disposable surgical masks at our New Jersey clubs, in accordance with local and state guidelines.

The club was abiding by state guidelines that specified cloth masks, which have since been updated to include the use of surgical masks, the statement reads.

Murphys Executive Order from August reopening gyms does require workers and customers to wear cloth face coverings while in the indoor portion of the premises.

However, further down, the same order also includes a stipulation that nothing in the stated policy should prevent workers or customers from wearing a surgical-grade mask or other more protective face covering if the individual is already in possession of such equipment.

Regardless, the club will be allowing surgical masks in the future.

Local club management will be reaching out to Mr. Binenstock to apologize for the misunderstanding and we hope to welcome him back to Planet Fitness as a member, the company said.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Josh Axelrod may be reached at jaxelrod@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 6)  Six Filipino women who were trafficked or illegally hired in Syria were brought home to the Philippines on Saturday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

DFA Undersecretary Sarah Arriola told CNN Philippines, the evacuees returned Saturday afternoon and were given financial aid. The department said this is the first batch flown back out of 38 Filipinos who stayed at a shelter in Damascus after leaving their employers over "harsh working conditions."

"The victims have prepared their complaint-affidavits at the shelter in Damascus with the assistance of the Philippine Embassy," said the DFA in another statement. "The Department lobbied hard with the Syrian authorities and employers to secure exit clearances for the repatriates."

The department said the Filipinos were illegally recruited to work in Syria while they were tourists in Dubai. The DFA assured that it is giving the victims legal assistance in their court cases as well as arranging immigration requirements for their companions still in the Middle Eastern country.
Security personnel stood guard next to police barricades at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh state border in Ghaziabad

Tens of thousands of police were deployed across India on Saturday in a bid to smother new protests by farmers fighting government agriculture reforms.

Ten metro stations were closed in central New Delhi -- where a tractor rally last month turned into a violent rampage -- and thousands of police manned barricades and roadblocks at key intersections.

Farmers unions called for protest roadblocks across the country in the latest day of action.

They and their supporters occupied dozens of roads and toll booths for three hours in several states but no trouble was reported.

Police stood guard at a roadblock in Gurgaon, near New Delhi

A major police deployment was ordered in the key farm state of Uttar Pradesh, which is a traditional pro-government bastion. Farmers groups suspended their action in the state to avoid a confrontation.

Tens of thousands of farmers have been camping on the outskirts of Delhi since November calling for a repeal of the reforms that free up farm produce markets.

The farmers say the changes mean the crucial agriculture industry will be taken over by major conglomerates.

While the authorities have increased pressure on the Delhi protest camps -- cutting internet and water supplies -- the farmers have vowed to keep their campaign going for months more.

Farmers gather as they block a highway during their ongoing protest against the central government's agricultural reforms, on the outskirts of Amritsar

Rakesh Tikait, one of the senior farmers' leaders, said Saturday that the protests would go on until the October 2 one-year anniversary of the launch of their campaign unless the government repealed the new laws.

He told the Indian Express newspaper that thousands more farmers wanted to come to Delhi to join the protests and would not be deterred by barbed wire fences put around the camps.

"They can put nails on the ground; we will put soil over it and grow flowers. We aren't scared of the barricading or high security.

"We don't think police will seal the area. If they do, there are protesters here who can break through all the barricades," he said.

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NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

Juan Monteverde, founder and managing partner at Monteverde & Associates PC, a national securities firm rated Top 50 in the 2018 and 2019 ISS Securities Class Action Services Report and headquartered at the Empire State Building in New York City, is investigating FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp. ("FTOC" or the "Company") (FTOC) relating to its proposed merger with Payoneer, Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, FTOC will acquire Payoneer through a reverse merger, with Payoneer emerging as a publicly traded company.

The investigation focuses on whether FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp. and its Board of Directors violated securities laws and/or breached their fiduciary duties to the Company by 1) failing to conduct a fair process, and 2) whether the transaction is properly valued.

Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/ftac-olympus-acquisition-corp. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.

About Monteverde & Associates PC

We are a national class action securities litigation law firm that has recovered millions of dollars and is committed to protecting shareholders from corporate wrongdoing. We were listed in the Top 50 in the 2018 and 2019 ISS Securities Class Action Services Report. Our lawyers have significant experience litigating Mergers & Acquisitions and Securities Class Actions. Mr. Monteverde is recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Securities Litigation in 2013, 2017-2019, an award given to less than 2.5% of attorneys in a particular field. He has also been selected by Martindale-Hubbell as a 2017-2019 Top Rated Lawyer. Our firm's recent successes include changing the law in a significant victory that lowered the standard of liability under Section 14(e) of the Exchange Act in the Ninth Circuit. Thereafter, our firm successfully preserved this victory by obtaining dismissal of a writ of certiorari as improvidently granted at the United States Supreme Court. Emulex Corp. v. Varjabedian, 139 S. Ct. 1407 (2019). Also, in 2019 we recovered or secured six cash common funds for shareholders in mergers & acquisitions class action cases.

If you own common stock in FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp. and wish to obtain additional information and protect your investments free of charge, please visit our website or contact Juan E. Monteverde, Esq. either via e-mail at [email protected] or by telephone at (212) 971-1341.

Contact:

Juan E. Monteverde, Esq.

MONTEVERDE & ASSOCIATES PC

The Empire State Building

350 Fifth Ave. Suite 4405

New York, NY 10118

United States of America

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Coming soon to a campus near you  Angelica Ramsey.

Midland ISD board members made it official Friday with the hiring of the superintendent of the Pleasant Valley School District in Camarillo, California. The hiring of Ramsey, the lone finalist, was expected. What might come as a surprise to the Midland ISD teachers and staff working on eductions frontline is that Ramsey isnt planning on hiding out in Central Office. That is not how she operates.

She confirmed her schedule for a typical week will include spending two days on campuses across the community.

It's really important to get out to sites for a few reasons, Ramsey said Friday after the board meeting at Bowie Fine Arts Academy. One is to be able to have informal conversations. We learn a lot from our teachers, from our staff members. You walk in the hallways and a custodian stops you and lets you know something or asks you questions. You're never going to get that in your office.

Two is that you actually get to see what's happening in schools. And you get a better idea of what's working, what looks good on paper but then implementation wise, isn't working out.

Third is being able to be out at schools, being visible, building those relationships that lead to trust.  They need to get to know (the superintendent), realize she's a real-life person just like me and that I can talk to her and I can call her on her BS when it's BS, and we're all gonna be better for it.

Wait a minute. Did she just say BS? Apparently, she was serious about being more comfortable with the real people in Texas and not in the Bay Area of California.

Truth is so much attention is given to the superintendent of a school that community members and probably staff are led to believe that education CEOs operate on a different level. Ramsey wants no part of that stereotype. She was quick to remind me that she is one part of a larger system and that success happens when everyone is working together, being part of the solution.

Board President Bryan Murry, whose wife is a teacher at Fasken Elementary, said the attention on the campus will be part of a culture change that he hopes Ramsey can bring to the district. He said the focus needs to return to the teachers and their classroom and that central office supports the campuses.

And (Ramseys) going to be on campuses two days a week, Murry said. And that's something that, we longed for -- to have someone that knew what was happening on the campuses, so we could really get that support to them quicker.

After the meeting, Ramsey took the time to meet those who came to have their first conversations with her. While Ramsey is personable and appreciative of the support she received, she stated she was not big on parties, receptions and all these things.

I'd rather honestly just get here and get to work, she said.

She will get that chance on Feb. 22  her first official day on the job. And that work will include time spent on campus.
President Joe Biden doesn't believe former President Donald Trump should receive classified intelligence briefings, as is tradition for past presidents, citing Trump's "erratic behavior unrelated to the insurrection", CNN reports.

When asked in an interview with "CBS Evening News" anchor Norah O'Donnell if he thought Trump should receive an intelligence briefing if he requested one, Biden said, "I think not."

"I'd rather not speculate out loud," Biden said when asked what he fears could happen if Trump continued to receive the briefings. "I just think that there is no need for him to have the -- the intelligence briefings. What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?"

Former presidents traditionally have been allowed to request and receive intelligence briefings.

A senior administration official previously told CNN that Trump has not submitted any requests at this point. There are many ways intelligence can be presented, the official said, something the intelligence community would formulate should any request come in.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told CNN on Thursday that "the intelligence community supports requests for intelligence briefings by former presidents and will review any incoming requests, as they always have."

KYODO NEWS - Feb 6, 2021 - 20:03 | World, All

New satellite images showed that North Korea has started removing snow at a facility previously used to test intercontinental ballistic missile engines, a U.S. organization monitoring the nuclear-armed nation said Friday.

The U.S.-based website 38 North, however, said, "There are no obvious indicators of a forthcoming launch or engine test" at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in Tongchang-ri, northwestern North Korea.

As North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged at the congress of the ruling Workers' Party in January to develop an ICBM "with the use of underwater or ground solid-fuel engine," the United States, Japan and South Korea have been watching the country's movement.

"While the rapid pace of snow removal around the complex is notable, efforts to clear the actual launch pad have been slower, with snow removal still in progress and the access roads to the fuel and oxidizer bunkers untouched," the organization said.

North Korea had destroyed a part of its main engine testing site after Kim's first summit with then U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018, but it later began rebuilding a portion of the facility. It is believed to have conducted an ICBM engine test in December 2019.

Pyongyang has launched what appear to be long-range ballistic missiles three times over five years through 2016.

Related coverage:

North Korean diplomat defected to South Korea in 2019: media

Nuclear ban treaty takes effect, sidestepped by weapons states, Japan

North Korea ends session of top legislature without Kim's attendance
A 19-year-old man was charged Friday in a shooting that killed two men - including one celebrating his birthday - and left seven other people hurt at a New Brunswick party, authorities said.

Jeron Pitt, of Somerset, faces two counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder, along with conspiracy and weapons charges, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone.

At present, the shooting does not appear to be a random act, the prosecutor said in a joint statement with city Police Director Anthony Caputo.

Lionel M. Macauley, 28, of Somerset, and Anthony Robinson, 23, of New Brunswick, were fatally shot early Sept. 13 outside of a Delafield Street house party in the city, according to friends and authorities.

The apparent ambush attack was captured on a neighbors doorbell camera, which showed a car pulling up to the home and a group of people jumping out before they opened fire on the residential street. The group returned to the car and took off.

Prosecutors alleged Pitt along with others, who were not named, drove to the party and fired into a crowd. Police later recovered the car used in the attack, according to authorities.

Friends previously said Macauley and Robinson were at the house celebrating Robinsons 23rd birthday when the gunfire erupted.

Eric Shandroff, a friend of Macauleys, described him being at the wrong place, wrong time.

He was a poet, a spoken word artist, an actor, and he did theater, so he was very active in the creative arts, Shandroff said of his slain friend. He was like a leader...of his community. He was definitely a trailblazer.

Another friend said Robinson was a producer in the local music scene and father of a young girl.

[He] was a loving son, brother and most of all a wonderful father to his 2-year-old daughter. He would do anything for his family and his friends, Aleria Daniels wrote on a GoFundMe page created to offset funeral costs for Robinson.

The shooting took place in an area of the city home to off-campus rentals for Rutgers University students, however, officials said the attack did not involve students. Authorities have not commented on a motive for the slayings.

It was not immediately clear if investigators have identified any other suspects. The prosecutors office asked anyone with information on the crime to call investigators at 732-745-5200 or 732-745-4436.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com.
(Image: Reuters)

What makes a true intellectual? What defines them?

Slowly, yet steadily, this interesting debate is arising out of the hubris in election-struck Bengal. The moot issue is simple: How much of intellect makes you a true intellectual. And more importantly, are you free to do what you want?

And, then, comes the million-dollar question: Are you an intellectual to visit Bengal, and rule?

The debate over outsiders, free expression and the limits of acceptable opinion is high in the state. The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) says Bengal may not have produced a Prime Minister but enough Nobel laureates.

French Connection

All kinds of examples are now being cited by the state's ruling party. Consider this one. Once, a double decker bus squeezed into a bylane to drop a person right at his doorstep because the passenger was high on liquor and unable to alight. The driver, then claimed many, did it only because the lone passenger was a top poet. Many have often compared Kolkata to Paris, taken pride in not speaking in Hindi, the national language.

But now, troubled by the rise of the ring wing in the state, perhaps, film actors, theatre stars, poets, and painters have joined hands in Bengal to say the lifeblood of a liberal society can withstand a lesser evil (read Mamata Banerjees Trinamool Congress) but not the most dangerous of them all: the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

It is worth your while to remember that this same set of people had derided Mamata Banerjee for lacking in intellect when she came to power in 2011.

The BJP is entering into my mindset, taking away my freedom and my intellectual space. The party is telling me what is right and what is wrong. That decision is - actually - mine. No one can dictate me, Kaushik Sen, one of Bengals top actors, told MoneyControl in a telephonic interview.

Sen said the Jai Shri Ram slogans at a function in Kolkata to commemorate the birth anniversary of Subhas Chandra Bose, considered by many as Indias biggest patriot, made him realise that the BJP must be stopped at any cost. As an actor I need room for experimentation, risk taking, even mistakes.

Some Dire Warnings

So what does that exactly mean? Will free speech die in Bengal if the BJP sweeps to power this summer? No one is saying a definitive yes, everyone is saying beware, beware, beware of the BJP, the party is like the Phantom, the ghost who walks.

Veteran poet Joy Goswami said he feels free speech could be stifled if BJP rules the state. Art and politics will have a greater chance to mix if the right wing comes to power in Bengal and the BJP will surely push its agenda of Hindutva. Will a poet have his freedom, I doubt it very much, said Goswami.

Locals say Goswami, a well-known poet and author, had aligned himself with the TMC when the party swept to power in 2011. Earlier, he was a routine fixture at all cultural events organised by Bengals ruling Left Front. Now, he is often seen at TMC events, especially those attended by CM Mamata Banerjee. His presence at a December 24, 2019 event of the TMC where the CM gave a crow-like call to decry the BJPs move to push the National Register of Citizen (NRC), had surprised many.

But Goswami remains unflustered. He said his presence on a political platform should not worry anyone as long as he was free to talk. The BJPs intolerance of opposition is well known across India. The party is known for its public shaming and ostracism of intellectuals. It believes in blind support, said Goswami.

There are many like Goswami who are out in the open to checkmate the BJP and its leaders from entering the artistic space because they feel the right wing party lacks both intellect and culture and cannot offer an alternative in the state. Consider the case of Bengal Minister Bratya Basu who told journalists in Kolkata on January 28, 2020, that the TMC was culturally oriented to drive a state known for its artistic temperament. Can you name a writer, a poet, or a theater artist who has joined the BJP?

Basu told MoneyControl that he feels proud that Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee spent a little over Rs 100 crore during the last five years to promote art and culture in the state. I do not see the BJP doing something like this in Bengal. BJP is not known for culture, and intellect, said Basu.

Artistic Support

CM Mamata Banerjee has asked the states artistic fraternity to back her party, leading the charge of the TMC show are a bunch of actors like Dev, Mimi Chakraborty, Nusrat Jahan and Shatabdi Roy (all MPs) who will now do daily street corner meetings and attend rallies to highlight why it is important for Bengal to seek culturally oriented people to rule the state.

The cultured-uncultured, intellectual-unintellectual debate is, in many ways, spiralling out of shape in the state where the film industryunlike its recent claim of being totally independent of any political allianceis totally under the grip of the TMC, and its powerful leaders, brothers Arup and Swarup Biswas.

The duo, claim many in Kolkata, control the all powerful Cine Technicians & Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEI) which, in turn, controls the Bengal film industry. The FCTWEIs alleged vice-like grip on the states film industry has often troubled many filmmakers but they have not raised their voice in the fear of being isolated and humiliated.

Film industry insiders say the FCTWEI is a powerful body which allegedly interferes into the working of the filmmakers and actors, even camerapersons and editors. And it is apparently happening not just in the film industry, it is happening in the states theatre fraternity as well.

There have been several occasions when film units from outside Bengal have returned because of demands from FCTWEI.

Are you an intellectual, are you not?

The FCTWEI have weird demands, every movie shot in Bengal needs to be routed through the body. The FCTWEI allegedly pushes a large number of their members even if the director does not need them. New producers and directors are often harassed. If the directors protest, the cinema halls drop their movies.

"It is a deadly cycle, said a film industry insider.

The person, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, said there had been several occasions when shootings were held up because of such unreasonable demands. He further said there were special cards which had been allegedly distributed to those close to the TMC.

But, you cannot complain. If you do, you will outcast. Criticism of the ruling government has severe repercussions in Bengal. Any defiance leads to cancellation of assignments, says actor Koushik Roy who recently joined the BJP.

Roy said the culture debate and that of an artists creative independence was totally misplaced because the Tollywood top brass had routinely aligned with the TMC.

Why ask me? Ask those who work in the industry, and they will tell you what happens if you take on the state government. The BJP is not pushing any cultural agenda, the party is talking of governance. The slogan Didike Bolo (Tell Didi) explains the TMC has not been in touch with the masses. First let us talk about good governance and then we will discuss culture, said Roy.

Many tend to agree. Left-leaning filmmaker Anik Duttas movie Bhobhishyoter Bhoot was pulled out of movie halls in 2019 after the director said he was unhappy to see too many posters of CM Mamata Banerjee at the venue of the Kolkata Film Festival.

Eventually, it needed a push from the Supreme Court before Dutta could release his film across Bengal. Interestingly, the court asked the West Bengal government to pay a compensation of Rs 20 lakh to the producer of the film and imposed another one lakh rupees fine on the West Bengal government.

Free speech cannot be gagged for the fear of the mob, the court said, expressing concern over growing intolerance in society against artistic freedom.

And yet, it is the TMC which wants to describe the BJP as a party full of philistines and roughnecks. All TMC has done is to extend its grip on the film industry and all art and cultural events so that it can pamper the stars and eventually use them for political purposes, says BJP Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta.

Dasgupta told MoneyControl that he was surprised to see this clarion call from a section of the film and theatre artists to clean the industry of politics. But for all these years,, werent these very stars part of the ruling party and enjoyed the partys patronage? Why change the narrative now and paint us in the red?

Political cognoscenti in Kolkata say the artist fraternity has always been under the influence of the ruling party in the state. When the Left Front ruled Bengal for over three decades, many actors and directors openly aligned with the red brigade.

The legendary Satyajit Rays Hirok Rajar Deshe or the Kingdom of Diamonds, was produced by the West Bengal government with a strong political message. The 1980 movie was a sequel to the 1969 fantasy adventure film Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne. Many movies and plays which followed the Marxist ideology were produced during the Left Front rule in Bengal. And now, claim political observers, the industry is almost aligned with the TMC.

Probably encouraged by the TMC, many have taken to the social media to say the states cultural and artistic temperament could be reduced to dust if the BJP assumes power. Some took to Facebook to say how the right wing party would replace the Rabindra Bhawan with a huge Hanuman temple.

They are sending out some wrong signals to the people in Bengal, and hoping some of this will eventually stick. TMCs mindset needs to change. The artist fraternity is now clamouring for attention saying their independence would be compromised. Were they actually independent all these years? asked Dasgupta.

Artistic Temperament

But the divide is clear and many of the stars continue to heap scorn on BJP leaders. I am aware of what the actors said at the rally. This is nothing but some fatuous, self-important drivel that will not lead the TMC anywhere. I may not be in cinema but I am educated. I know the realities of life, the crisis that has engulfed the nation post the pandemic. And here I see a debate emerging on who is and who is not an intellectual, says BJP leader Anupam Hazra.

But TMC is unfazed. It continues to tell people in Bengal that the BJP will upset the states artistic temperament if voted to power.

Will that actually happen? Will the Hindutva agenda of the BJP override Bengals creative temperament? Union minister Babul Supriyo offers a brilliant counter. I hear these arguments over culture, art, Rs 100 crore for theatre and who is an intellectual and who is not and then I look around.

All I see is cut money, a deadly syndicate, cattle smuggling, coal mafia and bad governance. Can the TMC handle all these ills and then look at its great art revolution? Governments come to power for good governance, not to control art or artists.

The debate is likely to grow stronger in the coming months.

As we hurtle towards a digital-only world, it's inevitable fraud will increasingly become financial enemy number one.

While pickpockets will still earn a crust  they managed to steal my mother's payment cards earlier this year while out shopping in her local Sainsbury's  it's the web where the big money from fraud can now be 'earned'.

As I report here, the trickery of fraudsters knows no bounds. Whether it's by using social media, cloning investment websites, or tricking people into revealing financial details so as to give them a key to unlock their finances, fraudsters are thriving in lockdown UK.

Much of the rising tide of online fraud is stemming from social media (Google and Facebook)

Unless something is done quickly to push them back, I fear they will wreak havoc with our financial lives.

It seems the Government is aware of this issue. Last week, in between the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition clashing like two fighting cocks at Prime Minister's Questions, Boris Johnson was asked about what he would do to combat the rising tide of online fraud  much of it stemming from social media (Google and Facebook).

Johnson's response was reassuring. Online fraud, he said, 'is becoming an increasing concern of government and I think of people across the country'.

In recent weeks, representatives from the financial services industry (among them, Starling Bank boss Anne Boden and banking lobby group UK Finance), have called for the new Online Harms Bill to embrace the issue of financial fraud.

As it stands, this legislation will pave the way for big fines to be issued against companies (essentially social media providers) that fail to clamp down on those who use their platforms to promote terrorism, cyber-bully or commit hate crimes. But it omits any duty on these providers to wash their platforms clean of financial fraudsters.

Johnson said last week that 'we will look at what we can do' with regards to embracing financial harm in the proposed legislation.

It's a step in the right direction, but he should be braver and say it WILL be included.

Social media must be required to play its part in combating financial fraud.
As Dublin prepares to light up buildings red to celebrate Chinese New Year, an Irish businessman detained in Shanghai for corporate ransom has now missed two Christmases with his wife and four young children.

Richard OHalloran, a 45-year-old Dublin businessman, has been told he must pay $36m to the Chinese authorities before he can leave the country. His plight has put the potential hazards of doing business with China under the spotlight.

Critics say this is the latest example of Beijings lack of respect for the rule of law, international norms and human rights, while there have also been calls for the Irish Government to be more assertive.

Winston Lord, a former US ambassador to China, says OHallorans situation was a very sad and frustrating and indeed cruel case. This is a slippery slope and unless countries push back firmly on this kind of unfair detention, it can lead to greater and greater outrages, he says.

The businessmans wife, Tara OHalloran, said last week on RTE radio that we are crying out to the Government to step in and take control and demand he is released because he is innocent and he is not getting enough help.

She said he had a serious lung condition, has suffered seizures in China, has had to be resuscitated twice, has regular panic attacks and that his mental health was at a low ebb.

We are pleading for him to come home on humanitarian grounds, his health is deteriorating, he is very ill, she said. It cant go on much longer; he wont survive much longer over there on his own.

President Michael D Higgins wrote to Chinese President Xi Jinping on December 23 and received a reply on January 29 suggesting the authorities on both sides maintain communication and co-ordination to create conditions for an early and proper solution to the case.

Lord says he was encouraged by the correspondence, but it never should have got to this point.

Im reluctant to criticise a friendly government, but I have to say in all candour that until this recent move by the Irish President, which I warmly welcome, the Irish Governments performance in this has been disappointing, to put it is as diplomatically as I can, he says.

It has an interest, both in terms of protecting its own citizens but also just in pure humanitarian terms, and also for its reputation, to move aggressively to try to resolve this situation. And I think theyve been very slow and tepid in their efforts until recently.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said that while it could not comment on the details of an individual case, it continues to provide all possible consular support and assistance to Mr OHalloran and attaches the utmost importance to his welfare. It said the case has been raised regularly at senior political and diplomatic level with the Chinese authorities.

The statement added that Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney remains actively and personally engaged, and senior officials in Dublin, Beijing and Shanghai continue to do everything possible to ensure that Mr OHalloran can return home.

We cant see any progress

In response, Tara OHalloran told RTE: That is not enough. A couple of phone calls and a couple of emails to the authorities is not enough. They need to take a stance and stand up and say that he is being illegally detained; they have no basis for holding him. We cant see any progress and I am literally begging for help. Im begging them and begging them and begging them. For two years Ive been begging them.

Expand Close Close knit: The OHalloran family in happier times with Isabella, Tara, Ben, Scarlett, Richard and Amber all together / Facebook

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Whatsapp Close knit: The OHalloran family in happier times with Isabella, Tara, Ben, Scarlett, Richard and Amber all together

Richard OHalloran, a relative of the late Fine Gael taoiseach Garret FitzGerald, is a director of China International Aviation Leasing Service Co Limited (CALS Ireland). The complex case that he has found himself embroiled in centres on an Airbus A330 airplane that CALS has leased to Finnair, according to David Maughan, partner with law firm William Fry, which acts for CALS.

The chairman of CALS, Min Jiedong, was arrested in China on charges of running an illegal crowdfunding scheme and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. There is no evidence that he used the money to buy the Airbus but the authorities are targeting it because it is a major asset connected to him. In February 2019, OHalloran flew to China to hold meetings with colleagues after Min was arrested. When he attempted to board his return flight after a week of meetings, he was detained and told he would not be able to leave China. The charges against Min predate OHallorans time with the company, and Min had agreed to buy the plane 10 months before he had joined CALS, Maughan says.

During the trial, both the prosecutor and Min told the court that OHalloran had no involvement in Mins crowdfunding in China and should be allowed to return to Ireland.

He is not guilty of any crime, nor has he been charged with any crime. He is being illegally detained I would call this corporate ransom, Maughan says.

OHalloran testified as a witness four times in Mins prosecution, and following Mins sentencing he was subpoenaed to an enforcement court to give a financial account of CALS Ireland. On each of these five occasions, the Chinese authorities denied requests from the Irish Embassy to have representatives attend as observers. The court appointed an interpreter but OHalloran was not allowed any legal representation in court, nor was he given any documentation relating to the appearances, Maughan says.

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As part of a proposal to secure OHallorans release, CALS sent the Chinese court $200,000 some weeks ago as a good-faith payment, Maughan says, but when the money arrived in China, police interrogated OHalloran for six hours about the source of the funds. During that interrogation the police said that the sum of $6m should be paid to resolve the case, and they also told him that his exit ban had been lifted, he says.

OHalloran booked the next flight home, but when he got to the airport, he was denied access to board the aircraft, Maughan says, and he was escorted out of the airport by seven police officers wearing bodycams.

At the latest hearing on February 2, in front of three judges, they said that he was very healthy, despite all his many health issues, and is personally responsible to pay back the figure of $36m, Maughan says.

We were flabbergasted. The Chinese side picked this number of $36m, which no one knows where it came from. We havent been party to any of the proceedings.

Expand Close Response: Simon Coveney remains actively and personally engaged" in the Richard O'Halloran case, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs / Facebook

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Whatsapp Response: Simon Coveney remains actively and personally engaged" in the Richard O'Halloran case, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs

He says they had made several proposals to the Chinese ambassador in Dublin and to Coveney to try to resolve the issue, including resigning his position, handing over control of the bank accounts to the courts, or allowing the Chinese court to take over Mins shares in related companies  including one in the Cayman Islands that owns the plane  so they could then control the assets.

In 2019, CALS agreed with a third party after a public tender process to sell the aircraft. But the Chinese courts turned down Richards request that the aircraft be sold. Unfortunately, due to the global pandemic, the aircraft is worth half of what CALS had agreed to sell the aircraft for, Maughan says.

Another proposal involved OHalloran returning to Dublin and continuing to work for CALS to manage the five remaining years of the lease on the plane to Finnair, at which point the plane could be sold or flown to China. None of the proposals were accepted, Maughan says.

If the Chinese side took the shares off Min, Richard OHalloran would be home next week  if someone would take a big picture approach, he adds. There are plenty of solutions here if the Chinese wished to engage. I welcome Xis comments but it will take engagement. And I would not be optimistic, based on what the three judges said; that Richard and the board come up with $36m.

Barring visitors from leaving is a tactic used widely in China, and the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs now advises travellers to China that Chinese authorities may place an exit ban on an individual to prevent them from leaving the country. It adds that an exit ban may be placed on an individual, their family or an employer; or in a criminal or civil matter, including a business dispute.

The travel advisory says such bans, which are distinct from detention or imprisonment, are part of the Chinese legal process and may endure for months, or longer.

The US State Department uses stronger language, saying China arbitrarily enforces local laws, including by carrying out arbitrary and wrongful detentions and through the use of exit bans on US citizens and citizens of other countries without due process of law.

Charles Parton, a fellow of the Royal United Services Institute and a former British diplomat who spent more than two decades working in or on China, says that the taking of hostages was not unusual in commercial disputes in China.

Its quite a common tactic at a local level, provincial or below, where theyve got contacts in the local government and in order to get their way in an argument with a foreign company, they deliberately take a hostage in this way, he says.

Tara OHalloran said in the recent interview that for a long time she had not spoken out about her husbands plight because she had been advised that quiet diplomacy would be the best approach.

We had faith in the Irish Government that they were going to help us, that they were going to intervene, help us, and we were advised not to go public because it might upset the Chinese, that they might retaliate, they might decide to keep him longer. But I cant sit back and let him be there for another two years, she said.

Observers say that, in most cases, exit bans never come to light because the parties involved do not publicise them in the hopes of finding a quiet resolution.

Parton says while each situation was different, he felt that, in general, people should speak out about these bans. I think this business of keeping a low profile is not always wise, he says. That plays along with their game. I think you should make as much noise about it as one can. This is an example of local rather than central abuse and it should be called out in my view.

Alexander Dukalskis, an associate professor at University College Dublins School of Politics and International Relations, says that, in general terms, the human rights situation has regressed from an already low level since Xi Jinping took the reins of the Communist Party of China (CCP) in 2012.

Human rights lawyers have been systematically repressed under Xi, which further compounds the problem because it eliminates a source of protection. The previous leadership of Hu Jintao was more liberal  by CCP standards  than the current party leadership. More criticism was tolerated in the political sphere and activists were able to operate within certain boundaries, says Dukalskis, who is author of the forthcoming book Making the World Safe for Dictatorship.

Things have tightened under Xi, in some areas drastically so, he adds. Chinas policies of repression in Xinjiang, for example, were already harsh before 2014, but since then they have become draconian, possibly even genocidal.

On the international stage, China has been accused recently of adopting an aggressive form of Wolf Warrior diplomacy, and generally taking a more combative approach to its multilateral relations.

Lord, the former ambassador, says that things were getting worse both domestically in terms of oppression and internationally in terms of adventurism, and in terms of interfering in other countries and pressuring other citizens.

As China plays an increasingly important role on the world stage, Parton says countries have to stand up against human rights abuses or the situation will only get worse.

Bullies are bullies whether they are at the international level or the playground level. And if you give way to bullies, what do you get? You just get more bullying, says Parton, who worked with the EU delegation in Beijing for his final China posting.

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So, I think like-minded democracies need to stand together. There will be occasions when, yes, you take some pain, but in the long run it is better to do that in small doses than just getting into the habit of being a battered wife.

China deserves more influence on the world stage because of its remarkable growth and other achievements, Lord says, but it will never achieve its goals of being a major force in the international system if it continues to conduct affairs like this. That is why so many countries, including in Europe, despite their economic connections with China, are resisting some of its efforts.

In OHallorans case, he says, it is in Chinas self-interest to solve the issue. And it is in the Irish Governments interest and the Europeans interest  and indeed obligation  to press it, and I hope it will be resolved very soon.

Feng Shui introductions, lion dances and Chinese cuisine will all feature in the Dublin City Councils fun-filled festival to mark the Chinese New Year kicking off on Tuesday, and as always, Dublin buildings will once again be lighting up red, the city councils announcement reads.

Meanwhile, OHalloran will see the Shanghai night light up with fireworks from his hotel room, and he and his family will be left to wonder how many more Chinese New Year celebrations will pass before they can be reunited.
Four Pittsfield firefighters have graduated from the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy.

Chris Deinlein, Matthew Healey, Josh Kelly and Nick Manns were among the academys 50 recent graduates. They studied at the Springfield campus along with seven other firefighters from Central and Western Massachusetts departments.

firefighters springfield Four Pittsfield firefighters have graduated from the state's Firefighting Academy, after a training period at the Springfield campus reshaped 

The Massachusetts Department of Fire Services offers the program tuition-free to provide new firefighters with basic skills.

First responders are on the frontlines protecting their communities and these newest firefighters are needed now more than ever, said Deputy State Fire Marshal Maribel Fournier in a news release Friday. We have taken advantage of technology, reduced class size for social distancing, implemented daily screening, and required mask-wearing to keep our instructors and students as safe as possible during these uncertain times.

During the 10-week program, students are trained in the latest science of fire behavior and suppression tactics, public fire education, dealing with hazardous materials and flammable liquids, stress management and self-rescue. The program also includes live firefighting practice.

During the pandemic, the curriculum included both online learning and periods of on-campus training, with safety precautions.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said senior military commanders of India and China have held nine rounds of talks on the process of disengagement of troops in eastern Ladakh and the parleys will continue in future also. Addressing reporters in Vijayawada, he said so far there was no "visible expression" of the talks on ground.

"The disengagement talks, because it is a very complicated issue, because it depends on troops, you have to know the geography (like) which position and what is happening, this is being done by the military commanders," he said.

He was replying to a query on whether there would be any ministerial level talks between both the countries on skirmishes between troops of the Asian giants.

China and India are locked in a military standoff in eastern Ladakh since May 5 last.

The two countries have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks to resolve the face-off, but no significant headway has been made so far.

"So, military commanders have held nine rounds of meetings so far.

We believe some progress has been made, but it is not, in a kind of situation where there is a visible expression of that on the ground," he said.

Jaishankar said he and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held parleys with their counterparts of China last year and agreed that they should disengage in some parts.

Also read: Rafale makes Republic Day debut; here's what you need to know

Also read: US will hold China accountable for abuses of international system, says Secretary of State Antony Blinken
Jammu, Feb 6 : J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday delivered the keynote address at the Harvard US-India Initiative (HUII) Annual Conference through virtual mode.

HUII aims to engage students around the world in a dialogue about India's most pressing political, social, economic, and environmental challenges, providing the youth an opportunity to hear from inspiring leaders and be a part of the discussion with them.

The Lt Governor, while addressing the students and notable speakers from across the world, remarked that Youth carrying immense knowledge, wisdom and energy is going to build a new future, brick by brick. They need not follow conventional wisdom or a crowd and must realize who they are and what they want.

"Be yourself. Your knowledge is about creating a new vision of life", the Lt Governor said to the Youth. Quoting Chanakya, the Lt Governor said. "The world's biggest power is Youth. And, India with more than 50 per cent of its population below the age of 25 years and more than 65 per cent below the age of 35 years is not only a hope for the world, but also a crucial growth driver in the post-Covid scenario, he added.

"I sincerely believe that India, with a huge young and talented population, friendly ecosystem and the trust we have managed to build that we can deliver on promises, has allowed the nation to emerge as a popular destination for global entrepreneurs and corporates," said the LH India is ready to be the fulcrum of a new world order that is more just, humane, industrious, mutually beneficial and empowering, he maintained.

Outlining various interventions made by the Government towards the holistic development of J&K and empowering the people of the UT, the Lt Governor observed District Development Council (DDC) elections in J&K have been conducted successfully and peacefully. This has strengthened the grass-root democracy, finally establishing the three-tier Panchayati Raj system, which was implemented in other states almost 28 years ago.

Last month, a new Industrial Scheme 2021 was unveiled that offers Rs 28,400 crore (US $3.89 billion) subsidy for attracting investment. J&K's Service Sector is growing at a historic pace and much ahead of states like Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. We are taking industries to the block level to remove the disparities. The scheme is expected to create 4.5 lakh jobs. With a view to help small and medium IT ventures in Jammu and Kashmir, we are strengthening our infrastructure and setting up new projects. Similarly, power projects worth more than Rs. 54,000 crore (US $7.4 billion will take off in due course of time to make the Union Territory self-reliant in the energy sector. Making J&K power sufficient, we aspire to generate 3500 Megawatt in only four years to make Jammu Kashmir power surplus.A It shows that no attempts were made during the last 73 years to generate opportunities for youth, the Lt Governor added.

Laying special emphasis on public participation in the developmental process, the Lt Governor said that no growth is possible without people's participation. For effective governance and delivery of public services, Jan Bhageedari is crucial and various policies, programmes and schemes can transform the villages if the government plays the role of a facilitator and people take up the job of planner and executor, said the Lt Governor.

In Health Care, universal health coverage scheme called Ayushman Bharat -SEHAT was launched recently to provide free of cost insurance cover up to Rs. 5 lakh per household per year in J&K without any socio-economic discrimination which is the first of its kind anywhere in the country," he added.
Coldplay are reportedly set to release their ninth studio album, their first release in two years, called Music Of The Spheres.

It was claimed on Friday that the band, which consists of members Chris Martin, Jon Buckland, Guy Berryman and Will Champion, have been recording music throughout lockdown which will feature on the new release.

According to reports, the band have registered to trademark the name of their new album, ahead of making an official announcement.

Exciting: Coldplay are 'set to release a new album called Music Of The Spheres', according to reports on Friday (L-R: Guy Berryman, Andrew Harms, Chris Martin, and Woody Fife)

A source speaking to The Sun claimed: 'Chris and Co have been dropping hints for a while but now it's finally getting off the ground.

'They've been busy working on new music during lockdown and it'll all culminate in the record, which has the working title Music Of The Spheres.

'Chris and the group have now officially trademarked the name ready for an album. It also includes merchandise and everything they'd need for a tour.'

Coldplay's representatives declined to comment when approached by MailOnline.

Taking steps: It was claimed the band have registered to trademark the name of their new album, ahead of making an official announcement

Keeping busy: A source claimed, 'They've been busy working on new music during lockdown and it'll all culminate in the record, which has the working title Music Of The Spheres'

In his personal life, it was reported on Wednesday that Chris and Dakota Johnson have moved in together after three years of dating.

The Coldplay frontman and Fifty Shades Darker actress have been living together in Chris' mansion in Malibu since he purchased the property in October.

'Chris was always a big fan of Malibu. He loves the beach and often goes surfing and running,' a source told People. 'She seems to enjoy it as much as Chris does. They both love the outdoors and often take beach strolls.'

And they are trying to help smaller businesses: 'They also support local restaurants.'

The insider added that Dakota, 31, 'seemed more of a city girl' until she met Chris, 43, and started dating the musician in 2017 and claims that the star has embraced her new lifestyle.

It was also revealed that Chris and Dakota often travel to Los Angeles for Sunday dinner with his ex-wife Gwyneth Paltrow - with whom he shares children Apple, 16, and Moses, 14  and her husband Brad Falchuk.

The insider added: 'It's obvious that everyone still gets along great.'

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For Joe Biden, climate change is a chance to wield his executive power to your detriment. For "green businesses," climate change is the way to redirect massive amounts of taxpayer money into their pockets. For John Kerry, climate change is a way to re-emphasize just how special he is. And for you? Well, for you, climate change is about suffering. According to David Ismay, undersecretary for climate change to Massachusetts's Governor Charlie Baker, the government needs to "break your will."

Now that Biden's been in the White House for two and a half weeks, it's clear that the war against Nature's natural climate cycles will be waged with all the vigor that President Trump brought to improving the economy, securing the border, increasing national security, and bringing peace to the Middle East. On his very first day, with the wavering stroke of his pen, Biden killed fracking on federal lands and the Keystone pipeline, instantly destroying up to 70,000 highly skilled, well paying jobs.

You've also probably seen the effects in increased fuel prices, which always fall hardest on those who can least afford them. Wave good-bye to the lovely low fuel prices of the Trump era, which made everything cheaper, from commutes to food to all other products.

At the same time, Biden gave a huge boondoggle gift to the big car companies. On his sixth day in office, he announced that he intends to replace all 645,000 federal vehicles with electric cars. This is because electric vehicles are "clean" energy. Or are they?

As this video of Kristin Zimmerman, the former GM manager, shows, there's nothing clean about electric cars because that electricity must come from somewhere:

Climate Czar Gina McCarthy says:

"Clean Energy" is cheaper than Fossil Fuels . .



Watch til end . . pic.twitter.com/l2BZNXl1HN  Lawyerforlaws (@lawyer4laws) January 27, 2021

It's worse than that, though. Making electric car batteries is a dirty business:

Every electric vehicle, and most hybrid vehicles, rely on large lithium-ion batteries weighing hundreds of pounds. One of the largest, the battery for the Mercedes-Benz EQC, comes in at 1,400 pounds. Typically made with cobalt, nickel, and manganese, among other components, these batteries cost thousands of dollars and come with an environmental burden: They require ingredients sourced from polluting mines and smelters around the world, and they can ultimately contaminate soil and water supplies if improperly disposed.

Moreover, the same article points out that these batteries aren't recyclable. They're mostly just garbage.

But that doesn't matter to the big virtue-signalers, people like John Kerry. He recently flew on his private jet to Iceland to pick up an award for his work on the climate. When a single reporter asked him about that flight  and private jets, per person, are filthy fliers  Kerry explained that he's special:

"If you offset your carbon, it's the only choice for somebody like me who is traveling the world to win this battle," Kerry said in an interview with local outlet RUV, unearthed by Fox News on Wednesday.

According to Kerry, the good he does for climate (remember the Paris accords) far outweighs his climate sins.

The same is not true for the little guy. David Ismay, who is Massachusetts governor Baker's under secretary for climate change, told a little secret to Vermont climate activists: having finished attacking corporate America, it's now time for the government to "break the will of" and "turn the screws on" ordinary people, such as the "person across the street" or "the senior on the fixed income."

So let me say that again, 60% of our emissions that need to be reduced come from you, the person across the street, the senior on fixed income, right there is no bad guy left, at least in Massachusetts to point the finger at, to turn the screws on, and you know, to break their will, so they stop emitting. That's you. We have to break your will. Right, I can't even say that publicly.

Vulnerable people die from temperature extremes. They starve when they cannot afford to get to stores or buy food. The extra costs from expensive energy, which mean nothing to someone sucking on the government teat or flying on a private jet, have a different impact on the poor  a concept that encompasses children, the elderly, and racial minorities. For them, increased fuel prices are the difference between life and death, poverty and security, a good future for their children and generations of despair.

This is what the leftists want you for in their quixotic and futile quest to change the cycles of the sun and the earth.

Image: Making seniors suffer from climate change (with added text bubble). YouTube screen grab.
Russias Foreign Ministry said yesterday it was expelling diplomats from Sweden, Poland and Germany for attending a rally in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The announcement came as the European Unions top diplomat told Russias foreign minister that the treatment of Mr Navalny represents a low point in the relations between Brussels and Moscow.

The ministry said diplomats from Sweden and Poland in St Petersburg and from Germany in Moscow took part in what it called unlawful rallies on January 23. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Russia that day to protest the arrest of Mr Navalny, the Kremlins most prominent critic.

The diplomats were declared persona non grata and were required to leave Russia shortly, a ministry statement said.

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, who met earlier yesterday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, said before the session that our relations are under a severe strain, and the Navalny case is a low point in our relations.

Mr Navalny (44), an anti-corruption investigator, was arrested on January 17 upon returning from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from a nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. Russian authorities have rejected the accusation.

Expand Close Criticised: Protesters chanted slogans against Vladimir Putin. Photo: Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS / Facebook

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Whatsapp Criticised: Protesters chanted slogans against Vladimir Putin. Photo: Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS

On Tuesday, a Moscow court ruled that while in Germany, Mr Navalny violated probation terms of his suspended sentence from a 2014 money-laundering conviction, and ordered him to serve two years and eight months in prison. The ruling prompted international outrage.

After his meeting with Mr Lavrov, Mr Borrell said he had relayed his concerns over Mr Navalnys jailing and the arrests of thousands of people who demonstrated in his support. The EU official said he also communicated the blocs support for Mr Navalnys release and for an investigation of the August poisoning.

Mr Lavrov, in turn, again accused European officials of refusing to share evidence of the poisoning. The Kremlin has said it wont listen to Western criticism of Mr Navalnys sentencing and police action against his supporters.

In the mass protests, many demonstrators chanted slogans against Mr Putin in the biggest show of discontent in years. Thousands were detained.

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Mr Navalny was back in court yesterday for yet another trial  this time on the charge of defaming a World War II veteran featured in a pro-Kremlin video that Mr Navalny criticised on social media last year.

A criminal inquiry was opened after he attacked people featured in a video promoting constitutional amendments last year that allowed an extension to Mr Putins rule. Mr Navalny called the people in the video corrupt stooges, people without conscience and traitors.

Russian authorities maintained that Mr Navalnys comments denigrate (the) honour and dignity of a World War II veteran featured in the video.

He has denied the charge and refused to plead guilty yesterday. He called the trial a PR process aimed at disparaging him. The Kremlin needs headlines (saying that) Navalny slandered a veteran, he said.

Ignat Artemenko (94) took part in the hearing via teleconference. He said he was distressed by Mr Navalnys comments and demanded a public apology. The judge ordered a recess several hours after the hearing started, citing Mr Artemenkos health.
Since the time of Christ, the Churchs perennial missionary mandate has remained clear and unchanged: Go out to all the world, witness to what you have seen and heard, and invite everyone to experience Gods compassionate love. Following in the footsteps of the first apostles and disciples, we too are called to actively take part in this ecclesial mission through the witness of our holy lives and by reaching out in friendship and kindheartedness to those who await a confirmation of Gods love.

During my more than fifty years as a professed religious, I have witnessed an ever-deepening missionary thrust in my own congregation, the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Listening intently to Christs appeal, as he speaks particularly through our Supreme Pontiffs and bishops, a good number of our sisters, previously engaged in more traditional ministries in Europe and the Americas, have become part of our Congregations response to the call to mission in their own homeland or in developing nations throughout the world.

Since Vatican ii called religious to deep reflection and assimilation of their founding charism, the Apostles have sought to weave the missionary zeal of our Foundress, Blessed Clelia Merloni, into the essential fabric of our personal and corporate lives and mission. Convinced that the Congregations title of Apostles is both a name and a mission, the sisters now collaborate with local bishops, priests, religious and laity in several developing countries in Africa and Latin America as well as in underserved pastoral areas in their countries of origin.

During visits to the communities during my term as superior general of our Congregation, I was privileged to walk with my sisters directly involved in the Churchs mission in young and vibrant ecclesial communities, as well as in those whose original fervor needs to be fanned into flame once again.

Today, young and not so young missionaries share their lives, prayer and passion for evangelization with the young women whom they had evangelized and who are now members of our community. Regardless of their country of origin, they are imbued with their vocation as missionary disciples. Together they bring the healing and loving touch of Jesus to all, in the areas of healthcare, education and the promotion of the human dignity of each person. Their joyful synergy and indefatigable collaboration witness to the ongoing proclamation of Christs presence in the world.

The Apostles are fond of saying that where one or more of us are, the spirit of our Foundress, of the Congregation and Christ himself are present. Together with their lay collaborators, the sisters initiate projects to sensitize others to the Churchs world-wide mission and encourage them to promote and participate in it. Communication of missionary activities through social media creates awareness, solidarity and opportunities to offer assistance to the various ministries in the form of prayer, volunteer service and material sustenance. Spreading news of missionary activity also serves to remind all that we are each responsible for building up the Body of Christ, especially in the lives of our most vulnerable brothers and sisters. Precious is the contribution of the retired and infirm members of the community, who offer fervent prayer for the missions, particularly during their hours of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.

Recently, some Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus have begun sharing the compassionate love of Jesus in persons living in the peripheries of our cities and towns, by engaging in prison ministry, rehabilitation of persons addicted to substance abuse, the care and reintegration of women and girls who are victims of violence or human trafficking, and assistance to the homeless.

On a personal note, I was recently assigned to our communitys convent in Waterford City, Ireland, where three Apostles serve the local diocese and its parishes in the area of adult and youth evangelization, in whatever form that might take. It is mainly a person-to-person mission of encounter: the opportunity to give the gratuitous gift of self to which Pope Francis constantly calls us. A small core team of dedicated clergy, laity, and religious volunteers, motivated and personally led by our Bishop, is currently launching Christ on the Street, an outreach to our homeless brothers and sisters in this culturally diverse city. The ministry begins with and is bolstered by our own prayer and that of all who will commit to praying for it. Missionary teams will befriend these hidden exiles(Cf. Fratelli Tutti, n. 97) by listening to them, bringing the living Jesus Christ to those whose days and nights are often spent in loneliness, hunger and the hardships of the night, made more lonely by the impression that they are invisible to those who pass them by without even a smile or a friendly word.

I have occasionally mused that this type of ministry is so tiny, compared to the enormous levels of religious indifference and situations of wide-spread human injustice that plague much of todays world. Reading a page of the Gospel in those moments is enough to remember that, rather than preach in one of the great cultural and commercial centers of his time, Jesus chose to preach to and heal the invisible people of his own land, in remote villages void of importance to anyone beyond their own simple inhabitants. It was to and through persons such as these that the Good News began to spread. As in the time of Jesus, so has it happened countless times in the course of the centuries that those who come to bring Jesus to the disadvantaged, discover Him in the eyes of those whom they encounter.

Who of us could not seek out, find and encourage the Christ within those who await us along our daily journey of life? Can we reach out with a smile, a listening ear, some gesture of human contact? As we speak about what we have seen and heard from Jesus, may we, to our amazement and delight, discover Him already present in each of our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of the same Father.
Jerusalem: Judges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague have decided the court has jurisdiction over war crimes committed in the Palestinian territories, paving the way for a possible a war crimes probe into Israeli military actions.

The decision prompted swift reactions from both Israel, which is not a member of the court and rejects its jurisdiction, and the Palestinian Authority, which welcomed the ruling.

ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said her office was studying the finding and would decide what to do next guided strictly by its independent and impartial mandate to prosecute grave war crimes and atrocities when countries are unable or unwilling to do so themselves.

Palestinian children wait in line while holding pots to receive free meals of green pea stew cooked by Samera Abu Amra, unseen, for distribution to poor residents in Gaza City on Thursday. Credit:AP

The ICC judges said their decision was based on the fact that Palestine has been granted membership to the tribunals founding treaty, and had referred the situation to the court. The judges said the jurisdiction decision does not imply any attempt to determine Palestinian statehood, which is uncertain, or national borders.
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At the height of the armed insurrection against the American State in Washington on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, one of the armed rebels was recorded by the BBC as saying: This country was founded on revolutionary principles. But it became civil when they got what they wanted. The particular insurrectionary act was the armed attack, by a mob, on that countrys central parliament while in full session at the parliamentary building called Capitol. The Congress, as Americas central parliament is called, was in full session to confirm the election of the incumbent presidents successor. The incumbent president was Donald Trump of the Republican Party; the successor was Joe Biden of the Democratic Party; and the insurrection was officially alleged to have been instigated by the incumbent president to prevent the confirmation of his successor.

Although this confirmation is seen as a formality, the election of an American president will be constitutionally incomplete without it. In other words, no one can be legally pronounced elected as American president unless he or she had been previously so pronounced by the American Congress. And even after this formal Congressional confirmation, the elected candidate cannot assume the office of American president unless he or she has been sworn in as such. This explains the extraordinary security measures taken at Joe Bidens swearing-in. So, the armed rebels who attacked the Capitol were not mad. They merely chose, according to their own strength, the point at which to attack and possibly disorganize a process.

By revolutionary principles the insurrectionist who was interviewed by the BBC was, of course, referring not to the violent and genocidal destruction of the original populations and civilizations of North America, but to what official historythe history of the conquerorshas recorded as the American Revolution. This was the eighteenth-century rebellion of Americas colonisers against the English crown that conquered and established the colony. If you want to toe the line of academic correctness, you may put the preceding phrase as rebellion against the English crown in whose name and authority the American colonies were conquered, occupied, and administered thereafter. By civil our recorded insurrectionist meant democratic or according to law. And by what they wanted the quoted insurrectionist meant what the colonizers who rose in rebellion against the English crown wanted: to become independent rulers.

Later, after the insurrection had been defeated, I read the following on-line report: Black Lives Matter (BLM) sympathisers think that if those who invaded the Capitol had been any shade of black, the casualties would have exceeded five, and many of those alive would have been escorted into police patrol vehicles in regulation wrist-bands of the Prisons. What the reporter-analyst was saying, in plainer language, was that if there had been black people or more black people in the mob that invaded the Capitol, there would have been many more dead rebels and many more brutally executed arrests. In other words, if there had been more black people among the insurrectionists, the counter-attack by the police would have been much bloodier. This line of thought will not be pursued here beyond drawing attention to the contradictions and complexities of what we all sometimes confirm as progress.

For long after I watched the live BBC-TV report, the recorded angry statement of one of the armed insurrectionists and what a reporter-analyst said about the thoughts of BLM activists stirred my thought in several directions. But each direction led me only to the dialectics of revolution and democratic evolution in the movement of history. Or, taking a long and broad view of history, and at the risk of being schematic, how revolution creates the foundation for periods of democratic evolution; and how further qualitative advance in the movement of history requires, as foundation, another revolution. This led me, in a tortuous manner, back to the dual character of Peoples Manifesto.

A peoples manifesto is, in the first place, the Nigerian Lefts manifesto in the ordinary sense of the concept in electoral politics or bourgeois politics as we used to call it. In the second place, it is a charter of demands of the Nigerian masses on the Nigerian state. In the former role, it is a statement of what the Left promises to do if it comes to power through elections or some other mechanisms laid down by the ruling class and its state. In the latter role, the peoples manifesto is a guide for direct popular struggle (sometimes popular-democratic, sometime revolutionary).

We may now return to the Trumpist insurrection with which this discussion began. We recall that there was an angry condemnation from all over the world and from the liberal Right to the revolutionary Left. There was widespread anger against the insurrection in Nigeria. Everyone was annoyed. Nigerian Leftists were annoyed. I was annoyed. It is against the background of this widespread anger that I now ask: Is the Nigerian Left angry and vehemently opposed to the Trumpist insurrection because that particular insurrection was fascist, racist and generally retrogressive both in its motive force and in its enactment? Or, is the Nigerian Left, in principle, against insurrection? Or, is the Nigerian Left against insurrectionary attack on symbols and institutions of democracy? And then: Is there any situation or historical conjuncture in which an attack on symbols and institutions of democracy may not provoke so much anger or popular condemnation?

If Nigerian Leftists find these questions difficult to answer, how much more will they be confounded if direct questions are asked on the dangerous events that are now unfolding at home, events that involve popular masses with whom Leftists interact directly, events that have ethnic, geopolitical and religious ingredients, dimensions or colorations? In particular, how do we, as Nigerian Leftists, see the conflict involving herders, farmers, ordinary people, terrorists, political leaders, activists and the Nigerian stateat different levels? And, without taking refuge in theoretical or historical generalizations, slogans, and abstract formulas, how do Nigerias revolutionary socialists and Marxists see the conflicts historically and dialectically?

Do we realize that part of the difficulty in answering questions on the current crisis arises from our trying to answer them as popularly posed, that is, in term of for or against, yes or no and within the context of what is given or suggested by the ruling class? Put more directly, do we see that we have to transcend the questions as presently posed, and pose them differently? But, in the meantime, while trying to re-pose the questions, the situation worsens. What then can be done in the interim? My late father used to meditate: Dried meat is indeed very delicious; but what shall we be eating while waiting for the meat to dry? This is the critical question, a question that is both theoretical and practical and sometimes very urgent. It is a question with which history has confronted Leftist revolutionariessometimes cynicallyfor generations.

The preceding thought may be offered differently and more simply: Nigerias ruling class cannotbeyond embracing illusory temporary reprievesresolve the crisis now enveloping the country. It has neither the ability nor the credibility. And the crisis cannot be resolved within the framework or context of the existing capitalist political economy. But in the meantime, the situation is worsening and the masses are rising because they are more directly affected. So, what does the Nigerian Left do in the interim, as a minimum programme? There is a lot it can do: through writing, through its moral authority in the civil society, through its own popular organizations and through friends and ideological allies in the existing institutions.

Madunagu, mathematician and journalist, writes from Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria.
LANE COUNTY, Ore. -- Lane County Governments website was down after they made their vaccine pre-registration form available to everyone.

Its actually because of a malfunction from our vendor, Civic Live, who handles many different sites. The timing is just very unfortunate, Lane County spokesperson Jason Davis said.

But the pre-registration link is still working. It can be found HERE.

Davis encourages everyone to sign up for the vaccine, even if they are not eligible. He said there are logistical challenges that make it difficult to contact individuals when it is their turn so it is important to have a database.

But he said individuals must give accurate information.

It is incredibly important that our community members take the time in answering the questions, Davis said. People make the assumption that it is a first come, first serve basis but thats not true. There is no need to rush to fill out the form.

KEZI also spoke with Jonathan Modie, a spokesperson for Oregon Health Authority.

Modie gave information on the new chat box feature on OHAs website.

Currently, only those who are eligible and live in Multnomah, Marion, Clackamas, Washington and Columbia counties can register for the vaccine using the chat box feature on OHAs site.

Those who live in other counties in Oregon will be redirected to their county public health site.

Elders who are 80 years and older become eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine on February 8th. They will not be able to book an appointment until then.

Vaccines are scarce. In coming weeks, we know there will be more seniors who want to get vaccinated than there will be vaccines available to them, Modie said.

OHA will also be releasing another tool to help individuals determine their vaccine eligibility. The link, which is not live yet, can be seen HERE.
Sindhudurg : , Feb 6 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Narayan Rane on Saturday predicted that Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to Maharashtra would spell doom for the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

Targetting his bete-noire Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, the BJP Rajya Sabha MP said: "I pray that Amit Shah's tour to Sindhudurg tomorrow proves to be a good omen and his feet in Maharashtra will hasten the fall of the MVA government." Accusing the CM of pushing the state backwards in economic and infrastructure development, Rane alleged that the day when Shiv Sena President joined hands with the secular parties Nationalist Congress Party and Congress, Thackeray had sacrificed 'Hindutva' in his lust for the CM's post.

He added that there is no question now of the BJP ever having a tie-up with Sena in future as the former was capable of fighting independently in the state.

Speaking to mediapersons in Kankavali, his hometown in Sindhudurg district, Rane scoffed at the Sena's new campaign to lure the Gujarati community of Mumbai with the slogan 'Mumbai ma Jalebi ane Fafda, Uddhav Thackeray aapda'.

"The Gujarati community in Mumbai will always stand by (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and Shah... What is Shiv Sena's background? First they targeted south Indians, then Gujaratis, followed by north Indian, Muslims and now they are again wooing Gujaratis..." Rane pointed out, giving a brief history of the Sena's past agitations.

Claiming that the BJP has done a 'PhD' in engineering defections, Rane assured that his party is fully geared to take on the Sena and the next Mumbai Mayor will be from BJP.

To question on the Congress resurrecting itself after appointing senior leader Nana F. Patole as the new state president yesterday, Rane - who left the Congress to join BJP - declared that the "Congress can never be the No.1 party again in the near future".

"The new party chief (Patole) did not indicate how long he will take to make his party (Congress) the top again... Only the BJP will remain numero uno at the state and national levels," Rane asserted.

Rane was addressing mediapersons on the eve of Shah's Sunday visit to Kankavali to inaugurate his party colleague's new 300-bed private hospital and medical college, affiliated to the MUHS University, Nashik.

The Sindhudurg Shikshan Prasarak Mandal (SSPM's) Medical College & Lifetime Hospital has come up on a 70-acre campus in Padve village and will give a much-needed boost to medical facilities in the coastal Konkan region.
(CNN)  Dr. Alfonso Velandia starts each hospital shift by counting his troops in the battle against coronavirus.

The 46-year-old emergency specialist manages intensive care units (ICUs) at the Cardiovascular Hospital in Soacha, a working-class suburb of Colombia's capital Bogota. Since the pandemic began, he says he has seen the number of healthcare workers under his watch dwindle, even as the hospital expands its ICU to confront a relentless second wave of cases.

Velandia is proud of the hospital's response to Covid-19 and recently showed CNN a new ICU facility that added 12 beds to the hospital's arsenal. But he is also worried about his team -- that same day, he said 5% of his staff was at home, sick with Covid. One was intubated in the emergency ward where they work.

Even for health workers who've avoided infection so far, fear and fatigue have crippled the unit after the near year-long pandemic.

"My team... They are tired, exhausted. They spend as many as 24 or 36 hours here, working all the time and we don't have any more personnel," Velandia told CNN.

Velandia looks with frustration at statistics on vaccine distribution in Europe and North America, where hundreds of thousands of frontline healthcare workers have already been vaccinated against the deadly virus. "I recently had a meeting, and my team was like 'We can't hold anymore'... we need the vaccine now!" he told CNN.

But like many countries in the developing world, Colombia is yet to receive a single dose of a vaccine.

Colombia's conundrum

Colombian President Ivan Duque's government was lauded last year by the World Health Organization (WHO) for its swift and well-coordinated pandemic response. After implementing social distancing measures early on, it increased the number of beds for intensive care, which almost doubled between March and August 2020, according to the health ministry.

But Colombia fell behind in the race to acquire vaccines. Now it finds itself essentially at the back of the queue, while nearby Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Chile have already begun to administer the lifesaving inoculations.

Mass vaccinations in Colombia will start on February 20, 2021, Duque has promised. His government has struck deals to buy enough vaccine for over 35 million people -- the minimum the WHO recommends for a population of about 50 million  though a mix of privately purchased vaccine doses and 20 million doses secured through the COVAX mechanism, he said.

Formally known as the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, COVAX is an initiative co-led by the World Health Organization aimed at distributing vaccines to low-income countries who cannot easily purchase them directly from manufacturers. But it has not yet started dispatching vaccines anywhere in the world.

When it does, Colombia expects to be among the first in the world to receive COVAX vaccines, Colombian Health Minister Fernando Ruiz told CNN. But for now, the majority of the world's nations have not begun distributing first doses of any vaccine.

Aurelia Nguyen, the managing director of COVAX, told CNN the initiative plans to deliver up to two billion doses of coronavirus vaccines to poorer countries by the end of 2021, but the road ahead will be difficult.

"It's not going to be a straightforward pathway throughout the whole year, that's for sure," she said in an exclusive CNN interview. "Demand is going to outstrip supply."

'On the brink of a catastrophic moral failure'

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has criticized wealthier countries for stockpiling excessive amounts, warning that unequal distribution between rich and poor countries could prolong the pandemic.

"I need to be blunt: the world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure -- and the price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the world's poorest countries," he said, while speaking at the WHO headquarters in Geneva on January 18.

Canada, for example, has purchased enough doses of Covid-19 vaccines to immunize its citizens five times over if all the leading vaccines are approved, the People's Vaccine Alliance an international vaccine watchdog, said in December. The new Biden administration has secured in six days more than three times the vaccines Colombia was able to secure in ten months. And Germany is already ordering coronavirus vaccines for 2022, German Health Minister Jens Spahn said during an online town hall on Saturday.

But even among wealthy nations, trouble is already brewing as manufacturers struggle to meet delivery commitments. Last week, the EU introduced a measure requiring export authorization for vaccine makers with whom it had signed purchasing deals.

Some less wealthy countries have been able to ensure earlier vaccine access through clinical trial agreements. An analysis by Duke University's Global Health Institute shows that some countries that participated in large scale vaccine clinical trials or with vaccine manufacturing capabilities were able to secure earlier doses and larger and advance market commitments from manufacturers.

"The investment to develop the vaccine has been enormous. Those who could not put in the money participated with volunteers for the trials," Dr. Maribel Arrieta, an epidemiologist and spokesperson for Bogota's College of Doctors, told CNN. "And because of that, those who invested earlier are those who are receiving the vaccine now."

How poorer countries will obtain vaccines

However governments acquire the vaccines, the WHO says it makes little sense for a limited number of nations to vaccinate their whole populations while the virus largely runs wild in the rest of the world. The organization is now calling for a radical re-thinking of how the vaccines are distributed.

"We must use them as effectively and as fairly as we can," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on January 29. "That's why I have challenged government and industry leaders to work together to ensure that in the first 100 days of 2021, vaccination of health workers and older people is underway in all countries."

To do so could require wealthier nations to give up their current widespread vaccination goals, and share some of the vaccines they have already purchased with poorer nations, he said.

Beyond issues of fairness, it may also make more economic sense to vaccinate the most vulnerable worldwide instead of racing to achieve herd immunity among wealthy nations, Lawrence Gostin, the O'Neill Chair of Global Health Law at Georgetown University recently argued in Foreign Affairs.

Gostin and his co-authors cite research published in November by RAND Europe, a nonprofit global policy think tank, which estimates that the total GDP of high-income nations, including places like India, China, and Russia, would take a hit of around US$119 billion every year that low-income countries are unable to access vaccines, due to reduced spending in "high-contact intensive service sectors," such as hospitality, recreation, retail and wholesale, transportation and health and social care.

"If these high-income countries paid for the supply of vaccines, there could be a benefit-to-cost ratio of 4.8 to 1. For every $1 spent, high-income countries would get back about $4.80," RAND Europe says.

For Dr. Velandia at Soacha's public hospital, each day without a vaccine means a new day of counting the human cost among his troops.

A couple of weeks after CNN's visit to his ICU, Velandia told CNN that the intubated doctor had since recovered.

But another colleague had passed away from Covid-19, he said. "He was a therapist, his condition deteriorated really fast," Velandia said. "A week ago, he was ok and working. We buried him yesterday."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "The healthcare workers watching from afar as rich countries begin vaccine rollout."
CofE officials investigate clergyman's tweet blasting nationwide clap for Captain Sir Tom Moore Rev. Jarel Robinson-Brown says 'cult of white British nationalism' tweet was 'insensitive'

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A clergyman is being reviewed by the Diocese of London after he claimed the clap for Captain Sir Tom Moore reflected a "cult of White British Nationalism."

Moore died from COVID-19 at the age of 100 earlier this week.

His death prompted a national outpouring of grief for the World War II veteran who was dubbed a national hero after raising over $36 million (32 million) for the NHS.

When a nationwide clap was organized in honor of his achievements, the Rev. Jarel Robinson-Brown responded on Twitter by saying that he would "offer prayers for the repose of his kind and generous soul" but would not be joining the event because "the cult of Captain Tom is a cult of White British Nationalism."

He deleted the comments from Twitter after facing strong criticism and offered an "unreserved apology for the insensitive timing and content" of his tweet.

He added that he had read and would sign the Church of England's digital charter launched in 2019 to make social media and the web "more widely positive places."

The Diocese of London said in a statement that his comments were "unacceptable, insensitive, and ill-judged," and that he would be facing an inquiry.

"The fact that he immediately removed his tweet and subsequently apologized does not undo the hurt he has caused, not least to Captain Tom's family. Nor do Jarel's actions justify the racist abuse he is now receiving," it said.

"A review is now underway, led by the Archdeacon of London. As a Church, we expect clergy to ensure that all online activity is in line with the Church of England's social media guidelines and built on truth, kindness and sensitivity to others.

"It is incumbent upon all of us to make social media and the web more widely positive places for conversations to happen."

Originally published at Christian Today
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Saturday that Nigeria and other African countries were not barred from accessing COVID-19 vaccines through the Global Assess Facility, COVAX.

COVAX, a WHO-backed programme, was set up to divide a billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines across 92 low and middle-income countries.

Speaking at a press briefing on Saturday, WHO Country Representative in Nigeria, Walter Mulombo, said the international health agency is supporting all countries to access vaccines as quickly as possible.

Mr Mulombos statement was a response to the reactions that trailed an earlier announcement by the WHO that only four of 13 African countries were shortlisted to receive the first batch of the Pfizer and bioNtech vaccines. He said the WHO was committed to helping all African countries get COVID-19 vaccines.

WHO has not disqualified any country in Africa from accessing COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX facility, but rather is supporting all countries to access vaccines as quickly as possible, Mr Mulombo said.

Currently, all countries on the continent are expected to start accessing the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccines by the end of February. The vaccine is under review by WHO for Emergency Use Listing and the outcome is expected soon.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported how the Regional Director of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Matshidiso Moeti, said only four of 13 African countries were shortlisted to receive 320,000 doses of Pfizer and BioNTech vaccines. Nigeria did not make this list.

Ms Moeti said the countries  Cape Verde, Rwanda, South Africa and Tunisia  were picked following evaluations by a multi-agency committee based on current mortality rates, new cases and trends, and the capacity to handle the ultra-cold chain needs of the vaccine.

She, however, said countries that failed to make the Pfizer first list could get the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines later in the month.

COVAX

Most African countries, including Nigeria, are banking on benefitting from the COVAX programme, which promised access to vaccines for up to 20 per cent of participating countries population with an initial supply beginning in the first quarter of the year to immunise three per cent of their populations.

The #COVAX Facility is aiming to reach at least 20 per cent of Africans, which will require delivery of up to 600 million doses this year, Ms Moeti said.

Through the COVAX initiative, the Nigerian government had in December announced that it would receive an initial 100,000 doses of the Pfizer and bioNtech vaccines in January. It later announced that the vaccines will no longer arrive until February.

Barely five days ago, a government official said Nigeria will no longer receive the Pfizer vaccines but will receive 16 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines before the end of February.

This will replace the earlier communicated 100,000 doses of Pfizer mRNA vaccine, which was grossly inadequate, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, had said.

Accessing the vaccines

According to the WHO Country Representative, demands for the initial allocation of 1.2 million Pfizer doses was exceptionally high with COVAX receiving interest from 72 countries around the world.

He explained that 51 countries including Nigeria were considered by the review committee as ready and 18 countries in total were finally chosen to receive initial Pfizer doses.

Unfortunately, it was not feasible to provide each of these 51 countries with Pfizer doses, due to a number of factors including the limited capacity for Pfizer to handle many countries at once, Mulombo said.

Therefore, spreading the limited doses across all the 51 countries deemed ready could have not achieved the intended public health benefit.

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After epidemiological data was taken into account, the decision was taken to proportionally balance the number of self-financing and AMC Participants, as well as Participants across all 6 WHO regions.

Mr Mulombo noted that Nigeria will receive 16 million of the 88 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines allocated to African countries for the first phase.

Nigeria has received by far the largest allocation, he said.

Nigeria is ready

In his remarks Saturday, Mr Shuaib said there were several factors considered in allocating the 320,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines allocated to the four African countries.

It is clear that countries such as South Africa which received the Pfizer allocation have the new strain of the COVID-19 virus, has the highest mortality rates and is struggling to contain transmission.

Furthermore, giving smaller countries such as Cape Verde and Rwanda few doses of the Pfizer vaccine would have a larger public health impact considering their population size, Mr Shuaib said.

100,000 doses to Nigeria, we have all agreed would have been a drop in the ocean. So, it is a welcome development that we are receiving 16 million doses of the Astrazeneca vaccine to replace the Pfizer vaccine in the same month of February.

He said the expected doses will invariably help the country reach more of its population.

Nigeria recently acquired three ultra-cold freezers which Mr Shuaib had described as enough capacity needed to store doses of the Pfizer vaccines earlier expected.

Each of this ultra-cold freezer has 700 litres capacity, that is a total of 2,100 capacity. The requirement for the 100,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines that will be available by the end of January/February is 500 litres, so we have enough capacity for the 100,000 doses, Mr Shuaib said last month while addressing PREMIUM TIMES and other journalists at the facility.

He also said the plan is not to over-invest in the expensive ultra-cold chain equipment given that other vaccines can be kept between +2 and +8 degree Celsius.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which has 70 per cent efficacy, offers the best possibility for distribution in Nigeria because the temperature required is not as low as the Pfizer vaccine and manufacturers can produce it at a lower price.




Queensland has recorded a 26th consecutive day without a local coronavirus case, as testing rates remain above target.

One person tested positive in hotel quarantine but was believed to have caught the virus overseas, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk confirmed on social media on Saturday morning.

The hotspot status of south-west WA was revoked on Saturday morning, with hopes that border restrictions for Perth and the Peel region will be removed at 1am on Valentines Day. Credit:Getty

There were 7663 tests recorded across the state during the reporting period. Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young has previously set a target of 5000 tests daily.

The update came as Queensland reopened its borders to parts of Western Australia on Saturday morning.
Guwahati/Agartala, Feb 6 : Left parties and their front organisations on Saturday organised sit-in demonstrations instead of the 'chakka jam' against the three farm laws in Assam and Tripura.

In Assam, the Communist Party of India-Marxist Central Committee member Suprakash Talukdar said that the Left parties along with the front organisations have organised sit-in protests at around 12 places across the BJP-ruled state.

The protest demonstrations were held for several hours in every place expressing solidarity with the farmers and demanding immediate withdrawal of the three farm laws. "We would continue to organise different types of protests against the three farm legislations," Talukdar told the media.

The Assam police subsequently arrested several hundred protesters who took part in the demonstrations. In another BJP-ruled state Tripura, the Left parties held similar protests in all 8 districts and in many sub-divisions against the the three farm laws and expressed solidarity with the farmers' agitations in Delhi and other places in the country.

All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) Tripura state unit secretary Pabitra Kar said that the leaders and members of the Left parties in the next 15 days would go to farmers' homes and apprise them about the harmful aspects of the three farm laws and the BJP government's "motivated" intentions against the interests of the farmers and in favour of the corporates.

CPI-M central committee member and veteran tribal leader Aghore Debbarma, RSP leader Gopal Das, CPI leader Rashbihari Ghosh besides Kar addressed the protest demonstrations in Agartala.
Amanda Burke covers Pittsfield City Hall for The Berkshire Eagle. An Ithaca, New York native, she previously worked at The Herald News of Fall River and the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise. Find her on Twitter at @amandaburkec.
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A nationwide poll of Republicans showed that most Republican voters would enter a new political party if former President Donald Trump started one.

GOP voters say they would join a Trump-led new party

There are 64% of Republicans that said they would be willing to join a party like the Trump-formed "Patriot Party" or "MAGA Party"; 32% of that number said they would be very likely to join one.

According to Washington Examiner, 36% of respondents said it was very or perhaps likely that they would quit the GOP. The survey was conducted between Jan. 28-29 among 340 registered Republicans, with a margin of error of plus or minus 5.3 points.

Meanwhile, 15% of Democrats and 28% of independents would likely join the theoretical Trump-centered faction, the survey showed.

Read also: Trump's New Impeachment Lawyers to Argue Trial is 'Unconstitutional'

Dritan Nesho, the CEO and chief pollster at HarrisX said these numbers show Trump remains a political force to be reckoned with, despite the Capitol riots. Former President Trump benefits from the diverse base support and makes up more than a third of voters attracted to him on several issues that are still needed to be addressed by, and co-opted by, Republicans and Democratic elites as per Nesho.

Among the voters surveyed, 37% said they would join a new political party the former president would start. Nesho added that polling suggests Trump might reasonably create the second-largest party in the US if he were to split from the GOP and start making his own, knocking the GOP down to the third place.

Trump allegedly proposed forming a new political party last month, but no clear proposal has emerged concerning a third party headed by Trump. Among the 945 eligible voters, 340 self-identified as Republicans; the most recent Hill-HarrisX poll was conducted online. It has a +/- 3 percentage point error margin, as per The Hill.

Read also: White House Lets Intel Community Review Intelligence Requests from Trump but He Has Not Made Any

Trump plots a campaign tour targeting Republican defectors

After the Senate impeachment trial ends, Donald Trump is plotting a campaign revenge tour targeting Republican defectors, sources have reported. According to Business Insider, who quoted six outlets, strategists at Trump's Florida Mar-a-Lago private resort where he now stays are preparing future trips against GOP lawmakers who voted to approve his removal from office.

'I'm sure he needs to get all their names on a roulette wheel,' said one of the Republicans who remain loyal to Trump and his inner circle, as per Daily Mail. As House Democrats plan to make their case that Trump was responsible for the January 6 Capitol protests, the former president is reportedly lying low.

On Thursday, Trump declined a Democratic request to appear in the Senate impeachment trial hearings, which will start on February 9. Trump celebrated his first impeachment acquittal nearly to the day in February of last year by putting up copies of major newspapers proclaiming the results.

Though, the first trial was even closer than the second one it's supposed to be, with only one Republican, Mitt Romney, crossing party lines against the then-president.

The numbers are already higher this year but Nobody in Trump's circle wants him to fail, with Democrats needing two-thirds for a conviction. Yet Trump and his aides are both treading cautiously, knowing that it won't be the best time to wade back into the national debate until after the trial is done.

Read also: Trump Appointee Sues Joe Biden, Urges Him to Resign Before Term Ends

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The Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, says his government would not allow religious extremists to start a violent crisis in the state again.

Mr Ganduje stated this while addressing Islamic clerics at the Abacha House, Government House in Kano. The governor called the meeting following the ban the government imposed on a popular Islamic cleric, Abduljabbar Kabara, for alleged public incitement.

The governor recalled the havoc caused by the Maitatsine crisis in Kano and spoke of how negative religious perceptions gave birth to the Boko Haram crisis in Maiduguri.

The Maitastine crisis, which occurred between 1979 and 1980, was triggered off by the activities of the followers of a Kano-based Cameroonian cleric, Muhammad Marwa.

Over 5,000 people were believed to have been killed in the crisis, including Mr Marwa and several police officers and soldiers.

In Kano, we wont allow the repeat of Maitatsine and we will not treat Mr Kabaras threats with kids glove as was done with his accomplice in Zaria, Mr Ganduje said in an apparent reference to Ibrahim El-zakzaky, the detained leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (Shiite).

The Kano government had earlier shut down Mr Kabaras mosque and centre across the state following alleged derogatory comments the cleric made against Prophet Muhammads companions.

Mr Kabara is controversial for his religious commentaries and lavish spending on his mostly youth followers.

Ganduje assures clerics

We are appealing to you to use your pulpits to preach and caution your followers, because those planning to foment trouble are living with us and the government will not fold its hands and watch things deteriorate to violence, Mr Ganduje said to the clerics.

He said the government was determined to ensure peaceful coexistence in the state and called for the support of the people.

This is a war and we cannot fight it alone because you are fighting someone whom many of his followers believe is doing the right thing, he said.

The governor said it has enough evidence on Kabaras activities and lamented that the people did not act early to stop him.

Mr Kabara under house arrest

Meanwhile, Mr Kabara has been confined to his house since the house at Filin Mushe, a densely populated underserved community in Gwale in Kano metropolis, was sealed off by security agents on Friday.

A PREMIUM TIMES correspondent who visited the area on Friday counted about 20 police vehicles as security agents blocking routes in the area.

The police spokesperson in Kano, Abdullahi Kiyawa, did not respond to phone calls by our correspondents for his comments on the development.

Mr Kabara had earlier described the governments move against him as politically motivated. He said he was targeted because he worked against the reelection of the governor in the 2019 general election.

He called on his followers to register and vote against the governor in 2023.

However, Mr Ganduje said the allegation was made to divert peoples attention from Mr Kabaras misdeeds.

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He said the government intervened because the cleric ordered his followers to kill anybody found close to his palace.

The state government had barred Mr Kabara from preaching in the state for his mode of teachings considered too incendiary.

Announcing the sanction at a press conference in Kano on Thursday, the state commissioner for Information, Muhammad Garba, said the state Executive Council took the decision at its weekly meeting.

He said all seminaries run by the cleric would be shut down pending an investigation by security agencies.

The state government also directed broadcast stations and social media platforms to stop airing inflammatory preaching, sermons, propagation and any other religious discussions in the interest of peace and tranquility in the state.
Oil companies have crisscrossed the world for more than a century, drilling on nearly every continent and in ever deeper oceans to prospect for fossil fuels that power the global economy.

While they did, the biggest six or seven companies collectively known as Big Oil reshaped international politics and economies, bending them to their will. Oil executives became statesmen in their own right, negotiating deals with foreign leaders to extract oil from the tar sands of Canada, the deserts of the Middle East, off the coasts of of South America and Africa and in the shale formations of the U.S.

But after suffering their worst financial losses in decades, the worlds largest oil companies are emerging diminished and humbled by the pandemic-fueled oil bust. They face an uncertain future, under pressure from governments looking to curb greenhouse gases, investors seeking better returns and others simultaneously wanting both.

Exxon Mobil, BP and Shell last week reported losses for the year of $22.4 billion, $20.3 billion and $21.7 billion respectively as they grappled with a historic oil crash wrought by the global pandemic while also reckoning with a societal shift from fossil fuels amid growing concerns about climate change. After slashing spending, losing billions of dollars on the value of their oil assets and laying off tens of thousands of workers in 2020, analysts say Big Oil may never again dominate the global economy as they did just a decade ago.

(Last) weeks huge losses by Shell, BP and Exxon reflect the challenges oil and gas companies face, said David Elmes, head of the global energy research network at the Warwick Business School in the U.K. They are skating on ever-thinning ice as the effects of climate change combine with other events like the COVID-19 pandemic.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Oil giants Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips post massive losses to cap off challenging 2020

If the global influence of the oil giants is waning, it would have profound implications for Houston, the energy capital of the world, and for Texas, the top oil-producing state of the worlds top oil producing country. The state is home to many of the worlds largest oil companies, which still employ almost 150,000 workers despite layoffs that claimed about 60,000 jobs in 2020.

Illustrating the industrys challenges, General Motors  the largest U.S. automaker  said it would phase out gasoline-powered cars by 2035, the same year Californias ban on sales of new gasoline-powered vehicles takes full effect. The rise of electric vehicles could reduce oil consumption by as much as 2.5 million barrels per day by the end of this decade, the International Energy Agency says.

Adding to the pressure on oil majors, President Joe Biden used an executive order last month to rejoin the Paris climate accord that dictates tougher emissions targets for the U.S. Biden also issued a one-year moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal land and water. While the majority of U.S. crude production takes place on private land, U.S. production from the Gulf of Mexico could decline by as much as 200,000 barrels per day by 2030 if the moratorium is extended for four years or longer, Norwegian energy research firm Rystad said.

The world will continue to need oil for some fuels and petrochemical products derived from crude, Elmes said.

But that cant sustain the industry weve seen in the past as we look to address climate change, he said. Some companies will need to change to survive.

Some oil giants have begun preparing for a lower-carbon future. European majors such as BP, Shell and Total have moved aggressively over the past year to expand into wind and solar power to meet net-zero carbon emissions targets in the coming decades.

The energy transition is a matter of when, not if, and were at a point in history when things are changing very quickly, said Andrew Grant, head of climate, energy and industry research with Carbon Tracker, a financial think tank that studies climate change risk on companies. Its going to happen sooner or later, so oil and gas companies might as well be thinking about it. The direction of travel is very, very clear.

In the U.S., oil majors like Exxon and Chevron have been slower to acknowledge the energy transition, betting that the worlds growing population will continue to need fossil fuels. Yet they too face mounting pressure from investors to change course. Facing a proxy battle with San Francisco-based activist investor Engine No. 1, Exxon last week said it will invest $3 billion over the next five years in a new Low Carbon Solutions business to develop technologies that can capture and store carbon emissions from its oil and gas operations.

2020 was definitely an inflection point in terms of this massive bifurcation of strategy between the U.S. and European supermajors, said Dane Gregoris, director of energy investment research with Enverus. The market is still uncertain about what strategy to pick. 

On HoustonChronicle.com: U.S., European oil companies make opposing bets on future

Even as crude prices have rallied with the rollout of coronavirus vaccines, analysts say the recovery remains tenuous as COVID-19 cases continue to climb globally. Oil markets also were buoyed by OPECs commitment to production cuts agreed to in January. But that deal is widely expected to be short-lived as oil prices soar. Crude prices Friday were within striking distance of $60 a barrel, a price at which many U.S. oil drillers can turn a profit.

We have not tried to build plans based on speculating where prices will go, Exxon CEO Darren Woods told analysts on Tuesday. Instead, what weve tried to do is build plans based on what a reasonable assumption is.

Oil majors are assuming that demand for crude and petroleum products will remain depressed until at least 2023, after which predictions for long-term demand for oil vary widely. Bank of America analysts say it could peak this decade while others see it continuing to rise as developing nations consume more crude.

Amid the uncertain future, oil majors are holding the line on spending and targeting low-cost, high-margin drilling projects to deliver returns for investors, many of whom soured on the industry after years of poor performance.

It makes no sense to grow into this market environment, ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance told analysts last week after reporting a 2020 loss of $2.7 billion. So we're choosing to stay at a sustaining level for the year.

I dont think were going to see a big resurgence to 800-900 rigs that we saw in 2019, Gregoris said. Youre going to see less investment because the outlook is for muted growth in the next decade.

Despite the caution the oil majors are showing now, some analysts believe they may return to their swashbuckling ways if crude prices continue to soar. While 2020 was a reminder of how volatile the oil industry is, history shows that most oil companies go mad when the going gets back to good, Grant said.

Its difficult to see how this industry is going to change their behavior, he said.

paul.takahashi@chron.com

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New coronavirus case counts in Michigan continued on a downward trend Saturday, Feb. 6, at just over 1,000.

State health officials reported 1,018 new cases and 97 new deaths.

Of the deaths, 82 were added from a review of death certificates across the state and may not have occurred in the last 24 hours. State officials routinely add deaths to daily totals based on records reviews, giving notice when it does so.

Michigan coronavirus numbers have continued to improve over the last several weeks.

The percentage of positive cases, compared to overall tests given, was at 4.07 percent, up slightly from a recent low of 3.44 percent earlier this week.

The data was based on 36,134 tests.

Since the pandemic began in March 2020, the state has recorded 567,648 COVID-19 cases and 14,894 deaths.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services issues statistics on coronavirus recoveries once per week. As of Feb. 5, there were 498,495 recoveries.

A recovery is deemed to be someone who is still alive 30 days beyond the onset of COVID-19 symptoms.

Figures from Michigan hospitals show 1,284 inpatients with suspected or confirmed coronavirus. The hospitalizations continue to decline. Eight days ago, the inpatient numbers was 1,479.

The latest data on vaccinations shows Michigan has administered about 1.18 million doses of vaccine. That includes about 787,000 doses of Pfizers vaccine and 399,000 of the Moderna vaccine.

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.

Read more on MLive:

Michigan cites 20 employers in latest round of COVID-19 safety violations

For those now fully immunized against COVID-19, the rules havent changed - yet

Michigan bars and restaurants have a 10 p.m. curfew. The Super Bowl normally ends after that.

China will set up a new information platform to allow the public to track the emissions of polluting enterprises and help authorities prosecute those that break the rules or try to "evade supervision", the environment ministry said. A total of 2.36 million companies, industrial facilities and institutions in China are legally obliged to obtain permits to emit pollutants like sulphur dioxide or wastewater.

But China has struggled to collect the information required to make the system work, and has also faced obstruction and data fraud from some polluting firms. According to the environment ministry, the new information platform will allow authorities and members of the public to monitor real-time emission levels and check historical data in order to determine whether rules are being breached. It is set to come into effect on March 1.

Liu Zhiquan, senior official with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), told a briefing on Friday that they would take stronger action against firms that pollute without authorisation and falsify emissions data. "For illegal behaviour such as the discharge of pollution without permits, there are continuous penalties issued on a daily basis, and they will also be ordered to cut production or shut down," he said, adding that those found to be "evading supervision" would be detained.

Firms that repeatedly exceed allocations will be subject to more scrutiny and more frequent inspections, as will those that already have a poor "social credit" rating, the ministry said. Polluting enterprises are obliged to install monitoring equipment and keep at least five years of data, with fines of 200,000 yuan ($31,000) for those that fail to do so. Fines of 1 million yuan can be imposed on firms that pollute without permission.

Also read: Britain says 4,000 variants of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 around the world
This Friday marks the beginning of the Year of the Ox and promises good news for anyone worn down by an arduous year of bushfires, lockdowns and the US presidential election.

Tradition says the year of the ox will bring prosperity, success in business and career advancement. Its also said to signify wellness for all signs, Grace Houw, the City of Sydneys Lunar Festival program manager, said. After the year weve had, Im sure that will be welcomed by all Sydneysiders.

Former US president Barack Obama was born in 1961, another Year of the Ox. Credit:Lynne Sladky

The Ox is the second of the 12 zodiac animals and, according to mythology, the Jade Emperor decreed that the order of the animals would be decided by the order in which they arrived to his party.

The Ox was about to be the first to arrive, but the rat tricked the ox into giving him a ride, Ms Houw said. Then, just as they arrived, the rat jumped down and landed ahead of Ox.
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Kachru Houston: Researchers have developed a new method to counter emergent mutations of the deadly coronavirus and hasten vaccine development to stop the pathogen responsible for killing thousands of people and ruining the economy, according to a study. The research team at the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering, using artificial intelligence developed a method to speed the analysis of vaccines and zero in on the best potential preventive medical therapy, the varsity said in a statement.

The method is easily adaptable to analyse potential mutations of the virus, ensuring the best possible vaccines are quickly identified  solutions that give humans a big advantage over the evolving contagion. Their machine-learning model can accomplish vaccine design cycles that once took months or years in a matter of seconds and minutes, the study says.

"This AI framework, applied to the specifics of this virus, can provide vaccine candidates within seconds and move them to clinical trials quickly to achieve preventive medical therapies without compromising safety," said Paul Bogdan, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at USC Viterbi and corresponding author of the study.

"Moreover, this can be adapted to help us stay ahead of the coronavirus as it mutates around the world." When applied to SARS-CoV-2  the virus that causes COVID-19  the computer model quickly eliminated 95 per cent of the compounds that could have possibly treated the pathogen and pinpointed the best options, the study says.

The AI-assisted method predicted 26 potential vaccines that would work against the coronavirus. From those, the scientists identified the best 11 from which to construct a multi-epitope vaccine, which can attack the spike proteins that the coronavirus uses to bind and penetrate a host cell. Vaccines target the region  or epitope  of the contagion to disrupt the spike protein, neutralising the ability of the virus to replicate, the study said.

Moreover, the engineers can construct a new multi-epitope vaccine for a new virus in less than a minute and validate its quality within an hour. processes to control the virus require growing the pathogen in the lab, deactivating it and injecting the virus that caused a disease. The process is time-consuming and takes more than one year; meanwhile, the disease spreads.

The method is especially useful during this stage of the pandemic as the coronavirus begins to mutate in populations around the world. Some scientists are concerned that the mutations may minimize the effectiveness of vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna, which are now being distributed. Recent variants of the virus that have emerged in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil seem to spread more easily, which scientists say will rapidly lead to many more cases, deaths and hospitalisations, the study says.

But Bogdan said that if SARS-CoV-2 becomes uncontrollable by current vaccines, or if new vaccines are needed to deal with other emerging viruses, then USC's AI-assisted method can be used to design other preventive mechanisms quickly.

For example, the study explains that the USC scientists used only one B-cell epitope and one T-cell epitope, whereas applying a bigger dataset and more possible combinations can develop a more comprehensive and quicker vaccine design tool. The study estimates the method can perform accurate predictions with over 700,000 different proteins in the dataset.

"The proposed vaccine design framework can tackle the three most frequently observed mutations and be extended to deal with other potentially unknown mutations," Bogdan said. The raw data for the research comes from a giant bioinformatics database called the Immune Epitope Database (IEDB) in which scientists around the world have been compiling data about the coronavirus, among other diseases.

IEDB contains over 600,000 known epitopes from some 3,600 different species, along with the Virus Pathogen Resource, a complementary repository of information about pathogenic viruses.

The genome and spike protein sequence of SARS-CoV-2 comes from the National Center for Biotechnical Information. COVID-19 has led to 87 million cases and more than 1.88 million deaths worldwide, including more than 400,000 fatalities in the United States. It has devastated the social, financial and political fabric of many countries.

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On February 5, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Oregon resident Mark Ahn with insider trading in the securities of Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical company Dimension Therapeutics, Inc. in advance of an August 2017 merger announcement.

The SEC's complaint, filed in federal district court in Massachusetts, charges Ahn with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC seeks penalties, injunctive relief, and an order barring Ahn from serving as an officer or director of any SEC-reporting company.

In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts announced criminal charges against Ahn.

The SEC's case is being handled by Asita Obeyesekere, Nita Klunder, Xinyue Angela Lin, Sofia Hussain, Al Day, and Paul G. Block of the Boston Regional Office. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
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Scott Morrison's decision to keep the international border closed has been hailed by business leaders as the key to Australia's economic success - but may leave Aussies banned from going abroad for at least another year.

While other nations struggle under the weight of growing Covid cases and mounting deaths, Australians are - with a few exceptions - going about their normal lives, other than flying overseas.

On Friday, Mr Morrison signalled millions will soon enjoy even greater freedoms as he looked to end snap border closures that have left families separated and people fearing booking interstate travel.

His decision to close Australia's international borders on March 20 last year is fast approaching its first birthday, and some of the country's top CEOS - including Qantas CEO Alan Joyce - have said it is the key to the nation's economic health.

Australians have been living a near normal life due to tough border restrictions which have seen low numbers in Covid cases (pictured, beachgoers at Bondi Beach in January)

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said he supported Mr Morrison's hard stance on international borders but said there needed to be more consistency with states locking down cities after single cases

While other nations struggle under the weight of growing Covid cases and mounting deaths, Australians are - with a few exceptions - going about their normal lives, other than flying overseas (pictured revellers head out in St Kilda in Melbourne)

But Mr Joyce also called for more consistency with snap border closures after some states locked down entire cities after recording a single case.

'We're a victim of our success, in a way. We have state borders slamming shut with just one case. Now, some will argue that's how we stay successful, but the NSW experience shows otherwise,' he told the AFR.

He explained the airline is supportive of the hard border system continuing if it allows domestic travel to stay open across the country - calling snap closures 'confusing and confidence sapping'.

While Qantas' domestic flights are set to return to 60 per cent capacity of pre-Covid levels, snap lockdowns could see this fall to a even lower level.

'I think we need to put more trust in the testing and tracing systems we've built through COVID and the incredible levels of co-operation shown by the community,' Mr Joyce said.

The prime minister has kept hard on his policy around international arrivals and is yet to set a date of when the borders will be open (pictured Melbourne passengers at Sydney Airport)

Sydneysiders have almost returned to a pre-Covid life as cases continue to drop (pictured swimmers at Bondi Beach)

Friends are seen celebrating Australia Day at the Gold Coast (pictured) with Australians enjoying very few restrictions on their lives

Mark Steinert, chief executive of Stockland, also called for more consistency between states, and asked others to adopt an approach similar to that seen in New South Wales - where border closures are avoided in all but the most serious outbreaks.

Poll SHOULD AUSTRALIA KEEP ITS INTERNATIONAL BORDER CLOSED? Yes No SHOULD AUSTRALIA KEEP ITS INTERNATIONAL BORDER CLOSED? Yes 650 votes

No 297 votes Now share your opinion





'Once state borders remain consistently open, with a targeted approach to deal with community transfer, we are confident we will see a further increase in economic activity and jobs growth,' he said.

Elizabeth Gaines, who heads up Fortescue Metals, also backed the government's hard international border closure, calling it a 'considered, thorough approach'.

While border closures between states could soon be a thing of the past, a reluctance to allow in foreign travellers is weighing heavily on universities which relied on international students.

Universities lost an estimated $1.8billion in revenue and had to cut 17,300 jobs last year compared to 2019, according to Universities Australia.

On top of this, the tourism industry has been decimated thanks to the lack of international tourists, as well as domestic closures.

The lost of international flights has cost the economy more than $61billion since the pandemic began, and overall the value of Australian tourism is expected to fall from $138million to $83billion, according to Tourism Research Australia.

Scott Morrison (pictured on Thursday) signalled millions will soon enjoy even greater freedoms as he looked to end snap border closures that have left families separated and people fearing booking interstate travel

A group of friends are seen ringing in the New Year in style on the Gold Coast amid the Covid-19 pandemic - with nightclubs and bars still open

COVID-who? These revellers at the White Rhino in Surfers Paradise were in the mood for letting their hair down on December 31 as Australia continued to beat the virus

But thanks to the international border closures, Australians have been able to spend millions in their own backyard by taking trips in their own state, as well as eating out at restaurants and cafes.

Mr Morrison recently hinted international borders could open sooner than the predicted 2022 date if it's proved the vaccine is stopping transmission and not just illness and deaths.

'The key thing I think is going to impact on that decision, is going to be whether the evidence emerges about transmissibility, and how the vaccine protects against that,' the prime minister told News Limited during a Facebook Live on Wednesday.

'If it indeed does stop transmission between people, then that could be quite a game-changer, but that will not be evident for some time yet.'

Mr Morrison said international borders could open sooner if it's proved the vaccine is stopping transmission and not just illness and deaths (pictured Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine)

Sydneysiders have been able to enjoy the beach as the city works to controls the spread of coronavirus (pictured, sunbakers at Bondi Icebergs pool in January)

Chief Medical Officer, Brendan Murphy, last month said he expected the hard borders to be shut for the remainder of the year.

During the Facebook live, he echoed Mr Morrison's statements, and said it would be a waiting game to know how effective vaccines were in stopping transmission.

'If, as we suspect these vaccines are effective at preventing transmission, the sooner we get the population vaccinated, the sooner people - not only will they be protected, but we will get on this path towards good herd immunity, and that will speed up the return to international travel,' he said.

Under a taskforce led by Philip Gaetjens, Secretary for the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, new strategies are being put forward in alignment with the rollout of the vaccine to return life to normal.

Mr Morrison said the country would soon be able to treat Covid-19 like other virus, such as the flu, which does not require lockdowns or even social distancing - although this isn't expected to change the government's hard stance on international borders anytime soon.

AUSTRALIA VS THE WORLD COVID cases: USA - 26.7 million Australia - 28,842 UK - 3.89 million COVID deaths: USA - 456,000 Australia - 909 UK - 110,000 Border closures: USA - Land borders closed to Mexico and Canada since March. Travellers from China, Iran, the EU, the UK, Ireland, Brazil and South Africa have also since been banned Australia - International border closed permanently since March 20 UK - Open throughout the pandemic, but recently introduced tighter rules for entry including Covid tests and quarantine Restrictions: USA - Varies state-by-state. In New York, only 10 people are allowed to gather inside or outside. Indoor dining is at half capacity after a Christmas closure. Australia - Also varies state-by-state. But in the most areas, there are no restrictions on pubs, bars and restaurants. In some states, there are no rules at all. UK - Nationwide lockdown until at least March. Schools, restaurants, bars, non-essential shops and workplaces all closed. Advertisement

The prime minister said the vaccines are extremely effective at reducing severe disease, meaning the number of coronavirus cases will not matter when most people are vaccinated.

'Once you get to that stage, the number of cases isn't the issue. I mean, we don't stand up every day and talk about the number of cases of any other virus, flu or others, every day,' Mr Morrison told reporters after a National Cabinet meeting.

'That's not to say that those viruses don't result in ultimately fatality for vulnerable people either. They do. But we manage that in a different way to the way we're currently managing this pandemic.

'So, the point is that the vaccination program, over months, as it's rolled out, can change the nature of how Australia then manages the virus.'

Both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines which Australia plans to roll out in March are 100 per cent effective at reducing severe disease.

The government plans to offer everyone living in Australia an optional jab by October.

Meanwhile, the national cabinet has agreed to lift the limits on overseas arrivals starting on February 15.

The numbers were temporarily halved after new strains of coronavirus emerged in the UK and South Africa.

New South Wales will return to a cap of about 3000 people a week, while Queensland is reverting to 1000.

Victoria will increase its weekly hotel quarantine capacity to 1310 and South Australia has agreed to take 530 people a week.

The federal government is also investigating doubling capacity of the Howard Springs quarantine facility in the Northern Territory from its current level of 850.

There are currently only nine people in hospital with Covid-19 in Australia, and no-one in intensive care.
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Chinas plans for interplanetary exploration just took a big stride forward. The Guardian reports that the countrys Tianwen-1 probe has returned its first photo of Mars, capturing a black-and-white snapshot from about 1.4 million miles away. It doesnt compare to the more detailed pictures from other explorers (certainly not those on the ground), but thats not really the point  this is proof China can send a spacecraft to Mars.

The probe should enter Mars orbit on February 10th, with its rover touching down at the Utopia impact basin in May.

The country tried sending a mission to Mars in 2011 with Russian help, but that failed at launch. Not that trips to the Red Planet have been easy for anyone. The ESA, Russia, the US and other countries and organizations have routinely struggled to make the journey.

A successful Tianwen-1 rover landing would clearly boost Chinas pride as it embarks on other ambitious projects, including putting a new space station into orbit by 2022. It will effectively serve as a symbolic foil to NASAs Perseverance mission and might help China justify further exploration beyond Earth.
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Canberra, Feb 6 : Australian Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said on Saturday that some 2,200 US Marines will begin arriving in the country's Northern Territory over the next five months.

In a statement issued here, the Defence Minister said that the 2021 and also the 10th Marine Rotational Force-Darwin (MRF-D) will consist of around 2,200 troops by June, reports Xinhua news agency.

Reynolds said that under special Covid-19 plans, the incoming Marines will be tested for coronavirus three times, once 72 hours prior to departure and twice while undergoing 14 days of quarantine in a secure facility.

The 2021 MRF-D would arrive in groups of between 200-500 personnel and would quarantine in the facility so as not to take places in Australia's hotel quarantine system, according to Reynolds.

"The MRF-D and Australian Defence Force (ADF) will conduct a comprehensive range of training activities, including humanitarian assistance, security operations and high-end live-fire exercises," the Defence Minister said in the statement.

In 2020, the annual rotation of Marines was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, and a modified rotation of about 1,200, roughly half the usual numbers, trained in the Northern Territory.

As of Saturday, Australia has registered 28,842 confirmed coronavirus cases, and the numbers of locally and overseas acquired cases in the last 24 hours were zero and six respectively, according to the Department of Health.

The death toll stood at 909.
After two days of courtroom housekeeping and official reading of his charges, prosecution and defence lawyers continued to further present their arguments on Thursday in the trial of Sierra Leonean war crimes suspect Gibril Massaquoi.

The two sides provided context within which each will argue their case going forward.

Mr Massaquoi, 51, is charged with committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Liberia between 1999 and 2003.

Prosecutors say he committed and commanded the murder and rape of civilians in Lofa County and Monrovia, Liberia. Mr Massaquoi denies the charges.

Prosecution, led by State Prosecutor Tom Laitinen, began the day by showing the court maps and aerial images of Lofa County, the northern Liberian country on the border with Sierra Leone.

Their aim was to help the Finnish court understand the location and landscape of the events listed in the charges.

According to one charge, civilians had fled the village of Kamatahun Hassala to other villages. Civilians were brought from these villages [to Kamatahun Hassala], upon orders from Massaquoi, and locked in houses.

The houses were then set on fire, the prosecution told the court. Additional charges of violence in Kamatahun Hassala include the rape and killing of at least seven women.

The prosecution also showed images of the areas in Monrovia where Mr Massaquoi allegedly killed and ordered the killing of civilians.

But Mr Massaquois defence team refuted the prosecutions claims, reemphasizing their client was not in Liberia when the alleged offenses were carried out.

Lawyers Kaarle Gummerus and Paula Sallinen argued that Massaquoi had traveled to Monrovia frequently due to his role as an RUF delegate, but that his last visit there happened in June 2001.

According to them, Mr Massaquoi had come to Monrovia collect some of his belongings but ended up having to flee for fear of violence.

Both prosecution and defense agreed that Mr Massaquoi demonstrably held a high position within RUF, having been the RUF spokesman for a number of years as well as the groups delegate in Sierra Leones peace process.

We will prove that somebody in Massaquois position had no motive to go to war on the side of Charles Taylor, said Mr Gummerus, slamming the prosecution for having no evidence to convict the former him.

This case is all about the reliability of the witnesses narratives, because they are the only evidence the prosecution has.

Around 80 witnesses are expected to testify in Liberia and Sierra Leone. This was seen as the best solution, given the courts relatively smaller size. This way, Mr Laitinen explained to reporters earlier, the court would also not have to ask people to interrupt their lives in order to undertake extensive travel to attend court in Finland.

According to Mr Laitinen, the international crimes spelled out in the charges fall within universal jurisdiction. Being party to the Geneva Conventions, Finland is obligated to try the crimes regardless of where the alleged crimes took place.

While such cases can be brought on behalf of humanity, they dont exclude the possibility that individual plaintiffs with a claim against Mr Massaquoi may yet appear.

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The task of finding those plaintiffs, Laitinen said, is difficult given the lack of a reliable civil registry. Nearly a mission impossible, Mr Laitinen said.

The prosecution will therefore build on witnesses statements. The investigation has found witnesses with the ability to present evidence. The question may be whether they are willing to.

The defence lawyers also took a shot at the credibility of the witnesses. We ask the court to consider how the witnesses have become involved in the investigation. It appears that the majority of them are either directly or indirectly involved with either Civitas Maxima or the GJRP.

Angel Gabriel

The research into Mr Massaquois past started with the Swiss NGO Civitas Maxima in collaboration with the Liberia-based Global Justice and Research Project (GJRP).

Their findings were brought to Finnish authorities and Finlands National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) launched an inquiry into the case in Liberia and Sierra Leone in 2018. Another name by which Massaquoi allegedly went by, Angel Gabriel, came up in in the process leading up to the investigation.

It is amazing that the names Gibril Massaquoi and Angel Gabriel came up in the police investigation [of 2018-2020], the defense team said. At the end of 2000s, the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission gathered materials based on which it wrote the 2009 report. It included the statements by twenty thousand witnesses and those guilty of war crimes. There is not a single mention of Gibril Massaquoi or Angel Gabriel. Neither is there a mention of Gibril, Gabriel, or Angel, Gummerus and Sallinen said.

The timing of the alleged events is expected to become a key question in the proceedings. I agree with the defense in that the alleged timing and its vague nature are a problem of sorts, prosecutor Laitinen said. I will be the first to admit that even I have trouble remembering details of events that took place 10 or 20 years ago, Mr Laitinen said.

Both sides anticipate eventful few months ahead. For my part, I expect a very interesting trial, said prosecutor Laitinen.

This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project
How we shop has changed as a result of COVID-19. We want to be in and out of town as quickly as possible, browsing is not an enjoyable experience right now. I think many of you are thinking about shopping local and buying Irish. So I thought I would remind you of some of the Irish Brands in your local health store.

Aspire 2 is a new Irish company that makes a range of premium food supplements, all manufactured here in Ireland. Their goal is to create a range of effective supplements that are inspired by nature and backed by science. Aspire2 launched in December 2020 with their flagship product Aspire2 Immune Complex.

White Mausu is a range of rayu sauces which are inspired by chefs and cooks. Their passion is nourishing food which tastes absolutely amazing. The range includes medium peanut, cashew, and black bean rayu.

Magic Mayan chocolate, a family run Clare company was established in 2012 by Darren a true passionate chocolatier. Magic Mayan Chocolate has a range of 12 organic raw chocolate bars which are all Vegan and Gluten Free.

Irish Botanica is an Irish brand with a range of pure, high strength herbal products including Echinacea, Milk Thistle, Botanical Syrup, and Mushrooms. Formulated by Herbalist David Foley, based in Donegal, Irish Botanica work with raw ingredients of the highest quality.

Revive Active, a brand formulated and manufactured in Ireland by Daithi O'Connor in 2011. Daithi was fuelled by a vision to enrich people's lives with a range of scientifically formulated health supplements that really work. Revive Active and Revive Joint Active Joint Complex are two of their most popular products.

Supernature one of my favourite healthy snacks was developed by Noele who started Supernature out of a simple passion for making her own natural treats for one of her daughters, who was unable to have dairy, gluten or processed sugar. If you haven't tried them try one today.

Holos skincare is hand made in the South East of Ireland, in Co. Wexford. It is made with plant ingredients that will help your skin glow.

This is just a small sample of Irish brands, check out your local store to find out more.
BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- China attaches great importance to Nepal's urgent need of COVID-19 vaccines and has decided to provide the first batch of vaccine aid for Nepal, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday.

Wang made the remarks during a phone conversation with Nepali Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Wang said, China and Nepal have helped each other, strived to work together to defeat the virus, and carried out sound cooperation in the anti-virus fight.

China has been earnestly fulfilling President Xi Jinping's commitment to making Chinese COVID-19 vaccines a global public good, and is willing to facilitate the purchase of vaccines for Nepal, he added.

In 2019, Xi's historic visit to Nepal lifted the bilateral relations to a new level, Wang said, adding that at the end of last year, Xi and Nepali President Bidhya Devi Bhandari exchanged letters and jointly announced the new height of Mount Qomolangma, sending a positive signal about the time-honored friendship and thriving relations between the two countries to the outside world.

The two sides should continue to make every effort to implement the results of Xi's visit to Nepal and promote the continuous development of China-Nepal relations, he added.

Gyawali, for his part, said that Nepal and China are all-weather friends.

Nepal appreciates China's support for Nepal in safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and will continue to firmly adhere to the one-China policy and will never allow any forces to engage in anti-China activities in Nepal, Gyawali said.

The Nepali government and people are grateful for China's timely and valuable vaccine aid, and stand ready to continue to deepen anti-epidemic cooperation with China, he said.

Nepal is ready to work with China to well implement the important consensuses reached by the leaders of the two countries, deepen cooperation in various fields and push for further development of bilateral relations, Gyawali added.

The two sides also exchanged views on Nepal's domestic situation.

Wang said that China adheres to the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs and respects the development path chosen by the Nepali people.

As a friendly neighbor, China hopes that all parties and factions in Nepal will bear in mind the fundamental and long-term interests of the country and its people, seek common ground while shelving differences, and maintain unity and stability, so as to create favorable conditions and environment for its own development and prosperity, Wang added.
TN elections 2021: Rs 12,110 crore farm loan waiver announced

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Chennai, Feb 06: A few months ahead of Assembly elections, the AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu on Friday announced waiver of Rs 12,110 crore crop loans availed by 16.43 lakh farmers from cooperative banks. Making the announcement in the state assembly, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said the scheme would come into immediate effect and a Government Order shall be issued while the required financial allocation would be made in the interim budget.

Asserting ''Iam a farmer too,'' Palaniswami said it was his first duty to address the grievances of the farming people and ruling party MLAs welcomed his announcement by thunping the desks while the opposition benches were vacant.

BJP appoints in-charges for poll-bound Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Assam

The principal opposition party DMK, which staged a walk out ahead of the Governor''s address on February 2, had already announced boycott of the session.

Assembly elections are likely in April or early May in Tamil Nadu. The waiver would pave the way for 16.43 lakh farmers to continue cultivation without any hassles, Palaniswami said. In his reaction, DMK chief M K Stalin said since he has been promising crop loan waiver after his party assumed power, Palaniswami has now made the announcement as the Chief Minister had no other option.

He was addressing a poll campaign in Tuticorin. Palaniswami has not waived the loan considering the farmers welfare but out of selfishness, eyeing the Assembly elections, Stalin said, adding "people know this very well." Palaniswami, targeting the DMK, said the party had promised two acres of land to landless farmers in the run up to 2006 Assembly polls, but they could not fulfill the promise and people knew it and it is the truth. Similarly, during 2019 Lok Sabha polls, leader of opposition and DMK chief Stalin had assured waiver of farmers'' crop loans in cooperative societies. After it won 38 out of 39 constituencies, DMK forgot the promise it made to the people.

"This is the routine they follow during every election," he said, adding the AIADMK was the only party that fulfilled promises. His party gave assurances that could be honoured and also came up with fresh welfare measures, Palaniswami said. After winning polls and retaining power in 2016, late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had waived Rs 5,318.73 crore farm loans, benefitting 12.02 lakh small and micro farmers. In 2017, his government provided Rs 2,247 crore drought relief to ryots.

Farmers faced travails due to COVID-19, the back to back cyclones Nivar and Burevi last year besides the unseasonal rains that caused heavy damage to crops ready for harvest, he said. Considering their welfare, crop input assistance of Rs 1,717 crore for 16.43 lakh farmers was ordered and the amount was being credited to their bank accounts directly, he said.

Though this measure would help them, the government wanted to extend further support to help them continue farming. Also, farmers and various farmers associations have been urging the government to waive crop loans considering damage to crops, the Chief Minister said and announced the crop loan waiver. Ministers and Deputy Speaker Pollachi V Jayaraman hailed the Chief Miniser for the initiative.

Delhi metro stations to avoid amid farmers Chakka jam | Oneindia News

Speaker P Dhanapal lauded the move on behalf of the House and MLAs could be seen walking up to Palaniswami to greet and thank him for the crop loan waiver. Some legislators touched his feet and took his blessings. AIADMK''s allies during the Lok Sabha polls, the PMK and DMDK, welcomed the announcement.

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Story first published: Saturday, February 6, 2021, 10:01 [IST]
With the UKs coronavirus vaccination programme surging ahead of almost every other country, more than ten million people have now received at least one dose of vaccine.

Many of those shots have come from Pfizer, the US drugs giant whose vaccines have to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius.

Transporting the medicine at such low temperature is challenging but DiscoverIE, an electronics company based in Guildford, Surrey, is helping to make it happen  not just in Britain but across the world.

DiscoverIE is well known for its temperature sensors, used not just in vaccine distribution but also to make sure batteries do not overheat in electric vehicles

DiscoverIE specialises in complex, electronic parts, including sensors that ensure products are kept very cold.

Goods are made to order for manufacturers worldwide, from GE and Siemens to hundreds of smaller businesses across Europe, America and Asia.

Midas recommended the shares in 2014 at 2.32 and looked at the shares again in 2019, by which time they had increased to 4.07.

Stewarded by longstanding chief executive Nick Jefferies, they have since risen by another 65 per cent to 6.72  and they should continue to gain ground.

When Jefferies took the helm in 2009, DiscoverIE, then known as Acal, was principally a distributor, selling electronic widgets made by third parties.

Over time, that focus has shifted and today, two-thirds of sales come from kit that has been designed and made by DiscoverIE in-house.

Jefferies has also steered the firm towards four key markets  medical equipment, transport, renewable energy and industrial automation and connectivity.

Components include power units for MRI scanners, door controls for trains, kit that measures airflow in wind turbines and telematic gadgetry so that companies can monitor where goods and lorries are at any given time.

DiscoverIE is well known for its temperature sensors too, used not just in vaccine distribution but also to make sure batteries do not overheat in electric vehicles and coffee comes out just right in Nespresso machines.

DiscoverIE shares: Midas recommended them in 2014 at 2.32 - they are now 6.72

All told, the group operates in around 27 countries, making some 40 million products a year. Design and development are often carried out here in the UK but 90 per cent of sales are generated overseas.

Making many different products, selling them in dozens of countries and focusing on markets with good long-term prospects all make DiscoverIE more resilient than many peers.

Figures were down at the half-year to September but the numbers were better than many competitors.

Jefferies also said the second half had started well and a trading update, out this week, should confirm that momentum has continued in recent weeks. Brokers expect a 4 per cent decline in revenues to 448million in the year to March, with profits down 16 per cent at 27.5million.

A dividend of 10.1p is forecast, however, up from 3p last year, when the final payout was suspended.

Results should bounce back in the next financial year and beyond. In 2018, Jefferies said he wanted to double profits by 2023, a target that was going well until Covid.

The timing may now be delayed by a year or so but the ambition remains, driven by organic growth and acquisitions.

There is an environmental angle too, as the group has pledged to reduce carbon emissions in the next five years and its products are designed to help make the world greener.

Midas verdict: DiscoverIE shareholders have been well rewarded in recent years and may choose to sell a small chunk of stock just to bank some profits. But they should keep most of their shares as the business is highly regarded in its field and operates in robust sectors of the market. At 6.72, the shares are a good long-term investment.

A stunning portrait of cervical cancer awareness campaigner Vicky Phelan has sold for a staggering at auction with all funds raised in aid Covid-19 frontline health workers.

The triptych portrait of the Kilkenny mum was sold for 46,500 under auction at Sheppards Irish Auction House in Durrow.

The portrait went on sale and was appropriately purchased by a Kilkenny buyer for 46,500. The famous Laois auction house included its fees to bring the total raised beyond 55,000. Sheppards say they donated fees of just over 9,600 from the sale.

The purchaser of the portrait is Mooncoin-based businessman David Brennan.

The work by Vincent Devine from Clara, which was unveiled on the Late Late Show, is expected to go on public display later this year once Covid restrictions are eased.

The Heroes Aid charity will benefit from the fund to continue its work in helping Ireland's health workers safely battle the pandemic and save lives through the purchase of PPE and other equipment. Conor McGregor is among those who have also lent their support to the charity.

They tweeted their delight at the sale the picture of Vicky who is now in America getting treatment for her cancer. MORE BELOW TWEET.

SOLD!!!!



Historic portrait of @PhelanVicky by artist @vincent_devine has just sold at auction for an amazing 46,500.



Thanks to @SheppardsDurrow for generously hosting the auction



Thanks also to all of you- your support means the funds will help frontline healthcare workers pic.twitter.com/787E6VnjvD February 4, 2021

This artwork was commissioned by Heroes Aid in honour of Vicky who is also a member of its board member in recognition of her outstanding contribution to womens health in Ireland.

The charity says it approached Vicky in 2020 to be a member of the board.

"We had been incredibly impressed by her ability to give a voice to those who needed it most and knew shed play a crucial role in helping our countrys vulnerable healthcare workers who have been placed under unrelenting pressure since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Its only fitting that she now has a portrait to tell her own story," they say.

Heros said the painting was generously donated by the Offaly artist who has worked closely with our charity since its inception and also designed our logo.

The Portrait Explained:

Straddling the boundaries of Realism, Surrealism and Expressionism, Devine has infused the portrait with a mysterious pulse that resonates beyond the canvas. Reading from left to right, Vicky Phelans narrative is conveyed as past, present and future acted out on Doonbeg beach in the west of Ireland. The left-hand panel is dominated by a powerful assemblage of flesh and bone whose forward motion is suddenly halted. The centre panel dominates.

Here the sitter engages directly with the viewer. Events, both joyful and traumatic are rendered symbolically. Her outstretched right hand supports a bird, a young crimson rosella, representative of her daughter; on her left hand, her son as a sapling oak. Beneath her left foot, a colonnade represents a legal triumph while shamrocks close to her heart are emblematic of the continuous support she has received from the people of Ireland and beyond. Within her torso, invisible cancer is made visible.

Her eyes are bright with strength and hope. In the right-hand panel a horse is looking backwards, a collage of powerfully charged symbols is placed between its hind legs and forelegs. A flickering candle reminds the viewer of the fragility of life itself. Indented into the sands beneath, Vicky Phelans footsteps then leave the canvas.


Awards for minor whiplash injuries would be cut by up to 50pc under proposals being examined by the judiciary.

If adopted, the move would be significant for motorists as insurers have promised to lower premiums if awards for minor injuries, which make up the bulk of claims, are reduced.

However, the proposal still falls short of the 80pc reduction business groups have been seeking.

Figures from the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) show that the average award for a whiplash claim is just short of 20,000.

A PIAB study previously suggested that around 70pc of all motor claims relate to whiplash.

The 166-member Judicial Council met virtually yesterday morning to discuss the draft guidelines, prepared by a committee headed by High Court president Mary Irvine. But a decision on adopting the proposals was deferred after some judges said they needed more time to examine the details.

The council will now meet again on February 20 to discuss the matter further.

The proposals were outlined in a lengthy document setting out proposed new award level ranges for various types and severity of personal injury.

Varying levels of cuts have been proposed for different injuries, with the main one of interest in the insurance debate, whiplash injuries in the minor categories, set to be halved.

A source said some judges believed the level of cuts proposed were too severe.

However, the main issued raised at the meeting was that judges wanted more time to consider the proposals.

Another source said there was a feeling afterwards the guidelines would be passed at the next meeting.

A recalibration of award levels is part the Governments plan to bring down the cost of insurance premiums and it hopes the new guidelines can be in force by July.

The lack of an outcome from the meeting will have disappointed insurance costs campaigners, who view a reduction in awards as crucial to driving down premiums.

However, some comfort will be taken from the level of reductions being proposed.

The Judicial Council committees proposals come just over two years after a government-appointed commission, headed by former High Court president Nicholas Kearns, found whiplash-type soft-tissue damage awards in Ireland were typically 4.4 times higher than in the England and Wales for broadly similar injuries.

He noted at the time that Ireland had one of the most generous compensation systems in Europe.

It is understood the judicial committee stopped short of proposing a reduction to levels in England and Wales after it widened its comparison of award levels to include Northern Ireland, where awards are closer to those in the Republic.

This is despite the fact that the Northern Irish market is tiny by comparison to the one in England and Wales.

And award levels in England and Wales are set to fall further as new regulations are set to be implemented to reduce them again.

The Alliance for Insurance Reform has been seeking an 80pc cut in the level of personal injury awards being granted by the courts for minor injuries.

It argues this will reduce the cost of insurance, particularly public and employers liability cover.

A cut of that size would bring the compensation in line with that being awarded by courts in England and Wales, but still leave it above that awarded in other European countries.

Policyholders have complained that decisions in personal injuries cases are inconsistent and need to reflect international norms.

A recent report by two leading neurosurgeons found that 90pc of patients with whiplash attending a Dublin pain management clinic failed to return for additional treatment once their legal action was completed.

The unpublished finding, from a study of 100 patients of the Mater Hospital pain management service, is quoted in a paper by two leading neurosurgeons as evidence Ireland is experiencing a whiplash epidemic requiring urgent reform.
President Joe Biden signs documents including cabinet nominations and sub-cabinet nominations in the Presidents Room at the Capitol after the inauguration ceremony in Washington on Jan. 20, 2021. (Jim Lo Scalzo-Pool/Getty Images)

Chamber of Commerce Calls for Bipartisan Compromise on Bidens $1.9 Trillion Rescue Plan

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the top-spending lobbying groups, sent an open letter to President Joe Biden and all Congressmembers, urging them to consider Republican proposals and not let his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan get approved through a simple partisan majority.

The fastest, most effective way to provide immediate relief to American families and workers who are still reeling from the pandemic is through a strong, bipartisan compromise, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Neil Bradley said in a statement. The open letter (pdf) was sent in Bradleys name.

If the majority insists on pushing through legislation using reconciliation, then they risk future success on long-overdue priorities including infrastructure, immigration reform, and climate change.

Bradley also pointed out that raising the minimum wage should not be included in the rescue plan. He suggested that the policy approach should be timely, targeted, and temporary.

Legislative proposals should be focused on confronting the current crisis and should not be used as an opportunity to enact long-sought permanent policy changes, like raising the minimum wage.

The Senate adopted an amendment Friday to not raise the minimum wage during the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic.

Well, apparently, thats not going to occur because of the rules of the United States Senate, Biden told CBS afterward. However, he said he still backs a minimum wage increase.

Neil Bradley (R), Chief Policy Officer for the U.S Chamber of Commerce, during the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit in Washington on Nov. 13, 2018. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Yahoo Finance)

Bradley also indicated that turbocharg[ing] vaccinations and swiftly and safely reopen[ing] the nations schools should be the two most critical aspects of a relief package, from the Chambers perspective.

The shuttering of classrooms to in-person education has significant near-term and long-term costs, Bradley said in the open letter.

Ten GOP senators met Biden at the White House Monday night to discuss their alternative CCP virus stimulus package. They said their proposal includes more targeted assistance.

However, Biden told GOP senators that their package was way too small, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) later told reporters the following day.

On Tuesday, Senate voted 50-49, strictly along party lines, to start a lengthy process for approving Bidens bill with or without GOP support. The goal is to have COVID-19 relief approved by March when extra unemployment assistance and other pandemic aid expires.

Theyve chosen a totally partisan path, said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Thats unfortunate.

Biden said last Friday that he would like to receive support from Republicans for his proposal but indicated that it would pass even without their support.

I support passing COVID relief with support from Republicans if we can get it. But the COVID relief has to passno ifs, ands, or buts, he said.

Janita Kan, Zachary Stieber, and Associated Press contributed to this report.

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A divided Supreme Court ruled on Friday that California churches can hold indoor services during the pandemic.

The Supreme Court voted 6-3, granting the appeal of a south San Diego church that has repeatedly challenged California's restrictions on churches.

Friday night's order said the state could impose a 25 percent capacity cap on churches and let the state ban chanting and singing in indoor services, reported Bloomberg Law.

With the ruling, California Governor Gavin Newsom's strict coronavirus restrictions were deemed violative of the religion's free exercise, Los Angeles Times reported.

The order also marked a new display of the eagerness of the court's conservative justices in protecting religious rights even public health is at stake.

The order reinforces another decision by the Supreme Court that blocked strict capacity limits in New York, also arguing on the basis of religious rights.

Read also: 'COVID Tongue' May Be Another Strange Coronavirus Symptom, Here's What Experts Say

South Bay United Pentecostal Church, which seats 600 people in its congregation near San Diego, filed for the high court's emergency request, said USA Today.

A similar challenge was also filed by Harvest Rock Church, which seats 1,250 people. Three of the court's liberal justices, namely Elena Kagan, Stephen G. Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor, dissented.

California Enforces 'Most Extreme' Restrictions on Churches

California enforced the "most extreme" coronavirus restrictions in churches, and other places of worship in the country, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty told the court.

While several states opted to simply limit capacity in church services, California enforced a ban on indoor worship and is "the only state" to do so in all but the thinly populated counties. Even though the justices had differences in opinion, they agreed that California did single out churches for unfair treatment.

"California worries that worship brings people together for too much time," Justice Neil Gorsuch said in his concurring opinion. "Yet, California does not limit its citizens to running in and out of other establishments; no one is barred from lingering in shopping malls, salons, or bus terminals."

Some Justices Say Ruling Has 'Special Exception' for Worship Services

In her dissenting opinion, Associate Justice Kagan acknowledged that the justices of the Supreme Court were not experts when it came to matters of public health.

"Justices of this court are not scientists. Nor do we know much about public health policy. Yet today the court displaces the judgments of experts about how to respond to a raging pandemic," Kagan wrote.

Kagan also pointed out that the order weakens California's public health restrictions on public gatherings as it placed a "special exception" for places of worship.

Writing with other Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, Gorsuch said California had granted exemptions to Hollywood studios from pandemic restrictions that apply elsewhere.

Read also: Biden Administration Reopens Texas Detention Center for Foreign Children at Border

"If Hollywood may host a studio audience or film a singing competition while not a single soul may enter California's churches, synagogues, and mosques, something has gone seriously awry," Gorsuch wrote.

The court did not explain why it chose 25 percent as the permissible capacity for churches in tier 1 counties. However, Gorsuch said the state allowed most retail establishments to operate at 25 percent occupancy in tier 1 counties.
A 22-year-old Townsville woman killed in a head-on collision on Friday night has been remembered as a kind and talented friend who would have been the greatest police officer.

Jennifer Board was riding her motorcycle along Ross River Road at Kirwan when two cars collided, one of which then crashed into her bike just before 10pm.

Jennifer Board, 22, was killed while riding her motorcycle in Townsville on Friday night. Credit:Facebook

Police will allege the crash was caused by a group of vigilantes in a Holden Statesman who were chasing down a stolen Hyundai sedan.

It will be alleged that the Statesman sedan aggressively followed the stolen vehicle [then] collided with the rear of the vehicle, Superintendent Glen Pointing said.
While the person was abroad, they came in contact with someone who was sick, according to the release. Upon return, the local individual quarantined from others and was tested. Though testing positive for the strain, known as B.1.1.7, the person has not experienced symptoms yet, according to Lake County health officials. It was not immediately clear where the person tested resides or whether the person is a Lake County resident.


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January was Cervical Cancer Awareness month and Termonfeckin woman Eileen Rushe is urging every woman to get regularly checked for this form as cancer and not leave it too late.

35-year-old mum of one Eileen has terminal Cervical Cancer and is currently undergoing chemotherapy in St Luke's Hospital, Dublin, but she says without getting checked, her cancer would never have been spotted.

She hopes no one will ignore their appointment letter for the national screening programme CervicalCheck, and says a few minutes of a test, or getting the HPV vaccine, could save your life.

'I got my very first smear after my son Seamus was born in 2006 - I was 20. Throughout college I got smear tests before I was part of the national screening programme which is from the age of 25. My grandmother passed away long before I was born of ovarian cancer so I was aware of it and took part in the screening program right up until diagnosis,' says Eileen, who is mum to Seamus, now 14. 'One thing to note is that unless all your smears are done as part of the national screening program any results are not kept in the same location. For me this was important as I could not locate all my results as private ones were no longer available and I couldn't locate everywhere I had them. I would strongly suggest taking part in the national screening program or if going privately going to the same private practice'.

Eileen received many smears as is expected and back in 2017, she was notified of suspicious smear results and was treated/monitored for the following 18 months for CIN 3.

'My outcome is not ideal, however it is the screening program that did ultimately result in me being diagnosed with stage three cervical cancer back in December 2018,' she explains. 'So I cannot urge women enough to partake in the national screening programme'.

Brave Eileen began charting her first treatment for cancer on a blog in early 2019, and shared the highs and lows of her illness and treatment, from chemo to the all-clear in June 2019. However, last October, she got the news every cancer survivor dreads, and she was told her cancer had returned in an aggressive form and spread to her lungs and lymph nodes.

'My sister Siobhain was devastated understandably but had the sense to ask few questions like what was the prognosis, how long, what was the plan. They confirmed at this stage they don't talk about curing the cancer but controlling it (this broke me inside), they don't have a timeline but hoped months not weeks,' says Eileen, who is originally from Bettystown, but made Termonfeckin her home. 'All I could think of is Seamus, a soon to be orphan apparently. I told family and friend what was happening and I was surrounded by love support from every area of my life. Every text message, prayer card, caller, online comment and message, present and note continue to meant the world to me and lift me up in my darkest moment'.

In the last four months, Eileen has lost her hair and learned cancer is in her hip and spine.

'I take a lot of drugs to help with nausea and pain but they also have side effects like memory loss. I have issue with diarrhoea, constipation, nausea, vomiting, I have no energy and I constantly feel like I just got hit by a bus but more than anything the pain is bad,' she says. 'Last week I had a high dose of radiotherapy and I hope it helps soon'.

A GoFundMe page was set up by Siobhain, as Eileen had to give up her job in Irish Life, and that now stands at 45,400 out of a 50,000 goal.

'As a single parent, it is difficult as I still want to parent, when the majority of the time I can't mind myself,' says Eileen, who gets to see her mum and dad when she can. 'With the help of the GoFundMe fund me page I have managed to hire a regular cleaner and can when the time comes hire private care to help with the burden on my family'.

You can donate to Eileen's GoFundMe page on 'Cervical Cancer is a Bitch'.
The powerful Church of Cyprus has sparked anger on the Mediterranean island by demolishing four listed buildings next to a new cathedral it is building in Nicosia's historic old city.

The interior ministry said Tuesday it was "deeply troubled and concerned over the arbitrary and illegal demolition of the preserved buildings" in the capital the previous day.

It said that while the houses were on church-owned land, their demolition violated laws protecting cultural heritage.

The Cypriot Orthodox Church has considerable political clout on the island, but its decision to demolish the buildings sparked a public outcry against Archbishop Chrysostomos II.

Nicosia's Mayor Constantinos Yiorkadjis told state radio CyBC on Tuesday that the demolitions were illegal and took place without any prior permit issued by the municipality.

Yiorkadjis said the municipality would demand the restoration of the buildings, which according to Cypriot records date back to 1927.

The interior ministry says 7,000 buildings have been listed across the island in an attempt to preserve the island's cultural legacy "for generations to come".

"The protection of architectural, but also historical heritage, is a priority for the state," it added.

The Technical Chamber of Cyprus, advisory body on engineering and building standards, said the Church did not have the appropriate licenses to demolish the buildings and accused it of violating the terms of its planning permission for the new cathedral.

It said the Church had a contractual obligation to maintain and restore the surrounding buildings.

The houses, a stone's throw from the archbishop's headquarters, lie in the old centre of Nicosia with its iconic Venetian-era walls and some architectural relics dating back to centuries earlier.

The archbishop's office did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.

But Nicosia municipal councillor Chrysanthos Fakas said the archbishop had promised to restore the buildings during a meeting on Tuesday.

"During a visit I had a while ago with Archbishop Chrysostomos, I conveyed to him without hesitation this request, he assured me that the restoration of the buildings will begin soon," Fakas said in a social media post.

The demolition enraged political parties, with ruling conservatives DISY on Tuesday calling for the competent authorities to step in and "do everything that the laws of our state provide".

The Communist opposition party AKEL released a statement denouncing the destruction.

"Our cultural heritage is not the property of the Archbishop," it said.
Indian business magnate and Tata Group chairman emeritus, Ratan Tata, who is known for his generosity, has once again won the hearts of people after he politely asked his fans to discontinue a campaign to confer Bharat Ratna to him.

Bharat Ratna is India's highest civilian award and is conferred in recognition of exceptional service or performance of the highest order.

"While I appreciate the sentiments expressed by a section of the social media in terms of an award, I would humbly like to request that such campaigns be discontinued," the veteran industrialist tweeted.





While I appreciate the sentiments expressed by a section of the social media in terms of an award, I would humbly like to request that such campaigns be discontinued.



Instead, I consider myself fortunate to be an Indian and to try and contribute to Indias growth and prosperity pic.twitter.com/CzEimjJPp5  Ratan N. Tata (@RNTata2000) February 6, 2021

He was reacting to various users on Twitter who were lauding him for his contributions and appealing to give Bharat Ratna to the Indian industrialist.

"Instead, I consider myself fortunate to be an Indian and to try and contribute to India's growth and prosperity," he added.

Motivational speaker Dr. Vivek Bhindra has reportedly begun a campaign to confer the highest civilian award on Ratan Tata. Subsequently, the hashtag #BharatRatnaForRatanTata started trending on Twitter.

"Ratan Tata believes today's generation of entrepreneurs can take India to the next level. We confer the country's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna for @RNTata2000. Join us in our campaign #BharatRatnaForRatanTata #RequestByDrVivekBindra," Dr. Bhindra tweeted.

Ratan Tata believes today`s generation of entrepreneurs can take India to next level. We confer the country`s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna for @RNTata2000



Join us in our campaign #BharatRatnaForRatanTata#RequestByDrVivekBindra@PMOIndia@rashtrapatibhvn@narendramodipic.twitter.com/U3Wr3aMxJh  Dr. Vivek Bindra (@DrVivekBindra) February 5, 2021

Twitterati came out in full support for giving the legendary businessman the recognition he deserves.

One user, while asking others to join the campaign #BharatRatnaForRatanTata, said Tata has been inspiring young achievers, telling them that believing in one's ability is essential to achieve success in life.

Another user described him as the "Real Hero of India" and said he "really deserves the Bharat Ratna Award."

Responding to his tweet, users further showered praises on him.

"And this is why you are always special to us sir," one user responded to his tweet.

Another user recalled the contributions of the Tata group to the nation and said it would remain "unmatched and unparalleled."

After retiring as Chairman of Tata Sons in 2012, Ratan Tata has been active in investing, in a personal capacity, in startups and encouraging young entrepreneurs.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 6)  The Department of Education corrected learning modules that discriminate against the indigenous peoples of the Codillera region, collectively known as Igorots, Mountain Province Rep. Maximo Dalog said.

In a statement on Friday, Dalog said he received a letter from the DepEd-Cordillera Administrative Region, explaining that one of the modules in question was printed by a school from another region, and the copies "were immediately retrieved when the agency's attention was called.

Dalog shared that DepEd-CAR Director Estela Carino, an Igorot herself, said the other regional office urgently rectified the matter by modifying the content. She did not identify the source but said an apology was made to CAR.

In deeply expressing its sincerest apologies for making use of the Igorot tribe as example in the learning materials, the source region admitted that they were not able to look into the social contents of the materials during the quality assurance process, Dalog said, recalling the letter from Carino. The DepEd-CAR official earlier called the attention of other regions and schools division offices using such modules to make the changes.

On Thursday, Dalog wrote to Education Secretary Leonor Briones urging the agency to hold accountable those behind books and learning modules apparently designed and published to malign and discriminate our people for being Igorots.

He identified one module that portrayed the Igorots as having dark, curly hair. We disagree on such account because in reality, a person with curly hair does not truly represent the actual appearance of an Igorot," the lawmaker said.

This was from a book published by Saint Matthew's Publishing Corporation in 2001. In 2018, the publisher apologized for offending the Igorots and assured that two books with the same content were no longer in circulation and are out of print.

DepEd said errors in other modules will also be corrected.

In yet another module circulating on Facebook, students were asked to analyze whether the given hypothetical scenarios were right or wrong. One of the items states, Hindi ako makikipaglaro sa aking kaklasi na Igorot dahil iba ang kanyang pananamit.

[Translation: I will not play with my Igorot classmate because his attire is different.]

Nakita mong tinutukso ng kaklase mo ang isang batang Igorot dahil sa kanyang anyo (You saw your classmate teasing an Igorot child because of his looks), another item read, asking students to indicate the proper response.

These modules caused the hashtag Proud to be Igorot to trend on social media, with the Igorots sharing their photos and experiences.

Since face-to-face classes are prohibited due to the coronavirus pandemic, DepEd has been implementing blended learning using mainly self-learning modules as well as radio, television, and online-based education.
The man shot and killed last week by two California Highway Patrol officers was identified Friday as Karl Walker, a 29-year-old Sacramento resident who police say turned a loaded gun on the officers.

The fatal shooting occurred Jan. 30 after CHP officers responded to reports of an accident on the shoulder of Interstate 80 north of Vacaville. Walker threatened the officers with a handgun that turned out to be loaded, causing them to open fire, said Monica Martinez, spokeswoman for the Solano County district attorneys office.

Walker died at the scene.

The Solano County Major Crimes Task Force opened an independent investigation into the fatal shooting. The group, comprised of detectives from area law enforcement agencies, was established last November to investigate the use of deadly force by law enforcement officers in Solano County.

District Attorney Krishna Abrams will review the task forces investigation to determine whether the officers who shot Walker will face criminal charges, Martinez said.

Abrams has previously refused to handle cases involving the fatal use of force by law enforcement officers in Solano County. She turned over the criminal investigations into the police killings of Sean Monterrosa and Willie McCoy to Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who declined to review either case. Both cases remain in limbo.

CHP officers responding to several reports of an accident along I-80 at Dixon Avenue found Walkers car in a ditch about 20 feet off the highway, Martinez said. As the officers approached the damaged car, Walker emerged from the drivers seat appearing intoxicated.

He displayed symptoms of being under the influence of alcohol and appeared evasive with the officers, keeping his hand in his sweatpants, according to Martinez.

According to the officers, Walker pulled out a 9 mm handgun.

Officers repeatedly gave commands to drop the gun, but Walker refused, Martinez said.

The officers opened fire after Walker allegedly pointed the gun at them, she said.

Nora Mishanec is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nora.mishanec@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NMishanec
Students sit in class at a high school in Gyeonggi Province, June. 3, 2020. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-ho



By Lee Hyo-jin



Education authorities are being urged to recruit more French language teachers through the middle and high school teacher recruitment exam set for the end of the year, as public schools in Seoul are facing a shortage of teachers, according to a coalition of French language educators.



There will be only one high school French teacher left working in Seoul's public school system by the 2022 spring semester if no new teachers are appointed, said the group consisting of French professors and teachers nationwide.



Currently, there are six full-time teachers in the capital area, among which, four will retire this August, and another one plans to quit in February next year.



"At least seven new teachers should be recruited to fill in the soon-to-be empty positions," Noh Yeon-sang, head of the Korean Association of French teachers, told The Korea Times, Friday.



The latest recruitment of French teachers in Seoul was back in 2008. Due to a lack of regular teachers, many classes are run by contract-based or part-time instructors, said Noh.



In addition to the urgent supply of French teachers, Noh stated that the current foreign language education system in public schools should be reviewed, as it fails to reflect the diverse needs of students to learn various languages.



According to a survey conducted by the Korean Education Development Institute of 29,046 students in 400 high schools nationwide on their foreign language preference, French came in third place, after Japanese and Chinese.



However, many schools, especially those in the provinces, do not offer French classes.



Noh pointed out that the demand from students for Western languages is not being properly reflected in the elective surveys conducted by each school, given that "minority languages" are excluded from the survey in the first place.



"Although the education curriculum offers nine foreign languages, students have to choose only among the subjects that their school already has, depriving them of opportunities for a diverse range of language education," he said.



He added that the issue must be addressed before the implementation of the high school credit system in 2025, which will enable students to choose the subjects they want to study, like in university.



The teachers' group has filed a proposal to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE), asking for the issue to be addressed in the upcoming meeting of the National Council of Superintendents of Education in March.



In response, the education office said that it is aware of such calls, but current data does not support the claims that there is a shortage of French teachers.



"In fact, the number of French teachers exceeds the demand from students. The exact number for the recruitment of new teachers should be discussed further with the relevant governmental bodies such as the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation," an official at the education office told The Korea Times.


Police have arrested a 19-year-old man for allegedly stabbing to death his 16-year-old friend, at Abuakwa Sepaase in the Atwima Nwabiagya South Municipality of the Ashanti Region.



The deceased, Kojo Appiah, is said to have borrowed clothes from the suspect, Nyamekye Beckham.



According to the mother of the deceased, Afia Rita, when the suspect approached Appiah for his clothes, it degenerated into a misunderstanding.



Rita indicated that Appiah said he no longer needed his clothes, and rather demanded GHS40 from her son.



She said there was misunderstanding between the son and the friend and he (suspect) stabbed her son, and he was rushed to the Afari Government Hospital, but died upon arrival.









Source: The Ghanaian Times









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Hovland stressed that the amended guidelines say all wireless capability must be disabled in voting equipment. But computer experts say that if the hardware is present, the software that activates it can be introduced. And the threat is not just from malign actors but also from the vendors and their clients, who could enable the wireless capability for maintenance purposes then forget to turn it off, leaving machines vulnerable.
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Supreme Court Ruling Clears Way for Indoor Worship Services in California

The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that California officials cannot bar churches from holding indoor services amid the CCP virus pandemic.

The nations top court issued orders in two cases, siding with churches that had protested the state banning indoor services. But the court did not agree to strike down prohibitions on singing and chanting during indoor services, and will not block California from imposing 25 percent capacity restrictions in areas deemed tier one on a scale of CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus transmission.

Justice Clarence Thomas, a George H.W. Bush appointee, and Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee, would have also struck down the capacity restrictions and the prohibitions. Justice Samuel Alito, a George W. Bush appointee, would have agreed on those points but would have stayed for 30 days an injunction against the caps and prohibition to let the state demonstrate that nothing short of those measures will reduce the community spread of COVID-19 at indoor religious gatherings.

The case drew four different opinions from the nine-person court.

Chief Justice John Roberts, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote that federal courts owe significant deference to politically accountable officials with the background, competence, and expertise to assess public health.'

The state has concluded, for example, that singing indoors poses a heightened risk of transmitting COVID-19. I see no basis in this record for overriding that aspect of the state public health framework, he added. At the same time, the states present determinationthat the maximum number of adherents who can safely worship in the most cavernous cathedral is zeroappears to reflect not expertise or discretion, but instead insufficient appreciation or consideration of the interests at stake.

Chief Justice John Roberts at the Supreme Court Building in Washington on Nov. 30, 2018. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

Gorsuch, with whom Thomas and Alito joined, said California has openly imposed more stringent regulations on religious institutions than on many businesses since the arrival of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP virus.

While California forbade any kind of indoor worship in most of the state, it allowed most retail operations to have 25 percent occupancy indoors and other businesses 50 percent or more occupancy, he added, writing: When a state so obviously targets religion for differential treatment, our job becomes that much clearer.

Justice Amy Barrett, joined by fellow Trump appointee Justice Brett Kavanaugh, wrote in a concurring opinion that she largely agreed with Gorsuch, but didnt believe the court should block the prohibition on singing and chanting.

The applicants bore the burden of establishing their entitlement to relief from the singing ban. In my view, they did not carry that burdenat least not on this record. As the case comes to us, it remains unclear whether the singing ban applies across the board (and thus constitutes a neutral and generally applicable law) or else favors certain sectors (and thus triggers more searching review), she wrote.

Of course, if a chorister can sing in a Hollywood studio but not in her church, Californias regulations cannot be viewed as neutral. But the record is uncertain, and the decisions below unfortunately shed little light on the issue.

The three Democrat-appointed justice banded together in a dissenting opinion led by Obama appointee Justice Elena Kagan, who said justices on the court are not scientists and dont know much about public health policy.

Yet today the court displaces the judgments of experts about how to respond to a raging pandemic. The court orders California to weaken its restrictions on public gatherings by making a special exception for worship services. The majority does so even though the states policies treat worship just as favorably as secular activities (including political assemblies) that, according to medical evidence, pose the same risk of COVID transmission, Kagan alleged.

Under the courts injunction, the state must instead treat worship services like secular activities that pose a much lesser danger. That mandate defies our caselaw, exceeds our judicial role, and risks worsening the pandemic.

The ruling dealt with cases from Harvest Rock Church and South Bay United Pentecostal Church, two churches that sought relief from Gov. Gavin Newsoms harsh restrictions imposed through a tiered system.

In an emailed statement, Newsoms press secretary Daniel Lopez told The Epoch Times: The state of California has taken necessary steps throughout the pandemic to protect Californians from COVID-19 and prevent our health care system from being overwhelmed by the disease, particularly during the recent surge. While the Supreme Court enjoined the states restriction on indoor worship services in counties where COVID-19 is widespread, the Court left in place public health measures imposed to protect worshippers, their families, and the communities in which they live. We will continue to enforce the restrictions the Supreme Court left in place and, after reviewing the decision, and revise guidelines for worship services to continue to protect the lives of Californians.
New Delhi: The United Nations Human Rights office on Friday (February 5, 2021) called for 'maximum restraint' by both protesters and the government in India during the ongoing farmers' protest against the three farm laws.

Taking to microblogging site Twitter, the UN Human Rights said: "We call on the authorities and protesters to exercise maximum restraint in ongoing farmers' protests. The rights to peaceful assembly and expression should be protected both offline and online. It's crucial to find equitable solutions with due respect to human rights for all."

#India: We call on the authorities and protesters to exercise maximum restraint in ongoing #FarmersProtests. The rights to peaceful assembly & expression should be protected both offline & online. It's crucial to find equitable solutions with due respect to #HumanRights for all.  UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) February 5, 2021

The remark from the UN Human Rights comes just days after the protest drew international reaction from celebrities like Rihanna, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and several others who have supported the farmers' right to peaceful protest.

India has categorically rejected foreign intervention on its domestic matter and has said that any attack on India's sovereignty will not be accepted.

Farmers, mainly from three Indian states - Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have been protesting against three farm laws at various borders of the national capital for more than two months now.

Meanwhile, the farmer unions on Friday called for a nationwide 'chakka jam' on February 6 from 12 pm to 3 pm, They will block all national and state highways for three hours but in a peaceful way. The farmers representatives have assured that the 'chakka jam' will not take place in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Live TV
President Joe Biden on Friday said he would not reduce the proposed $1,400 direct payments as final House passage of a budget resolution meant lawmakers could start drafting the $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus legislation.

Speaking at the White House, Biden said the new checks, combined with the $600 payments approved in December. would give most Americans the $2,000 he promised. A group of 10 House Republicans proposed reducing the latest round of checks to $1,000.

Im not cutting the size of the checks, Biden said. Theyre going to be $1,400. Period. Thats what the American people were promised.

Biden spoke after the House approved a budget resolution mostly along party lines, 219-209, allowing whatever bill Congress produces to be passed by majority vote, without the threat of a filibuster.

While no Republican in either the House or Senate voted for the resolution, several GOP or bipartisan amendments were included. Biden said he was willing to negotiate with the Republicans for their support, but wanted quick approval of the bill. The goal is to pass it by mid-March, when the current extended unemployment insurance benefits expire.

Ive told both Republicans and Democrats thats my preference: to work together, Biden said. But if I have to choose between getting help right now to Americans who are hurting so badly and getting bogged down in a lengthy negotiation or compromising on a bill thats up to the crisis, thats an easy choice. Im going to help the American people who are hurting now.

Adding a sense of urgency Friday was a U.S. Labor Department report showing that the economy added just 49,000 jobs last month after losing 227,000 jobs in December.

Its clear that theres a need for urgent and sustained action for the duration of this crisis, said Jared Bernstein, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

In its recent report, Moodys Analytics said Bidens plan would provide a large boost to the economy if passed into law and help create 7.5 million jobs this year and another 2.5 million next year, fully recovering all the jobs lost since the pandemic hit.

While Biden has refused to break apart the package, a bipartisan group of more moderate lawmakers recommended Friday that he do just that. The Problem Solvers Caucus, co-chaired by New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer, called for quick approval of $160 billion for vaccines, while the discussions continued on rest of the bill.

We simply cannot afford to wait weeks upon weeks to get more vaccines out the door, said Gottheimer, D-5th Dist.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

Gov. Phil Murphy, meanwhile, joined New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in laying claim to a portion of the proposals $350 billion in state and local aid commensurate with the fact that both states were among the ones hardest hit by the coronavirus when it first came to this country.

We were clobbered, Murphy said.

Cuomo said that when a disaster strikes, the areas most damaged get the most aid. That should happen here, he said.

When a state gets hit by a hurricane, that state gets relief, Cuomo said. Its not that every state gets relief. Our state and our region paid the highest price.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez will be one of the senators helping to write the formula for distributing federal COVID assistance to state and local governments.

The governors were absolutely right that we should be treating COVID aid like federal disaster assistance after a hurricane in which you target resources to the hardest-hit areas, Menendez said. New Jersey has been one of the hardest-hit states and we need the federal government to step up in a big way.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Bangkok: The Australian government has serious concerns about Sean Turnell, an Australian economic adviser to Myanmars former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained by police.

Suu Kyi was overthrown in a military coup days ago and, in a message sent to the Reuters news agency on Saturday, he said he was being detained.

Dr Sean Turnell an associate professor in economics at Macquarie University, Sydney, Credit:File

I guess you will soon hear of it, but I am being detained, he said. Being charged with something, but not sure what. I am fine and strong, and not guilty of anything, he said with a smile emoji. He couldnt be contacted again.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said the Australian government was deeply concerned about reports of Australian and other foreign nationals being detained arbitrarily in Myanmar.

VIRDEN  A Carlinville man wanted on a charge of obstructing justice in a Monday homicide in Virden has been arrested in Kentucky, but is challenging extradition.

A warrant was issued for Dalton M. Obermark, 20, of Carlinville during the investigation into the death of John Rennie, 58, of North Dye Street in Virden. Macoupin County authorities accuses Obermark of leaving the state to obstruct his prosecution while having material knowledge about Rennies death.
 Flash

Relations between Russia and the European Union (EU) are challenged by "a lack of normalcy," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday, according to a statement published by the foreign ministry.

"The key problem we face is a lack of normalcy in relations between Russia and the EU," Lavrov said at a press conference following his meeting with Josep Borrell, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

The minister noted that tense Russia-EU relations lead to an "unhealthy situation that does not benefit anyone."

Talking about the possibility of new sanctions over the case of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Lavrov pointed out that Russia has grown accustomed to the "unilateral restrictions" of the bloc, adding that the EU remains an "unreliable partner" at this stage.

According to the TASS news agency, Borrell expressed the view that the EU and Russia currently see each other as competitors rather than partners.

The EU official said that despite the fact that relations between Russia and the EU seem to be at a low point, in part due to Navalny's arrest, there should be "no wall of silence" and the dialogue must continue.

Axios

Southwest and American airlines won't yet resume in-flight alcohol service as planned after a flight attendant was recently assaulted by a passenger and other in-flight incidents.What they're saying: Southwest had initially planned to resume the service in June, but Sonya Lacore, the airline's head of in-flight operations, said in a memo obtained by CNN that "based on the rise in passenger disruptions in flight, I've made the decision to re-evaluate the restart of alcohol service on board."Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free"Given the recent uptick in industry-wide incidents of passenger disruptions in-flight, we have made the decision to pause the previously announced restart of alcohol service onboard,'' Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz told USA TODAY. Catch up quick: Last Sunday, a female passenger allegedly struck a flight attendant during a flight from Sacramento to San Diego  Southwest said two of the attendant's teeth had been knocked out. The passenger was then arrested on suspicions of battery causing serious bodily injury. The flight attendant was taken to a hospital once the plane landed, according to a police report. Southwest said Friday it banned the female passenger from flying with the airline again.The big picture: The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it had received approximately 2,500 reports of unruly passenger behavior since Jan. 1, with about 1,900 reports being of passengers refusing to follow federal mask mandates.Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.
Baptist Health to Begin Vaccinations Next Week

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - Kentucky residents age 70 and older can sign up to receive the COVID-19 vaccine beginning next week at Baptist Health Hospital.The hospital says you can make an appointment beginning Monday morning online at www.ScheduleYourVaccine.com . Vaccinations will begin on Wednesday.Appointments cannot be made by calling the hospital's main phone numbers. Switchboard operators do not have access to scheduling. Calls from people attempting to make appointments can cause problems for other patients trying to reach the hospital for urgent medical reasons.Appointments are expected to fill up quickly, but available appointments may open due to cancellations. The online portal will be updated with any cancellations and additional appointments. To promote social distancing, patients who arrive more than 30 minutes early are asked to wait in their vehicle.Vaccinations will begin on Wednesday in the hospital's education meeting rooms, located at the rear of the Larry Barton Atrium, near Outpatient Lab and Imaging. Those with a vaccination appointment must enter at the first floor of the Larry Barton Atrium to be screened.Baptist Health President Chris Roty said hospital staff will administer the vaccinations as quickly as possible, but getting to everyone who wants one will take time. He added that it may take several months before they are able to transition to the next phase of vaccine administration.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 23:43:08|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian international winger Mehdi Torabi, who left Persepolis last summer to join Qatari club Al Arabi, returned to his former team on Saturday, Tehran Times daily reported.

The 26-year-old, who was sidelined in Al Arabi due to injury, was unhappy over his lack of playing time in the Qatari team and decided to return to his former club.

He has penned an 18-month contract with Persepolis.

"I am happy to return to Persepolis and I want to make up for the past," Torabi was quoted as saying.

"I want to repeat my previous success with Persepolis, that's why I have returned to the team," he added. Enditem
Every evening I hear my 80-year-old mother crying as she desperately tries to contact our family back in India. Phone lines go dead, emails remain unanswered, a communication blackout leaves us fraught with worry until a solitary brief message arrives: Were okay. For now. I turn to Twitter for news but accounts have been shut down at the request of the Indian government.

We turn on the Indian TV channels in our UK home and there are reports of journalists being detained and tortured. We see a statement from the Press Club of India condemning the actions of the government and its attempts to silence media channels that dare report what is going. Meanwhile, the state-controlled media has gone into overdrive spreading fake news and outright lies to stoke communal violence.

This is daily life for so many British Indians as we frantically try to keep track of our families on the frontline of protests against the farming laws implemented by the government.

Indias new laws will allow big corporates to manage the agricultural economy and the farmers claim it will put them into debt, and further into poverty, driving them off their land with no recourse in the legal system for injustices by big business. The land they desperately fought for, that fed the nation as India struggled with famine in the aftermath of independence, will now literally be taken away from them.

The violence being used against the protesters of these laws is horrific. My family have sent me videos of old men being battered with iron rods, women and children being trampled by tractors, and bodies left lifeless in the streets.

I have known my cousin Bahadur all my life. He travelled to Delhi last month  leaving behind his wife, son and grandchildren  to peacefully protest and stand up for what he believes in. Each day his family wonders if they will ever see him again, or if there will be a knock at the door and they will all be taken away. I worry Bahadur will be arrested for defending their livelihoods. Standing up for democracy and an honest days work.

The India of today is a distant memory from that which my ancestors campaigned and fought for under British rule. Independence activist and former Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehrus words in August 1947 crackled over my grandfathers wireless: At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. Fast forward to 2021, on Republic Day, the day India declared independence, Indians awoke to the sound of gunshots, brutal beatings, detention and death inflicted on its own citizens by its own government.

Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modis ultra-right-wing government has, through its links with the right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) paramilitary organisation, implemented a number of controversial policies that have led to tensions with its own citizens and its neighbours China and Pakistan.

The gulf between rich and poor has never been greater and farmers claim these new agricultural black laws, which were rapidly passed without consultation or debate, using Covid-19 as an excuse, will push them further into poverty.

When Modi was chief minister of the Gujarat region he was banned from travelling to the EU, Britain and the US for his part in instigating vicious riots in 2012 that saw more than 1,000 Muslim men, women and children killed. Local reports account mothers dragged into the streets, raped, and murdered in front of their families.

Now Modi is the prime minister, the world remains silent as his government passes laws enabling the wealthy to control land and farms owned by families for generations. The government then enforces horrific brutality against anyone who defies it.

Every day I panic that their next victim could be one of my loved ones. Its nothing short of suppression of democracy and economic terrorism against the people of India.

It is estimated that approximately 50 per cent of the population of India works in the agricultural sector. The farmers in their desperation, as the last stand to protect their families, are prepared to die for their cause. These protests are the largest of their kind in history, with one million farmers opposing a right-wing, fascist regime propped up by a clutch of billionaires.

On 26 January, Republic Day, a peaceful protest made its way through the streets of the capital, but soon erupted into carnage. Undercover officials infiltrated unions and broke out into violent protest, giving police reason to attack the crowds. My family told me they saw RSS thugs dressed in police uniforms carrying out horrific attacks of violence on the elderly, women and children. There are reportedly around 100 missing protesters, allegedly abducted.

After months of protests, the western world has mostly ignored the violence in India, despite the horrific images spreading across social media from witnesses in the epicentre of it. While overseas governments are distracted by the pandemic, human rights violations on a gargantuan scale are being allowed to continue.

Each night my mother and I attempt to make contact with our family, to make sure they are still alive. Each night she sits in tears and I wonder when  and if  our government will ever sit up, take notice and take action.

The writer is a 57-year-old chartered accountant from Berkshire. He was born and raised in Britain but visited India several times a year, until coronavirus hit
What distinguished Rabbi Twerski from many other Orthodox therapists was his willingness to look outside his community. In one of his works, The Shame Borne in Silence: Spouse Abuse in the Jewish Community (1996), he called attention to a problem that many Hasidic leaders argued should be handled discreetly within the insular community, without informing the police or outside authorities.

Image Among Rabbi Twerskis many books was The Shame Borne in Silence, which called attention to spousal abuse, a problem many Hasidic leaders argued should be handled discreetly within the insular Orthodox community.

Abraham Joshua Heschel Twerski was born on Oct. 6, 1930, in Milwaukee, where his parents had immigrated in 1927 after leaving Russia. His father, Jacob, the sixth-generation descendant of the grand rabbi of Chernobyl, was the rabbi of Beth Jehudah Synagogue in Milwaukee. His mother, Devorah Leah (Halberstam) Twerski, was the daughter of a grand rabbi of Bobov, one of the largest Hasidic sects.

Abraham was the third of five brothers, each of whom became a rabbi but was given an advanced secular education as well, earning college and graduate degrees, something very few Hasidim strive for. He attended public schools in Milwaukee, and in second grade acted in a Christmas play. When his mother visited the school, the principal thought she was there to complain; instead, she told the principal that if her sons Jewish upbringing was not strong enough to weather a second-grade play, it was his family that had failed him.

He received his rabbinical ordination in 1951 through the Hebrew Theological College in Chicago (now in Skokie, Ill.). While working with his fathers synagogue as an assistant rabbi, he relished counseling others but realized that the members of the congregation would always turn to his father for advice about their most intimate personal problems. He decided, he explained in a 1988 interview with the National Council of Jewish Women, that by studying psychiatry he might enhance his own talent.

So I went to medical school to become a psychiatrist to do what I wanted to do as a rabbi, he said.

He received his medical degree at Marquette University in Milwaukee, a Jesuit institution. When the actor Danny Thomas, a practicing Catholic who had been raised in the Midwest, learned during a lunch with Marquette officials that a student who was an Orthodox rabbi needed up to $4,000 to complete his medical studies, he told the officials, Hes got it, and made good on his pledge.

Rabbi Twerski trained as a psychiatrist at the University of Pittsburgh. He was supposed to take up a teaching position at the university, but after Sister Adele at St. Francis Hospital let him know of the hospitals needs for a stronger mental health program, he became its director of psychiatry. He stayed there for 20 years.
Here in Scotland, we are fortunate to be awash with money. With our public funds brimming over, during an unprecedented crisis. That, at any rate, is the impression anyone would get from the proposal by interested parties for the Scottish government to provide a subsidy to enable them to introduce a four-day working week with no loss of pay.

This proposal was, unsurprisingly, passed at the SNP conference and is being supported by the Scottish Trades Union Congress, as well as the Circle Scotland CIC and the Autonomy and New Economics Foundation think tank.

It is claimed that the initiative could create up to 60,000 new jobs. And, no doubt, it would also create plenty of opportunities for overtime working with pay at overtime rates.

The country with the highest deficit in Europe and low levels of productivity can somehow, from somewhere, find the money to subsidise this initiative? Is this all part of the SNPs new MMT strategy, known to its proponents as Modern Monetary Theory and to the sane and numerate among us as the Magic Money Tree?

Jill Stephenson

Edinburgh

Battle of Waterloo

As a lifelong film fan, and a big personal fan of, Christopher Plummer, I have been reading many tributes  The Independent first of course  to him across various media outlets.

The list of memorable performances is impressive, to put it mildly. However, I have noticed one role  brilliantly performed  notable by its complete absence: the Duke of Wellington in the huge 1970 epicWaterloo.

Surely, this omission cannot have occurred because of Brexit (reminding everyone the French lost must be de rigueur) and I am certain that Arthur Wellesley was not a slave owner, so it is all rather mysterious.

A whole page repeating an old review of this classic period war movie would be just splendid. Thanks.

Robert Boston

Kent

Marjorie Taylor Greene

Thank you for Saturday's three pages dedicated to explaining the unpleasant phenomenon that is Marjorie Taylor Greene.

After years of monosodium glutamate leaving an unpleasant aftertaste, it seems MSG has been superseded by the even more unpalatable MTG; and (unfortunately) for the foreseeable future.

Alistair Vincent

Barnet

Britains borders

So "Keir Starmer and Labour are being unrealistic about sealing Britains borders", says John Rentoul. Is that so?

UK public, turn over your papers: Q1. Compare and contrast (a). Labours plan (b). Tory free-for-all. Your time starts now.

Eddie Dougall

Suffolk

Fresh policies

It is true that we are sleepwalking into a world that is rife with economic ruin, isolationism, protectionism and new and potentially more dangerous variants of the virus. Places of worship, museums, art galleries, concerts, festivals, cinemas; places where people meet, exchange knowledge and blossom socially, culturally and spiritually have been devastatingly hit by the virus. Dwindling financial resources place in jeopardy the livelihoods of thousands of employees. Time to formulate policies to rejuvenate the vibrancy and diversity of individuals and communities at large.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob

London

Powerless America

Joe Biden is wrong. America is the Worlds Chumps, not the World Champs.

The USA is not back as the world number one, the world superpower, the world's most important and most significant nation.

Biden is wrong to think the world, Russia and China et al, should do as they are told by the US.

America is no longer looked up to as the world number one, but at the bottom of the world table in regards to coronavirus.

Jane Wallace

Sydney
Citing the jail manual, a jail official told PTI that since the production warrant was issued by a trial court in Allahabad, an order from the same court or a competent government officer is needed to release the comedian

Madhya Pradesh jail authorities did not release comedian Munawwar Faruqi from jail on Saturday even though he was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in a case of allegedly hurting religious sentiments with objectionable remarks about Hindu deities during a show.

Officials cited the execution of a production warrant issued by a trial court in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh court, in connection with an FIR lodged in the state, for not releasing the comedian.

The top court had on Friday stayed a Madhya Pradesh High Court order of 28 January, which had refused to grant Faruqui the bail and had also stayed the production warrant issued against the comedian by the Uttar Pradesh trial court.

Counsels of the comedian on Saturday submitted the order of the apex court in the Indore court, which directed that the comedian be released on a bond of Rs 50,000 and a similar amount of security.

Asked why Faruqui was not released from the jail, an officer of the Indore Central Jail told PTI that a court in Allahabad had ordered Faruqui's production in a similar case on 18 February. Citing the jail manual, he said an order from the Allahabad court or a competent government officer is needed to release Faruqui.

The officer said Faruqui will be taken to Prayagraj on Sunday morning if they don't get the requisite order. Before that, a COVID-19 test will be conducted on him, he added.

Meanwhile, Faruqui's cousin Zaid Pathan said they are disappointed with the stand of the jail administration. "Our belief in the judiciary was strengthened after the Supreme Court order," he said.

Faruqui and four others were arrested on 1 January following a complaint by a BJP MLA's son that objectionable remarks about Hindu deities and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were passed during a comedy show at a cafe in Indore on New Year's Day.

One more person was arrested subsequently. However, he was not released.

Earlier, the lower court on two occasions and the Indore bench of the MP High Court had denied bail to the comedian. As per the First Information Report, the comedy show was held at a cafe in 56 Dukan area of Indore on 1 January.

Eklavya Singh Gaud, son of local BJP MLA Malini Laxman Singh Gaud, had filed a complaint against Faruqui and others. Faruqui and others were arrested under IPC section 295-A (outraging religious feelings).

They were also accused of holding the show amid the COVID-19 pandemic without permission and were booked under Section 269 (unlawful or negligent act likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life), and other relevant provisions.

With inputs from PTI
MFilm producer Ronnie Screwvala on Saturday said shooting of his upcoming production Mission Majnu, featuring Sidharth Malhotra and south star Rashmika Mandanna, has commenced in Lucknow. Set in the 1970s, the film is inspired by real events, follows the story of Indias most courageous mission in the heart of Pakistan that forever changed the relationship between the two nations. Screwvala, known for films like Uri: The Surgical Strike and The Sky is Pink, will be producing the espionage thriller via his RSVP Movies along with Bajrangi Bhaijaan producer Amar Butala and Garima Mehta.

The first chapter of one of Indias deadliest covert operations begins today! #MissionMajnu commences shoot in Lucknow, the post shared on RSVPs official Twitter handle read. Madanna too expressed her excitement on the commencement of shoot and wished the team good luck.

Ahhhhh.. my boys start rolling today! All the bestest yall.. have fun without me, she posted on her Instagram Stories.

Written by Parveez Shaikh, Aseem Arrora and Sumit Batheja, Mission Majnu is the debut directorial venture of ad filmmaker Shantanu Bagchi. The film also marks Mandannas foray into Hindi movie industry. She is best known for starring in Kannada film Anjani Putra and Telugu title Geetha Govindam.

Malhotra will be seen as a RAW agent, who leads the mission, while details regarding Madannas role have not been revealed yet.

3 1 of 3 Courtesy of La Marginal Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Google Street View Show More Show Less 3 of 3





On Tuesday, Feb. 2, Leonel Alvarez passed away after a short battle with COVID-19. The father of four was also the longtime owner of La Marginal the popular Puerto Rican restaurant off Nacogdoches Road.

Per a GoFundMe page set up to raise funds for expenses, the restaurant owner, 50, originally tested negative for COVID-19 in late December, but after several days with no improvement he re-tested on January 4. He was admitted to St. Lukes Baptist Hospital where eventually passed earlier this week.
VALE  The nurse walked into the hospital room and then the chaplain came and they stood by as Niki Cutler kneeled next to her dads bed and held his hand and, as best she could, prepared for him to die.

His lungs destroyed by the COVID virus, Erstrom died quietly soon after.

Erstrom became one of 55 Malheur County residents who have died from COVID-19 since last spring.

In Oregon, he was among nearly 2,000 people who perished from COVID.

Less than a month before Jerry Erstrom died Jan. 21, he was a healthy 71-year-old man recovering from a minor back surgery. The future was wide open for the former farmer and Bureau of Land Management employee.

While the number of COVID deaths and infections continues to climb, Erstroms life and family and experiences cant be relegated to statistics.

He was a dedicated employee, a man with a ready smile who loved his children and his grandchildren.

He liked to play cards with his grandson.

He loved Oreo cookies.

He loved to travel with his family.

He loved to go to Bixbys Stopitoff Coffee in Vale.

He loved to give people a hard time, said Cutler.

Perhaps the simplest vision of Jerry Erstrom is the truest.

He was a father.

A grandfather.

A friend.

A hard worker.

He loved Malheur County.

Then one day the coronavirus invaded his body.

And it killed him.

****

When Niki Cutler first heard about the COVID virus a year ago, she didnt consider it a serious illness.

In fact, she said in an interview last week, the virus appeared to be more of an inconvenience than anything else.

I was not sure if it was actually anything worse than the flu, said Cutler.

She no longer feels that way.

I wish I still had the privilege to be that naive, said Cutler.

In mid-December Jerry Erstrom was hospitalized for back surgery. He returned to the Cutler household in Ontario afterward with Niki and her husband, Jared, helping him recover.

COVID didnt haunt the Cutlers then and the family turned to Christmas.

We had a small, quiet Christmas, Cutler said. Dad was a little sore from back surgery, but good.

Life continued normally at the Culter house after Christmas. Jerry Erstrom watched television news or old Westerns. He enjoyed his grandkids, especially playing cards with his 12-year-old grandson Brennan.

The card games were a tradition for Erstrom and Brennan.

They had the same sense of humor. They would try to one up each other with jokes. They didnt need anyone else and went and did their thing, said Cutler.

In late December, Jared Cutler, an Ontario Police Department officer, came down with a head cold.

Then we found out he may have been exposed (to COVID) at work. He went and got tested and came up positive. My daughter and I came back positive. My dad was negative, said Cutler.

Where were we exposed? We honestly dont know for sure, said Cutler.

On the second to last day of the year, Jerry Erstrom went to a hospital in Nampa because of a urinary tract infection. Erstrom was again tested for COVID. Again, he was negative.

We just needed to clear up the UTI and he was good to go to come home, said Cutler.

A few days later while still in the hospital, Jerry Erstrom tested positive.

He was having some congestion and some trouble breathing, said Cutler.

X-rays of Erstroms chest showed he had COVID pneumonia that the medical staff told the Cutlers was manageable. Erstrom would need supplemental oxygen for a while but he was ready to go back home.

Erstrom returned to the Cutler home on Jan. 7 but he was a different man.

His stamina was gone and he depended more on the oxygen each day.

Culter worked hard to keep her father moving, following the instructions from doctors to help him improve. While he needed oxygen, his levels remained in the normal range. Cutler thought her dad would beat the virus.

****

On the night of Jan. 11, a Monday, Erstrom played cards with Brennen. No one suspected it would be the last game.

The next day when Erstrom awoke he could barely get out of bed.

The most modest of movements drained him. He asked that his oxygen be turned up.

He said, I just feel like I cant get air, Cutler said.

Cutler checked the blood oxygen level as her dad sat in a chair in her living room.

It was where it should be, said Cutler.

Erstroms physical therapist was scheduled to arrive soon so Erstrom prepared to shower. He could barely move.

He had to stop about every two steps because he didnt have enough energy to walk. He would stop, sit down and then get back up. My husband helped him into the bedroom to lay down and got oxygen on him and he said, I just need a minute, said Cutler.

The Cutlers tested Erstroms blood oxygen level again and this time it had dropped into the 70s. An oxygen level between 95 and 100 percent is considered normal, and immediate medical attention is recommended for a reading of less than 88.

We couldnt stabilize it, said Cutler.

The Cutlers immediately acted to take Erstrom to the hospital.

The children helped get their grandpa ready for the hospital and into the car.

They would never see him again.

At the St. Lukes Fruitland Medical Plaza emergency room, medical staff tested Erstroms blood oxygen level and alarms on equipment sounded.

They had to turn everything as high as they could just to get the alarms off, said Cutler.

Erstrom was tested for a bacterial infection.

He was tested for a blood clot.

Nothing showed up on the tests but COVID, said Cutler.

The doctors, she said, didnt waste any time.

They said he is being transported, said Cutler.

The medical staff asked Erstrom if he would allow himself to be intubated if need be.

I answered yes before dad can get a word out, said Cutler.

The ambulance arrived and Cutler was able to give her dad a hug and tell him she loved him.

That was the last time that I would be able to have a conversation with him that lasted longer than one or two minutes, said Cutler.

****

Over the next five days at St. Lukes Nampa Medical Center, Erstrom appeared to be on the long road back. He was receiving the highest amount of oxygen possible each day, but his levels stabilized around 90 to 95, said Cutler.

Erstroms chest X-rays, said Cutler, looked awful but he was improving a little bit each day.

Doctors were cautiously optimistic, said Cutler.

There was hope because they dont know with this virus. There is no pattern, no way of knowing. They cant predict. The doctor in the ICU mentioned they do their best but they sit and watch because the virus has a mind of its own, said Cutler.

Cutler was at home Jan. 18 when Erstroms doctor called.

The signs werent good.

Erstrom was suddenly declining, his blood pressure was dropping.

He needed to go on a ventilator to save his life, the doctor said.

His oxygen wasnt able to be sustained. If they did not intubate him, he would be in cardiac arrest that night, said Cutler.

The doctor said the family could talk to Erstrom over the phone before they inserted the tube that would prevent Erstrom from speaking.

So that Tuesday, Cutler and her children, Brennan and his sister Alex, 18, cradled the phone in the living room and talked to their grandfather.

The smallest thing was causing him to be short of breath, beyond being able to speak, said Cutler.

The conversation was grueling for her children, said Cutler.

She handed the phone to them, aware the conversation might be the last they had with their grandfather.

Erstrom told his grandchildren how important to him they were.

How much he loved them.

How proud of them he was and that he would always be with them.

Afterward, she held them as they cried.

Questions lingered. They were terrified. Grandpa had just been at the house. What was going on?

The next four days were a blur for Cutler and her family. They were isolated from Erstrom and could not see him because of COVID restrictions at the hospital.

So, they waited.

And hoped.

And prayed.

****

On Jan. 21, Cutler received another phone call from the doctor.

He had declined more. With the maximum amount of oxygen, he was getting it was in the low 80s. The machines were doing all the work, said Cutler.

Erstroms instruction to his family had always been firm: He did not want to be kept alive by a machine.

The doctor was straightforward with Cutler.

If Enstrom somehow survived, he would be confined to a nursing home the rest of his life.

His lungs were full, just white, said Cutler.

It was time to decide.

The doctor, said Cutler, talked to the hospital administrators, arranging for her and her brother Mike to come to the hospital to say goodbye to their father.

We had to check in at the front. They took us where we needed to be. We went through the ICU and we could see our dad through the window and he looked peaceful, said Cutler.

Cutler and her brother then met with the team of nurses and doctors caring for their father.

We walked into a kind of room before his room, said Cutler.

Cutler donned personal protective equipment  gloves, a gown, a mask.

I already had glasses on, said Cutler.

First her brother went into the room and spent time with his father.

Then it was Cutlers turn.

She said she spent about 10 minutes with her father, but by then he was unconscious.

Then the team of nurses and doctors came in. Erstrom had been placed on his stomach to give his lungs more opportunity to function. Now the medical team carefully rolled him back onto his back.

****

Niki Cutler doesnt want to discuss whether the virus is real.

I am tired of hearing it is a made-up government scam, said Cutler.

Cutler said the images of the doctors and nurses helping her father is seared into her memory. So, too, are their words.

They told her they had lost more people in the last year than in the last 10.

They are tired.

Exhausted, mentally and physically.

I asked them what any of us could do to help. All they asked was we tell people that all of this is real, that we do what we can to help people understand the true severity, said Cutler.

The message: People are dying from COVID. Not from a pre-existing condition. Not from the flu. From COVID.

People, they told Cutler, need to understand the importance of wearing a mask and social distancing and doing research about getting the vaccine, said Cutler.

Now Cutler and her family struggle with the loss. She doesnt know how her family will move forward, only that they will.

She knows this, too: COVID is real. It kills. It kills without remorse. It kills old people and young people and brothers and sisters and grandparents.

I know that it affects everyone differently and praise God more situations do not end like my dad. I know many people will think of reasons to discredit my experience. Thats your right, said Cutler

She has one question for others.

Can you look at yourself in the mirror wondering if something that you have done has cost the life of another? Someone you love? If you can, you are a stronger person than I am, said Cutler.

Friday, Jerry Erstrom was laid to rest at the Valley View Cemetery in Vale.

He was a father.

A grandfather.

A man with a smile.

A man who loved his children and grandchildren.

He wasnt a statistic.

News tip? Contact reporter Pat Caldwell at pat@malheurenterprise.com
S Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday, February 6 said senior military commanders of India and China have held nine rounds of talks on the process of disengagement of troops in eastern Ladakh and the parleys will continue in the future also.

Addressing reporters in Vijayawada, he said so far there was no "visible expression" of the talks on the ground. "The disengagement talks, because it is a very complicated issue because it depends on troops, you have to know the geography (like) which position and what is happening, this is being done by the military commanders," he said.

He was replying to a query on whether there would be any ministerial-level talks between both the countries on skirmishes between troops of the Asian giants.

Amid the ongoing talks, fresh clashes between Indian and Chine soldiers were reported in north Sikkim at Naku La in January when Chinese soldiers were pushed back after they made attempts to intrude into Indian territory. Indian Army said it was a minor face-off, which got resolved by local commanders

China and India are locked in a military standoff in eastern Ladakh since May 5 last.

The two countries have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks to resolve the face-off, but no significant headway has been made so far. "So, military commanders have held nine rounds of meetings so far. We believe some progress has been made, but it is not, in a kind of situation where there is a visible expression of that on the ground," he said.

Jaishankar said he and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held parleys with their counterparts of China last year in Moscow and agreed that they should disengage in some parts.

On the recent union budget, he said there has been a significant additional outlay for the Defence, both in the financial year as well as capital expenditure.

The minister said there is an 18 percent increase in capital expenditure which, according to him, is the highest during the past 15 years.

During the COVID-19 induced lockdown last year, S Jaishankar noted that as many as four million Indians stranded abroad were brought back by operating 17,000 flights. The workers who came back from gulf countries during the COVID-19 pandemic have now started returning, which is a good sign, he added. Explaining the salient features of the budget, he said it indicates the way between the "COVID-19 recovery and Economic recovery".

Zaka  A bar owner at Jerera growth point here will live to regret operating the beer spot in violation of the country's lockdown restrictions after a patron was murdered inside his premise over a missing Samsung A30 mobile phone.

Takura Mupindu (29) who is from Jerera, Zaka, owner of Nherera night club, was selling beer through a window of his night club with several patrons in attendance, when the now deceased, Cyril Chitumba was stoned to death by other patrons.

Mupindu was later arrested for breaching section 4(1)(c) of the Public Health (Covid-19 prevention, containment and treatment) SI 83/20 "Operating a liquor outlet during lockdown".

His patrons Gladman Marufu (35) and Kudzai Siyawareva (24), who are now facing murder, were also arrested.

The incident happened on 1 February around midnight.

A police memo said Marufu and Siyawareva, together with Armstrong Marava who is still at large, were drinking beer in the company of the now deceased at the night club when they gave the now deceased a Samsung A30 cell phone, a Bluetooth radio and handbag for safe keeping.

"It is alleged that Armstrong Marava took the phone from the now deceased and hid it. As the night wore on, at about 2330 hours, the first accused person asked for his property from the now deceased.

"The now deceased handed over the handbag and Bluetooth radio and indicated he could not locate the Samsung A30 cell phone," read the memo.

Marava is said to have first slapped the now deceased with open hands several times before he was joined by Marufu and Siyawareva in the assault.

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"Armstrong Marava disappeared from the scene. The two accused persons continued to assault the now deceased. The first accused person stabbed the now deceased on the neck, nose and right eye with a sharp pointed object.

"The accused persons kept on assaulting him whilst he was lying helplessly on the ground, striking him with some crutches, a bench and some bricks.

"The onslaught lasted close to an hour and the now deceased died due to injuries sustained in the assault," read the memo under Zaka RRB 4628745.

The crime scene was attended by detectives from CID Zaka who arrested the trio.

Four concrete bricks and one farm brick allegedly used to strike the deceased were recovered at the scene.

Marufu and Siyawareva were searched and a bloodstained white cap was recovered in possession of Marufu.
On the FactCheck page, The Associated Press tracks down some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals that were shared widely on social media. The AP takes those untrue stories, checks them out and sets the records straight in this weekly series of news articles.


They received medical assistance.

Two Ukrainian soldiers have been wounded in Donbas as a result of shelling by the Russian occupation forces.

Read alsoDonbas war update: Ukraine records six ceasefire violations on Feb 5"Today, February 6, at about 13:00, two servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were wounded as a result of enemy shelling near the towns of Toretsk and Severodonetsk. They received medical assistance, their condition is stable," the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group wrote on Telegram.

Using a coordination mechanism, the Ukrainian side to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination has introduced a ceasefire on both sectors of the front and sent appropriate notes to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission.

Other related news reports

Reporting by UNIAN
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday condemned Russia's decision to expel European diplomats from Moscow for participating in protests seeking Alexei Navalny's release. Merkel called the expulsion "unjustified", adding it just goes on to show Russia is far away from rule of law. Merkel made the comments during an online conference with French President Emmanuel Macron. Russia expelled diplomats from Germany, Poland, and Sweden after they took part in demonstrations last month.

Read: Borrell Hopes Russia's Sputnik V Vaccine Will Be Certified In European Union

Russian Foreign Minister Heiko Maas warned that if Russia does not reconsider its step it will face consequences. "Russia's decision to expel several EU diplomats, including an employee from the Moscow embassy, is in no way justified and further damages relations with Europe. Should Russia do not reconsider this step, it will not go unanswered," Maas wrote on Twitter. Earlier, the European Union Representative of Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell condemned Russia's decision to expel European diplomats and urged Kremlin to reconsider the step.

Read: Russia: Doctor Who Treated Putin Critic Navalny After Poisoning Dies Due To Heart Attack

Russian Foreign Ministry said that the diplomats have been asked to leave the country because they took part in "unlawful" rallies on January 23, when tens and thousands of people poured on the streets of Moscow and other cities across Russia to protest against Navalny's detention. The Russian Foreign Ministry has designated the diplomats as "persona non grata", meaning they no longer enjoy diplomatic immunity.

Navalny's arrest and subsequent reactions

Russia is currently facing the wrath of the international community, particularly the West, over the sentencing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The international community, including the European Union and the United States, are demanding the immediate release of Navalny and are asking Russia to respect the rights of those protesting over his detention.

Read: India Welcomes Extension Of New START Treaty Between US & Russia: MEA

Russia witnessed mass protests earlier this week after a court reinstated Navalny's suspended sentence and ordered him to serve the remaining term in prison. Russia responded to the protests by detaining thousands of demonstrators and putting them in jail on the pretext of them violating COVID-19 measures. Russia took similar actions on January 23 and January 31 after several thousand came to the streets to protest against Navalny's arrest.

Read: EU's Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell Jets To Russia Amid Alexei Navalny Controversy

(Image Credit: AP)


With coronavirus cases still climbing, Honduras got tired of waiting to get vaccines through a United Nations program, so the small Central American country struck out on its own, securing the shots through a private deal.

Honduras ``cannot wait on bureaucratic processes or misguided decisions`` to give citizens ``the peace of mind'' offered by the COVID-19 vaccine, said Juan Carlos Sikaffy, president of the Honduran Private Business Council, which helped complete the purchase by providing a bank guarantee.

Other nations are getting impatient too. Unlike past disease outbreaks, where less wealthy countries have generally waited for vaccines to be delivered by the UN and other organizations, many are now taking matters into their own hands. Experts are increasingly concerned that these go-it-alone efforts could undermine a UN-backed program to get COVID-19 shots to the neediest people worldwide.

Countries including Serbia, Bangladesh and Mexico recently began vaccinating citizens through donations or commercial deals _ an approach that could leave even fewer vaccines for the program known as COVAX, since rich countries have already snapped up the majority of this year's supply.

Led by the World Health Organization, a coalition for epidemic preparedness known as CEPI and a vaccine alliance called GAVI, COVAX was created to distribute COVID-19 vaccines fairly. Countries can join either to buy vaccines or to get donated shots.

Mustaqeem De Gama, a diplomat at the South African mission in Geneva, cited ``a level of desperation'' fueled by spreading virus variants and ``the uncertainty of when any COVAX vaccines might arrive.'' He doubted that countries that signed up for COVAX ''will even get 10% of what they require.''

Even if the effort succeeds, COVAX's stated goal is to vaccinate less than 30% of people in poor countries, meaning that governments must seek other sources to obtain enough shots to achieve herd immunity.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said his country was forced to cut its own deals after watching rich countries scramble for the scarce shots. He criticized nations that, he said, bought more doses than they needed.

``It's as if they intend to vaccinate all their cats and dogs,'' he said.

Although Serbia paid 4 million euros to COVAX last year, it has not yet received any shots and last month began its immunization campaign with vaccines from Pfizer, China's Sinopharm and Russia.

Recent manufacturing delays in Europe raise concerns about whether drugmakers will be able to fulfill the multiplying orders.

``There are so many deals being signed that I think it's hard to see how the numbers could possibly add up for all the doses ordered to actually be produced in the foreseeable future,'' said Amanda Glassman, a public health expert and executive vice-president of the Center for Global Development.

Last week, the African Union completed a deal for 400 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, to be produced by the Serum Institute of India. That's on top of a previously negotiated African Union deal for 270 million doses from several pharmaceutical companies and in addition to the 600 million doses Africa expects to receive from COVAX.

Some experts warn that these new deals could move COVAX further to the back of the line, especially if some countries are willing to pay a premium for speed.

To ensure South Africans got doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine quickly, government officials reluctantly agreed to pay a higher price per shot than Europe or North America. The first shipments arrived this week.

COVAX hopes to start sending its first vaccine batches to Africa later this month, but those plans are subject to change depending on manufacturers' production capacities and countries' immunization plans.

Mexico began vaccinating health workers in December because of a direct purchase agreement with Pfizer. In recent weeks, the country has been forced to turn to Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, which was expected to arrive next week, even though it has not been approved by Mexican regulators.

Kate Elder, senior vaccines policy adviser at Doctors Without Borders, said developing countries should not be criticized for securing private vaccine deals since that is precisely what rich countries did last year.

``Every country is just doing what it feels it needs to do to protect their people,'' she said, but the ability of poor countries and regions to get vaccine faster than COVAX could hurt future UN efforts.

``If countries are getting vaccines on their own, then how are WHO and GAVI delivering for them?'' she asked.

Although India is contracted to provide COVAX with several hundred million doses of vaccine, the shots have not yet been authorized by the WHO, meaning India cannot release them for the UN program. In the meantime, India has already gifted neighbors, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, with more than 5 million doses.

Dr. Haritha Aluthge of Sri Lanka's Government Medical Officers' Association, called for the WHO to intervene amid the intense competition for vaccines and the failure of COVAX to deliver.

``Not a single dose (from COVAX) has been received,'' Aluthge said.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned recently that the world is on the brink of a ``catastrophic moral failure'' if COVID-19 vaccines are not distributed fairly, but the agency has no authority to force rich countries to share.

Its entreaties for countries to act in solidarity have mostly been ignored.

Norway is the only country that said it would send vaccines to developing countries as its own citizens are immunized, but it has not specified how many would be donated. Britain said it would not divert any vaccines until it finishes its own immunization program. Australia, which has mostly stamped out COVID-19, has no timeline for when it might share vaccines with its poorer neighbors in southeast Asia and the Pacific islands.

The unrelenting pressure on the world's vaccine supplies might only lift when more shots prove successful, said Krishna Udayakumar, director of the Duke Global Health Institute.

``COVAX is the only global, multilateral platform to enable something close to global access and equity, and yet, it has access to a relatively small amount of vaccines,'' he said. ``The only way out is to have more vaccines.''

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Since the courts intervened late last year, the contest has been defined by ever-changing, razor-thin margins and a convoluted judicial process that exposed egregious flaws in the way election officials handled and counted ballots. For weeks, a judge was tasked with deciding the fate of more than 1,000 ballots challenged by both campaigns, leaving the seat empty when the new Congress was seated in January.

Even so, the saga may not be over: The Brindisi campaign has argued that several hundred ballots that were rejected should have been counted and it has signaled that it could appeal the election results. Mr. Brindisi could also seek recourse in the House of Representatives, which has the power to order a new election or recount in the race, and potentially unseat Ms. Tenney.

I am shocked and surprised by this decision because of the countless errors and discrepancies that have occurred throughout this initial count, Mr. Brindisi said in a statement. I believe a full audit and hand recount is the only way to resolve this race. With the margin so thin, the ever-changing tally, and the countless errors that have occurred arriving at todays final number we cant afford to wonder here. We have to get it right.

The election in the 22nd District, which stretches from the southeastern shores of Lake Ontario to the northern Pennsylvania border, was a rematch between the candidates and one of the most expensive contests in the nation.

Ms. Tenney was vying to reclaim her seat from Mr. Brindisi, who upset her in 2018, when he won by fewer than 4,500 votes in a district where Republicans outnumber Democrats.

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Maybe life has to do with figuring out our strengths and following our passions, knowing fully well that we dont suck at everything. I believe nobody said it better than Mr. Einstein himself:Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.

Every man is more than just himself; he also represents the unique, the very special and always significant and remarkable point at which the worlds phenomena intersect  Hermann Hesse

For a man whose name is synonymous with genius, it should be hard trying to imagine Albert Einstein as a prodigal son whose father died believing he was a complete failure. Yet, at school early in his life, he skipped classes and made close to failing grades. Legend has it that he was so uninspired by his own performance, that at some point he considered dropping out and pursuing a career as a life insurance salesman instead. When he finally graduated from the Swiss Polytechnic Institute with a degree in Mathematics and Natural Sciences in 1900, the 21-year old struggled to find a job and had to settle for a few odd offers. But that would all change when the young Einstein landed a job as a patent examiner at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern.

The young man loved his new job and every day would be seen sitting at his desk for hours on end, while carefully reviewing patents and solving tough mathematical equations that came along. His passion was so strong to the point of an obsession and this would ultimately cost him his love life. But that was how he went from being a struggling student, looked upon as a failure, to reaching the mountain top as a universally acclaimed genius, who developed the theory of relativity and pioneered many groundbreaking efforts in quantum mechanics. Its been over half a century since his death in April 1955, but Albert Einstein remains by far the most famous scientist the world has ever known.

Every once in a while, one gets lucky enough to be recognised for good stuff. Those are the little things of life that makes a weary heart light and lifts up the spirit to the high heavens. That seldom happens on a first try though. It often comes at the end of a string of failures, disappointments, falls and even, sometimes, having to pick-up the pieces. Then out of the blues, your shiny days get noticed and you are looked upon more favourably. But it gets a little odd when folks who are totally oblivious of your struggles begin to prefix your name with such hallowed words like brilliant, genius, etc. You know they are well intentioned and very appreciative of your modest successes but for sure you consider yourself unworthy of such appellations.

We all have this one thing that pushes the boundaries of our patience. We just cant seem to get good at it, as much as we would love to and so we develop a certain kind of phobia for it. Everyone has one of such. For me, it has to be solving multiple choice test questions in a wave of endless examinations that physicians are faced with every now and then. Though still able to work doubly hard and wing it through over the years, I have come to accept that as my kryptonite. Not that one hasnt had his fair share of lifes other challenges, but a few sub-par performances along the way did bruise a fragile academic ego. Self-confidence took a few hits in the process.

Having practiced medicine throughout his adult life, John was very thankful for that opportunity of a lifetime. The chance to make a difference in countless lives that crossed paths with him everyday was rewarding. He, however, confessed that as a physician, he had never woken up feeling like a super-hero or tap-dancing his way to work (to borrow a phrase from Warren Buffet).

This piece was inspired in part by the struggles of a dear friend and colleague who had called recently to vent her frustration. She wasnt sure what to do next, but her mind was fully made up about giving up the practice of medicine. Eva went into great details about how she had struggled with the decision for years and finally determined that the time was right. For her, medicine was just not worth the trouble anymore and gave her no joy as a career. She took me through her fears and challenges, many of which I share. Empathy was what I felt the whole time, since I have had my own share of conflicting thoughts to contend with, though not as radical as hers was. Not even close. Eva comes from old money and so we are at the polar ends of the financial spectrum. In the end, we both settled with what she felt gives her joy.

Growing up, Evas passion found expression in the liberal arts but tell that to a Nigerian parent offering binary career options! A child was to chose between medicine or law. If one was especially lucky, one might be blessed with parents open minded enough to consider engineering as a third option. Asides from that, for them it was a total waste of time and resources pursuing anything else and hiding under the guise of following ones passion.

John, another colleague of mine loves story telling. He always has, as far back as one could remember. By his account, however, he had let that passion of his fizzle out in deference to that which puts food on the table. But not anymore. He had figured out a way to walk and chew gum at the same time; something he discovered by pure serendipity but which nonetheless has made him happier than ever. His only regret was not embracing the concept and finding that genius long enough before now.

Having practiced medicine throughout his adult life, John was very thankful for that opportunity of a lifetime. The chance to make a difference in countless lives that crossed paths with him everyday was rewarding. He, however, confessed that as a physician, he had never woken up feeling like a super-hero or tap-dancing his way to work (to borrow a phrase from Warren Buffet). What is true is that in the course of caring for the sick and struggling with self-doubt, this average Joe colleague of mine ressurrected his passion for the written word and was ready to shoot for the stars.

A wise man once described life as a collection of humble lessons and I have no iota of doubt in my mind that he was right. Every man has a passion for something and thats why we all have the potential to be great. For when you are passionate about what you do, it automatically migrates from the realm of work to pure pleasure and the output is as huge as the reward.

I have often imagined how life would have turned out for Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, had she continued with her initial career path in medicine. By now, she would probably be somewhere saving lives, tucked away in a certain remote corner of the globe. Its doubtful, though, that she would have been anywhere close to the strastopheric success she has achieved as an internationally acclaimed best-selling novelist. Thank goodness, the never ending industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in the 90s forced her to relocate to America, where she opted to pursue her dream instead of living someone elses.

A wise man once described life as a collection of humble lessons and I have no iota of doubt in my mind that he was right. Every man has a passion and genius for something and thats why we all have the potential to be great. For when you are passionate about what you do, it automatically migrates from the realm of work to pure pleasure and the output is as huge as the reward.

Maybe life has to do with figuring out our strengths and following our passions, knowing fully well that we dont suck at everything. I believe nobody said it better than Mr. Einstein himself:

Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.

Follow your passion. Its never too late.

Osmund Agbo, a public affairs analyst is the coordinator of African Center for Transparency and Convener of Save Nigeria Project. Email: eagleosmund@yahoo.com
Interim Chancellor Ron Mitchelson said ECU is strong in Wednesdays state of the university address. | Photos: Rhett Butler

Speaking virtually, Mitchelson noted several accomplishments, such as ECU becoming a more diverse campus.

This post appears here courtesy of ECU News Services . The author of this post is Doug Boyd A year ago, East Carolina University was a very different place. But despite the challenges of the past 12 months, the university is strong and prepared for the future.That was the message from Interim Chancellor Ron Mitchelson during Wednesday's State of the University address. As with many things these days, Mitchelson spoke virtually.he said of the first few weeks of 2020.But the spread of COVID-19 sent students home after spring break and put classes online.Mitchelson said.Since that time, ECU has tackled the challenges the coronavirus brought and, he said, come out strong.For example, spring 2021 enrollment is up slightly compared to a year ago. Numerous organizations, such as Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report, rank ECU highly in various categories. ECU is a more diverse campus than it was five years ago, retention rates are up among almost all demographics, and four-, five- and six-year graduation rates have climbed. The five-year rate exceeds nearly all of ECU's peer institutions.Mitchelson said.ECU also has more military-affiliated students than any other school in the University of North Carolina System. Research expenditures have more than doubled since 2016, topping $50 million. That 120 percent growth rate topped the latest Higher Education Research and Development Survey. The university is working to be more fiscally and environmentally sustainable.In addition, ECU established the THRIVE (Towards Hiring, Resources, Inclusions, Value and Excellence) program to identify and eliminate organizational barriers that impede the full participation and advancement of diverse faculty in academic institutions  in ECU's case, particularly, to recruit and retain women in STEM fields. It's funded by a $1 million National Science Foundation grant.Looking ahead, the Life Sciences and Biotechnology Building is set to open in the summer, and ECU's Intersect East project promises public-private partnerships, jobs and innovation.Mitchelson said.Finances have taken a hit due to the pandemic. Mitchelson said the university has reduced full-time equivalent positions by nearly 200, furloughed employees and frozen hiring.he said.In fiscal year 2020, university revenues topped $976 million. Long-term debt is steadily decreasing. ECU's level of cash on hand has climbed.Next month, ECU will welcome its newest chancellor, Philip Rogers  a Greenville native and former administrative leader at ECU.Mitchelson said.And as he looked back on his year-plus as interim chancellor and ahead to his upcoming retirement, he said the experience has been "humbling but rewarding."he said.
Koster Gives Update on 70+ Vaccination Efforts

By Bill Hughes

PADUCAH - Vaccinations for people 70 or older start next week at Paducah's two hospitals.Public Health Director Kent Koster of the Purchase District Health Department told West Kentucky Star that all vaccines in Kentucky are being prioritized for that age group.Koster said, "Each hospital will get approximately 500 doses per week for first shots, and then in 28 days they'll be giving booster shots. So eventually, in four weeks (the hospitals will) begin receiving 1,000 doses of vaccine per week."Mercy Health Lourdes will begin vaccinations on Monday, and Baptist Health Paducah will begin on Wednesday. Those who receive the vaccine will be scheduled to return for the second dose.Beginning Monday, the website www.ScheduleYourVaccine.com has been set up for those wishing to schedule an appointment at Baptist Health Paducah (see link). A hotline was set up earlier this week to schedule vaccines at Mercy Health Lourdes, but appointments have already been made for their allotment of vaccines. They will notify the public when more appointments can be scheduled.Koster said he thinks the vaccination plan is on track, but, "There's not much vaccine, and that's the same story across the United States, unfortunately. We have a lot of people who are wanting to receive the vaccine, but it's going to take a long time for everyone to go through the process."The health department began registering people several weeks ago, and has created a database so they can inform everyone about vaccination availability in the area, such as the two clinics at hospitals. When the health department gets an allotment of vaccines, Koster said they will contact registrants to set up appointments.He asks everyone to be patient, but to be diligent in their efforts to get vaccinated. He said there are additional sites in Kentucky where local people have gone to get it, and more locations are opening, including one at the CFSB Center in Murray (see related story).Koster said he expects the Johnson and Johnson vaccine to be available soon, too.He said, "Efficacy is not as great, but it is good, and it is one dose, which makes it much easier, and storage and handling's much easier as well. So, things are looking up. Be patient."Koster has been told that the Federal Vaccination Program should come online sometime this month, using pharmacies to administer the vaccine."There's only 6,500 pharmacies in the United States that are going to receive vaccines, but we are very hopeful that we will have one or two of those pharmacies - or more - receiving vaccine here in the Purchase District," he said.When asked how long it will take to vaccinate anyone 70 or older, Koster said he attended a meeting Friday with local elected officials and hospital medical directors, and one of them said at the current rate, it could be a number of weeks.However, Koster said, "Taking into consideration the additional regional vaccination sites and what the health departments are receiving in order to give the COVID vaccination, it's going to decrease that to probably 4-plus weeks."After the 70+ population is vaccinated, Koster said essential workers (as defined by the CDC) would be next to get the vaccine.Regardless of whether anyone has been vaccinated, everyone should continue to wear a mask and observe social distancing, so the virus doesn't spread. Koster encouraged everyone to stay positive and not give up on the process.He said, "Everybody's working as hard as they can and doing everything that we've been asked to do. We're following the guidelines to stay within the phases that they've asked us to. Please Be patient. We're gonna get to you, eventually."On the Net:
China's Ministry of Education (MOE) issued a fresh warning on studying in Australia due to the recent anti-Chinese attacks in the country and the serious COVID-19 pandemic, a move that experts believe is prompt and necessary for the safety of Chinese students and also a result of the damaged and deteriorating China-Australia relations.

In the announcement issued on Friday, the MOE warned Chinese students to make a full risk assessment and consider carefully whether to go or return to Australia to study.

It noted that a series of vicious attacks on Chinese students that have happened recently in multiple places in Australia have posed a serious threat to their personal safety. The raging pandemic also makes international travel risky.

Australia once again became the first country that Chinas MOE warned against studying in for 2021, after the MOE issued its first warning for Australia in June 2020.

Experts said the move is an evident result of the recent China-Australia relations that have been poisoned by the Australian government and its media.

"The Australian government's continuous attacks against China, which have been echoed by the media, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, has misguided the local Australian people to generate hostility toward the Chinese," Chen Hong, director of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University in Shanghai, told the Global Times on Friday.

There have been a growing number of reports of Chinese students being abused and beaten in Australia, apparently due to race, according to information provided by the China Education Association for International Exchange, a non-profit organization, to the Global Times.

In particular, there were such reports on three consecutive days in January. The attacks included physical abuse and verbal insults such as using racist words like "chigga."

"The worsening discrimination problem that Chinese students face in Australia has reached an alarmingly high degree," Chen said, adding that the MOE's warning shows the responsibility of the Chinese government to ensure the safety of Chinese students studying in Australia.

He said that it can be foreseen that the Australian side might defend itself by saying that the reports of anti-Chinese attacks are only isolated cases in the country, and accused China of overreacting, just like what happened after China issued the warning in June 2020.

However, the intensity, frequency and severity of the discrimination that Chinese students are facing in Australia once again proves that it is necessary to warn the students and their parents to consider carefully going to the country to study, he noted.

About a dozen Chinese students in Australia reached by the Global Times also suggested Chinese applicants look at other countries considering the discrimination problem, the COVID-19 pandemic, visa restrictions and low-quality online teaching.

Education experts expressed support for the MOEs warning, saying that travel restrictions and an unfriendly China policy, as well as other uncertainties, have brought psychological pressure to Chinese students.

Qin Lin, an associate research fellow at China's National Institute of Education Sciences, told the Global Times that there are other alternatives for students to choose for overseas study, such as the UK and Canada.

She said the number of students going to Australia dropped sharply in 2020 and is not expected to improve much in 2021.

China is also the biggest source of international students in Australia. The data released by the Australian Department of Home Affairs shows that more than 220,000 mainland Chinese students were registered in Australia in 2020.

Billionaire airline mogul Richard Branson has called for Australia to adopt a net-zero emissions target by 2050, joining tech companies Tesla and Atlassian, energy company Origin, the Business Council and climate change groups.

In a submission to Independent MP Zali Steggalls climate change bill, Sir Richard, whose group of companies include Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Galactic, said humanity must redouble its efforts to stabilise the global temperature rise [and] reach net-zero by 2050  ideally much earlier.

Sir Richard Branson has called for Australia to adopt a net-zero target by 2050. Credit:AP

He acknowledged his companies  which operates in the space, aviation and tourism sectors  are quite aware of our climate impacts and our responsibility to tackle them.

A commitment from the Australian government to net zero would give Virgin and other businesses confidence to put the right long term strategies in place and encourage companies to be more ambitious.
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The Volta River Authority (VRA), says its health professionals are adequately equipped to handle COVID-19 cases at the Akosombo International School, and called for calm.



A statement from the Corporate Affairs and External Relations Unit of the Authority on Friday, February 05, said, following the reopening of schools, COVID-19 screening had been ongoing for staff and students.



It said all who tested positive so far were stable and without symptoms, but in isolation for further management and treatment by VRA Hospital Staff.



The statement said parents of students were duly informed and urged staff and students to continue with strict adherence to all COVID-19 safety protocols.



The Ghana Education Service (GES), ahead of the reopening of schools, issued guidelines to provide concrete steps for safe operations through prevention, early detection and control of COVID-19 in schools and other educational facilities.



The Service said the goal of the guidelines was to ensure that learners, teaching and non-teaching staff were safe in school and charged schools to enforce regular handwashing with soap under running water, use alcohol-based hand sanitiser and regularly disinfect and clean school surfaces such as door handles, tables and chairs.



It also urged them to enforce the wearing of face masks and ensure social distancing during class sessions and social events.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Admin gears up as Hisar farmers get set to protest today

Punjab MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu hoists black flag at his residence in support of protesting farmers

Chakka jam: No untoward incident, but farmers block several highways

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 06: The farmers have closed the highway in Haryana's Palwal as part of the Chakka Jam.

Meanwhile the ADG of UP said that no untoward incident has taken place so far. We have got support from farmer organisations, with their cooperation and our effort no untoward incident has happened so far.

Today also we've deployed adequate security force, UP ADG of Law and order said.

Chakka jam: Delhi Metro security update

At the Ghazipur border, the police restricted farm union leader, Rakesh Tikait from keeping flowers near the barricades.

Delhi metro stations to avoid amid farmers Chakka jam | Oneindia News

The farmers however blocked the roads in Sangrur and Rohtak-Jind highway. armers also blocked state highway connecting Gohana to Bhiwani at Haryana Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar's native Nindana in Rohtak.

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Story first published: Saturday, February 6, 2021, 13:13 [IST]

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 21:55:51|Editor: huaxia

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-- Xi requires all CPC members to put people's interests first.

-- The focus of China's work concerning agriculture, rural areas and farmers has shifted from poverty eradication to promoting rural vitalization.

-- Xi emphasizes prioritizing ecological conservation and green development.

-- Xi asks scientists to scale the heights of global science.

BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- About a week ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, President Xi Jinping made a three-day inspection trip to southwest China's Guizhou Province.

During the trip, he visited villagers and community residents, checked the water quality of a river and talked to scientists of China's signature single-dish radio telescope.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, wished happiness and good fortune for the people and prosperity for the nation in the Year of the Ox, which begins on Feb. 12.

The Year of the Ox marks a historic juncture for China as it embarks on a new quest to fully build itself into a modern socialist country. Here are some key takeaways from Xi's trip that may provide some insights into China's development trajectory.

PEOPLE MATTER MOST

The Party's fundamental purpose is to serve the people wholeheartedly. Xi has always required all CPC members to put people's interests first. As the Party's top leader, Xi himself visited ordinary people, the disadvantaged groups in particular, in his pre-Chinese New Year inspections for nine years in a row.

On Wednesday, Xi went to a once poor village in an ethnic Miao township and made a house call on villager Zhao Yuxue. He checked the family's living conditions and joined them to make a traditional snack for festivals. The next day, Xi went to a supermarket in the provincial capital Guiyang, checking the supply of goods for the Spring Festival holiday and their prices.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits villagers of Huawu Village, Xinren Miao Township of Qianxi County, Bijie, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 3, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

"The president encouraged us to make concrete efforts in our jobs and offer goods to people at more affordable prices," said Guan Mei, a manager of the supermarket.

At the supermarket, Xi particularly demanded strengthened anti-epidemic measures and food safety supervision to ensure the people have a happy holiday.

"He is the one who cares most about the common people," Zhao, the ethnic Miao villager, said of Xi.

REVITALIZE COUNTRYSIDE

Over the past eight years, China lifted nearly 100 million rural poor out of poverty, securing a decisive victory in ending absolute poverty.

For the way forward, Xi's Guizhou trip signals that the focus of the country's work concerning agriculture, rural areas and farmers has shifted from poverty eradication to promoting rural vitalization.

By choosing Guizhou, home to the last nine counties removed from the country's poverty list, Xi wanted to see in person the living conditions of those who had shaken off poverty, and promote steady progress in rural vitalization, a strategy stressed by the Party at its 19th national congress in 2017 to revamp the countryside.

Good and stable local jobs that enable farmers to stay in the countryside are an important part of it.

During his visit to an ethnic Miao embroidery workshop, Xi hailed its role in promoting rural vitalization.

Local women make embroidery works at a workshop in Shibing County of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 21, 2021. (Photo by Cai Xingwen/Xinhua)

"Thanks to the good policies, we villagers can now be employed at our doorsteps," said Peng Yi, an artisan at a local embroidery company.

GO GREEN

The environment has been a constant concern for Xi over the past years. He has visited rivers, mountains and natural reserves across the country as part of his inspection itineraries.

On Wednesday, Xi visited a section of the Wujiang River, one of the biggest tributaries of the upper Yangtze River. Checking the ecological environment and water quality of the river, Xi emphasized blazing a new path that prioritizes ecological conservation and green development.

Panorama photo taken with a drone shows the Caohai National Nature Reserve in the Yi, Hui and Miao Autonomous County of Weining, southwest China's Guizhou Province, June 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin)

A key component of the new development philosophy, green development has been underscored for China's development blueprint in the next five years and through to 2035, at a key Party plenum last year.

During the trip, Xi told provincial officials that an excellent ecological environment is Guizhou's biggest development strength and competitive edge, reiterating the role of ecological conservation and green development.

SKY IS NOT EVEN THE LIMIT

When it comes to science and technology, there is no limit for the country's scientists to pursue excellence.

During the trip, Xi met with the project leaders and core scientists of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, and called on scientists to scale the heights of global science.

Photo taken on Jan. 11, 2020 shows China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) under maintenance in southwest China's Guizhou Province. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

He called the scientists to make new and greater contributions to developing China's scientific and technological strength at a faster pace and realizing the country's self-reliance and self-improvement in science and technology.

Innovation is expected to play a central role in driving China's modernization.

The country has lately performed an array of feats thanks to its science and technology development strategy. It launched the Mars probe Tianwen-1 on July 23, 2020, kicking off the country's independent planetary exploration mission. The China National Space Administration on Friday released the first image of Mars captured by the Mars probe.

Photo released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Feb. 5, 2021 shows the first image of Mars captured by Mars probe Tianwen-1 from a distance of 2.2 million km. (Xinhua)

FAST, which is tasked with the ultimate goal of revealing more about the universe, is scheduled to be available for scientists across the world from April 1, 2021. In the first year of the telescope's opening to the global scientific community, about 10 percent of the observation time will be allocated to foreign scientists.

"We will keep making efforts to ensure that all our astronomical facilities are of top-level globally," said Jiang Peng, chief engineer of FAST and researcher at the National Astronomical Observatories of China.

(Video reporters: Jiang Xuelan, Liu Qinbing, Luo Fei, Wu Siyang, Li Qianyu, Yin Jiajie, Cui Xiaoqiang, Chen Qiang, Yang Yanbin, Yang Xin, Li Xueren, Ding Haitao; video editor: Wu Yao) 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressed Beijing on its treatment of Uighurs, Tibetans and Hong Kong while China defended its policies in the first conversation between top officials of the two powers since President Joe Biden took office.

"I made clear the US will defend our national interests, stand up for our democratic values, and hold Beijing accountable for its abuses of the international system," Blinken said on Twitter of his call with senior Chinese official Yang Jiechi.

Blinken told Yang that the United States "will continue to stand up for human rights and democratic values, including in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong," a State Department statement said of the call, which took place on Friday Washington time.

Blinken also "pressed China to join the international community in condemning the military coup in Burma," it said, using the former name of Myanmar.

The top US diplomat said the United States would hold Beijing "accountable for its efforts to threaten stability in the Indo-Pacific, including across the Taiwan Strait, and its undermining of the rules-based international system."

The tough tone comes after Blinken in his confirmation hearing said he would continue former president Donald Trump's approach to China in a rare point of agreement between the two administrations.

Yang however warned on the call that Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet were "China's internal affairs" and "no external forces are allowed to interfere," urging the United States to "correct mistakes" made in recent years, the Chinese embassy to the US said in a statement.

He also called on Washington to "strictly abide by the one China principle" under which Beijing considers Taiwan an inseparable part of its territory, saying "the Taiwan issue is the most important and sensitive core issue in China-US relations."

Blinken has said he agrees with a determination by the State Department under Trump that Beijing is carrying out genocide in the western region of Xinjiang, where rights groups say more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim Turkic-speaking people have been rounded up in camps.

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Beijing has also ramped up a crackdown in Hong Kong, arresting leading activists, after imposing a new law against subversion following major protests in the financial hub to which it had guaranteed a separate system.

Biden nonetheless offered a small olive branch during a speech on foreign policy on Thursday, saying that while the United states will "confront" China, "We are ready to work with Beijing when it's in America's interest to do so."

Blinken has previously spoken of climate change as an area of cooperation as China and the United State are the two largest emitters of greenhouse gases.

Beijing has long enjoyed a privileged relationship with Myanmar, supporting the junta that gave way to democracy a decade ago with US support.

The military in the Southeast Asian nation this week carried out a coup, arresting civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in what Chinese state media described as "a major cabinet reshuffle."

Biden, who has vowed to promote democracy worldwide after Trump's flirtations with autocratic leaders, strongly condemned the coup and threatened sanctions if the military did not relinquish power.

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In the Wake of Civil Unrest in Washington, Financial Experts see Markets Remaining Stable

By Keith Morelli

TAMPA (January 9, 2021) -- As the nation watched in shock as an unruly mob smashed windows and occupied the Capitol in Washington, 225 miles away Wall Street took in the surreal scene as well and the economic impact of the incursion and the response of trading remains largely uncertain.

Among the viewers on live television were brokers, investors and wealth managers whose job it is to protect clients investments. They, like everyone else, wondered how the scene would play out in the financial markets.

Everything that's going on saddens me, and I feel for all those so caught up in the turmoil that they are scared out of their minds  on both sides of the political spectrum, said Bob Tiller a finance instructor in the USF Muma College of Business and Raymond James Financial Director of the Personal Financial Planning Program. The market was still up at the end of the eventful day, because the disconnect between what plays out on the news and the long-term mathematical algorithms of the market is huge.

The insurgency seemed to have little impact on trading during the rest of the week, with stocks mostly gaining.

The days events unfolded actually the night before with the election of two Democrats to the U.S. Senate from Georgia, flipping the balance of power in the federal government. But as Congress convened in a joint session to count and certify the Electoral College ballots, an angry mob aligned with President Donald Trump descended on the Capitol to protest. The scene devolved into chaos as they swept through the Capitol, stalling the procedure for several hours. Five people died, including a Capitol Police officer and a protester.

Beyond some folks using the entire calamity as a justification for some short-term profit taking, Tiller said, I suspect most financial planners won't be recommending any swift portfolio reallocations.

He expects a dramatic redirection of the stock market only if enough people are affected to the extent they change their consumer habits, which might then alter the profitability of many businesses.

I still expect some market volatility, but no actionable economic contraction as an immediate result of an administrative change on the Hill, Tiller said. Whatever disturbances may develop, they will eventually run out of steam.

For now, staying out of harm's way  and not overreacting  seems the most prudent course of action.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th February, 2021) Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram, on Saturday held a meeting with Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum the press service of the Dubai government said.

Telegram, one of the world's leading messaging apps, is headquartered in Dubai. Durov has been reportedly permanently residing in the city since 2017.

"Dubai's ability to provide a productive growth-oriented environment for technology start-ups is validated by the fact that some the world's most exciting and successful digital companies like Telegram have chosen to run their ventures out of the emirate.

We continue to welcome great talent and ideas to Dubai which offers a nurturing ecosystem for their development," Rashid Al Maktoum said at a meeting as quoted by the press service.

Durov, on his part, expressed appreciation to the government of Dubai for providing "the startup ecosystem, advanced infrastructure and business-friendly legislation" that attract "talent and entrepreneurs aspiring to go global from all over the world."

The app, created in 2013, allows users to exchange messages and media files of different formats. In 2020, Telegram became one of the 10 most downloaded and popular apps in the world.

Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 21:41:18|Editor: huaxia

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HONG KONG, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- It's been a tradition for Hong Kong residents to visit flower fairs ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year. This year's flower fairs began Saturday and will last for 6 days at 15 sites across the city.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
Home > 2021 > The Union Budget 2021-22: Conceals more than reveals? | P.S. (...)

by P.S. Jayaramu

The Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman, was prepared under the shadow of two pandemics, largely the Covid pandemic, going by the attention the Budget gives to the health sector and the economic pandemic which preceded the onset of the corona virus in India. Influenced to a certain by the global economic slowdown, the GDP growth has contracted to 7.7 percent during 2020-2. The World Bank as well as many desi economists feel the country will return to the 8-9% GDP growth not earlier than 2025. To be fair to Ms. Sitharaman, it must be stated that In spite of the adverse circumstances, she has come up with a budget, some aspects of which have been acclaimed by many analysts. In a macro level analysis like the one attempted here, the focus is on the major aspects of the Budget 2021-22. The endeavour is to understand the allocations made against the revised estimates of the present fiscal year in the sectors chosen for analysis with the idea of getting as real a picture as possible.

Let me first take up the health and well being sector which the finance minister flagged as the first of the six pillars of her budget. The FM announced that the Government will spend 2,23,846 crores in 2021-22 on health and well being, which of course includes an outlay of 60,030 crores on drinking water and sanitation and 35000 crores towards the vaccination drive under way. The Health ministry expects to spend 71269 crores in 2021-22, an increase of nearly 9% from the budget estimates of the last year. But available statistics shows that it will be less than what the Ministry actually spent last year. As the revised estimates in the budget documents show, the amount spent was 78,886 crores during the financial year. The Health minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan, however, says that investment on health infrastructure has been increased with focus on strengthening three areas, namely, preventive health, curative health and well being, which will be of immense value to the country. Statistical details notwithstanding, many health experts have lauded the outlays, though the suggestion before the budget was to earmark 6% of the GDP on health care. If the country can successfully overcome the Covid pandemic without undergoing a second wave and if the outlays are actually spent, India would be on an upward trajectory in ensuring the health and well-being of the people.

Infrastructure development, including the development of national highways, ports and railways has occupied the second priority of the Budget. While one should remember the late Prime Minister Vajpayee for his vision of constructing national highways, connecting the country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and while the highways project maintained a momentum during his time, the same slowed down during the UPA regime and was vigorously brought on board between 2014-19 by Nitin Ghatkari as minister in charge. The Government has announced that the National Infrastructure Pipeline has been rightly been recognised as one of the best means of not only ensuring development but as a major source of providing employment. The Budget allocates 1.97 lakh crores for Infrastructure development over 5 years starting from 2021-22. That the election bound States of West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been chosen as priority States for allocation is popularly perceived as being done with electoral calculations. CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechuri says that by the time the allocations start materialising, elections in these States would be over!

Agriculture is another key area where the Budget seems to have laid focus, when seen against the background of the ongoing farmers protests over the three Farm Laws. The Finance Minister used the occasion of budget presentation to reel out statistics on MSP paid to farmers produce during 2013-14 and during the NDA regime, to the applause of ruling party MPs. While the APMCs have been allowed to tap into the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund(AIF) of 1 lakh crores, actual outlays for PM-KISAN seems to have seen a 13% drop in its budget which is 10000 crores lower than the last years initial allocation.( The Hindu, 2nd February 2021) Reportedly, even the beneficiary numbers from the income support scheme is estimated to have come down from 14.5 crore households to 9 crore households. The Farmers Associations too have dismissed the finance ministers claims on MSP hike renewing their demand for MSP based on Swaminathan Commissions recommendation of C2 plus 50%. The announcement about the levy of Agri Cess on selected items like petrol and diesel to improve agricultural infrastructure is ultimately going to be a burden on the consumers, specially the lower middle class vehicle users. Though the minister has stated that it will be absorbed by the companies, the fear is that it may be transferred to the consumers over a period of time. In any case, the fact that the Central Government will not share the Agri cess revenue with the States.

As for MNREGA scheme, rightly described as the lifeline for rural India during the Covid pandemic, though the FM stated that the allocation for 2021-22 stands at 73000 crores, a closer look reveals that the amount earmarked is lower than the 1.1 lakh crores in the revised expenditure estimates for 2020-21.

Requirements of the MSME sector which suffered heavily following the lockdown and a virtual halt in production, with lakhs of workers being thrown out of jobs, has rightly received emphasis in the Budget, with an allocation of 15000 crores, almost double from the previous year, as the FM said in her speech. Exemptions from duty on steel upto 31st March 2022 and a host of duty cuts announced are encouraging.

Announcements like privatisation of two public sector banks (instead of improving their governance structures and mechanisms), seeking augmented FDI in insurance sector and allowing increased foreign ownership limit to 74%, though safeguards like reserving majority of Board membership to indians only ( one doesnt know how effective the Indian members in the Boards will be in safeguarding our interests) and the continued accent on disinvestment albeit a reduced target of 1.75 lakh crores from the previous years figure of 2.1 lakhs are proofs of the continuties in the neo liberal policies of the Government.

One of the key concerns of the FM is on cutting the fiscal deficit. She has pegged it for 2021-22 at 6.8% of the GDP. The original target for 2020-21 was 3.5% while under the impact of the pandemic, lockdown and loss of revenue, the fiscal deficit went upto 9.5% of the GDP. The FM hopes to bring it down to 4.5% by 2025-26. Experts are divided on the fiscal deficit issue, with some calling for bringing it down while many argue that the Government should not get obsessed with fiscal deficit, but focus on growth and job creation.

Regarding the Defence sector, the ministry has seen an allocation of 21,326 crores. Excluding pension, it is pegged at 3.62 lakh crores, amounting to an increase of 1.4% over the last years allocation. Given the continued tensions with China and Sino-Pak military-strategic linkages with their concomitant pressure on India, the hike is anything but meagre, though defence requirements are met outside the scope of the budget depending on necessities.

Education is another area which requires higher attention. In the Budget, the FM has allocated 93,224 crores, out of which 54,874 crores is for the Department of School Education. The budget proposed is sadly a drop of over 6% compared to the last years budget, which ought not to have happened in view of the importance attached to school education under NEP 2020. The Budget also proposes the conversion of 15000 schools into exemplar schools in the next fiscal. 100 Sainik Schools are also proposed to be established with private players. The much hoped 6% of the GDP spend on education remains a pipe dream.

As for higher education, the Budget makes a reference to the NEP and talks about the the setting up of the Higher Education Commission of India, a Central university for Ladakh, setting up of a National Language Translation Mission etc, which are laudable. As outlined in the NEP, the National Research Foundation is being set up with an outlay of 50000 crores over five years. The NRF is an innovative scheme to fund research in a centralised manner for subjects ranging from Pure Sciences to Social Sciences and Humanities. However, there are apprehensions that funding for research in Social Sciences and Humanities may receive inadequate support compared to hard Sciences. When seen in conjunction with education, it is unfortunate that the Ministry of Culture has seen a reduction in its budget grants from the previous years allocation of #3,149.86 crores to 2,687.99 crores for the year 2021-22, though allocation for the Museum of Prime Ministers of India, to be inaugurated next year, is fixed at 77.78 crores.

As the saying goes, proof of the pudding is in eating. We need to wait and see how the outlays will lead to outcomes. This Budget will also be judged from the perspective of how effectively it will contribute to inclusive and humane growth with justice.

(The author is former Dean, Faculty of Arts, Bangalore University and former Senior Fellow, ICSSR, New Delhi.)

In 2017, 8-year-old Carter Waugh designed and months later patented a shoe called the Flip Critt.

The Waughs launched a successful Kickstarter campaign last summer to help support their son Carters new business, Critts. Within 45 minutes, the project reached its goal by raising $10,000 and amassed three times as much days later.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Cypress teen's homework lesson turns into business endeavor

Since then, the Flip Critt has been selling on Nordstrom and Carter recently started a program called Critts Cares to help fund artful learning programs.

Carter didnt know what it took to make a shoe company but has learned a lot along the way and said hes happy that he decided to pursue his idea to show kids that they can do anything.

It feels great, its sometimes overwhelming, Carter Waugh said. You cant make everybody happy, but you can make some people happy so thats what Im trying to do.

Tomball, Magnolia school notebook: TISD names Principals of the Year

Carter said the idea for Critts, a Texas LLC, started when his favorite type of footwear in flip flips and foam clogs were causing problems on his feet and toes while on vacation, from cuts and stubs to having blisters and sweaty feet.

Carter wanted to find a solution to the problem so one night he asked his dad if he could make a shoe and drew him an image on a piece of paper.

Ryan remembers being blown away at his sons design while Crystal was surprised and excited. At that time, Crystal said none of them necessarily knew that the design was going to become something.

She was impressed with the fact that Carter was trying to come up with a solution to a problem that he personally had. Within that, she said their son was also interested in helping other people with the same dilemma.

The Waughs then spent two years working through designs, prototypes, and other hurdles. Flip Critt derives from Carters nickname Critt and flip flops and the materials for the shoe features sugar foam and memory foam, Vibram outsole and neoprene.

We were just excited that he was thinking creatively and thinking outside of the box, Crystal said.

Identifying an issue

Ryan said Critts first began as an exercise in entrepreneurship. He said both his kids have now learned the fundamentals of entrepreneurship.

How do you create something from nothing, that was really the idea behind it, he said.

Ryan said they didnt know the original design for the shoe would get patented and be recognized by merchandisers and buyers like Nordstrom.

Just tells us that he really identified an issue and came up with a solution to a problem that actually exists and has a need for this product, Ryan said.

In addition, Carters program Critts Cares donates $2 from the sale of each shoe to learning programs in need. Over $1,000 was donated to Carters last school attended in Napa.

Crystal said the companys basic concept of helping other people and spreading joy evolved to Carters mission of spreading happiness, safety and security for everybody.

The Waughs recently moved to Magnolia where Carter attends Bear Branch Intermediate and continues being involved with his program that promotes music, art and other creative learning curriculums. He also hopes to keep selling shoes in order to contribute to charities.

Ryan said Carter gets excited for other kids to learn some of the same fundamentals he did. He said Critt Cares came out of that and therefore started with Willow Elementary in Napa which needed funding for their music and art programs.

Learning experience

The Waughs were surprised when the crowd fundraiser that started by launching a Kickstarter campaign last summer caught the eye of Nordstrom and Shark Tank, who invited the 11-year-old to make a future appearance.

Ryan said that was the point where the Waughs felt like they had a real company. He said Carter is going for it in true entrepreneurial fashion.

As of Jan. 1, nearly 600 individuals had contributed over $40,000 through the crowd fundraiser in support of Carters business. The campaign now has a new goal of reaching $50,000  and then possibly $100,000.

This sudden success didnt happen overnight, Crystal said, but over the course of a three-year long journey.

Crystal said learning to prototype by going through samples and getting sizing, colors and cutouts right was a lot of trial and error and sometimes frustrating. Ultimately, she said things lined up through hard work, resiliency, focus, determination and not getting discouraged when things didnt go according to plan.

Thats always a great lesson for anybody to learn, especially a kid, she said.

She said Carter learned and picked the brains of professionals in the business along the way and has relayed that information through public speaking by doing presentations at elementary and high schools, and colleges.

Kids from kindergarten all the way up through that college age have been inspired by listening to his story. Thats been pretty cool to see, Crystal said.

Despite all the success that has come so far, Crystal said theyre still in the beginning stages.

Its been an amazing learning process, not only for Carter but for the whole family, she said. The four of us have really gotten through this together. So, weve all had an opportunity to see what its like to create something from nothing and all of the hard work that goes into that.

Patrons can shop for the Flip Critt in kids and womens sizes with eight color options via the company website, critts.com, and can also find the Flip Critts Mule in little kid and big kid sizes at nordstrom.com.

Nordstorms a big deal. You have to get an invitation and Carter got one, Ryan said. Kind of mind blowing.

alvaro.montano@chron.com
Arctic stew: Understanding how high-latitude lakes respond to and affect climate change

To arrive at Nunavut, turn left at the Dakotas and head north. You can't miss it--the vast tundra territory covers almost a million square miles of northern Canada. Relatively few people call this lake-scattered landscape home, but the region plays a crucial role in understanding global climate change. New research from Soren Brothers, assistant professor in the Department of Watershed Sciences and Ecology Center, details how lakes in Nunavut could have a big impact on carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, and it's not all bad news--at least for now. Brothers examined 23 years of data from lakes near Rankin Inlet. He noted a peculiarity--as the lakes warmed, their carbon dioxide concentrations fell. Most lakes are natural sources of carbon dioxide, but these lakes were now mostly near equilibrium with the atmosphere.

This was odd. The expected pattern is that warmer temperatures should trigger larger releases of greenhouse gases from lakes. In places like Alaska, centuries of accumulated plant material in the permafrost release a hoard of carbon as they thaw, and are consumed by microbes. Experiments have also shown that as waters warm, carbon dioxide production by microbes increases more quickly than carbon dioxide uptake by plants, throwing the system out of balance. Together, these processes should increase atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions from waterways, in theory anyway. So why not in Nunavut? There is no question that the first step in this Rube Goldberg machine is engaged ... the climate is warming. Why then, are the lakes near Rankin Inlet not belching out carbon?

Pulling on good, thick parkas, Brothers and his team visited the lakes and came up with a few ideas as to why this is happening. First, they note that much of Nunavut is on the Canadian shield--an ancient granitic bedrock where thin soils are unlikely to contain--and thus release--the massive stores of organic matter entering waterways elsewhere in the Arctic. Second, longer ice-free seasons might be changing the water chemistry and biology in ways that actually lower carbon dioxide concentrations, including longer growing seasons for plants (which take up carbon dioxide), and potentially better growing conditions for algae on the bottom of these shallow, clear lakes.

Does this mean that nature has come to the climate rescue? Likely not--other lakes around the world may still increase carbon dioxide emissions with warming, and the lakes in Nunavut might eventually catch up with them too. More likely, Brothers suggests that the link between ice cover duration and carbon dioxide concentrations might be buying us some time, before stronger positive feedbacks are unleashed between the planet's warming and its ecosystems. It may be a complicated process, but understanding this complexity helps scientists predict variations in how lakes are responding to--and influencing--climate change. It's a view under the hood, making planetary feedbacks and tipping points a little more predictable. While the long-term trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions from lakes is not settled, these results are an important piece of the puzzle in climate change science.

###

This story has been published on: 2021-02-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Authorities said Friday that a man who barricaded himself in a North Carolina house with a woman and two children shot and injured three police officers who attempted to reach the place during the hours-long standoff.

North Carolina man shoots and injures three police officers

The woman was found dead, and the police later shot the suspect. The children were uninjured, and the North Carolina police officers' injuries were not life-threatening, said Travis Stroud, chief of High Point Police.

As a man shot at the officers assisting the local Greensboro Police Department, the nearly 11-hour standoff ended, and they returned fire, killing the suspect, Stroud said. The name of the woman and cause of death weren't released immediately. The chief said he assumed she was in a relationship with the suspect, ABC News reported.

After 11 P.M., the standoff began on Thursday, as North Carolina police officers responded to a call of shots being fired. The North Carolina man was spotted in the yard, and they attempted to speak with him, but he was uncooperative. Stroud said he then went inside and came back out grabbing a rifle that looked similar to an AR-15.

Read also: Nigeria Court Acquits Teen Sentenced for 10 Years in Prison Due To Blasphemy

A military squad and delegates arrived, and researchers discovered that there were a woman and kids inside. Officers attempted to reach the home approximately four hours after the siege. The suspect opened fire at the police officers with no contact from him, striking three of them, Stroud said.

The gunman fired at tactical officers supporting the local Greensboro Police Department at about 10:15 A.M., and they returned fire, killing him, Stroud said.

Two officers were assessed for wounds to the hand and shoulder and released. A third officer was operated on for a leg cut. The three of them were doing well and were supposed to recover, said Stroud.

According to Fox News, the standoff ended in the late morning but did not exactly provide details about how it finished. The suspect's identity was not released publicly, and the police said they believed no one else was in the home. Reporters from several news sources witnessed heavy bangs and more law enforcement cars rushing to the scene just before Truitt said the standoff was over.

Another North Carolina shooting was live-streamed on Facebook

On Wednesday night, a shooting that involved a mother and her teenage daughter was live-streamed on social media.

According to WBTW, the fighting has begun virtually, according to the police. Two teenage girls argued via social media, but things turned physical on Wednesday night. Police claimed the teenagers were arguing at home on Gold Street in front of a crowd when one of the girls' mothers moved to break up the fight.

That was when the police reported that the gunman opened fire. The mother was shot numerous times, while her 16-year-old daughter was hit at least once, police said. Both the mother and the teen were hospitalized for non-life-threatening conditions. Shelby Police informed FOX 46 that they had a suspect, but that individual was not in custody yet.

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A government minister has caused controversy and invoked an angry response locally after referring to concerns raised about delays in the town's long overdue flood relief scheme as 'fake news'.

Speaking on local radio, Minister Patrick O'Donovan, acknowledged that the flood relief scheme is long overdue in the town after being reminded of the history of flooding experienced in Enniscorthy dating back, in recent times, to 1924.

'I know the quays in Enniscorthy well and I know the town very well and I've often walked up and down the hill there from the Cathedral and the castle and I know the heights of premises there and I know the history of that town,' said Minister O'Donovan, who is Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW.

However, he expressed criticism over what he described as 'fake news' being spread locally for what he claimed was political gain.

'The last thing it needs is people trying to create fear and anxiety that somehow there is anything other than full Government commitment to this, ' said Minister O'Donovan.

'I've read some of the media reports, which to be quite honest about it, there is a man only after recently leaving the White House who was the patron Saint of Fake News and there's a few fake news merchants lurking around in relation to this as well,' he added.

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Minister O'Donovan also said members of his own party are also concerned about the alarm being caused locally with regard to the scheme.

'The other day I met with the Fine Gael public representatives from Enniscorthy and they are very anxious and they are worried because they are listening to people who are, for political purposes, trying to drum up and whip up some sort of fear among people who have very genuine concerns,' he said.

He also said that such politicians are 'doing the people of Enniscorthy no good' in 'creating the illusion' that the project is somehow in danger.

While he wouldn't specifically name the people or person to whom he was directing his comments, the Minister said they are like hyenas on speed.

'If you Google them, you'll find them and I wouldn't give them the soot of it to be quite honest to name them but I think it is really regrettable where people jump up and down like hyenas on speed to suggest that you know the OPW are not going to do this work,' he said.

He said it's regrettable that in 2021, 'with what some people have to go through that there are elements in politics who will try to create a bit of narrative around fear and anxiety among people'.

When asked what he would have done if he was in opposition and was one of those questioning the delay in the scheme the Minister said: 'What I would be doing is I might be lifting the phone to the Department or if I was in the Dail, I might be raising it specifically with the minister, or if I was in the Council I would be raising it through the County Manager and finding out what the exact situation is with it without running around with a half-cocked story saying there is a risk and it wasn't going to happen and that there were unnecessary delays and that the OPW were to blame.'

He said the OPW is similar to a person building a house and has to apply for permission.

'We have to apply for consent to do works and in this case, in this situation, yeah it has been going on for an awful long period of time,' he said.

When it was pointed out that people in Enniscorthy have been enduring horrific flooding for decades the Minister said: 'If you wanted to go back that far I suppose you could probably go back as far as the Ark if you wanted to go back as far that or beyond.'

While acknowledging there has been a 'stop-start' nature to the proposed scheme, the minister praised Wexford County Council under CEO, Tom Enright, for being very proactive in working with the OPW in relation to the proposed scheme.

'This is a very complicated scheme and it's one of the biggest schemes we will ever undertake as the Office of Public Works,' said Minister O'Donovan.

'It's a very complicated scheme in the sense that you have river, main road, rail, and streets all congregating in one particular point where you have 159 houses and 167 commercial properties so it's a huge project and it's a scheme that will see a massive investment into the town of Enniscorthy,' he added.

Reaffirming the OPW's commitment to the project he then said: 'I know that there are people who are being nakedly political throwing around charges that the money is gone, that's it's gone somewhere else, that it's gone to Limerick and it isn't going to happen at all. That's total and utter balderdash.'

Minister O'Donovan's comments caused an angry response from Cllr Jackser Owens who, although not specifically identified by the Minister, told this newspaper 'it's obvious' the comments were aimed at him.

'I've been the one who has constantly raised concern about this and the delays,' said Cllr Owens.

'I'm not going to apologise for raising those concerns either and neither this minister or any other minister will silence me from speaking out on behalf of the people I represent,' he added.

Cllr Owens also said that Minister O'Donovan doesn't live in Enniscorthy and hasn't witnessed people putting their livelihoods into skips as a result of flooding of homes and premises.

'I have spoken at every [local authority] meeting about the flooding and the delays and I will continue to,' said Cllr Owens.

'This is not fake news, the delay is not fake news and people's livelihoods being ruined while they are waiting on this to be done is not fake news,' he added.

'I am calling on the minister to come down and meet with the elected members and the people affected by this when restrictions allow,' said Cllr Owens.

'He will come to Enniscorthy in a pair of Russian boots and then leave again but the people are having to face this problem for too long,' he added.

Cllr Owens has often highlighted, at local authority meetings, the delay in getting the scheme off the ground and he has expressed concern in the past over whether or not the money is still in place for the project.

However, Minister O'Donovan said that's not an issue and the project will go ahead once all the necessary clarifications and stipulations have been met, some of which have been necessitated by EU legislation.

Meanwhile, Cllr Owens said: 'For anyone to call this fake news is wrong. The flooding is as real as you can get and unfortunately so are the delays.'

He went on to comment: 'This project should have been completed years ago and raising concerns about the delay is anything but fake news.'
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Officials search for missing children as part of "Operation Not Forgotten" in Georgia in August 2020. (Courtesy of Shane T. McCoy/U.S. Marshals)

Trumps Efforts to Fight Sex Trafficking Have Incredible Impact: SHAREtogether Founder

Former President Donald Trumps efforts to create an office dedicated to fighting sex trafficking have made an incredible impact over the past four years, according to the founder of a nonprofit organization focused on combating child sex trafficking.

Before Trump, weve never had an office in the White House designated and dedicated to fighting sex trafficking, Jaco Booyens, the founder of SHAREtogether, said in an interview with Epoch Times affiliate NTD on Feb. 5. No former president in the history of this country has used his or her platform to denounce the exploitation of children and then appropriate funding.

So weve seen an incredible impact over the years, over the last four years, particularly toward the support for law enforcement.

Last week, 64 people were arrested and two women were rescued in an anti-human trafficking sting in Californias Riverside County. The arrests were part of Operation Reclaim and Rebuild, an annual statewide operation, that ran for four consecutive days before concluding on January 28, 2021, the countys Sheriffs Department stated on Feb. 2.

Sixty-four arrests were made, officials in Riverside County, Calif., announced on Feb. 2, 2021. (Riverside County Sheriffs Dept.)

Its a big orchestration, to execute a sting or a bust, like what weve just seen in California, and it takes months and months of planning and funding, Booyens said. And thats why its very important for  local, state, and federal governments to support the fight against sex trafficking, because you cannot do it on your own.

He noted that for such operations to succeed, they need to be able to be conducted in a way that they can have standing in court; some connections between the judicial system and the police have to exist.

Regular police officers, he said, arent trained to investigate, profile, or conduct that sort of an operation. It requires special training and a lot of resources and effort.

Weve seen a tremendous rise in the apprehension, the arrest of perpetrators and rescue of victims under the Trump administration, no question about it, Booyens said. In these cases that youre seeing now such as California, and youll see some others coming out now, theyve been nine, 10 months in the making under the Trump administrationin that mechanism of funding law enforcement appropriately, having special task forces.

He said that because the Biden administration has only been in office for a few weeks, the outlook is unclear.

Whether those policies and systems that were put in place  will remain or not, we dont know, he said.

But under the Trump administration, we saw a massive and also a morale lift. There was a morale lift within the nonprofits, our organization, and the other 170 that were connected with. There was a general morale boost. We have support from the White House now. We actually now can see law enforcement departments talk to one another.

The Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office in Florida arrested 104 people as part of an undercover operation in November 2019. (Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office)

Booyens explained that the type of interdepartmental communication necessary to track down child predators was seen for the first time during the Trump administration.

For instance, when a child is tracked in lets say, Dallas, that pimp or predator doesnt keep that child in Dallas, Booyens said. Now lets say we find her in Nevada. You now are asking the Dallas Police Department to talk to the Nevada police department and that historically has not happened.

We saw that kind of an inter-department communication line be open because of the result of Ivanka Trump, President Trump, and then, of course, the other people in that administration who made trafficking a focus.

Booyens also noted that operations to combat sex trafficking are still short of resources, adding that the current state of the crime is peaking because children are spending more time online because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Another alarming trend related to the escalation of this type of criminal activity is that theres a portion of society that promotes the sexualization of children, he said.

There is a large sector of our society, lets just be real, that dont see a problem with sexualizing children, with indoctrinating children in kindergarten with certain conditions and mindsets about sex and consent, Booyens said.

Weve got multiple states in this country at the moment trying to lower their age of consent to 14, some have lowered it to 16.  Laws in those states are now in direct contradiction to statutory rape or in direct contradiction to the anti-sex-trafficking law in that state, which says a child 17 and under is a victim.

He suggested that children need to be taught to recognize suspicious behavior and parents need to be genuinely engaged with the different communities, video games, or online activities their children interact with, in order to prevent others from introducing predatory information to them.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.

Most alarming in the Report is the obvious political bias expressed in favor of the last government and against the present government. This should not be the case in a human rights report.

by Dr Laksiri Fernando

On 27 January 2021, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report, on behalf of the Commissioner of course, titled Promotion [of] Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka. As we can typically see from recent activities of this Office, the report is more of a political report than a human-rights one.

A credible human rights report should be unbiased and objective, focusing on human rights and human rights violations of the people without dragging on political matters or preferences. The purpose of such a report for the Human Rights Council should be to enlighten the member countries about the facts and evidence of the past or the present to engage in a constructive dialogue with the country concerned, and recommending necessary steps to promote human rights, reconciliation, and accountability.

Especially of a country where extremism and terrorism have been recurrent problems, such reports should particularly be careful not to give excuses (uda geddi) directly or indirectly for such movements to reemerge.

It is not clear who has written this report, although some pretends it was written by the Commissioner herself. Of course, she should take the responsibility. It would have been better on the part of the Office, in the name of transparency, if the author/s have been revealed. Then the Commissioner could have been excused.

The Focus

There is a clear focus in the Report on the year 2020 where a new government was elected by the people overwhelmingly right or wrong. Criticizing such a government is primarily a matter for the people in the country and is a political matter even for outsiders. Even in the Summary itself it says,

The High Commissioner is deeply concerned by the trends emerging over the past year, which may represent early warning signs of a deteriorating human rights situation. The report highlights that developments over the past year have fundamentally changed the environment for advancing reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka, eroded democratic checks and balances and civic space, and reprised a dangerous exclusionary and majoritarian discourse.

There is no mentioning of the terrorist attacks in April 2019 or the government crisis in October 2019 (to say the least) which in fact marked the deteriorating security and human rights situation in the country. It appears that the human rights advocates at the Commissioners Office do not accept that peoples security in a country (let alone national security) is a necessary condition for the protection and promotion of human rights. This is a fundamental defect in the Western thinking of human rights to my experience and knowledge on the subject.

It may be the case that the Commissioners Office is angered or prejudiced by Sri Lankas decision to withdraw from the previous co-sponsorship of the Human Rights Council resolutions in February 2020. Apparently, that is why the year 2020 is marked. The paragraph 2 of the Report expresses this dissatisfaction.

It must be understood that in independent and sovereign countries there can be different views on the matter of co-sponsorship and if this understanding is lacking on the part of the Commissioners Office, there cannot be proper understanding of human rights or freedoms. In this case of a country.

Distorted Historical Context

Part II of the Report tries to give a distorted and even a dangerous picture of the origins of insurrections, armed conflicts, and violence in Sri Lanka. Paragraph 7 begins with the following sentence.

Sri Lankas armed conflict emerged against the backdrop of deepening discrimination and marginalisation of the countrys minorities, particularly the Tamils.

Mind you, there was an armed conflict in 1971 without any connection to the Tamils or discrimination against the Tamils. Most of these armed conflicts emerged (1971, 1983-2009, 1987-89) because of political objectives (or aspirations) above and beyond social grievances. Or otherwise, there were democratic and peaceful means to rectify them although arduous and slow.

The phrase against the backdrop in the statement may appear sobering the implied connection between the armed conflict and discrimination of minorities. However, it is a direct or indirect justification of the LTTEs armed conflict. It is also not correct to characterize the armed conflict as between two equal contenders. Those were armed insurrections against a democratically elected government.

The report refers to that again more explicitly again in implicit justification. It goes like the following.

The 30-year war between the Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), as well as earlier insurgencies in the south, were marked by persistent and grave human rights violations and abuses by both parties, including extrajudicial killing, widespread enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, torture and sexual violence that affected Sri Lankans from all communities. (My emphasis).

Could the resort to arm struggles by the LTTE or the JVP be justified by human rights violations? In my opinion No particularly in a democratic or even in a semi-democratic country. Although the statement says, violation and abuses by both parties what is mentioned here are extrajudicial killings enforced disappearances arbitrary detention torture and sexual violence, usually referred or attributed to a State.

Political Bias

Most alarming in the Report is the obvious political bias expressed in favor of the last government and against the present government. This should not be the case in a human rights report. Paragraphs 15 and 16 are very clear on this matter. First para begins:

It was at this juncture that a national unity Government, formed in January 2015, made important commitments to confront the past, strengthen democratic and independent institutions, and end impunity.

This is a clear example that the Commissioner or the Commissioners Office has a clear political bias over political matters, party politics and democratic governmental changes within a sovereign and an independent country. While pointing out some inconsistencies and delays, the Report further states:

Nevertheless, Sri Lanka seemed to be on a new path towards advancing reconciliation, accountability and human rights. The developments since November 2019, however, have reversed that direction and, instead, threaten a return to patterns of discrimination and widespread violations of human rights experienced in past decades. (My emphasis).

In Section III, there are six subsections devoted to political matters apart from human rights issues and violations. There is no question that there are ongoing human rights issues and violations, and the governmental structures undoubtedly impinge on them. These are common to many countries including Western nations in different degrees.

The task of the Commissioners Office or the UN would be to involve member countries in a constructive dialogue without preferring defeated governments/parties, and without involving in political polemics. Otherwise, there are serious doubts whether the Commissioner or the Commissioners Office aiding and abetting defeated governments, terrorist groups like the LTTE or the JVP ostensibly in the name of human rights.

As an academic representing the World University Service (WUS) before the UN Commission on Human Rights and the Sub-Commission during 1984-1991, the present situation at the Human Rights Office in Geneva appears extremely sad. I have never seen an extremely political report such as the present during that time.
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For an actor like Christopher Plummer, awards and award shows became a common occurrence. Throughout his more than 60-year career, the star earned accolades for his work on the stage and the screen. But did he achieve the top prize in acting: An Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (also known as an EGOT)?

Christopher Plummer rose to prominence on Broadway

Plummer began acting as a teenager. He studied theater in his native Canada, debuting on Broadway in The Starcross Story. His first big hit on the stage came when he starred in The Lark, a retelling of Joan of Arcs story. Plummer later appeared in productions of Shakespeare classics like Othello, Macbeth, and King Lear.

I was very lucky, Plummer told Parade of his early career. I went to work professionally when I was 18, and I did not look back. I did not have a year of starvation like most people go through in the theater. I went on and on. I played in the theater in London as well as on Broadway. I was back and forth; London, Broadway, London, Broadway.

He later achieved success in film and TV

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Though his training was on the stage, Plummer gained notoriety for film and TV roles as well. He starred in telefilm adaptations of plays such as The Philadelphia Story and made-for-TV movies like Muhammad Alis Greatest Fight on the small screen. He also starred in the action series Counterstrike in the early 90s.

But Plummer was perhaps best known for his film roles. His big break came with the 1965 musical drama The Sound of Music. He later appeared in such noted films as Malcolm X, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and Knives Out. Additionally, Plummer did a lot of voice acting throughout his life.

Plummer won several notable awards, including an Oscar

Christopher Plummer, winner of the Best Supporting Actor Award for Beginners, at the 84th Annual Academy Awards on February 26, 2012, in Hollywood, California. | Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Not only did Plummer act in many productions, but he received acclaim for numerous performances. He was nominated for a whopping seven Tony Awards for his acting. Plummer won two of those Tonys  Best Actor in a Musical in 1974 for Cyrano and Best Actor in a Play in 1997 for Barrymore.

The actor was also nominated for seven Emmys in his lifetime. He first won in 1977 for Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for Arthur Haileys the Money Changers. Then, in 1994, he won for Voice-Over Performance for the long-running animated childrens series Madeline, for which he voiced the narrator.

Plummer earned many awards for his film career. But he didnt secure his first Oscar nomination until 2010, when he was up for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Last Station. Plummer won in this category for Beginners in 2012, making him the oldest winner ever at age 82. He was nominated once more, for All the Money in the World, in 2018.

That covers the E, the O, and the T of EGOT. But though Plummer never won a Grammy, he did come close once: He was nominated in 1986 for Best Recording for Children for a version of The Nutcracker. That puts him on the list with the likes of Meryl Streep and Denzel Washington of those who have been nominated at all four award shows.
In Moscow, an estimated 15,000 demonstrators gathered in and around Pushkin Square in the city center, where clashes with police broke out and demonstrators were roughly dragged off by helmeted riot officers to police buses and detention trucks. Some were beaten with batons. Navalnys wife Yulia was among those arrested. (Image: AP)

Russia on Friday expelled three European diplomats whom it accused of participating in illegal protests in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny  a move announced as the European Unions foreign policy chief was visiting Moscow and as Navalny faced a new criminal trial.

The timing of the expulsions of diplomats from Germany, Poland and Sweden seemed intended to send a message both at home and abroad. In the West, the European Unions foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell Fontelles, had been criticized for going ahead with a trip to Moscow this week despite the jailing of Navalny and for playing down the possibility of new sanctions against Russia.

The Kremlins decision to expel diplomats from three EU member states on the same day as Borrells visit signaled that Russia was not prepared to compromise on the Navalny case. Hours before the Foreign Ministry announced the expulsions, Borrell called for Navalnys freedom at a news conference alongside Russias foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov.

For Russias domestic audience, the expulsions served as the latest example of what the Kremlin has described as Western interference fomenting public discontent. The Foreign Ministry said representatives of Germany, Poland and Sweden had been summoned and notified that three of their embassies diplomats had been identified as participants in unauthorized pro-Navalny rallies Jan. 23.

It was underscored that such actions from their side are unacceptable and do not accord with their diplomatic status, the Foreign Ministry said. They have been ordered to leave the Russian Federation as soon as possible.

Borrell said he learned of the expulsions during his meeting with Lavrov and strongly condemned them. Sweden called the expulsion of its diplomat completely unfounded. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said she had learned of them during a video conference with President Emmanuel Macron of France on Friday.

We consider these expulsions to be unjustified and believe them to be another facet of the detachment from the rule of law that can be observed in Russia at this time, Merkel said.

Navalny survived a nerve-agent poisoning in Siberia in the summer and recovered in Germany, accusing President Vladimir Putin of having tried to kill him. Then he returned to Moscow last month despite facing near-certain arrest.

His arrival set off the biggest nationwide anti-Kremlin protests of recent years and brought an enormous crackdown on the opposition, with more than 10,000 arrests in the last three weeks. The Kremlins show of force suggests that Putin sees the longtime gadfly as a significant threat  and that the president will not shy away from bringing the governments vast resources to bear on stifling dissent.

The Kremlin denies any involvement in Navalnys poisoning and says that detentions at unauthorized protests are justified and lawful. On Friday, Navalny faced a new criminal trial  this time on charges of slandering a war veteran  while his supporters geared up for what they expect to be a yearslong battle against the Kremlin.

The start of the new trial came three days after a different court sentenced Navalny to two years and eight months in prison for violating his parole on a 2014 embezzlement conviction that Europes top human rights court later ruled was politically motivated.

The trial, in which Navalny is not expected to face more prison time, appeared to be a vehicle for the Kremlin to tie his team up further in the courts while also giving the state news media a fresh opportunity to tar the opposition leaders image. The slander offense that Navalny is being tried for was punishable by a fine or community service when he was charged with it last year, though lawmakers have since increased the potential punishment to up to two years in prison.

Prosecutors accuse Navalny of slandering a World War II veteran in social media posts last year. The posts criticized people who support Putins constitutional amendments approved in July that allow him to remain in power until 2036.

Youre using him and his medals to defend Putin the thief and all of his thieving friends, Navalny said in court Friday, according to a recording.

Navalny can still appeal his prison sentence in the previous trial, and his allies are working to prepare their supporters for a long fight ahead.

One of Navalnys top aides, Leonid Volkov, said his camp would not be calling for more street protests in the coming weeks because it needed to regroup before nationwide parliamentary elections that are scheduled for September.

This is a path that could take several years, but this is our plan, Volkov said. We need to preserve our candidates for the election, and we need to preserve our campaign offices.

The Navalny camps strategy is to build up pressure on the Kremlin and chip away at Putins legitimacy, with the expectation that sooner or later, his authority will collapse amid discontent in the general public and in the ruling elite.

Navalnys allies abroad, including Volkov, are also increasingly engaging with Western governments in the hopes of persuading them to impose sanctions on people close to Putin.

If we keep going out every week, well get thousands more arrested and hundreds more beaten up, and the work of the campaign offices will be paralyzed, Volkov said. We will get Alexei out of prison, first and foremost, using foreign-policy methods.

Navalny, in a letter from jail that his team published late Thursday, called on his supporters to keep up the fight.

The iron doors slam shut behind me with a deafening clang, but I feel like a free man, Navalny wrote. They can hold onto power, using it for personal gain, only by relying on our fear. But we, having overcome fear, can free our homeland from a little bunch of thieving occupiers.

In court Friday, Navalny tried to cast the slander case against him as a narrative concocted by Kremlin propaganda specialists who were seeking to take advantage of the Russian publics sympathy for World War II veterans.

Navalnys offense, according to prosecutors, was a tweet in June in which he described people appearing in a video agitating for Putins constitutional amendments as traitors, people without a conscience.

One of the people in that video was veteran Ignat Artemenko, 94, whom prosecutors later picked out as a particular victim of Navalnys alleged slander.

Artemenko appeared in court by video link, but the trial was soon interrupted because he was not feeling well and an ambulance had to be called, according to journalists in the courtroom.

I told you that theyd need to call an ambulance for him! Navalny said.

Let the record show that it was Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny who brought him to this state, the prosecutor said.

By Anton Troianovski

c.2021 The New York Times Company

The boss of a Kent airfield converted into a coronavirus testing site has defended a letter warning employees they must stop taking drugs and having sex on site.

Security managers at Manston Airfield, which tests drivers entering France, distributed the note telling staff there had been a number of 'incidents' and 'allegations' including staff offering drugs to each other.

It also says they were made aware of staff having sex with each other on the night shift and hurling abuse at Ghurkha soldiers who are assisting at the site in Ramsgate, Kent.

It also claims drivers are arriving at the site with fake negative Covid test certificate.

And Tony Smith, director of Right Guard Security Group, has defended the inflammatory note and pointed out they have been 'very successful'.

Security managers at Manston Airfield, which tests drivers entering France, have distributed a letter telling staff that they are of a number of 'incidents' and 'allegations' including staff offering drugs to each other.

He told Kent Online: 'This letter was a memo that went out, with guidelines, to staff.

'I understand how it may look and in some cases, the memo may not have been worded in the best way. It's not a free-for-all here; it's not a Sunday morning playing football - it's a very busy site.

'A number of the operatives working here are high-level professionals, such as ex-police, ex-prison service and ex-military personnel.

'But we've got a huge number of staff, 600-800 of all different people, and naturally some of them, a small number, need reminding about how to behave.'

The former Manston Airport site was transformed into a Covid-19 testing centre for lorry drivers travelling to Europe.

The site was established just before Christmas as a new variant of the coronavirus was discovered and France refused entry to anyone without a negative test, leaving thousands of hauliers stranded.

Hundreds of trucks fill the runway at the former RAF airfield at Manston in Kent as the Port of Dover was closed last month

Staff working at the testing centre have warned of a number of concerning incidents involving drugs and forged papers.

According to a report in KentOnline, one worker told how there had been sexual encounters between staff members as well as reports of employees taking and offering cannabis and cocaine.

'There's lots of young people working here and it's very cliquey,' the anonymous staff member told the publication.

'People treat it like a social event. Some are on furlough or looking for other jobs so they don't really care about this job.

'You'll see them rolling joints, and someone was caught twice with cocaine and the police were called.'

A letter sent to staff by security contractor Rightguard and leaked to KentOnline mentioned a 'number of incidents and allegations' including 'reports of staff taking and offering drugs to others whilst on shift'.

The site was established just before Christmas as a new variant of the coronavirus was discovered and France refused entry to anyone without a negative test, leaving thousands of hauliers stranded.

The letter continued: 'Information has been given to senior managers regarding sexual encounters that are taking place on the site during the night shift.'

According to the letter, some of the hauliers had also been forging documentation saying they had had a negative Covid test.

A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: 'These reports are concerning and we're investigating with the company that manages the site as a matter of urgency.'

In December, 3,800 drivers parked up at Manston Airport, as another 1,000 were held in official 'traffic management operations' across Kent.

A coronavirus testing centre near parked trucks at Manston airport on Tuesday, December 22

According to the letter, some of the hauliers had also been forging documentation saying they had had a negative Covid test. Pictured, the airfield on December 22

One Polish driver told MailOnline: 'We are sick of this - I've been in Dover for two days and want to go home for Christmas. Nobody wants another night sleeping in their cab.'

Rod McKenzie of the Road Haulage Association described the situation as 'chaos' as he said the drivers were 'tired, frustrated, [and] desperately wanting to get home for Christmas.'

The military and NHS are currently carrying out a mass testing programme after France confirmed it would allow hauliers with a negative Covid test to travel across the French border.

The rapid test kits deliver results in 30 minutes, but are controversial as lateral flow kits are more likely to miss people who are carrying the virus.

The military and NHS are currently carrying out a mass testing programme after France confirmed it would allow hauliers with a negative Covid test to travel across the French border. Pictured, trucks taking part in a no deal planning exercise in January 2019

Van driver Emil Liveu, who was transporting parcels from the UK to Romania, was stuck at the Port of Dover over Christmas.

He said he was trying to get home to spend his first Christmas with his new baby: 'We're stuck here. No toilet, no food.'

'They told me I need to get a Covid test to cross the border,' the 30-year-old said.

'I found a private test, I paid for it, they give me the test, I come back here and they told me no.'

Mr Liveu, who spent days sleeping in his cab, said: 'It's hard to pay for a hotel when you have paid 130 for the test, money for diesel, paying for the motorway.'

On making it back home to Romania for Christmas, he said: 'If I leave now, maybe I'll get back. But to be honest, I don't think I have any chance.

A 12 foot-deep 'sinkhole' (pictured) emerged on the runway at the former airfield that housed 4,000 lorries which were attempting to take goods across the Channel

The disused Manston Airport was used to accommodate 4,000 HGVs as a way to ease congestion around the Port of Dover pre-Christmas. A sinkhole appeared on the runway (pictured)

'I have a small baby at home, it would be first Christmas together, but that's it, I guess we'll do it on Facebook.

'Everyone is hoping because there are a lot of people here with children.'

Last month, a 12 foot-deep 'sinkhole' emerged on the runway at the former airfield.

The sinkhole, which first appeared on Boxing Day, was estimated to be around 5ft by 4ft across and a depth of 10 to 12ft.

Director of the company RiverOak Strategic Partners that owns Manston Aiport Tony Freudmann believed the hole, thought to be caused by water erosion, was manmade.

Mr Freudmann told KentOnline after visiting the site: 'I'm not an expert, but speaking as a layperson, it looks to me that the hole is man-made.

'I think it has been dug out for some reason in the past and then been capped.'

He also explained how the hole is not on the main runway but on 'an old taxi runway' which runs alongside it.

The usage of the disused Manston Airfield in Kent as a lorry park had originally been planned as a post-Brexit contingency in the event of a No Deal scenario.
New Delhi: As the protesting farmers called for a nationwide 'chakka jam' on Saturday (February 6, 2021), the government has directed the Delhi Police to ensure high security at all key installations in the national capital to prevent any 'January 26 Red Fort-like incident'.

The orders were issued after a high level meeting on Thursday which was chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and attended by NSA Ajit Doval, city Commissioner of Police S N Shrivastava and others.

In the meeting, the security arrangements ahead of Saturday's 'chakka jam' by farmer unions was reviewed and it was emphasised that there should not be a repeat of the Republic Day violence.

Keeping in mind the violence that took place during farmers tractor march on January 26 in the national capital security has been beefed up at places of national significance like the Parliament, the India Gate.

The Delhi Police is coordinating with the police force in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to ensure that there are no incidents of violence during 'chakka Jam' and there is minimum inconvenience to general public, Amit Shah was informed.

On January 26, violence ensued as few protesting farmers stormed the Red Fort, clashed with the police and hoisted a religious flag on an empty flag post. Following the violence, the Delhi Police have, so far, arrested 122 persons in various cases of rioting and causing damage to public property, besides registering 44 cases at various police stations.

Earlier this week, the SKM (Samyukt Kisan Morcha) had announced a nationwide chakka jam on Februray 6, Saturday for three hours from 12 pm to 3 pm. It said that the farmers would block national and state highways for three hours in protest against the Internet ban near their protest sites, alleged harassment by authorities, and other issues.

Speaking to reporters at the Ghazipur border protest site, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said, "There will be a three-hour-long chakka jam on February 6. The people that will be stuck in it will be given food and water. We will tell them what is the Govt doing with us."

Though, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand will be exempted from the jam.

Meanwhile, as a precautionary measure ahead of the 'chakka jam', the New Delhi DCP in a letter asked the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to stay prepared to shut down a dozen metro stations within a short notice period. The DCP has said that given the circumstances of law and order and to control the crowd, the metro staff should be ready.

The 12 metro stations are--Rajiv Chowk, Patel Chowk, Central Secretariat, Udyog Bhawan, Lok Kalyan Marg, Janpath, Mandi House, RK Ashram, Supreme Court, Khan Market and Shivaji Stadium (Airport Express Line). All these metro stations fall within the New Delhi area.

Farmers have been protesting at different borders of the national capital since November 26 last year against the three newly enacted farm laws: Farmers` Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 22:39:07|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- China has finished the on-site investigation of 4,532 cave temples and cliff statues, part of a nationwide effort to examine the conservation of the country's grotto sites, said the National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA).

Braving freezing winter temperatures, high altitudes and bad weather, nearly 2,000 researchers in 150 teams have taken part in the survey, said the NCHA, the organizer of the national initiative.

In particular, they have completed surveys of a plethora of small and medium-sized grottoes that are either inaccessible or located in places prone to natural calamities.

A total of 1,366 reports have been generated in the process, according to the NCHA, an important step for compiling a national conservation report in June and formulating a protection plan for the next five years. Enditem

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday that 75% of all COVID-19 vaccinations worldwide have been given in just 10 countries, while nearly 130 nations have not given a single vaccination.

At the agencys regular briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters that, globally, the number of vaccinations has now overtaken the number of reported COVID-19 infections.

He said that is basically good news and a remarkable achievement in such a short timeframe. But there are almost 130 countries with 2.5 billion people, that have not delivered a single dose of vaccine.

Tedros said there are some wealthier nations that have already vaccinated large proportions of their population at lower risk of severe disease or death.

The WHO chief said he recognizes that all governments have an obligation to protect their own people. But he said once wealthier nations have vaccinated their priority populations  frontline health workers and the elderly  the best way those nations can protect the rest of their population is to share surplus vaccines so other countries can do the same.

The longer it takes to vaccinate those most at risk everywhere, the more opportunity we give the virus to mutate and evade vaccines, said Tedros said, adding that unless the virus is suppressed everywhere, it could resurge globally.

One way to make poorer nations less dependent on the richer ones is to ramp up production of vaccines worldwide, he added, noting how the multi-national pharmaceutical company Sanofi announced it would make its manufacturing infrastructure available to support production of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

Tedros called on other companies to do the same.

We encourage all manufacturers to share their data and technology to ensure global, equitable access to vaccines.
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted change in every industry, but few as fundamentally as those dependent on in-person gatherings, such as live events and film production. At a time when it is vital for businesses to establish strong media strategies, current circumstances are throttling live trade show events and filmed content creation.



Virtual production spaces like Salesforces partnership with an Extended Reality Stage in Marin, California, stand to change that.

What if instead of trying to get crews and presenters to a specic location, creators could bring locations to them? This is exactly what Salesforce did for a recent 40-day lm production for their annual 2020 Dreamforce event.

We set up a shot on top of a mountain in the Alps, but we were actually in Marin, California, said Clayton Talmon, executive producer, lm director at Salesforce. The executive could drive over from her home across the bay and be placed in the Alps.

Through the xR Stage, located in the San Francisco Bay Area, brands can continue to produce high-quality marketing and communications content set anywhere in the world  with higher degrees of COVID-19 safety, convenience and creative control.

Virtual production is a set of combined practices from film/TV, 3D and gaming technology that allows creators to merge physical and computer-generated content on set. It garnered public attention through its adoption by director Jon Favreau in 2019s The Lion King and The Mandalorian, of which 50% of its first season was filmed using virtual production.

Inspired by the possibilities of this new methodology, Talmon saw an opportunity to bring these capabilities to business communications and has already found success producing work for many of Salesforces customers.

Salesforce has always been on the leading edge of bringing world-class commercial productions to branded corporate content and executive messaging, Talmon said. Thats our big breakthrough here: We're one of the first ones to [fast-track] it into the business world.

Though it shares similarities with green screen, virtual production is far more sophisticated. With traditional visual effects, digital content is added to footage in post-production. At an xR Stage, filmmakers see it all together right from the directors chair, where the camera becomes a window into synthetic worlds displayed on LED screens behind talent. Adding another layer of depth through video game software like Unreal Engine, creators can also display 3D content composited in front of performers, letting them interact with data visualizations, products and virtual characters.

It bends the brain a bit, Talmon said. What is digital looks three-dimensional and you feel like you're transported to a beach in Hawaii, but you're on a soundstage.

Using one physical location for entire shoots also increases safety for clients, cast and crew. Salesforce was able to maintain rigorous COVID-19 testing standards, administering more than 700 tests across 40 days of filming. Crewmembers can be hired locally, minimizing travel. The xR Stage even streamlines the process of shooting remotely for people who arent able to leave home.

COVID is the reason why Clayton and I are not on planes filming around the world, said Emma Brumpton, senior producer and media development manager at Salesforce. A lot of our speakers still didnt feel safe coming onto the stage, so we set up remote production kits, which allowed us to remotely insert them onto the stage.

From necessity to opportunity

Uncharted territories bring unexpected challenges. Film, games and technology professionals all use different languages, and are not necessarily accustomed to translating them across industries. COVID-19 may have catalyzed the need for the xR Stage, but Talmon also used its initial projects to streamline workflows he believes will prove invaluable post-pandemic due to the unprecedented degree of creative control and efficiencies it gives his teams.

I can have sunset all day long, Talmon said. Oftentimes were timing for a 10-minute window of light. In this case, we just park the sun within the 3D set and it stays there all day.

New learning curves and the need for environments to be generated in advance mean that the xR Stage setups generally require more effort upfront than on-location equivalents. The trade-off is that productions can be optimized for those with the trickiest schedules: C-suite executives and other A-List individuals. Whether its the CEO who needs to squeeze a live keynote broadcast into a packed day or the celebrity who can shoot five locations without hopping on as many planes  for the right person, virtual production is a groundbreaking time-saver.

The stage is limitless, Brumpton said. That is the most exciting part, to be able to bring a customer on and say, Yes, we can bring you to Shanghai within minutes; yes, we can bring you to London.

Virtual production is also a way of betting on the future. With many claiming that remote work is here to stay, high-quality digital productions are transitioning from luxuries to necessities.

As creatives, we are always thinking about taking physical events and customer stories and recreating them. COVID-19 has accelerated and amplified our need to make an emotional connection with our customers through rich media that delivers valuable, relevant content during Dreamforce and our World Tour physical events, Talmon said. We now need to take that all online.

Talmon also imagines a future in which the xR Stage offers value for less conventionally digital-forward verticals, particularly as emerging media technologies like virtual and augmented reality enter the mainstream.

xR is also future-proofing for industries like education, training, design, health care and eCommerce, Brumpton said. The content well capture in the future of the xR Stage will definitely be used within VR/AR, new gamified experiences and in tackling real-world problems.

For now, Salesforce remains focused on its goal of facilitating trusted, informative communication for its customers and partners around the world.

At the end of the day, businesses want to communicate with their customer base, Talmon said. That one-on-one relationship we used to have when people walked into your store, show room or trade show  is gone for the foreseeable future. The XR technology, used properly, allows you to create high-level production value communications that keep companies connected with their customers. Thats the big picture here: We're combining these production tools to reinvent the future of how B2B and B2C communication channels are going to be filled with effective content, beyond COVID-19."

For More Information, please contact



Salesforce Public Relations

pr@salesforce.com

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/52e6d2b4-6049-4a3c-ab75-82aa94a249a5

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/84e02797-1dd5-4db9-aaf2-5d546c7396e4

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5356164a-99e2-472a-bae8-c78688580942

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/540d0eb3-5718-4d90-9068-c9b691472f90

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a1b5f13f-f631-4cd5-8df7-f113759af1f7

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c4eeeade-d008-4f3f-8a0d-c67ae7e149f1

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opinion

In the Horn of Africa where many competing interests are exposing the region to security threats, the defense forces play crucial roles in maintaining peace and security. They have been on the frontlines in protecting the national sovereignty of the country and ensuring law and order under difficult conditions. Despite their lifetime service, soldiers in Ethiopia are not well remunerated both during their service and after retirement, lacking social security benefits. Hence, they constitute one of the less well-off groups in Ethiopian society. This calls for a special policy decision to provide retirement health care coverage for Ethiopian army members and their families as a gratitude for their heroic service to the nation. This can be particularly fitting following the recent events and their triumphant role in protecting the country despite the shocking attacks on the Northern Command.

Since 2018, as part of the new "homegrown economic reform" agenda, the government of Ethiopia has made many economic and social policy reforms. Reforms in the health sector that include social security for the army can be crucial welfare improving interventions that can enhance the quality of life for those who have been serving their country on the frontlines.

Since time immemorial, Ethiopian army has also fought several wars to maintain peace and stability both in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa region. For instance, the legacy of Ethiopian forces during Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1896 at the Battle of Adwa has inspired the black global and led to resistance to colonialists across Africa. Egypt's ambitions of occupying Ethiopia to have direct control of the Nile River ended in the Battle of Gura in 1876 with the sacrifice made by Ethiopian patriots. The Ethiopian army also defeated, the Sudanese Mahdist army, who invaded Ethiopia in 1889, at the Battle of Gallabat. In 1978, the gallant Ethiopian army defeated and repulsed the invading Somalian army, which controlled significant parts of eastern Ethiopia. During the Eritrean-Ethiopian war in 1998, thousands have lost their lives to defend the country. The Ethiopian army has also participated in regional and international peacekeeping missions and is praised for its courage. For instance, in 1951, more than 3,000 soldiers from Ethiopia fought in the Korea War their motto was "Never be captured in the battlefield" and contributed to the liberation of Korea. Currently, Ethiopia is a major contributor to the United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) peacekeeping missions.

To this effect, Ethiopian soldiers have been in Darfur Sudan, Abyei South Sudan, and Somalia to strengthen cross border conflict management in the Horn of Africa together with eight other member countries of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). The majority of IGAD's peacekeeping force is from Ethiopia.

Ethiopian soldiers have also successfully participated in many other development activities, including maintenance and construction of public infrastructures (e.g., schools, roads, health centers), helping the people during national health and disaster emergencies (e.g., COVID-19, locust infestation, flood). However, the Ethiopian army has never been paid back for its national, regional, and international services in the form of social security benefits, they deserve more than retirement healthcare coverage. The current health reform effort in Ethiopia should consider as a similar initiative of countries that have a better healthcare program. Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all citizens is also one of the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals- SDG3. Countries that have not been investing in health services were also facing challenges during an unprecedented time like the COVID-19 that affects senior citizens more. Investing in health, education, and infrastructure are also key areas of social development.

Although the move in the direction of universal health coverage, following the World Health Organization (WHO) framework, has been slow, Ethiopia can still learn from the experience of other developing and developed countries. First, Rwanda and Ghana, provide health coverage for their population through a national health insurance scheme. The Rwanda Defense Force in its citizens outreach program which was launched in 2009 provides several socioeconomic services besides serving the community for free medical services that include dentistry, ophthalmology, orthopedics, internal medicine, gynecology, pediatric and dermatology, and minor surgeries. Second, in the United States of America, retired military personnel and their families have several incentives the TRICARE For Life program, for instance, provides a range of options for army veterans to receive healthcare coverage. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program also supports over 1.3 million veterans and their families.

Ethiopia's health insurance system has remained traditional and underdeveloped. The system is dominated by community based schemes established more than 100 years ago called Idir an informal institution which provides financial help to families for emergencies like funerals. An improvement in the health sector including intervention in the care program is needed. The Idir is organized by a group of people where members pay premiums regularly as protection against unforeseen emergencies. Currently, as part of the universal health coverage, the government is trying to scale up Idir through its new initiative "Idir while alive" the plan is to pool members' premium payments into a collective fund to use for basic healthcare costs at local health centers when a member is sick. While such progress is appreciated, a modern form of health insurance like any other developing country remains weak and underdeveloped in Ethiopia.

A new form of social security in terms of healthcare insurance coverage for veterans who have honorably served the country in the frontlines is needed. Soldiers, in particular, are vulnerable groups since 1991 the Ethiopian army, which fought multiple wars to protect the country, was disbanded without any compensation but then remobilized for the war with Eritrea in 1998. Several soldiers after the Eritrea war have been unjustifiably demobilized and again invited to help the army with the current internal conflict (with the Tigray region).

It is also important to understand that frequent conflicts have economic, social, and environmental consequences including poverty and migration problems, and children, women, and the elderly are often the most affected groups. In many countries that face frequent internal conflicts, their governments are greedy for power and trap their people into poverty, transition to democracy and development can be delayed significantly the military personnel, in particular, who sacrificed their lives to protect civilians from conflicts, who have been wounded and disabled, required retirement healthcare coverage. Provision of some level of social protection and healthcare to retired military officers not only reduces the threat of endless war and conflict but it has enormous social benefits in the long run.

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More particularly, providing healthcare for military veterans can offer the following types of benefits. First, it helps to maintain peace and security in a conflict-affected region. Second, it makes servicing the country in the military attractive to the educated youth as well adds dignity and honor to those who retire after their gallant service to the nation. Third, the incentive may allow the government to consider a national peacetime training and short term service in the military for the youth (this is not to fight wars) as a way of building discipline, commitment and patriotic duty as has been practiced by several developed countries which use this model for cultivating their youth after high school graduation.

Retirement healthcare coverage as a social security benefit for the army could therefore be the first of its kind in Ethiopia and provide immense social benefits. As part of the effort for extending universal healthcare in the country, it can incentivize and recognize distinguished public service for peace and security and facilitate democratization and sustainable development. As part of the healthcare reforms, intervention on retiree healthcare for the army (and their immediate family) can improve the quality of the life of soldiers who have been providing unique national service to secure peace and facing enormous risks to their lives in the conflict affected region. This can also be a good initial experience to innovate and identify other vulnerable groups in the country and explore feasible policy options to expand social protection.

Tigist Mekonnen Melesse (PhD), The views expressed in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of The Reporter.

Contributed by Tigist Mekonnen Melesse (PhD)
City police are seeking an armed and dangerous fugitive on murder charges in connection with a triple shooting last weekend outside a South Main Street bar that was promptly shut down for code violations.

Jayshawn Times Too Malik Johnson, 21, last known address of 51 Madison St., Wilkes-Barre, is wanted on criminal homicide charges alleging he opened fire outside Bos on Main at 215 S. Main St. around 11:30 p.m. Saturday, killing two people and seriously injuring a third.

Following the shooting, the city found significant code and health violations that have since been corrected, but the owner has chosen to keep the bar closed and put the liquor license in safekeeping, City Administrator Charles McCormick said.

Our position is they cant reopen without an occupancy permit for the use of a bar there, McCormick said.

McCormick said the bar had been closed for a significant period of time and only reopened last Friday night.

Police said surveillance footage revealed Johnson was inside the bar prior to the shooting and officers recognized him from past encounters.

According to the criminal complaint, officers responded to the bar and found three gunshot victims, all of whom were rushed to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital.

Two of the victims, Damian Thomas, 32, and Maurice Chapman, 31, were shot repeatedly and died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Luzerne County Coroners Office.

The third victim, Al Quan Cade Jr., was critically injured with a gunshot wound to the head that cost him his vision in his left eye, according to the complaint. Cade was hospitalized in intensive care.

Surveillance video of the shooting showed a group of lounge patrons standing out front of the business when a gunman approaches Thomas and opens fire, the complaint says. The shooter continues firing, hitting Chapman and Cade as other patrons run from the shots, police said.

The gunman then fled through a parking lot and got into a silver minivan that sped from the scene, according to police.

Bos on Main, which previously was Donahues Hourglass, had been operating on a conditional license agreement after the state Liquor Control Boards Bureau of Licensing in 2018 objected to the renewal of the bars liquor license based upon two adjudicated citations, a late-filed application, as well as the reputation of Coleen M. Burns, according to documents on the liquor boards website.

Burns is listed as the manager of the bars owner CM Burns3 LLC.

The last two citations against the bar were for multiple instances of loud music violations. The bar was fined a total of $750, records show.

The bar had been seeking to transfer its liquor license, but that request has been withdrawn following the shooting, McCormick said. He said the city contacted the LCB to address reservations about the possible transfer.

The LCB previously objected to the license renewal of another bar Burns co-owned and managed, Bentleys in Ashley, because of Burns reputation and because it was plagued with fights, disorderly operations, shootings/shots fired and loud music at that location, according to the conditional licensing agreement the LCB filed before that business closed.

Shawn Kelly, press secretary for the LCB, said the board evaluates ones reputation by looking at his or her criminal history, the persons history as a licensee, citations issued to the licensees establishment and any other factors the Board deems appropriate.

No hearing has been scheduled about the Bos on Main license, he said.

Efforts to reach Burns, whose family also owns Hottles Restaurant on South Main Street in Wilkes-Barre, were not successful on Friday.

Police say Johnson was already wanted on a bench warrant and does not have a license to carry a concealed gun.

The warrant police obtained Sunday, which was initially sealed, charges Johnson with criminal homicide, attempted murder, aggravated assault, illegal possession of a firearm and carrying a gun without a license.

According to court records, Johnson was previously arrested on robbery charges in April 2018. In that case, police alleged he tried to rob a woman that had gone to the Sherman Hills Apartments to drop off money for a friend.

The robbery charge was dropped against Johnson in exchange for him pleading guilty to charges of carrying a firearm without a license, making terroristic threats and simple assault, according to court records.

He was sentenced to six to 23 months in the Luzerne County Correctional Facility.

In addition to the robbery case, Johnsons criminal history includes convictions for driving under the influence and resisting arrest.

Police described Johnson as armed and dangerous in their application for an arrest warrant.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call 911.



FE Credit  the consumer finance arm of VPBank  is allegedly preparing for an IPO

In 2020, FE Credit's pre-tax profit is estimated to reach VND3.713 trillion ($161.43 million), down 16.3 per cent on-year, according to the latest report of VPBank  the firm's parent bank.

Meanwhile, its non-performing loans ratio increased from 6 per cent at the end of 2019 to 6.6 per cent as of December 2020. The consumer finance company contributed around 28.5 per cent to the banks consolidated pre-tax profit.

In the past year, FE Credit's disbursement value reached VND63 trillion ($2.74 billion), down 14 per cent on-year.

The rise in the NPL ratio has somewhat deteriorated asset quality. Meanwhile, Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) increased from 15.9 to 19.1 per cent on-year. Operating expenses were VND5.038 trillion ($219 million), down 11.5 per cent, while its cost-to-income (CIR) ratio decreased from 31.3 to 28.9 per cent.

Experts believe that market gyrations stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic have severely hampered consumer finance firms, as their customers were among the most vulnerable to the outbreak.

Previously, VPBank signalled its ambition to divest its interest in FE Credit.

Ngo Chi Dung, chairman of VPBank's Board of Directors, noted the bank has negotiated with many high-profile investors about the sale of a part of FE Credit's capital. The proceeds, if the deal is successful, are expected to boost VPBank's financial foundation, as well as help the bank to accelerate its activities in two potentially attractive segments (small- and medium-sized enterprises and retail financing).

On the other hand, VIR previously reported that FE Credit had been allegedly preparing for an initial public offering (IPO). The process is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2021. Notably, VPBank's Board of Directors initially forecast that a successful IPO could triple FE Credit's share price compared to the book value after the equitisation.

Currently, the Vietnamese market boasts 16 consumer finance companies, six of which are subsidiaries of major local lenders, including HD Saison of HDBank, SHB Finance of SHB, MCredit of MB, and Post and Telecommunication Finance Co., Ltd. (PTF) of SeABank. FE Credit is the largest consumer finance firm in Vietnam.
The role of a Minister for Finance requires someone with an appreciation of economics as well as the practical understanding of how an economy works, a deep understanding of financial markets and public finance; and for a developing country like Ghana, someone with market credibility at both the domestic and international levels. These create the respect and trust necessary for the Minister to work with relevant stakeholders on Ghanas development agenda. One must also be mindful of the fact that a Finance Minister must be able to protect the public purse against pressures that come with profligate spending, sometimes even to the annoyance of his own government.



As parliament is about to vet Ministers nominated for the second Akufo-Addo led Government, one of the key positions that appears to have drawn a significant amount of attention is that of the Minister for Finance - especially in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our economic progress and the critical need for experienced, skillful, creative and internationally respected leadership if we are to emerge from this COVID nightmare stronger and more resilient.



A key trend for selecting a Minister for Finance in countries that have active participation in local and global capital markets, is for the person to have a deep understanding and connection to these markets or more than substantial pedigree in the practice of economic policy in order for markets to have confidence in the person. Evidence for this is prevalent in countries like the US, UK, among others. For example, the current Chancellor of the Exchequer in the UK was a former investment banker at Goldman Sachs, the immediate US Treasury Secretary is also an ex investment banker and hedge fund manager. Others who played similar roles at critical times include Henry Paulson, Jack Lew, who were both investment bankers, among others.



In Ghana, a significant success in navigating the financial sector clean-up, which was a difficult crisis inherited from the previous Government, the successful exit from the IMF without international investors getting overly jittery about their portfolio holdings in Ghana and the more than successful raising of over US$8b dollars through Eurobond issuances to support budget spending over the past years have been largely due to the pedigree of the Minister for Finance.



Who then is Ken Ofori-Atta? Ken was born on 7 November, 1959 in Kibi. He went to the prestigious Achimota School, and subsequently obtained a BA in Economics from Columbia University in 1984, and an MBA from the esteem Yale University School of Management in 1988. He practiced as an investment banker both in the US and in Ghana for over 30 years. His track record as the Executive Chairman of Databank, and through the successes at firm, he built an enviable track record as a leading emerging market investment banker and entrepreneur, with global and domestic understanding of financial markets and economic issues. Ken was honored as a Donaldson Fellow at Yale University and is the first African to receive the John Jay Award from Columbia University which is presented to alumni of Columbia College in recognition of their commitment to a new generation of African leaders. He was also the first African to testify at the US Congress Ways and Means Committee to support the AGOA law. This background and experience puts Ken in the league of the qualified and suitable candidates for the position of Finance Minister. It is important that the country puts its best foot forward in selecting a Minister for Finance in the next 4 years as uncertainties remain in the global financial system.



The Covid-19 pandemic has made it even more urgent for Ghana to have a Finance Minister whose track record engenders confidence from global economic institutions, and capital markets in a way never before seen in our history. It is clear that the next couple of Eurobond issuances by Ghana will have to be done without in-person meetings, and many investors will want to identify with whoever is responsible for the economy. At the same time, businesses will want a situation where there is a clear understanding of the impact of Covid-19 on their balance sheets and what interventions are required to fix them at the economy-wide level. Kens experience as an investment banker and entrepreneur fits this.



So what are some of the legacies of Ken Ofori-Atta over the last 4 years? Ken has led the Ministry of Finance with unprecedented energy over the last 4 years. Under his leadership, the Ministry spearheaded various policy reforms and initiatives to ensure effective economic policy management for the attainment of macroeconomic stability and sustainable economic growth. His understanding of the economy and its prudent management resulted in him working with President Akufo-Addo and his colleagues in Government to achieve an average decline in Ghanas fiscal deficit from 6.5% of GDP in 2016 to 4.8% in 2017, 3.9% in 2018 and 4.8% in 2019. While fiscal deficit declined on the average, the overall real GDP growth rebounded from 3.4% in 2016 to 8.1% in 2017, moderating to 6.3% in 2018, and then rising to 6.5% in 2019. The projected real GDP growth for 2020 was revised considerably downwards from 6.8% to 0.9% reflecting the impact of Covid-19 on economic activities. Provisional third quarter GDP data released by the GSS, shows that Overall GDP, after growing by 4.9% in the first quarter contracted by 3.2 percent and 1.1 percent in the second and third quarter of 2020 respectively, averaging 0.2 percent.



Importantly, there were also many real sector initiatives undertaken at the Ministry during the period of Kens 4 years stewardship which include paying down accumulated Contractor arrears and Energy Sector Legacy debts, expending over GHS21 billion on Financial Sector Clean-Up to protect the savings and investments of over 4.6 million Ghanaians and businesses, supporting local banks to stay in business through the set-up of Ghana Amalgamated Trust (GAT), the development of Capital Market Master Plan (CMMP), establishment of the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX), support for the re-development of the mortgage sector and availability of cheaper loans to local developers through the National Housing and Mortgage Fund (NHMF), facilitating Ghanas Membership into the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI), and leading efforts to develop a blue-print economic policy for Ghanas response to the Covid-19 crisis  the Ghana CARES (Obaatan Pa) Programme. Ken is the first Minster for Finance to establish a formal relationship with Faith-based institutions, organized labor and employers association by setting-up the social partnership council for industrial harmony, transparency of policy and take advise from these critical stakeholders.



Kens success can also be summed up over the last 4 years by recognitions such as the World Bank naming him as African Finance Minister of the Year for 2018, successfully chairing the World Bank-IMF joint Development Committee, and the Governing Board of African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF). With the above experience, Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta has the required knowledge, skill, attitude and mind-set to continue his public service role as the Minister for Finance. It will also give him the opportunity to complete ongoing flagship programmes for economic and social development. As a country, we must seize the moment and ensure that we continue to make use of our best talent to support our economic growth and development at any given moment.



By Yaw K. Dei

Accra, February 4, 2021.

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.

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Queensland has recorded a 26th consecutive day without a local coronavirus case, as testing rates remain above target.

One person tested positive in hotel quarantine but was believed to have caught the virus overseas, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk confirmed on social media on Saturday morning.

The hotspot status of south-west WA was revoked on Saturday morning, with hopes that border restrictions for Perth and the Peel region will be removed at 1am on Valentines Day. Credit:Getty

There were 7663 tests recorded across the state during the reporting period. Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young has previously set a target of 5000 tests daily.

The update came as Queensland reopened its borders to parts of Western Australia on Saturday morning.
Zendaya has been discussing why her new Sam Levinson movie was shot in black and white.

Talking on GMA, the 24-year-old actress revealed it was a tribute to an era where black actors were not as common on screen.

'Well, you know, other than the fact that it's just pretty, it's beautiful, it adds timelessness to it, but also there was a thought also about reclaiming the narrative of black and white Hollywood and Black actors really having their moment at that time,' Zendaya explained.

Netflix #1: Zendaya talked to GMA this week about her new movie Malcolm & Marie and why it was shot in black and white

'We weren't as present in the black and white era,' she continued. 'A lot of filmmakers have already done this before, a lot of Black filmmakers, so it's not necessarily a new idea, but we did want to pay tribute to that era and reclaim that beauty and that elegance with these two Black actors.'

Meanwhile, Zendaya took to Twitter on Thursday with kind words for the crew of her new movie.

The 24-year-old actress said she was anxious prior to the film - which she stars in with John David Washington - drops on the streaming service.

'Full of excitement and nervousness as this lil movie we made in lockdown with people I love is coming out in the next hour,' the Oakland-born beauty said.

'Nervousness for a few reasons. Normally I'm pretty self-critical and that leads me to be far too fearful to make things myself or trust myself enough to... even try.'

Well, you know, other than the fact that it's just pretty, it's beautiful, it adds timelessness to it, but also there was a thought also about reclaiming the narrative of black and white Hollywood and Black actors really having their moment at that time,' Zendaya explained

'We weren't as present in the black and white era,' she continued. 'A lot of filmmakers have already done this before, a lot of Black filmmakers, so it's not necessarily a new idea, but we did want to pay tribute to that era and reclaim that beauty and that elegance with these two Black actors

Cast of two: Zendaya stars in the film opposite rising star John David Washington

The Euphoria star said that she had a number of professional milestones on the romantic drama, as she's a producer on the project.

'This is really my first time believing that maybe I could,' she said. 'This is my first time being a leading lady, but also my first time being this creatively involved in something, producing something, co-financing something, owning something and sharing it all with my crew.'

The Emmy winner explained the intimate production process as the film was made during the pandemic in June and July, amid strict COVID-19 protocols.

'We made this as a family, shot it in 14 days with a 22 person crew I am eternally grateful for,' she said. 'For their talent, their time, their hard work, and their willingness to believe in this film.

The latest: Meanwhile, Zendaya took to Twitter on Thursday with kind words for the crew of her new movie Malcolm & Marie, which began streaming Friday on Netflix

Appreciative: She thanked the film's crew 'for their talent, their time, their hard work, and their willingness to believe in this film'

'If there's anything to learn from this year, and I hope from our little movie it's gratitude for every moment and every person we get to love. To stop and acknowledge the people in our lives who make it possible to do the work we do and honestly, make life worth living.'

The star added that 'it comes in many forms and sometimes it's just a thank you.'

She wrapped up in saying, 'All that being said, on behalf of our little crew of 22, we hope you laugh (please laugh lol) and cry and hopefully enjoy this little thing we made with a whole lot of love.'

Malcolm & Marie, directed by Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, dropped on Netflix on Friday.

The Euphoria star said that she had a number of professional milestones on the romantic drama, as she's a producer on the project
A total of 253 illegal aliens were apprehended by the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) within an hour at the southern U.S. border on Thursday night.

CBP said they were screening 166 illegal aliens at the border near Mission, Texas, when another group of 87 people turned themselves in.

A statement obtained by Fox News said the group of illegal aliens caught at the border mainly consisted of unaccompanied minors and families that came with human smugglers.

"Even with the spread of the COVID-19 virus, human smugglers continue to try these brazen attempts with zero regard for the lives they endanger nor to the health of the citizens of our great nation," the press release read.

The agency then promised to "continue to safeguard the nation and community against these criminal elements."

Related story: Biden Administration Reopens Texas Detention Center for Foreign Children at Border

The news of the arrests came after reports of thousands of immigrants seeking entry to the U.S. through the southern border.

Many point their motivation to move into the country at the Biden administration's policies that would liberalize the nation's immigration system. Some of the policies put forward by President Joe Biden were creating a pathway to citizenship or amnesty.

In recent apprehensions of migrants from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, poverty was seen as a possible cause for departure.

COVID-19 Restrictions Force Border Facilities Past Holding Capacity

Given the restrictions that came with the pandemic and border control, people were getting stuck in facilities by the U.S. border.

"CBP has seen a steady increase in border encounters since April 2020, which, aggravated by COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing guidelines, has caused some facilities to reach maximum safe holding capacity," CBP Public Affairs Officer Rod Kise said.

As the agency is still working on processing the migrants, the Biden administration restored policy on border security.

Biden Administration's CBP Revives 'Catch and Release' Policy at Border

The administration recently revived the "catch and release policy" repealed under the Trump administration. According to New York Post, Biden signed an executive order on the controversial practice which allows undocumented migrants to stay in the U.S. while waiting for the immigration proceedings.

Another Fox News article pointed out that this is the first time since 2019 that the CBP was compelled to revive the "catch and release" policy."

The agency said three factors led to this decision: increased migrant traffic-specifically those from Central America and unaccompanied children; Mexico's refusal to accept families with children younger than 12 years old to some migrant camps; and COVID-19 restrictions.

Read also: Alejandro Mayorkas Makes History as First-Ever Latino DHS Chief

Under the executive action, the Border Patrol can only hold undocumented illegal aliens crossing the border for up to 72 hours.

Migrants have been flooding the border in recent months, leading to the U.S. increasing capacity for unaccompanied minors at a shelter in Carizzo Springs. This influx caused some health and safety concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Federal officers are not doing any COVID testing for immigrants coming across," McAllen City Manager Roy Rodriguez said, adding that test kits were sent to them after raising the concern to the Texas governor's office.
Queens Chatham House Orders Commission To Investigate Attack on U.S. Capitol Imperative

Feb. 5 , 2021 (EIRNS)Dr. Leslie Vinjamuri, head of the Chatham House/Royal Institute of International Affairs Americas Program and Dean of its Queen Elizabeth II Academy for Leadership in International Affairs, issued a written diktat to Americans yesterday, titled cum kicker: The Trial of Trump Is Not Enough To Repair Democracy. The gravity of the Capitol attack makes a trial necessary, but a fuller account from a bipartisan commission is essential to repair Americas global reputation.

Posted to the Chatham House/RIIA website yesterday, Vinjamuri agrees that an impeachment trial could well heighten the divisions and instability in the U.S., but it is imperativeused twiceto establish the narrative that Donald Trump led an attempted coup against the U.S. government and to punish him for it, and that will only be ensured if the Senate both tries him, and sets up a bipartisan commission modeled on the 9/11 Commission to investigate. (She did not specify that she expects the Commission to be composed of members of the House of Lords.) She writes:

The trial will be critical not only to consider the legality of Donald Trumps actions but also to create an official record of the Capitol attacks.... [T]he charge of incitement to insurrection may be not only incomplete, but also incorrect, if those who argue this was actually a coup are right. This would have grave implications in that it would essentially be saying the threat to democracy in America comes from within the political system itself, and maybe even within the Republican Party. The internal war currently raging within the Republican Party serves as a formidable backdrop that makes a commission even more important.

And because the trial may not result in a convictionalthough it is too soon to rule that out, she counselsit is imperative [that] the call for a bipartisan commission is heeded and a full plan for its investigation agreed before the Senate trial concludes and a vote takes place.

A commission providing thorough accounting and creating a careful public record of the events that led up to the 6 January attacks is a crucial step in helping create a national understanding of what happened. The need to counter the disinformation that has surrounded the Capitol attacks, and the events that led to them, is urgent. This then helps begin the process of understanding how to restore democracy in the U.S.

Underlying her argument is her concern that the U.S. will be unable to pressure Russia or Myanmar, if it does not eliminate Trump and what he represents from its body politic. She concludes:
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Investigations editor

Larry Parnass, investigations editor, joined The Eagle in 2016 from the Daily Hampshire Gazette, where he was editor in chief. His freelance work has appeared in the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Hartford Courant and CommonWealth Magazine.
A comprehensive duplicate docket on Professor Emmanuel Yaw Benneh a law lecturer who was murdered at Agyriganor has been forwarded to the Attorney General's Department for advice.



Inspector Ebenezer Teye-Okuffo, who is leading the Prosecution, said the Police was therefore waiting for directives from the AGs office.



Two suspects namely Ebenezer Quaisie and Opambour Agya Badu Nkansah are being held for their involvement in the murder of the law lecturer.



At the Kaneshie District Court, Mr Larbi Amoah, counsel for Opambour lamented over the kind of treatment being meted out to his client who had undergone surgery.



Mr Amoah said after Opambour's surgery he was to go for wound dressing every three days but this was not being done.



He recalled that for the past one week, the accused had not gone for any wound dressing because they claimed there was no money.



Counsel said it was Opambour's mother who gave some money out for his son to be sent to the hospital for his wound to be dressed.



The case investigator explained that because there was no money, Opambour could not be sent for his wounds to be dressed regularly.



Inspector Okuffo explained that it was the crime officer who is to ensure the delivery of money for accuseds wound to be taken care of.



The trial has been adjourned to Feb 24.



The Police at the last sitting substituted and preferred fresh charges on the two suspects allegedly involved in the murder of the law lecturer who was murdered in cold blood at his residence at Agyiriganor in Accra.



In the new charge sheet, Ebenezer Kwayisi aka Junior, a 25 year old mason apprentice has now been charged with murder.



Opambour Agya Badu Nkansah also known as Enoch and one Kwayisi have been jointly held for conspiracy to commit crime to wit murder.



This was after the prime suspects James Nana Womba died in Police custody.



The pleas of all the accused have not taken and they have been remanded into Police custody.



The Prosecution told the court presided over by Ms. Ama Adomako Kwakye that, Akosua Benneh-Akuffo, complainant is the niece of the late Prof Benneh, the deceased in this case, whilst James Nana Womba, the prime suspect, now deceased was a cleaner in the deceaseds house at Agyiringanor.



He said Wombas accomplices, Opambour Agya Badu Nkansah is unemployed and lives at Ashaiman, Accra and Ebenezer Kwayisi a mason apprentice also reside at Kasoa.



Prosecution said, on September 12, last year, at about 0800 hours, the deceased was found lying dead in a pool of blood in a corridor leading to his bedroom, lying in prone position with his hands tied behind him with a white rope and his legs also tied with a green rope just below the knees.



He said examination on the body of the victim revealed multiple marks of assault on the face with a cloth partly inserted in his mouth.



Prosecution said the Police found on the scene a hand glove, a white rope with blood stains and blood stains on the walls.



Prosecution said, Police Crime Scene Management Team examined the scene and lifted a visible blood tainted thumb impression on the wall close to where the victims body laid.



The Prosecution said the body was deposited at the Police Hospital Mortuary for preservation and autopsy.



Inspector Teye-Okuffo said on September 21, last year, a post mortem examination was conducted on the deceaseds body and the pathologist gave immediate cause of death as Asphyxiation, Strangulation and suspected Homicide.



He said on September 13, last year, James Nana Womba, now deceased was arrested for investigation and his finger prints was taken and sent to Finger Print Section of CID Headquarters for examination.



He said the result from the headquarters indicated the fingerprints captured at the crime scene was identical to that of the deceased, Womba.



The Prosecution told the court that Womba confessed to the crime during investigation and mentioned Nkansah and Kwayisi as his accomplices who were later arrested at their various hideouts for investigation.



Inspector Teye- Okuffo informed the court that investigation revealed that during the month of August last year, Womba contacted Opambour and hatched a plan to murder the victim in his house, so Womba assigned Opambour to recruit a gang to execute the plan.



He said two weeks later, the deceased, Womba had a change of mind and contacted Kwayisi to assist him execute the plan.



Prosecution told the court that Ebenezer Kwayisi agreed and visited Womba who both discussed in detail how the plan was going to be carried out and on September 10, last year, the accused went to the victims house and executed their plan by killing the Professor.



The Prosecution said the accused in their investigation cautioned statements narrated how each of them conspired with Womba to kill the victim.

Source: GNA









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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a virtual event unveiled a commemorative postage stamp on Gujarat High Court's Diamond Jubilee celebrations on Saturday (February 6, 2021). The Gujarat High Court has completed sixty years of its establishment on May 1, 2020.

PM Modi also made an address at the event which was held through video conferencing. He congratulated the Supreme Court for hearing the most number of cases through video conferencing in the world, due to COVID-19.

"It makes us proud that our Supreme Court has heard the most number of cases through video conferencing in the world. Our High Courts and District Courts have also carried out a large number of e-proceedings during COVID," he said.

He also said, "Our judiciary has always interpreted constitution positively and creatively to strengthen it further. Be it safeguarding the rights of people of the country or when any situation arose where national interest needed to be prioritized, judiciary has always performed its duty."

"Every countryman can say that our judiciary has worked with firmness to uphold our Constitution. Our judiciary has strengthened the Constitution by its positive interpretation," he said.

Union Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad, Judges of Supreme Court and High Court of Gujarat and Chief Minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani were in attendence. Members of the law fraternity of Gujarat were also present during the event.

Earlier the Prime Minister was supposed to personally attend one of the events and release the stamp as part of the Diamond Jubilee, but the celebrations were postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak in Gujarat.

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Mr. Bidens executive orders on climate were nonetheless important. They do not have the permanence or bipartisan imprimatur of laws, and are subject to reversal by later administrations, but they send powerful policy signals to the federal bureaucracy. One needs only think back to the early Trump days, when a suite of executive orders aimed at delivering on Donald Trumps boastful promise of energy independence  which in fact the country had mostly achieved  consumed various federal agencies for the next few years. This led to weaker regulations on coal-fired power plants and methane emissions, decimated clean water protections, gave over large swaths of public land to oil and gas exploration and shrank two magnificent national monuments designated by Mr. Clinton and Mr. Obama. It is these actions  which, along with Mr. Trumps contempt for science, cost the country four years in what is essentially a race against time  that Mr. Biden, in his executive orders, is telling his cabinet officers to review and reverse.

In many cases, that wont be easy. To take one example, Mr. Trumps Environmental Protection Agency followed a legal path that took more than two years and involved many complex technical studies in order to roll back Mr. Obamas rule ordering automakers to rapidly increase fuel economy standards, thus reducing tailpipe emissions of carbon dioxide. The same laborious timetable now awaits Mr. Bidens E.P.A. as it seeks to reinstate the Obama standards. Similar obstacles will complicate efforts to restore rules on methane emissions and the broad protections of the Clean Water Act narrowed by Mr. Trump.

On the plus side, the president can fairly quickly restore the original boundaries of the shrunken monuments, a matter that lies within presidential jurisdiction, and possibly prevent drilling from proceeding in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Of course, nothing prevents Mr. Biden from acting unilaterally on matters within his powers, as he has in rejoining the Paris Agreement on climate change and canceling a problematical oil pipeline from Canada. The moratorium he announced last month on new oil and gas leasing on public lands and waters is similarly within his writ.

In the short run, thats a mere annoyance to the oil companies; only one-fifth of the nations oil and gas is produced on public lands and waters, and the industry is sitting on a cache of roughly 13.4 million acres of undeveloped federal leases. It is also a disappointment to environmental groups that remain fixated on ending hydraulic fracturing not tomorrow but yesterday. But it is a welcome first step toward satisfying Mr. Bidens campaign pledge to transition from fossil fuels, and one of many recent signs  Ms. Barras G.M. pledge being another  that fossil fuels hegemony is slowly coming to an end.

One of the presidents first moves was to name John Kerry, a former secretary of state who helped broker negotiations at the Paris climate conference in 2015, as his international climate envoy, charged with restoring Americas credibility on the issue. In part because of Mr. Trumps intransigence, the United States has struggled to meet its commitment in Paris to reduce emissions by 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025; with the help of the coronavirus pandemic, which disrupted the economy, emissions have dropped by 20 percent, according to Rhodium, a consulting group. But the longer-term trajectory was not encouraging, even with the dramatic drop in the costs of renewable fuels, the closing of many coal-fired power plants and the determined efforts of states and cities to fill the void left by the federal government.
Government will be moving to clamp down on food establishments which have been trying to beat the COVID restrictions, by bringing out their staff to prepare meals, which are then put on sale at other locations.
Almost two-thirds of people in Cork heeded public health advice and stayed local over the first two weeks of this year

Figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) have shown that almost two thirds of people in Cork heeded public health advice and 'stayed local' over the first two weeks of this year.

However, Gardai have highlighted two particular incidents in North Cork where flagrant breaches of regulations have resulted in people being hit with 100 fines.

The CSO 'Stay Local Indicator' (SLI) provides a seven-day rolling indicator on movement, providing daily estimated percentages of county populations that have stayed with 10km of home, averaged over the preceding week.

The SLI is based on statistical analysis of anonymised, aggregated mobile phone activity records from the Three Ireland provider, which is aggregated at each electoral division and provided to the Department of Health.

The CSO moved to assure the public that the information collected remains anonymous.

"The scope of the arrangement between Three Ireland and the Department of Health is limited to informing the Government response to the Covid-19 pandemic only. This data feeds into wider selection of data used as part of the COVID-19 response. Only aggregated statistical data is provided to the Department of Health. No personal data is provided," said a spokesperson.

"At no time do either the Department of Health or the CSO have access to personal data or individuals' movements. The outputs from this analysis provide important insights for decision makers and the public in the midst of a global pandemic."

The CSO data showed that 55.4% of people stayed within 10km of home on New Years Eve. This can be viewed as a somewhat disappointing figure, given the appeals from the Government and health officials for people to limit their travel in the lead up to the New Year.

This figure rose to 57.% on January 1 and continued to rise incrementally peaking at 67.2% on January 7, dropping 66% the following day and remaining stable to within 1% over the remainder of the week to January 15.

While the figures show reasonably high compliance levels by the public in relation to lockdown travel restrictions, there are still some who continue to flout them. Two Particular incidents in the North Cork area were highlighted by Garda Chief Superintendent Barry McPolin at a recent meeting of the Cork County Joint Policing Committee.

"In general terms, the majority of people are adhering to restrictions throughout the pandemic. You can see that through the fact that nationally, road traffic volumes are down by 43% when compared to this time last year," he said.

However, Chief Supt McPolin did point to an instance where a motorist was stopped for speeding at 9am in the morning on the M8 motorway near Fermoy. After claiming to be an essential worker on his way to work in Dublin, he was issued with a speeding ticket and allowed to continue.

At around noon the same day he was stopped at a static checkpoint near Mitchelstown and told a different Garda that he was coming back from Dublin after completing a night-shift.

"The Garda was not happy with the explanation and carried out a check on the radio. The Garda who had stopped the man that morning heard this over the airwaves and as result the person was issued with a 100 Fixed Charge Penalty Notice(FCPN) for breaching travel restrictions," said Chief Supt McPolin.

In another example a person had travelled from Garryvoe to go hiking in the Galtees, a distance of more than 50km. He was stopped by Gardai, issued with a 100 FCPN and was directed to return home.

"But he didn't. He still went for his hike in the Galtees and was stopped by Gardai again on his way home," said Supt McPolin.

"People have to be conscious of the fact that the regulations are here for a purpose, to protect the public; it's as simple as that and for the most part people are compliant. But those examples give an indication of the types of people who will chance it."
After fleeing domestic violence, Victoria Vega was living in a San Francisco shelter with her two children and working two jobs when the pandemic hit. She stopped driving for Uber because there were no riders and she was scared of the virus. She had to give up her car because she couldnt make payments. Her janitorial work also disappeared.

I tried applying for unemployment benefits, but it was really difficult for me, she said in Spanish through an interpreter. I was trying to call and call and call on the Spanish line and nobody would ever answer. I dont know how to use technology, so the website was not an option. I spent months not being able to apply.

Eventually a friend referred her to a nonprofit with bilingual staff who helped her submit a claim in August. With the back benefits and help from her brother, she was able to get an apartment for herself and her daughter, Alondra, 16, and son, Bryant, 8. I didnt have anything, so that money really helped me out, she said.

Her situation is hardly unique as the coronavirus ravages the economy, leaving many people needing unemployment benefits. About 7 million Californians speak a language other than English at home. The majority are Spanish speakers but 2.4 million speak a myriad of other tongues. Many toil in low-wage service jobs  mopping floors, flipping burgers, driving ride-hail  exactly the kind of work that vanished during shelter in place.

Lack of language access for jobless benefits creates a tsunami of exclusion for millions of California residents, said Santosh Seeram-Santana, legislative director at Chinese for Affirmative Action, a civil rights nonprofit. A strike force on the Employment Development Department, which administers unemployment, said not being fluent in English presents insurmountable barriers to receiving benefits.

Its well documented that EDD isnt working for English-speaking claimants, said Assembly Member David Chiu, D-San Francisco, referring to the many thousands of Californians who have struggled to get their benefits, had their accounts frozen, and/or been unable to verify their identities. These difficulties are exponentially compounded if you speak a language other than English.

EDD said in a written response that it sees language access as a priority.

We are taking a comprehensive, data-driven view toward the issue, as well as exploring options to more substantially expand (limited English proficiency) services, it said.

Constanza Hevia H./Special to The Chronicle

Portions of the EDD website are available in Spanish and the agency is seeking to get the whole site translated into Spanish, it said. It is currently exploring options ... which may include additional languages, it said. The agency also offers a button for Google Translate on its website and has some YouTube videos in different languages explaining how to recertify for benefits.

EDD has some operators who speak Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin and Vietnamese, it said, and can also use outside services for interpretation.

EDD did not answer questions about how many bilingual agents it has and how many it has added.

Advocates and lawmakers said that, like all of EDDs phone support, its language lines are overwhelmed, and that Google Translates word-for-word approach misses context, especially with complex materials.

Chiu said the situation is critical. We cant effectively shut out 7 million people from receiving unemployment benefits during a pandemic and recession, he said.

Thats why hes proposing legislation, AB401, that would alleviate language barriers by requiring EDD to identify claimants language needs and communicate with them in their preferred language. It would mandate that EDD translate applications and other documents and increase multilingual phone lines. It would also establish a reviews process to monitor progress and deficiencies.

The bill is among a series of EDD reform measures that Assembly members introduced at a teleconference Thursday. Other bills would require the EDD to offer direct deposit of benefits, cross-check applications against prison rolls, create a consumer advocate office and stop penalizing claimants who accidentally give a wrong answer on forms. All must now go through the regular legislative process.

Chius proposal would require a yet-to-be-determined amount of funding. Whatever it costs, its a very minor price to pay to ensure that the 40% of Californians who speak a language other than English at home can access desperately needed benefits, he said.

For that matter, not offering language access is a civil rights violation, he said. Its not just the right thing to do; its required by law.

Seeram-Santana, of Chinese for Affirmative Action, said her community members, who speak a variety of Asian languages, receive written EDD notices that come only in English or Spanish.

They cant read it, she said. They dont understand it. It may lead them in a direction where they become suspect for fraud or dont have the financial services they need. The consequences are dire for community members who do not speak English or have a limited proficiency in English.

Joyce Li of San Francisco, who worked two part-time jobs to help support her family of five, saw her hours reduced during shelter-in-place. She got some help to submit an unemployment application, but there was a typo, which caused her benefits to be about $450 less a month than she was owed.

After realizing the mistake, I called EDDs Chinese line to rectify the issue, she said in Cantonese through an interpreter. I called morning, noon and night for many times. However, I never got a response back or had the opportunity to talk to a real live person. I tried both the Cantonese and Mandarin lines, and both dont work.

Interactive Vaccine Tracker: Latest developments Detailed information about the coronavirus vaccines as it becomes available.

Eventually, a bilingual worker at Chinese for Affirmative Action helped her notify EDD of the mistake. She got reimbursed for part of it, but now she continues to receive the lower amount. Im still trying, she said. Every day, I call the Chinese EDD lines to see if I can get a response. I still have no luck. Its quite difficult.

My situation isnt uncommon, Li said. In my immediate family I have members whose benefits all of a sudden got stopped for no reason, and they tried to call and never got help or response. Its hard, even impossible, if you dont know the language.

Seeram-Santana said the language barriers encourage unscrupulous people who offer to help monolingual Californians get their benefits in exchange for an exorbitant fee or a percentage of the check. Then theyre never seen again or theres an error, she said. And now they have personal information about their victims.

Jenna Gerry, senior staff attorney at Legal Aid of San Francisco, said that while EDD has taken some steps, it has not actually created real access for most individuals. The language lines are understaffed and impossible for people to reach, and theyre not in enough languages.

Even when EDD translates materials into Spanish, there is no consistency among the three benefits programs it administers  unemployment, paid family leave and state disability insurance, she said.

During the pandemic, people are switching between these programs frequently, she said. They may be out on disability with COVID, then switch to family leave while caring for an ill relative, and then go on unemployment, for instance, she said.

EDD froze 1.4 million accounts in December because of fraud concerns, inadvertently sweeping up many legitimate claimants. To get their benefits restarted, they needed to provide documents to a service called ID.me, but all the instructions are in English, Gerry said. (EDD does offer some Spanish-language instructions online, though it links to more detailed instructions in English. ID.me said it has some Spanish-speaking agents but could not say how many.)

Vega, who is still trying to get her new home set up, has run into further snags with her jobless benefits. She had problems getting them extended, but Chius office helped. Then her account was frozen, along with many others in December, so she needs help to verify her identity.

Vega wants to return to work but thinks that will have to wait until the pandemic is over. I was cleaning the offices in buildings where people work, but they arent working there anymore, so there are no jobs, she said. After returning to janitorial work, she hopes to save enough money to buy a car so she can also resume her Uber driving.

She wishes EDD would make things easier for her and others.

It would be good if they have people that would be answering the phones in Spanish, because a lot of people dont have access to the internet or they don't know how to use technology, she said. I would spend days trying to apply, but they would never answer.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid
Katie Price expressed relief and joy on Saturday after her son, Harvey, reportedly received an early Covid-19 vaccine because he is 'extremely vulnerable' to the virus.

The 18-year-old, who is on the autism spectrum and was born with disabilities including partial blindness, ADHD and Prader-Willi syndrome, had the Oxford AstraZeneca injection.

The TV star, 42, told The Sun: 'Harvey was the youngest we saw there it was all smoothly calmly and professionally done...

'Harvey was so brave and it was over so quick everybody so helpful. It just felt like being in a film and made you realise more how serious this is.'

Staying safe: Katie Price expressed relief and joy on Saturday after her son, Harvey, reportedly received an early Covid-19 vaccine because he is 'extremely vulnerable' to the virus

According to Katie, he received the vaccine in a school hall with everybody sat on seats in rows at a metres distance apart.

Due to his health conditions, Harvey is considered a vulnerable citizen, and he is now immunised in the fourth stage of the vaccine roll-out, orchestrated by the government.

Britain is on course to vaccinate all over-50s against Covid-19 by April 7 at the current rate of immunisation, MailOnline estimates reveal as debate rages through Government about when lockdown can be lifted.

It comes after vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi, Chris Whitty and SAGE scientists have signaled that they want all over-50s to be offered an injection to keep hospitalisations low before society reopens.

Protected: The 18-year-old, who is on the autism spectrum and was born with disabilities including partial blindness, ADHD and Prader-Willi syndrome, had the Oxford AstraZeneca injection, according to The Sun

The protection offered by one dose of coronavirus vaccine takes two to three weeks to kick in, the latest evidence suggests, meaning the UK would be on track for measures to be lifted at the end of April at the current rate.

If the UK vaccine drive accelerates from last week's daily average of 345,000 people per day and is able to sustain its maximum rate of 600,000 doses a day, then the over-50s target could be hit by mid-March.

Department of Health sources were keen to downplay hopes, however, and said that giving out second doses could significantly slow down the rollout from March, while Mr Zahawi said the country could not be 100 per cent confident of vaccine supply.

Health: The TV star, 42, said to the publication: 'Harvey was the youngest we saw there it was all smoothly calmly and professionally done. Harvey was so brave and it was over so quick everybody so helpful'

But anti-lockdown Tory MPs are pushing for measures including school reopening to be eased sooner when the 15million most vulnerable people are vaccinated by mid-February  but Boris Johnson has ruled out any lockdown relaxation before March 8.

Sceptics claim the 'goalposts are being shifted' and the focus is moving away from controlling deaths and hospitalisations with dire warnings about the threat of mutant coronavirus and continued strain on the NHS.

Mark Harper, chair of the lockdown-sceptic CRG block, said once the top nine groups are vaccinated, which he believes is likely to be by the end of May, restrictions should be lifted altogether.

Making progress: Last week the NHS vaccinated 345,000 people per day, on average  a rate of 2.4million people per week

And former Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith told MailOnline: 'The trouble is they are now being beaten up by the scientists. The scientists are giving them all sorts of new reasons why you can't unlock.

'Of course for the scientists it doesn't make any difference really because they get paid anyway.'

Experts estimate that the effects of mass vaccination could start to show through in falling numbers of people being admitted to hospital in mid-February, and then significantly fewer people dying from March.

They said there would also be an impact on infections, perhaps sooner, but this would be less noticeable.

Change: Analysis shared on Twitter by Professor Daniel Howdon, a health economist at the University of Leeds, suggested there appears to already have been approximately 25 per cent decline in death rates among over-80s

The UK today announced a further 20,634 coronavirus cases and 915 deaths  both down a quarter on last week.

Another 469,016 people got their first vaccine dose yesterday, taking this week's total to 1.19million in just three days. Mr Zahawi said one in five adults have received a first jab already, with nine in 10 over-75s reached.

One researcher, Leeds University's Professor Daniel Howdon, said there appears to already have been approximately 25 per cent declines in death rates among over-80s since December, although it is not yet clear whether this is a result of vaccination.

And Professor Karl Friston, a neuroscientist and disease modeller at University College London, today claimed Britain 'might attain herd immunity by as early as July', although he admitted to being 'optimistic' and said the true success of the vaccination programme will depend on how well the jabs prevent the virus from spreading.
Children in Amber Alert found safe near Mitchell

The missing children were recovered and are safe, according to the Davison County Sheriff's Office.
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Riot police were deployed in Myanmar today as thousands of protesters flooded the streets to demand the end of the military junta which seized power this week.

Heavily-armoured officers blocked off roads with water-cannon trucks and barbed-wire bamboo barricades as the crowds yelled: 'Down with the military dictatorship' in Yangon (Rangoon).

In the largest display of dissent since Monday's coup, students and teachers joined demonstrators in donning red head bands in support of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party in the capital.

Around 3,000 demonstrators gathered on a road near Yangon University, most holding up the three-finger salute that has come to symbolise resistance to the army takeover.

'We are here to fight for our next generation, to free them from a military dictatorship,' one woman at Saturday's rally said. 'We have to end it now.'

The demonstration came as Myanmar was plunged into its second nationwide internet blackout this week, similar in magnitude to an earlier shutdown that coincided with the arrest of Suu Kyi and other senior leaders.

Scroll down for video.

Heavily-armoured officers blocked off roads with water-cannon trucks and bamboo barricades wrapped in barbed wire as the crowds yelled: 'Down with the military dictatorship' in Yangon (Rangoon) on Saturday in the largest display of dissent since the coup on Monday

Thousands of Burmese took to the streets of the capital this morning to denounce the military junta

Demonstrators stage a sit-down protest on the streets of the Burmese capital on Saturday

Protesters hold up the three finger salute towards trucks carrying police making their way through a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon

Riot police face off with demonstrators on a main road in the capital this morning

A protester flashes the three-finger salute, a symbol of resistance, near a water cannon truck blocking the road, in Yangon

THAILAND: Protesters rally in solidarity with demonstrators in their homeland of Myanmar in the Thai capital of Bangkok on Saturday night

JAPAN: Burmese nationals in Tokyo hold protests on Saturday night in solidarity with those in their homeland

Why has the military staged a coup? Myanmar's military is central to the country's political life - it led the fight for independence in 1948, formed the country's first government, and then ruled as a junta for five decades after abandoning democracy in 1962. That all appeared to change in 2010 with a return to democracy that saw an elected government sworn in - though in reality the military was guaranteed control of key ministries and 25 per cent of seats in parliament. Free elections held in 2015 saw Aung San Suu Kyi's party win a large majority with the military hammered, amid the belief that she would reform the constitution and remove the military from power altogether. More elections held last year handed an even larger share of power to Suu Kyi, prompting fears among military top-brass that their powers were about to be removed. On Monday, just hours before the new government was due to be sworn in, the military struck - arresting Suu Kyi, president Win Myint, and many of the country's most-influential MPs - officially for 'voter fraud'. With border closures already in place and international governments distracted by domestic issues and the coronavirus pandemic, they have faced few obstacles. A year-long state of emergency has now been declared, Vice President Myint Swe - a former general - declared leader, and banks shut until further notice. 'Free' elections will take place after the state of emergency ends, the military has claimed. Advertisement

Those dawn raids brought a sudden halt to Myanmar's brief 10-year experiment with democracy, and catalysed an outpouring of fury that has migrated from social media to the streets.

Online calls to protest the army takeover have prompted increasingly bold displays of defiance against the new regime, including the nightly deafening clamour of people around the country banging pots and pans - a practice traditionally associated with driving out evil.

Some have shown their opposition by gathering for group photographs with banners decrying the coup and flashing a three-finger salute earlier adopted by democracy protesters in neighbouring Thailand.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said a special envoy to the country had made 'first contact' with Myanmar's deputy military commander to urge the junta to relinquish power to the civilian government it toppled.

'We will do everything we can to make the international community united in making sure that conditions are created for this coup to be reversed,' he told reporters on Friday.

State media in Myanmar reported Saturday that junta figures had spoken with diplomats the previous day to respond to an international outcry and asked them to work with the new leaders.

'The Government understand the concerns of the international community on the continuation of Myanmar's democratic transition process,' International Cooperation Minister Ko Ko Hlaing said in the meeting, according to the report.

As protests gathered steam this week, the junta ordered telecom networks to freeze users out of access to Facebook, an extremely popular service in the country and arguably its main mode of communication.

The platform had hosted a rapidly growing 'Civil Disobedience Movement' forum that had inspired civil servants, healthcare professionals, and teachers to show their dissent by boycotting their jobs in civil service and hospitals.

The military widened its efforts to stifle dissent on Friday when it demanded new blocks on other social media services including Twitter.

Norway-based Telenor said its local phone company had been instructed to cut access to the platform late on Friday, adding it had 'challenged the necessity' of the directive.

An apparent ministry document ordering the blockade - seen by AFP but not verified - said Twitter and Instagram were being used to 'cause misunderstanding among the public.'

Some internet-savvy users had managed to circumvent the social media block by using VPN services but by midday, online traffic had slowed to a standstill.

Armed police officers patrol the streets of Rangoon on Saturday morning

An armed officer stands behind two colleagues holding riot shields as dissent grows against the military takeover on Saturday

A line of riot police backed by trucks and water cannons stand guard on the streets of the capital this morning

Riot police block a road in Yangon on Saturday, as an officer with a loudhailer barks at the demonstrators to go home

Armed police and their officers face off with protesters in the capital on Saturday following this week's military coup

Protesters flash the three-fingered salute as they march in Yangon on Saturday

'People in Myanmar have been forced into a situation of abject uncertainty,' said Ming Yu Hah of Amnesty.

'An expanded internet shutdown will put them at greater risk of more egregious human rights violations at the hands of the military,' she added.

An immensely popular figure despite a tarnished reputation in the West, Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since the coup, but a party spokesman said Friday she was under house arrest and 'in good health'.

US President Joe Biden was among world leaders this week to demand the generals 'relinquish power... release advocates and activists and officials they have detained, lift the restrictions in telecommunications, and refrain from violence'.

A bus full of demonstrators heading towards the demonstration on Saturday and flashing the three-fingered salute

Around 3,000 demonstrators gathered on a road near Yangon University, most holding up the three-finger salute that has come to symbolise resistance to the army takeover

Protesters face off against riot police blocking a street during a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon on February 6

Thousand wearing red head bands - the colour of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party on the streets on Yangon this morning

Protesters march in front of a police vehicle as they demonstrate against the military coup in Yangon

An officer speaks on a loudspeaker next to riot police blocking a street as protesters gather for a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon on Saturday

rotesters flash the three-finger salute, a symbol of resistance, and hold a large banner reading 'Resist the military' as they demonstrate against the military coup in Yangon

General's daughter-turned freedom fighter Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi was born under British rule in what was then Burma to General Aung San, one of the heroes of the country's fight for independence. General San was assassinated in 1948, while Ms Suu Kyi was just two years old and shortly before the country gained independence. In 1960 - two years before the country entered full dictatorship - she left her home country for India, where her mother had been appointed ambassador in Delhi. Four years later Ms Suu Kyi went to study philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University where she met her future husband, British academic Michael Aris. Suu Kyi and her British husband Michael Aris are pictured with son Alexander in London in 1973 An historian who lectured on Bhutanese, Tibetan and Himalayan culture and history, Ms Suu Kyi married Aris in a Buddhist ceremony in 1972. Ms Suu Kyi spent some time after the wedding living and working in Japan and Bhutan, where Aris was private tutor to the monarch's children, before the couple settled in the UK to raise their own children - Alexander and Kim. In 1988, Ms Suu Kyi returned to her home country - at first to tend to her critically-ill mother, but soon became embroiled in pro-democracy protests after the country's military ruler General Ne Win stepped down. Placed under house arrest in 1989, the military held elections the following year which Ms Suu Kyi won - though they decided to ignore the result. She was kept under house arrest for the next six years, during which time she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, before being freed in 1995 - though kept under strict travel restrictions and bans on speaking to media. Ms Suu Kyi last saw her husband that same year, before he died from prostate cancer in Oxford in 1999. Over the next decade she continued to press for democratic reform of Myanmar while spending time in and out of house arrest - and was locked up during the country's first elections in 2010. In 2012 she won a seat as an MP and was sworn in as leader of the opposition. Her party won power in 2015, and while she became defacto leader of the country she was banned from the official role because her children are British. Advertisement
On February 5, 2021, China-ASEAN Business Council and relevant national business associations at home jointly issued the Chinese Business Community Initiative on Jointly Promoting Business Cooperation Under RCEP, expressing their collective desire to further friendly cooperation with counterparts across the region.

In the past two months since the signing of RCEP, Premier Li Keqiang repeatedly urged to speed up the domestic work concerning effective implementation of RCEP at three executive meetings of the State Council, said Xu Ningning, Executive President of CABC. By issuing the Initiative, the Chinese industrial and commercial community not only showcased its proactive response in implementing the requirements of the State Council, but also showed counterparts in RCEP member states its aspiration for cooperation and greater openness.

The Initiative highlights that business communities of RCEP member states have fully understood the significance of RCEP, are now fully availing themselves of the opportunities for opening up by strengthening industrial cooperation, expanding trade and investment, endeavoring to yield conducive climates for market opening, as well as unleashing the potentials of enterprises as major players in economic and trade cooperation via mutual support and cooperation against the pandemic. Arthayudh Srisamoot, Ambassador of Thailand to China, states that he is personally glad to see the signing of the RCEP in 2020.

In fact, the text-based negotiations for the RCEP was concluded during Thailand's ASEAN Chairmanship in 2019, he said, and Thailand is proud to play its part in the process. While RCEP is waiting for domestic approval procedures in member states, it is timely for the CABC to continue its leading role in inviting China's relevant national business associations to jointly issue the "Chinese Business Community Initiative on Jointly Promoting Regional Business Cooperation Under RCEP". Regional cooperation is an important model for economic development and a strong foundation for economic prosperity for the region. The COVID-19 pandemic has made people more aware of the importance of regional cooperation. RCEP is an important vehicle for broadening and deepening regional cooperation. It is believed that the active and close cooperation of regional business community under RCEP will enable RCEP to produce tangible benefits for us all.

Yu Hongjun, Former Vice Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, stated that the signing of RCEP is a great event in a world undergoing profound changes, and it is also a great event that will have far-reaching impacts on future world economic relations, especially a new round of economic globalization and global governance. The specific proposals put forward in the Initiative under the leadership of CABC make the best use of the situation in a precise way. Chinas initiative fully demonstrates our firm will to keep pace with the world and the time and the willingness of Chinese business community to work with RCEP partners to overcome difficulties through concerted efforts. The initiative of Chinese business community will have a positive catalytic and exemplary effect on the progress of RCEP.

Lyu Kejian, Former Director General of Department of Asia Affairs of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, stated that among the 15 member states of RCEP, China and ASEAN are each other's largest trading partners. Over the past eight years, CABC has been working together with the ASEAN business community to facilitate the construction of RCEP. In order to promote cooperation between the business communities of China and the other 14 RCEP member countries, the Initiative was jointly issued by CABC and relevant national business associations, which deserves recognition and appreciation. The industries of RCEP member states are highly complementary, with bright prospects and great potentials for cooperation. In the face of the complex situation in which the pandemic has caused setbacks in the economies of all countries, the signing of RCEP has brought opportunities for the adjustment of regional economic industrial structure and industrial innovation and development. Industrial cooperation is directly related to the fruits of opening up and cooperation within the RCEP framework. As highlighted in the Initiative, member states should strengthen industrial cooperation among all parties and actively build a new industrial chain that complements each other's economies in an open market.

The China General Chamber of Commerce was one of the initiators. Jiang Ming, Chairman of CGCC and President of the Federation of Asia-Pacific Retailers Associations, said that the Chinese government and society attach great importance to RCEP, having high expectations for its implementation. As a representative industry organization of Chinas commerce and circulation service industry, CGCC has maintained friendly, cooperative relations with the business communities of RCEP member countries over the years. Issued under the advocacy and leadership of CABC, the Initiative will bring together domestic and foreign resources to expand space for cooperation. RCEP is expected to take effect at the end of this year. Hopefully by then the global pandemic will be over, and closer and high-quality regional cooperation will boost world economy.

According to Yang Kun, Executive Vice President of China Electricity Council, the signing of RCEP will promote cooperation among all member states in the field of energy and electricity. He said CEC is honored to join the Initiative, led by the CABC, Chinas power industry is willing to enhance cooperation with counterparts in RCEP countries. With the investment and trade facilitation opportunities brought by RCEP, the Chinese power industry is looking forward to deepening mutual understanding with all parties to form a more competitive market entity, further amplifying the agglomeration effect of industry and supply chains.

Gao Sumei, Vice President and Secretary General of China Information Technology Industry Federation said that the signing of RCEP reflects economic globalization and regional economic integration and opens up more space for China-ASEAN sustainable development. Over the years, China and ASEAN have supported and cooperated with each other in the field of electronic information. CITIF will support CABC to promote Chinas electronic information enterprises to strengthen cooperation with ASEAN member countries, seize the opportunity of current global electronic information technology reform and industrial reform, promote the development of digital economy in all ASEAN countries, and build sustainable digital economy partnerships.

Pang Guanglian, the leader of China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation and Secretary General of International Alliance of Production Capacity Cooperation Enterprise of China Petroleum and Chemical Industry, pointed out that the Initiative launched by CABC and jointly released by 76 national business associations will promote communication and cooperation. CPCIF will lead Chinas petrochemical industry to promote international cooperation in petrochemical production capacity and equipment manufacturing in the construction of the double development dynamic and the implementation of RCEP.

China Machinery Industry Federation said that the signing of RCEP is an important milestone in regional economic integration. It would help facilitate the formation of regional economic and trade rules, provide an enabling business environment, promote trade and investment among RCEP members, attract investments from outside the region and boost regional and global economic growth. CMIF would use this opportunity to lead other enterprises in this field to embrace the opportunities and challenges. The federation would also take full advantage of the open market, enhance industrial competitiveness under the guidance of the dual circulation development dynamic, speed up industrial transformation and upgrading, form new advantages in international competition and achieve high-quality development in machinery industry.

Liu Xin, Executive Secretary General of China-ASEAN Business Council, said the Initiative is joined by a large number of national industrial and commercial organizations which reached consensus rapidly, taking no more than a week from proposal to joint release. While publishing it at home on February 5, CABC also provided the English version for RCEP member states major industrial and commercial organizations and relevant government departments. The member states ought to enable the agreement to come into force as soon as possible in a bid to turn the achievements of RCEP negotiations into their economic benefits. The industrial and commercial organizations in the RCEP region and beyond are expected to strengthen friendly cooperation and work together to facilitate global economic recovery.

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[ Editor: Zhang Zhou ]
In a statement issued on Saturday, Radwan said the attempts being exerted by Tom Malinowski - a Democratic party member of the House of Representatives - to open the doors of the US Congress before members of Muslim Brotherhood are totally rejected. "Malinowski has recently announced the formation of the so-called Egypt Human Rights Caucus, and wants to use this forum to allow members of the Muslim Brotherhood to hold hearing sessions and conferences inside the US congress on the situation of human rights in Egypt," said Radwan, adding that "the step is a dangerous development because it represents a violation of the UN Charter which states that no country has the right to directly or indirectly interfere into the internal and external affairs of any other country."

Radwan said US Congressman Tom Malinowski's attempts will imply helping the terrorist group (Muslim Brotherhood) deceive American policymakers and public opinion in terms of introducing its members and officials as political activists defending human and civilian rights. "But Congress member Malinowski should know that this is a dangerous game because when you open the door of the Congress for a group with an Islamist Jihadist and violent ideology you will cause harm to America's national security itself," added Radwan, arguing that "playing games with political Islam movements, and the Muslim Brotherhood in particular, will only hurt American national security." "Let me ask US congressmen and politicians to draw lessons from the wars in Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq and Libya, because in these countries, America supported Islamist jihadists and political Islam movements in one way or another and at the end this caused big harm to the United States and Western countries in the form of the proliferation of terrorist movements and threats around the world," said Radwan.

According to Radwan, it is the duty of Egyptian parliamentarians who represent all classes of the Egyptian society to issue initiatives to the US Capitol Hill, cautioning US Congressmen like Tom Malinowsky against forging contacts with political Islam and jihadist movements. "It is very dangerous to forge contacts with such malicious movements because in this way you help them infiltrate the American society and pose a threat to American national security itself," said Radwan, also emphasising that "political Islam movements are a big danger to the stability and security of Egypt and other Arab countries which designated Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization."

In Radwan's words: "all in the US and the West should recall that the Muslim Brotherhood is the mother of all Islamist terrorist organizations like Hasm, the Army of Islam, IS, Al-Qaeda and Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, that all of these were designated terrorist organisations by the United States and most Western countries and that all of these were born from the womb of Muslim Brotherhood."

A lot of Egyptian MPs have recently criticised the decision of two US Congressmen  Tom Malinowski and Don Beyer to form "the Egypt Human Rights Caucus". Deputy Parliament Speaker Mohamed Abul-Enein said the formation of such a caucus represents a direct intervention into the internal affairs of Egypt.

Ashraf Rashad, the Spokesman of the Parliamentary majority of the Mostaqbal Watan party, said "Egyptian MPs could ask the US administration to release the former US President Donald Trump supporters who protested before the US Congress (Capitol Hill) on 6 January simply because this is against the right of organising demonstrations," said Rashad. "But we don't like to interfere into the affairs of other countries and we urge US congressmen to focus on America's internal problems rather than intervening into the affairs of other countries," he added.

The two Democratic party US members of the House of Representatives Malinowski and Beyer announced on 25 January the formation of the so-called "the Egypt Human Rights Caucus" to mark the 10th anniversary of the Egyptian revolution.

Rep Beyer said "Egypt remains a key ally, but its human rights record  including the years-long detention of my constituent Aya Hijazi  remains a major concern, and we must stand up to demand better of our closest allies."

Tom Malinowski said "the Egypt Human Rights caucus will reflect and help shape the growing consensus in Congress that we need to rebalance our relationship with this important country."

Both Members of Congress Malinowski and Beyer previously served in the US State Department. Malinowski, a Democrat representing New Jersey, was a Former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour under the administration of Former US President Barack Obama.

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A Dark Christmas gets a Phuket review

Emmy-nominated production designer and Phuket author Jim Newport has launched his latest book, A Dark Christmas, the fifth book in his popular Vampire of Siam series. Here, fellow Phuket author Alastair Carthew gives his appraisal of the new novel.



By Alastair Carthew

Saturday 6 February 2021, 12:02PM

Jim Newports A DARK CHRISTMAS is a notably worthy addition to his Vampire of Siam series as the author takes us on a familiar descriptive spin around Bangkoks picturesque streets and down some of its darker alleys. The novel was inspired by the unfortunate death of a friends son and his Don Quixote tilt at seeking justice. And so it goes; exposing the endemic corruption sustained by an elitist system in which the rich and powerful are impervious to the pressures that would crush ordinary citizens.

Revisiting his friend Martin Larue in Bangkok after a long absence, 190-year-old Vampire of Siam Ramonne Delacroix becomes embroiled in seeking revenge for the death of Hon, Martins piano prodigy adopted son.

Newport takes us on a familiar journey around The Big Mango and Phuket as Ramonne beheads Russian thugs, battles with a Thai Mafia figure and, inevitably in Thailand, befriends a mysterious Frenchwoman  Juliette, the former girlfriend of Martins deceased son. The couple embark on a jolly rampage of vengence, violence and wild sex. Juliette reveals that she herself is also a very old soul who was present for the French Revolution. Needless to say, the vampire is smitten.

Jim Newport writes fluently and accurately about his characters and the inescapably colourful locations of Bangkok and Phuket. His Ramonne is both likeable, yet gross. But if you read a vampire novel, beheadings and bloodsucking must be expected.

Martin and his loving Thai wife, Areeya, provide a softer counterbalance to the vampires dubious qualities. The plot  or plots  evolve, separate, then merge in a dexterous demonstration of the novelists artistry. Newports well-deserved reputation for writing fast paced, descriptive novels in his favourite genre is definitely enhanced in A Dark Christmas.

Alastair Carthew, author Proud, a tale of rampant ludicrousness. Divines Choice (2021); editor Social Media and Elections in Asia-Pacific, Political Polling in Asia-Pacific; Environmental Journalism in Asia-Pacific, former correspondent Newsweek, Thailand Tatler, Thailand Prestige, The Phuket News, Sydney Sun Herald, Christian Science Monitor.

Phuket resident Jim (James) Newport is a writer and Emmy-nominated Production Designer. A DARK CHRISTMAS is his 8th novel. Autographed copies of all Jims novels are available for B600 from jwnewport55@gmail.com. Digital copies are available at Amazon.com.

Britons with Android phones have been urged to watch out for fake software updates that could give away their passwords, financial information and even let criminals take control of their mobiles. The computer security company McAfee warned it had noticed a spate of malware trojans originally from Brazil targeting the Google Play Store and trying to trick users into downloading them. And consumers in the UK, where phones with the Android operating system account for 48 per cent of the market, have also been told to be on the lookout.

New Delhi: The Swedish govt has declined to comment on the remarks made by teen environmentalist Greta Thunberg on the farmers ongoing protest against Centres three farm laws.

In response to a WION question on tweets by Greta Thunberg, who is a Swedish national, on farmers' protest, the Swedish Foreign Ministry said it has "no comments on this matter."

As a private citizen, her comments and tweets have no bearing on foreign policy but as an influencer, Greta Thunberg has had a big impact, especially when it comes to US President Donald Trump's presidency.

Greta has been a climate activist and drawn global attention on the issue. As far as India-Sweden ties are concerned, both countries share a good relationship. PM Narendra Modi visited the country in 2018, the first Indian PM to visit the country in the last 30 years. During that visit, the 1st India-Nordic Summit was hosted in Stockholm.

Sweden also supports Indias membership of the expanded United Nations Security Council, membership for the MTCR or Missile Technology Control Regime, and has backed New Delhi's bid for the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG).

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He may never have held elected office, but an Easkey native who is considered by many to have been the most influential left wing figure of his generation is the subject of an intriguing new book detailing his life of activism.

Brendan Scott, born in the west Sligo village in 1933, had his life tragically cut short at the age of 40 in 1973 when he passed away after a battle with stomach cancer.

Although his life was relatively short, his efforts as an activist through his extensive involvement with the Labour Party and a number of other organisations made him one of the most revered political minds for a period of 20 years up until his death. A teacher by profession, it's understood that Mr Scott left Easkey after his years in primary school, and later spent time in London where he was further entrenched in the Labour movement.

On return to Ireland in the late 1950s, he taught in Sutton, primarily in geography and sometimes Latin. He held a BA and MA in History from UCD, while he was also highly capable in the academic teaching of Irish and English.

Now, author and Dublin native, John P Swift has penned a book, published by Umiskin Press, on Scott's life. "Brendan was, in my opinion, the most significant person on the left in Ireland in his generation," Mr Swift, himself a former branch secretary of the ITGWU and SIPTU, told The Sligo Champion.

"But he died at 40 of cancer of the stomach. It was a shocking loss, particularly for the left."

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Detailing Scott's attraction to left-wing politics, Mr Swift says the former Minister for Health in the first inter-party government, Dr Noel Browne, was a particular inspiration. Dr Browne had the unique distinction of being elected a TD for five different political parties during his career, including Labour. Often a controversial figure, he is best remembered for his efforts to introduce the Mother and Child Health Care scheme, which effectively resulted in the collapse of John A Costello's government.

Mr Swift says: "He selflessly served his life supporting Noel Browne and those sort of people, but particularly Noel Browne, and that is based on the socialist and the secular thing as well."

The book details Scott's 40 years across 200 pages. His father, Martin, was a native of Killeenduff, a townland outside Easkey village itself, while his mother Sarah was from Easkey.

Indeed, it's understood that Brendan's father was a participant in both the War of Independence and Civil War. The family were Roman Catholic, and supporters of Fianna Fail, the book says.

"His whole period down there was his national school period and that is described with the little bit of information we could get on it, but there's not much of that to be absolutely honest," Mr Swift explains.

"The main influence on him was his mother, she was a school teacher in another village nearby, Clooneenmore, she was a huge influence on him, his father was a postman and he had been involved in the War of Independence and had to flee to America either for that reason or to do with the Civil War, and then came back and married. He had a brother as well, Basil. Brendan was the older."

It was during his third level education that Brendan Scott became politicised. He attended UCD, having initially rejected the offer of a scholarship from All Hallows College. His scholarship at UCD was from Sligo County Council. At secondary level he attended the Patrician College in Ballyfin, having also benefitted from a scholarship which facilitated his enrolment at the county Laois school.

"He was offered a scholarship in All Hallows College, and he turned that down in favour of a scholarship he got to UCD and his principal subject was history. He got an honours BA in it and went on to get an MA. When he was in UCD he became politicised and around that period also he met his future wife, Carol Anne O'Rourke and they were from Glenegeary in Dublin.

"They left Ireland, as Brendan couldn't get any suitable work. He did a bit of tutoring in UCD in history but it wasn't enough to sustain a family, so they went to London for two years in 1957. He got a job teaching and supplemented his income by working as a bar man.

"He was further politically educated in England because he came across a number of progressive bodies and people over there, and he was particularly influenced by Aneurin Bevan who was a Labour Party Minister for Housing, and brought in the welfare state after the war. He was quite involved in London in the campaign for nuclear disarmement, and when he came back to Ireland he was also involved in that here."

On his return to Ireland with his wife after two years in the UK, Scott further immersed himself into activism on the left.

He devoted a considerable amount of time and energy to a number of organisations, as well as filling various roles within the Labour Party structure.

Mr Swift continues: "He was involved in a huge range of organisations after that, like the anti-apartheid movement, the USSR society, the Irish voice in Vietnam, the Dublin Housing Action Committee, the 1913 club, there's loads of bodies he was involved in.

"For work, although history was is specialist subject when he came back to Ireland, he applied for a job in Sutton Park school, which was a multi-denominational school in Sutton, and taught geography, and he also taught a bit of Latin. He also studied Irish and English in university and he could probably take classes in everything, in fact one year he did take a Leaving Certificate class in five subjects, honours."

Politically, the Irish scene in the 1960s was dominated by Fianna Fail. The transition of leader from party founder Eamonn De Valera, to Sean Lemass, and subsequently to Jack Lynch, saw the party break new ground, while the Irish economy was also beginning to improve through a greater emphasis on industry and employment.

Labour, however, was holding its own and had carved out its own little niche area in Irish politics. Scott was the fore, particularly as the 1960s turned to the 1970s and the party began to turn in a different direction.

"He became involved in the Labour Party in the late 60s, and to everyone's amazement, Corish [Brendan, party leader] decided it was going to take a very strong socialist position. The slogan was 'The 70s will be socialist'. It really transformed, at least in terms of policy, probably from being the most conservative Labour Party in western Europe to the most radical one, and Brendan was at the heart of that.

"He was a branch officer, he was a constituency officer, he was on the lay body of the Labour Party, but he resigned on a matter of principal. The TD in Limerick, Stephen Coughlan, he made a very public statement which was anti-semitic and the Labour Party wouldn't expel him and Scott resigned over that. A few did but he was the first to resign. But he was still on the Dublin district committee, so he was active at a pretty high level other than being a TD or councillor, which he had no interest in being. All his efforts were to help Noel Browne and people of that kind."

Given his radical outlook, it is detailed in the book that Scott was deeply unhappy with Labour decision to form a coalition government with conservative Fine Gael in 1973.

"He fought that [coalition] tooth and nail, he was at the heart of it, but the fight was lost," Swift says.

"Mainly because he wanted to retain a socialist agenda, and mainly because he didn't want to be in coalition with what he regarded as an anti-socialist party like Fianna Fail or Fine Gael.

A group was formed on the left in Labour, after the decision to coalesce in 1973, an informal group, known as the Liason Committee of the Left. Brendan was a founder of that, and one of the key people in it, if not the key person."

Such was the high regard in which Scott was held that, in 1973, Dr Noel Browne described him as the 'incomparable Brendan Scott.' He passed away in 1973 at the age of 40 at St Joseph's Hospice in Raheny.

On his death bed he was asked to rejoin Labour

Much like the comments from Dr Noel Browne, the esteem in which Brendan Scott was held by his peers active in politics of the left was clear for all to see right up until his death in September of 1973.

Although he had officially resigned from the Labour Party, he still retained strong links to those involved. Indeed, after Scott fell ill, some of the most senior Labour officials and politicians visited him on his deathbed to ask him if he would consider rejoining the party officially.

This underlined the high regard in which he was held, but also showed his commitment to his ideals.

"Technically he wasn't in it [the party], but he acted as if he was," Swift says.

"When he was on his deathbed, he was visited by two ministers, Conor Cruise O'Brien and Michael O'Leary, and three other key officers of the Labour Party, including Halligan, Niall Greene and Roddy Connolly to try and get him to rejoin the party on his deathbed but he declined that politely."

He was survived by his wife Carol Ann and their three children, Eoin, Melanie and Ivan.

Looking back now on Scott's life of activism, it is curious that he never stood for election himself.

Given his high standing within the Labour Party, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that he would have assumed a position of real prominence within the parliamentary party and as a result, an even more prominent role in Irish politics.

Mr Swift says it is clear Scott had 'no real interest' in being a councillor or TD, but rather preferred to stay in the background, immersed in campaigns and activism.

He also puts forward another train of thought on the subject.

"Another reason why he maybe had to be a bit cautious was the parents at the Sutton school where he taught were very middle class people, and mainly business people, and they might not have been too impressed if he was running on a left wing or secular ticket for the Dail or even the council.

"That was never said by anyone, but maybe it was a factor. Although he was generally very courageous, I'm not sure that would stop him."

In his younger days, while a youngster at Easkey National School, the book also unearths another area where he excelled - the Irish language.

As part of the Gaelic Revival Movement Feis in Easkey, a ten-year-old Scott claimed joint-second prize in a category which was designed for those over the age of 14.

He also developed an interest in drama during his years at secondary school. In later life, a contemporary remarked he "had considerable potential as an actor"

The book, published by not-for-profit publisher Umiskin Press, is now available for purchase. It can be acquired by visiting their website, www.umiskinpress.wordpress.com.
by Francis Khoo Thwe

Protesters rally near Yangon University and roam the streets on motorcycles. After Facebook, Myanmar authorities block Twitter and Instagram. UN Special Envoy Christine Schraner Burgener is travelling to the Asian country. The junta tries to reassure foreign ambassadors and invites them to work with them.

Yangon (AsiaNews)  Six days after the military coup, protests are growing in Myanmar. This morning at least a thousand protesters, all young, marched on a road near Yangon University, shouting slogans against the "military dictatorship" and demanding the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Like in Thailand, protesters held up the three-finger salute that has come to symbolise resistance to military dictatorships. A large number of police agents with water trucks blocked nearby roads, but there were no clashes.

Meanwhile, some NGOs have reported a nationwide Internet blackout, especially in the evening. Both Twitter and Instagram were blocked in an attempt to stop the deluge of anti-regime hashtags.

Yesterday saw more demonstrations. At Yangon University of Education, educators and students held a protest, urging people, especially public servants, to join a civil disobedience movement.

In several cities, young people on motorcycles roamed the streets holding up the three-finger salute.

Meanwhile, the United Nations is trying to roll back the coup, sending a special envoy, Christine Schraner Burgener, to meet the military.

The international community too is looking for ways to engage the junta in dialogue.

Last night Myanmar authorities held an online meeting with the representatives of several foreign embassies, trying to reassure them and urging to work with the new junta.
From dogs to cats, horses and even elephants there is no limit to the cruelty that we have inflicted on animals.

One of the reasons for people, at least in India, committing such acts is because of how lenient the punishments are.

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Proposal to amend Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act

But it is set to change soon, as the government is proposing to amend the 60-year-old Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act to make the punishments more stringent.

On Friday, in a written response to a Parliament question in Rajya Sabha, minister of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying Giriraj Singh said, "The need for amending the PCA, 1960, by introducing more stringent penalties has been recognised by the government. The draft amendment worked out includes increasing monetary penalties and punishment provisions."

BCCL

Earlier, on Tuesday, Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Sanjeev Kumar Balyan informed Parliament that the government is examining several representations received on raising the penalty for animal cruelty from the existing Rs 50 for such an offence.

From Rs 50 to up to Rs 75,000 fine

The Rs 50 penalty was for any acts of animal cruelty including beating, kicking, torturing, starving, overloading, overriding and mutilating an animal.

According to The Times of India, the draft has proposed offences in three categories - minor injury, major injury leading to permanent disability, and death to an animal due to cruel practice. The prescribed penalties would range from Rs 750 to Rs 75000 and a jail term of up to five years.

BCCL

Over the past few years, animal rights groups have been calling for the revision of the laws to make the punishments more severe.

They argue that those inflicting cruelty to animals are doing so as they know they can get away with a small fine and only stricter punishments will make them rethink.
The German government has announced plans to send its warships to ports of Japan, South Korea and Australia, passing through the East Sea this summer.

This is a remarkable move as Germany is gradually changing its strategy and outlook towards the Indo-Pacific, where Germany has no overseas territories the UK or France.

Nordrhein-Westfalen, one of the four of Baden-Wurttemberg corvette class vessels of the German Navy. Photo: Naval Today

The plan was announced in the first week of Biden's presidency, when the United States was sending a group of Roosevelt combat aircraft carriers to the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea), at the same time ad Chinas approval of the Coast Guard Law, which allows its coast guard forces to open fire against ships of foreign countries believed to violate waters under China's sovereignty and jurisdiction.

This law will seriously limit the freedom of navigation rights of other countries, including Germany, when most of the waters in the East Sea claimed by China are not consistent with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Strong commercial relationship

Germany and China have had a close relationship, especially on trade, since Prime Minister Helmut Kohl's time, who once said: "China holds the key to Germany's long-term prosperity."

China is Germany's third largest export market, after the US ($132.8 billion) and France ($119.5 billion), according to 2019 statistics. German exports to China was $107.5 billion, accounting for more than half of the total value of EU exports to China.

In 2020, when trade transactions between the US and China plummet due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the trade war, the value of German exports to China still remained to the level of the pre-crisis time. China still had a trade surplus with Germany, amounting to $15.2 billion. This country is still an important pillar of the German economy.

For many years, China has used the economic key that Helmut Kohl referred to "lock Germany" from taking decisive action against its coercion of small countries in the East Sea. Germany's attitude and policy toward China strongly influenced policy of the EU, especially in the context of Britain's exit from the EU.

More vigilant with China

Germany's decision to send warships into the East China Sea and the East Sea should be seen as a turning point in the geopolitical dispute between the US and its allies with China. It happened at a time when Germany was about to have a new Prime Minister. This is a new step in implementing the Indo-Pacific strategy that Germany just passed in September 2020.

The same month, for the first time, Germany, the UK and France, the three major European countries, issued a joint note condemning China's claims that are inconsistent with UNCLOS in the East Sea, rejecting the application of the archipelagic baselines for offshore island groups belonging to coastal countries, calling on relevant countries to comply with the PCAs 2016 ruling and saying that freedom of navigation and overflight over the East Sea should be respected.

Dealing with aggressive actions that aim to disrupt the rules-based order requires cooperation and detailed strategy among countries instead of a "flexible and pragmatic" approach from each country.

Germany is joining the United States, Japan, France and the UK to pursue a more sensible, reasonable policy for an open China.

Germany's growing attention to the open market and law-based order in the Indo-Pacific is a signal that Germany's longstanding stance on strengthening economic ties with China while avoiding opposition in political affairs is over.

This decision stems from its own interests. Germany cannot stand outside the FONOP (freedom of navigation patrol) campaigns initiated by the US and supported by the UK, France and Australia. Europe needs to be more responsible for its security and not just depend on America.

The activities of German warships in the East China Sea and East Sea also aim to strengthen cooperation relations with regional countries, especially ASEAN, against acts of the use of force and the threat of using force, contributing to ensuring security and peace for the region and the world.

Nguyen Hong Thao

Passing the Coast Guard Law, China probes the new US administration Chinas Coast Guard Law took effect only two days after Mr. Biden took office as US President.
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  A Republican state lawmaker who recently caused waves by voting in favor of a Democratic-backed abortion bill has changed his party affiliation to independent, the Secretary of State's Office confirmed Friday.

Rep. Phelps Anderson of Roswell had been tight-lipped about his recent vote in the House Health and Human Services Committee in favor of a bill that would repeal a long-dormant 1969 state abortion ban.

He was the only GOP lawmaker to vote in favor of the measure, House Bill 7, which has cleared two House committees and is awaiting a full chamber vote by as soon as next week.

A similar Senate bill has also advanced, and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has suggested she would sign such legislation into law if it reaches her desk.

Anderson did not immediately respond late Friday to questions about his decision to change his party affiliation from Republican to independent, which is also known in New Mexico as decline to state, and whether it was related to his vote on the abortion bill.

Rep. Rebecca Dow, R-Truth of Consequences, the House GOP caucus chairwoman, said Anderson's decision was a personal choice that his constituents will have to address.

The son of former oil magnate Robert Orville Anderson, Phelps Anderson was elected to the House of Representatives in 2018 and easily won reelection to a new two-year term in 2020.

He also served a previous stint in the House  from 1977 through 1980.

His decision to change his party affiliation to independent means Democrats now hold a 45-24 advantage over Republicans in the 70-member House.

Interestingly, Rep. Brittany Barreras, D-Albuquerque, last year became the first independent candidate to win election to the New Mexico Legislature.

But she ran in a race where the Democratic candidate  former Rep. Patricio Ruiloba  had been disqualified from the ballot and no Republican candidate had filed to run.

Barreras changed her party affiliation to Democrat after winning election to the South Valley-based House District 12 seat.

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She has extended her 'work trip' in Mexico after Tulum was branded 'the new Dubai for influencers' following the UAE's travel ban.

And Frankie Essex appeared to be living the high life as she hit the beach on Friday to lap up the sunshine.

The former TOWIE star, 33, who has been working hard on her fitness after her weight crept up to 12 stone and 13 pounds last year, showed off the fruits of her labour in a flattering monochrome swimsuit.

Beach babe: Frankie Essex appeared to be living the high life as she hit the beach in Tulum on Friday to lap up the sunshine

The strapless swimsuit accentuated Frankie's ample cleavage while the white belt cinched her in at the waist.

The television personality teamed the one-piece with a mesh kaftan and matching sun visor.

Frankie, who is in Tulum with her cousins Chloe and Demi Sims, appeared in jubilant spirits as she sauntered down the beach with seemingly not a care in the world.

Looking good: The former TOWIE star, 33, who has been working hard on her fitness after her weight crept up to 12 stone and 13 pounds last year, wowed in a monochrome swimsuit

Hourglass curves: The strapless swimsuit accentuated Frankie's ample cleavage while the white belt cinched her in at the waist

Frankie addressed why she flew to Mexico in a post on Instagram, amid the recent backlash from reality stars who have jetted abroad while the nation is in lockdown.

The star wrote: 'Tulum Im really excited for the opportunity to be with my cousin @chloe_simsstarship on a work related trip. Feeling very grateful.

'All UK guidelines were covered for my trip and will be for my return.'

Monochronme: The television personality teamed the one-piece with a mesh kaftan and matching sun visor

Soaking up the sun: Frankie, who is in Tulum with her cousins Chloe and Demi Sims, appeared in jubilant spirits as she sauntered down the beach with seemingly not a care in the world

The cousins have certainly been enjoying themselves during downtime from work, with the pair seen partying up a storm in local hotspot Bagatelle last weekend.

Earlier this week, Frankie displayed her slender frame in a selfie after confirming she has begun a new fitness regime.

The television personality admitted she was 'feeling good' as she prioritised her health during the UK's third nationwide lockdown.

Keeping fit: Earlier this month, Frankie displayed her slender frame in a selfie after confirming she has begun a new fitness regime

Celebrities and influencers have been flocking to Mexico's bars and beaches as it establishes itself as the latest COVID getaway destination.

The country, which is not yet on the UK's travel red-list, appears to be the new destination of choice for global jet-setters and could rocket in popularity after travel from influencer magnet Dubai was banned last week.

Travel abroad is now banned from the UK without a legally permitted reason, Home Secretary Priti Patel announced last week, as she criticised influencers for 'showing off in sunny parts of the world'.

While not on the UK's travel red-list, Mexico has been one of world's counties hardest hit by the coronavirus.

The problems of 2020 have continued into 2021.

Amid a discussion on actively recruiting more diverse candidates for municipal positions in the town of Longmeadow, a term that became all too familiar last year was the new topic of discussion.

Were getting Zoom bombed, said coalition member Ryan McCollum amid a series of outbursts from at least one attendee.

Longmeadow Coalition for Racial Justice Task Force, a group formed to identify areas of systemic racism in the Western Massachusetts town, held a public meeting on Thursday on Zoom. During the meeting, a series of racial slurs were shouted then the screen was marked with a swastika and the phrase [expletive] n------

Video of the interaction was captured in a screen recording. Editors note: The video contains racial slurs.

Following the first outburst, members spent several minutes limiting who had access to speak during the public meeting and clearing the screen.

Several members said in a recording captured of the encounter that it was a reminder that racism can span across generations, as the voice captured of a person disrupting the meeting sounded young.

Following the meeting, members of the task force shared a statement condemning the actions.

These events demonstrate both that racism and antisemitism is as real and as present today in our community as it has been for hundreds of years, and that the Longmeadow Select Boards action to declare racism a public health crisis last summer was urgently necessary.

It continued, The vulgar, racist and repugnant statements, [N]*****s need to burn and f**k n*****s, are not statements that happened in some other, remote part of the country--or in some obscure smoky backroom in an era long forgotten. They happened here, in Longmeadow, Massachusetts.

The Longmeadow Select Board adopted a resolution in July declaring racism a public health crisis, one of numerous communities across the commonwealth to take this action amid a national discussion about racial justice following the death of George Floyd.

The resolution called for the formation of the Longmeadow Coalition for Racial Justice Task Force, featuring nine residents tasked with forming a series of recommendations for confronting racism in town policies to racially equitable hiring and promotion of municipal employees.

Members include:

Zach Verriden, Chair

Rev. Charlotte LaForest, Vice-Chair

Bisrat Abebe

Kathleen Allen

Mara DeMaio

Neena Grover

Ryan McCollum

Lauren Rollins

Michelle Tom

Thursday marked the third in a series of meetings welcoming public discussion on ways to cultivate a more inclusive Longmeadow town culture.

Meetings are held on the 1st and 3rd Thursday from 7-8 p.m. in 2021, with the next meeting to be held on Feb. 18.
There is no indication that India has given up on the extradition of David Coleman Headley, the Mumbai terror attack accused, attorney of his co-accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana has told a US court. Rana, 59, a childhood friend of Headley, is facing extradition request by India for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack in which 166 people, including six Americans, were killed. Rana, who has been declared a fugitive by India, is opposing his extradition.

In a submission early this week before the US District Court Judge in Los Angeles Jacqueline Chelonian, opposing his extradition the attorney of Rana claimed that as of now there is no indication in the record that India has agreed to forgo Headleys extradition to India.

India presumably could have agreed to forgo Headley's extradition in return for his assistance to the United States, but there is no indication in the record that it did so, the court submission told the court. "In fact, the opinion of the Indian prosecutor serving as the government's expert states: "The present opinion is specific to the extradition request in respect of fugitive Tahawwur Hussain Rana. This opinion may not be construed in any manner to indicate that the various extradition requests pending with different sovereign nations in respect of the above-mentioned case which includes the case in respect of Accused No. 1, David Coleman Headley, is either being given up or not being pursued vigorously," said the motion filed by his attorneys.

Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Headley was involved in plotting the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. He was made an approver in the case, and is currently serving a 35-year prison term in the US for his role in the attack. Ranas attorneys said that the Court should not lightly assume (as the government appears to suggest) that the government circumvented its treaty obligation to India through a sham interpretation of Article 6 of the India-US Extradition Treaty as part of its deal with Headley.

The government's conclusion in Headley's plea agreement that Article 6 defines offenses in terms of conduct rather than elements and thus bars Headley's extradition must be taken as its good-faith interpretation of the Treaty's terms, it said. Rana, in the court filing, describe his childhood friend Headley as a liar. Headley lied to federal agents, judges, and presumably prosecutors in relation to these cases. After his first heroin sentence (reduced because of his cooperation), he went back to dealing heroin despite promising that he would not.

He disregarded the agents' instructions regarding his dealings with targets and travelled to Pakistan without permission. After his second heroin conviction, he used his status as a DEA cooperator to deflect government scrutiny of his activities with Lashkar and his statements supporting jihad, his lawyers alleged.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Sunrise at Oldman Lake NPS Guard, protect, and cherish your land,

for there is no afterlife for a place

that started out as heaven. - Charlie Russell

Wallace Stegner once wrote, If the national park idea is, as Lord Bryce suggested, the best idea America ever had, wilderness preservation is the highest refinement of that idea (Wilderness.net 2016).



Glacier National Park, in the Rocky Mountains of northwestern Montana, contains nearly 1,600 square miles of rugged mountain country. Nestled among the higher peaks are many glaciers and 200 beautiful lakes. Horseback and foot trails interweave almost all sections of the park.



This is a land of sharp, precipitous peaks, and knife-edged ridges, girdled with forests. Alpine glaciers lie in the shadow of towering walls at the heads of great ice-carved valleys. Streams flow northward to Hudson Bay, eastward to the Gulf of Mexico, and westward to the Pacific.



In September of 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Wilderness Act, which made the preservation and protection of wild lands and places a national priority.



The Wilderness Act of 1964 directed the Secretary of the Interior to review every roadless area of five thousand contiguous acres or more in the national parks and to report to the President his recommendation as to the suitability or non-suitability of each such area for preservation as wilderness.



Glacier National Park completed a study and environmental impact statement in 1973 to comply with the Wilderness Act. As a result, over 90 percent of the park was proposed to be formally designated wilderness. President Richard Nixon submitted the Glacier National Park wilderness recommendation to Congress on June 13, 1974. It was recommended that 927,550 acres of wilderness within Glacier National Park be designated by an act of Congress. A bill was subsequently introduced to formally designate the land as wilderness. The bill was never enacted, but since that time every president has reaffirmed the recommendation. By National Park Service policy, Glacier manages its recommended wilderness as if it were designated wilderness, until such time as Congress determines the status of those acres. Hikers in the backcountry NPS What is Wilderness? Wilderness is untrammeled.

The Wilderness Act defines wilderness as those lands where "...the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain." A trammel is a shackle, or net, used to restrain and restrict movement. Land that is untrammeled, as described by the act, is unhindered, free from the manipulation of humankind.



Wilderness is natural.

Wilderness retains its "...primeval character and influence... [and is] protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions," according to the act. The park wilderness is managed to maintain its natural ecology. The vast glacially carved valleys and peaks you see today, with the lush variety of vegetation, and the amazing array of native wildlife species, are much the same as they were hundreds if not thousands of years ago.



Wilderness is undeveloped.

Wilderness is further defined as "...an area of undeveloped Federal land...without permanent improvements or human habitation." In the wilderness of Glacier you will find large tracts of land where even rudimentary trails are nonexistent and evidence of human activity is hard to find. However, some developments are necessary for park operations, visitor enjoyment, and safety. Those entering Glaciers wilderness will find well-established trails, backcountry campgrounds, signs, and bridges. You might come across one of Glaciers historic ranger stations or patrol cabins, used by wilderness rangers and trail crews during the busy summer season.



Wilderness offers outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined recreation.

Wilderness "...has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation." There are many ways to experience the parks' wilderness, from hiking, horseback riding, climbing, backpacking, or watching the diverse array of wildlife that call Glaciers wilderness home.The Wilderness Act does more than establish protected lands. In what is perhaps the act's most vital accomplishment, it articulates a philosophy of wilderness that emphasizes not only a responsibility for environmental preservation, but also the importance of wilderness to the well-being of our nation's citizens.



Wilderness may also contain other features of ecological, geological, scientific, educational, scenic, or historic value.

Human influence has created a wide range of cultural resources found in Glacier. These include archeological sites; modern Native American ceremonial sites and ethnographic places of importance; and historic park administration structures. Glacier encompasses over 200 known prehistoric sites, some dating back to 10,000 BCE. The Chief Mountain and Two Medicine areas continue to be important ceremonial and religious focal points for members of the Blackfoot Nation. The Kootenai perceive significant meanings along the Trail of the Cedars, among other areas near McDonald Lake, and within the park. These features add to the rich tapestry of Glaciers wilderness character. You never know what's around the next corner. NPS Wilderness Management is Different from Backcountry Management Wilderness is a balancing act.

The park manages wilderness with two priorities in mind: the use and enjoyment of the American people, and the preservation of wilderness character. In order to steward the diverse ecosystem of the Crown of the Continent, the park is mandated to preserve wilderness character, which is a combination of the five qualities mentioned above: Wilderness is untrammeled, natural, undeveloped, offers outstanding opportunities for solitude and a primitive or unconfined recreation, and other features of ecological, geological, scientific, educational, scenic, or historic value.



In addition, from the Wilderness Act, each agency administering any area designated as wilderness shall be responsible for preserving the wilderness character of the area and shall so administer such area for such other purposes for which it may have been established as also to preserve its wilderness character. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, wilderness areas shall be devoted to the public purposes of recreational, scenic, scientific, educational, conservation, and historical use.



Park stewards face a difficult task. They must consider all five qualities of wilderness character when making decisions about park operations in wilderness. In an effort to enhance one aspect of wilderness character, they may impact another. For example, a project that enhances the 'natural' quality of the wilderness, such as eradication of invasive plant species, also affects its 'untrammeled' quality; while the project restores the natural ecosystem, it also manipulates the existing environment. Humility and restraint should guide the wilderness management process. Managing, protecting, and improving Glaciers wilderness character as a whole is the underlying goal of wilderness stewardship. To sum it up, wilderness lands are managed differently than backcountry lands. Monkey flowers along a sub-alpine stream NPS Other Wilderness Management Principles used in Glacier Minimum Requirement

All management decisions and activities affecting wilderness must be consistent with the minimum requirement concept. This concept is a documented process used to determine whether administrative activities affecting wilderness resources or the visitor experience are necessary, and how to minimize impacts.The minimum requirement concept will be applied as a two-step process that determines: Whether the proposed management action is appropriate or necessary for administration of the area as wilderness and does not pose a significant impact to wilderness resources and character; and The techniques and types of equipment needed to ensure that the impact to wilderness resources and character is minimized. Motorized Equipment/Mechanical Transport

Public use of aircraft for landings or for other purposes, drone use, the use of motorized vehicles, equipment, generators and similar devices, and bicycles are not permitted in national park wilderness. Park management may use motorized equipment and mechanical transport for administering the area as wilderness only when it has been determined that the use of such equipment meets the minimum requirement concept.



Scientific Activities

The National Park Service recognizes the scientific value of wilderness areas as natural outdoor laboratories and encourages research and data collection in wilderness areas. The National Park Service will limit research and data gathering to those projects which require such areas for their accomplishment. The Service may establish limitations on research and data collection projects in order to protect wilderness character.



Natural Resources Management

The principle of non-degradation will be applied to wilderness. Natural processes will be allowed, insofar as possible, to shape and control wilderness ecosystems. Management intervention should only be undertaken to the extent necessary to correct past mistakes, the impacts of human use, and influences originating outside of wilderness boundaries. Non-native species of plants and animals will be eliminated where it is possible to do so by approved methods that preserve wilderness character.



Cultural Resources Management

Wilderness does not prevent the National Park Service from protecting and maintaining historic and cultural resources located within wilderness areas. These resources may be protected and maintained according to the pertinent laws and policies governing cultural resources, using management methods that are consistent with the preservation of wilderness character and values.



Fire Management

Actions taken to suppress wildfires must use the minimum requirements concept unless the on-site decision-maker determines in their professional judgement that conditions dictate otherwise. Wildfires may be controlled as necessary to prevent unacceptable loss of wilderness values, loss of life, damage to property, and the spread of wildfire to lands outside the wilderness. Aircraft, motorboats, and motorized firefighting equipment may be permitted for such control. Prescribed fire and hazard fuel reduction programs may be implemented according to approved plans.



Administrative Facilities, Practices and Uses

Only those structures, administrative practices, and uses necessary for management and preservation of the wilderness character of an area are permitted. These may include, but need not be limited to, patrol cabins, limited facilities associated with saddle and pack stock control, and radio communication antennas and sites.
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SPRINGFIELD  A Belchertown man was sentenced Friday to federal prison after he was found guilty of possessing two machine guns, one with a defaced serial number, and a sawed-off shotgun.

Max T. Gaj, 30, held a federal firearms license and was a former co-owner of Dark Horse Gunsmithing in South Hadley. He was sentenced by Springfield U.S. District Court Judge Mark Mastroianni to serve 18 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

Gaj was originally charged with possession of two fully automatic firearms, known as machine guns, with one of those having its serial number defaced. Neither had been transferred according to National Firearms Act regulations. Gaj also received a shotgun with a barrel length less than 18 inches, known as a sawed-off shotgun, also in violation of NFA regulations.

Gaj also pleaded guilty to selling two Glock handguns in violation of state law, and made false entries in firearms sales records, failed to make appropriate entries and did not properly maintain records as required of a federal firearms licensee.

He pleaded guilty in September to charges of receipt and possession of unregistered firearms, receipt and possession of National Firearms Act firearms not identified by serial number, making a firearm in violation of the NFA, selling firearms in violation of state and local laws, making false entries in or failing to make appropriate entries in firearms sales records and failing to maintain records as required.
Colorado Springs, CO (80903)

Today

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Anyone whos left so much as a hat on a Chicago Transit Authority train knows that whatever leaves the station without its owner often is gone forever.

Except, apparently, a $22,000 gold and silver flute.

Donald Rabin is once again holding  and playing  the flute left to him by his grandmother that he forgot on a train seat when he hopped off last week in the Logan Square neighborhood.

Im just thankful that I have the flute in my hand, that I can make music again and I can make people smile, said Rabin, a 23-year-old Boston-based flutist.

Rabin was riding a Blue Line train from OHare International Airport during a layover before his return to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. When he got off, he realized hed left behind his flute.

He said he rode the train for hours in hopes of finding the flute. When he came up empty, he reported the missing instrument to police and took to social media to tell people about what happened.

According to the Chicago Tribune, a CNN reporter told Rabin as he was about to fly out of Chicago that there was a comment on Facebook about the flute showing up in a pawn shop, that a homeless man had found it and used it as collateral for a $550 loan.

The pawnshop owner, Gabe Cocanate, was holding onto the flute, trying to determine if it was as valuable as it looked, when he and his wife saw the story of the missing flute on the news.

So when the homeless man returned to the shop, I go, Listen man, its been all over the news. Its not your flute, Coconate told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Police picked up the flute and contacted Rabin, who flew back to Chicago this week, retrieved it and treated officers to a brief concert.

Rabin knew the odds of ever seeing something so valuable ever again. And yet, he said: For some reason, I knew in my heart and soul it would be found. I knew my grandmother would never leave me.
Usually, farmers prefer to sell their agriculture products in market yards for better prices.  DC Image

NIZAMABAD: The revenue of agriculture market committees has drastically dropped in undivided Nizamabad district over the last six months, after the farm laws that were passed last month took effect.

Market committees were unable to collect market fee from the traders and the revenues have fallen by 65 per cent.

The marketing department collects 1 per cent of the value of the business transaction as market fee from the traders. The fee is collected on transactions held in market yards or elsewhere in its regulated area. It is the main resource to provide basic amenities to farmers in the market yards.

The families of thousands farmers, traders and workers depend on market yards for their livelihood. Usually, farmers prefer to sell their agriculture products in market yards for better prices.

For instance, Nizamabad agriculture market committee has collected Rs 4.31 crore as market fee so far in the 2020-21 financial year. It had set Rs 13 crore as the target for the market fee collection which may now not be met. In 2019-20, the Nizamabad market committee had collected Rs 11.76 crore as market fee.

Following the ordinance on farm laws, following by the enactment of the legislation, the collection of market fee outside of market yards was stopped on June 5, 2020. Incidentally, the benefit is not reaching either farmers or consumers.

Market committee check posts were withdrawn in the district. Rice milling is a major industry in Nizamabad district and the rice millers enjoyed exemption from paying the 1 per cent market fee.

In view of revised orders, the collection of market fee began on January 12, official sources said. Check posts resumed on market committees regulated area limits and began market fee collection. Market committee officials are hopeful that peak turmeric season in February and March would improve the market fee collection.
Abuja  The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it has decided to engage stakeholders on the need to expand voter access to polling units by creating more units across the country.

This, it said, is part of its preparation for 2023 general election, adding that other upcoming activities including continuous voter registration (CVR) would be items in the agenda for conversation.

A top INEC official, who spoke with journalists in Abuja said in the following days, the commissions will be engaging all major stakeholders, including socio-cultural groups Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF); traditional/religious leaders, political parties, civil society groups, media and others, on the beauty of the exercise.

Explaining the motive for the exercise, the INEC official expressed serious concerns about the worsening challenge of voter access to polling units, and outlined some indicative issues to be addressed by the engagements and the commission's thinking on how to solve the challenge.

"As a commission, we do not take the important contributions of stakeholders to the electoral process for granted. These engagements are indeed a continuation of the commitment of the commission to always listen to stakeholders and to do our best to carry them along in all cardinal issues of election management in Nigeria," the INEC boss stated.

Explaining the importance of polling units to the democratic process, he said they are central to the electoral process, and at the very heart of electoral democracy as the basis on which citizens exercise their fundamental rights to vote and to make electoral choices freely.

"Consequently, polling units largely shape citizens' confidence in the electoral process, the levels of participation or apathy, as well as security and safety during elections.

"Voter access goes beyond the number of polling units available to voters. It also entails citing polling units in places that are conducive to voting as well as the extent to which the environment of each polling unit provides a good voter experience and implementation of the regulations and guidelines of the commission on Election Day," the source stated.

He added that voter access to polling units in the country has been declining over the years, putting the average number of voters per polling unit in 2019 general election at about 700 nationally, rising to over 2,000 in the Federal Capital Territory, while a specific polling unit in Nasarawa State had over 15,000 voters.

He said: "Some polling units are located in very difficult places that do not encourage voters to participate in elections, particularly persons living with disability. Others are located in places experiencing conflicts or in places under the control of partisan actors.

"Moreover, because of inadequate polling units, many voters have to travel long distances to their polling units on Election Day. All these have contributed to low voter turnout at elections, egregious violation of election regulations and guidelines, violence and insecurity.

"Crowding at polling units also constitute health and safety issues in this period of the global COVID-19 pandemic."

The INEC official explained that repeated attempts by the commission in the past to expand voter access to polling units by establishing new ones and relocating some to better sites have not been successful.

He added that in order to mitigate the challenges, the commission had to resort to stopgap measures such as the creation of "Baby Polling Units," "Voting Points" and "Voting Point Settlements," saying the measures have not adequately solved the problem and, in some cases have created new challenges of their own.

The senior official attributed the inability of the commission to routinely expand voter access to polling units to unnecessary politicization of the process by sundry interests in the country, especially by propagating unfounded claims and conspiracy theories about the commission's intentions.

He said delays arising from opposition to the establishment of polling units have meant that the process comes too close to elections and, therefore, is impossible to complete, saying the level of consultation with stakeholders by the commission may not have been adequate.

Giving a background to the challenge of voter access to polling units, he said the polling unit in the country today is the lowest level of the electoral structure in Nigeria, and probably the most critical point in delivering qualitative elections.

He stated that the current configuration of 119,973 polling units was established by the defunct National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (NECON) in 1996, adding that in the nearly 25-year period, every attempt to review or reconfigure the polling unit structure has been unsuccessful for sundry reasons.

"Consequently, the 1996 polling unit configuration was used for 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019 General Elections. When the polling unit structure was established in 1996, it was projected to serve about 50 million registered voters.

"However, the number of registered voters for the 1999 General Election was 57.93 million. This rose to 60.82 million in 2003, 61.56 million in 2007 and 73.52 million in 2011," he revealed.

He further explained that although the number declined to 68.83 million for the 2015 General Election - following the cleaning up of the register through the use of Automated Fingerprints Identification System (AFIS) to eliminate double registrants, it rose to 84.04 million in 2019 as a result of the commission embarking on a robust continuous voter registration exercise, as prescribed by law.

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The import of this development, he said, is that while the number of registered voters increased from 57.93 million in 1999 to 84.04 million in 2019, which is an increase of 45 per cent, the number of polling units remained the same.

"This lack of correlation between the number of registered voters and the number of polling units since 1999 has resulted in congested polling units on Election Day and lack of polling units in many developing sub-urban and newly established settlements.

The effects have been low voter turnout and voter apathy, insecurity at the polling units, disruption of elections and, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, unsafe voting environments.

"Indeed, presently, the average number of voters per polling unit in Nigeria, which stands at 700, is 37% more than the situation in Ghana. Yet, this could be quite misleading because in some states in Nigeria, the average number of voters per polling unit is well over 4,000," he added.

He said the motive for the planned exercise is in the general interest of Nigeria.
Axios

Southwest and American airlines won't yet resume in-flight alcohol service as planned after a flight attendant was recently assaulted by a passenger and other in-flight incidents.What they're saying: Southwest had initially planned to resume the service in June, but Sonya Lacore, the airline's head of in-flight operations, said in a memo obtained by CNN that "based on the rise in passenger disruptions in flight, I've made the decision to re-evaluate the restart of alcohol service on board."Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free"Given the recent uptick in industry-wide incidents of passenger disruptions in-flight, we have made the decision to pause the previously announced restart of alcohol service onboard,'' Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz told USA TODAY. Catch up quick: Last Sunday, a female passenger allegedly struck a flight attendant during a flight from Sacramento to San Diego  Southwest said two of the attendant's teeth had been knocked out. The passenger was then arrested on suspicions of battery causing serious bodily injury. The flight attendant was taken to a hospital once the plane landed, according to a police report. Southwest said Friday it banned the female passenger from flying with the airline again.The big picture: The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it had received approximately 2,500 reports of unruly passenger behavior since Jan. 1, with about 1,900 reports being of passengers refusing to follow federal mask mandates.Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.
West Bengal people will bid 'tata' to Mamata Banerjee, TMC after assembly election 2021: JP Nadda

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

Kolkata, Feb 06: Slamming West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, BJP chief JP Nadda on Saturday said that people of the state will bid "tata" (goodbye) to her and TMC after Assembly elections.

Nadda, who arrived in the city on Friday night for a two-day visit, slammed Mamata Banerjee for not allowing PM Kisan scheme in West Bengal to "satisfy her ego".

Farmers' Protest: Peaceful 'satyagraha' of annadatas is in national interest, says Rahul Gandhi on Chakka Jam

"Mamata didi has done injustice to the farmers here. She in her stubbornness, ego and arrogance, did not roll out PM's Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana in West Bengal. This has kept over 70 lakh farmers deprived of its benefit," the BJP chief said at a rally in Malda.

"When around 25 lakh people urged the Centre, then Mamata ji said I will also implement Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana. Mamata ji, elections are around the corner, what's the point of repenting when the damage has already been done?" he said.

Chakka jam: No untoward incident, but farmers block several highways

Delhi metro stations to avoid amid farmers Chakka jam | Oneindia News

Meanwhile, several top leaders of the BJP, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, are expected to visit the state to inaugurate five proposed yatras later this month.

The party has planned to launch similar yatras from Coochbehar, Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas, Jhargram and Tarapith in Birbhum between February 6 and 11. However, the state government has asked the BJP to seek permission from local district administrations before holding the yatra.
El-Aaiun (Occupied Territories)  Sahrawi human rights sources told Sahrawi News Agency (SPS) that the family of young Sahrawi Mohamed-Salem Faheem, who had been missing for more than 20 days in mysterious circumstances, on Friday morning found his decomposed body in a hospital in the occupied city of El-Aaiun,.

The same sources added, the body of the young Sahrawi was found 22 days after his death, decomposed in a dead body storage that lacked refrigeration in the so-called Hassan bin Al Mahdi hospital, which reflects the negligence and aggressiveness of the hospital staff towards Sahrawis.

Minister of Affairs of the Occupied Sahrawi Territories and Communities Abroad, Mohamed El-Wali Akeik, said in a statement to Algerian News Agency (APS), "the killing of young Sahrawi Mohamed-Salem Faheem was not the first case, and it will not be the last case under the repressive practices of the Moroccan occupation," denouncing "hiding the body of the young Sahrawi in hospital for a long time, although his family asked about him in the health center and in all facilities."

The Sahrawi minister added, "it is likely that the Moroccan occupation administration was involved in his killing since it concealed his death".
New York, Feb 6 : Researchers have developed a new method using artificial intelligence (AI) to counter emergent mutations of the coronavirus and speed up vaccine development to stop the pathogen responsible for killing thousands of people worldwide.

The method developed by researchers at University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering in the US is easily adaptable to analyse potential mutations of the virus, ensuring the best possible vaccines are quickly identified -- solutions that give humans a big advantage over the evolving contagion.

Their machine-learning model can accomplish vaccine design cycles that once took months or years in a matter of seconds and minutes, said the study published in the journal Scientific Reports.

"This AI framework, applied to the specifics of this virus, can provide vaccine candidates within seconds and move them to clinical trials quickly to achieve preventive medical therapies without compromising safety," said Paul Bogdan, Associate Professor at USC Viterbi and corresponding author of the study.

"Moreover, this can be adapted to help us stay ahead of the coronavirus as it mutates around the world." When applied to SARS-CoV-2 -- the virus that causes Covid-19 -- the computer model quickly eliminated 95 per cent of the compounds that could have possibly treated the pathogen and pinpointed the best options, the study said.

The AI-assisted method predicted 26 potential vaccines that would work against the coronavirus.

From those, the scientists identified the best 11 from which to construct a multi-epitope vaccine, which can attack the spike proteins that the coronavirus uses to bind and penetrate a host cell.

Vaccines target the region -- or epitope -- of the contagion to disrupt the spike protein, neutralising the ability of the virus to replicate.

The method is especially useful during this stage of the pandemic as the coronavirus begins to mutate in populations around the world.

Some scientists are concerned that the mutations may minimise the effectiveness of vaccines which are now being distributed.

Recent variants of the virus that have emerged in the UK, South Africa and Brazil seem to spread more easily, which scientists say will rapidly lead to many more cases, deaths and hospitalisations.

But Bogdan said that if SARS-CoV-2 becomes uncontrollable by current vaccines, or if new vaccines are needed to deal with other emerging viruses, then USC's AI-assisted method can be used to design other preventive mechanisms quickly.

"The proposed vaccine design framework can tackle the three most frequently observed mutations and be extended to deal with other potentially unknown mutations," Bogdan said.

The raw data for the research comes from a giant bioinformatics database called the Immune Epitope Database (IEDB) in which scientists around the world have been compiling data about the coronavirus, among other diseases.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Bollywood actors Angad Bedi and Neha Dhupia had suprised everybody when they tied the knot in a hush-hush ceremony in 2018. A few months after their wedding the couple announced their pregnancy. Now, while speaking to Neha on her show, No Filter Neha, the actor opened up about the moment when he told his parents about her pregnancy and their wedding.

I was extremely nervous because that was the judgement day, technically. To break the news to your parents, I really had cold feet as clearly it was not going to come from you. Everything had to come for me. I had to really man up and speak. I just had to blurt it out and see the reaction, he said recalling the moment.

On the show, he spoke eating a splendid meal and a splendid meal at Nehas place and how her parents were very welcoming. The actor said that while the actress parents were approving of their relationship, they were not aware of the fact that Neha was expecting.

Neha and Angad had tied the knot at a Gurudwara in Delhi in May 2018 and have a daughter Mehr. Their daughter turned two in Nov last year. Referring to her as little simba", Neha shared a heartwarming post on Mehrs birthday.

She wrote: Our little baby girl may you always be curious, sing even if you dont know the lyrics , dance like no one is watching , forever be eager to learn , chase butterflies , spread joy wherever you go , light up the room with your adorable smile and roar the loudest caus deep down you will always be our little simba! #happybirthday our doll."

Along with it, she posted a few pictures of Mehr from their family vacation in Maldives.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Neha Dhupia (@nehadhupia)

Nehas husband, actor Angad Bedi, wished Mehr on social media, too.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by ANGAD BEDI (@angadbedi)

Today at 11:25 am you were born to us.. Happy birthday to our baby girl Mehr she turns 2 today. Our lives have been a blessing since you arrived. We are lucky to have you. Thank you for choosing us as your parents," he wrote on Instagram.
The Department of Health has a reported a further seven deaths in Northern Ireland (Andrew Matthews/PA).

A further seven people in Northern Ireland have died after testing positive for Covid-19 and 390 new cases of the virus have been confirmed.

It brings the death toll to 1,922 and the total number of cases since the outbreak to 106,533. Some 3,070 people have tested positive in the last seven days.

Of the seven fatalities, five happened within the current reporting period, from 10am of Friday to 10am on Saturday, while the two other deaths occurred previously.

There are 602 Covid patients in hospitals across Northern Ireland, with 67 in intensive care and 59 requiring ventilation.

A total of 98 care homes are dealing with outbreaks of the virus.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health revealed on Friday that more than 300,000 people have now received the Covid vaccine in Northern Ireland.

Read More

Health Minister Robin Swann praised the massive collective effort being undertaken to stop the virus spreading.

Mr Swann said: "I am very grateful to all those who are working tirelessly to keep the vaccination programme on track."

Read More

The latest total for inoculations stands at 301,279, comprising 275,232 first doses and 26,047 second.

"There has likewise been a massive collective effort across Northern Ireland to stop the virus spreading.

"We have to maintain and accelerate the progress that has been made.

"I know it's tough, I know we all want this to be over. But we need to stick to the course in this vital period."
New information has emerged in recent weeks about the broad involvement of former President Donald Trump and his close political circle, broad sectors of the Republican Party and the military in the attempted fascist coup launched at the US Capitol on January 6. These facts vindicate the seriousness with which the World Socialist Web Site has dealt with this event and its international political significance.

Eduardo Bolsonaro. (Credit: Paola de Orte, Agencia Brasil)

This significance, on the other hand, has been totally underestimated by the Brazilian corporate media and pseudo-left publications, despite the profound implications of the coup for Brazils own political situation. This has been underscored by the fascistic President Jair Bolsonaros threats to repeat in Brazil the same coup methods employed by Trump.

In particular, no Brazilian media or political force has questioned the motives of Eduardo BolsonaroPresident Bolsonaros son, federal congressman, and chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committeefor being present in the United States during the events of January 6. The fact that Eduardo traveled during his parliamentary vacation has been cynically used as an argument to treat the trip by this fascistic conspirator as a personal affair.

Eduardos Bolsonaros arrival in the United States on January 4 was first reported by Globo as a surprise visit to the White House at the invitation of Ivanka Trump, daughter of the former US president. The next day, Zero Three, as the Brazilian president calls his third son, published on social media a photo of Ivanka holding his newborn daughter in her arms.

Nothing was reported in the media about the Brazilian congressmans activities on January 5, the day before the Capitol invasion. His wife, Heloisa Bolsonaro, however, posted that day on her social media that now that he [Eduardo] is in a meeting, I could be walking, but the city of Washington is very much closed. No information came out about who he met, or what this meeting was about.

Amidst Heloisa Bolsonaros platitudes about this being her daughters first international trip and her meeting with Aunt Ivanka, there is still further revealing information about the circumstances surrounding her husbands visit to Washington: This trip was recently confirmed, at the last minute. We were in the middle of summer, I had to think about winter clothes.

On the evening of January 6, before Congress had finally completed the certification of Joe Bidens election as US president, Eduardo Bolsonaro posted a photo of himself beside Trump supporter Michael Lindell, saying: Pleased to meet Michael Lindell, a former junkie and now a successful businessman in the US. He mentioned no reason for this meeting.

Eduardo Bolsonaro and Ivanka Trump at the White House, January 4, 2021. (Eduardo Bolsonaro's Instagram)

Lindell is not just any businessman. He played a central role in the planning of Trumps coup. At the end of January, as reported by the WSWS, information emerged about a meeting held on January 5 between the former US president and his supporters at Trump International Hotel to discuss the following days events. Among the 15 people present at this meeting, besides the organizers of the next days rally and march to the Capitol, was MyPillows CEO, Michael Lindell.

On January 15, Lindell made a brief visit to Donald Trump at the White House. A Washington Post photographer was able to partially photograph a document in Lindells hands, apparently outlining proposals for the former presidents final days in office. The note suggested invoking the Insurrection Act, allowing the deployment of the US Armed Forces in the streets, and a declaration of martial law if necessary.

The document appeared to also include a proposal to claim that China and Iran were behind the alleged election fraud as the pretext for the invocation of emergency powers, and called for the installation of Trump loyalist Kash Patel at the head of the CIA.

Even after these revelations, the only mention in the Brazilian media about the meeting between Lindell and Bolsonaro has been a brief report in Epoca magazine, still on January 6.

Instead of exposing the ominous presence of the fascistic congressman and son of the president in the US during the January 6 events, which was a political statement in itself, the Brazilian press did just the opposite. Folha de Sao Paulo, the newspaper with the largest circulation in Brazil, highlighted Eduardo Bolsonaros silence about the siege of the US Capitol. The right-wing Veja, the magazine with the largest national circulation in Brazil, stated that the coup had been forgotten by Eduardo.

But Eduardo Bolsonaro did not keep silent about the coup. On the next day, he shared a tweet by Brazils far-right Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo, stating: I make my own the words of Chancellor Ernesto Araujo. This is also my vision about what happened in the USA yesterday. Araujo, repeating the arguments of Trumps inner circle, cynically regretted the storming of the Capitol, while declaring:

One must recognize that a large part of the American people feel assaulted and betrayed by their political class and distrust the electoral process.

One has to distinguish between electoral process and democracy. Doubting the suitability of an electoral process does NOT mean rejecting democracy

One must stop calling decent citizens fascists when they demonstrate against elements of the political system or members of institutions

Nothing justifies an invasion like the one that occurred yesterday. But at the same time nothing justifies, in a democracy, the disrespect of the people by the institutions or those who control them.

The right of the people to demand the proper functioning of their institutions is sacred. May yesterdays events in Washington not serve as a pretext, in the USA or in any country, to place any institution above popular scrutiny.

Eduardo Bolsonaro and Michael Lindell. (Twitter)

These words, signed onto by Zero Three, are an unequivocal declaration of support for the fascist conspiracy in the US. Along with the coup-mongering statements of President Jair Bolsonaro himself, they should be taken with the utmost seriousness by the Brazilian working class.

Eduardo Bolsonaro is a particularly nefarious and dangerous figure. A federal policeman, his political activities in Brazil are directly connected to the mobilization of police forces as the basis for a fascistic movement. As a congressman, he is a vocal supporter of weapons manufacturing and unrestricted gun rights in Brazil, along with the criminalization of communism. Like his father, he is an avid defender of the bloody military dictatorship that ruled Brazil for 21 years.

In the first year of his administration, Bolsonaro appointed his son Eduardo as Brazils ambassador to the US, allegedly because he is a friend of Donald Trumps children and has a very great global experience. This plan ultimately failed. The global experience mentioned by Bolsonaro includes having been nominated by Steve Bannon as the South American leader of his fascistic front, The Movement.

Eduardo did not go to the United States as a tourist. He was effectively summoned as an international observer of Trumps coup on behalf of Brazilian fascists. If Trump tweeted his supporters that January 6 will be wild, one has only to imagine what Eduardo Bolsonaro was told.

It is extremely revealing of the character of organizations like the Workers Party (PT), the Maoist Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), and the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL), the so-called opposition to the Bolsonaros administration, that they did not even challenge Eduardo Bolsonaros explanations to the House of Representatives about the reasons for his trip to the United States.

The turn of the ruling class to dictatorial forms of rule, whether in Brazil, the US or anywhere else in the world, will find no serious barrier in the parties based on the bourgeois state and the defense of capitalist property relations, regardless of the left varnish with which they attempt to cover themselves. Only the independent political mobilization of the international working class, oriented by the socialist perspective of the International Committee of the Fourth International, can seriously confront this threat.

Once Upon a Bridge www.druid.ie; Feb 11  13

I really believe in theatre being visceral. If youre analysing it before youre feeling it, then its not quite right, says director Sara Joyce. She is on lunch break during the final week of rehearsals for Once Upon a Bridge, Sonya Kellys new play for Druid which will be live-streamed for four performances over three days from the Mick Lally Theatre in Galway, beginning next Thursday.

This rehearsal process is hugely different from the norm as the company has to comply with Covid-19 guidelines. Joyce, the three actors, an assistant director and a stage manager are in the rehearsal room, all masked. The cast wear masks until they are in their spots. Everyone is at least two metres apart.

Obviously it affects what I can do physically, because we have to keep the two-metre rule, so you are ruling out a lot of interaction, says Joyce. But Sonya wrote the play with Covid in mind. We always knew it was going to be a socially distanced work.

The original plan, before Level 5 restrictions, was to have a limited socially distanced audience. The afternoon Joyce and I speak, the sound designer Alma Kelliher had also attended rehearsal that morning, but on a Zoom link, playing in music from her base in Dublin. Set and lighting designer Sinead McKenna also attends via Zoom, but will have to be on site for the tech rehearsal. Various people, including the vision mixer, will do their jobs from different rooms inside the Druid building.

They will have four cameras for the live broadcast. It sounds like a lot but in reality it is not, says Joyce, when you consider the choices between having the camera close on someones face or in a full length or wide shot. But it will be broadcast live, with people watching in real time, so it will have that aspect of danger.

Originally intending to be an actor, Joyce recalls how the directing bug hit while she was studying for a BA in drama and theatre studies at Trinity College Dublin. A class on Cloud 9 by Caryl Churchill, taught by Dr Melissa Sihra, opened her eyes. Suddenly she wanted to see the shape of the play on the stage.

So many people hated it. We had a big argument in the seminar and I was fascinated by how divisive it was. I dont think it is possible to understand this play without seeing it. That was first play I directed.

It was produced in Trinity Players, a place where she made connections with many ongoing collaborators, including Druid regular actor Siobhan Cullen, who is in this show. The other cast are Druid ensemble member Aaron Monaghan and UK-based Nigerian Adetomiwa Edun.

Joyce graduated from Trinity in 2011 and followed this up with up with a year studying physical theatre at the Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris. Originally from outside Blessington, Co Wicklow, she is now settled in London: It was always my ambition to work between Ireland and the UK.

She has an impressive CV with stints as assistant or associate director with names such Richard Eyre, Dominic Dromgoole, Claire van Kampen and Gavin Quinn. Her directing credits include Hunch by Kate Kennedy (another Trinity collaborator) at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2018. In 2018 she was one of the Old Vic 12, one of the best theatre-artist development schemes in the UK.

Her current role directing at Druid is a fantasy fulfilment. Once Upon a Bridge is set in London and involves an Irish woman, an English man and a Ghanaian bus driver. The key event occurs on Putney Bridge. Its about the assumptions we make about other people without fully knowing them, says Joyce, who loves the script, which she describes is as a comedy drama. It works as a play, she says, and the cast are really good, so if its not interesting, it is literally all on me. Its in my hands to mess up.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The New York Police Department is asking for the publics help locating a 21-year-old Dongan Hills resident who has been missing since the end of December.

Charlzid Caulker, of Dongan Hills Avenue, was last seen at his residence around 5 a.m. Dec. 30, police said in a statement. He was reported missing Jan. 1, police said.

Caulker was last seen wearing a blue jacket, police said. He is 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighs about 170 pounds, according to the statement.

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPDs Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) for Spanish. The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.
Bethany Willoughy (Maguire) is looking forward to moving on with her life knowing that her half-brother Bernard will serve time for the crimes he committed against her when they were children.

The 20-year-old said that she waived her right to anonymity so that her abuser could be named publicly, so she could speak out about what happened to her between 2006 and 2008, and to prevent the same thing from happening to somebody else in the future.

Bethany explained that her parents split up when she was a child and that Bernard lived with their father while she stayed nearby in Gorey with her mum, Mandy.

'But I was living between my mum and dad's house.

'I saw Bernard as my brother and I loved him, and he just broke that trust massively. Up until I was 15, I would have been close enough to him. We wouldn't have seen each other all the time but we did love each other.'

After Bethany's step-father died in 2016, she attended counselling at the Phoenix Centre and that's when the memories of what happened to her came flooding back.

'I was traumatised then,' she said. 'I was only 15 and I couldn't cope with it. I really remembered the first time he did it. I told my mam about it. She tried to convince me to go to the guards but I just refused because I couldn't cope with it and I didn't want to do anything about it then.'

She said she swore her mother to silence.

'I was having nightmares about it at the time and I still do have those nightmares. I remember at that time going down the street in Gorey would scare me so much. I had to leave school at Creagh College as I just couldn't cope.

'After that I was in and out of counselling. I've been at Tara House, I've linked in with Talk To Tom as I have been suicidal, and I'm just after linking in with the national counselling service for people who have been abused so I'm waiting to get a session with them.'

It was 2018, before Bethany felt ready to report what happened to gardai.

'When I first contacted the guards, I was so worried and paranoid about it because I thought that he (Bernard) is really good at pretending that he's a nice person and that he's really good. I was worried that he'd get into a relationship with somebody and have a kid of his own and, God forbid, that he did it again. I thought about a single mother and what if she got together with a man like Bernard and thought he was perfect and lovely, and then comes to realise that he has that in his past? I wanted to make sure that if anyone wanted to consider being with Bernard, all they'd have to do is Google his name and they could make up their own mind'.

At the Circuit Criminal Court last week, Bethany decided to waive her right to anonymity.

'I waived my right to anonymity to give other people a chance before deciding to get involved with somebody with a history like that and to ask themselves if they want to be around this person or have their children or family around this person.

'I think him being sentenced now will help me move on. It feels like it has been acknowledged now and I've done something about it.

Bethany also hopes others who have found themselves in her position can find the strength to tell someone what happened to them and to report it.

'I think survivors should come forward and talk about what happened to them because it's like a cleanse. It cleanses you to know that what was done to you is wrong and you deserve to have that acknowledged. As well as that, for the person who did that to you to answer for it and it keeps other people safe in the long run.

'I have a one-year-old daughter Holly, she was born in 2019, and I'm looking after her but I hope she'll be proud of me when she's older'.

Bethany thanked her mother, her family and her boyfriend's family for all of their support, but admitted that she has not forgiven Bernard.

'He (Bernard) wrote me a letter of apology but I didn't accept it. As we had been close, I would know how he would speak or talk, so when I read the letter I thought that wasn't how he spoke. I believe he was fed the words for that letter, and I honestly don't believe he has shown remorse for it. When he first admitted to it, he was trying to play down his age.

'I've gone through this for the last five years, but I'm so lucky to have my daughter and my boyfriend for support. My mam Mandy has been my rock and the rest of my family have supported me so much and my boyfriend's family. The guard that took on my case - Garda Detective Brian Dowling - has been amazing and he gave evidence in court. He has been so good to me and my family,' she said.

Bethany's mother Mandy Willoughby said she couldn't be prouder of her daughter.

'I have three children and Bethany is my only daughter. Over the last five years there have been times where I thought I'd lose her and going to the guards and through court, it took some strength.

'Today, she has reclaimed her life back. She's nothing but a warrior and she deserves this peace and justice. I would have liked to have seen him get a longer sentence, but as far as Bethany is concerned, this is justice as he didn't get away with it'.

Having gone through an emotional battle as a family, Mandy said that Bethany's future is a bright one.

'Bethany went through a horrible time and at times it was terrifying. I had her on suicide watch and I remember she used to just have this dead look in her eyes, as if there was nothing there behind them. She'd come into a room and I wouldn't even hear her, I was terrified.

'Things changed when she got pregnant and I knew she'd always be there for her daughter. She's an amazing mother and I absolutely adore her. Knowing how close I came to losing her on multiple occasions makes this result all the more important,' Mandy said.
Russian peacekeepers banned a group of French journalists to enter Nagorno-Karabakh with accreditation issued by Yerevan, former Armenian Ambassador to the Vatican and Portugal Mikayel Minasyan wrote in Telegram.

"Yesterday I got a call from a friend close to the Elysee Palace. And he says:

- Listen, what happened to our delegation there? I get some scattered information, there is nothing in the media, and nothing is clear.

- Come on, - I tell him, - the usual story. This is the result of your silence, Minasyan notes, explaining:

"Russian peacekeepers prohibit entry, saying that you are entering Azerbaijan, and the accreditation received in Armenia is invalid. If you want to enter the region, get an Azerbaijani accreditation," News.am quotes the former diplomat as saying.
The Amnesty office has denied the report that the Federal Government seized N26 billion belonging to the Presidential Amnesty Programme, clarifying that the money was mopped up as part of the government's financial process.

PAP office said it was expecting FG to roll over the unspent N26bn balance of its 2020 budget to enable it quickly meet up with its outstanding obligations.

The Interim Administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (retd) spoke in reaction to the report that the Niger Delta region was unsettled following the decision of the government to seize the programme's N26bn under the guise of unspent budgetary provisions.

However, Dikio in a statement signed by his Special Adviser, Media, Nneotaobase Egbe, explained that the money was not seized by FG, maintaining that PAP was not singled out for such exercise as it was customary for unspent money across the ministries, parastatals and agencies to be returned to the government's coffers in line with the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy.

Dikio noted that PAP office had earlier written the Accountant-General's office on the need to roll over the money and later release same to PAP to enable the programme meet all outstanding obligations tied to the money in the budgetary year.

Dikio opined that since PAP was a special programme on national security, the programme should be considered for an exclusive rollover of its unspent budget stating that all the money had been tied to specific activities necessary to maintain the peace in the Niger Delta region .

PAP coordinator said: "In order to reduce the debts owed several contractors since 2014, a payment plan that was sequential was initiated starting with the oldest debt in consideration of vendors' interest payments on loans secured from banks to execute their contracts. A total of 104 such debts based on our records of the level of job completion have been paid as of December 31, 2021.

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"Other verified payments could not be made before December 31, 2021 because PAP's funds for September/October allocation and November/December allocation were received on the 28th of December 2020 and 29th December 2020, respectively.

"In compliance with the Federal Government's anti-corruption and extant financial regulations, our system was only able to disburse a portion of these funds before the Federal Government's Treasury Single Account was automatically shut down.

"The Accountant-General of the Federation was promptly notified of the need to roll over these funds and in response to mandatory queries, the Minister of Finance has been notified on the need to release the funds to enable PAP to promptly meet its financial obligations to contractors handling training and empowerment contracts".

Meanwhile, it was gathered that the development scuttled the payment of ex-militants' allowances for January in line with Dikio's promise that ex-agitators' would receive their allowances on the 25th of each month, warranting ex-militants threatening to block the Mbiama axis of the East-West Road in protest.

But, Dikio enjoined the ex-agitators to go on with the action, adding that PAP was committed to resolving all the issues.

Vanguard News Nigeria
Ex-Eastenders star Katie Jarvis has been charged with assault and racially aggravated harassment after an alleged drunken street fight last year.

The actress, 29, who played Hayley Slater on the soap, will appear at Southend Magistrates Court on April 15.

Katie was arrested by Essex Police after a fight broke out at Marine Parade at the resort town on Friday July 31 - one of the hottest days last year.

Brawl: Ex-Eastenders star Katie Jarvis has been charged with assault and racially aggravated harassment after an alleged drunken street fight last year (pictured in 2009)

An Essex Police spokesperson told MailOnline: 'Katie Jarvis has been summonsed to appear at Southend Magistrates Court on 15 April to face charges of assault by beating, common assault, using threatening or abusive words or behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress, and racially or religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress.'

MailOnline has contacted Katie's representatives for comment.

A clip filmed by a bystander saw a group of women brawling in the drinking area outside the Papillon pub on the seafront, before it spilled out onto the street.

One video showed five black women scuffling with a white woman.

Charged: Katie was arrested by Essex Police after a fight broke out at Marine Parade in Southend-on Sea on Friday July 31 - one of the hottest days last year

A second video appeared to show a white woman, said to be Katie, shouting.

Katie was said to have been spotted by a witness who said they heard someone yell 'I'm a famous actress!' as her friends chimed in with: 'She's Hayley Slater from EastEnders!'

It's thought that the row began when Katie took a chair from the table the group of women were sitting at.

Soap star: Katie joined Eastenders in 2018 as the cousin of Kat Slater, with one storyline seeing her have an affair with Kat's husband Alfie Moon

Jarvis joined the Eastenders cast in 2018 as the cousin of Kat Slater [Jessie Wallace].

One of her storylines saw her have an affair with Kat's husband Alfie Moon [Shane Richie] while they lived in Spain with Kat and their children.

Hayley then fell pregnant, giving birth to daughter Cherry.

Jarvis's character was last seen on screen in February 2019 when Stacey Fowler, played by Lacey Turner, went to hospital to collect her after treatment for her mental health.

New job: After her departure from the soap, Katie took up a job as a security guard at bargain store B&M in Romford, East London

After her departure from the soap, Katie took up a job as a security guard at bargain store B&M in Romford, East London.

Dagenham-born Jarvis revealed she 'crumbled' and was left in tears after a friend alerted her to headlines about her job as a security.

But upon reflection and thanks to the support of fellow thespians from Tamzin Outwaite to Nathalie Emmanuel, she is 'proud' to have changed the conversation.

'Their support gave me the strength to speak out and stand up for hard-working people - especially single mums', she said, and insisted her priority in life is caring for her two children, saying: 'As long as I'm providing for them, nothing else matters. Everything I do is for them.'

She said she is proud to take on any work she can to 'keep busy and learn new things'.
By Tom Randall,

When will the pandemic end? Its the question hanging over just about everything since Covid-19 took over the world last year. The answer can be measured in vaccinations.

Bloomberg has built the biggest database of Covid-19 shots given around the world, with more than 119 million doses administered worldwide. US science officials such as Anthony Fauci have suggested it will take 70% to 85% coverage of the population for things to return to normal.

Bloombergs Vaccine Tracker shows that some countries are making far more rapid progress than others, using 75% coverage with a two-dose vaccine as a target.

Read | India sent 56 lakh Covid-19 vaccines to foreign nations as gift;100 lakh doses as commercial supplies: MEA

Israel, the country with the highest vaccination rate in the world, is headed for 75% coverage in just two months. The US will get there just in time to ring in the 2022 New Year (though North Dakota could get there six months sooner than Texas). With vaccinations happening more rapidly in richer Western countries than the rest of the globe, it will take the world as a whole seven years at the current pace.

Bloombergs calculator provides a snapshot in time, designed to put todays vaccination rates into perspective. It uses the most recent rolling average of vaccinations, which means that as vaccination numbers pick up, the time needed to hit the 75% threshold will fall.

The calculations will be volatile, especially in the early days of the rollout, and the numbers can be distorted by temporary disruptions.

For example, New Yorks target date was briefly pushed out to 17 months this week after a winter blizzard prevented some from getting vaccinated (its now back down to 13 months). Likewise, Canadas vaccination rate dropped by half in recent weeks following reports of delayed vaccine shipments.

Also Read | Over 97% among 5 lakh respondents surveyed happy with Covid-19 vaccination arrangements, says government

Based on Canadas latest rate of inoculations it would take more than 10 years to reach 75% coverage. That might serve as a wake-up call to Canadian politicians and health officials, but it doesnt mean the country is doomed to a decade of social distancing. Canada has contracts to buy more vaccine doses per person than any other country, and its vaccination rates are expected to climb.

The pace is likely to accelerate further as more vaccines become available. Some of the worlds biggest vaccine-manufacturing hubs in India and Mexico are only just getting started. More than 8.5 billion doses of vaccine have been contracted by countries through more than 100 agreements tracked by Bloomberg. Only a third of countries have even begun their vaccination campaigns.

Getting to Herd Immunity

Vaccinations protect against Covid-19 within a few weeks of getting the shots. But if just a few people in a community get vaccinated, the virus can continue to spread unchecked. As more people get the vaccine, groups of people start to build a collective defense against the virus so that isolated sparks of infection burn out instead of spreading into an outbreak. The concept is known as herd immunity.

Also Read | India nowhere close to achieving herd immunity against Covid-19

In the scientific community, there are conflicting definitions for when herd immunity is achieved. Is it when enough people are protected that it begins to have a measurable effect on the speed of transmission? That could begin well before 75% of people are fully vaccinated. Others define it as the point when outbreaks can no longer be sustained. For example, even if theres a cluster of measles cases in an unvaccinated community, herd immunity prevents it from rippling across a country.

How We Run the Numbers

The vaccines available today require two doses for full vaccination. Our calculations for coverage are based on two doses per person in the population but don't distinguish between first doses or second doses administered. Those breakdowns can distort daily vaccination rates and arent available in more than 20% of the countries were tracking.

A new vaccine by Johnson & Johnson recently showed positive results using a single dose in a large clinical trial. If approved, well adjust the number of doses required proportionate to its market share in each country.

The vaccines havent been authorized for use in children  those studies are currently underway. Our calculator, like the virus, includes children in the population needed to be protected.

Read | Over 21% Indians aged above 10 had the coronavirus, says latest national sero-survey

One metric Bloombergs calculator doesnt account for is any level of natural immunity that might result from recovering from Covid-19. Its possible that hard-hit places might require a lower level of vaccination to prevent widespread transmission. While theres evidence that people who recover from illness do retain some level of natural defenses, its unclear how much protection is offered or how long it might last. The vaccine is still recommended for people who have recovered from illness.

The calculator is the latest feature from Bloombergs Covid-19 Tracker. The projections are updated daily and are based on the average daily vaccinations in data gathered from 67 countries and the US states and territories. Countries may be excluded when they are in the earliest stages of vaccinations or if they provide infrequent updates on their vaccination numbers.

Islamabad, Feb 6 : Pakistan Army launched an aerial search operation on Saturday to locate a missing mountaineer and his team members who are on an expedition to summit K2, the second highest peak of the world.

The missing mountaineer, Ali Sadpara had successfully climbed the 8,611-metre-high peak during the K2 Winter Expedition 2021, a month after their first attempt failed, Geo News said in a report.

The report said that Sadpara and his team had departed for their journey on Wednesday.

Since then, he has since been providing updates on his Twitter account about the expedition.

His last tweet was posted on Saturday morning some time around 8.20 a.m.

Sources have said Sadpara and his team were to reach camp 3 by 2 p.m. on Saturday, but communication with the team has been lost for the last several hours.

K2 is located on the China-Pakistan border between in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of northern Pakistan, and Dafdar Township in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang, China.

It is the highest point of the Karakoram mountain range and the highest point in both Pakistan and Xinjiang.

The peak is known as the "Savage Mountain" because of its harsh weather conditions: winds can blow at more than 200 kilometres per hour, and temperatures can drop to minus 60 degrees Celsius.

Unlike Mount Everest, which has been topped by thousands of climbers, K2 is much less travelled.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Saturday expressed confidence in the African Union (AU) to contribute to the advancing of efforts aimed at reaching a binding legal deal on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) before the second filling of the dam.

The AU has been mediating the talks between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over the dispute caused by GERD since last year.

Last year, Ethiopia unilaterally completed the first filling of the GERD and plans to execute the second filling of the dam next July.

Addressing the African Union's 34th summit - held virtually - El-Sisi congratulated Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi for assuming the chairmanship of the AU this year.

El-Sisi thanked the outgoing chair of the AU, President Ramaphosa, for his appreciated efforts in reaching a comprehensive, fair and balanced agreement.

El-Sisi referred to Ramaphosas keenness of participating in person in the negotiations to reach a legal agreement on GERD as a reflection of his highnesss keenness to advance the common interests of the African nations and to seek solutions for the issues and crises facing our continent.

Egypt has engaged, with good faith and seriousness, in the African path, in a bid to reach the desired agreement that takes into account the interests and rights of the concerned parties, a goal that cannot be achieved except with the availability of the political will of all parties El-Sisi added.

Vaccine Strategy

El-Sisi welcomed an invitation for Egypt to join the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT).

The AUs AVATT started the operation last month. It was established by South Africas President Cyril Ramaphosa to serve as a component of the Africa vaccine strategy.

President El-Sisi affirmed Egypts keenness to carry out its responsibilities with the aim of securing the coronavirus vaccine for the African countries.

El-Sisi urged cooperation among governments and people of the African states to control the pandemic.

There is no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic represents a great challenge to our African continent, said El-Sisi.

He added that this requires more solidarity and cooperation between our people and our governments, in order to curb the spread of the virus and limit its dangerous repercussions on the lives and the future of our people and our children.

Integration, development

The president affirmed Egypts full support to the desired goals of advancing the AUs institutions, supporting the AU agenda 2063 and its first 10-year plan, as well as implementing the entitlements of the blocs theme of the Year 2021 Arts, Culture and Heritage.

In this regard, I want to emphasise the importance of protecting our African heritage and constructively promoting African culture, especially as we are in the process of opening many cultural, archaeological and museum projects.

The president mentioned the new Giza-based Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) as an example of these projects.

Concerning development efforts in the continent, El-Sisi referred to Egypts pioneering experience in developing infrastructure projects as an example that we would be happy to share with our African brothers, as a tool to enhance stability and developments in Africa.

The president mentioned a number of ambitious projects to develop the continents infrastructure and achieve integration among its states, including the Cairo-Cape Town road set to pass through nine African states.

He also mentioned the navigation line project to link the Mediterranean Sea with Lake Victoria as an example of the continental program to develop infrastructure.

This program represents the most prominent cornerstone in achieving the desired integration  and a fundamental pillar for activating the [African] Continental Free Trade Area.

I conclude my speech before you, with hopes of an actual meeting soon after we have turned the page of the coronavirus pandemic forever, said El-Sisi.

He expressed hope that the AU is allowed to resume holding our summits and brotherly activities face to face, continue the serious and hard work with the aim of achieving progress that is aspired by the African continent and that achieves our aspiration and desired goals.

Short link:



Having survived the murky waters of politics in Nigeria, where her mother was kidnapped to send her a message, and rising to number two at the World Bank, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala should have no trouble dealing with international trade negotiators in her new job at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).



The 66-year-old will be the first woman and the first African to occupy the position.



Despite recently taking out US citizenship, she revels in being Nigerian and is fiercely patriotic - flaunting her African identity in her African-print tailored outfits.



She told the BBC in 2012 that she had in fact adopted such attire as a working mother of four to do the school run, an easy answer for a smart look - and a thrifty one at that, given she estimated each outfit cost around $25.



The Harvard-educated development economist is seen as a down-to-earth, hard worker, who told BBC HardTalk in July that what the WTO needed was a shake-up.



"They need something different, it cannot be business as usual for the WTO - [they need] someone willing to do the reforms and lead."



Reform in Nigeria



During her 25 years at the World Bank, she is credited with spearheading several initiatives to assist low-income countries, in particular raising nearly $50bn in 2010 from donors for the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's fund for the poorest countries.



But it is her reform agenda in Nigeria in which she takes real pride - especially the two times she served as the country's finance minister under Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan.



One of her greatest achievements was leading a team which negotiated a whopping $18bn debt write-off in 2005 for the country, helping Nigeria obtain its first-ever sovereign debt rating.



The country's debts had dated back to the early 1980s, and had ballooned to more than $35bn due to penalties and late fees during the 1990s.



Her economic reforms had a far-reaching impact and saved Nigeria at a critical period, according to prominent Nigerian economist, Bismarck Rewane.



This included de-linking the budget from the oil price, allowing the country to save money in a special account when oil prices were high.



"It was this buffer that ensured Nigeria's economy survived between 2008 and 2009," Mr Rewane told the BBC.

Ms Okonjo-Iweala had given up a well-paid job at the World Bank and left her family in Washington, where her husband works as a neurosurgeon, to work in Nigeria, where unlike other ministers she did not have a large domestic staff or fleet of cars.



In fact she even liked doing her own cooking when she could, with cowtail pepper soup being a favourite, a Financial Times interview revealed in 2015.



No-nonsense approach



But her reforms and especially her crackdown on corruption in the fuel sector, where some powerful importers - known as marketers - claimed huge sums of money in subsidies from the government for fuel they had not sold, came at personal cost.



Her mother, Kamene Okonjo - a medical doctor and retired professor of sociology - was kidnapped from her home in southern Nigeria in 2012, aged 82.



Kidnapping is common in Nigeria, where it is a lucrative criminal enterprise and families often pay up as the security services do not often find those abducted.



The then-finance minister said the kidnappers had first demanded her resignation and then a ransom.

Source: BBC









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An increase in online anti-Semitism has local Jewish leaders and federal officials concerned.

As I talk with people in Connecticut, in the Jewish and non-Jewish community, their concerns are heightened, Steve Ginsburg, the Anti-Defamation Leagues Connecticut regional coordinator said. As I talk to leaders of synagogues, they need resources for security. That's what they're talking about.

The increase in the visibility of online anti-Semitism in the last few years has been heightened by a politically charged environment and the emergence of smaller, more extreme social media platforms that have allowed it to flourish.

Though it has not yet translated into overt acts of violence, authorities in Connecticut and across the country say they are concerned that its just a matter of time.

Connecticut's entire delegation to Washington D.C., all seven senators and representatives, met last Sunday with representatives from the states Jewish organizations to discuss the rise in anti-Semitic rhetoric.

That all seven gathered together is a sign of how important this issue is, according to Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

It is very rare. In fact, we remarked about that fact, he said. Particularly on a Sunday afternoon for about an hour and a half. It reflects the urgency that we feel.

That urgency is being felt throughout Connecticuts Jewish community, according to Ginsburg.

Its not that anti-Semitism is anything new. This phenomenon has been around a long time, Blumenthal said. But advocates say open, unabashed anti-Semitism is more prevalent online and is creeping out of fringe groups into more mainstream communities.

It often takes the form of memes showing evil, large-nosed Jews wringing their hands in evil glee. Or accusations of Jewish control over government and Hollywood, or suggestions that Jews should be murdered by the millions in a Holocaust-like purge.

Its connected, according to Amy Iandiorio, in part to the spread of the QAnon conspiracy theory.

QAnon is a conspiracy theory that's been around for a couple years at this point, said Iandiorio. But in the past couple months, we've seen a serious surge of people who are adherents, or people who are promoting it, whether knowingly or unknowingly on social media, and there's some anti-Semitic elements of that conspiracy theory and they can spread like wildfire.

Iandiorio is an investigative researcher with ADLs Center on Extremism, so its her job to monitor extremist rhetoric. But the pitch has risen in recent months to the point where its visible to casual observers, even as its been relegated to off-brand social media platforms like Telegram and Gab.

The most widely used social media platforms, Twitter and Facebook, have attempted to purge themselves of accounts that espouse conspiracy theories since the riots and attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

But that, Iandiorio said, pushed users into a safe space where they could feel more free to speak their minds.

They're blaming the censorship directly on the Jewish population, which then fits very neatly into their packaged anti-Semitism that they're posting, Iandiorio said. So, to them, it just makes sense. If the Jews are going to kick me off, I'm going to go somewhere where I cannot be silenced. And I'm going to continue to spew my hate towards Jews.

Its not just people who believe the QAnon conspiracy. The thread for all types of white supremacist extremism is a sense of being victimized, Iandiorio said, and anti-Semitism provides a convenient victimizer.

On one hand, some anti-Semites and white supremacists depict Jewish people as cockroaches, very low, vile, awful. But then on the other side, you have other anti-Semites who claim that there is a Jewish cabal against everyone, that they manipulate other races, that the conflict between the Black community and white people is because Jews are manipulating Black people, or they own the media.

This, according to Iandiorio, acts as a recruiting tool.

There are so many different threads of anti-Semitism that for different organizations, or just people who might not be tied to an organization that are ideologically motivated, can kind of find that strain, she said. Which is the problem of a lot of conspiracy theories having anti-Semitic roots is that there's so many different paths that one could take.

Then theres Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green. Though she has since walked back her comments, a post emerged last week in which Green suggested that space lasers run by Jews were being used to start wildfires in California.

The fact that Green is now an elected member of Congress suggests that anti-Semitic conspiracy theories are being normalized.

We know that there are elements of her belief system that are rooted in extremism, conspiracy and anti-Semitism, Iandiorio said. When you see someone who's an elected official say such disturbing things so soon after we saw the insurrection at the capital that was motivated by the type of conspiracy and hate that certain people in the government are espousing is very concerning, because at that point you question, how deep does it go? What's the normalization of it? What's the further potential for danger when we already know that this is a conspiracy or an ideology that is dangerous, that has caused violence that does motivate people?

Blumenthal echoed that sentiment. It was particularly egregious, he said, when then-President Donald Trump said there were good people on both sides after a woman died during bigotry-fueled protests in Charlottesville, Va.

Its normalized by political leaders who fail to denounce it as they should, and regard it as free speech, he said. Theres no wishing these hate crimes away.

Blumenthal noted that on Jan. 6, as violent extremists stormed the U.S. Capitol and resulted in five deaths, anti-Semitism was on full display, including shirts emblazoned with Camp Auschwitz or the phrase 6 million was not enough.

I am hearing from the Department of Justice as well as state and local law enforcement about this rising monster that seems to be creeping into the dark crevasses of the internet but also right out in the open, he said. It is really, deeply horrifying to see this kind of spread in a country that rightly views itself as a bastion of religious freedom.

Horrifying, yes, but perhaps not surprising. Blumethals father came to the United States from Germany in 1935. He managed to bring some of his family members from Europe, but lost many of them in Nazi death camps.

I would sometimes say to him, It would never happen here, Blumenthal said of his father. He would always say, It can happen anywhere. This is the human condition.

There are some legislative solutions. Blumenthal has proposed the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act, which would establish grants within the Department of Justice for states to better address hate crimes.

There is a movement to reform section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to make it easier to sue social media platforms.

The rise in hate over the last several years isnt going away, said Jewish Federation Associates of Connecticut Executive Director Michael Bloom, who set up last weeks meeting with Connecticuts delegation. The Jewish community needs our elected leaders to address this head on.

But Blumenthal said that if anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry are more in the open, in both increased prevalence and over-expression, it means it is more difficult to ignore.

The military has awoken to the widespread presence of white supremacy and anti-Semitism and other hate speech and misconduct in its ranks, he said. Law enforcement has to retrain and continually train its officers to be sensitive to these issues.

That being said, Blumenthal was clear that there are no easy answers.

This stuff has been around for centuries, he said. Were not going to turn this around overnight.
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 6 : The Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) will be producing a movie starring 145 actors aimed at raising funds for the association.

This was announced by the megastar of South Indian cinema Mohanlal. The film will be produced by Ashirwad Films on behalf of AMMA.

It will be jointly directed by Priyadarshan and T.K. Rajeev Kumar, who is also writing the story and the script.

The AMMA provides pension to all the Malayalam movie actors and this is being done through the annual donations from its members as well as through the interest generated by the movie 20:20 which was earlier produced by the association starring Malayalam superstars and was a big hit.

Call it a clash, an altercation, a fracas or even a contretemps, if you want to get fancy. However you label the confrontation between Tanya Plibersek and Craig Kelly in the hallway of the Parliament House on Wednesday, it was significant for both the Coalition and Labor, for very different reasons.

The argument between the Labor frontbencher and Kelly, frequently called a maverick MP, was over Kellys pushing of incorrect claims about COVID-19 and treatments for it. Kellys idiosyncratic views, which he shares chiefly on his well-subscribed Facebook page, are counter to official government guidelines and contradict scientific consensus.

Craig Kelly and Tanya Plibersek argue in the hallway of Parliament House on Wednesday. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Until now, the government has only had a generic problem with Kelly. Every now and then, he pops his head up to freelance on subjects on which he is not qualified to offer expertise  the Azerbaijan election, wind farms, his assertion that coral islands float.

But now the government has a very specific problem with Kelly. He is undermining its public health message over the pandemic, which has been successful because it has been orderly, centrist and unified. Kelly is also a dangerous reminder to voters that the Coalition has often been at the mercy of its conservative right wing, which commands so much of the attention economy that its influence is outsized and unrepresentative.
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Hyde follows family tradition, takes home PIAA gold in shot put

"It's awesome," Hyde said. "It really feels like a tradition, now. It will be cool to see our names next to each other in the record books."
The families and survivors affected by the Ormeau Road atrocity of 1992 still live in the terraced streets that surround Sean Graham's bookies.

Every day they pass the scene where, less than one minute after two UDA gunmen entered the small building, five lay dead and seven critically injured.

James Kennedy (15), 18-year-old Peter Magee, Jack Duffin, Willie McManus and Christy Doherty were instantly killed. James Kennedy's mother died of a broken heart less than two years later. Of the seven injured, five have died prematurely directly as a result of the injuries sustained that day.

On the gable side of the bookmaker's is a well-preserved piece of granite remembering the dead. Inscribed in stone are the words of James Kennedy's father when his wife died: "Bullets do not only travel distance, but also through time". The smell of cordite has never left the nostrils of those who survived and those who mourn.

Every year families come together at that space to say a decade of the rosary, place flowers, talk of those who have passed away and notice how older members of the families are getting more frail.

This year the families had been planning online events to explain the impact of the protracted search for truth and justice.

They had been planning to explain the impact of the failure of the Police Ombudsman to publish the long-completed report on collusion in the attack.

They expect that report to deal with the two guns used in the attack, to address extensive evidence that state agents were involved, to examine why London Met Chief Constable John Stevens recommended the prosecution of RUC agent handlers connected to the attack. In February 1992 then Chief Constable Hugh Annesley said outside the scene of carnage: "This is murder madness, but it is not out of control." Despite their injury and loss families have courageously pursued these questions of RUC control in the public interest.

Today, instead of remembering in dignity they are dealing with renewed shock and trauma. How could the PSNI not recognise this was a small gathering of bereaved and injured?

Why did they not immediately withdraw as relatives became visibly distressed as they, uniformed police, interrupted their moments of reflection?

How could they not realise that arresting one of the injured, a man who still carries bullets in his body, would critically damage the fragile position of the PSNI in this small nationalist area?

Is the PSNI cognisant of the impact the disparity of cotton wool treatment for masked loyalists only streets away, compared to the heavy-handed attack on bereaved relatives has?

They were the first questions.

The second questions become more fundamental. What type of organisation is the PSNI that systemically withholds information from these bereaved and injured citizens or indeed from the oversight body of the Police Ombudsman, for decades?

Is the PSNI aware that with every passing day it loses any shred of confidence it had hope of building, because of legacy and this is now becoming an irreparable harm?

There will be an impact from these scenes on the Ormeau Road, the impact should be to hasten the publication of the Police Ombudsman's report and secure truth and justice for these repeatedly harmed citizens.

Right now, few have confidence of anything nearly so positive.

Andree Murphy is deputy director of Relatives for Justice and a political commentator
The Pennsylvania Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee expresses its full support to the over 25,000 Chicago educators fighting against the deadly drive to resume in-person instruction in Chicago Public Schools (CPS).

Your fight is our fight! You are taking a stand on behalf of educators everywhere. We may face a concerted campaign by the Biden administration and the corporate media to force us into unsafe buildings for in-person teaching, but the opposition within the working class is growing and become more politically conscious.

Chicago teachers confront the Democratic Party at the local, state and national leveljust as many Pennsylvania teachers do. Chicagos Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot insists that students must return to face-to-face classes, in keeping with Bidens pledge to reopen the majority of K-8 schools throughout the US by the end of April.

Despite the terrible toll among educators, children stricken with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and deaths throughout wider communities, school reopening is a central policy of the Democratic Party. Its purpose is to enable parents to put in more hours on the job in order to boost Wall Street profits.

In addition, teachers also confront the treachery of their own unions, which accept that schools should reopen and are negotiating to that end. The Chicago Teachers Union, (CTU) has been negotiating with CPS behind the backs of rank-and-file educators to cut a rotten deal which ensures that educators will be forced into unsafe classrooms. It is the same with the Pennsylvania State Educators Association (PSEA), the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) and other unions throughout Pennsylvania.

Our committee has seen this all first-hand and knows the treachery of the unions and the role of the Democrats.

On Monday, Pennsylvania school bus driver Lynn Himes, an employee of Student Transportation of America, died from COVID-19. At least 30 other bus drivers and aides in the Perkiomen Valley School District, near Philadelphia, have also tested positive for the deadly virus.

The response of the school district has been to end busingfor one week! The fact that countless others were exposed to the virus has not even prompted the district to fully shut its doors. The Pennsylvania Department of Health is not even making the pretense of enforcing their bogus guidelines for school closures.

A similar outbreak took place last week in Hatboro-Horsham, a suburban Philadelphia district, when 20 employees had to be quarantined after a documented COVID-19 transmission. Again the schools are being kept open, but all bus operations were temporarily shut down.

In fact, school bus drivers in the region report that they have been provided only minimal protection from the virus and were told to self-report if they are sick. Officials encourage them to simply wear a mask, keep their windows open and run a fan, totally unscientific measures that do not protect them. At least 81 bus drivers have been killed by COVID-19 across the US, but the figure is undoubtedly much higher as the numbers are not comprehensively tracked.

Pennsylvanias Democratic Governor Tom Wolf has been pushing for a return to classrooms since last summer. Last month, Wolf ordered that K-5 classes resume immediately, ignoring earlier recommendations made by the administration. By this time, most of Pennsylvanias patchwork of 500 separate school districts were already opened.

With Bidens inauguration, there is now a concerted push to resume in-person teaching in the largest districts in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and especially Philadelphia with its 200,000 students. Philadelphia schools have demanded some 2,000 educators who teach pre-kindergarten through second grade report to schools on Monday, February 8. Classrooms are set to reopen on February 22, with older grades being phased in thereafter.

For his part, PFT President Jerry Jordan, like the CTU leadership, is highly aware of the growing anger of teachers. He announced that a third-party expert on ventilation and airflow would inspect buildings this weekend, and on Friday encouraged teachers not to return to their classrooms. However, no preparations are being made for strike action or collective resistance, much less linking up the struggle of Philadelphia teachers with those in Chicago and nationally.

District Superintendent William Hite has dismissed Jordans professed concerns, stating adamantly, We dont have a thought of prolonging it [all virtual-learning] and were moving forward. On Friday, Chief Talent Officer Larisa Shambaugh threatened teachers in an email, writing, If you are expected to be in your building on Monday and choose not to do so, you will be subject to disciplinary action.

The struggle unfolding in Chicago must become the spearhead of a broader movement of the entire working class. We call for a nationwide political general strike to demand the end of face-to-face instruction and the shutdown of nonessential production. We also demand full income protection for all workers and families until the pandemic is ended.

There are powerful forces on the side of the teachers in the millions-strong working class, which is seeking to find a way to fight this pandemic and defend their living standards. This movement will only be successful if it is completely independent of both big business parties and the unions which they control.

The Pennsylvania Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, along with our sister committees throughout the US and internationally are spearheading this political struggle. We base ourselves on the power of the working class and on science. There is no safe return to school when the pandemic is totally out of control and has entered a new and deadlier phase.

On Thursday, the Philadelphia-based consumer advocacy group PennPIRG announced that Pennsylvania has earned an F for their COVID-19 testing efforts, needing to do 15 times as much testing as it is currently doing to help contain the virus.

Since the mass reopening of schools in September, the number of cases and deaths in the US has skyrocketed. In Pennsylvania, the case total has climbed from roughly 135,000 on September 1 to over 850,000 cases today. The number of those who have died from COVID-19 during the same period has shot up from 7,700 to nearly 22,000.

The campaign to reopen schools is all the more criminal now, under conditions where the more infectious UK and South African variants of COVID-19 are spreading largely undetected throughout the US.

The fight against the murderous back-to-school policy of the ruling class and the refusal to close nonessential businesses until the pandemic is brought under control pits teachers and all workers against the entire political and economic system. The pandemic has brought to the surface and exacerbated the enormous social chasm between the rich and the working class, which has been growing for decades.

There are no good reasons to force teachers, bus drivers and other educators to risk their lives and die while the rich continue to profit in the billions from this pandemic!

The network of Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committees of which we are a part is organized independently of the big business political parties and the pro-corporate unions. Our committees are discussing and preparing for a nationwide political general strike. Only the mobilization of the entire working classincluding workers in steel, auto, health care, retail, Amazon and other industriescan stop this pandemic. We urge educators everywhere to join our ranks and take up this fight in unity with educators in Chicago, throughout the US and globally!


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Highly contagious variants of COVID-19 are emerging from every corner of the globe. People can take steps to remain safe and prevent Manitoba from unleashing its own mutation of the novel coronavirus.

Highly contagious variants of COVID-19 are emerging from every corner of the globe. People can take steps to remain safe and prevent Manitoba from unleashing its own mutation of the novel coronavirus.

Here are answers to some questions asked by our readers:

1) Why didnt I hear about these variants last year?

Viruses infect cells, and use them to replicate more viral particles, which a human or animal can subsequently transmit to others. Errors can emerge in genetic codes during this copying process.

A virus such as influenza mutates enough that it requires a new flu shot every year.

The novel coronavirus is a lot more stable. In the first wave of COVID-19, small variations could indicate where cases came from. For example, the main strain in Italy was slightly different than the strain in Wuhan.

Every new host presents an opportunity for the coronavirus to mutate  and there have been a lot more hosts.

Some pathogens mutate more frequently in people who have weak immune responses. That's because the particles are under attack, but not enough to stop finding ways to replicate. Coronaviruses can jump between species such as humans, minks and bats, which might introduce more chances for mutation.

This is why most experts advise against trying to achieve herd immunity through widespread infections. Mutations create the possibility the virus will re-infect people who had been considered immune.

Since fall, there's been a huge rise in cases worldwide and there have been enough mutations that some have changed how the coronavirus spreads. Officials often call these ones "variations of concern."

CP Graphic shows a diagram of the COVID-19 virus

2) Why are these variants more contagious?

The three variants that have taken hold in Britain, South Africa and Brazil involve mutations to the part of the coronavirus that latches onto cells, known as a spike protein.

A COVID-19 vaccine, or prior infection, trains the body to detect the spike protein, and tackle it early on. But the immune response might take longer to recognize a spike protein with a different shape, at which point the virus could already be replicating inside the body.

The main approved vaccines still appear to be highly effective against emerging strains. Moderna is working on a booster shot in case people need a third shot to maintain immunity against new variants.

Mutations aren't necessarily more deadly; evolutionary biologists believe viruses tend to mutate toward a less deadly version, so that their hosts keep spreading the virus.

3) What are the main variants so far?

The B.1.1.7 variant, which has taken hold in the United Kingdom, appears to be 30 to 50 per cent more transmissible, with a spike protein that does a better job of binding to cells.

This so-called U.K. variant had shown up in 242 cases in Canada as of Friday.

The B.1.351 variant, which is the dominant version of the coronavirus in South Africa, seems to be the most troubling.

In laboratory tests, it appears to somewhat thwart both the immune system and vaccines, though research continues and the situation might not play out in real life.

In Canada, there were 13 documented cases of the variant associated with South Africa.

The B.1.1.28 variant, associated with Brazil, hasn't been detected in Canada yet.

The Brazilian city of Manaus had so many COVID-19 infections during the first wave that officials presumed the region had herd immunity, until a new variant emerged that appears to have reinfected many people who caught COVID-19 in the first round.

CP Travellers have been spreading a variant first discovered in the U.K. British officials say everyone arriving in the country from coronavirus hotspots will have to spend 10 days in hotel quarantine starting Feb. 15 in a bid to stop new variants of the virus reaching the country. (Kirsty Wigglesworth / The Associated Press)

4) Are there any variants in Manitoba?

None has been confirmed to date.

The current practice in Manitoba is to sequence the genome of about five per cent of positive COVID-19 samples.

That translated to 1,434 samples from March 2020 to mid-January of this year, though only 1,169 were of a sufficient quality to be analyzed.

Sequencing involves breaking down a sample into tens of thousands of pieces and then analyzing various parts, which takes about two weeks.

5) Why doesn't Manitoba check all COVID-19 samples for variants?

Sequencing is a surveillance tool used by researchers to get a sense of what strains of viruses, such as the flu, are circulating.

That's unlike diagnostic tools, which indicate when someone is infected. Those are in such high demand that companies have developed numerous tests with a range of speed and caseload capacity.

Sequencing requires training, immense computing power and about two weeks to get a single result, which can cost hundreds of dollars.

A Health Department spokeswoman said the five per cent of positive COVID-19 tests that Manitoba performs in just one week "is approximately equivalent to the entire output of (data processing at Cadham Provincial Lab) in a year."

Manitobas output is on par with other provinces, though Ontario and Quebec have plans to double their sequencing.

In addition, provinces such as Alberta do batch-testing through less specific, diagnostic methods. That means checking hundreds of samples within hours for any mutant strain that could alter the spike protein  instead of the weeks it takes to do sequencing and determine which specific variant is involved.

CP French police officers check cars at the French Belgium border in Neuville en Ferrain, northern France, on Feb. 1 to stop the growing spread of new variants of the virus and avoid a third lockdown. All those arriving from other EU countries will be required to produce a negative virus test. (Michel Spingler / The Associated Press files)

6) What do I need to do?

Be more vigilant. After almost a year into this pandemic, everyone is tired. Officials say the fundamentals  keeping distance, washing hands, and wearing masks  are the best defence.

Public Health Ontario has suggested a looser criterion for deeming someone a contact of a COVID-19 case, which is currently restricted to people who interact for 15 minutes. It believes anyone without a medical grade mask and eye protection could be at risk of catching the virus, even in a shorter interaction.

Manitoba and federal officials have resisted changing their guidance.

"With a more transmissible virus, people do have to pay much more attention and be adhering to the tried-and-true public health measures," Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, said Friday.

"If youre in an area where there could be community transmission with a variant, the bottom line is you need to stick to the fewest interactions, with the fewest people, for the shortest time, at the greatest distance possible."

Following those rules will help keep you safe  and lowers the chance of creating a Winnipeg variant.

Politicians and health officials are grappling with how to peel back restrictions, which successfully tamped down cases that stemmed from Christmas gatherings. Keeping restrictions in place wears down the public, but loosening them could help a more contagious variant outcompete the main strains that are circulating in Canada.

7) What about double-masking?

Canadas current guidance is to try to use three-layer masks, ideally with a material called polypropylene. Originally, a single-layer mask was fine, but no longer appears sufficiently effective.

Germany recently mandated the use of masks with better protection, such as KN95 masks, in all public buildings, to prevent these highly contagious strains from taking hold.

While some people wear two masks, it doesn't appear to be official advice in most countries. Some infectious-disease experts have suggested wearing a cloth mask on top of a surgical mask to create more layers to trap virus particles.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, who helps co-ordinate the U.S. response to COVID-19, said he often double-masks. "It just makes common sense that it likely would be more effective," he said last week.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
CLIFTON PARK - Saratoga County deputies on Thursday arrested a 29-year-old Maine man after he was allegedly seen walking around the La Quinta Inn hotel with a firearm. Police said they found he actually had several weapons in his possession.



Michael J. McLaughlin, of West Enfield, was arrested and arraigned in Malta Town Court and sent to the Saratoga County Correctional Facility on $20,000 cash bail, investigators said.

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A nurse takes blood pressure readings from an old man in Ha Tinh Province as part of a charity drive to diagnose diseases and provide medicine for the poor March 12, 2016. Photo by VnExpress/Duc Hung.

Vietnam has made considerable progress in providing universal healthcare by focusing on the poor and vulnerable, according to U.S. think tank Brookings Institution.

In an article on its website Wednesday, a group of researchers from Duke University in the U.S., Duke Kunshan University in China and the Health Strategy and Policy Institute in Vietnam said Vietnam has made sizable gains towards providing equitable, universal healthcare by focusing on the most disadvantaged when growing its health insurance scheme.

Citing their own study published on BioMed Central, a U.K.-based open access scientific journal, last November, the researchers said Vietnam incrementally increased enrollment in compulsory health insurance, and provides comprehensive and universal service packages for all of them with priority given to poor and vulnerable populations.

Such an approach means the most vulnerable populations are stabilized first while the uninsured are assumed to already have some form of financial capacity, making the approach much more equitable for all, they added.

As a result, the country has reduced catastrophic health expenditure, defined as when health spending exceeds 40 percent of non-subsistence spending for a household, and the gap between urban and rural populations, the study said.

The study, which collected data through interviews with policy makers, bureaucrats and health insurance scholars and statistics from national reports between June 2017 and January 2018, also said Vietnam's health service delivery, while it includes both public and private systems, mainly relies on a vast network of public healthcare providers from the commune to central levels to deliver health services to everyone but especially those with insurance.

The country is among the highest scorers in essential health services coverage in WHO's Universal Health Coverage Index, the study said.

But a significant increase in health expenditure driven by a rapidly aging population and an increased burden of noncommunicable diseases poses a challenge.

The country also needs to ensure the sustainability of health insurance schemes and design an effective cross-subsidization mechanism, according to the study.

To tackle some of these problems, Vietnam has been working to increase coverage, thereby increasing the financial pooled funding and hopefully decreasing the governments total health expenditure, it said.


At a Zoom update of Greystones Municipal District held last week, Cllr Tom Fortune requested that all members agree to a suspension of standing orders to discuss reports that Glenveagh is selling 100 apartments at the harbour to a German fund.

It is understood that the apartments are being sold by the developer to investor Realis for a reported 60 million.

Cllr Fortune said during the online update meeting that the council has made a massive land investment of 33 acres of land.

He wondered if the selling was allowed for in the public private partnership and what meetings, if any, would take place regarding the matter.

'What is the gain for the people of County Wicklow and in particular in the Greystones District area with such a sale? If there is no gain, why not?

'This project did not provide for social and affordable housing which is totally unfair, so has this enabled it to be a project for speculation?'

He sought an overview of the contract between the council and developers.

'Surely at this stage it's no longer commercially sensitive as we've been told for years,' said Cllr Fortune.

Officials said that in 2007, Wicklow County Council had entered into a public private partnership and concession agreement with SISPAR, as the developer, to build a harbour, marina and public amenities in Greystones in return for the commercial and residential development of the adjoining lands.

They said that under the terms of the agreement, the council is obliged to transfer the residential portion of the development to the developer.

In 2017, the agreement was restructured to allow for the Glenveagh interest. The council is obliged to transfer the title to the lands, members heard, and the developer is entitled to sell residential and commercial units in the development to any party it nominates.

'Wicklow County Council's consent is not required for the sale of the development units,' members heard.

'It is the plan from 15 years ago that these were to be built and sold to pay for the social infrastructure which has been built,' said Cathaoirleach of Greystones Municipal District Derek Mitchell.

He said that the apartments have been rented out for around six months.

Cllr Mitchell spoke about the benefits to the community arising from the PPN.

'90m has been spent on excellent promenades, substantial north and south breakwaters, a 200 berth marina, two public slipways, club facilities for sea scouts, rowers, divers, sailors and anglers,' said Cllr Mitchell. 'The excellent new square, boardwalk and park form a fitting entry to Greystones from the very popular Cliff Walk from Bray,' he said. 'There were no Government or Council funds for this so all the cost had to be raised from the properties,' he said.

'Interestingly, Bray's Victorian promenade was funded also by property development when Dargan built the railway, houses and promenade over a century ago, turning the town into a major tourist destination.' Cllr Fortune said that he and Cllr Mitchell will probably never agree on the subject at hand.

Reply to debate on Presidents speech: PM Modi may speak only in Rajya Sabha

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 06: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to reply to the debate on the President's speech only in the Rajya Sabha.

While Prime Ministers have not taken part in the debate on the President's address in the Lower House twice-1999 and 2009, they did not speak in the Rajya Sabha either. In 1999, deputy PM, L K Advani had replied to the motion of thanks on the President's speech in the Lok Sabha, while Jaswant Singh had addressed the Rajya Sabha.

Tomar has given detailed info on every aspect of farm laws in Rajya Sabha: PM Modi

In 2009, Union minister Pranab Mukherjee had replied in both houses. A Hindustan Times report says that there were four instances when the PM did not address the Upper House, but spoke only in the Lok Sabha.

Delhi metro stations to avoid amid farmers Chakka jam | Oneindia News

PM Modi was to address the Lok Sabha on Friday, but the disruptions washed out three days of proceedings. The PM is now scheduled to speak in the Rajya Sabha on Monday at 10.30 am. If he does, then it would be uncharted territory in India's parliamentary history. In case, he does not speak, then Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh is likely to address the Upper House, the HT report also said.

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Story first published: Saturday, February 6, 2021, 8:06 [IST]

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A medical marijuana bill made it out of committee this week and could go to the Alabama Senate floor for a vote in the next few weeks.

Sen. Tim Melson introduced the bill and said he feels confident in the bill this year and said he has more support than in years past.

"I have a lot more support in the House than I realized. I've had members come up and say 'hey, I've read your bill. You've got good control.' It's a solid bill, and I think people will be surprised [by] some of the individuals who actually go for it," said Melson.

Melson's medical marijuana bill covers everything from an oversight committee, growing registry, how patients can get it and what criteria they have to meet to get it.

"The evidence is very, very convincing. It's not the first tool out of the toolbox and it's not a beat all, cure all, but it is an option for those who have tried other medical options without success and gives them hope," said Melson.

Melson himself wasn't a supporter of medical marijuana until he started doing his own research and talking with patients about it. He also spoke with lawmakers in other states who have similar laws.

"If nothing else is working, why not let them try it? It's been around thousands and thousands of years," said Melson.

Last year, the bill was stopped in its tracks by the coronavirus pandemic, but Melson said this bill is a priority.

"I'm confident that we are going to get it out of the Senate. The pandemic could raise its head again, but I'm feeling pretty comfortable. I think the body is more comfortable. I think I've gained at least two or three more votes in the Senate than last year," said Melson.

Some of Melson's biggest opposition to his bill comes from Attorney General Steve Marshall. Melson said he understands Marshall's stance, but for anyone who is against it to come talk to him and hear why this could benefit so many Alabamians.
Dont expect to do any outdoor grilling on Super Bowl Sunday. The National Weather Service is predicting as much as nine inches of snow in some parts of the state.

Snow is expected to start after 9 a.m. Sunday, with slightly heavier accumulations along the shoreline.

Throughout the state, residents can expect to clean seven inches of snow off of cars and driveways, with a bit more forecast for the southwest portion of Connecticut.

The storm is expected to make its way north along the coastline starting in the morning hours. The snow could make travel difficult, the National Weather Service warns, and scattered power outages could occur, mostly along the southwestern coast.

Lower portions of Fairfield County along the coast are on a winter storm warning along with New Haven, Middlesex and all of the states eastern counties.

The period of heaviest snowfall is expected to be around noon.

Snowfall rates may exceed 2 inches per hour for a period during the late morning and early afternoon, according to a winter storm watch issued by the National Weather Service.

On Saturday morning, local municipalities began to plan.

Yale New Haven Health announced it would close its mass vaccination sites at noon Sunday, as well as all its COVID-19 test sites. Those with appointments affected by the closures will be notified and reschuduled for earlier in the day Sunday, or for a time next week, the health care provider said.

Stamford Mayor David Martin declared a snow emergency, urging residents to take care. These storm conditions can potentially cause downed trees or power lines, Martins release said.

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker announced a citywide parking ban Saturday night through Monday afternoon. The move bans street parking downtown, along snow emergency routes, and on the odd-numbered side of the street in residential areas. School parking lots have been opened for additional parking, and three garages are offering reduced rates for day parking, the mayor said.

Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim also declared an emergency, in effect as of 4 p.m. Saturday. As forecasted by the National Weather Service, the city expects to see snowfall begin around 6 a.m. Sunday morning Feb. 7 until 6 p.m. in the evening, a release said.

Danbury Mayor Joe Cavo declared a snow emergency beginning at 7 a.m. Sunday, meaning residents will have to move their cars off the street by 9 a.m. The Patriot Garage will be open until 11 p.m. Saturday night and reopen at 7:30 a.m., with free parking throughout the storm.

Precipitation is expected to taper off after sundown on Sunday, and temperatures arent expected to exceed 20 degrees throughout the storm.

And though its a bit far in advance, theres a possibility of more precipitation on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Staff Writer Peter Yankowski contributed to this report.
BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- China welcomes the extension of the New START nuclear-arms control treaty for five years, as agreed by the United States and Russia, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Friday.

"It is conducive to upholding global strategic stability and promoting international peace and security, and meets the aspirations of the international community," spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press briefing.

The treaty was set to expire on Feb. 5. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Wednesday that the U.S. had decided to extend it. On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law extending the treaty for five years.

The United States and Russia are the two countries with the largest nuclear arsenals, possessing more than 90 percent of nuclear weapons in the world.

"The two sides should follow the international consensus, fulfill their special and primary responsibilities on nuclear disarmament, and further drastically and substantively reduce their nuclear stockpile in a verifiable, irreversible and legally-binding manner, so as to create the conditions for realizing general and complete nuclear disarmament," Wang said.

The spokesperson also resolutely rebuked Blinken's groundless accusation of the "dangers from China's modern and growing nuclear arsenal," saying the number of nuclear weapons in China's arsenal is not in the same order as the United States and Russia.

"China firmly upholds a nuclear strategy that is defensive in nature and always keeps nuclear strength at the lowest level required for the maintenance of national security," Wang said.

China is also committed to not using nuclear weapons first at any time or under any circumstances, and pledges unconditionally not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states or nuclear-weapon-free zones.

As the only nuclear-weapon state that has made the above commitments, China has contributed greatly to the international nuclear-disarmament process, he noted.

China will continue to participate in discussions on issues related to strategic stability within such frameworks as the cooperation mechanism of the five nuclear-weapon states, the Conference on Disarmament and the UNGA First Committee, and is willing to maintain communication with all parties on issues relating to nuclear-arms control through bilateral channels, he said.
The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals has denied appeals from two men convicted in unrelated capital murder cases in Huntsville and Mobile.

The Court upheld the convictions of Stephen Marc Stone, a Huntsville man who killed his wife and son, and Steven OBrien Mason, a Mobile nurse who was found guilty of hiring a patient to kill his girlfriend.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall on Friday announced the decisions, which the Court handed down late last month.

Stephen Marc Stone was convicted of two counts of capital murder on Feb. 5, 2019 at the Madison County Courthouse in Huntsville, Ala. He was convicted in the February 2013 slayings of his wife, Krista, and young son, Zachary.

In the Huntsville case, Stone was convicted in the 2013 slayings of his wife, Krista, and 7-year-old son, Zachary. In 2019, Stone was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The jury that convicted him of capital murder recommended the life sentence. Stone asked Madison County Circuit Judge Donna Pate to order that he be executed, but she declined and upheld the jurys recommendation.

On appeal, Stones lawyers argued that his conviction should be overturned. They said that the evidence in the case supported his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Stones lawyers also argued that the trial judge should not have allowed as evidence gruesome autopsy photos, a recording of a phone call Stone made from jail nor Krista Stones notebooks and journals. The appeal alleged misconduct by Madison County prosecutors during closing arguments and argued some jurors should have been removed from the case.

The appeals court rejected those arguments and upheld Stones conviction.

The killings happened at the Stone family home on Chicamauga Trail in southeast Huntsville. Prosecutors said Stone strangled his wife then strangled and drowned their son.

9 Stephen Marc Stone death penalty case

Stone suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and his trial was delayed until six years after the killings  in part because of questions about his mental capacity.

About four years after the killings, Judge Pate ruled Stone was not competent to stand trial and ordered he be treated at the Alabama Department of Mental Health.

Mobile conviction

The Court of Criminal Appeals also upheld a capital murder conviction in the case of Mason, a Mobile nurse who hired a patient to kill his girlfriend for $2,700.

KeLei Morris was found shot to death at Arlington Place Apartments in Mobile in 2015. She and Mason both worked at Mobile Infirmary hospital. The patient, Adam Miller, testified against Mason at trial, and was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for the murder.

Ke'Lei Morris was shot and killed in Mobile, Ala. in 2015.File photo

Mason was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2019.

On appeal, Masons attorneys argued his conviction should be overturned for several reasons, including: Mobile County prosecutors used their strikes to remove black people from the jury, a witness should not have been allowed to testify about prior bad acts Mason was accused of, and the jury should have been told to consider whether Morris death was caused accidentally.

The court rejected those arguments and upheld his conviction.
Police and politicians have called for calm following the controversial arrest of a Troubles survivor at a memorial event.

Mark Sykes, who was shot multiple times in the loyalist massacre at a betting shop in Belfast in 1992, was later released after Fridays incident on the citys Ormeau Road.

Angry exchanges unfolded at the wreath laying anniversary event for the five people killed in the Sean Graham bookmakers attack when police intervened amid suspicions the gathering breached lockdown rules.

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Mr Sykes has condemned his arrest.

The only thing I had in my hands was flowers that my three-year-old granddaughter had lain at her uncles memorial, he said in a statement released by campaign group Relatives for Justice.

Five people, including a 15-year-old boy, were murdered and several others injured in February 1992 when Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) opened fire at the bookies.

Footage of angry exchanges involving officers and those attending Fridays event have been posted online.

Police said officers took action after witnessing a crowd of between 30 to 40 attending an event.

Public gatherings of more than six people are currently prevented under Covid-19 lockdown regulations in Northern Ireland.

Northern Irelands Police Ombudsman has launched an investigation into how the police operation was handled.

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Separately, the Ombudsman continues to face demands from bereaved relatives to publish a delayed investigation report into the 1992 murders, amid allegations of state collusion.

PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne appealed for calm following Fridays incident.

Mr Byrne said: I fully recognise the sensitivities of this incident and just how difficult a day this would have already been for the families who lost loved ones in the atrocity.

That should not be forgotten.

We are acutely aware that this is the latest incident to raise concerns about the enforcement of coronavirus regulations and illustrates there are no easy answers, he added.

His comments were echoed by Justice Minister Naomi Long.

She said it was always going to be a painful and difficult day for the survivors and the families of those murdered at Sean Grahams bookmakers.

Mrs Long said funerals and memorials were particularly sensitive when it comes to enforcement of the coronavirus regulations, and she appealed for everyone to work together to get through these challenges during the pandemic.

We now need calm and cool heads to prevail, she said.

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Mr Sykes contrasted the scenes on the Ormeau Road with the lack of arrests made by the police earlier in the week when a gang of masked men gathered in Pitt Park in east Belfast in an apparent loyalist paramilitary show of strength.

The attack survivor also made reference to a controversy six years ago when it emerged the PSNI had loaned a rifle used in the Sean Graham attack to the Imperial War Museum.

When I asked police what they were doing and had they notebooks out at Pitt Park, I was told if I swore again I would be arrested, he said.

I said this is a f***ing disgrace as I walked away. The police then grabbed me and handcuffed me.

The cuffs were as tight as possible, behind my back. The handcuffs were dug in tightly to the bullet wounds I suffered 29 years ago to the day. On top of the insult of donating the weapon (used) to shoot me to a museum they have today literally rubbed the steel of their handcuffs as salt in my physical wounds.

Mr Byrne said officers came across a group of between 30 and 40 people at the event on Friday and as it concluded, two officers approached a person to talk to him about a breach of the Health Protection Regulations.

The situation quickly escalated and a man was arrested for disorderly behaviour and resisting arrest, he said.

Mr Byrne said in the course of the incident a police officer sustained a minor injury to his face.

Sinn Fein deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill has described the PSNIs response to the arrest of a Troubles victim at a anniversary event as inadequate and insulting.

This standard of policing is unacceptable and I have requested an urgent meeting with the Chief Constable, she said.
An Australian stripper has revealed how she manipulated clients into giving her their hard-earned cash by transforming into their dream girl in front of their eyes.

After 15 years of dancing Samantha C Ross, known as Sunshine on the stage, had her fair share of tricks - and would take home $3,000 each week for her efforts.

The 49-year-old from Queensland made up to $5,000 some weeks, especially if there were US sailors in town, and managed to travel the world, buy a house and apartment and guarantee herself lifelong financial security with the job.

Australian stripper Sunshine (pictured) has revealed how she used to manipulate her most misogynist clients into giving her their hard earned cash

Samantha Ross, known as Sunshine on the stage, had her fair share of tricks - and would take home $3000 each week for her efforts

The now 49-year-old has revealed what life is really like as a stripper - and why she is never going to apologise for her career choice

'The best night I ever had I took home $2,500 - I don't know why I was so popular that night - but put it down to skill and luck,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

She said as a seasoned stripper you learn to know when a customer wants you to be a dumb girl or needs a little more intellectual conversation between dances.

And reading the room makes the difference between leaving with a few hundred dollars, or a thousand at the end of the night.

'One man got up to walk away from me one day and told me he was sorry, that I was lovely to talk to, but he wanted someone a little bit dumber.'

She learned to use men like this to her advantage.

'The dominant demographic was chauvinism  it would have been stupid not to recognise this and use it to our advantage  while dumbing it down and looking stupid I was turning women objectification into the manipulation of these men's wallets.'

Samantha married Adam, now 45, after meeting through his housemates who were strippers

She said she was able to maintain normal relationships as a stripper - and left before she started to hate men

Sunshine got into dancing after university - she was working as a marketing manager but was sick of heading to an office every day - and hated waking up early when it was cold outside.

'I took one look at these exotic dancers and said yes that's for me - it all looked so glamorous and appealing.'

And of course she looks back at the glamour and the amazing pay days fondly - and has even kept some of her most prized outfits - but there were also bad days.

Days when even behind the iron-clad exterior she had developed over years of dancing the misogynistic assaults from men were too much.

Sunshine danced for 15 years and earned enough money to see the world, buy a house and apartment and find life-long financial security

'Every stripper develops their own stripper persona to protect themselves from degradation and misogyny,' she said.

'To protect themselves from the men who come in just to put you down and tell you how low you are, but every now and then something new or particularly awful will break through.'

Sometimes there were slow days where girls ended up owing the club money because there were no customers and they still had to play for the place there.

'You get so addicted to the money - but you have to take note and leave before you sell your soul,' she said.

'I worked with some girls who were so miserable and had to force themselves to do it every night.'

WHAT ARE THE FIVE BEST AND WORST THINGS ABOUT BEING A STRIPPER? BEST The money The sisterhood Seeing the worst of human nature and learning what not to be Living the life less ordinary Learning your strengths and how to be unapologetic about yourself WORST The misogyny Frenemies - the women who would pretend to be nice but were really awful Men that haven't heard of feminism The way men can degrade you Immediate public judgement Advertisement

She said there was a fine line between being 'over it' and 'hating men' and said the job can ruin relationships.

'People are confused between strippers and sex workers. I have never met a stripper who doubles,' she said.

Samantha met Adam, the love of her life through work stripper friends, and continued her job on stage for eight years after they were married.

He lived with dancers and realised it was a normal job - which helped their relationship from the outset.

'I had a normal relationship because it was just a job, I went to work, and I came home to my partner.

'People are confused between strippers and sex workers. I have never met a stripper who doubles,' she said

'Every stripper develops their own stripper persona to protect themselves from degradation and misogyny,' she said

'And that was pretty normal - as a rule strippers don't date people who go to strip clubs,' she said.

Now she looks back at her time as a lap dancer with fondness, not regret like many people who come out of the industry appear to.

'I have never met a repentant stripper - they are fierce so it really pi**ed me off to read all of the memoirs which had an air of repent to them,' she said.

Which is why she says she wrote her book in a 'totally unapologetic way'.

Samantha looks fondly back on the 'sisterhood of the strip club' and says some of the best memories she has from the time she spent working on stage happened after work.

When she would go for coffee with the girls when the sun came up - and 'talk about all the things you can't with other women'.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-05 17:57:26|Editor: huaxia

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U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., the United States, Feb. 4, 2021. The Democrats-led U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday evening to remove Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene from two House committees over her embrace of QAnon conspiracy theories and political violence. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Democrats-led U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday evening to remove Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene from two House committees over her embrace of QAnon conspiracy theories and political violence.

The 230-199 voting was largely along party lines, with 11 House Republicans joining all their Democratic colleagues to cast the "yea" vote to oust Greene from the Budget Committee and the Education and Labor Committee, a move seen by local media as unprecedented in congressional history.

The move came one day after House Republicans refused to take punitive action against the 46-year-old congresswoman over her repeated spreading of conspiracy theories and implying support for killing prominent Democrat officials before she ran for office.

"I remain profoundly concerned about House Republicans' leadership acceptance of extreme conspiracy theorists," Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at her weekly news conference.

"Particularly disturbing is their eagerness to reward a QAnon adherent, a 9/11 truther, a harasser of child survivors of school shootings," she said.

Greene, who was sworn in last month, took to the house floor to defend herself ahead of the vote, saying she had been "allowed to believe things that weren't true" and now she regrets her past remarks.

She did not make direct apology for her social media posts that recently triggered fierce widespread backlash after resurfacing.

Greene said she now believes that 9/11 attacks and deadly school shootings in the U.S. were real, walking back on her social media posts suggesting that the tragedies might have been staged.

Social media records show that Greene had also backed QAnon conspiracy theories such as a Democratic-run pedophile ring.

The congresswoman claimed that she "stumbled across" QAnon in late 2017 and began posting about it on Facebook throughout 2018 since she was "upset about things" happening in the U.S. and did not trust the government.

Greene, who wore a mask printed with "FREE SPEECH" on House floor, remained defiant on social media. She tweeted on Thursday that "It's not just me they want to cancel. They want to cancel every Republican. Don't let the mob win."

She liked a Facebook comment in 2019 that said "a bullet to the head would be quicker" to remove Pelosi. She also once suggested in an online video that Pelosi could be executed for treason.

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said in a statement released Wednesday that Greene's past comments "do not represent the values or beliefs of the House Republican Conference. I condemn those comments unequivocally."

However, McCarthy accused Democrats of "choosing to raise the temperature by taking the unprecedented step to further their partisan power grab regarding the committee assignments of the other party."

Without naming the congresswoman, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday slammed Greene for her embrace of "loony lies and conspiracy theories" as a "cancer for the Republican Party."

A Border Patrol vehicle is parked next to a section of the U.S.-Mexico border fence as it ends at El Nido de las Aguilas, eastern Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico, on March 26, 2019. (Guillermo Arias/AFP via Getty Images)

Bidens Border Approach Worsening Situation in Arizona County: Chief Deputy

The situation on the United States southern border is worsening, according to the chief deputy in Pinal County, Arizona.

Chief Deputy Matthew Thomas told Townhall about what has been going on lately at the section of the border in his area, particularly in relation to the change of administration and its policies.

Thomas showed reporters recent footprints of people who had illegally crossed the border into the United States. He said that they might have missed them by only a few hours.

Pinal County is about a 90-minute drive away from Mexico. Thomas said that the crisis at the border had begun to re-emerge at around the end of 2020 because the human and drug trafficking cartels expected President Joe Biden to have a hands-off attitude with regard to the border situation.

When [Trump] took office, we saw that this area out here went completely dead. Nobody was moving, nobody was smuggling because [the cartels] knew that Trump was going to put all hands on deck out down here and that they would be intercepted so it came to a screeching halt, Thomas said.

It was a very slow trickle to get back to some kind of normal but it never got back to where it was, Thomas added.

Thomas said that since Biden has ordered to halt the construction of the southern border wall, it has created more trouble for Pinal County since it doesnt have physical barriers, promoting the criminals to funnel through, reaching the highway and then transporting drugs or bodies throughout the country.

A map showing the Pinal County boundary, the U.S.Mexico border, and the major highways in central-south Arizona. (The Epoch Times)

He added that once the people or drugs are smuggled in, they can go anywhere inside the United States, sometimes as far as Canada.

For us, effectively, I-8  becomes the new border and even the cartels will tell you thats their goal line because once they get there, theyre shooting west or theyre shooting east and then theyre on a main interstate right into downtown Phoenix  we become the kickoff point for that, the Sheriff said.

These people and these drugs are not coming here to Pinal County to stay. This is a transport location. This is a spot they get through to get to their final destination and theyre being sent all over the country.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - The state of Indiana reached historically high levels of unemployment at the beginning of the pandemic. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Indianas numbers reached as high as 17.5% back in April. Now, the state is back to around 4%, nearing pre-pandemic numbers.

This is a result of a combination of many things including economic and resiliency efforts. Gerry Dick of Inside Indiana Business told me that one of the main reasons Indiana's unemployment levels recovered so quickly is a result of the state's economic reopening plan. Many other states nationwide had much longer and more intense shutdowns than Indiana.

As Indiana began to reopen, more employment opportunities came that other states were not as fortunate to see. Additionally, he attributes this to workers and the way they could adjust their business efforts, during a pandemic.

"It is really a tribute, a testament to the tenacity, the entrepreneurship of these business owners who have been able to change their business models to move and shift the way they do things, Dick said.

Unemployment levels are continuing to fall nationwide. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nations unemployment rate fell to 6.3%. That is 8.5% lower than at the height of the pandemic.

However, the US is still down nearly 10 million jobs since before the pandemic. Many US citizens are still feeling the effects of unemployment. One local man says he has had trouble receiving his unemployment check.

John Dixon from Shoals Indiana is going on week six of waiting for his unemployment check. Dixon is a construction worker so he is used to being laid off in the winter months. But this is the first time he has had problems receiving his unemployment check.

Dixon says he made an error on his form when he filed for unemployment, but he believes this mistake should not result in six weeks of waiting. News 10 reached out to Indianas Department of Workforce Development (DWD). They told a reporter that, "even during the pandemic, 80-85% of unemployment claims are paid within 21 days."

Some cases need further investigation. The DWD says this is because fraud has become a huge problem recently. Dixon, like many others, understands the DWD is swamped with filings but many people do not have the luxury of time.

Fortunately, I was lucky enough to have money saved back but you think of the people who live paycheck to paycheck and they are expecting that unemployment (check) to help them through the hard times, Dixon said.

If you are experiencing problems receiving your unemployment checks, you can call 1-800-891-6499 to speak to a representative. You can also visit their website at www.in.gov/dwd.
Veteran Canadian actor Christopher Plummer, best known for The Sound of Music, has died aged 91.

He died on Friday morning (local time) at his home in Connecticut with his wife, Elaine Taylor, by his side.

Over more than 50 years in the industry, Plummer enjoyed varied roles including Captain von Trapp in the film The Sound of Music. He played the Austrian captain who must flee the country with his folk-singing family to escape service in the Nazi navy, a role he lamented was humourless and one-dimensional.

We tried so hard to put humour into it, he said in 2007. It was almost impossible. It was just agony to try to make that guy not a cardboard figure.

The role catapulted Plummer to stardom, but he never took to leading men parts. However he had a remarkable film renaissance late in life, which began with The Insider in 1999. At 82 he became the oldest Academy Award acting winner in history for Beginners.

Amongst his many movies were A Beautiful Mind, The Last Station, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Knives Out, Pink Panther, Dracula 2000, Barrymore, Priest, The Tempest, The Lake House, Heidi.

In 2017 he replaced Kevin Spacey as J. Paul Getty in All the Money in the World just six weeks before the film was set to open, landing him his third Oscar nomination.

TV roles led to two Emmys, with credits including Departure, The Thorn Birds, Crossings, Jesus of Nazareth , The Summit, Our Fathers, Agent of Influence, Nuremberg, On Golden Pond, Madeline, The New Adventures of Madeline, We the Jury, Counterstrike, Berlin Lady, The Cosby Show.

There were also numerous stage performances, and two Tony Awards.

He was given Canadas highest civilian honour when he was invested as Companion of the Order of Canada by Queen Elizabeth II in 1968, and was inducted into the American Theatres Hall of Fame in 1986.

Source: Nine News

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Democrats Seek to Make Big Tech More Accountable in Section 230 Reform Bill

Democrat lawmakers have introduced a bill to reform Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, seeking to make big tech companies more accountable and force them to police their content more stringently.

Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on Feb. 5 introduced the Safeguarding Against Fraud, Exploitation, Threats, Extremism and Consumer Harms (SAFE TECH) Act to reform Section 230 and allow social media companies to be held accountable for enabling cyber-stalking, targeted harassment, and discrimination on their platforms.

The Democrats proposal creates a series of carve-outs to Section 230 protections, including by making the liability shield inapplicable to ads or other paid content, to instances where content and services delivered via the platforms are discriminatory, likely to cause irreparable harm, may have directly contributed to a loss of life, or where they directly enable harmful activity.

Warner said in a statement that Section 230 has provided a Get Out of Jail Free card to the largest platform companies even as their sites are used by scam artists, harassers, and violent extremists to cause damage and injury.

Section 230, which was passed in 1996 to help online platforms develop without fear of litigation over user-generated content, shields them from liability for content posted by users while giving them the leeway to moderate it if they consider it harmful by, in turn, protecting them from lawsuits over moderation.

The law has come under fire from both sides of the aisle, with Democrats generally calling for tighter policing of content, seeking to curb hate speech, harassment, and calls for violence, while Republicans and conservatives more broadly have taken aim at the liability shields for enabling what they say is the suppression of conservative voices and stifling of free speech.

At a recent hearing on domestic terrorism, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) warned tech companies to police content more tightly or face more stringent government intervention.

Its obvious that [Section] 230 well look at, Thompson said. If the companies dont assume the interest in policing their own platforms, then you leave government no choice.

Twitter and Facebooks decision to ban former President Donald Trump from their platforms in the final days of his presidency following the Jan. 6 Capitol breach drew Republican criticism for discrimination and suppression of online speech.

Days after Trump was banned from the platforms, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he was more determined to rollback liability protections for big tech companies.

Twitter may ban me for this but I willingly accept that fate: Your decision to permanently ban President Trump is a serious mistake, Graham said in a series of posts on Twitter. The Ayatollah can tweet, but Trump cant. Says a lot about the people who run Twitter.

Im more determined than ever to strip Section 230 protections from Big Tech (Twitter) that let them be immune from lawsuits.

In the days following, freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) announced that hes co-sponsoring a bill to amend Section 230 to ensure social media platforms uphold U.S. consumers right to free speech.

Social media is our generations public forum. It ought to be subject to the same protections provided to all public forums, Cawthorn stated on his website. I am calling for First Amendment protections to be applied to this New Town Square.

Censorship of elected officials by unelected elites is UNAMERICAN!

But while the Democrat co-sponsors of the SAFE TECH Act insist their bill does not stifle free speech, Fight for the Future Director Evan Greer told TechCrunch: Unfortunately this bill, as written, would have enormous unintended consequences for human rights and freedom of expression.

It creates a huge carveout in Section 230 that impacts not only advertising but essentially all paid services, such as web hosting and [content delivery networks], as well as small services like Patreon, Bandcamp, and Etsy.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who was one of Section 230s original authors, told TechCrunch that while the new bill is well-intentioned, it would curb free speech.

Unfortunately, as written, it would devastate every part of the open internet, and cause massive collateral damage to online speech, Wyden told the outlet.
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The United Nations-led process to bring back peace in Libya chose a new interim government on Friday that will lead the country to elections in December. A 74-member delegate chose the new Presidency Council, which has three members, including a Prime Minister. Out of the four lists submitted for vote on Friday, Mohammad Younes Menfi-led Presidency Council won the trust of the delegates.

Acting SRSG announces the winning candidates for the Presidency Council and Prime Minister positions for the temporary period. #LPDF https://t.co/AqBs22NnnW  UNSMIL (@UNSMILibya) February 5, 2021

Read: Libya Conflict: Foreign Mercenaries Ignore UN's Libya Exit Deadline Under Fragile Truce

Parliament scrutiny next month

Menfi will be the President of the Presidency Council with Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah as his Prime Minister. Dbeibah will be required to form a new government, which will have to stand the test of parliamentary scrutiny next month before it gets approval. Menfi, an east-born former diplomat, is seen close to the western-based Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli.

Read: Libya's Future In Balance In UN-backed Leadership Vote

The internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) and eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) have been fighting a civil war in Libya since 2014, three years after the fall of long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Last year, both sides signed an UN-brokered ceasefire agreement in Geneva following a failed military offensive by the general Khalifa Haftar-led LNA, which was launched in 2019 with an intention to seize the capital Tripoli from GNA-backed forces.

Read: UN: 43 Europe-bound Migrants Killed In Shipwreck Off Libya

Menfi's win came as a surprise for many as the current west-based Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha was seen as the most likely candidate to win the vote. However, Bashagha lost the vote by 34 to 39 votes. Bashagha later tweeted his support for the new Presidency Council and wished them success. Turkey, which supports the Tripoli-based GNA, and the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, who back Haftar-led LNA, also welcomed the new government.

Read: UNSC Instructs UN Secretary-General Guterres To Deploy Ceasefire Monitor Team In Libya

(Image Credit: AP)


Posted Saturday, February 6, 2021 9:46 am

Kroger, the grocery chain that owns QFC and Fred Meyer, said Friday it will offer employees a one-time $100 payment after they receive the coronavirus vaccine.

Employees who cannot get the vaccine for medical or religious reasons can take an "educational health and safety course" to get the bonus, the company said.

The payment is meant to encourage workers to get vaccinated and "recognize our associates' contributions," Kroger executive Tim Massa said in a statement Friday.

The federal government says employers can mandate the vaccine, though for now most local companies say they are not yet planning to require it.

Kroger workers who "receive the full manufacturer-recommended doses of the COVID-19 vaccine" will be eligible for the $100, the company said.

The national union that represents Kroger workers, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), called the payment a "slap in the face," however, pointing out that the company announced this week it would close two stores in Southern California in response to a local mandate to raise pay by $4 an hour during the pandemic. Seattle passed a similar $4 requirement.

"If Kroger really cares about its employees, the company must share the profits the pandemic has generated with all of its frontline grocery workers across the country," UFCW President Marc Perrone said in a statement, calling for free vaccines for employees.

Separate from the vaccine payment, Kroger said Friday it would also provide "a $100 store credit and 1,000 fuel points" for workers, including front-line grocery and pharmacy employees, starting Feb. 11.

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Photo: The Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a news conference at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021.

The number of Canadians vaccinated in the spring could double if Health Canada gives the green light to all three vaccines it is currently reviewing.

But Canada is unlikely to get any doses from those three companies directly until at least April, and confusion about deliveries of vaccines has thrown Canadian confidence in the Liberal government's vaccine rollout into a tailspin.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau added to the confusion directly Friday when he said at a news conference outside his Rideau Cottage residence that he believed the 20 million doses Canada pre-ordered from AstraZeneca are to be delivered before the end of June.

But he was wrong. Federal officials from Public Services and Procurement Canada clarified there are potentially 20 million more doses coming in the spring but that is a combination of doses from all three companies with vaccines now under review by Health Canada. That includes AstraZeneca, but also Johnson and Johnson and Novavax.

The reviews are in varying stages. AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine is potentially ready for approval next week. Approval of Johnson and Johnson's vaccine will likely not come until late February or early March and Novavax not until April.

Procurement Minister Anita Anand told the House of Commons health committee Friday afternoon that AstraZeneca's deliveries will be split up between the second and third quarters of the year.

"That is in our contracts, Anand said.

Those contracts remain shrouded in secrecy, leaving opposition MPs and provincial premiers irate, as expected vaccine deliveries are delayed and injections slow to a crawl.

The federal government says with the two vaccines already approved  Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna  Canada will get enough doses to vaccinate three million people by the end of March and another 10 million by the end of June. They also say all Canadians who want to be get the vaccine will be able to do so by the end of September.

Another 20 million doses could double the spring vaccination goal.

There is little clarity about how many doses provincial and territorial governments can expect to receive beyond next week, let alone what could come in the spring. The numbers have repeatedly changed in the last few weeks as suppliers face production issues and promised deliveries are slashed.

Anand said the contracts do not stipulate week-by-week shipments, but rather set out how many doses are to be sent by the end of each quarter. Pfizer and Moderna have both adjusted their weekly deliveries several times.

Anand said they would only be in breach of contract if they do not make good on their commitment to deliver a total of six million doses  four million from Pfizer-BioNTech and two million from Moderna  by the end of March.

Premiers pushed Trudeau during their weekly call Thursday to at least let them see the contracts in confidence so they could have a better idea what they guarantee for Canadians, and whether there is actually any certainty about deliveries.

"Saskatchewan is relying on the federal government for a consistent supply of vaccines and a consistent of supply of information," Premier Scott Moe said in a written statement issued Friday. "So far, we are receiving neither."

Canada passed the one-million mark for vaccinations this week, but it was a milestone barely noticed amid the confusion and bickering about dose deliveries.

The United Kingdom has vaccinated more than 15 per cent of its population already, and the U.S. passed 10 per cent.

Canada has given one dose to less than three per cent, and has fully vaccinated with two doses less than one per cent. It vaccinated between 12,800 and almost 19,000 people a day this past week, while the U.S. is vaccinating more than one million people every day.

Moe said he has often learned about delays in shipments from media reports, and that the provinces have been given weekly delivery estimates of Pfizer shipments through the end of February but nothing for March, and nothing for Moderna after this week.

"This means we are left to co-ordinate complex vaccine rollout plans with minimal information that is constantly changing," he said.

During the health committee meeting Friday, Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus held up copies of contracts AstraZeneca and Pfizer had signed with the European Union, Israel and the United States. The contracts are redacted and were released with the permission of the companies.

"How is it that I got my hands on these major contracts but here in Canada we can't put our finger on any information," he said in French.

Anand's tone was sharp as she said it would be "imprudent if not illegal" for Canada to release the contracts because all of them contain confidentiality clauses, and breaking those contracts could keep vaccines from being delivered.

"We all want vaccines as soon as possible and I'm not going to do anything to jeopardize that," she said.
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Perhaps they are thinking about the next election or their political legacies, but Democrats and some Republicans intent on impeaching and convicting former President Donald Trump are not reading the Constitution correctly.

When the Senate trial begins Monday, there will be lots of grandstanding and lawyerly pettifogging, and we will find out if Democrats can convince 17 Republicans that they need to convict the former president.

Fortunately, I dont think theyll succeed. I say fortunately because impeaching Trump would be wrong, constitutionally speaking.

Forty-five Republicans recently voted that this second Trump impeachment trial is in itself unconstitutional. They are incorrect.

The bipartisan group of 55 senators who voted to proceed to the trial think that the Senate can apply a sanction after conviction. Constitutionally, theyre wrong, too.

Republicans are wrong because the plain text of the Constitution, as Michael McConnell, a Stanford professor and former federal judge, points out, makes no exceptions or qualifications to either the Houses sole power of impeachment or the Senates sole power to try all impeachments. Therefore, the Senate clearly has the power  what legal scholars call jurisdiction  to try the case.

But, jurisdiction is not the only consideration enshrined in constitutional law. Two other concepts, standing and justiciability, are central to any courts decision-making at the beginning of a case. Along with jurisdiction, courts call them, collectively, threshold questions.

Because senators, especially the ones looking to convict, exercise judicial power when they try any impeachment, they would do well to take seriously the requirements for standing and the Supreme Courts rules for justiciability.

Standing refers to someones ability to bring a case to court in the first place. In the 1992 case Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, the late Justice Antonin Scalia listed three factors that comprise the irreducible constitutional minimum basis for standing. While people probably know Justice Scalia for his acerbic dissents, the Lujan majority today is likely his most widely cited uncontroversial opinion.

In the second Trump impeachment, the relevant element of the Lujan trio is the last one: The court must be able to give a final, binding judgment to the party that wants a punishment.

The House wants to punish Trump for his actions. Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution plainly declares the required punishment: The president  shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of  high crimes and misdemeanors. Shall means it must happen. The Senate cant remove Trump from a position he no longer holds, which means it cant punish him. Thus, the House lacks standing.

To be clear, the House retained standing while Trump retained the presidency. But, once he left, the case became moot  purely a matter for discussion, like the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin.

Wait! supporters of conviction cry out. Theres also the bit in Article I about disqualifying a person whos been impeached from holding office ever again. That is true, but the passage doesnt improve the logic of a post-presidency Senate punishment in the least. No matter how long we Wait! the Senate will still not be able to render the required punishment, so the standing problem remains.

More importantly, the disqualification punishment presents a justiciability question. Justiciability refers to the ability of a court to effectively resolve the case. Over several cases, the Supreme Court has identified a bunch of factors that lead to justiciability issues, but all of them stem from a single idea: Its not the courts job to decide this, but rather its somebody elses job.

If the Senate tried to disqualify Trump from holding the presidency again, it would arrogate a privilege  determining who will not be president  that the Constitution explicitly reserves to another body: We the People. Thus, there is a clear justiciability problem with disqualification if it tries to block anyone  Trump, you, me, anyone  from winning the presidency or other elected office.

Alexander Hamilton declared that the Constitution stood for the idea that the people should choose whom they please to govern them. However imperfectly, this is what we do in districts and states throughout the country. And we choose through the Electoral College, a defense of which the current impeachment ironically springs from. For the House and Senate, a mere 535 citizens, to absolutely bar nearly 160 million from a completely free electoral choice turns the Constitution upside down.

Ultimately, the Senate can exercise its clear jurisdiction to hear the case, complete with senatorial bloviations, and lawyerly dodges. But, if the outcome is anything other than the status quo ante, meaning Trump remains eligible for the presidency in the future, the Senate will deal a grave blow to not just the Constitution but to every member of We the People who thinks they still have a choice.
Shes due to give birth to her first child in a matter of days.

And Elsa Hosk looked resplendent on Friday, when she was spotted going for a nature walk with her partner Tom Daly in Los Angeles, California.

The supermodel, 32, was in matching bright pink sweat clothes, along with light sneakers.

Pregnant in pink: Elsa Hosk looked resplendent on Friday, when she was spotted going for a nature walk with her partner Tom Daly

She had dark sunglasses perched atop her head, and her blonde hair was pulled back.

Elsa also wore a face mask, but had it pulled down beneath her chin.

Tom wore a red and black hunters plaid flannel shirt, and light dungarees.

Parents to be: Elsa had dark sunglasses perched atop her head, and her blonde hair was pulled back

Hiking along: Tom wore a red and black hunters plaid flannel shirt, and light dungarees

His pants were belted in black.

He wore dark blue sneakers and kept his mouth and nose covered with a standard blue disposable surgical face mask.

Daly wore his hair long and it brushed his shoulders.

In spite of her very pregnant state, the Swedish beauty has been staying quite active, recently posting hiking photos from a different outing to her Instagram stories.

On Wednesday, Hosk shared a snapshot from a challenging hike with her longtime beau, writing that she 'got this belly all the way up a mountain, not too shabby for 9months pregnant hehe.'

In spite of her very pregnant state: The Swedish beauty has been staying quite active, recently posting hiking photos from a different outing to her Instagram stories

Accomplished: On Wednesday, Hosk shared a snapshot from a challenging hike with her longtime beau, writing that she 'got this belly all the way up a mountain, not too shabby for 9months pregnant hehe'

In the snap, Tom had his arm around the mom-to-be as they stared down at their feet.

The pair have naturally been enjoying the outdoors to the maximum this winter, especially since they just recently relocated to the West Coast from New York City.

Elsa and Tom now reside in Pasadena, to the immediate northeast of LA's city center.

They spent $4.3 million on their new home designed by the Viennese-born architect Richard Neutra, as reported by Variety.
How will the country's arrivals testing scheme work? How many tests do people need to get? 1 - Passengers get their first mandatory test within 72-hours of their departing flight. (When they arrive - from a country that isn't on the list of 33 'red' countries that must quarantine in a hotel - they must isolate for 10 days) 2 - On day two of self-isolation, a Covid PCR test will be administered. The tests will be posted to the traveller, it is understood. 3 - An optional test can be taken on the fifth day of at-home isolation. If it comes back negative, the traveller will no-longer have to self isolate. 4 - Another mandatory test will be carried out on day eight. How are the mandatory tests enforced? Fines will be issued for those who don't get tested, The Times reports. But it is not clear how the mandatory testing will be enforced - i.e. how officials will know if the tests have been taken or not. It is also not clear how much the fines will be. Will they be lateral flow or PCR tests? The tests on day two and day eight will likely be PCR tests - which are more reliable than the quicker lateral flow ones. The tests passengers flying into the UK must take can be lateral flow tests or PCR tests. It is unclear what tests passengers can take on their optional day five test. Who will pay for the tests? The traveller will have to pay for the tests. Advertisement

All passengers arriving in Britain from countries not on the Covid hotspot list could have to take up to four tests during their at-home isolation period, it emerged last night.

Earlier this week, the Government confirmed that all passengers from the 33 'red list' countries would have to quarantine for ten days in a hotel from February 15.

And now, travellers arriving from countries not on the list - who have to isolate for ten days at home - face three mandatory Covid tests during their isolation.

A fourth test taken half-way through quarantine could allow travellers to be let out early.

All the tests must be paid for by the traveller. Those who fail to take the mandatory tests face fines, reports claim.

It is unclear how much the tests will cost, but private patients can fork out around 150 on one currently.

This means it could cost up to 600 for all four tests.

The mandatory testing regime - to be announced next week by Health Secretary Matt Hancock - will come into force on February 15.

The travellers first test will be taken up to 72 hours before flying - as is the rule currently.

Once home, arrivals must begin their ten-day self isolation.

On their second day in quarantine, travellers need to get a second compulsory Covid test.

It will likely be a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test which will be posted to Britons to carry out themselves, sources claim.

They could also be given the details of their nearest Covid testing centre after filling in a passenger locator form.

Arrivals will then have the option of a third Covid test they can take on the fifth day of at-home isolation.

This is optional and will allow the traveller to leave quarantine early should it come back negative.

A fourth compulsory Covid test will then be taken on day eight.

It is not yet known whether people who test negative on day five still have to get tested on day eight.

In other coronavirus news:

The UK has recorded 18,262 new coronavirus cases - down a fifth in just one week;

Britain's daily death toll has also plunged - with 828 fatalities recorded today. The figure is 31 per cent lower than the 1,200 seen on this day last week;

Worcestershire became the latest area to start 'surge testing' after the South African coronavirus variant was detected;

Kent airfield staff who test truckers for Covid have been accused of sleeping with each other and distributing drugs;

The boss of the UK's Vaccine Taskforce is 'very confident' Britain can offer jabs to all over-50s by May and say the UK is leading the way in the fight against mutant variants.

All passengers arriving in Britain from countries not on the Covid hotspot list could have to take four tests during their isolation period, it emerged last night (Heathrow Airport, pictured)

In another significant toughening of border policy, travellers from safer countries will be told they must take the PCR tests during the standard ten-day home quarantine period. Pictured: A passenger arriving in the UK

Lateral flow tests are cheaper and give results in 30 minutes - but there are concerns they are less effective, especially when self-administered. PCR tests can take up to three days to identify positive cases.

The plan will primarily affect Britons returning home from abroad.

It is expected arrivals will be posted the standard PCR kits to test themselves, but could also be given details of their nearest Covid testing centre after filling in a passenger locator form.

A Department of Health spokesman told The Guardian: 'Throughout the pandemic, the Government has put in place proportionate measures, informed by the advice of scientists, that has led to some of the toughest border regimes in the world.

'It is important the Government continues to take the necessary steps to protect people and save lives.

'Enhancing our testing regime to cover all arrivals while they isolate will provide a further level of protection and enable us to better track any new cases which might be brought into the country, and give us even more opportunities to detect new variants.'

It came as Britain's hotel quarantine plan descended into chaos yesterday. Key planks of the policy were yet to be thrashed out and industry bosses said ministers had left them little time.

There were still no details last night on how border arrangements will be adjusted to identify those subject to quarantine and separate them from those that are not.

And a system so travellers can book a room ahead of arrival was yet to be launched.

The details are expected to be released next week, less than seven days before the scheme kicks in on February 15. Another key issue is locating hotels with ventilation systems that will not spread the virus, the Mail understands.

Officials say they must avoid a scenario like that seen on cruise ships at the start of the pandemic, when Covid swept through the confined decks of holiday liners.

Hotels which may take part in the scheme must have rooms that can be properly ventilated and air conditioning systems that do not re-circulate air, it is understood.

Testing will be carried out in the hotel.

Part of the delay to starting the hotel quarantine measures is due to identifying buildings which fit those requirements, sources said.

Hotels which may take part in the scheme must have rooms that can be properly ventilated and air conditioning systems that do not re-circulate air, it is understood

Hotels had until 5pm yesterday to bid to take part in the scheme, giving them about 24 hours after it was announced on Thursday evening.

Meher Nawab, chief executive of the London Hotel Group, told the BBC: To set all the processes up you need virologists to come and visit the property, you need to set up hygiene protocols - that cant all be done overnight.

What are PCR tests and how do they work? Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests involve a patient swabbing their nose and throat and can take up to three days to get results. It works by amplifying tiny amounts of genetic material - namely the virus's RNA. Several substances - known as 'reverse transcriptase' and 'DNA polymerase' - are added to the sample. They make copies of the tiny amounts of RNA present. This makes it so there is enough of the Covid RNA to be picked up by a test. 'Primers' and 'probes' attach themselves to sections of the virus's genetic code. A signal is then sent out when genetic material has been found. Advertisement

The ventilation system has to be looked at very closely. Im not sure what (the government) has set out can be done in this time. Adrian Ellis, chair of the Manchester Hospitality Association and general manager of the citys Lowry Hotel, said the opportunity to open up for guests for quarantine purposes would be welcomed by some owners, but that details about plans were still scarce.

The Government needs 28,000 rooms for the 1,425 passengers a day before February 15.

Peter Ducker, chief executive of the Institute of Hospitality, said many hoteliers had ruled themselves out because it won't be financially viable, with room charges capped at 80 plus VAT a night.

Last night Travelodge ruled itself out of the running, but Accor  which owns the Ibis, Novotel and Mercure brands  suggested it may take part, along with the St Giles Hotel Group and Thistle Hotels.

Best Western is offering up to 5,000 rooms. Hotels group Accor, Oyo and Taj Hotels will also offer rooms.

Police chiefs are against stationing officers at hotels - but have pledged to track down rule breakers.

A senior police source told the Telegraph: 'Our role should be purely to deal with absconded travellers, finding and returning them.'

According to tender documents, hotels will have to provide three meals a day for guests for 11 nights at a cost of up to 1,000 per person, with the arrangements lasting until at least March 31.

The taxpayer will initially foot the bill - estimated at around 50million a month - before trying to claw the money back from the arrivals.

One source told MailOnline they were confident of recouping the funds, suggesting credit card details could be taken.

Travellers will be tested twice, on the second and eighth day of their stay.

Government-contracted security guards will be stationed on each floor and by entrances and exits, with police on standby if passengers try to abscond from quarantine.

Rooms will need a 72-hour deep clean after each stay.

Labour has savaged the Government over delays to the measures, noting they will not come in until nearly two months after the South African variant was found in the UK

Britain's hotel quarantine scheme will finally begin on February 15  nearly three weeks after it was first announced

Foreign Office minister James Cleverly (left) insisted the dramatic scheme was taking 'time to prepare', despite nearly three weeks having passed since it was first announced. Boris Johnson (right) said the policy was in the pipeline weeks ago

Security staff - approved by the Government - have no power to stop people leaving hotels, but will be present to supervise.

Vice-chairman of the British Security Industry Association Tony Cockcroft said: 'Security officers would not get involved in any physical restraint.

'They have no powers to prevent anyone leaving but a lot of security officers are very good at defusing situations and calming people down.'

Mr Hancock said the Government would be 'vigilant' about which countries would be subject to the hotel quarantine measures.

Speaking on a visit to Gatwick Airport, he said: 'We'll be vigilant in making sure that the hotel quarantine that we're introducing applies to the right countries where we see these new variants.

'We have a programme to have surveillance right across the world, working with international partners to make sure we can spot where these new variants pop up, like Brazil and South Africa that we've seen so far, and make sure that we can keep people here safe with the new hotel quarantine.'

Labour pointed out the measures will come nearly two months after the South African Covid strain was discovered in the UK and was 'too little too late' - repeating calls for a blanket quarantine policy on all travellers, rather than just 'red list' countries.

Crowds of arrivals pack into a queue at Heathrow Airport as thousands continue to come into the UK from abroad each day

But Foreign Office minister James Cleverly said ministers 'need time to prepare' a complex system and a blanket approach was not appropriate. 'We need time to make sure this works,' he said in a round of interviews.

'We've been working with international partners who put a similar package in place  New Zealand, Australia, for example  see how that works,' he told Sky News.

'It's very easy for you to say, oh, all you have to do is but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

'This is adding to an existing package of measures which requires a test before departure, requires a notification form on departure, already requires 10 days of quarantine.

'So this is adding to existing measures, and we want to make sure that this works, that we give the hotel industry notice.'

He added: 'Obviously not every hotel will be doing this and so it's unsurprising that some hotel chains haven't been contacted about this.'

UK Government is 'working on vaccine passports' for British people to go on summer holidays amid signs Greece will drop quarantine rules for those who can prove they've had jab

By Jack Maidment, Deputy Political Editor For Mailonline and James Tapsfield Political Editor For MailOnline

The UK Government is working on 'vaccine passports' which could allow British tourists to head off on summer holidays abroad in a matter of months, it was claimed yesterday.

The Department for Transport, the Foreign Office and the Department of Health are all said to be developing options for some kind of vaccine certificate.

The work is taking place now so the UK will be ready should other countries demand proof of vaccination as a condition of granting quarantine-free entry.

It came amid speculation that Greece is preparing to waive quarantine rules for Brits who can prove that they have had the jab.

Tourism officials told The Times that British tourists could be allowed to head to Greece as soon as May.

That would represent a massive lifeline to the country's ailing tourism industry which welcomes two million Brits every year.

Greece could welcome back British tourists from May under plans to waive quarantine for people who can prove they have had a coronavirus vaccination

The speed of the UK's vaccine roll-out has boosted hopes of a return to holidays abroad in the second half of 2021.

The Government is aiming to have vaccinated the most vulnerable groups in society by the middle of this month amid speculation that all UK adults could then have been offered a jab by May.

Plans for a certification system for tourists to prove they are protected against Covid-19 are reportedly underway.

Several European countries including Greece, Spain, Malta and Denmark have already signalled support for such a plan.

Health officials had previously dismissed vaccination passports given the lack of evidence that coronavirus vaccines prevented transmission, as well as reduce serious illness.

But enthusiasm for the vaccine document has reignited after recent studies have shown that Covid-19 jabs do cut transmission.

British tourists could be allowed into Greece from May if they can provide evidence of inoculation, tourism officials said.

Grigoris Tasios, president of the Greek Hoteliers Federation, told The Times: 'With the rate of inoculations in the UK largely outpacing all others across Europe and beyond, British travellers will be among the safest to travel here by as early as May.'

The Government is aiming to have vaccinate the most vulnerable groups in the UK by the middle of February

The two million Britons who visit Greece every year contribute roughly 9billion to the country's economy.

Denmark is also planning to bring in vaccine passports by the end of this month to revive business travel.

Tony Blair, an advisor to the government on Covid-19, last week called for the roll-out of vaccine passports.

His organisation said the documents are the 'only way to navigate allowing people to travel internationally again.'
WILMINGTON, Del.: President Joe Biden gave a pep talk to a California woman who was laid off because of the coronavirus pandemic, during a conversation the White House said is part of an effort to help him engage more consistently with regular Americans.

The White House on Saturday released a two-and-a-half-minute video of Bidens long-distance telephone conversation with a woman identified only as Michele. After losing her job at a startup clothing company in July, she wrote Biden a letter. He read it, then called her.

The Roseville, California, woman told Biden its been a tough time" trying to find work.

Biden, who spoke from his Oval Office desk, replied that his father used to say a job is about dignity and respect as much as it is about a paycheck. He described his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan, which calls for $1,400 payments to people like Michele, and other economic aid for individuals and small businesses. Theres also money to help distribute coronavirus vaccines.

Ive been saying a long time, the idea that we think we can keep businesses open and moving and thriving without dealing with this pandemic is just a nonstarter, Biden said.

The conversation is part of an effort to help Biden, who has largely limited his travel because of the pandemic, communicate directly with Americans, the White House said. Biden did fly to Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday to spend the weekend at home with his family.

There is a time-honored tradition in the country of hearing from the president in this way, press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday in previewing the video. She referenced Franklin D. Roosevelts fireside chats and Ronald Reagans establishment of a weekly radio address.

The radio address eventually grew to include a video version viewed over the internet. The practice, however, became moribund under former President Donald Trump.

Psaki said Bidens weekly address would be produced in a variety of forms.

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 lives of many people who fatally drowned in rips, rivers and other waterways might have been saved if they had been taught to float to survive, say Bondi Rescue star and Waverley Councils head lifeguard Bruce Hoppo Hopkins and former Iron Man Craig Riddington.

After 15 seasons of Bondi Rescue which now airs in 100 countries, Mr Hopkins, the president of Surf Educators International, said he didnt want to be remembered only as the guy in that lifeguard show.

Scott Folkard with his son Jarvis. Mr Folkard rescued a man caught in a rip on Manly beach on Thursday. An experienced swimmer, he heard the man calling for help before dropping below the surface. Mr Folkard emerged covered in bluebottle stings. Credit:James Brickwood

I want to pass on the patrolling strategies [used in Bondi Rescue]... and educate as many people as possible with the one message which will make a difference if youre struggling in the water. That is, stop swimming, conserve your energy and float to survive. Rips dont drown people, people drown in rips.

This summer there has been a 30 per cent rise in the number of people drowning. As of the end of last week, 70 people had drowned, including three men who were rock fishing on Hill 60 near Port Kembla and 21 who drowned swimming in lakes and rivers.
On a cold and wet Sunday morning on February 15, 1970, members of the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO) broke a window at the empty Christ Presbyterian Church (later renamed Juan Marcos Presbyterian Church). The break was just large enough for one of their members to climb in, unlock the door and let others in. Once inside they renamed the church the Northside Peoples Center and got to work. Over the next few days, MAYO members offered art classes, Chicano history classes and facilitated discussions on the tensions between African Americans and Mexican Americans in the city. Women from the neighborhood cooked and served breakfast to more than forty children every day for the entire 21-day occupation. It was a drastic move that became a beautiful example of young people stepping up to serve their neighbors in an area of the city with few public resources and in a church building that had not been used in months.

In the years after World War II, Houstons Northside neighborhood had experienced dramatic demographic change as Mexican American families increasingly moved in and white residents moved out to Houstons new suburbs. As the churchs mostly white membership left the neighborhood, the church closed its doors in October 1969.

The occupation was not a random act. In the months following the churchs closure, MAYO activists initiated a conversation with Presbyterians about transforming the building into a community center. And while Presbyterian leaders shared some initial enthusiasm about that idea, nothing came of it. In February 1970, the Brazos Presbytery (Presbyterian Church US, South) announced that it would be offering the building to a Mexican American congregation that in recent months was looking to relocate. But only days before the congregants of the Juan Marcos Presbyterian Church moved in, MAYO occupied the building.

The Brazos Presbytery, not happy with the situation, tried a number of things to force them out. In one instance, Presbyterian leaders cut the gas and the electricity to the building. MAYO activists responded by bringing in lamps and using a Coleman camping stove to continue making breakfast meals for the children who showed up. Of the occupation, the writers of the Space City News noted that the events occurring since the MAYO takeover of the Christ Presbyterian Church have been amazing and beautiful. In six short days an oppressed, poverty-stricken community has awakened to the first joys of controlling its own destiny.

The occupation came to an end when, out of options and desperate, the Brazos Presbytery took their fight to the courts and forced MAYO activists out through a court injunction. The occupation ended without incident on March 6, 1970  but not before showing both church leaders and young activists what was possible when churches transformed their spaces into classrooms, food distribution centers, clinics and a space for the community to gather as they dream of new possibilities. This was especially powerful in a community like the Northside that was in transition and that offered its residents few resources and opportunities.

One can certainly argue with the activists methods but their occupation  however brief and tenuous  helped introduce a new possibility for the Northside that included community participation and community control of institutions. In the days and months that followed, members of the Juan Marcos Presbyterian Church continued serving the neighborhood. On the first day after the occupation, the Rev. Ruben M. Armendariz and his family bought a toaster, bread, butter and hot chocolate to continue the breakfast program that MAYO started. And three years later, the Rev. Jose Burgos, who in 1973 became pastor of the church, told the Houston Post just how much things had changed since the occupation: The [Juan Marcos] church was challenged by the MAYO group, now the people are excited about the possibilities for change in the community.

Thats really what makes the church essential in these days. While some argue over whether or not churches should host in-person worship services in the middle of a pandemic, the community outreach that resulted from the MAYO occupation reminds us that the church is essential because of the social services it can offer communities in times of great need. In recent months, churches in Houston have risen to these challenges by transforming their sanctuaries into classrooms. The challenges of COVID-19 in Americas most racially diverse city  the fourth largest in the U.S.  required, as the Rev. Ed Jones, senior pastor at Trinity United Methodist Church recently noted, a fresh vision The problem is we have parents who need to go to work. The problem is we have children who need to go to school.

In Houston, 16 churches across the city opened their doors and transformed their churches into Sanctuaries of Learning. The unique partnership between the Houston Independent School District and local United Methodist Churches took advantage of spaces left empty by the suspension of in-person worship. The church building was transformed into a temporary learning center to serve working families who otherwise would have to stay home from work to care for their children.

As the pandemic continues to rage in our communities, we must imagine new ways of caring for one another and extending grace to one another. Opening the doors of the church and recognizing the essential social services the church can  through its building and congregants  provide is certainly one place to start.

Hinojosa is an associate professor of history at Texas A&M University and the author of the new book, Apostles of Change: Latino Radical Politics, Church Occupations, and the Fight to Save the Barrio .
The Supreme Court is telling California that it cant bar indoor church services because of the coronavirus pandemic, but it can keep for now a ban on singing and chanting indoors.

The high court issued orders late Friday in two cases where churches had sued over coronavirus-related restrictions in the state. The high court said that for now, California cant ban indoor worship as it had in almost all of the state because virus cases are high.

The justices said the state can cap indoor services at 25 percent of a buildings capacity. The justices also declined to stop California from enforcing a ban put in place last summer on indoor singing and chanting. California had put the restrictions in place because the virus is more easily transmitted indoors and singing releases tiny droplets that can carry the disease.

This is a huge win for religious liberty, wrote Eric Rassbach, an attorney with the religious liberty firm Becket Fund, noting that the state was the only one with a total ban on indoor worship. 40 million people live in CA, and most havent been able to worship together for half a year. #SCOTUS has vindicated a core First Amendment right.

The justices were acting on emergency requests to halt the restrictions from South Bay United Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista and Pasadena-based Harvest Rock Church and Harvest International Ministry, which has more than 160 churches across the state.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that federal courts owe significant deference to politically accountable officials when it comes to public health restrictions, but he said deference has its limits.

Roberts wrote that Californias determination that the maximum number of adherents who can safely worship in the most cavernous cathedral is zeroappears to reflect not expertise or discretion, but instead insufficient appreciation or consideration of the interests at stake.

In addition to Roberts, Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Amy Coney Barrett also wrote to explain their views. Gorsuch and Justice Clarence Thomas would have kept California from enforcing its singing ban. Barrett, the courts newest justice, disagreed. Writing for herself and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, she said it wasnt clear at this point whether the singing ban was being applied across the board.

She wrote that if a chorister can sing in a Hollywood studio but not in her church, Californias regulations cannot be viewed as neutral, triggering a stricter review by courts. The justices said the churches who sued can submit new evidence to a lower court that the singing ban is not being applied generally.

As this crisis enters its second yearand hovers over a second Lent, a second Passover, and a second Ramadanit is too late for the State to defend extreme measures with claims of temporary exigency, if it ever could, Gorsuch wrote. Drafting narrowly tailored regulations can be difficult. But if Hollywood may host a studio audience or film a singing competition while not a single soul may enter Californias churches, synagogues, and mosques, something has gone seriously awry.

The courts three liberal justices dissented, saying they would have upheld Californias restrictions. Justice Elena Kagan wrote in a dissent for herself, Justice Stephen Breyer and Justice Sonia Sotomayor that the courts action risks worsening the pandemic.

She said that the court was making a special exception for worship services rather than treating them like other activities where large groups of people come together in close proximity for extended periods of time. In areas of California where COVID-19 is widespread, which includes most of the state, activities including indoor dining and going to the movies are banned.

I fervently hope that the Courts intervention will not worsen the Nations COVID crisis. But if this decision causes suffering, we will not pay. Our marble halls are now closed to the public, and our life tenure forever insulates us from responsibility for our errors. That would seem good reason to avoid disrupting a States pandemic response. But the Court forges ahead regardless, insisting that science-based policy yield to judicial edict, she wrote.

Charles LiMandri, an attorney for South Bay United Pentecostal Church, said in a statement that he and his clients were heartened by this order and thank the high court for upholding religious liberty.

Liberty Counsels Mat Staver, who represents Harvest Rock Church, said in a statement that he and his clients would continue to press this case until religious freedom is totally restored.

The courts action follows a decision in a case from New York late last year in which the justices split 5-4 in barring the state from enforcing certain limits on attendance at churches and synagogues. Shortly after, the justices told a federal court to reexamine Californias restrictions in light of the ruling.


Dion Diamond grew up in Petersburg, Va.  a totally segregated town  for the first 18 years of his life.

But he refused to be limited by that world view, and in 1959 took matters into his own hands, staging his own personal sit-in.

I would go into the local five and dime store, go to the white-only lunch counter, only to be told I couldnt be served, and I would sit, Diamond said at an event Thursday sponsored by Easton, Weston and Redding organizations to kick off their Black History Month programming.

And while hes seen progress with desegregation throughout the country, and noted that Black politicians and police chiefs now serve in places where he was once arrested for protesting and more integrated families are on television, he cautioned there remained work to do.

If you look at racial issues today, dont think that we have made it to the promised land, he said. Youve got to carry the torch again and take it down the road a wee bit more.

Diamond was one of three early civil rights activists  known as Freedom Riders  who spoke at Thursdays event. The other panelists were Charles Person, who was on the first Freedom Ride, and Joan Browning, who was expelled from her white womens college for attending a Black church and was on one of the last Freedom Rides.

The Freedom Riders were civil activists who rode interstate buses throughout the South during the spring and summer of 1961 to show that a 1960 Supreme Court ruling that made it illegal to segregate public buses, bus terminals and restaurants serving interstate buses wasnt being enforced.

The rides began in May 1961 and lasted seven months. The Interstate Commerce Commission ultimately issued new regulations with fines of up to $500 that eventually ended segregated bus facilities.

The Freedom Rides were important, Person said. It was one of the first major campaigns where, in the end when the edict was passed, it affected every state in the union. That was a good thing because you didnt have to replicate it in each state like we had to do in the sit-ins.

Person got involved while he was studying at Morehouse College, a historically Black college in Atlanta. Before the rides, he was involved in the sit-ins, marches and boycotts. He was arrested in February 1961 and spent 10 days in solitary confinement for singing too loud, he said.

Person said he was trained in nonviolence tactics and so readily applied for the Freedom Rides when the Congress of Racial Equality, or CORE, asked for student volunteers.

At that time, I would have volunteered to go anywhere, any time, to fight segregation, he said.

He was beaten during the first ride in Alabama; the damage included a lump the size of his fist at the base of his skull he carried until it was surgically removed in 1996.

He also said he soon learned the other bus on the ride had been stopped by white protesters and Ku Klux Klan members who smashed the windows, beat the riders and threw a firebomb into the bus.

Diamond was also among the first Freedom Riders. He continued fighting segregation while attending Howard University, a historically Black college in Washington, D.C., which itself wasnt segregated so the students focused on civil rights activities across the river in Virginia. After successful sit-ins and protests, Diamond said he signed up for the Freedom Rides.

On May 24th of 1961, I left school thinking I was going to be gone on a long weekend, he said. That long weekend lasted two years and three months. That was the bus that went into Jackson, Mississippi, from Montgomery.

He was arrested in Jackson.

Once he was released, he stayed to register voters in Mississippi and did sit-ins in Maryland. He was arrested again in Louisiana and charged with seven different crimes as he tried to recruit students to help with voter registration.

I was charged with criminal anarchy. They said that I was trying to overthrow the government of the state of Louisiana, Diamond said. In fact, now that I think about it, I was guilty of that. That state had laws that said segregation was legal and thats what I was trying to overthrow.

All three speakers said activism is built on the work of those who came before, both for them in the 1960s and with Black Lives Matter today.

We didnt come out of nowhere, Browning said. We came out of a long history of resistance.

They said it was important to know the history and build on that.

Dont forget where the history of our country is, Diamond said. Please keep trying to get equal rights for all of us.

They also offered advice for young people organizing Black Lives Matter events: marching designated routes that return to the starting point so participants can return home safely; not having events at night, and making sure there is a clear mission so people know what you stand for. They also cautioned against people trying to hijack the movement.

They said there was a strong sense of community among the Freedom Riders that was fostered from their training and time together  which, they said, isnt apparent in some movements around the world today where people organize online.

I would have died for the other Freedom Riders and they would have died for me, Browning said.

Within Connecticut, they said its important for affluent communities to address disparities, especially in terms of schools where they can ensure students have access to the same quality of resources and technology.

Wiley Mullins, one of the events leaders, said the Freedom Riders visited Darien and Bridgeports high schools on their last visit to Connecticut in 2017.

Theres an absolute stark difference, yet all of those kids are asked to compete in the same room, Mullins said.

Browning said her answer for why she, as a white woman, decided to join the Freedom Rides, makes the same point.

Were all limited by not taking advantage of all the skills and all the resources and developing the children to the best they can be, she said. Its not doing something for the less advantageous, its doing something thats good for all of us.

kkoerting@newstimes.com
Without Black Voters, the Campaign to Recall California Governor Newsom is Going to Fail

The point at which California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Democratic Party should really be worried about the recall is if Black women decide to send a reminder to them both that they still need us.

California Governor Gavin Newsom is no great friend to Black people in his state. He made it clear how he felt about us when he ignored the calls for him to keep a Black woman in the U.S. Senate by replacing outgoing Senator Kamala Harris with another Black woman. So the point at which Newsom and the Democratic Party establishment should really be worried about the efforts to recall him is if Black women decide to send a reminder to them both that they still need us.

The Democratic Party establishment continues to have a fair-weather relationship with Black Democratsa relationship where they support Black-led issues like criminal justice reform only when its easy and convenient to do so. Many Democrats are publicly sympathetic and supportive of issues like Black Lives Matter and have no problem using the cause to look good on social media. Still, when its all said and donewhen it really mattersthey do not come through with the support or the votes to make institutional changes.

We saw that with the last legislative session when the Democratically led Legislature couldnt muster up enough votes to pass one top policing reform bills, and we saw it recently when Newsom ignored the pleas of Black women in his state to make sure they were represented in one of the highest bodies of government in the country.

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I dont care how much steam the recall campaign gains or what polls sayat the end of the dayDemocratic voters outnumber Republicans by almost a 2-1 margin in California, so its going to take more than the votes of Republicans to get the recall over the finish line. And while many of the Partys go-along-to-get-along Democrats wont budge on their support for Newsom, I know some Democrats who could take him or leave him.

Ive been watching the Republican-led recall campaign to recall Newsom with great interest. As both a Black woman who is a Democrat and a political strategist, I couldnt help but notice that during their campaigns signature-gathering phasethey havent been talking to Black votersand noBlack Republican Joe Collins doesnt count. Now to be fair, the Republican Party not talking to Black voters is nothing new. But still, its something they may want to change if they want a real chance at the recall succeeding.

Franky, as a Black Democrat, I could care less about Newsom being caught at a maskless dinner party at a pricey restaurant. He wasnt the only do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do politician caught breaking their own rules. As Black Democrats go, we may disagree with Republicans on who should replace Newsom, but we can do without Newsom for our own reasons.

Long before the coronavirus pandemic, Black unemployment was high in California. The Democrats support for labor policies that undermine and hurt Black workers was championed by Newsoms administration. From month to month, Blacks in California live in a state of perpetual panic because California officials at every level are seemingly conspiring to do everything they can to price us out of our neighborhoods and homes and force us out of the state altogether.

Then theres the fact that Newsom and the Democratically led Legislature talk a good game on criminal justice reform but wont actually vote for it as we saw last year. And yesBlack people are still disproportionately represented in Californias prison system. Add to all that, the Democratic Party establishment and Gavin Newsom did not support Black Democrats push for a Black woman to replace now Vice-President Kamala Harris in the U.S. Senate.

And while I know most Republicans in California could care less about the plight and issues of Black Democrats, theres an argument to be made as to why they might want to start caring. It might be worth the Republican Partys time to sit down with Black Democrats to see if theres any middle ground to be met.

But lets be clear. Weve all heard that politics make strange bedfellows, but no matter how much we dislike Governor Newsom, Black Democrats wont get into bed with supporters of racist far-right movements like the Proud Boys and QAnon. Before that happens, were more likely to collectively sit it out (with popcorn in hand) and let both the Democratic Party establishment and the recall campaign duke it out on their own.

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Fact. Black women tend to vote at higher rates than other groups. Fact. 91% of Black women voted for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden according to NBC News exit poll results. Fact. We are the Democratic Partys most loyal voting groupbut dont piss us off.

We dont have much in California, but Black voters still have the power to sway elections, particularly on a statewide campaign to recall a governor.

The last thing Governor Newsom and the Democratic Party establishment want is for Black women calling for Newsom to be recalled. Why? Because Black women vote, but we also know how to get out the vote.

Strategically speaking, Black Democrats have nothing to lose and everything gain. We already belong to a political party that takes our vote and issues for granted. It might be time for us to flex our power and remind the Democratic Party that were still here and they still need us.

The campaign to recall Governor Newsom would do well to consider that and act accordingly. Jasmyne Cannick is an elected member of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party representing the 53rd Assembly District which includes the communities of Adams-Normandie, Koreatown, Boyle Heights, Huntington Park, and Downtown Los Angeles.
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Summerville, SC (29483)

Today

Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 61F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 61F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.

Young entrepreneurs are tapping into the growing campervan trend, making money by fitting out vintage vans or buying fleets of vans to rent out.

Even before the pandemic, social media had made #vanlife or #vanlifeaustralia cool, but the trend has been super-charged by COVID-19 driving a resurgence in domestic holidays.

Actor Zac Efron added a touch of Hollywood glamour to the trend when he recently posted photos on Instagram of himself with a van in South Australia, after filming Gold in Adelaide.

A growing number of Generation Z and Millennials are capitalising on the trend, such as Sydneysider Marcus Moffat, 22.

Early last month, I received a piece of mail from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services providing a personal identification number to access my unemployment account.

But Im not unemployed.

Nowhere did the notice say I had made an unemployment claim, however. When I first looked at it, I thought that maybe Ohio, having been wracked by complaints about its mismanagement of the unemployment system, was sending PINs to everyone in the state to smooth out the process.

I pretty quickly concluded, though, that someone had made a fraudulent claim in my name. I mentioned it to my wife, who said people on our neighborhoods Nextdoor.com website had mentioned the same thing. I looked and found a lot of people with identical experiences.

I found that odd. I oversee the biggest news platforms in the state, and I know a lot about what is going on, but I was unaware of this fraud trend. I figured there might be a story in it, so we asked our Statehouse reporter Laura Hancock to ask about it in one of Gov. Mike DeWines twice-a-week coronavirus briefings. The answer was a shocker.

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said the fraud attempts were so high he could not yet provide a number. He said he was a victim. And DeWine said he was a victim. As was Fran, his wife. Two days later, Husted provided the staggering numbers. Of 1.4 million pandemic unemployment assistant claims made in Ohio, a whopping 796,000 were flagged as suspected fraud.

More than half.

Think about that. Hundreds of thousands of Ohioans were affected by fraud attempts, meaning, very likely, that fraud on the largest scale in Ohio history had been attempted.

And no one knew about the scale of it.

DeWine, Husted and the rest of Ohio government did not think to tell anyone. The only notice that something was amiss was a state press release on Jan. 13 that said Ohioans would be sent notices of their unemployment totals for 2020, including a number of Ohioans who had not received any money.

A number? Ill say. A big one.

The only reason we all know about the scale of this fraud today is because I was one of the people affected and asked our Statehouse reporter to inquire. Thats not how its supposed to work. The people of Ohio learning about a major crime trend like this should not come down to the arbitrariness of Chris Quinn being a victim of it. Our elected leaders had a duty to let people know, and they have a duty now to make sure that everyone affected is aware of how it could harm them.

This is not about the attempt involving me. It didnt go anywhere, and I reported it using the states very simple online fraud form. Filling it out took me about 30 seconds, although I was a little rattled that it asked for my Social Security number. Of course, the people who attempted the fraud in my name had that number, so its not exactly secret.

What this is about is a simple request. We do a better job in our newsroom when we hear from people affected by news. I wish we had picked up on the Nextdoor.com conversations about the fraud or anything that would have served as a red flag. But I also wish someone had sent a note about it to our newsroom. If we get a few notes from people with the same complaint about something like this, we pretty quickly understand we have a trend and dig into it.

In the end, we did our job. Our inquiries got the story out into the mainstream, and government leaders are on front street now trying to explain it. I just wonder how long we would have remained in the dark if the state had not sent me a PIN.
EMMET COUNTY, MICH. -- Ninety years ago this month, a young ice fisherman became stranded on Lake Michigan when the sheet of ice beneath him broke off from the mainland near Cross Village.

White Shoal Light, a historic offshore lighthouse near the Straits of Mackinac, played a role in the dramatic story that would unfold in the days that followed.

The White Shoal Light Historical Preservation Society now is retelling that harrowing tale as VANISHED, a serial-style story that will be shared this week through posts on the groups Facebook page timed to the events anniversary.

Each day for roughly a week starting Saturday, February 6, the group will share a new chapter of the story as it happened that day. Readers can follow along by following the group on Facebook and then either updating their settings to be notified of new posts from the page, or by checking the page daily for the latest chapter.

This time last year, the preservation society shared a similar day-by-day storytelling project that retold the saga of Lewis Sweet, who in 1929 took shelter at White Shoal Light after being stranded on a drifting ice floe.

Jill Ore, writer and secretary for the preservation society, pieces together these stories by combing through old newspaper clippings and cemetery records, among other research. Ore said she hopes people enjoy this latest serial story, hinting that there are many more White Shoal Light tales to come.

Theres such an appreciation for these lighthouses as being a part of maritime history, she said. Theres a mystery about them, especially the offshore lighthouses because theyve never been accessible, but now theyre becoming accessible.

For more information and to follow VANISHED, visit White Shoal Light Historical Preservation Society on Facebook at facebook.com/whiteshoallight.

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SULLIVAN COUNTY  Robert Keen figured his year of dodging the coronavirus was over.

At 84, the retired ambulance driver  who still works with his local fire department  is among the most at-risk from the disease, and thus was given top priority to get the vaccine. So he called up his doctor last month to schedule an appointment.

He was told he would have to wait until April.

Keen lives in Forksville, a borough in Sullivan County about 70 miles northwest of Hazleton. The county has a population of about 6,000 and does not have a hospital. Theres one stoplight, hundreds of acres of forests and state game lands, and one public school district.

The pharmacy and medical center are too small to take on the work of administering coronavirus vaccines. Most residents get their health care at hospitals or doctors offices at least an hour away in neighboring counties.

Scheduling a vaccine appointment in Pennsylvania is already a competitive process exacerbated by a short supply and patchwork online scheduling systems.

But older residents  who are supposed to be among the first in line  in rural areas face more obstacles. They live far away from major chain pharmacies like CVS and Rite Aid, and may not have internet or a means of transportation. Three rural counties  Forest, Fulton, and Sullivan  do not have major chain pharmacies that are participating in state and federal vaccine distribution programs, according to an analysis by Keith Mueller, director of the RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis at the University of Iowa.

Rural counties also tend to have a larger share of older residents. About 17% of Pennsylvanias 12.8 million residents are older than 65, Census data show. In many rural counties, older residents make up about 20% of the population.

Weve known that our population is very heavy on 65 and older, Sullivan County Commissioner Brian Hoffman said. We dont have a large medical provider or a hospital  those two elements drove much of our preplanning.

In Venango County in the northwest, Commissioner Albert Abramovic said he was worried about connecting residents who dont have internet or cell phone service with appointments. About 21% of the countys 50,000 residents are older than 65, according to Census data, and 22% of households dont have internet access.

Abramovic said hes heard of people waking up at 5 a.m. to log on to pharmacy scheduling websites or signing up multiple times to improve their chances of landing a spot.

In Juniata County, 19% of the population is older than 65 and a quarter of households do not have internet access. Some older residents live alone, on old family farms, said Alice Gray, one of the countys commissioners.

Many of our older folks, they arent computer savvy, Gray said. They dont use computers. So if the only way they have is to schedule an appointment via the internet, I dont know if they know how to do that.

A Weis grocery store and a health clinic in Mifflintown are the only sites offering vaccines in Juniata, according to state data. From the farthest reaches of the long, narrow county, getting there could be a 40-minute drive, Gray said.

Hodgepodge

In a statement in late January, Sen. Lindsey Williams (D-Allegheny) called for a system to alert residents when its their turn to sign up, along with stronger partnerships with local, independent pharmacies to reach residents, like Keen, who dont have access to corporate chains.

After more than 10 months of the uncertainty and hardships that this pandemic has brought us, Pennsylvanians are confused and anxious to receive a vaccine, and they deserve clearer communication and more concrete answers, Williams said.

Following a January hearing featuring health care providers distributing vaccines in rural areas and state health officials, Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) described the states distribution system as a hodgepodge and criticized the health department for poor planning and communication.

The bottom line is we need more vaccine, said Yaw, who is also chair of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, a legislative agency focused on Pennsylvanias rural communities.

The distribution system we have out there  I think we have to live with it, Yaw said. Its too far along to go back and make a wholesale change at this point.

As of Feb. 4, more than 880,000 people have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, state data show, but about four million people are eligible to be vaccinated as part of the states Phase 1A, necessitating about 8 million doses.

Residents who qualify now need more and better communication  like ads or explainers in print media  that dont require the internet or a computer to access, Yaw said.

Some local governments have raised questions about whether they can get help from the National Guard. Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam said Wednesday its units are currently focused on responding to outbreaks in the states long-term care facilities, but that the state is working to launch community clinics.

One recent clinic was in Pike County, in the northeast, and another in Sullivan, where Keen lives. Both were chosen by the state because those counties lack health care infrastructure. The clinics also created an opportunity to address other distribution challenges, like how to get vaccines to a large population of older residents and those without transportation.

In Sullivan, about 27% of residents are older than 65, and 22% dont have internet access.

Officials in other counties are also preparing to launch local mass vaccination clinics.

Throughout January, Kevin Boozel, a commissioner in Butler County in southwest Pennsylvania, said his office fielded as many as 70 calls and emails a day from residents frustrated that they dont have information about where to get a vaccine.

I think people believe that we as county commissioners are holding back the vaccine, said Boozel, who is also president of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania.

Many counties have worked with their local emergency service departments to put plans together for community vaccination clinics, and theyre brainstorming ways to reach people living in public housing and to use plans developed during previous emergencies, like the H1N1 flu outbreak, Boozel said.

We stand ready to help as we continue to work through this pandemic, he said.

None of their plans can be enacted until the state tells counties how many doses they will receive, where theyll go, and when those shipments will arrive, he said.

Warren General Hospital, an 85-bed community hospital in Warren County, has been vaccinating about 600 to 1,000 people per week, Richard Allen, hospital CEO, said during a state House health committee hearing Wednesday.

Theyre not equipped to handle a larger volume of people while still running the hospital. As more become eligible to receive the vaccine, they will need help, Allen said.

In the face of these uncharted pandemic waters, Allen said, there is a void in terms of coordinated direction, authority, and resources.

Primary Health Network, which serves residents in rural counties throughout the state, recently acquired a mobile health unit that will be used for both coronavirus testing and vaccines, said Dr. George Garrow, chief medical officer for the network.

But even as the system gears up to vaccinate people who arent able to reach a vaccination site, it has had to close offices  which are sometimes as small as three people  if staff are exposed to the coronavirus, Garrow said during a January hearing with the Center for Rural Pennsylvania.

As this situation progresses, I do see it necessary to engage with the National Guard to assist in vaccinating mass quantities of communities, he said.

A model for the state?

Mobilizing vaccination efforts in rural areas takes more than just someone to give the shot.

After it got word from the state that a clinic could be held in Sullivan County, local officials decided it should be held at the Sullivan Elementary School in Laporte  a familiar, central location that often doubles as a space for community events.

Public transportation is limited: The county got its first public bus route in October, and getting around requires a car, or a relative who has one, Commissioner Darlene Fenton said.

The plan was to vaccinate 500 eligible people on Jan. 29 and Jan. 30.

Information was posted on the local government website earlier that week, said Hoffman, the commissioner. By the time the local weekly newspaper, The Sullivan Review, ran a summary outlining details of the event in its Jan. 27 edition, all of the appointments had been filled.

The demand for vaccines was definitely more than our available supply, he said.

The local Area Agency on Aging, which works with the countys older residents to connect them with personal care resources, helped them register. Other eligible people heard through their local emergency medical services and fire department, including Keen.

Five older residents who received vaccines Friday relied on a special service provided by the local tri-county transit system to make it to their appointments. Four are already scheduled to use the service when they return for their second dose in late February.

It took a team of at least 54 people  including local volunteers in color-coded vests to check in residents, medical workers, county employees, and state health department staff  to keep the clinic running, according to figures provided by Sullivan officials.

Inside, however, it felt more like a gathering than a vaccination site, with laughter and neighbors catching up with each other for the first time in months.

Were a small county, Hoffman said. So a lot of people already know each other and already worked together on other things.

Maryanne Karpovich, an 85-year-old from Dushore, has a pulmonary disease and a pacemaker  two strikes against me, she said. Before scheduling with the clinic, she tried to track an appointment down elsewhere, but was told shed have to wait weeks.

You wont be as afraid, Karpovich said after receiving her shot. But you still have to wear the mask.

After being told by his doctor hed have to wait until April, Keen received his first dose of the Moderna vaccine Jan. 29.

I feel great, he said afterward.
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The streets of Paris were awash with the Seine today after deluges across Europe saw rivers burst their banks.

The famous embankments and avenues of the capital were submerged under the river for a fifth day in a row on Saturday as the weather service forecast 'la inondation' would last into Monday.

In Germany, shipping traffic was halted on the Rhine as the high water levels meant boats could not pass beneath the bridges.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex pledged support for farmlands and residents whose land has been devastated as southern France was also plagued by swollen waters in the Garonne River between Bordeaux and Toulouse.

He visited the sodden town of Marmande in the region Friday and promised 'the solidarity of the state for all those who suffered.'

The famous embankments and avenues of Paris were submerged under the River Seine for the fifth day in a row on Saturday as the weather service forecast 'la inondation' would last into Monday

A man rides a bicycle along the flooded roadway on the banks of the river Seine, Paris, France on Saturday. Rivers across France broke their banks this week amid heavy flooding and the national weather service forecast the waters would stay high through the weekend

A lamppost in Paris is submerged under the Seine this morning as France suffers a deluge of rain

A man walks alone along the banks of the river Seine on a deserted locked down day in Paris on Saturday

An artist paints the scene in Paris today as the River Seine continued to flow over the banks

He told reporters that he met with local leaders to discuss reinforcing levees and other broader structural investments 'linked to these climate phenomena that keep repeating themselves.'

Flooding has also blighted Germany, with rivers buckling under the strain of melting snow, as well as a constant deluge of rain throughout the week.

Residents in the eastern community of Burkhardtsdorf in Saxony, not far from the Czech Republic border, built sandbag barricades outside their homes as the Zwoenitz river that runs through the town overflowed its banks.

In the west, the Rhine's crest dropped slightly but remained at high levels in Cologne, the dpa news agency reported.

A man wades through floodwater along the swollen banks of the Seine river, submerged in floodwater in Paris on Friday

A man wades through floodwater with a dinghy boat to transport goods to a river barge moored long the swollen banks of the Seine river on Friday

swan swims along the swollen banks of the Seine river, submerged in floodwater in Paris on Friday

Shipping traffic that was halted earlier in the week after it became unsafe for boats to pass beneath bridges and was allowed to resume on Thursday, though authorities warned that levels were expected to increase again before the weekend.

The Rhine rose in other areas north of Cologne, including Duesseldorf, Duisburg, Wesel and Rees.

To the south, officials also reported flooding in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate.

Melting snow and continuous rain have caused the levels of the river Zwoenitz in Burkhardtsdorf, Germany, Thursday

Flotsam floats on the banks of the Rhine in Cologne, Germany, Thursday

The man and a child paddle in the water of the river Rhine in Duesseldorf
Gardai will be able to fine NI motorists from Monday.

The SDLP has refuted claims that plans by the Irish police to close the border to non-essential travel from 7am on Monday amounts to a 'hard border'.

Unionist politicians, however, said the Garda action undermined Irish Government claims the border could not be policed.

Northern Ireland holiday makers heading to Dublin airport could be hit with a 100 fine from Monday and the new measures will apply to anyone who is "not ordinarily resident" in the Republic.

Buses and trains will also be checked, a Garda spokesperson said, and stressed that fines will be only be enforced as a last resort.

The force explicitly warned that travel to airports to go on holiday was "non-essential".

"An Garda Siochana is also continuing to conduct checkpoints on access roads to airports and ports, as well as in departure areas, to check on whether people travelling to these locations are undertaking an essential journey.

"Travelling to an airport or port to take a holiday abroad is not an essential journey," the Garda said in a statement.

The force said if enforcement is required a fixed payment notice for 100 will be issued to each person who is in breach of the regulation.

The new rules mean the Garda can turn back day-trippers from Northern Ireland.

Under the Republic's current Covid-19 restrictions, travel is restricted to within 5km of a person's home except for essential reasons.

People travelling to an airport or port to take a holiday abroad may also be liable for a 500 fine.

Matthew OToole MLA, the SDLP Brexit spokesman, denied claims the move amounts to a hard border on the island of Ireland.

"Garda are enforcing rules on non-essential travel rules - as they are also doing between counties in the Republic - is clearly not a hard border.

"Constantly amping up misinformation like this helps no one," he said.

East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson, however, said: "This is a bit awkward for Simon Coveney and the 'no hard border' sledgehammer brigade.

"Seems like the RoI government is taking a decent go at hardening the existing international border between their country and Northern Ireland.

"It would seem the Republic can enforce a north-south border when it suits - which once again blows apart their arguments about the NI Protocol and it also demonstrates how hollow their antics have been for the last four years.

"The Irish position was never about the Belfast Agreement or peace. It was entirely self-serving.

"The border deniers will have been left scratching their heads on this one," the MP said.

UUP MLA Doug Beattie said the Garda move was "a game-changer".

"We have been told for four and a half years that not only can we not have a hard border, we cannot have a single camera on the border," he said.

"Within the past week we have seen that the EU is prepared to instigate a hard border and today we find the Garda are ready, willing and able to secure the border from 7am on Monday.

"This is an absolute game changer and means that the entire Brexit negotiations took place under false pretences. Given the fiasco that the Protocol has turned out to be, it is now time to reassess the situation.

"A border was put in the Irish Sea to placate those who promoted veiled threats of a potential return to violence should the hardening of the land border be considered. That has now been exposed as a sham. We must now negotiate an agreement which restores the trading links with the rest of the UK and undoes the damage done to the Belfast Agreement by the Protocol."

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (February 6, 2021) addressed an event marking the Diamond Jubilee of the Gujarat High Court and said that the Rule of Law has been the basis of India's civilization and social fabric.

Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Modi asserted that the judiciary has fulfilled its responsibility as the life force of the Constitution and has always strengthened the Constitution by creatively and positively interpreting it.

"It has served the Rule of Law by meeting its role in the fields of rights and freedom of the citizens," said PM Modi.

The Prime Minister added, "This notion of Rule of Law has been the basis of our civilization and social fabric. It has been the basis of good governance. This infused moral courage in our freedom struggle. This was kept supreme by the makers of the Indian Constitution and Preamble of the Constitution is the manifestation of this pledge. Judiciary has always given energy and direction to this important principle."

PM Modi addressed the event via video conferencing and also released a Commemorative Postage Stamp marking the completion of sixty years of the establishment of the High Court. PM Modi praised the Bench and the Bar of the High Court for their erudite contribution for strengthening Indian judicial system and Indian democracy over the period of 60 years.

Addressing programme to mark Diamond Jubilee of the Gujarat HC. https://t.co/9z193nuYTT  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 6, 2021

He also lauded the role of the Bar in meeting the fundamental goals of justice and emphasized that it is the responsibility of both the executive and judiciary to establish a world-class judicial system that provides a guarantee of timely justice to the person at the lowest rung of the society.

Prime Minister Modi praised the dedication of the judiciary during difficult time of the coronavirus outbreak.

Notably, the Gujarat High Court had started hearing by video conferencing, SMS call-out, e-filing of cases and 'email my case status'. The Court also started streaming of its display board on YouTube and uploaded its judgements and orders on the website. The Gujarat High Court became the first court to stream the court proceeding live.

Prime Minister Modi expressed satisfaction that digital infrastructure put in place by the Law Ministry's e-Courts Integrated Mission Mode Project has been adopted so quickly by the courts.

PM informed that today, more than 18 thousand courts have been computerized and there is a new momentum in e-proceedings in court after the Supreme Court giving legal sanctity to teleconferencing and video conferencing.

"It is a matter of great pride that our Supreme Court has heard the greatest number of cases via video conferencing among all the Supreme Courts of the world," said the Prime Minister.



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This booking provided by the Boulder County Sheriff's Office shows Okey Payne, 95, who police accused of shooting and killing a maintenance worker at his assisted living center, on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021. (Boulder County Sheriff's Office via AP)

Police: Man Shot Assisted Living Worker to Stop Thievery

DENVERA 95-year-old Colorado man accused of shooting and killing a maintenance worker at his assisted living center told police he was tired of staffers stealing money from him and decided to shoot the man to make the thefts stop, according to a court document released Thursday.

Okey Payne was arrested Wednesday in his room at Legacy Assisted Living in Lafayette, 22 miles north of Denver. Investigators say he shot Ricardo Medina-Rojas after confronting him about $200 that he said was missing from his wallet.

Payne said Medina-Rojas mumbled something before he shot him once in the head. Medina-Rojas later died at a hospital.

An arrest affidavit from police says Payne said he confronted another man about the money that he noticed was missing from his wallet on Monday but that man, whose name was redacted from the report, did not reply to him.

On Wednesday, Payne told investigators that he was sitting in the centers lobby watching people and thinking about how to get attention and stop the thefts when he saw Medina-Rojas arriving for work and decided he would shoot him.

A police officer talks on a mobile device outside the Legacy Assisted Living at Lafayette care facility, in Lafayette, Colo., on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. (David Zalubowski/AP Photo)

He also told investigators that he should have waited to talk to another man, whose name was redacted, and shot him instead. Still, Payne said he is glad the thievery will stop.

Okey stated it was too bad he had to waste him (Ricardo), but hes hoping if something good comes from all this is that the stealing will stop, the report said.

Payne was being held on suspicion of first-degree murder as well as menacing because hes accused of waving his handgun at two people who tried to help the victim. Its not known if he has a lawyer yet. He is due to make his first court appearance Friday.

According to the report, Payne used a .45 caliber Automatic Colt Pistol that his father had used during World War I. He told investigators that center staff had taken two other firearms he owned and put them in an off-site storage unit.

Police said Payne was clear-headed and lucid while being interviewed. However, it also said Payne told investigators that he suspected staffers were trying to kill him and take his money, that he was being drugged by staffers because of needle marks he found in his big toe, and that he suspected his ex-wife was working with someone else to steal money from him.

By Colleen Slevin
In yet another show of humanity above all, protesting farmers made way for an ambulance at Singhu border during the chakka jam today. The ambulance was reportedly stuck in the traffic caused due to blockage of roads and highways.

Here's a video posted by NDTV:

Protesting farmers near Kundli border make way for an ambulance #FarmersProtest pic.twitter.com/tJWIQQ8pRQ  NDTV (@ndtv) February 6, 2021

Earlier, farmers made way for an ambulance that was snarled up in the traffic caused by the tractor rally in the national capital on January 26. The video emerged from Indraprastha Park on Outer Ring Road, east Delhi.

Farmers make way for ambulance stuck in #tractorrally



(: Indraprastha Park on Outer Ring Road, east Delhi) pic.twitter.com/m127NXFia1  NDTV (@ndtv) January 26, 2021





The same day another incident was reported from Delhi where protesting farmers rescued a Delhi Police personnel by a section of protesters attempting to assault him at ITO in central Delhi.

#WATCH: Protesting farmers rescue Delhi Police personnel by a section of protesters attempting to assault him at ITO in central Delhi | Track today's latest news here: https://t.co/rONa25YGr8 pic.twitter.com/7w0AbAMyzy  Economic Times (@EconomicTimes) January 26, 2021

Meawhile, the Delhi Police has deployed additional measures, including tightening security and intensifying vigil at Delhi's border points, to deal with any situation emerging out of the proposed 'chakka jam' by farmers protesting against the Centre's farm laws.

The chakka jam is scheduled to be held between 12 noon and 3 PM on Saturday. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the united front of farmers protesting against new farm laws, has urged protesters to hold chakka jam peacefully and has invited all countrymen to join farmers in ending it at 3 PM by continuously honking their vehicles for one minute. The Congress has lent its support to the chakka jam.


In a tragic incident, a woman and her mother were killed by her jilted lover after she got engaged to someone else. The incident happened on Friday in Chennai.

The man, identified as Bhoopalan alias Satish had set ablaze his colleague Ranjitha and her widowed mother Venkatammal on Friday night after an argument.

Representational Image

According to police, Bhoopalan, who is an engineering graduate was working as a Corporation worker where Ranjitha also used to work.

In a relationship for years

The duo was in a relationship for years, but Ranjitha recently got engaged to someone else.

Angered by this, Boopalan went to her house at Anantanayagi Nagar in Korukkupet and was having an argument with Ranjitha and her mother. However, the argument escalated and he poured kerosene over the mother and daughter and set them ablaze before ending his life.

Hearing their cries, the neighbours informed police who arrived to find three charred bodies.

Image For Representation/Reuters

"On learning that the woman was engaged to be married, Bhoopalan, who was also from Anantanayagi Nagar, went to her house with a can of kerosene and resorted to the crime," an official said.

The police team also found a kerosene can.

represenatational pic

"The place reeked of kerosene when police entered the house. All the three people were identified and as per procedure the bodies were sent to the Stanley Government Hospital, here, for autopsy," he told PTI.

The woman's father had died two years ago and following his death, she was offered a job at the Chennai Corporation on compassionate grounds.

If you know anyone battling with depression or other mental health issues, please reach out to someone who can help. AASRA Foundation: 022 2754 6669 Samaritans Mumbai: +91 84229 84528 / +91 84229 84529 / +91 84229 84530 Sanjivini Society for Mental Health: +911124311918


In December, we reviewed a film from Iceland, And Breathe Normally, directed by Isold Uggadottir, that spoke revealingly and movingly to problems that exist all over the planet. The American filmmaking community, a somewhat larger pool, has rarely, if ever, in recent years produced such an accurate picture of the relentless, everyday pressures of working class life.

Isold Uggadottir

Lara (Kristin Thora Haraldsdottir), an economically hard-pressed young woman on her own with a son, becomes involved in the life and difficulties of Adja (Babetida Sadjo), a refugee from Guinea-Bissau. Adja, forced to leave her own country because of her sexual orientation, finds herself in a crowded, chaotic refugee detention center near the airport while her application for asylum in Iceland is considered. She has become separated from her daughter, who has traveled on to Canada.

Lara, who has begun a job with the border police, and her child have to leave their apartment and now live in their car. As we wrote, Adja comes to realize that Lara and Eldar [her son] are homeless. In a touching and also amusing turn of events, the refugee makes room for the pair in her room at the detention center. In certain ways, they are worse off than she is. Adja begins taking Eldar to school, although their communications are very limited.

Uggadottir has made a work with its feet, so to speak, firmly planted on the ground. She expresses a lack of interest in the picturesque and romanticized vision of Iceland to which we have often been subjected.

The WSWS recently spoke to Uggadottir, who makes her home in Reykjavik, Icelands capital and largest city.

* * * * *

David Walsh: Can you tell me something about your background, and how the idea for And Breathe Normally originated?

Isold Uggadottir: I moved to New York City in 2001, and I went to New York University, originally not to study film. I was apprehensive about the title director, about not succeeding in that competitive world, so I started in something called Interactive Communications, which is multi-media, and I did a lot of editing and so forth. From there, I got a job in New York editing documentary films.

And Breathe Normally (directed by Isold Uggadottir)

It was a way for me to feel like I was part of the scene, while I was educating myself and getting to know myself and which stories I wanted to tell. Four years after I moved to New York I finally decided that it was time to direct my own film. That was a short film shot on Super 16 mm, which to me was a big deal, because I wanted it to be a film that was properly made. That was film about a lesbian, who travels to her hometown of Reykjavik, carrying a secret, only to have other secrets revealed to her. It was a bit of a dark comedy, with a serious undertone. Much to my surprise it got into the Sundance festival. This was early 2007.

That gave me the courage to continue. It was almost as though I had to prove to myself that I had something to say. This short film did not really receive any official funding. It was made on a shoestring budget. I knew that the second short film would likely be funded, because the first one traveled to over 100 film festivals. I was very diligent. I would sit there non-stop, licking envelopes, sending the film all over the world.

The second short film was funded, it was a film about troubled youth, about a troubled young couple, with some level of abuse involved. And then I made two more short films after that. Eventually, I applied to Columbia University film school in New York, where I completed my Masters degree. It was kind of a turning point. I thought now, this is what I will do with my life. My thesis there was a narrative about the economic crisis in Iceland, which did affect my studies at Columbia.

As I was beginning in 2008, we were in the midst of an economic crisis, so all of a sudden everything changed. The Icelandic currency became quite worthless, I would monitor the exchange rate and it was out of control. I would be online watching the protests; I watched the collapse of one government and a new government come to power. I would follow all the Icelandic talk shows, and I became very economically aware, because I had to be. My Icelandic krona had become something of a joke.

When I finished Columbia in 2011, I had lived in New York for 10 years, studying and working in the film field. I felt that I was so aware of the economic situation that it did influence the feature film, And Breathe Normally, that eventually developed. I expected that it would be more influenced directly by the financial collapse than it proved to be. When I moved back to Iceland and started living here again, I noticed something I had not noticed before, and that was the presence of refugees who had fled to our country. Their stories sometimes made it into the local press and caught my attention. So, I started attending a lot of talks, becoming involved in the world of refugees and getting a better grasp of the background of those who ended up in Iceland. I knew now my feature film would involve the economic situation and also refugees.

And Breathe Normally

It was an organic development, because I did not move to Iceland and set out to tackle stories about immigrants or refugees. It was a bit funny; I came back after 10 years. I had been a student, and I was quite poor. We have these dark winters, and I could feel my own First World level of poverty, which of course is not comparable to that of anyone truly struggling with poverty, but I wasnt a 20-year-old anymore. I was in my late 30s, so a lot of my peers had their lives together. And here I was not having it all together, and also feeling the darkness quite strongly. I decided to write a script, so I did not get a conventional job with a regular income. I spent that year developing a story about a mother and a child, and a cat, and their losing their home, living in their car.

I was invited to some workshops, both in Mexico and Los Angeles, to continue with the material. The Americans said, it feels very European, which was sort of a compliment, but also something of a dig. In other words, this is not very commercial, if you will. Something stuck with me when the adviser said, you might consider having more characters in your film, not just this simple sort of skeletal story of this struggling mother. So this remained with melet me think about more characters. I also thought, oh, what does she know, she wants me to turn this into some Hollywood picture.

I came back to Iceland, with notes from many people. As I was thinking about new characters, that is when I became aware of the refugees around me. I thought I should become involved; I became a volunteer at the Red Cross. I got to know a woman from Uganda, who had fled the country due to her sexuality. Of course, I was there as a volunteer, but to be entirely truthful, I was also researching at the same time. I wanted to know things, I wanted to understand more.

We are still friends; it has been almost 10 years. It is shocking, because we live in a country where no one would have to fear for their life because of their sexuality. I wanted to treat this in some way. So, I knew that I would use this element in the film. I had the two ideas, an Icelandic mother with a child and a cat, and a refugee. What is logical? How can they meet? Perhaps at the airport. It becomes like a puzzle.

I also spent time in an airport town, and it happens to be a poverty-stricken area. It is the area that has the most social problems in Iceland, and it is only an hour away from Reykjavik. I would drive around the town. I knew that a lot of the people there worked at the airport, which is the biggest employer. Now there is much more unemployment, of course, due to COVID, because there is no more travel or tourism.

It was logical that I would have a character who worked at the airport. Then, through connections, I met people living in this town. Some of them had histories of drug addiction or some other issue, and they would tell me their stories. I was collecting stories, trying to inspire myself, trying to keep it interesting. It is a bit of a lonely job, to sit around and write a screenplay from scratch. It is not like going to work, with colleagues. I found every distraction I could, and tried to make every connection I could, which involved hanging out at the refugee asylum in the airport town and trying to gain the trust of those I met.

I also had a fear of not knowing the stories, of making something up that did not feel authentic. So that was also part of the motivation. If I am going to do this, it has to be truthful, accurate. Eventually, I wrote to the border patrol at the Keflavik Airport, and they were impressed to begin witha film! I became acquainted with policemen there. They view the situation from their own perspective, like they are guarding the borders. We arrest these people, and theyre released and suddenly theyre at the local swimming pool with our kids. Our politics were not always in synch, but I was trying to learn. I took notes. I needed their side of things too, for my own purposes.

The lead actors [Kristin Thora Haraldsdottir and Babetida Sadjo] did their work. Babetida is from Guinea-Bissau, living in Brussels, and she had some familiarity with people being persecuted for their sexuality. I had to trust that the actor would be able to do her homework, make her preparations, also knowing that she could feel and look authentic. Even at the first audition, Babetida showed up in character. In real life, she is a very glamorous woman, but in the audition she totally fooled me. She knew what we were going for.

Both actresses put in a lot of preparation and were excited about the story. Kristin did a lot of listening to podcasts and researching peoples personal stories, doing her own research. We had limited time, the three of us together, because one was living in Belgium, while we two were living in Reykjavik. We used our time as wisely as we could. The rehearsals did not entail so much playing scenes, but discussing the material and understanding where the women were coming from, and coming to know these characters.

Perhaps because neither actress had had any huge role in films thus far, they even put in extra effort, they really did a lot of homework and put themselves out on the set itself. It was a difficult set, we had limited time because of limited funding. We were outdoors, in all kinds of weather. It was often windy and cold. Then we had a cat, and a child, and groups of refugees, who were non-actors. So, it was challenging, draining.

And Breathe Normally from Iceland

DW: As I said in the review, I thought there were a number of unusual aspects to the film. The actress, Kristin, who played Lara expressed throughout the film a level of everyday social pressure that you do not normally find. Did she understand your intentions and begin with that, did you direct her in certain ways, or was it a combination of your efforts?

IU: It is probably a combination of factors. Of course, when I was casting in Iceland and met a number of actresses, she was the one with the most intensity. One of the scenes we auditioned with was a scene in the car, the moment of truth, where the African woman calls Lara out, asking the truth about her life. I felt that it was a delicate moment, which could slip into something contrived. Kristin did it so well that I forgot it was my own writing, I believed it, I felt for her. She would hold something down, creating a situation where the emotion you do not show is more interesting than the emotion you do show. She came in very capable, each day very prepared, intense.

Of course, we did more than one take of a given scene. We wanted to push it, but we did not want it to be overly dramatic, we wanted it to be just at that point  where you feel it, without going over the top. It is hard to tell you right now why something works, but I think the key is to bring on the person who has the talent and emotion and intensity.

DW: Her face communicated a great deal.

IU: Sometimes when you are writing a script, you tend to write more than is needed, so sometimes, as we would rehearse, I would say, forget that line, all we need is a reaction, a facial expression. When you are writing, it feels like you have to have more explanation, but often you dont need it, you realize that on the set.

DW: Especially with a performer who contributes something more, who adds.

IU: I am of the school that less is more. That is something Im drawn to.

I have been drawn to social realism in general, events and things feeling authentic and true, Im not attracted to fantasy, to Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, that doesnt do much for me. Real life does.

DW: The women are from very different backgrounds, but, again, unusually, the film brings their situations together and creates a certain equality or equivalence. This was presumably a conscious decision on your part?

IU: We get close to both of them. They are both mothers. They both have a tendency to be proud, to be unwilling to ask for help or reveal that they are in dire straits. So, they have this toughness about them. Perhaps on the inside they are breaking, but they are trying to save face. Only through happenstance, by which they are thrown together, they get to witness one another in delicate moments and open up to reveal what is really going on.

DW: The question of their sexual orientation is dealt with discreetly, or quietly. Was that a deliberate choice?

IU: I always have this fear of things being too overt. Producers and others asked me, does the Icelandic woman have to be gay? And I would say, there is no particular reason, it is just that she is. It is not a statement about that. I did want to isolate her to a certain extent, so that she did not have a fulltime partner. There was an on-and-off lover, which can happen when things are chaotic. Financially, she is in trouble, there is the housing situation, her love life, everything is chaotic. It was a way of keeping her a bit alone.

The sexuality of the African woman was a more important element, because it is what propels her to leave her home country, and it is part of her back-story. I wanted to reveal that through the course of the film. In the early stages of development, I did envision that perhaps they would become lovers of sorts. I thought that might be interesting, but I thought, I am just going to write this and see what happens. Because they had so much going on, if there had suddenly been this grand affair, it would have been too much.

One of the women is trying to reconnect with her daughter, who has flown to another country, and the other is in the midst of trying to secure a new home, new job. They could bond as humans, there might be some attraction or fascination, but not an affair that we would recognize as a Hollywood affair.

DW: I think it was the proper choice, artistically and dramatically. It is suggested, but it does not become the center of things. Under those desperate conditions, it could not be the center of things. They would be very different people. You and I both know that there are people who would launch into a soap opera drama even in the midst of such circumstances, no matter what the cost. These women are not that self-indulgent or selfish.

IU: I had to take turns being in each ones head. I would ask myself: whose movie is this? If there had been a real proper moment where I could have made it work, that is one thing. But I was not going to push it.

DW: If I may ask, what is the situation with the pandemic in Iceland? I know the death total is low.

IU: We are happy with the official response; it has been well-managed. They have let the specialists run the show. On the other hand, there is a lot of unemployment because of the collapse of tourism. Tourism is our great industry, what we survive on in many ways. It is dead at the moment. There has been government support for people in the most dire straits, but it feels like the true effects have yet to be felt.

People are barely getting by, they are getting unemployment benefits, but we will see. Iceland will be a different country, because we were such travel destination for a while there. For some of us, it had gotten way out of control. So, there is a bit of, thank the lord, we have a little peace. But we will see. The US situation is a complete disaster, so we are grateful to have it a bit better than those across the pond.

DW: What has been the reaction to the January 6 coup attempt in Washington?

IU: People are in disbelief. But then people were in disbelief for the four years that Donald Trump was in office. They are relieved that he is gone, and that we will not have to see this man anymore.

DW: Well, we will have to see what the new government brings.

And Breathe Normally will be screened, along with a Q&A session with Isold Uggadottir, in early March at an online event, Nordic Women in Film: https://www.wifti.net/event/nordic-women-in-film-2021/


Shuffling bubbles reveal how liquid foams evolve

Tokyo, Japan - Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University studied the dynamics of foams. When a drop of water was added to a foam raft, the bubbles rearranged themselves to reach a new stable state. The team found that bubble movement was qualitatively different depending on the range of bubble sizes present. Along with analogies with soft-jammed materials, these findings may inspire the design of new foam materials for industry.

Foams are everywhere. Whether it's soaps and detergents, meringues, beer foam, cosmetics or insulation for clothing and building, we're surrounded by everyday materials featuring a foam material. The application of foams tends to take advantage of their unique structure, which is why understanding how their structure can change over time is so important.

A team led by Prof. Rei Kurita of Tokyo Metropolitan University have been studying liquid foams, like those made with detergent and water at home. They were interested in understanding how the bubbles of a foam rearrange themselves. While previous studies usually applied a force to the foam with a prod to the side, the team adopted the much gentler method of adding a tiny amount of water, preserving the bubbles but changing the conditions enough for the bubbles to rearrange themselves and find a new stable state. This made it much easier to see how subtle environmental nudges or perturbations lead to small, isolated bubble relaxation events.

By filming the bubbles rearranging themselves, the team showed for the first time that rearrangements were fundamentally different depending on the range of bubble sizes present in the foam. When the bubbles were roughly the same size, or monodisperse, they arranged themselves in a hexagonal, honeycomb formation. Upon adding water, the bubbles that moved tended to shuffle in the same direction over long distances, along the lines of the honeycomb. Conversely, when there were many small and large particles, the initial arrangement was much less ordered. Rearrangements in this polydisperse foam were random, with adjacent bubbles moving in all sorts of directions. The videos they took allowed the team to extract a dynamical correlation length, the length scale over which bubbles move in similar directions. Tracking how this length changes under different conditions is crucial to placing foam materials within the broad framework of condensed matter physics. Interestingly, the unique correlated motion observed in the hexagonal foam didn't depend on adjacent bubbles being in contact: they simply needed to be close enough to form well-ordered patterns.

The team went on to compare this behavior to simulations of packings of soft particles with different ranges of sizes. They found very similar behavior, showing clearly that this was not a quirk of liquid foams, but a general feature of soft particles that have been jammed together. These insights into how foams react to the subtlest of environmental cues may one day inform how foams are kept stable or fluid, and how soft jammed materials are handled in industrial processes.

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This work was supported by a JSPS Research Fellowship for Young Scientists (20J11840) and JSPS KAKENHI Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (17H02945 and 20H01874).

This story has been published on: 2021-02-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
In this Jan 7 file photo, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., bows her head during a closing prayer of a joint session of the House and Senate to confirm Electoral College votes at the Capitol in Washington. On Friday, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly asserting that Ocasio-Cortez falsely claimed she faced rioters in the main Capitol building during the Jan. 6 insurrection. In a Feb. 2 Instagram Live video where the congresswomen opened up about the Capitol attack and her past sexual assault, she explained that she was in her office in a neighboring building on the Capitol complex, where she experienced a frightening encounter with a Capitol Police officer who she said didnt announce himself.

Agitate by night: Mo Dhaliwal, the pro-Khalistani whose toolkit Thunberg used

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 06: A day after Greta Thunberg took to Twitter and extended support to the farmers' protests, the Indian agencies found that a pro-Khalistan activist, Mo Dhaliwal based in Canada had helped create the toolkit.

It was also found that the toolkit was created with an intention of defaming country and inciting violence, while taking advantage of the farmer protests.

Dhaliwal is the founder of the organisation, Poetic Justice Foundation. Dhaliwal is the founder and director of strategy of the Vancouver based digital branding creative agency called Skyrocket. He is an alumnus of the University of Fraser Valley in British Columbia.

On Thunberg, Delhi cops say probing toolkit case

Dhaliwal has done his two year business administration diploma course from the University of Fraser Valley. On his Twitter profile, he bio reads 'build brands and digital products by day. Agitate by night.

He had also coined the slogan, love and courage for the 2017 New Democratic Party leadership of Jagmeet Singh. Dhaliwal had written, "I am a Khalistani. You might not know this about me. Why? Because Khalistan is an idea. Khalistan is a living, breathing movement."

In a recent video, he had said, if anybody tells you that this battle is going to end with the repeal of the farm bill, this is because they are trying to drain energy from this movement. They are trying to tell you that you are separate from Punjab, and you are separate from the Khalistan movement. You are not.

And at some point, you have to understand the feeling and the emotion that the Khalistan group is bringing to this, he said in a video, the authenticity of which is being ascertained.

Greta Thunberg, the new muse of the left ecosystems pretence: Amar Bhushan

Delhi metro stations to avoid amid farmers Chakka jam | Oneindia News

On September 17 2020, he urged people to sign a petition against the Ottawa-based public policy think-tank, Macdonald-Laurier Institute for publishing a report called Khalistan-A project of Pakistan.

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Story first published: Saturday, February 6, 2021, 8:01 [IST]
The worlds longest running global polling network, Gallup International, has assessed public perception of government responses to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. As Caspian News reports, according to the results of the survey published on January 28, the vast majority or 86 percent of Azerbaijans residents are satisfied with the governments efforts aimed at curbing the spread of the pandemic. Along with the Azerbaijanis, the leading supporters of the government measures for fighting Covid-19 are the residents of Vietnam (100 percent), South Korea (89 percent), and India (86 percent).

People around the world do not share a common assessment of the anti-coronavirus measures, according to Romir, an exclusive representative of Gallup International in Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. The survey found out that 54 percent of the worlds population believe that their government is successfully coping with the coronavirus pandemic, while 42 percent think otherwise. The rest 4 percent is neither optimist nor pessimist about anti-Covid 19 measures taken in their countries.

The highest level of disagreement with the state-run campaigns to tackle the spread of coronavirus was registered in Ukraine (77 percent), Bosnia and Herzegovina (75 percent), and the United States (67 percent), according to the survey results.

For a long time, the topic of the pandemic has not left the news feeds, and with new waves of diseases, citizens are not sure that restrictive measures are beneficial. One feels tired of the new format of life, both moral and financial, which is reflected in a decrease in satisfaction with the governments actions, Andrey Milekhin, Vice President of Gallup International and President of Romir, commented on the study results.

As of February 4, the overall number of people infected with COVID-19 in Azerbaijan stood at 230,769. Recovery and fatality rates stood at 224,431 and 3,148 respectively. More than 2.4 million tests have been conducted in the country to date.

COVID-19 patients are treated in around 50 hospitals and clinics in Azerbaijan. More than 10 new hospitals with over 10,000 beds have been launched during the pandemic. Local doctors are assisted by the healthcare specialists invited from Turkey, Cuba, Italy, China, and Russia. The government allocated more than $2.5 billion from the state budget to help mitigate the negative outcomes of the pandemic on the people and businesses.

Azerbaijan also donated $10 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) in its global efforts aimed at fighting the deadly pandemic.

Meanwhile, 62,398 healthcare workers in Azerbaijan had received their first doses of the Chinese-made CoronaVAC vaccine as of February 2. Previously, Azerbaijan placed an order for four million doses of the CoronaVAC vaccine manufactured by the Chinese SinoVac company. The country had also joined COVAX, a campaign co-led by the vaccine alliance Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and the World Health Organization (WHO). As part of the initiative, Azerbaijan will receive two million doses of vaccine for one million people.
A new nationwide 55 million investment by Failte Ireland will provide a welcome boost for tourism businesses in Longford, Fine Gael Senator Micheal Carrigy has said.

Funding for the Tourism Business Continuity Scheme was announced in Budget 2021 and Failte Ireland is responsible for developing and administering the scheme.

Senator Carrigy said: The scheme will support those tourism businesses that were not eligible for the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) payment or previous Failte Ireland continuity grant schemes.

I am confident this will have a positive impact on the industry in Longford and will be key to helping it survive and thrive in the year ahead.

The first phase of the Scheme opens for applications on the 11th February 2021 to businesses including outdoor activity providers, visitor attractions not eligible for CRSS, caravan and camping providers registered with Failte Ireland and Cruise

Hire companies who meet the eligibility criteria.

The Government will continue to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy and ensure that appropriate supports are in place.
The UN Security Council on Thursday instructed Secretary General Antonio Guterres to deploy ceasefire monitors to war-torn Libya.

"As they examine your recommendation for an amended mandate for the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), the members of the Security Council request that you establish and deploy swiftly an advance team to Libya," the council said in a letter to Guterres that was seen by AFP.

Libya has been torn by civil war since a NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and killing of long-time dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.

Control of the country is now split between the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) and its rival, the eastern-based House of Representatives backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar, who launched a failed offensive to seize the capital in 2019.

A fragile ceasefire agreed in Geneva in October has largely held, despite threats by Haftar to resume fighting.

In the letter, the council said it expected within 45 days to receive reporting on preparations undertaken by the advance team and practical proposals for amending the mandate of the UN mission in Libya.

In a report late last year, Guterres called for the creation of an unarmed observer group for Libya, made up of civilians and retired military people from countries of the African Union, the European Union and the Arab League. He did not say how big it should be.

- Foreign fighters -

Deployment of ceasefire observers is being carried out with the approval of the parties in Libya.

The advance team of the observer force is expected to comprise around 30 people, diplomats said.

Under the ceasefire agreement reached by the warring parties, international observers are supposed to monitor the truce and oversee the departure of foreign fighters from Libya.

These number some 20,000, the UN says.

According to the UN, Haftar has the backing of the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia, particularly mercenaries from a private group with links to Vladimir Putin. The GNA is supported by Turkey and Syrian rebels transferred to Libya.

Mercenaries in Libya include several thousand each from Syria and Sudan and a thousand from Chad, a diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

In late January, the United States under new President Joe Biden called for the immediate withdrawal of Russian and Turkish forces from Libya, after a deadline for them to leave was ignored.

Russia denies having any military personnel in Libya.
Photo taken by a photographer on Dec 22, 2018 shows the white cranes at the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve in East China's Shandong province. (Photo/Xinhua)

Another 517 types of wild animals, including birds that are kept as pets by some people for their beautiful songs, will no longer be hunted or traded after the first major change in 32 years to the List of Wild Animals under State Priority Conservation.

The list, jointly released on Friday by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, now protects a total of 980 wild animals in China.

On the list, 234 wild animals are under level-one protection, the highest level, while the other 746 are protected as level-two species.

The first version of the list was published in 1989, and it has played a crucial role in the protection of wild animals in China.

The list has only witnessed two changes in the past 32 yearsmusk deer being upgraded to level-one protection in 2003 and a similar upgrading for Chinese pangolins last year.

Of the animals on the list, some are familiar ones such as the hwameia type of thrushand the horsfield's bush lark, both of which can be seen in many pet markets, as well as seven subspecies of woodpeckers that used to be a common sight in many regions.

"Those birds have seen a sharp population decline in the past decades due to illegal hunting and climate change that resulted in the environmental degradation of their habitats," said Yang Xiaojun, a researcher from Kunming Institute of Zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Although there has been no nationwide survey on the change in the population of those birds, Yang said sightings in the wild of the hwamei or the horsfield's bush lark had been much rarer during his field investigations in recent years.

"The new list came just in time and will help to save those valuable and endangered wild animals. It will also benefit China's biological diversity and the ecological balance," Yang said.

While all of the animals on the old list remain on the new one, 65 speciessome of which are critically endangered and globally known, such as Yangtze finless porpoisehave had their protection status upgraded to the highest level.

The Yangtze finless porpoise, a member of the cetacea family and one of only two mammals in the Yangtze River, was listed as "critically endangered" on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2013.

It suffered a sharp population decline due to the loss of its habitat and the impact of human activities, such as illegal hunting, fishing and more rapid urbanization, according to Liu Wenbin, a professor from the College of Animal Science and Technology at Nanjing Agricultural University.

Currently, China has fewer than 1,200 Yangtze finless porpoise living in the wild, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

China has made resolute efforts in recent years to protect its wildlife and has achieved significant results.

For example, the Assam macaque, the Capra sibirica and the Burmese python have seen stable population growth thanks to conservation efforts in the past years.

According to the notice released by National Forestry and Grassland Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on Friday, the administration will be in charge of work related to the protection of the 686 territorial animals on the list while the ministry will be responsible for the 294 aquatic animals.

The two departments will provide detailed guidance to governments at all levels to help them better protect the wild animals as well as their habitats, and crack down on illegal hunting and trading of the species.

The notice said public education on the protection of wild animals will also be promoted nationwide, and called for more involvement from the whole of society in this effort.

"The new list will be a crucial step in protecting China's wild animals and its biodiversity. I hope the list can be upgraded regularly, such as once every five or 10 years and can provide more protection to other species that need it," said Jiang Zhigang, a researcher from the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The EU has been accused of 'kissing the backside of Russia,' as it turns to Moscow to help make up for a shortfall in vaccine supplies.

Russia recently expelled three European diplomats from Sweden, Germany and Poland, after they observed protests calling for the release of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Despite the row, the EU's foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell yesterday held a joint press conference with Russia's foreign mininster, Sergey Lavrov.

Mr Borrell congratulated Russia for its Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine, before pushing the independent European Medicines Agency to authorise the jab so that EU citizens can use it.

US officials believe Mr Borrell 'got played,' by Russia, as they push for a united front against the country amid calls for it to release Mr Navalny.

US sources say Josep Borrell (left) got 'played,' by Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov (right), after the EU's foreign affairs chief congratulated Russia's Sputnik V vaccine and called for its approval in Europe

Speaking at Friday's press conference, Mr Borrell said: 'I take the floor to just congratulate Russia for this success. It's good news for the whole mankind because it means we are going to have more tools to face the pandemic.'

A former senior US official for Barack Obama told The Daily Telegraph: 'Borrell should not have gone to Moscow in the absence of securing some kind of substantial deliverable in advance... It does look like the Russians played Borrell.'

Putting it bluntly, former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: 'This is an example of the EU kissing the backside of Russia.'

Mr Borrell congratulated Russia on the same day the country expelled three EU diplomats for observing protests calling for the release of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The diplomats from Germany, Poland and Sweden have been declared 'persona non grata' and were required to leave Russia 'shortly'

An unnamed EU diplomat added: 't was not a good performance by Mr Borrell. He was unprepared. Mr Lavrov played by his own rules and got everything he wanted.'

Mr Borrell insists he called for Mr Navalny's release when he met with the Russian foreign minister, as well as calling for an investigation into the opposition leader's poisoning.

Mr Navalny, 44, an anti-corruption investigator and Russian President Vladimir Putin's most prominent critic, was arrested on January 17 on returning from Germany where he spent five months recovering from a nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin.

Russian authorities have rejected the accusation.

On Tuesday, a Moscow court ruled that while in Germany, Mr Navalny violated probation terms of his suspended sentence from a 2014 money-laundering conviction, and ordered him to serve two years and eight months in prison. The ruling prompted international outrage.

Tens of thousands of people across Russia took to the streets last month to protest against the arrest of Mr Navalny, the Kremlin's most prominent critic.

According to the ministry among them in St Pertersburg were Swedish and Polish diplomats while Germany's joined people in Moscow on January 23.

As a result they have been declared 'persona non grata' and were required to leave Russia 'shortly'.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: 'This is an example of the EU kissing the backside of Russia,' as European leaders condemned the expulsion of three diplomats

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said of the decision: 'We consider this expulsion unjustified and think it is another facet of the things that can be seen in Russia at the moment that are pretty far from the rule of law.'

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the expulsions and what happened to Mr Navalny 'from the beginning to the end', and expressed solidarity with Germany, Poland and Sweden.

Yesterday Dominic Raab tweeted: 'The expulsion of German, Polish and Swedish diplomats from Russia for simply doing their jobs is a crude attempt to distract from Russia's targeting of opposition leaders, protestors and journalists.

'We stand in solidarity with our European friends in the face of this unjustified action. This is the latest in a series of actions, since the poisoning of @Navalny, which shows the Russian government turning its back on international law.'
LeM chief arrested in Jammu; major terror strike foiled

India

oi-Deepika S

Srinagar, Feb 06: Jammu and Kashmir police on Saturday said it has foiled a major terror strike here with the timely arrest of a most wanted terrorist and self-styled commander of Lashkar-e-Mustafa, believed to be a frontal organisation of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

The arrest of Hidayatullah Malik alias Hasnain, an 'A' category terrorist from Shopian district, when he was in a private car was made by a joint team of Anantnag and Jammu police from Kunjwani area in the outskirts of Jammu city, a police spokesperson said.

He said Malik was one of the 10 accused in a case related to detection of a powerful car bomb which was later destroyed on the spot to avert any major mishap in Pulwama district in May last year.

His seven other associates were earlier arrested from different parts of south Kashmir over the past month. "In order to dismantle the structure of Lashkar-e-Mustafa, the efforts of Anantnag Police led to the arrest of its self styled chief.

The first arrest in this chain was Ayaz Bhat of Anantnag from whom one pistol was recovered on January 18," the spokesperson said.

4G mobile internet services restored in entire Jammu and Kashmir after 18 months

On the disclosure of Bhat, two more terror associates -- Rayees Mir of Pampore and Shakir Itoo of Shopian -- were arrested and two grenades were recovered from their possession, the spokesperson said, adding four more terror associates hailing from Anantnag were arrested and two pistols, AK-47 rounds and hand grenades were recovered.

During the further course of investigation, he said the arrested terrorist associates revealed that Malik was putting up in Bathindi area of Jammu and planning a major attack in Jammu.

"Accordingly, a special team of Anantnag Police was constituted and deputed to Jammu to launch the operation. At about 3:30 pm, an operation was launched with the assistance of Jammu police at Kunjwani Jammu," the spokesperson said.

During the joint operation, he said the terrorist attacked the joint party and tried to escape from the spot but the team apprehended him tactfully from the crowded place.

Incriminating materials, arms and ammunition including two pistols and grenades have been recovered from his possession, the spokesperson said.

Earlier, Senior Superintendent of Police, Jammu, Shridhar Patil said a private vehicle was intercepted by police at Kunjwani bypass on a specific information leading to the arrest of the wanted terrorist.

He said the terrorist attacked the police officer leading the party in an attempt to escape but was overpowered.

"He is being questioned," the officer said, adding more details would be shared as the investigation progresses.

Officials said another person from Shopian, believed to be an associate of the arrested terrorist who reportedly travelled with him from Kashmir to Jammu, was arrested from Bathindi Saturday evening.

Both of them were living at a rented accommodation in the area, the officials said, adding further details were awaited.

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Story first published: Saturday, February 6, 2021, 22:48 [IST]
Farmers protesting against the Centre's new agri laws and other issues blocked roads at several places in on Saturday on the call given by the farmers' unions for a nationwide 'chakka jam'.

Farmers' unions had on Monday announced a countrywide 'chakka jam' from 12 noon to 3 pm on February 6 when they would block and state highways in protest against the Internet ban in areas near their agitation sites, harassment allegedly meted out to them by authorities, and other issues.

Farmers at many places including Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Dholpur and Jhalawar in the state blocked the highways and main roads and held demonstrations, police said.

However, there is no news of any untoward incident so far, they said.

The Congress has also supported the call. In a tweet, Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasara said the party supports the protesting farmers.

"The Pradesh Congress Committee supports the farmers' unions call to block and state highways from 12 noon to 3 pm today. All Congressmen are requested to take necessary steps to make this blockade successful and ensure it is peaceful," Dotasra said in the tweet.

(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.)
Punjab National Bank, the second-largest public sector lender, has received loan restructuring requests worth Rs 12,000 crore out of the 40,000 crore it had anticipated on account of stress due to the Covid-19 pandemic on businesses and individuals, the bank's Managing Director Mallikarjuna Rao said.

Out of the total restructuring requests, restructuring sought for corporate loans has been worth Rs 9,000 crore, and these have been invoked as on December 31. The process of restructuring will be completed in the current quarter, Rao said.

In August last year, the RBI had announced a one-time restructuring for personal and corporate borrowers impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Restructuring requests have not been as we were expecting, Rao said.

One of the reasons is that retail borrowers availed moratorium, and did not feel the need to restructure loans.

Rao said that PNB has retained its gross NPA (non-performing assets) ratio guidance at below 14 per cent and net NPA at 5 per cent by March-end.

The bank has not classified any account as a bad loan which was not an NPA as on August 31, 2020, based on the Supreme Courts blanket ban on fresh recognition of soured loans. However, the lender has made a contingent provision of Rs 2,520 crore for such accounts that were not classified as NPA. If the bank would have classified such accounts as NPA, the lenders gross NPA and net NPA ratio would have been 14.71 per cent and 5.65 per cent, respectively, PNB said while announcing its October-December earnings Friday.

While the challenge has been there for Q3, though Supreme Court judgement is a holding back on (the) identification of NPA, but January appears to be much better in terms of the collections, he said.



ALSO READ: PNB net profit declines 18% QoQ to Rs 506 crore in December quarter

Expecting Rs 8000 crores in cash recoveries

Recoveries have been better in January, Rao said, and the bank is expecting cash recovery of Rs 3,800 crore from the resolution of Bhushan Power. Good amount of recovery is also expected from the resolution of DHFL where bidding has been concluded. These two accounts will help in achieving the target for recoveries.

"Besides NCLT, the recovery has been moderate, he said.

Rao also said the bank has a good amount of real estate property after amalgamation with Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India, and the bank expects to realise Rs 500 crore by selling non-core assets by June 2021.

Bad Bank

Setting up a bad bank will not require high capital initially, Rao said. The bad bank will not be required to purchase any assets, and assets will just be transferred by the banks, an exercise which will not need high capital.

The capital requirement would be to the extent of 10-15 per cent of cash that will have to be given to The remaining will be in the form of security receipts

Setting up of a bad bank will help buyers in acquiring assets at one-go where many are involved in a consortium, Rao said.

Bidders currently face problems with participating in bids from various in a consortium. Now bidders will get to transparently bid for assets and acquire them in totality, he added.
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Within his first two weeks in office, President Biden has signed an unprecedented number of executive orders  47.

Writing for Quartz (1/31/21), Amanda Shendruk notes, Joe Biden has been US president for less than two weeks and has already issued nearly as many executive action as Trump and Obama did in the same period, combined. [Emphasis hers]

These include:

Memorandum on Protecting Womens Health at Home and Abroad. The Mexico City Policy. Translation: abortions in other countries, paid for by you and me.

Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation. Boys identifying as girls can use the womens restroom and locker-room. And bye-bye, womens sports.

Proclamation on Ending Discriminatory Bans on Entry to the United States. Translation: We will not discriminate against would-be immigrants, including violent jihadists.

Paris Climate Agreement and Executive Order on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis. With the stroke of his pen, he has already cost thousands of U.S. jobs in a move based on questionable scientific premises.

And on it goes with a radical agenda.

Even the editorial board of The New York Times (1/27/21) published an op-ed: Ease Up on the Executive Actions, Joe. They said, legislating through Congress is a better path.

One politician pointed out that to govern by executive orders makes us more of a dictatorship than a democracy. We need consensus, said he. He also observed: I have this strange notion. We are a democracy. Some of my Republican friends and some of my Democratic friends even say: well if you cant get the votes, by executive order youre going to do something, things you cant do by executive order unless youre a dictator.

Who said these things? Then-candidate Joe Biden in a town hall with George Stephanopoulis on October 15, 2020.

Into the third week of the Biden presidency, it appears to be the third term of President Obama. The 44th president once famously declared: Ive got a pen and Ive got a phone, and I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions that move the ball forward.

In other words, if the peoples representatives (in the House and Senate) dont act quickly enough or do what I want them to do, then Ill issue executive orders to get my will done. Biden is continuing this tradition  and then some. He has slim majorities in both the House and Senate, but he is bypassing even them.

One doctrine the founding fathers of America seemed to agree upon is revealed in the Bible and proven by all history  that man is a sinner. Therefore, power was to be separated into three distinct branches of government. As James Madison, a key architect of the Constitution, once put it, All men having power ought to be distrusted.

Madison also observed (in Federalist #47): The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.

What Biden, and Obama before him, have engaged in could be called executive overreach.

Tim Goeglein, the D. C. representative of Focus on the Family, once said of such overreach:

This is unconstitutional, and its not what our founders wanted.

Randy Barnett, a professor at Georgetown Law and the author of Our Republican Constitution, once told me, All three branches of government are supposed to be our servants, not our masters.

But I asked him, Havent times changed and thus circumstances changed?

He answered, Well, human nature has not changed. Human nature is, the idea that people basically pursue their self-interests  even if that interest is adverse to the rights of fellow people, other follow citizens, or adverse to the public interest. And you needed a republican Constitution to constrain the exercise of government and power.

All presidents have the right to sign executive orders. And virtually all of them have used that right. But critics note that this is excessive  and not a healthy example of representative government. In effect, it is an end-run around we the people.

Calvin Coolidge, one of our most underrated presidents, said, Ours is a government of the people. It represents their will.The real heart of the American Government depends upon the heart of the people. It is from that source that we must look for all genuine reform. It is to that cause that we must ascribe all our results.

Goeglein, who worked for the Bush 43 administration, said of the founders, They designed a system that pushed power downward and outward because they feared centralization of power, and they feared the consolidation of power.

Hopefully, Bidens pen will run out of ink sometime soon.
Indian Army Recruitment 2021: There is a golden opportunity for those who are looking forward to serve in the Indian Army. The Indian Army has brought out a notification of recruitment for about 90 vacancies for the Indian Army 10+2 Technical Entry Scheme (TES) 45 Recruitment 2021 for the July session of this year.

Candidates who want to apply for the vacancies in the Indian Army can do so through the official website: joinindianarmy.nic.in. Interested candidates should know that they should submit their online application for the 10+2 TES 45 Recruitment 2021 by March 2, 2021.

Only those candidates who have the 12th pass certificate that is those who have cleared their 10+2 exams with the PCM (Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics) subjects are eligible to apply for the TES vacancies in the Indian army.

Candidates who get selected through the recruitment cycle will be joining as permanent commission in the army after four years of basic military training followed by technical training. The application process for the 10+2 TES 45 Recruitment 2021 began on February 1 and will come to an end on March 2.

For the 90 vacancies of TES notified by the Indian army, candidates who are between the age of 16.5 years and 19.5 years can apply for the recruitment. As for the criteria for selection, candidates will be recruited for the Indian Army 10+2 TES 45 Recruitment 2021 based on the application, SSB interview, and medical exam.

Those candidates who want to apply for these 90 vacancies in the Indian Army can do so through the online portal and make their submissions. After the online application is submitted, they can take a printout of the same for future use.

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KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP)  Jamaica is running low on ganja.

Heavy rains followed by an extended drought, an increase in local consumption and a drop in the number of marijuana farmers have caused a shortage in the islands famed but largely illegal market that experts say is the worst theyve seen.

Its a cultural embarrassment, said Triston Thompson, chief opportunity explorer for Tacaya, a consulting and brokerage firm for the countrys nascent legal cannabis industry.

Jamaica, which foreigners have long associated with pot, reggae and Rastafarians, authorized a regulated medical marijuana industry and decriminalized small amounts of weed in 2015.

People caught with 2 ounces (56 grams) or less of cannabis are supposed to pay a small fine and face no arrest or criminal record. The island also allows individuals to cultivate up to five plants, and Rastafarians are legally allowed to smoke ganja for sacramental purposes.

But enforcement is spotty as many tourists and locals continue to buy marijuana on the street, where it has grown more scarce  and more expensive.

Heavy rains during last years hurricane season pummeled marijuana fields that were later scorched in the drought that followed, causing tens of thousands of dollars in losses, according to farmers who cultivate pot outside the legal system.

It destroyed everything, said Daneyel Bozra, who grows marijuana in the southwest part of Jamaica, in a historical village called Accompong founded by escaped 18th-century slaves known as Maroons.

Worsening the problem were strict COVID-19 measures, including a 6 p.m. curfew that meant farmers couldnt tend to their fields at night as is routine, said Kenrick Wallace, 29, who cultivates 2 acres (nearly a hectare) in Accompong with the help of 20 other farmers.

He noted that a lack of roads forces many farmers to walk to reach their fields  and then to get water from wells and springs. Many were unable to do those chores at night due to the curfew.

Wallace estimated he lost more than $18,000 in recent months and cultivated only 300 pounds, compared with an average of 700 to 800 pounds the group normally produces.

Activists say they believe the pandemic and a loosening of Jamaicas marijuana laws has led to an increase in local consumption that has contributed to the scarcity, even if the pandemic has put a dent in the arrival of ganja-seeking tourists.

Last year was the worst year. ... Weve never had this amount of loss, Thompson said. Its something so laughable that cannabis is short in Jamaica.

Tourists, too, have taken note, placing posts on travel websites about difficulties finding the drug.

Paul Burke, CEO of Jamaicas Ganja Growers and Producers Association, said in a phone interview that people are no longer afraid of being locked up now that the government allows possession of small amounts. He said the stigmatization against ganja has diminished and more people are appreciating its claimed therapeutic and medicinal value during the pandemic.

Burke also said that some traditional small farmers have stopped growing in frustration because they cant afford to meet requirements for the legal market while police continue to destroy what he described as good ganja fields.

The governments Cannabis Licensing Authority  which has authorized 29 cultivators and issued 73 licenses for transportation, retail, processing and other activities  said there is no shortage of marijuana in the regulated industry. But farmers and activists say weed sold via legal dispensaries known as herb houses is out of reach for many given that it still costs five to 10 times more than pot on the street.
A nearly decade-old Defense Department order that prohibits troops from actively participating in gangs or hate groups  but doesn't forbid them from being members  could soon get an update.

A 2012 Pentagon policy on handling dissident and protest activities among military personnel conspicuously doesn't ban troops from being members of organizations that advocate supremacist, extremist or criminal gang ideologies. What is prohibited, according to the order, is "active participation" in the groups.

That could change, the top Pentagon spokesman said on Friday, as defense officials take on the issue of extremism in the ranks.

Read Next: Floaty Bois and Homo Spaciens: Space Force Reveals List of Rejected Troop Names

"Membership is not considered inconsistent with service in the military," John Kirby told reporters. "It is really about what you do with that membership. I'm not going to be predictive one way or the other about where this discussion is going, but I think membership in these groups is certainly something that I would expect [the defense secretary and Joint Chiefs] to look at."

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin this week ordered each of the services to hold, within the next 60 days, a "stand-down" to address the problem of extremist ideology in the ranks. Arrests made in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol include more than a dozen veterans and military personnel. Some of those military-connected individuals allegedly belong to militia groups, such as the Oath Keepers, an anti-government group that touts having military and law enforcement personnel in its ranks.

During his confirmation hearing, Austin referenced his own experience dealing with skinheads in his Army unit during the 1990s as a lieutenant colonel. He pledged to rid the ranks of racists and extremists, and Kirby said leaders are now discussing how best to go about doing that.

"The definitions that we're operating under now are based on a 2012 instruction, and so do we need to revisit that?" Kirby said.

Experts on homeland security and extremist groups testified on Capitol Hill Thursday, warning lawmakers of a spike in activity and threats from domestic violent extremist groups. That includes militia groups that actively try to recruit service members and veterans or get their members into the military for training, Elizabeth Neumann, a former Department of Homeland Security official, said.

A retired Navy commander in Congress though, Georgia Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde, bristled at the idea of screening troops for extremist ties, as was done to National Guard members ahead of the mission to provide security on Inauguration Day in Washington, D.C.

"This smacks of the 'Thought Police,'" Clyde said, referencing the secret police in George Orwell's dystopian novel "1984" that punished beliefs that weren't government-approved.

When asked Friday whether the military's focus on extremism mounts to a political litmus test to root out conservatives in the ranks, Kirby said the claim was "absolutely unfounded and untrue."

"It's not about politics," Kirby said. "We encourage our troops to vote, we encourage them to register with the political party of their choice. We go out of our way to make it clear that they get a vote, they get a voice in the political electoral process in this country because they're American citizens.

"It's not about what you believe -- it's about what you do with those beliefs."

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Related: Navy Vet in Congress Protests 'Thought Police' Screening Troops for Extremist Beliefs
Clark County School District (CCSD)the fifth largest in the US, which serves over 325,000 students in the Las Vegas metro regionis scheduled to resume in-person learning in the coming weeks. Teachers and support staff are slated to return on February 22 and Pre-K through 3rd grade students are set to return on March 1. The plan includes mandatory COVID-19 screenings for all employees but does not include any requirements or provisions for students to be tested at all, much less on a regular basis.

Clark County school bus [Credit: Clark County website]

CCSD made the decision to begin reopening schools at a meeting in mid-December, after the district and the Clark County Education Association (CCEA) reached a tentative agreement on the staggered reopening of schools. The union is directly facilitating school reopenings, following the line of the Biden administration which has pledged to reopen the majority of school by the end of April, as well as his backers in the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and National Education Association (NEA).

According to the Las Vegas Review Journal (RJ), CCEA Executive Director John Vellardita, said, We think the agreement we have reached with the school district makes sense, because its an incremental approach to reopen the schools. The decision on when to open up is  going to be made on the part of the school district. But being ready with a plan is absolutely critical.

As is the case in Chicago, Washington D.C., Philadelphia and every other major school district, there is enormous opposition among rank-and-file educators to this homicidal policy. Expressing this opposition, CCSD substitute teacher Brandon Summers recently noted in a blog post, I am employed (yay!) but I am expendable. I work as a vacancy sub who makes just enough to keep a roof over my head, put gas in the car, and buy groceries.

Summers added, Teachers and students will get sick when schools reopen, and some teachers will probably die. The decision makers will be insulated in their offices and schools will have to manage the collateral damage.

To prevent school reopenings, Clark County educators must immediately organize an independent rank-and-file committee to serve as the voice of opposition and unite with a network of such committees in Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Texas, Michigan, Pennsylvania and other states. This network of committees is preparing for a nationwide general strike to close schools and nonessential workplace until the pandemic is contained, while providing economic relief to all workers affected by these lockdowns.

In pursuing the reopening of Clark County schools, Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Jesus F. Jara has utilized the corporate media to weaponize the devastating mental health crisis afflicting young people in the region, which has resulted in 18 youth suicides.

Jara was prominently interviewed by the New York Times, CNN, NBC and other outlets, falsely claiming that remote learning has caused a drastic surge in suicides among young people. The Times article that features Jara carries the deceptive title, Surge of Student Suicides Pushes Las Vegas Schools to Reopen. The article omits the fact that there were more youth suicides in Clark County in 2018 than in 2020.

Reopening schools will deepen the levels of community transmission, and the number of deaths stemming from this policy will dwarf the number of suicides among school-aged children. Furthermore, these suicides are largely attributable not to remote learning in-and-of-itself, but instead by the complete callousness of the ruling elite to the social conditions faced by students in the midst of the pandemic. The articles author, Erica Green, admits, Adolescent suicide during the pandemic cannot conclusively be linked to school closures.

The cynicism and hypocrisy of Jara is underscored by the fact that CCSD has continuously cut its budget for years, reducing staffing levels among counselors and therapists and cutting other mental health supports.

Many comments written in response to Greens article, which were overwhelmingly negative, pointed to this hypocrisy. One stated, I am sorry for all those who are enduring emotional suffering, but with all due respect... we have always had the highest suicide rate in the nation... long before covid. How many more will endure possible lifelong impeding health issues or die due to covid... because we try to reopen buildings too soon with a plan that has most of our district staff expressing much concern.

Jara has declared that science should decide when schools would reopen, but this claimechoed by the corporate mediais a complete fraud. Numerous scientific studies have proven that schools are a major vector for the spread of COVID-19 and that their closure saves lives.

Since Dr. Jara initially proposed reopening schools, COVID-19 was declared the leading cause of death in Nevada for the month of December. There have been 279,256 confirmed cases, and as of Monday the number of deaths stood at 4,283. In January, 1,132 people died from COVID-19 in Nevada, more than a quarter the total number of people who have died from the virus in the state since the pandemic started.

There have been more than 100 deaths from the virus every week since the middle of November, while the months of December and January were the deadliest months. The test positivity rate currently stands at 17.4 percent, while the seven-day average of new cases is 1,057, with 9,172 infections per 100,000 people in the state at present.

The RJ article cited above also notes, Hundreds of Nevada college students and staff have tested positive for COVID-19 since the states outbreak began.

The dire COVID-19 statistics for the state of Nevada released since the agreement between CCSD and the CCEA make clear that schools must not resume in-person learning.

That the CCEA went along with the proposal to resume in-person schooling is symptomatic of the indifference of the union bureaucracy to the lives of its members. That they have not called for the jettisoning of the agreement in light of recent statistics is criminal. Moreover, the CCEA has said nothing in support of Chicago teachers who are engaged in a life and death struggle to keep schools closed and save lives.

Teachers, parents, students, and all workers need to remain safe until the pandemic has been fully contained. Under current conditions, that means no return to in-person schooling, the closure of all nonessential businesses, while making small business owners and those who are unemployed financially whole.

Clark County educators must take matters into their own hands by organizing a rank-and-file safety committee independent of the CCEA, to fight for the immediate protection of workers and their families. Contact us today to begin forming a Clark County Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee!
48 Senators Vow to Oppose Any Legislation That Funds Abortion

Nearly half of the U.S. Senate vowed on Feb. 5 to block any spending bills that fund abortion.

Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), founder and chairman of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus, sent a letter with 47 other senators to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), promising to oppose legislation that would fund abortion without the inclusion of the Hyde Amendment or similar pro-life protections.

The amendment has been added to bills since 1976 to prevent direct taxpayer funding for abortion providers.

We are deeply opposed to efforts to allow taxpayer funding of abortion on demand and eliminate this more than four-decade-old consensus. Instead, we urge you to allow the Senate to continue its long tradition of bipartisan cooperation in enacting annual appropriations, as well as other health-related spending, with longstanding pro-life protections intact, the senators told Schumer, who became majority leader last month.

Abortion is not health care; rather, it is a brutal procedure that destroys the life of an innocent unborn child. The Hyde Amendment reflects a consensus that millions of pro-life Americans who are profoundly opposed to abortion should not be coerced into paying for it or incentivizing it with their taxpayer dollars.

President Joe Biden for decades supported the Hyde Amendment but reversed his stance in 2019.

If I believe health care is a right, as I do, I can no longer support an amendment that makes that right dependent on someones ZIP code, Biden said at the time.

A pro-life activist holds a sign outside the U.S. Supreme Court during the 48th annual March for Life in Washington on Jan. 29, 2021. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The Republicans writing to Schumer this week pointed out that nearly 60 percent of Americans in a recent survey said they oppose using taxpayer dollars for abortions. They also referenced analyses that estimate over 2.4 million Americans owe their lives to the amendment, which saves more than 60,000 lives every year.

Senators are also emphasizing the view that other pro-life protections in federal law should be maintained, including prohibitions on funding for abortion and abortion coverage for the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program.

We are united in our resolve to guard against any changes to federal law that would unsettle nearly half a century of bipartisan consensus against taxpayer funding for abortion on demand, or otherwise threaten the lives of unborn children. Accordingly, we are committed to vote against the advancement of any legislation that would eliminate or weaken the Hyde Amendment or any other current-law pro-life protections, or otherwise undermine existing federal pro-life policy, the senators wrote.

Two hundred Republican representatives signed a similar letter last month.

Schumers office didnt immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment. He has in the past expressed support for abortion and voted against pro-life bills such as the Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act, although the senator also has voted dozens of times for the annual funding measure that includes the Hyde Amendment.
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COPENHAGEN: One in five new coronavirus cases in Denmark was infected with the more contagious British variant in the last week of January, preliminary data showed on Friday, prompting experts to say lockdown restrictions were still necessary to curb the epidemic.

Denmark instituted hard lockdown measures in December after seeing infections rise exponentially and in particular to curb the spread of the new B.1.1.7. variant, first identified in Britain.

The variant, which Danish authorities say could be up to 50% more infectious, is expected to be the dominant one by mid-February.

Denmark has registered just over 200,000 infections in total, with 2,200 corona-related deaths. But general infections numbers are one the decline. From thousands of daily infections in December, only 438 cases has been registered in the last 24 hours.

We are down to some very low infection rates and if it were not for the darned B.1.1.7., we would be able to relax," associate professor of mathematical epidemiology at Roskilde University, Viggo Andreasen, told Reuters.

The share of positive tests, which had the new variant, has risen from 4% in the first week of January to 19.5% in the fourth week, the State Serum Institute (SSI) said in a report on Friday.

An average of 49% of positive tests have been analysed for their genetic material this year.

Many people dont understand why we dont open our society," immunology professor at Copenhagen University Jan Pravsgaard Christensen told Reuters.

And thats because those that are becoming infected now, are infected with a more transmissible virus."

Just 300-400 people carrying the mutated variant is too many and could lead to explosive infection rates if lockdown restrictions are eased too early, Christensen said.

The weekly infection rate for the new variant has slowed though, according to Andreasen, and with the current restrictions in place it will not cause a new spike in infection rates, 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
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Cape Verdes grounds for neglecting ECOWAS courts ruling on the release of the detained Venezuelan diplomat, Alex Saab, were the highlights of the case when it came up for hearing on Friday.

Mr Saabs status as a diplomat has been brought to question after his arrest in June 2020 at the request of the United States of America for alleged financial crimes.

While the legality of his detention in Cape Verde continued to generate debates, over 200,000 protesters took to the streets of Venezuela to demand his release on Monday.

Until recently, Mr Saab was held in the countrys prison against the ECOWAS court order that the diplomat be placed on house arrest until its main hearing on February 5, after three consecutive adjournments.

The diplomat was reluctantly released and placed under house arrest in late January.

However, the Cape Verdean representative, Henrique Borges, at the Friday hearing, insisted that the court lacks jurisdiction to decide the case as it has not signed and, consequently, not bound by the Additional Protocols of ECOWAS Court and dismissed Mr Saabs diplomatic status.

Meanwhile, documents available to PREMIUM TIMES confirmed that Mr Saabs was on a special mission to Iran when his private jet had a stopover to refuel at the islands airport in Sal.

In an interview with this reporter after the hearing, the Venezuelan diplomats legal team, led by Femi Falana, faulted Mr Borges arguments by using the Revised Treaty (Article 15) and Additional Protocols 2005.

Cape Verde cannot claim that Alex Saab is not a diplomat as he is a Special Envoy to Iran and recognised in that role by Iran.

Furthermore, the African Union has accepted his appointment and therefore his immunity and inviolability are absolute and cannot be challenged by Cape Verde.

Under the provisions of the Additional Protocol 2005, if nine States Members sign it, it becomes binding for all the States/ Members of ECOWAS. In this case, 14 out of 15 member states signed with the only one not signing was Cape Verde and that was only because its Prime Minister at the time had to return to Cape Verde to deal with an emergency, Mr Falana said in another statement issued in respect to the hearing.

Ruling on the case has again been adjourned to March 11.
New Delhi, Feb 6 : After a gap of more than two years, the government may again revive the plan for further consolidation in the public sector oil companies by allowing mergers between producing, marketing, gas transportation and consultancy companies, leaving just few large integrated entities in operation.

The move follows the design of the new privatisation policy unveiled in this year's Budget. As per the policy, only a bare minimum presence will be maintained in the strategic sectors, including petroleum, while other entities would be privatised.

With the government already proceeding with the privatisation of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), it is felt that the bare minimum principle would allow for consolidation in the sector through mergers and amalgamations.

So, after the 2018 merger of PSU oil refiner and retailer Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) with upstream major Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), sources said the government may now look at creating another public sector integrated 'oil behemoth' by considering the merger of upstream oil producer Oil India Ltd (OIL) with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).

Moreover, after the proposed split of gas transportation company GAIL into two, one of the entities in gas marketing may also be considered for merger with IOC.

"Nothing is off the table. And not all or most companies in the strategic sector would be privatised after reserving the bare minimum presence. Consolidation will be pursued so that stronger integrated entities are built even as number of PSUs will fall," said a top official from the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), not willing to be named.

Public sector oil refiner IOC has also in the past shown interest to buyout government equity in BPCL, but PSUs are not allowed to bid for BPCL that is currently being tried for strategic sale to the private sector global companies. Sources indicated that IOC's case for BPCL may also be considered if the proposed bidding for BPCL fails to evince requisite interest.

Petroleum had been included in the strategic sector as it ensures energy security for the country. But there are around 12 oil PSUs, ranging from upstream oil producers like ONGC and Oil India to downstream oil refining and fuel marketing firms IOC, BPCL and HPCL to gas transporter GAIL India Ltd and engineering firm Engineers India Ltd. This leaves consolidation through further mergers and strategic sale is the only route to restrict the number of PSUs to a bare minimum.

While consolidation may be looked at once again, care will be taken to ensure that such mergers only happens where there are synergies, and the mergers do not result in addition to the debt burden on the companies. ONGC's acquisition of government's share in HPCL had pushed the upstream oil major from debt-free status into one where debt levels reached closer to unsustainable levels.

In one of the most expensive buys, ONGC paid Rs 36,915 crore to buy the government's entire 51.11 per cent stake in HPCL. But the deal brought down ONGC's cash reserves to Rs 1,013 crore as of March 31, 2018, from Rs 10,799 crore as of March 31, 2014, and saddled it with Rs 25,593 crore debt in FY18.

Things could get worse if an M&A is pushed onto IOC that already has limited cash balance. Though the company is showing relatively fair financial performance, a consolidation exercise would push it to add debt to its books that could weaken its operations.

The company is in the midst of an expansion diversification exercise that could suffer if debt gets added to its books. The IOC is sitting on special oil bonds (liquid holdings) of value running into a few thousand crores, but this could only part-finance any M&A deal.

The proposal to merge oil PSUs was earlier mooted during the time of Mani Shankar Aiyar. It was identical to the one that was explored by the current government - to merge HPCL and BPCL with ONGC, and OIL with IOC to create two large integrated oil and gas corporations.

However, Aiyar's idea was spiked by an official committee that studied the matter in 2005 but felt that a merger or formation of the holding company was not advisable at that juncture.

The proposal was again revived in 2014 by the BJP-led government, but again in September 2015 a high-level panel on the recast of public sector oil firms did not favour mergers to create behemoths and instead suggested greater autonomy by transferring government shareholding in oil PSUs to a professionally managed trust.

The talk of a merger once again started after then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget for 2017-18 proposed to "create an integrated public sector 'oil major', which will be able to match the performance of international and domestic private sector oil and gas companies".

(Subhash Narayan can be contacted at subhash.n@ians.in)

Chicopee police suspended the search for 11-year-old Aiden Blanchard late Saturday afternoon and are asking residents in the Old Field neighborhood to review video from their residential surveillance systems to see if he passed their homes.

Lt. Holly Davis said Saturday that searchers from the Chicopee Police Department, Chicopee Fire Department, the Massachusetts State Police Air Wing and South Hadley Fire Department personnel continued to search along the Connecticut River in hopes of locating the boy last seen mid-day Friday. However. due to high winds and a lack of evidence, they suspended the search pending a change in weather.

Detectives are asking any residents living in the Old Field neighborhood in Willimansett to review video from home systems recorded February 5 between 11 a.m. and 12 noon to see if Aiden is seen. The boy is described as standing 5 feet tall and weighing approximately 100 lbs. He has blue eyes and brown hair and was last seen wearing a red coat, black ski pants and black sneakers.

Anyone with video that may show the boy or have any information that could help the search is asked to contact the Chicopee Detective Bureau at 413-594-1740.

Investigators say they do not suspect foul play in the boys disappearance but are looking for all information as they work to find him.
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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 5, 2021) - GoldHaven Resources Corp. (CSE: GOH) (OTCQB: GHVNF) (FSE: 4QS) ("GoldHaven" or the "Company") announces that the Company has adopted an equity incentive plan (the "Incentive Plan") to supplement the Company's existing stock option plan (the "Option Plan"). Pursuant to the Incentive Plan, the Company may grant to eligible participants restricted share units ("RSUs") and deferred share units ("DSUs", together with RSUs, "Awards"). The aggregate number of Awards issuable under the Incentive Plan is subject to the same limits currently in place pursuant to the Option Plan. Pursuant to the Plan, the board of directors of the Company may select participants eligible to receive Awards, determine the type of Award to be granted, and establish the terms and conditions attached to the Awards. The Incentive Plan will be available under the Company's profile at SEDAR.com.

Daniel Schieber, GoldHaven's CEO, states, "We have adopted this plan in the spirit of delivering shareholder value. Our management is committed to spending our treasury responsibly, keeping salaries to a minimum and incentivizing our management to participate in the overall success of the Company."

The Company also wishes to confirm that an aggregate of 1,500,000 RSUs have been granted to directors and officers of the company on November 1, 2020 and are now subject to the terms of the Incentive Plan. These RSUs are subject to performance-based vesting as follows: 500,000 RSUs vest upon the Company's stock closing above $0.50 for a period of 20 consecutive trading dates; 500,000 vest upon the Company's stock closing above $0.75 for a period of 20 consecutive trading dates; and 500,000 vest upon the Company's stock closing above $1.00 for a period of 20 consecutive trading dates. Once vested, each RSU entitles the holder to receive one common share of the Company.

About GoldHaven Resources Corp.

GoldHaven Resources Corp. is a Canadian junior exploration company active in the Maricunga Gold Belt of Northern Chile. The Maricunga measures 150 km. north-south and 30 km. east-west and is host to discoveries in the last ten years of over 100M oz. gold; 450M oz. silver and 1.3B lbs. copper. The Company has agreements in place to acquire seven high priority exploration targets as identified by geological studies. GoldHaven has identified four of these seven properties as being "High Priority targets", and will commence a drilling program beginning during the first quarter of 2021. The four priority targets include Coya, which is located approx.16 km. northeast of the La Coipa mine where Kinross has extracted over 6.2M oz. gold; the second is Rio Loa, a project that is located 25 km. south of Gold Field's Salares Norte deposit (5.2M oz. AuEq); and the third and fourth target projects are Alicia and Roma, which are located approximately 35 km. south of the Salares Norte deposit. These priority targets have been designated as High Priority owing to the extensive pervasive alteration, favourable geology, structure and highly anomalous rock geochemistry results, as well as their relative proximity to existing gold deposits.

We Seek Safe Harbor.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Daniel Schieber CEO & Director

For further information, please contact:

Daniel Schieber

CEO and Director

#2300 - 1177 West Hastings St.

Vancouver, B.C.

V6K 2E3

www.goldhavenresources.com

Office Direct: (604) 638-5938

Cell Direct: (604) 722-5798

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE- Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information

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, the intended use of the proceeds received from the Offering, the possible acquisition of the Projects, the Company's expectation that it will be successful in enacting its business plans, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, 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: "believes", "will", "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 investor interest will be sufficient to close the Offering, and the receipt of any necessary regulatory or corporate approvals in connection with the Offering and the Assignment, that there will be investor interest in future financings, market fundamentals will result in sustained precious metals demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in connection with the future exploration and development of the Company's projects in a timely manner, the availability of financing on suitable terms for the exploration and development of the Company's projects and the Company's ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws.

The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development activities, actual results of exploration activities, the estimation or realization of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the inability of the Company to obtain the necessary financing required to conduct its business and affairs, as currently contemplated, the inability to close the Offering, the inability of the Company to enter into definitive agreements in respect of the Letters of Intent which are the subject of the Assignment, the timing and amount of estimated future production, the costs of production, capital expenditures, the costs and timing of the development of new deposits, requirements for additional capital, future prices of precious metals, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, lack of investor interest in future financings, 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, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, title disputes, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents, approvals or authorizations, including by the Exchange, 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 Management's Discussion and Analysis and filed with certain securities commissions in Canada. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials.

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. 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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/73782
We plan to stay at Delhi borders at least till Oct 2: Rakesh Tikait

India

oi-Briti Roy Barman

New Delhi, Feb 06: Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait has warned that the protests at Delhi borders would continue till at least October 2 if the farm laws are not repealed.

"Kisan Kranti movement started last year on the same date. If the government does not listen to us, we will celebrate Gandhi Jayanti here," Tikait said during an interview to Indian Express, adding that the movement has gained momentum now.

Meanwhile, farmers across the country are set to observe 'chakka jam' from 12 noon to 3pm today.

Tikait said that they have evidence that few people would attempt to spread violence at certain place. "So we have decided to not block roads in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

There will be no road block programme inside Delhi since all the protest sites are already in a chakka jam mode," he further said, adding that farmers have been "kept on standby as they can be called to the national capital any time".

Delhi metro stations to avoid amid farmers Chakka jam | Oneindia News

Over 50,000 police personnel and paramilitary forces have been deployed in and around Delhi-NCR.

Several companies of ITBP, CRPF and RAF will be out for maintaining law and order.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, February 6, 2021, 10:59 [IST]
Kansas City now confronts more than a $70-MILLION budget shortfall with no help from the federal government coming any time soon. Threat of municipal bankruptcy is very real as 12th & Oak victims of furloughs and RIFs will attest.

To wit . . .

COUNCIL DOESN'T KNOW HOW THE MAYOR PLANS TO PAY FOR ABOUT HALF A MILLION BUCKS TO HOST THE HOMELESS INSIDE BARTLE HALL - KANSAS CITY CONVENTION CENTER!!!

First and foremost, it helps to get a look at the bill that seems like it was sketched out on the back of a cocktail napkin.

Take a look at the document courtesy of our KICK-ASS blog community . . .

A few things worth mentioning . . .

Security skyrocketing to about $100K deserves attention because there's an important dispute on this controversial topic.

Officially, Mayor Quinton Lucas won't even acknowledge the presence of the Revolutionary Black Panthers on site.

Mayor Lucas retreats into legalese and rightfully acknowledges that only licensed security can operate inside city buildings HOWEVER he refuses to comment on statements regarding the anti-cop group who organizers claimed provided "protection" for the facility. The approach the mayor is taking is cowardly politic and attempts to solve a very real problem & community concern with wordplay instead of clear communication with constituents.

Now the meat of this post . . .

SPICY TKC TIPSTERS QUESTION COUNCIL FOODIE GOODWILL & QUICK PAYBACK!!!

Here's the word as we don't want to seem unsavory by asking tough questions but the fast & loose handling of taxpayer cash inspires us to dig into this situation . . .

Our blog community notes . . .

"Look at the last budget item marked "catering" for around $2,300. That was a reimbursement to Fifth District Councilwoman Ryana Parks-Shaw paid for by the "Solid Waste Dept.""

Fox4 confirms the expenditure and provides more detail:

Councilwoman Parks-Shaw said she went to the warming center Saturday and discovered there was no plan in place to feed people, so she funded meals out of her own pocket to the tune of $2,300, for which she will be reimbursed.



Moreover from AWESOME TKC READERS watching 12th & Oak closely . . .

"Councilwoman Parks-Shaw stated in the business session that the catering charge under solid waste was her reimbursement and if anyone had a problem with it they could talk to her!"



Her forthright testimony in praise of her own good deeds is commendable . . . However, it's worth noting that most people seeking reimbursement from city hall have to wait about a month to get their money back. 12th & Oak is typically pretty slow when it comes to payouts.

More importantly . . .

City Hall insiders ask:

"Who authorized the expenditure in the first place and why would the Solid Waste Services pay for it!?? I guess there are no rules anymore."



Even better . . .



One city hall insider says . . .

"I guess I'll go take my car bill down to Public Works to get reimbursed."

We can save that AWESOME READER a trip . . . A quick conversation with Council Member Parks-Shaw might also be helpful given that her husband runs that department following a recent promotion that will help the city manager to build a more inclusive and supportive culture and reduce systemic racism within city operations.



Developing . . .


Love Hostel: Shoot Of Vikrant Massey, Sanya Malhotra And Bobby Deol Starrer Disrupted By Protesting Farmers

The shooting of actor Bobby Deol's upcoming film 'Love Hostel' was disrupted in Punjab's Patiala district by a group of farmers protesting against the three agri laws, police said on Saturday. The incident took place on Friday when the film's shooting was taking place at a house in Mehon village near Devigarh in Patiala district, they said.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bobby Deol (@iambobbydeol)

Around 150-200 farmers gathered there and halted the shooting of the film, Inspector Harmanpreet Singh, Julkan police station, Patiala, said over the phone. The protesting farmers said they will not allow the shooting as none from the actor's family spoke in favour of the protesting farmers. The police official said Bobby Deol was not present during the time of the incident.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bobby Deol (@iambobbydeol)

'Love Hostel', a crime thriller, also stars Vikrant Massey and Sanya Malhotra. Earlier, farmers had halted the shooting of Janhvi Kapoor''s upcoming film "Good Luck Jerry" thrice. The shooting of the film was disrupted twice in Patiala and one-time in Fatehgarh Sahib district last month.

Farmers had insisted that actor Janhvi Kapoor should make a statement in support of farmers who are agitating against the Centre's three new farm laws.

Thousands of farmers have been protesting at Delhi's borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh demanding the rollback of the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporations. However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring farmers better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture.

The San Antonio community is showing up big time for a local fourth-grader who died days after testing positive for COVID-19.

More than $40,000 has been raised for 9-year-old Makenzie Gongora after family members set up a GoFundMe account to help her parents pay for funeral and memorial expenses. The young girl's aunt Victoria Southworth told MySA.com via message Gongora went to Scarborough Elementary School on the Far West Side. Northside ISD sent MySA.com a statement on behalf of its elementary school.

READ ALSO: New locations to provide free COVID testing

"The Scarborough Elementary School community is saddened by the loss of fourth-grader Makenzie Gongora," the statement read. "Our thoughts are with her family during this very difficult time. We have provided additional support this week for our students and staff and will continue to do so as long as necessary."

Southworth, who set up the GoFundMe account, stated on her Facebook page that her niece tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday. She said she seemed to be recuperating but died suddenly while sleeping on Monday. As of Friday morning, the family hasn't received confirmation Gongora's death was due to COVID-19, but Southworth said they strongly believe the virus was the cause.

READ ALSO: Your Super Bowl party could turn into a 'super spreader' event

"We're waiting for the medical examiner report ... but our family suspects it though because we don't know of anything else that could have caused this," Southworth said. "COVID knows no age limit - my niece was 9, hadn't even hit double digits yet. COVID IS AWFUL."

The GoFundMe account, which was created Tuesday, says Gongora was a soft-spoken, tender-hearted, sweet, and loving girl. Her mother Kristle works as a frontline worker in the medical field and her father Nathan is in the Army. Gongora also had a younger sister named Sophia. According to the page, Gongora passed away on her father's birthday.

In just four days, the page has raised $40,325 as of Friday morning. Southworth said the family is absolutely floored by the outpouring of love and support.

"Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, to those who have sent prayers, well wishes, monetary donations, meal donations, words of wisdom, and thoughts," she wrote.

To donate to the GoFundMe page, click here. If you would like to send meals to the Gongora family, click here.

Priscilla Aguirre is a general assignment reporter for MySA.com | priscilla.aguirre@express-news.net | @CillaAguirre
Since it was introduced over a decade ago, only about 30 of the worlds 196 countries have embraced and expressed a positive stance towards cryptocurrency usage in their economies.

While the United States of America, Australia, Canada, and the European Union (27 countries) have accepted its usage by working to prevent or reduce the use of digital currencies for illegal transactions, cryptocurrencies remain banned in China, Russia, Vietnam, Bolivia, Columbia, and Ecuador.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has repeatedly warned banks about cryptocurrency transactions.

The apex bank on Friday directed banks in the country to close all cryptocurrency-related accounts.

Further to earlier regulatory directives on the subject, the Bank hereby wishes to remind regulated institutions that dealing in cryptocurrencies or facilitating payments for the cryptocurrency is prohibited, the CBN said.

The directive has since generated concerns especially on social media, with many young people expressing their fears about the clampdown and what it means for the future of the digital currency.

Aside from being the biggest crypto market on the African continent, in terms of trade volume, Nigeria is the second biggest bitcoin market in the world, after the United States. Nigerians are said to have traded about 60,200 bitcoins since 2015.

Before now, against the backdrop of the Nigerian governments position against its adoption and growing popularity, big businesses have been quite reluctant to tap into the rapidly growing digital currency ecosystem, as many have refused to accept it as a means of exchange.

Yet outside Nigeria, big businesses like Dish Network (DISH), the Microsoft Store, Sandwich Retailer Subway, and Overstock.com (OSTK) welcome payment in Bitcoin.

A report by Investopedia says the digital currency has also made its way to the U.S. derivatives markets.

Bitcoin

The Bitcoin  the most popular cryptocurrency, alongside Ethereum (Ether)  is a digital currency that debuted in 2009.

Like other cryptocurrencies, Bitcoins are not issued, endorsed, or regulated by any central bank, but are rather created through a computer-generated process known as mining.

As such, it offers a convenient way to conduct cross-border transactions with no exchange rate fees and allows users to remain anonymous.

The currency is being traded on exchanges, and virtual currency-related ventures and Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) draw interest from across the investment spectrum.

Bitcoins and other crypto-currencies are almost always designed to be free from government manipulation and control.

Is crypto legal or Illegal?

Due to its extreme volatility, the status of the digital currency is being debated across the world among tax authorities, enforcement agencies, and regulators. Of course, there are no uniform international laws that regulate its use.

Yet, as its popularity grows around the world, emerging and frontier economies are designing modules to accommodate its use-or reject it outright.

For instance, reports said the U.S. Departments of Treasurys Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) began issuing guidance on Bitcoin since 2013.

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The Treasury defined Bitcoin not as currency, but as a money services business (MSB), which places it under the Bank Secrecy Act, and requires exchanges and payment processors to adhere to certain responsibilities like reporting, registration, and record keeping. It is also categorised as property for taxation purposes by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the country.

In Australia and Canada, Bitcoin is viewed as a commodity by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), and is seen as barter transactions.

The income generated through such trading is considered as business income, and the taxation is a function of whether the individual has a buying-selling business or is only concerned with investing.

On October 22, 2015, the European Union Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the buying and selling of digital currencies are considered a supply of services and that it is exempted from value-added tax (VAT) in all European Union (EU) member states, while some individual EU countries have also developed their own digital currencies.

In China, Bitcoin is essentially banned. All banks and other financial institutions like payment processors are prohibited from transacting or dealing in Bitcoin, just as the government has cracked down on miners.

In Russia, Bitcoin is not regulated, and its use as payment for goods or services is illegal.

For Vietnam, Vietnams government and its state bank maintain that Bitcoin is not a legitimate payment method, and it is not regulated as an investment.

In Bolivia, Columbia, and Ecuador, Bitcoin use or investment and other cryptocurrencies are totally prohibited.

Aside from Bitcoin, there have been numerous cryptocurrencies introduced from different parts of the world. While many are struggling to break into the fast growing market, others have failed.

While cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and others have remained in existence for about a decade now, many countries are yet to have efficient and effective systems that restrict, regulate, or ban them.


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We are dedicated to continuing providing reliable, high quality journalism. This is possible with the trust and support of our subscribers in the community we are proud to serve.
Thwarted from enjoying regular Mardi Gras parades this year, some Baldwin County residents banded together to pull off the first-ever Pirates of Fish River Mardi Gras Boat Parade on Saturday.

About two dozen boats took part in the slow-moving but colorful procession. They took about an hour and a half to meander upriver from Weeks Bay, a protected body of water well south of Fairhope, to a disbanding point near Fairhope-area restaurant Big Daddys Grill, where dozens of people had staked out prime viewing areas on the venues decks and docks.

Participants were forbidden to throw traditional beads, for fear theyd fall into the water. But a few paraders on personal watercraft were able to hand out stuffed animals and other trinkets to young viewers on docks along the way.

Charli Massey Linn, one of several ringleaders, said the idea popped up when her own parading organization had to cancel its plans and others followed. While public health officials have frowned on street parades because they bring together large groups of viewers, Linn and her co-conspirators figured that a boat parade would draw only scattered family groups.

Me and some girlfriends that live down here on the river were talking about it and I said, Well, if he KOER [Knights of Ecor Rouge] parade cancels, I want to do it on Feb. 6. And so it did, and I immediately put it out there, Were doing a parade. And it just took off.

Linn said the group got a permit from the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and a commitment that two marine police vessels would be on hand.

The biggest challenge as the day approached was the weather. Linn said organizers had decided to proceed rain or shine. They ended up with overcast skies and no rain, and about two dozen vessels ended up taking part despite chilly temperatures.

Linn said a friend suggested the name, and public response was positive enough that what started as a pandemic-year whim could end up becoming a group that presents future events and activities.

Thats what we are now, said Linn, The Pirates of Fish River.
The United States Federal Aviation Administration (the FAA) is cracking down on bad behaviour. Unruly acts at 40,000ft will now be met with harsher fines.

This comes after US airlines have banned more than 2,000 travellers for refusing to follow mask requirements. It also comes after The Political Pinch reached a boiling point last month, preceding President Joe Bidens election, as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.

Whats that got to do with unruly airline passengers? Mask wearing has become politicised. As CNBC reported in January, when the hefty fine system was introduced, Tensions are rising in air travel, prompting safety concerns as airlines continue to reel from the coronavirus pandemics impact.

In the wake of the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol and a spate of disruptions on board, airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration promised zero tolerance for bad behaviour. Airlines, airports and the Transportation Security Administration are adding staff and increasing security measures ahead of President-Elect Joe Bidens inauguration on Wednesday.

In terms of the rise in bad behaviour, CNBC referenced Delta Air Lines banning six travellers from a January 5th flight for yelling traitor at Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney as well as an incident on January the 8th where Alaska Airlines allegedly banned 14 travellers for being mask averse, argumentative and harassing crew members.

Another example of recent bad behaviour, CNBC reported, comes from a January the 5th American Airlines flight, upon which a traveller projected Trump 2020 on a cabin wall, while travellers got into a profanity-laced shouting match, prompting a flight attendant to turn on the lights and order people to their seats.

Though, as DMARGE has reported numerous times over the past two years, bad behaviour in the skies is by no means a new phenomenon, statistics show that  in the US at least  it has become more frequent. According to CNBC, From January through the end of November, the latest available data, the FAA pursued 108 enforcement actions for such behaviour. That put it at a rate of 3.1 per 10 million enplaned passengers on U.S. airlines, double last years rate and the highest since 2004.

A December 2020 press release from the FAA suggests the writing had been on the wall since at least the end of last year.

The result? The FAA in January announced it would drain travellers bank accounts to the tune of (a maximum of) $35,000 for unruly behaviour, instead of a usual warnings procedure.

As one flight attendant anonymously told media, crew are tired of playing babysitter for adults.

FAA Administrator Steve Dickson told CNBC during a television program last month, This is about flight safety. Anytime we see a trend like this we need to take action.

Boston.com reports the stricter policy will be in place until March 30th.

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New Delhi, Feb 6 : The emotional speech by Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on January 28 at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh Ghazipur border acted as "elixir" for the protesting farmers, who were feeling defeated after a number of cases were registered against farmer union leaders for the violent clashes on January 26.

In an emotional speech, a teary-eyed Tikait went on to threaten that he shall give up his life for the farmers' cause and will not leave thhe protest site.

Addressing the farmers, Rakesh Tikait had said, "We were ready to surrender peacefully but the BJP's local MLAs have been called to beat the protesting farmers. There is a conspiracy against us. Now, I will not surrender even if the police fires bullets at us." Tikait also said he will "hang" himself but he will not surrender and urged the farmers to keep their tents that have been in place since November 26 last year, safe.

Hours later, his outburst struck a chord not just with the protesters but also among farmers throughout the country and his hometown in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar, from where farmers started arriving at Ghazipur border on their motorcycles, bicycles and tractors once again.

The next day, the crowd which had thinned at Ghazipur border, once again swelled to thousands and Tikait became the face of farmers' protest across the country.

But who actually is Rakesh Tikait? Rakesh is the second son of farmer leader Mahendra Singh Tikait, an influential figure in Muzaffarnagar, who is credited with having founded the Uttar Pradesh branch of the BKU on October 17, 1986.

The BKU was founded in 1978 by Chaudhary Charan Singh who went on to serve as the fifth Prime Minister of India from 1979-1980.

He is also the younger brother of Naresh Tikait, who heads the all-powerful Baliyan Khap in Uttar Pradesh. Although Naresh has inherited his father's legacy, it is Rakesh, who has emerged as the more popular farmer leader.

Differences between the two siblings are common knowledge even though they belong to the same farmers outfit. However, the two brothers have come closer after the developments that took place in the farmers' agitation after the Republic Day violence Rakesh Tikait had previously served as a constable with Delhi Police and also had a short stint in politics. He contested the 2007 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections from the Khatauli assembly seat with Congress support, albeit unsuccessfully.

In 2014, he contested the Lok Sabha elections from the Amroha constituency on a Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) ticket.

Rakesh has two younger brothers -- Surendra, who works as a manager in a sugar mill and Narendra, engaged in agriculture. He is the father of two daughters and a son. He has often been at loggerheads with various governments on a range of farmers' issues, including loan waivers, minimum support price (MSP), power tariff and land acquisition in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh.

He has spent a number of nights behind the bars for defying government orders on several farm-related issues.

Tikait is considered a formidable Jat farmer leader and the number of Jat farmers in western Uttar Pradesh is high. The community can play a big role in the win or loss of any party.

When asked about if this fight is now a Jats vs state government fight,speaking to IANS, Tikait said, "No it is not, there is a farmer from every class in the movement. I have heard this Jat word for the first time in this movement, I have objection to it, this fight is between farmers and the government." He also pointed to people standing near him and said, "Are these Jats ...?" To a question about the sudden change in the crowd and support at the protesting site, he said "This fight is for farmers only".

Asked about how the movement was impacted by the violence at Red Fort and in several areas of Delhi on Republic Day he said, "There was a storm, and twigs, branches and hollow trees broke up in this storm, and now only the strong pillars are left standing." Even the farmers' panchayat held in Muzaffarnagar last week and in Haryana's Jind this week points to the growing support for Tikait and the farmers' movement in the wake of his emotional outburst.

The protesting farmers have been camping at the borders of Delhi since November 26, 2020, demanding withdrawal of the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Price Assurance and Agricultural Services Agreement Act 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020, implemented by the central government, along with purchase of crops at minimum support price.

(Anand Singh can be contacted at anand.s@ians.in)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text

A United States-based lawyer has accused her estranged husband, Adetokunbo Daramola, of plans to illegally acquire their jointly-owned property in Lagos.

Katherine Daramola, 57, said her husband and his mistress are conniving to perpetrate the act.

The property in question is a twin duplex at Magodo, an high-brow estate in Lagos.

Allegations

In 2010, Mr Daramola partly relocated to Nigeria where he began executing contracts for the Lagos Inland Revenue Service (LIRS) and some local government areas in the state, Mrs Daramola told PREMIUM TIMES in an interview.

The couple had earlier acquired plots of land at the Magodo GRA where they built the duplex.

We got two plots of land at Magodo but we were not able to build on both plots, so we got a developer who paid N10 million on an agreement that he would take two duplexes and the family the other two duplexes, said Mrs Daramola.

We built two duplexes and the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) has my name (on it).

Mrs Daramola said she contributed 75 per cent of the money spent on building the house and furnished most parts of their home.

She alleged that, unknown to her, her husband, while in Nigeria, began an affair with another married woman. Upon completion and furnishing of their home, her husband and his mistress moved into the house, she added.

Mrs Daramola said after over three decades of legal practice, she had begun planning her retirement.

Im home-grown, I am close to retirement, she said. I need to come home, which is why we built the house, now they are trying to deny me access to my house.

Abandonment, infidelity

Mrs Daramola said her estranged husband intermittently abandoned her and their four children in the U.S., leaving her to single-handedly cater for the kids.

She also accused him of having an illicit and adulterous relationship with a woman whose husband was in the United Kingdom.

He came to the United States, spent few months, then came back to Nigeria in 2018. I noticed he was having an affair, but I didnt know how serious it was, she said.

In August 2018, Mrs Daramola said while she was buying the furniture and other home items in the U.S. and shipping them to Nigeria, her estranged husband, who was clearing the properties in Lagos. was giving his mistress the impression that he was an American big boy.

I handed over everything to him out of trust and that him, being the husband, the man of the home, he should take over. That was the trust and I just continued here buying things and shipping them home, she said.

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Unknown to me, his mistress was living in my house. She was the first person that used my Jacuzzi, my brand new bed, my kitchen utensils and everything. She felt that comfortable, whatever he was telling her, I dont know.

Mrs Daramola said the illicit and adulterous relationship broke their marriage of 25 years.

Due to abandonment and numerous incidents of adultery, and fear of being infected with deadly sexual diseases, I separated from him and asked him to give up my share of the twin duplexes, she said.

Lawsuits

Mrs Daramola said she visited Nigeria in May 2019 unannounced only to find female items all over their home.

She said her husband denied knowing the owner of the items.

She said by her next visit to Nigeria, the locks to the house had been changed by her husbands mistress. She accused the woman of planning to take over the house with her mother.

She said she hired a lawyer in Nigeria and began filing legal notices against them.

Despite several legal notices and lawsuits, both defendants continue to stay in my part of the duplex. Mr Daramola continues to lock me out and I have to break into the house several times.

On Sunday, January 9th (2021), I arrived with my children and broke the locks and padlocks to gain entry into my house and found Abisoyes (the mistress) personal and intimate items strewn all over my bedroom and secure areas.

My children and I moved her things out of my house and piled them up at the gate. When they were notified by third parties that we were in the house, they called the police and the Isheri DPO invited all of us.

Tokunbo Daramola and Abisoye (were) asked to remove their personal belongings from the home. In the presence of the police officers, they both threatened to kill me. The DPO advised us to return with police escort and they came to pick up their load.

Abisoye started screaming and insisting them she will not leave my home. Herself and Olatokunbo Daramola conspired and falsely accused me of stealing. They, however, later admitted that none of their personal items were stolen but (still) filed a police report, Mrs Daramola said.

She said she has received several threats from the mistress and her mother that they would kill her within six months.

Mrs Daramola accused her husband and his mistress of evading court service.

ALSO READ: Entrepreneurial Couple Turn Plastic Waste into Brighter Futures

What Mr Daramola is exhibiting is the current trend of Nigerian men in the diaspora who walk away from long term marriages and children and subject wives to mortgages while they come to Nigeria and live with other women, she said.

Olatokunbo needs to the needful and give me my property. He wants to continue staying over at the house. I spent my whole life savings, I spent over $53,000 furnishing the house.

Mr Daramola reacts

When PREMIUM TIMES contacted Mr Daramola on the allegations, he told this newspaper, not to get involved in their matter.

The businessman said his estranged wife had already gone on Facebook to drag his name in the mud.

The Bible says seek the truth and hold on to it, she is just making all sort of lies, but Im not interested in all these publicity. Let her do whatever she likes, he said.

I am not interested. She is a serious troublemaker, I cant tell you much because I am not interested in the publicity. I left the house for her.

She has been terrorising me for several years, enough is enough. We are going to America so we will start a divorce. We have been to court several times and she has been losing.

This is not my first house, I have built houses before I met her,  he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Daramolas alleged mistress did not respond to phone calls and text messages.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 6)  Alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles wants three Sandiganbayan justices charged for what she calls a haphazard decision on her latest conviction.

In a statement on Saturday, Napoles lawyer, Rony Garay, said they are preparing the complaint against Justice Edgardo Caldona, who penned the ruling that convicted Napoles of multiple counts of graft and malversation, as well as Justices Efren dela Cruz and Geraldine Faith Econg, who concurred.

Napoles camp wants the justices of the anti-graft courts first division held liable for gross ignorance of the law, manifest partiality and extreme bias.

Napoles accused the justices of having a predisposition to convict her without looking at the evidence, thats why in the first decision released by the court, she was wrongfully convicted of direct bribery, an offense she was not charged with. The Sandiganbayan in an amended decision removed this mistake, calling it a typographical error, Garay said.

In its 103-page ruling released on Friday, the Sandiganbayan also found former Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Constantino Jaraula and three others guilty as well for funneling some 28.8 million of the lawmakers Priority Development Assistance Fund into the non-government organization Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic Development Foundation, or CARED.

Jaraula was separately convicted of direct bribery for receiving at least 2 million in kickbacks from Napoles in exchange for choosing CARED as the partner NGO in the implementation of his PDAF-funded livelihood program for farmers in the lone district of Cagayan de Oro in 2007.

Napoles camp, however, said the Sandiganbayan used inadmissible evidence under the countrys cybercrime law, and failed to consider the motion to reopen the case on the grounds that the evidence was illegally accessed. It cited Benhur Luy's admission that he hacked into the computer of Napoles' JLN Coporation.

Luy, the second cousin of Napoles who previously worked for her, testified that he transacted with Jaraula and even gave him the rebates, as evidenced by his daily disbursement reports which even matched public records of PDAF releases and deposits made to the accounts of CARED and Jaraula. Napoles camp said Luy was lying.

Jaraula also denied the allegations, saying his signatures in documents relating to his PDAF were forged, but the Sandiganbayan says an examination shows they very similar, if not identical" with those he claims to be genuine.

The Supreme Court declared PDAF unconstitutional in 2013 following the expose that billions of pesos went to bogus NGOs and pocketed by Napoles and her cohorts, composed of both public officials and private individuals.

In 2018, Napoles was sentenced to up to 40 years in prison for plunder in connection with the misuse of Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr.'s PDAF, while the lawmaker walked free due to lack of evidence that he benefited from the scheme.
MDC ALLIANCE has called on the army to rein in rogue elements within the security sector for terrorising civilians.

This follows reports of acts brutality visited upon civilians by soldiers in Midlands recently.

MDC Alliance Midlands spokesperson Takavafira Zhou, speaking in an interview, said the army must reign in rogue elements within its ranks.

"It is unfortunate that army personnel shot an innocent villager to death in Gweru, while there were reports of innocent civilians or villagers brutalised by the army in Mberengwa and Gokwe," Zhou said.

Recently, Zanu PF's women's league commissar Maybe Mbowa said some soldiers had visited brutalities upon the villagers.

Though Mbowa said calm has since returned to the area, she is reported to have said some soldiers in Gokwe-Nembudziya terrorised villagers for allegedly violating lockdown regulations.

Said Zhou, "Such instances do not resonate with modern day operations of a national army, mostly in cultivating harmonious civil-military relations.

"We therefore urge the army commanders to reign in some of its rogue elements in order to maintain high professional standards of the army as defenders of the territorial integrity of the country."

Meanwhile, Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa (ACT-SA) director Obert Chinhamo said his organisation has received reports of soldiers soliciting for bribes.

"We have received reports against soldiers who are soliciting for bribes from motorists and travellers without permits.

"In other areas, soldiers are being hired by rogue mushikashikas (pirate taxis) to help them pass checkpoints for a fee," Chinhamo said.

He added that the soldiers "normally" harass and threaten people as a strategy to force them to pay bribes.

Just like what the police has done to deploy senior police officers at checkpoints, Chinhamo said, the army should do the same.

"The department in charge of anti-corruption within the army should monitor these rogue soldiers.

"If the department does not exist, the army should consider setting it up since corruption within the army has reached sickening levels," he said.
Its often said: If you choose a job you love, youll never have to work a day in your life.

Those were the words Carol Davis lived by throughout what she described as a glorious nearly 36 years as a delivery girl for the Staten Island Advance.

At 81, the dedicated Rosebank resident was still at it, and still making lots of friends along the way  and still very much loving every minute of the job that loved her back.

Carol Davis in her building on New Lane in Rosebank, where she sold the Advance. (Courtesy/Kerryann Davis Hassan)

People loved her and she had tons of regulars who came up to her and bought their evening paper from her, said her daughter, Kerryann Davis Hassan, an Oakwood resident. When we started she had 150 customers. Now its a little lower because customers are enjoying reading the paper online at Silive.com. And it actually benefited her health because the doctor said she had to walk on a routine basis.

And like those the old newsies, Davis was tough when she had to be  she hollered and fought to dominate a street corner.

Davis also delivered papers in Rosebank on weekends when she wasnt at South Ferry in Manhattan.

Newspaper "girl" Carol Davis and her grandchildren, from the left, Nathaniel, now 15, Savannah, now 11 and Gabriel, now 20. (Courtesy/Kerryann Davis Hassan)

Advance, get your Advance here, she would holler outside the terminal on the Manhattan side at Whitehall Street Monday through Friday afternoons  all the while wearing an orange shirt and an orange hat so her steady customers would easily recognize her. She sometimes sold 1,000 papers a night she recounted.

She was super serious about her job and did her very best to establish a positive rapport with her customers.

I was always courteous, especially to those who were sincere and kind and courteous to me. And as far as the others who werent, it was OK. I just nodded and kept to myself, she recalled.

Throughout her 35 plus-year career shes taken her family along for the ride, including her husband, Bernard, now deceased, her daughter and in later years her three grandchildren.

A MISHAP

But Wednesday evening would change her life. Davis had a mishap.

She rolled out of bed and whether or not she was dreaming remains a mystery. But she fell.

I hurt my back, my elbows and my legs, said Davis who calls the New Lane Apartments home. I dont even know how I fell, she said. But I think its time to stop, Im 81  almost 82  and doing it for around 35 years. But I really loved doing it.

Worried about the sale of newspapers, Davis telephoned the Advance and asked if they could get a substitute.

Carol Davis blows out candles on her 80th birthday. (Courtesy/Kerryann Davis Hassan)

Throughout the years I remember dealing with wonderful people in the Circulation Department at the Advance. The department heads and staffers were truly wonderful to deal with, she added.

EARLY DAYS

Davis career kicked off years back when daughter Kerryann Davis Hassan began delivering papers around the time of her 11th birthday and her mom would help her out.

People loved my mom and she had tons of regulars who came to her and bought their evening paper from her, Hassan said. She had a long run and Im not sure what shes going to do with herself. But it was definitely time.

And when her regulars learned of her retirement, they showered Davis with gifts, saying she was the best paper girl they ever had!
PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne has issued an apology to the families present at a memorial service for those killed in the Sean Graham bookmakers massacre on Friday.

Speaking during a press conference on Saturday, he also said one of the officers present has been suspended over the incident, which saw the arrest of a man wounded in the atrocity as he attended an event on the anniversary of the attack.

Mark Sykes was shot multiple times in the 1992 gun attack which claimed the lives of five men. One of those killed - Peter Magee - was Mr Sykes's brother-in-law.

Video of Friday's incident posted on social media showed heated exchanges between PSNI officers and relatives outside the Ormeau Road bookmakers. It shows Mr Sykes being handcuffed just yards from the memorial to those killed in the attack.

Police said "between 30 and 40" people had gathered and a man was approached regarding Covid regulations.

Mr Sykes was arrested on suspicion of disorderly behaviour and was taken to Musgrave Street police station. He was later released.

The chief constable said: "Whilst the Police Ombudsman has just commenced her initial investigation into yesterdays events on the Ormeau Road, I felt it necessary to address the widespread public concern across our community. It is I think important that people understand that Police did not attempt to prevent the commemoration.

Expand Close PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne at Saturday night's press conference. Credit: Colm O'Reilly/Sunday Life / Facebook

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"After the commemoration had finished, the officers present became involved in an incident with a man who had been there. What followed was not reflective of the values of the Police Service of Northern Ireland."

Mr Byrne said that, after reviewing the footage from the officers' body cameras, a decision has been taken to suspend one officer and re-position another. He said that the two officers involved were relatively inexperienced, having only joined the PSNI in July last year.

"I want to apologise to all those who were present yesterday and to those who have been affected by what they have seen on social media," he said.

"I will be writing to the legal representatives of families who lost loved ones in the 1992 atrocity and offering to meet them in person to listen to their concerns and to apologise.

"The police service has, in particular during the last week, been under significant scrutiny from all communities for its policing of the coronavirus regulations.

"Policing during a global pandemic and the enforcement of the Health Protection Regulations is at times drawing us into conflict with the communities we serve. We do not want this and are keen, if we can, to find a way to draw a line under the events of the last week and move forward together with the community.

"We are and continue to fully co-operate with the Police Ombudsmans investigation."

Mr Byrne was asked if he is considering his position over the matter and he replied: "I'm no quitter."

Referencing contrasting PSNI responses to different high profile alleged coronavirus regulation breaches in recent times, he said: "It would be foolish if I wasn't alive and didn't hear public concerns.

"Two tier policing is an easy accusation to make but the coronavirus regulations do present particular challenges for policing."

He said the response required could change depending on the dynamic of a particular situation officers faced.

"We are struggling sometimes to get that balance right because of the fast paced nature of events," he said.

Mr Byrne added: "Policing is a complex business and sometimes things go wrong and mistakes are made and that's what we're reflecting on this evening."

The chief constable said he was unable to de-arrest Mr Sykes and the matter now rested with prosecutors to decide whether prosecution was appropriate.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald tweeted: "The damage done to public confidence in policing will not be undone by a statement by [the chief constable] or by token gesture responses. The disrespect and mistreatment of victims of British state collusion and their families is now on full ugly display. Again."

In a joint statement, DUP Policing Board members Joanne Bunting, Trevor Clarke, Tom Buchanan and Mervyn Storey said Mr Byrne's apology, and the redeployment of one officer and the suspension of another, "raises many questions".

"We cannot have trial by social media and we cannot have rushed announcements to suit some political agenda. We would have thought the proper course of action would have been to await the outcome of the Ombudsman Inquiry," they said.

"In addition, the chief constable needs to explain why two relatively inexperienced officers were dispatched to this scene and if any other senior officers were present. The PSNI has enough trouble recruiting without a perception that officers have been scapegoated.

"There are questions for the Policing Board as well. Its statement was not an agreed position adopted by the board. They, like us, must be in possession of all the information before any conclusions can be reached.

"As Policing Board members, we need to see the full video footage to ascertain the circumstances behind what appears to be uncharacteristically swift action by the police. We have requested an urgent meeting with the chief constable on Monday morning where we can ascertain the full facts."

Speaking following the press conference, NI Policing Board chair Doug Garrett said he met with Mr Byrne earlier on Saturday to discuss the actions of those officers present at Friday's incident.

"Whilst this matter is now rightly under investigation by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland as the appropriate authority, the chief constable has confirmed that action to suspend and reposition two of the officers involved has now been taken," he said.

"As a board, we expect the highest professional standards from our officers and a policing approach throughout the service that reflects those standards at all times. I have clearly conveyed to the chief constable the urgent necessity to repair damage caused to community relations arising from the policing approach on Friday and at a number of other events in recent times.

"The apology and offer of a meeting to those present at Fridays commemoration is a welcome first step.

"The Board will have further discussion with the chief constable and deputy chief constable at the Performance Committee meeting on Thursday."
The Delhi Police has arrested three more people in connection with the Red Fort incident on Republic Day, taking the total number of those in its custody for the violence that took place across the national capital during the farmers' tractor parade to 126, officials said on Saturday. The three have been identified as Harpreet Singh (32), Harjeet Singh (48) and Dharmender Singh (55), all residents of Delhi, they said. They were nabbed by the special investigating team (SIT) of north district on Wednesday.

The crime branch, which is also investigating the cases, formally arrested them on Friday, police said. Thousands of farmers protesting the Centre's new agri laws had clashed with the police during the tractor parade on January 26. Many of the protesters, driving tractors, reached the Red Fort and entered the monument. Some protesters even hoisted religious flags on its domes and a flagstaff at the ramparts, where the national flag is unfurled on Independence Day.

Police said they have released pictures of over 70 people who were involved in the violence on January 26. Now their identification is underway, they said. So far, a total of 126 people have been arrested in connection with the Republic Day violence across the national capital, police said.

"We are constantly examining the videos and footage which we have received to get clear picture of the people involved in the violence. The process of identification is underway," Delhi Police PRO Chinmoy Biswal said.

The objectionable videos on farmers' issue being uploaded from locations out of India are also being examined. The Cyber Cell of the Delhi Police is investigating the matter, he added.

The Cyber Prevention Awareness and Detection (CyPAD) unit of Delhi Police has served around seven to eight notices. "We have sent notices to around seven to eight people. However, only two of them have responded. They have asked for some time to join the investigation," a senior police officer said.

The Delhi Police on Wednesday arrested a man named Dharmendra Singh in connection with the violence at Red Fort during the farmers' tractor parade on Republic Day. Earlier, the police had announced cash reward of Rs 1 lakh for information that can lead to the arrest of actor Deep Sidhu, Jugraj Singh, Gurjot Singh and Gurjant Singh who hoisted flags at the Red Fort or were involved in the act. A cash reward of Rs 50,000 each was also announced for Buta Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Jajbir Singh and Iqbal Singh for allegedly instigating protesters.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  A New York judge ruled Friday that Republican Claudia Tenney defeated U.S. Rep. Anthony Brindisi by 109 votes in the nation's last undecided congressional race.

The ruling by Judge Scott DelConte could clear the way for Tenney to be sworn in as the representative for central New York's 22nd Congressional District, barring emergency intervention by a state appeals court.

She previously was the district's representative for one term, until she was defeated by Brindisi, a Democrat, in 2018.

DelConte's ruling came after he spent three months reviewing ballot challenges and trying to fix a myriad of problems with vote tabulation. He rejected an argument by Brindisi's lawyers that certification of the election results should be delayed until an appeals court had a chance to review the case.

DelConte's order directed New York to certify results immediately.

The judge said even if the results end up changing after any litigation, New York could simply amend its certification. He issued his ruling hours after a last public hearing, in which he told Brindisi's lawyers that he was disinclined to delay the results any further.

Ive been asked to stop this election ... and thats a very very high burden, he said.

Tenney has maintained a small lead even as months of litigation revealed problems with ballots that either werent counted properly or were improperly rejected.

Im honored to have won this race," Tenney said. "It was a hard-fought campaign and I thank Anthony Brindisi for his service. Now that every legal vote has been counted, its time for the results to be certified. The voters need a voice in Congress, and I look forward to getting to work on behalf of New Yorks 22nd Congressional District.

Tallies have shifted as county election officials counted a flood of absentee ballots and courts weighed in on which challenged ballots could be counted.

Brindisi had argued that once the election gets certified and Tenney is sworn in, only Congress has the power to remove her, not the courts.

Story continues

He's pushing for an audit that could trigger a hand recount, which he said Friday is the only way to resolve this race. Brindisi said he was "shocked and surprised" by the judge's decision.

With the margin so thin, the ever changing tally, and the countless errors that have occurred arriving at todays final number we cant afford to wonder here, Brindisi said Friday. We have to get it right. Because this is not a raffle, this is a congressional election.

But the judge said Friday only the U.S. House can order a new election or recount at this point. A new law requiring hand recounts in tight races only takes effect for 2021 races, according to DelConte.

DelConte said Brindisi can still challenge the election in the House and potentially unseat Tenney. The U.S. House can unseat a member who is not truly the lawful winner of an election, the judge wrote.

Indeed, the House now has, as it had since the start of this proceeding, the sole authority to seat or refuse to seat Tenney or Brindisi, or to seat one of them conditionally during the course of this litigation, including any appeals," he wrote.

Democrats control the U.S. House with 221 seats, while Republicans have 211 seats. The 22nd Congressional District is one of three vacant seats, according to Congresss website  the other two vacant seats are the result of a death and a January resignation.
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Russia on Friday expelled diplomats from Germany, Poland, and Sweden after they participated in a protest last month seeking Alexei Navalny's release. Russian Foreign Ministry said that the diplomats have been asked to leave the country because they took part in "unlawful" rallies on January 23, when tens and thousands of people poured on the streets of Moscow and other cities across Russia to protest against Navalny's detention. The Russian Foreign Ministry has designated the diplomats as "persona non grata", meaning they no longer enjoy diplomatic immunity.

Read: Borrell Hopes Russia's Sputnik V Vaccine Will Be Certified In European Union

The European Union has condemned Russia's decision to expel the diplomats for participating in protests. "I strongly condemned this decision and rejected the allegations that they conducted activities incompatible with their status as foreign diplomats. The decision should be reconsidered," EU Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said in a statement on the day he attended a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Navalny row in Russia

Russia is currently facing the wrath of the international community, particularly the West, over the sentencing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The international community, including the European Union and the United States, are demanding the immediate release of Navalny and are asking Russia to respect the rights of those protesting over his detention.

Read: Russia: Doctor Who Treated Putin Critic Navalny After Poisoning Dies Due To Heart Attack

Russia witnessed mass protests earlier this week after a court reinstated Navalny's suspended sentence and ordered him to serve the remaining term in prison. Russia responded to the protests by detaining thousands of demonstrators and putting them in jail on the pretext of them violating COVID-19 measures. Russia took similar actions on January 23 and January 31 after several thousand came to the streets to protest against Navalny's arrest.

Read: India Welcomes Extension Of New START Treaty Between US & Russia: MEA

Navalny was arrested as soon as he landed from Germany, where he was undergoing treatment for five months after being poisoned last year. Prior to arriving in Russia, Navalny had been warned by Russian prison authorities that he could be jailed after reaching the country for allegedly violating his suspended prison term while he was in a coma in Berlin. Navalny is a staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, which critics argue may have been the reason behind his poisoning.

Read: Brazil To Buy 30 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Jabs From Russia And India

(Image Credit: AP)


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The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi (Ojaja 11) and Eselu of Iseluland, Yewa North Local Government Area, Ogun State, Oba Akintunde Akiny...

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi (Ojaja 11) and Eselu of Iseluland, Yewa North Local Government Area, Ogun State, Oba Akintunde Akinyemi, were engaged in hot exchanges over herdsmens reported attacks in several villages in Ogun State.

Recall that on Januray 23rd, herdsmen who were allegedly expelled for terrorizing Ketu-Yewa speaking communities in Ogun State were escorted back to the villages by soldiers from 35 Artillery Brigade, Alamala, Abeokuta, with many of the affected villages in Oba Akinyemis domain.

Shortly after the report went viral, Oba Akinyemi had granted BBC Pidgin an interview on the incident, wherein he expressed his support for Yoruba activist, Chief Sunday Adeyemo aka Sunday Igboho, who recently visited the monarchs domain and urged other Yoruba Obas in the Southwest not to compromise the security of their subjects.

His comments, however, appeared not to go down well with the Ooni, who reacted by sending a WhatsApp message to Oba Akinyemi on Fridau morning, accusing the Oba of directing his remarks in the said interview at him because of his visit to President Muhammadu Buhari, warning the Ogun monarch to be careful.

Which other traditional rulers from our zone went to Abuja? the Ooni queried.

We all need to be careful not to be saying things that we are not there physically.

The spirits of our ancestors and Oodua Land judge me if I went to Abuja to do otherwise to the cause of our land and also judge people that are saying things they dont know

Responding, Oba Akinyemi said he was disappointed at the Oonis attack on him, urging him to live up to expectations as the leading monarch in Yorubaland.

Oba Akinyemi said: Good morning, Kabiyesi, your imperial majesty.

Kabiyesi, I hold you in high esteem and God and our ancestors know that.

I dont expect you to attack me in this manner. My expectations are for you to sympathise with me as one of your Obas and also your people in Yorubaland that were killed like goats by the Fulani strangers in your land.

Read Also; Sunday Igboho: Ooni disappointed Yorubaland during meeting with Buhari

Kabiyesi, there is nowhere in the aforementioned interview that I mentioned that you collected money from Abuja, but I put cautions to all traditional rulers in Yorubaland as a wake-up call to all of us, including your good self, sir.

Kabiyesi, you occupy the cradle of Yorubaland and I expect you to extend hands of fellowship to all of us.

In a nutshell, Kabiyesi, you need to do more, and you owe me a delegation to come to us so they can report back to you how your children are being treated like slaves in Iselu

The Ooni again responded, asking Oba Akinyemi not to join others in spreading false information about his visit to Aso Rock.

He explained that his visit to Buhari had staved off some evil plans against Igboho, following the latters sacking of herdsmen from the Igangan area of Ibarapa, Oyo State.

Ooni said: You cannot say you are more pained than me on all these matters as Arole Oduduwa.

Our ancestors still live in spirit on this throne, and anybody that does negative things to the land will get the wrath of the spirit land (sic) of we Yorubas.

You cannot be saying that (a) traditional ruler went to Abuja in the name of oil block to trade off his people.

I am the ONLY one that went due to Covid-19 restrictions. Hear what you said now.

Were you there when I discussed with Buhari? If I had not gone to speak the truth to power, do you have an idea of what was planned for Sunday (Igboho) and things that will happen afterward?

Diplomacy is way better to resolve things than war, because even after the war that we all dont pray for, you will still sit down to talk

Anyway, I hold my peace before you will turn it into something else again.

Just to correct your wrong notion of going to solicit for oil block and co. Its a lie.

Please, I hold you in high esteem; dont partake in false information. Its not good spiritually.

The spirits of our ancestors are alive and will surely fight the Yoruba cause. Peace be unto you.

Oba Akinyemi, however, fired back, noting that the Ooni had been too cold to the plight of Yoruba people being attacked and killed by herders.

He said: Your imperial majesty (Ooni), as long as I dont want to disobey my paramount ruler, Olu (of) Ilaro, who advised me not to join issues with you, I wont.

But let me bust your brain that the issues today in Yorubaland that you happen to be the leader of all monarchs, things (have) fallen apart right under your nose.

We are now in a state of oligarchy, racism, and totalitarianism.

Maybe you dont know you are not the only Oba that goes to the President in our zones, and I might not know them all because I am not the chief of staff to the President.

And the issue of oil block you accused me of is not a statement credited to you alone but all of us in the Southwest because we have nowhere to call our ancestral home apart from here.

Kabiyesi, I insist you need to do more. You are too cold at this present situation in your (Yoruba) land.

But just like I said earlier on, send your delegations to come and report back to you the situation of things now in our land, maybe because you always watch CNN. But I will post some pictures to you now to see how your people are being slaughtered like rams. You need to wake up, Kabiyesi, Kabiyesi, Kabiyesi.

Responding to Oba Akinyemis charge that he had been too cold to the plight of Yoruba people being attacked by herders, Oba Ogunwusi said he has a different style and approach to things.

He recalled that Ife people had contained the herders in 2017 during a bloody confrontation, saying: Seeing all the pictures/docs sent to me before and long before it has been in our archive of proof.

I really wonder which issue you want to take up with me that Olu Ilaro advised you against or where you have the notion that I only watch CNN.

If you say Im cold, thank you for the compliments/or otherwise. We all have our different styles and approach to things. What is critical is the end will always justify the means Regards.

Oba Akinyemi told the Ooni to consider the lives of other people in the Southwest as important, sarcastically urging him to release Ife warriors to assist other Yoruba towns to ward off herdsmen.

It will be recalled that Yoruba activist, Chief Sunday Adeyemo popularly known as Sunday Igboho recently criticized the Ooni in the wake of the monarchs visit to President Buhari, following which he warned Igboho not to take the law into his hands.

In a viral video, Igboho accused the Ooni and other Yoruba leaders of failing to speak truth to power.

Speaking on Wednesday during a virtual meeting-Townhall with Yoruba in Diaspora- Igboho said he was disappointed that the Ooni failed to challenge President Muhammadu Buhari over the herdsmen crisis.

Igboho said: When the Ooni met with Buhari over the herdsmen issue, the Ooni should have told Buhari the truth, but he did not. When the Ooni returned, he started tackling me to leave the remaining task to the government to finish. You can imagine that kind of talk.

The Alaafin of Oyo has asked me to meet him over the matter. The Alaafin should have been the one invited to meet Buhari, but since the Ooni was invited, he should be bold to tell the President the whole truth and make the demands of the Yoruba people known to the President.

The Ooni disappointed himself. Some politicians are behind the Oonis latest move. He invited me to his palace but I refused to go. I would have gone if he had represented us well but he did not.

I wont honour any monarch who does not cooperate with me. Enough is enough. The Fulani have done enough.

Igboho however retracted his comments following an outrage that trailed his vitriolic against the revered monarch.

In his retraction video, Igboho apologised for his disrespectful remarks against the Ooni.

He said: I apologise if it is perceived as disrespect. I apologise to Yorubas at large. I have spoken with the Ooni and I am not fit to disrespect his royal majesty. We must prove that we have gallant and patriotic people in the southwest.

There are many powerful people, more powerful than I am in Lagos, Ibadan, Osun, and other areas. We cannot afford to fold our arms and put the Yoruba nation to shame.
Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

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Tonight

A few passing clouds. Low around 40F. Winds light and variable.
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 6 : The Congress party in Kerala is planning to bring a legislation on women's entry to the famed Sabarimala temple that could prove to be a major political move by the UDF ahead of the Assembly polls as it seeks jail term for those breaking the century old tradition.

Senior Congress leader and former Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan has publicised a draft of the legislation to be brought by the party if it comes to power.

Addressing the media, Radhakrishnan said that according to the draft, those who violate the customs and traditions while entering into the Sabarimala temple, will face arrest and imprisonment for a period of two years.

The drafted legislation also give full powers to the "Tantri" or the Chief priest to take decisions on the customs and traditions of the temple.

In the 2019 General elections, the CPI(M)-led LDF was trounced as the Congress-led UDF got 19 out of the 20 seats. This was attributed to the ire of the Hindu community against the CPI-M and Pinarayi Vijayan allowing women of the banned age-group to enter the hill shrine which is considered sacred as the deity Lord Ayyappa is considered a "Brahmachari".

Women of age group between 10 and 50 are not allowed to enter the hill shrine but a Supreme Court's verdict had allowed entry of women of all ages to the temple.

The opposition's UDF and the BJP had alleged that the affidavit produced by the LDF government before the top court had resulted in such a verdict.

The drafted legislation by the Congress though has sent shock waves across the CPI(M) and the BJP.

CPI(M) leaders said "This is only an election stunt as the Congress cannot bring up such a legislation. There are lot of bottlenecks involved in this. More than that the "Tantri" cannot be given such a power as the custodian of the temple is the Devaswom board (TDB)." BJP state general secretary M.T. Ramesh while speaking to IANS said: "This is a farce. Congress is never serious about Sabarimala and when there were major agitations carried out in the state where was the Congress? Why didn't they announce this then? The Congress is trying to garner a few votes in the ensuing elections and people will see through this gimmick.

"The case has been referred to a seven member bench of the Supreme Court and why the Congress is now planning to bring up such a legislation".

Senior lawyer in Kerala High Court, Rajan Velloth told IANS: "The legislation will stand until the Supreme Court brings out a final judgment. The legislation brought by the Tamil Nadu government for the Jallikattu is a an example of this. The Congress strategy will pay off it seems."

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Noida, Feb 6 : Karnataka Vokkaliga community's icon and founder of Bengaluru city, Nadaprabhu Kempegowda's 108-feet tall bronze statue, which is being made in Noida and will be installed in front of Kempegwoda International Airport in Bengaluru, will be ready by next year, Deputy Chief Minister C. N. Ashwathnarayan said here on Saturday.

Ashwathnarayan, who accompanied Vokkaliga community's seer Swami Nirmalanadanatha of Adichuchanagiri Matha to review the progress of the preparatory stage of the work done with regard to the statue, told the reporters here, "The work got delayed due to Covid-19 pandemic. The statue will be ready by next year. The expenses will be Rs 85 crore." He added that the foundation stone of the project was laid last year. "The statue will be installed in a 23-acres heritage park that will come up at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru," he said.

Renowned sculptor and Padma Bhushan awardee Ram Vanji Sutar is designing the statue at his Nodia studio.

Sutar is the one who has built the 'Statue of Unity' in Gujarat and the statue of 'Gandhiji' in Vidhana Soudha premises in Bengaluru.

Apprising his work to the seer and Ashwathnarayan, Sutar said that the statue is being designed in three stages - head, chest and lower portion - separately.

In the earlier stage, the prototype will be created with the thermocol. "Currently, this is being completed up to chest level and the 'head portion' is being simultaneously made in another studio," he stated.

He added that after the thermocol mould is ready, the design moulds will be taken using clay and plaster of Paris. "Once we are through with thermocol and clay models, again two more models, including sand casting will have to be created and in the last stage making of the statue will commence," the sculptor explained.

Narayana after reviewing the work told reporters that the statue of 108 ft height (90 ft upper portion+18 ft in the basement) is being shaped with the help of modern technologies. "There will be no compromise on the quality," he said in response to a question.

People living close to vaccination sites may receive surprise afternoon phone calls telling them to hurry in and get their jabs as part of a standby program to prevent precious Pfizer doses going to waste.

The Australian government is considering how the substitute pools could be called up at short notice in inevitable situations when highly perishable doses have already been prepared but their intended recipient has not been able to make it to the clinic.

Pfizer COVID-19 vaccinations must be used within six hours of being prepared. Credit:AP

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine must be stored between minus 60 degrees Celsius and minus 80 degrees Celsius in ultra heavy-duty freezers fitted at nine Victorian vaccination hubs. Once removed from the freezers, the vaccine can last about five days in a normal fridge.

But the real race begins once the vials are opened and the doses are diluted with small amounts of saline. If doses are not administered within six hours of being prepared, they must be thrown away.
Previous autumn, after the restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, the already weak economic and financial foundations of the separatist regime in Karabakh collapsed. (See Karabakh separatists have no prospects for industrial development, Financial hopelessness of Karabakh separatists). The separatist regime was deprived of energy generation sources, which it illegally used until 2020. However, now the Armenian population of Karabakh will be able to use the possibilities of Azerbaijan, rich in energy resources, for energy supply.

During 30-year occupation of Karabakh, 36 HPPs generating 187.5 megawatts of electricity have been operating in the area with now only 6 of them with a total capacity of 75 MW being limitedly accessed by the so-called regime. Most of water resources in the region are in Tartar, Jabrayil, while solar energy potential is available in Fizuli, Jabrayil, Zangilan, wind energy potential in Kalbajar, Lachin, and geothermal energy potential in Kalbajar, Shusha.

The analysis shows that Armenians living in the mountainous regions of Karabakh, which have lost over 60 percent of its energy generation potential, have no alternative but to join energy-rich Azerbaijan's energy generation, transmission and distribution networks. As part of the reconstruction and reintegration of Karabakh, Azerbaijan will ensure that this area is successfully integrated into the country's energy network.

The mountainous part of Karabakh is not self-sufficient in any type of food products. The separatist regime failed to address self- sufficiency in agriculture, livestock, food and beverages over the past 30 years, and this problem is likely to be solved only within the food security framework of Azerbaijan. The analysis shows that the only solution to the 30-year old food supply problem is possible only through reintegration into the Azerbaijani economy as the mountainous part of Karabakh is unable to ensure its self-sufficiency.

As seen from the Table, Kalbajar- Lachin economic region account for a large share of the output of main agricultural products and raw materials. The Kalbajar-Lachin economic region supplied 50 per cent of wheat, vegetables, potatoes, fruits and grapes, over 57 per cent of cereals and legumes, and more than 67 per cent of melons. $ 26 million (or 55 per cent) out of $ 47 million, a total amount of agricultural sales, have been generated by recently liberated territories of Karabakh. Today, 3,000 square kilometer of area deployed by Russian peacekeepers are less fertile lands as they are extensively mountainous terrains.

The same trend is followed in livestock, another element of food security. Kalbajar, Lachin, Zengilan and Gubadly account for the greater part of pastures and agricultural lands for fodder production. Historically, the lowland and highland parts of Karabakh complemented each other as part of the single economic space of Azerbaijan. Aran Karabakh served as a winter resort, while the mountainous part of Karabakh served as a pasture, factors that are important for the development of livestock. It points to the fact that the livestock development in this area is only possible if both the mountainous and lowland parts of Karabakh complement each other within the single economy of Azerbaijan. It is, therefore, necessary for Armenian population of the mountainous Karabakh involved in animal husbandry to integrated with the lowland part of Karabakh.

Azerbaijan will introduce both the fixed and working capital supply and subsidy policies to develop limited and incomplete agriculture in the mountainous part of Karabakh, while also providing access to domestic and foreign markets.

Despite the desperate pleas of family members to the Manitoba government to send help to their loved ones at Maples Personal Care Home, which was stricken with a COVID-19 outbreak last fall, health officials failed to notice the emerging crisis.

Despite the desperate pleas of family members to the Manitoba government to send help to their loved ones at Maples Personal Care Home, which was stricken with a COVID-19 outbreak last fall, health officials failed to notice the emerging crisis.

In late October, families with loved ones in Maples told the media they were seriously concerned about staffing levels and infections. That was a week into what became the provinces largest and deadliest personal care home outbreak.

Their pleas for help were amplified by politicians and unions who wanted the Canadian Red Cross, military and Winnipeg Regional Health Association leadership deployed to the home.

Yet, WRHA executives told external reviewer Lynn Stevenson  who was commissioned by the provincial government to investigate the outbreak response  that they "were not aware of the magnitude of the situation" until Friday, Nov. 6, when the crisis came to a head, according to Stevensons report, which was released Thursday.

On that Friday in November, health-care workers on the evening shift were desperately short-handed and could not keep up as the condition of a dozen residents deteriorated quickly. Eighteen calls were made to 911 and over a 48-hour period, eight residents died.

Eddie Calisto-Tavares was part of the chorus calling for the province and the regional health authority to intervene earlier. Calisto-Tavares was volunteering to care for her elderly father, who was sick with COVID-19 in the home.

"I know its a disaster," Calisto-Tavares told the Free Press on Nov. 2, the same day she wrote to the health minister, Cameron Friesen, to appeal for help. "They dont have staff (at Maples). They have 20-plus staff in isolation because they all tested positive for COVID."

Public health declared an outbreak at the seniors home in northwest Winnipeg on Oct. 20. Ten days later, 92 residents had tested positive, as had 15 staff members.

Dr. Samir Sinha, director of geriatrics at Sinai Health in Toronto, said in other provinces an outbreak of that size would trigger an immediate visit to the home by the relevant health authorities and an offer to provide staffing and personal protective equipment to the operator.

"Too many of these homes initially were left for dead because you had a (health) minister at the time who was famously quoted as saying, well these deaths are sadly tragic, but theyre unavoidable," Sinha said, referring to comments made by Friesen to CBC Manitoba in mid-October.

"Maybe that tone and that understanding was really reflective of the initial response and how seriously or not seriously these things were being taken."

Stevensons review pointed out faults in pandemic planning, preparation and communication across all levels, including Revera, the operator of Maples care home; the WRHA and the provincial government. She also noted Revera made "significant efforts" to find staff to support the home and made multiple requests to the WRHA and the province.

The report says health officials first visited Maples on Nov. 2. Significant concerns, including staffing, were noted and Revera was required to report back, Stevenson wrote, but no additional resources were offered to support the operator.

However, at a news conference on Nov. 9, WRHA chief executive officer Vickie Kaminski said the Nov. 2 visit raised no "obvious concerns" and residents seemed well cared for, but acknowledged that the condition of people with COVID-19 can rapidly decline.

As the outbreak ballooned throughout October, the province was scrambling to bolster its provincial recruitment and redeployment team and COVID-19 casual worker pool, both of which were unable to meet the demands of care home operators as early as September, the report noted.

Shared Health launched a hiring campaign on Oct. 19. Chief nursing officer Lanette Siragusa said nursing and health-care aide resources were urgently needed at care homes.

On Nov. 3, the province officially asked for federal support through the Canadian Red Cross, nearly three weeks after Revera wrote the WRHA to ask it to connect with the humanitarian organization ahead of future outbreaks.

Following the crisis on Nov. 6, WRHA chief health operations officer Gina Trinidad told a news conference that they did not anticipate the huge hit the outbreak at Maples would have on staffing.

"That planning, I will be the first to say, could certainly have been improved in terms of preparing our staffing resources to manage this," Trinidad said.

Stevenson also determined the province and the WRHA did not have mechanisms in place to immediately redeploy workers to nursing homes in acute need, as was the case at Maples.

Sinha said such plans should have been established well in advance of the second wave of COVID-19 and Manitoba didnt make appropriate preparations to support homes in crisis.

"Manitoba just had to look over the border in Ontario, where you saw hundreds of homes in outbreak and collapsing that made the news," he said. "The fact that the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority hadnt actually organized and created that (staffing) pool and anticipated that, thats on them."

"It was only weeks later, when virtually every home in Winnipeg was in outbreak that all of a sudden hospital staffing resources, home care resources, and paramedics were being made available," he said.

Manitobas top doctor, Brent Roussin, said Friday that although the provinces incident command structure  which he leads with Siragusa  was not active as Maples struggled under the weight of the pandemic, it did not specifically affect the crisis response.

Incident command was reinstated on Oct. 30 after standing down for the summer.

"I think that report shows just the challenge when that virus is introduced into a facility like this," Roussin said. "Youre, of course, going to have the devastating effects on the clients, who are very vulnerable and we saw that, and it has many effects on the staffing shortage."

The outbreak ended on Jan. 12. A total of 231 people were infected, including 157 residents and 74 staff. Fifty-six residents died.

Friesen was shuffled out as health minister and replaced by Heather Stefanson on Jan. 5.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca
Just over halfway through the school year, Meridian Public Schools Superintendent Craig Carmoney feels Meridian students are doing a remarkable job with their studies under the circumstances.

"Given the circumstances and the challenges that the students in this community have faced, theyve done an incredible job of maintaining focus," Carmoney said on Friday. "Our students are happy to be at school and have done very well this year despite the challenges. Students are resilient and they just seem to be moving along."

Nine months after the mid-Michigan dam failures and catastrophic flooding in the Meridian area, Carmoney noted that many residents in the Meridian school district are still a long way from recovering.

"We know several families are still displaced and living in temporary housing or with relatives," Carmoney said. "We certainly are a long way from being restored in the community. We lost almost 400 homes in this district, with 90 of those being completely destroyed. I dont think anybody would (doubt) that these are long-term issues for us."

Virtual learning update

The percentage of Meridian students learning virtually has decreased significantly since the start of the school year, the superintendent said.

"The good news for us is that we are down to probably just over 10% of our students that have not returned to in-person learning," Carmoney said, adding that this percentage was in the high teens in the first semester. "We've had almost half of the students that started the school year virtual return to in-person."

How big of a role virtual learning will play in the next school year remains to be seen, he said.

"We're still going to have to assess that as we get an idea of what our families are going to request down the road. It's too soon right now to make those decisions," Carmoney said. "But the hope that most schools have is that were going to serve most of our students through in-person learning."

In terms of first-semester grades for virtual students, Carmoney stressed that they don't tell the whole story.

"Grades tell us a little bit, but the skills that students acquire are often a lot more important than grades," he said. "If you were to ask educators what's more important, grades or skills, its the skills that are most important for students to acquire. And it's difficult to do that type of assessment (of skills) when youre not seeing students face to face."

With that being said, Carmoney acknowledged that grades overall for virtual students, as he had expected, were not as high as those for in-person students in the first semester at Meridian.

"It's safe to say that, as expected, the performances from virtual learning do not look like what we are seeing from in-person learning, especially at the secondary level," he said. "And what I've heard from my colleagues in other districts is that what were seeing is consistent with other schools."
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Helium One (LON: HE1) Non-Executive Chairman Ian Stalker joined Steve Darling from Proactive with news the company is taking some big steps to advance their Rukwa project in Tanzania. He discusses some of the recent developments. Stalker also told Proactive what separates them from others in the sector.
Tucked into the huge omnibus spending package that President Trump signed before leaving office was something out of sync with his administrations regressive climate agenda: Legislation that authorized a phase-down in the production and use of heat-trapping chemical coolants known as hydrofluorocarbons.

These greenhouse gases are enormously potent, 1,000 times more so than carbon dioxide in its warming effect on the planet. The action, part of a huge appropriations bill, was widely seen as one of the most important actions in years to slow climate change.

President Biden is now asking the Senate to take the next step: move forward with the ratification of an amendment to the Montreal Protocol of 1987, which sets targets for the global phase-down of HFCs. The amendment was agreed to at conference of nations in Kigali, Rwanda, in October 2016.

The Obama administration helped negotiate the deal, but the Trump administration never sent it to the Senate. One hundred and thirteen nations have already ratified the agreement.
VIRDEN  A Carlinville man wanted on a charge of obstructing justice in a Monday homicide in Virden has been arrested in Kentucky, but is challenging extradition.

A warrant was issued for Dalton M. Obermark, 20, of Carlinville during the investigation into the death of John Rennie, 58, of North Dye Street in Virden. Macoupin County authorities accuses Obermark of leaving the state to obstruct his prosecution while having material knowledge about Rennies death.
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City lobby groups are negotiating special trade deals to help British financial services firms expand overseas.

Trade bodies are in talks with the US, Japan and other parts of Asia to improve access to their markets after Brexit.

The services sector represents about 80 per cent of the UK economy, but was left out of the eleventh-hour trade deal struck by Boris Johnson with the EU.

City lobby groups are in talks with the US, Japan and other parts of Asia

A source close to the talks said: Two thirds of our financial services exports go outside the European Union and the likelihood is that will only increase.

The source said helping British firms to expand their digital services overseas is a crucial part of the talks. Digital trade is going to be a real underpinning for the UKs growth in the years ahead, the source added.
Snowfall that ended late Saturday brought about an inch of snow to the area, but Birk said at least two more bouts of light to moderate snow were expected to hit the Chicago area in the next couple of days, with the next system forecast to drop another 3 inches late Sunday night into Monday.
A Russian expert on Saturday said Wuhan's Huanan seafood market may have made it possible for the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) to spread, but it does not mean the virus originated there.

"There is no evidence that the virus originated there" but hypothetically, there are all conditions for the spread of the virus there," Vladimir Dedkov, a member of the World Health Organisation's (WHO) expert team, was quoted as saying by Sputnik.

The seafood market was linked to an early cluster of COVID-19 cases, but scientists are yet to come to an unequivocal conclusion regarding the role it played in the contagion.

Dedkov also refuted the theory of a virus leakage while visiting the Wuhan Institute of Virology along with nine other WHO experts on Wednesday.

"Of course, it was important for our mission to visit this facility, talk to our colleagues and see how everything is organised there," the expert said.

"The laboratory is perfectly equipped.

"It is hard for me to imagine that something could have leaked from there," he added.

[Xinhua/NAN]

Vanguard News Nigeria
With Mardi Gras fast approaching and tens of thousands of tourists set to flood the citys hotels and streets in maskless revelry, the Cantrell administration announced on Feb. 5 that it would, finally, begin enforcing COVID-19 safety rules not only against its citizens but against visitors as well.

Cantrell warned of street closures in the French Quarter and said bars citywide must close between the Friday before Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday. The city will also ban go-cups and outdoor street music  and enforce the new rules via arrests and fines. It was a remarkable reversal for Cantrells administration, which only days earlier rejected such steps as having little or no effect.

The course correction makes some sense. Cantrell has faced intense criticism for weeks to put some balance into the citys efforts to control the local spread of Covid-19. Unfortunately, her one size fits all approach to closing bars strikes us as yet another overreach.

For months, the citys lackluster enforcement efforts have appeared to favor the tourism industry over neighborhood businesses, particularly local bars and music venues. The citys bifurcated enforcement approach has bred resentment among locals, most of whom have responded to the Covid crisis with a sense of community responsibility.

Commentary: Cantrell's mixed message on COVID rules has had predictable ill effects Weve commented extensively over the last 10 months on the Cantrell administrations up-and-down handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and for go

Cantrell could have pursued an approach limiting travel to the city through public statements and restrictions on hotel occupancy rates  along with strict limits on how locals go about their daily lives  while still allowing businesses to stay open. This approach would have been more equitable, subjecting tourists and college students to the same crowd restrictions, fines and arrests faced by those of us who live here. We believe it also would have been better for all local businesses in the long run.

Cantrell deserves high marks for leading local efforts to fight Covid infections in the city. However, her administrations missteps in containing the risk posed by too many tourists contrast sharply to how locals have responded to the pandemic. From Rex and Zulu to Red Beans and House Floats, Carnival krewes have turned their creative energy toward supporting our community. Theyve raised money, collected supplies and provided aid and comfort to those most in need during the pandemic  and thereby to us all. Likewise, Baby Dolls, steppers and Black Masking Indians have lived up to their shared roots.

Commentary: Local Covid rules must apply equally to tourists, for everyones safety With the arrival of Carnival season, New Orleanians are coping admirably with the realities of COVID-19. We are determined to celebrate in new

Even more critical has been the dedication everyday New Orleanians have shown to protecting each other. There is no other place in America, and few others on Earth, where the idea of avoiding physical contact  let alone staying at least six feet apart  is more foreign than New Orleans. Yet every time Covid spikes, we respond not with protests or defiance but with a renewed sense of purpose. Thats how weve bent the curve every time.

The tourism industry has suffered enormously, no doubt just as much as local businesses. The key to our citys economic future is our shared ability to keep the virus under control through our collective sacrifice  and uniform enforcement of city regulations that target the problem, not the locals who have shown their commitment to doing whatevers necessary.
In primary school, Alex Cutcherwirth tested as highly gifted but struggled with his school work and learning to read.

Honestly, I felt pretty stupid, said Alex, who turns 14 in a few weeks.

There were always strategies in place [to help me at school], but it was usually not really very helpful. It was like, try harder, that sort of thing.

Alex Cutcherwirth, in year 9, is feeling motivated by his placement in a high-potential and gifted class. Credit:Steven Siewert

It was not until year 6 that Alex received diagnoses of dyslexia and dysgraphia and then, in year 7, he was also diagnosed with ADHD and started taking medication.

Despite being home to the world's speediest coronavirus vaccination drive, Israel is discovering the limits of vaccines as experts say reopening the country will still take months amid virus variants that have spread from Britain and South Africa.

Fueled from the top by national pride and a deep longing to start "getting back to life," as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put it, the country is famous for its high-tech prowess and spirit of innovation.

But the refusal among some sectors to adhere to safety rules and wobbles in the pace of vaccinations of people under 60 could put the vaccine rollout at risk.

While the government is expected to begin easing a third nationwide lockdown in the coming days, there are likely to be further, partial closings as the threat ebbs and flows.

Prof. Eyal Leshem, Director of the Center for Travel Medicine and Tropical Diseases at the Sheba Medical Center said it is going to be a balancing act, as measures such as lockdowns and social distancing have an economic and mental health cost.

In an impressive feat, more than a third of Israel's 9.3 million people have received at least one shot in mere weeks, and over 1.9 million have gotten both doses, perhaps putting the country on track to inoculate nearly its entire adult population by the end of March.

Alongside the praise for its speed, Israel has come under global criticism for excluding Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the blockaded Gaza Strip.

The situation has drawn attention to the global disparity in access to vaccines between rich and poor countries.

In Israel, for the first time, researchers are starting to see the effects of the vaccinations, giving other nations a very early glimpse of what might lie ahead for them.

But other key indicators, including deaths and new infections, remain high, in part because of the fast-spreading mutations and the month-long lag time before the vaccine shows its full benefits.

Israel has certain advantages that suggest its success at vaccinations may not be easily duplicated elsewhere.

It is small, with 9.3 million people. It has a centralized and digitized system of health care, delivered through just four HMOs.

And its leader, Netanyahu, has made the vaccination drive a centerpiece of his bid for reelection in March, personally negotiating deals with the CEOs of Pfizer and Moderna.

Even with these early signs of success, it's increasingly clear that there will be no pandemic day-after, a celebratory moment when people are cleared to flood back to work, hold large family gatherings or resume the social lives they once knew.

Reopening will depend on many factors, including efforts to halt the spread of the highly contagious variants and whether the public takes the proper precautions.

Many Israelis were horrified this week by scenes of big ultra-Orthodox funerals for two revered rabbis, with most mourners mask-free.

Some parts of the population, including the Arab and ultra-Orthodox sectors and younger adults, have shown an apparent reluctance to get vaccinated, which could also hinder the effort to achieve "herd immunity" and stop the virus.

Experts have recommended a gradual reopening of the country, though political leaders will make the final decision.

Closings and reopenings, experts say, will be a cost-benefit analysis that will change according to the course of the outbreak and the state of the economy.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
New Delhi, Feb 6 : Continuing its streak of low numbers of single-day coronavirus cases, India reported 11,713 new infections in the last 24 hours even as its overall tally mounted to 1,08,14,304, health officials said on Saturday.

For over a week, the country has recorded less than 15,000 new infections daily. Also, the daily Covid-19 death toll has been below the 300-mark for more than a month now.

On January 19, India had reported 10,064 new cases, the lowest this year. Last year, the lowest 9,633 cases were recorded on June 3.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that there were 95 more Covid-19 fatalities, taking the overall death toll to 1,54,918.

As per the Ministry's data, there are 1,48,590 active cases at present after 14,488 patients were discharged in a day. Till now, 1,05,10,796 persons have been discharged so far.

The recovery rate has increased to 97.2 per cent, while the fatality rate is down to 1.43 per cent.

A total of 20,06,72,589 samples have been tested for Covid-19 up to February 5. Of these, 7,40,794 samples were tested on Friday, said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Nearly 5.5 million (54,16,849) doses of corona vaccine doses have been administered in India since the drive began on January 16 after approval for 'Covishield' and 'Covaxin'.

As per the Health Ministry, India is in the fifth position globally in terms of the vaccine doses administered in the country, even though many countries had launched their vaccination campaigns before India.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
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A new antigen testing centre for truckers and hauliers has come into operation at Gorey Circle K at the M11 service station.

Operated by Covid-check company RocDoc, which has a number of testing facilities across Ireland, the site was chosen by the Department of Transport in cooperation with Circle K. The testing centre is located behind the service station and will be operated from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

It begun operations last Thursday after France announced that it will require that any HGV driver, LGV driver or coach driver to present proof of a negative Covid-19 antigen or PCR test result from the past 72 hours before they will be allowed to embark on a ferry from Ireland bound for France.

The test itself is free of charge, should be booked in advance and drivers can expect to have their result in one hour.

A spokesperson for RocDoc said that after receiving their test, the drivers are free to use the service station facilities while they await their results or can continue their journey to the ferry port.

Some truck drivers who attended the centre on Thursday welcomed the move, hoping it would curb the spread of Covid-19, while others expressed concerns about delays or tail-backs at particularly busy times.

With an additional test centre of a similar size opened at Holmestown, just outside Wexford town, RocDoc Chief Executive David Rock said that if truckers book their test in advance, they should not expect to be delayed.

The Department of Transport contacted us and they picked Gorey, but we have been trying to look at the main feeder routes for the truck drivers. Everything is really well laid out here so that the drivers can use the showers, toilets and the other facilities. We are aware that no matter where we put it, it wont suit everybody but we want central locations that are easy to come in and out of.

Im really trying to emphasise that drivers must book so that we can get them in and out of the system fast and simply. If they dont book, its going to take longer. Its like arriving up for a ferry, if you book it, youre on that ferry and if you arrive five minutes before it, you might have to get the next one.

We have 30 testing bays so plenty of capacity, and we like to leave a bay empty for 15 minutes after use. If I know that a busy day is coming up, I can put extra staff on but if I dont know that, it could be an issue. But our priority is to provide a highly efficient service to ensure that hauliers can quickly and safely proceed through our testing facilities and minimise any disruption to their journeys.

Before the centre opened last week, some staff members at the service station reportedly expressed concerns about their safety with regard to being in close proximity to those who may receive positive tests.

Mr Rock said he was not aware of such concerns but that there might be a misconception about this.

I hadnt heard anything about that, but weve been very welcomed here and I think Circle K are glad to see the footfall. Any staff that Ive interacted with have all been friendly, bubbly and all really interested in it.

The thing is that truck drivers are no different to you and me, and normal customers arent coming here to get a Covid test but the truck drivers need this to go abroad. From a haulier or truck drivers point of view, if they think they have symptoms theyre not going to take the booking on so theyre probably even less of a risk and theyve done their own screening beforehand.

As well as that, they dont have to wait for their results here. They can come in for the test and then they go.

Tests can be booked online through www.covidcheck.ie and drivers will also need to carry with them a signed declaration of honour form for the French authorities, confirming that they have no Covid-19 symptoms and had not been a close contact of a person who has tested positive for Covid-19 in the previous 14 days.
Please note The Sun Chronicle is providing this story and all of our local coronavirus coverage for free so that all readers have access to this important information about the pandemic. Please visit our dedicated coronavirus coverage page for more stories. If you'd like to support our mission, please subscribe.

Federal indictments released this past week allege that members of the far-right Proud Boys led and coordinated the assault on the Capitol during the January 6 coup attempt. As of this writing, eight Proud Boys have been charged for their role in the attack, several of whom face serious charges, including obstructing an official proceeding of Congress.

Urged on by Donald Trump, hundreds of his fascistic followers, spearheaded by far-right militia groups such as the Proud Boys, the III Percenters and the Oath Keepers, broke into the Capitol in an attempt to prevent Congress from officially certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. The clear intent was to take elected officials hostage, and perhaps execute some, in a bid to overturn the election and enable Trump to hold on to power.

Among the Proud Boys facing major charges is the so-called sergeant of arms of the Seattle Proud Boys chapter, Ethan Nordean, otherwise known as Rufio Panman. In addition to obstructing an official proceeding, Nordean is charged with aiding and abetting, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Demonstrating the advanced planning that went into the assault, federal agents cited a December 27 Parler post in which Nordean solicited donations to purchase equipment ahead of the planned siege of the Capitol.

Anyone looking to help us with safety/protective gear, or communications equipment, it would be much appreciated, things have gotten more dangerous for us this past year, anything helps, Nordean wrote, while linking to a fundraiser called Protective gear and communications by Rufio Panman.

Federal authorities allege that leading up to January 6, Nordean posted videos promoting the event and exhorting his followers to bring back that original spirit of 1776 of what really established the character of what America is, in response to what he called, echoing Trump, blatant, rampant voter fraud.

Prosecutors allege that in the same video, Nordean said: Democracy is dead? Well, then no peace for you. No democracy, no peace. In a separate video taken by another Proud Boy member in DC on January 6, Nordean can be seen with a bullhorn directing dozens of Proud Boys to advance toward the Capitol.

Several photos and videos taken on January 6 show Proud Boy leaders, including the previously charged Joe Biggs, with radio equipment and ear pieces. After being charged last month with obstructing an official proceeding of Congress, illegal entry and disorderly conduct on restricted Capitol grounds, Biggs was released to his home in Florida. In an interview with an FBI agent, Biggs denied having any knowledge of any pre-planning of storming the Capitol. He added that the doors of the Capitol were wide open.

Last year, Biggs was photographed with South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham at the Trump hotel in Washington D.C.

The Proud Boys was formed in 2016 in the US and boasts chapters in Canada and Europe. During the nationally televised presidential debate with Joe Biden in September, Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power should he have lost, and would not disavow the Proud Boys. Instead he issued a military-style command for the group to stand back and stand by.

On Wednesday, the same day that several US indictments were brought forward, the Canadian government officially designated the Proud Boys as a terrorist entity, the first government to do so. In announcing the designation, Canadian Public Safety Minister Bill Blair noted that the group played a pivotal role in the insurrection in the US Capitol.

Other Proud Boys charged this week include Nicholas DeCarlo of Burleson, Texas and Nicholas R. Ochs of Honolulu, Hawaii. An indictment alleges that the pair conspired to plan, raise money and travel to D.C. to disrupt Congress and deface the Capitol.

Nicholas Ochs (left) and Nicholas DeCarlo posing in front of the Capitol door they defaced with the inscription Murder the Media [Source: US Justice Department]

Ochs is the founding member of the Proud Boys Hawaii Chapter. In 2020, he ran as a Republican for the Hawaii state legislature. DeCarlo and Ochs are both members of a live-streaming group called Murder the Media (MT Media).

The pair bragged about their criminal exploits in a live-streamed Facebook interview posted after the January 6 assault. They displayed photos they took of themselves after having defaced a door in the Capitol with the phrase murder the media.

In a since-removed Facebook video taken on January 5 from a hotel in Alexandria, Virginia, where DeCarlo and Ochs were staying, DeCarlo declared, We got a lot of good sh*t planned for tomorrow. There are so many f*cking people here.

In an interview given to another MT Media host after the Capitol had been retaken by the police, DeCarlo candidly admitted, Me and Nick Ochs went there specifically to stop the steal. It happened.

Like Nordean, Ochs and DeCarlo sought donations to fund their trip. The two raised money on the fundraising site GiveSendGo, the self-proclaimed #1 Free Christian Crowdfunding Site. In his fundraising appeal, Ochs wrote that he and DiCarlo were going to DC because the president asked and said it was gonna be wild and that people should wear body cameras.

Republican operative Ali Alexander, who helped organize #StopTheSteal rallies around the country and in Washington DC, working with Arizona Republican Representatives Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar, also maintains a GiveSendGo account that he used to fundraise for the event.

The connections between fascist groups and the Trump administration run deep. Trump political crony Roger Stone, who was videotaped the morning of January 6 outside a hotel in D.C. flanked by Oath Keeper militia members, was an early proponent of the Ochs election campaign.

Roger Stone and Nicholas Ochs [Screenshot from Twitter]

I know that hell fight to protect the taxpayers and to run a clean, efficient government, Stone said of Ochs. Hes a man you can count on.

An Associated Press report from earlier this week found that almost 30 of the 181 federal cases pending against those involved in the siege were tied to far-right or fascist groups. These include: Seven defendants linked to QAnon, four Oath Keepers, four III Percenters, eight Proud Boys and two leaders of Super Happy Fun America, which is affiliated with the neo-Nazi NSC-131 group.
A joint Garda-Defence Forces operation saw the removal of four serious convicted criminals to Lithuania and the extradition back to Ireland of a Lithuanian to face drug-trafficking charges.

The complicated operation was organised given the lack of connecting commercial flights and the logistical difficulties caused by Covid-19 restrictions.

The restrictions on social distancing meant that two flights were required this week in order to accommodate the number of prisoners, escort staff, and crew.

The four Lithuanian nationals were forcibly ejected from the country on foot of removal orders signed by the justice minister.

The four individuals had almost completed serving lengthy sentences in Ireland  three for armed robbery and one for drugs supply.

These are not deportation orders for immigration offences, but removal orders of convicted criminals, who commit crimes here and are near the end of their sentences, said one source.

It particularly relates to anyone involved in violent crime. If this wasnt enforced they could walk out of prison and be a threat to society.

Gardai make an application to the justice minister for a removal order on the basis that the persons concerned should not stay here after the completion of their term.

Removal orders include a ban on returning, in this case for over 10 years.

Removal orders are time-specific and the lack of connecting commercial flights on a daily basis hampers attempts to use the normal procedure of removing people from the country.

The Garda National Immigration Bureau engaged in consultation and discussion with the air corps on the actual removal of the prisoners.

Sources said they would normally go on one flight, but given the restrictions on social distancing, and the numbers involved, two trips were required.

Each prisoner requires at least two escort officers and a medical officer also typically travels, in addition to the air corps flight crew.

Officers take a Covid-19 test beforehand and wear PPE.

The first trip from Baldonnel flew out on Monday and the return trip saw the extradition back to Ireland of a Lithuanian wanted to face charges for drug trafficking. He was returned under the European arrest warrant.

The second flight out to Lithuania, with the two remaining prisoners, took place on Wednesday.

The existence of the operation was first disclosed by Assistant Commissioner John ODriscoll, head of Organised and Serious Crime, on Thursday.

In a statement, gardai said: "On Tuesday 2nd February 2021, a 46-year-old male was extradited from Lithuania of foot of a European Arrest Warrant in respect of Drugs Offences.

"The male was arrested on arrival in Ireland by Detectives attached to Dundalk Garda Station.

"The male appeared before Dundalk District Court on 3rd February 2021. He is currently remanded in custody to appear before Dundalk District Court on 10th February 2021.

"During the same operation, four Eastern European males were deported from Ireland to Lithuania having served custodial sentences in this jurisdiction for Robbery and Drugs offences.

"The Extradition and Deportation travel were facilitated by the Irish Air Corps."

A statement from the Defence Forces said: "Oglaigh na hEireann have a long-standing formal relationship with An Garda Siochana with respect to the facilitation of the movement of prisoners to and from Ireland.

"On foot of a request from An Garda Siochana, the Air Corps assisted with the transfer of 4 EU Nationals out of the state and the transfer of 1 EU National into the state between 01 - 4 Feb 2021 utilising the CASA CN252 aircraft."
This is an opinion piece from the San Antonio Express-News. For opinions from the Houston Chronicle Editorial Board, click here.

Texans got a double dose of awful news in late January. We learned our state lost more jobs in 2020 than any year on record, and that intensive care units in 50 Texas hospitals were full, overwhelmed by a deadly and persistent pandemic.

With these grim facts in hand, Sen. Ted Cruz took to Twitter to trade juvenile insults with Hollywood actor Seth Rogen and share a preening picture of himself  unmasked  standing with four National Guardsmen called to Washington to protect the city from a right-wing insurrection that he helped inflame. A week later, while trashing President Joe Bidens climate plan, Cruz lamented that the people of Pittsburgh would suffer under his decision to rejoin the Paris climate accord. Pittsburgh?

It all begged the question: What are you doing, Sen. Cruz? Seriously, what are you doing for Texas? The answer  as usual  is not much, just grandstanding.

The junior senator from Texas desperately wants us to forget the everlasting shame he brought on himself with seditious calls to block Joe Bidens legitimate claim to the U.S. presidency. Many prominent voices rained outrage on Cruz and called for his resignation in the days after the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, but perhaps former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro captured the nations collective disdain best.

Ted Cruz is like Trump: he would watch democracy burn if he got to rule the ashes, Castro tweeted. He has embarrassed Texas and the entire nation.

Its clear Cruz will continue playing to the national media, hoping his faux populism will help him win over enough deluded Trump voters to fuel his own presidential ambitions in 2024. But back here in Texas, were considering Cruzs record and shaking our heads in dismay. We love this great state, but lets face it: Texas has serious problems. Were one of the least-educated states in America, our health care is abysmal, and were nearly dead last in environmental quality.

Sadly, Texans dont see Cruz bothering himself with those issues. Thats because hes the ultimate Washington show pony, whether hes convening breathtakingly dishonest hearings to minimize the climate crisis, triggering a 17-day government shutdown with a futile filibuster to kill Obamacare or blocking sensible immigration reform. Legislating to get results for a state as big and complex as Texas takes hard work and consensus building. Cruz has shown little capacity for either, with the amiable former Republican House Speaker John Boehner once declaring that hed never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life.

There have been fleeting moments when the junior senator from Texas showed interest in doing the hard work of legislating and consensus building, such as when he vowed to work with liberal Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to ban members of Congress from lobbying after leaving office. That was exciting, but predictably, once the headlines faded, so did Cruzs interest. Now, there is little chance the two controversial politicians will resume these discussions, especially after Ocasio-Cortez accused Cruz of trying to get me killed after the Jan. 6 raid on the U.S. Capitol. Cruz scoffed, chalking her accusation up to partisan rage and anger.

Conservative Texans embraced Cruzs flamboyant and articulate crusades against Democratic Party ideals during his first term, but its clear his appeal is fading. When Democrat Beto ORourke ran for Cruzs Senate seat in 2018, he came within three points of victory, marking the closest contest for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas since 1978. Now, a group of disaffected Republicans led by Olivia Troye, who served as former Vice President Mike Pences national security adviser, has ordered 16 billboards across Texas demanding that Cruz and fellow Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert resign.

Im a Texas Republican. I grew up in Texas. I love Texas, Troye told the Dallas Morning News. These people have shown repeatedly theyre unfit for office.

With his popularity suffering, Cruz is resuming his favorite role: seeking the limelight, demagoguing and antagonizing Democrats to shore up support for a presidential run in 2024. That may work for Fox News and the right-wing Breitbart news site, but Texans are increasingly seeing Cruz for what he is: a cynical politician who is all about himself, with little to show for his constituents.

Michael Coleman is the communications strategist for Public Citizens Texas office. He was the Albuquerque Journals Washington correspondent from 2000-2018.
Aero India 2021: B-1B makes its debut, here is a complete fact-sheet of the heavy bomber from US

Aero India 2021: Lockheed Martin signs pact with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Bengaluru, Feb 06: US defence major Lockheed Martin on Friday said it signed an agreement with state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to explore potential industrial collaboration in India's aerospace sector.

Lockheed Martin said it was strengthening its relationships with the Indian industry and was working towards integrating it into the company's global aerospace and defence ecosystem.

"We are excited to explore potential opportunities with HAL, one of the largest aerospace companies in Asia," said JR McDonald, Vice President of Business Development - Integrated Fighter Group of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.

45 MSMEs participated in Aero India 2021 got orders worth Rs 203 cr: Rajnath Singh

"We are committed to continuing to integrate Indian industry into our aerospace and defense ecosystem and demonstrating Lockheed Martin's commitment to India now and in the decades to come," he said.

R Madhavan, Chairman and Managing Director of HAL, said his organisation is looking forward to working with Lockheed Martin in exploring opportunities in the domestic and international markets.

"Lockheed Martin is strengthening and growing its relationships with Indian industry to generate jobs and economic benefits in support of "Make in India", "self-reliant India", and "start-up India" initiatives, as well as in support of India's air power mission," the company said in a statement.

The company is one of the key contenders in the race for a mega contract to supply 114 fighter jets to Indian Air Force.

Delhi metro stations to avoid amid farmers Chakka jam | Oneindia News

Last year, Lockheed Martin had exclusively offered its F-21 combat jet to India with a "Make in India" proposition.

Aero India 2021: B-1B makes its debut, here is a complete fact-sheet of the heavy bomber from US

In April 2019, the Indian Air Force issued an RFI (Request for Information) or initial tender to acquire 114 jets at a cost of around USD 18 billion, which is billed as one of the world's biggest military procurement in recent years.

The top contenders for the deal include Lockheed's F-21, Boeing's F/A-18, Dassault Aviation's Rafale, the Eurofighter Typhoon, Russian aircraft Mig 35 and Saab's Gripen.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, February 6, 2021, 8:43 [IST]
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Here what to do in Ocean City on rainy days

Even on rainy days Ocean City has a host of indoor activities  like shopping, movie theaters, wineries and breweries  to entertain.

A sweet reunion of memories took place when a 91-year-old man was reunited with the wallet he lost in Antarctica 53 years ago. In 1967, US Navy meteorologist Paul Grisham had been shipped to Antarctica for 13-months as part of Operation Deep Freeze. He worked as a weather forecaster for a science station and airport on Ross Island. But after returning home to California, he realized he had misplaced his wallet.

However, on Saturday, his long lost and forgotten wallet was returned to him thanks to two New Hampshire residents - Stephan Decato and his daughter Sarah Lindbergh and Bruce McKee of the Indiana Spirit of 45 nonprofit foundation. The wallet found behind a locker during the demolition of a building at McMurdo Station in 2014, the southernmost town on Earth, was still intact and contained Grishams ID card, driving license, a beer ration punch card, a pocket reference card for directions on what to do during atomic, biological and chemical attack, a tax withholding statement and money order receipts sent to his wife, The Guardian reports.

Talking to San Diego Union-Tribune, Grisham said that he was blown away as there was a long series of people involved who tracked him down.

Bruce McKee had reached out to Naval Weather Service Association to locate Grisham. This is the third lost Navy item the team has returned to its owners, reports San Diego Tribune. Last year, Decato found the owner of a lost Navy ID bracelet that was for sale in a shop. He decided to buy the bracelet and, with his daughters help, find the owner through Facebook.

McKee said that something as an old wallet can mean so much to someone with the memories that item holds and added that as a veteran himself, he loves to help people who served in the military.

Grisham told The Tribune that he doesnt even remember losing his wallet on the continent he now calls The Ice but is thankful to the efforts of people involved.
South Carolinians who've lost jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic have been overwhelmingly non-union workers, and that's given organized labor a boost in the percentage of employees it represents, even as the Palmetto State retained its title as the least-unionized place in the nation.

Labor unions represented 3.8 percent of South Carolina's shrinking workforce in 2020, according to a recent report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's up from 2.7 percent in 2019.

The figures represent workers who are union members and those who are covered by collective bargaining agreements even if they haven't joined a union.

The number of South Carolina workers who are members of a union also increased  to 2.7 percent last year from 2.2 percent in 2019.

That's still the nation's lowest rate of unionized workers and those covered by collective bargaining pacts. North Carolina had the next-lowest rate while Hawaii and New York had the nation's highest totals.

South Carolina and North Carolina have right-to-work laws, which dilute organized labors influence by allowing employees to work in union shops without joining the union or paying union dues. Such workers are still covered by any collective bargaining agreement reached by their union counterparts. Hawaii and New York do not have right-to-work laws.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics pointed out that steep employment declines gave organized labor an advantage, as most of the leisure, hospitality and other sectors experiencing job losses had little union representation. The number of employed South Carolinians on payrolls last year fell 104,000 from to 2019, the report stated, while the number of unionized workers increased by 12,000.

The report "should be interpreted with caution," the bureau warned, adding that comparing 2020 figures against other years can be misleading because of the skewed statistics.

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Despite the cautions, pro-union groups seized on the numbers as evidence of organized labor's advantages.

"Where workers have been able to act collectively and bargain through their union, they have been able to secure enhanced safety measures, additional premium pay and paid sick time during the pandemic," said Heidi Shierholz, director of policy for the Economic Policy Institute. "Due to this, unionized workers have had a voice in how their employers have navigated the pandemic, including negotiating for terms of furloughs or work-share arrangements to save jobs. This likely played a role in limiting overall job loss among unionized workers."

Jennifer Dorning, president of the AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees, said organized labor has "been pivotal throughout the pandemic, protecting their members' health, safety and economic livelihood."

"Amidst a global pandemic and economic recession, professionals are continuing to organize and join unions," Dorning said. "Joining together with their coworkers is the only way for professionals to win sustained, substantive change at work, and is the best path forward for professionals who want to protect their livelihoods during periods of economic uncertainty."

The national union membership rate stood at 10.8 percent in 2020, up from an all-time low of 10.5 percent the previous year.

Nationally, men continued to have a higher union membership rate than women  11 percent versus 10.5 percent  and union workers, on average, made $186 per week more than their non-union counterparts. The union membership rate of public-sector workers continued to be more than five times the rate of private-sector workers  34.8 percent versus 6.3 percent.

Despite the nations low union membership rate, a recent Gallup poll showed 65 percent of Americans have a favorable view of organized labor  up from 64 percent in 2019 and the highest its been since 2003.

"Americans' support for unions is politically polarized, as it has been since 2001, when Gallup began tracking the measure annually," Gallup said in a news release. "Democrats' current 83 percent approval of labor unions is the highest on record since then. At the same time, 45 percent of Republicans and 64 percent of independents approve of unions."

Gallup has been tracking union sentiment since 1936, the advent of the modern U.S. labor movement. During its initial year, 72 percent of Americans said they had a favorable view of organized labor.

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President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday told other African leaders that Nigeria was committed to working with them to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Buharis speech at the African Union virtual summit was read by Nigerias foreign affairs minister, Godfrey Onyeama, according to a statement by the presidents office.

The president spoke about the need to vaccinate majority of Africans.

The imperative for the immunisation of 60 per cent of Africans with safe and secure vaccines cannot be overemphasized, he said.

Read Mr Buharis full speech below.

His Excellency, Felix Tshisekedi, the Chairperson of the African Union (AU), President of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

His Excellencies, Distinguished Heads of State and Government.

The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, His Excellency, Musa Faki Muhammad.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen.

I will like at the outset to express our profound gratitude to my brother, President Cyril Ramaphosa, for the outstanding manner in which he has steered the affairs of our union during the last one year. I will also like to congratulate my brother, President Felix Tshisekedi on his assumption of our union. We wish you a happy and successful tenure and assure you of Nigerias unflinchingly support.

I will like in particular to congratulate the Chairperson of the union, President Cyril Ramaphosa, for making a good use of the platform of the bureau to address key issues for Africa on the Coronavirus pandemic. The Coronavirus pandemic has created additional burden to our public health system and posed a major challenge to the gains made in the socio-economic development and overall wellbeing of our continent. The outbreak of the second wave of the pandemic has not made the situation any better. I commend the African Center for Disease Control for rising to the occasion by ensuring the implementation of set priorities.

I also commend other efforts and support extended to the regional economic communities and member states. The leadership provided by the Assembly Bureau, the cooperation of the African Union Commission and regional economic cooperation, including the support from partners have been exemplary.

Your Excellencies, the establishment of a coronavirus response special fund with the objective to implement measures to mitigate the socio-economic and humanitarian impact of Coronavirus in Africa, including boosting the capacity of the African Center for Disease Control is commendable.

Nigeria welcomes todays report from my brother Cyril Ramaphosa, including the endorsement of the attached decisions. In view of the results on ground today, Africa must be commended even as we begin the implementation of a mitigation strategy. The imperative for the immunisation of 60 percent of Africans with safe and secure vaccines cannot be overemphasized. Nigeria therefore welcomes the decision to establish the coronavirus African Vaccine Acquisition Capacity to accelerate the financing and procurement of coronavirus vaccines for the continent. We continue to appreciate the remarkable progress by the team with respect to securing a provisional 270 million coronavirus vaccines doses for Africa along with Africa Medical Supply platform and other laudable initiatives already in place.

Excellencies, in my capacity as ECOWAS Champion on Coronavirus, Nigeria has provided logistics support, including the freight in of critical Covid-19 medical supplies distributed to other ECOWAS member states.

At the national level and in the fallout of the coronavirus outbreak in Nigeria, we prioritize the vulnerable, including women, children, older persons and the unemployed in our efforts to provide medical and social assistance to mitigate the socio-economic effects of the disease. I will like to stress that Nigeria is committed to working with other member states in the spirit of regional cooperation and solidarity to promote human health and general wellbeing. We will continue to partner with the World Health Organization (WHO), the African Center for Disease Control and West African Health Organization as well as other countries to ensure accelerated development and manufacturing as well as unhindered supply of safe and effective coronavirus vaccines to all Africans.
Hyderabad: After an exercise spread over two months, the municipal administration and urban development (MA&UD) department has determined that only 44 of 52 ex-officio members belonging to various parties will be eligible for voting in the GHMC council elections on February 11.

These 44 are from the TRS, MIM and the BJP. None from the Congress can vote as MP A. Revanth Reddy has utilised his vote in the Boduppal Municipal Corporation.

No invitation has been extended to ex-officio members who are ineligible to vote on the day mayoral elections are to be held. However, all 52 members (TRS 38, MIM 10, BJP 3 and Congress 1) will be allowed participate in the remaining GHMC council meetings.

Hyderabad collector Swetha Mohanthy, who is the presiding officer for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor elections, scheduled to be held on February 11, inspected the arrangements being made in this regard at the council hall. As per the seating arrangements, Cabinet ministers and MPs will be seated in the front row, followed by MLAs, MLCs and corporators.

The 56 TRS corporators will sit on the extreme left side of the council hall, 44 of MIM in the centre, 48 of BJP on the right and two Congress corporators on the extreme right.

The mayor will be elected soon after new corporators are administered their oath. The Deputy Mayor will be elected thereafter. If, for any reason, the mayoral elections are not held on February 11, polling will be held the next day  February 12  even if it is a holiday for the GHMC.

According to official records, ex-officio members of the TRS have been reduced from 38 to 32 since MLA and MLCs Yegge Mallesham, Garikapati Rammohan Rao, Katepally Janardhan Reddy and minister Sabitha Indra Reddy utilised their votes in the Tukkuguda municipality. They are thus ineligible to vote in GHMC polls.

MLA Manchireddy Kishan Reddy, MLC M. Srinivas Reddy and Rajya Sabha MP Banda Prakash have cast their vote in Adibatla municipality. MLCs Kurumaiahgari Naveen Kumar and Patnam Mahender Reddy have utilised their vote in Pedda Amberpet municipality.

Rajendranagar MLA T. Prakash Goud and Chevella MP Gaddam Ranjith Reddy have voted in the Narsingi municipality; labour minister Ch. Malla Reddy and MP A. Revanth Reddy in the Boduppal Municipal Corporation and MLA K.P. Vivekananda in the Kompally municipality.

TRS is learnt to have chalked out plans to elect a Mayor from its own party without the support of MIM. After the newly elected corporators take oath, a quorum of at least 50 per cent of elected members is required for electing the Mayor and his deputy. Majority corporators, including ex-officio members, can elect the Mayor and Deputy Mayor without the support of any political party, whose members can also avoid participating in the meeting. Technically, the TRS does not even require the support of its 32 ex-officio members to elect one of its corporators as the Mayor. The [resence of MIMs 10 and BJP two ex-officio members will in no way affect the outcome of the mayoral polls.

Two years ago, when Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller released a landmark list of priests credibly accused of sexually assaulting and abusing children, he said that apologizing once wouldnt suffice.

Two years after that defining moment, his words torment survivors of crimes that amounted to rape.

None of the cases might have resulted in imprisonment, but they embroiled the Catholic Church in a global cover-up and scandal.

Survivors involved in SNAP San Antonio, a chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, say the archdiocese hasnt been forthcoming since.

Instead, they say the archdiocese has been managing the fallout and liability.

This week, the Archdiocese of San Antonio said in a statement that it plans to update its 2019 list.

Its statement didnt say when or how the archdiocese plans to release new or updated information on credibly accused priests.

The archdiocese also didnt say whether the new information would be delivered online or would be made public by the archbishop himself, as he did in 2019.

Requests for interviews with the archbishop or other archdiocesan officials were denied.

The archdioceses written statement said, approximately 25 new reports have been made since the publication of the 2019 Report on Child Sexual Abuse by Clergy in the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

Abuse survivors did not identify any clergy not already named in the report, and involved either clergy who were already named in the report or clergy whose identities were unable to be established.

The archdiocese and its lay-led Archdiocesan Review Board, in existence before the 2019 list was released, is in the process of preparing an update to the 2019 report that will retain the same general format and level of detail.

The statement downplayed liability, saying the archdiocese doesnt believe, in most cases, that the people of our parishes today should be responsible for financial judgments or settlements related to these reports of past abuse, (but) we have come together as a Church to offer counseling and pastoral support to all those who have brought forward allegations.

One San Antonio survivor said this week she hasnt been able to see her therapist, because the archdiocese has refused to continue paying for the therapy after vowing to do so in writing.

The archdioceses statement said that since 2019 it has helped 18 people with counseling or therapy and paid out $25,000 in legal settlements in situations where, under legal advice, this seemed appropriate.

At the same time, it surpassed its $60 million capital campaign goal, which will build new parishes and repair old ones. Over the years, the archdiocese also has closed schools and either closed or merged parishes.

Because I asked about a survivor whod asked to meet with Garcia-Siller, without success, the statement said the archbishop has met with several survivors and remains open to such encounters.

But only those not threatening civil litigation and (who) are not communicating with us through legal counsel, the statement said.

The 2019 report named 54 priests involving about 150 cases dating to 1941.

Zac Zepeda, co-leader of SNAP San Antonio, who was sexually assaulted at age 12 by a priest at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, said the archdiocese has been soft-pedaling the crisis and devoting less time to survivors healing.

Hes a deacon at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Helotes and he has served on the same altar with Garcia-Siller, he said.

Steve Bartley, another survivor, said religious orders have behaved the same way, including the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Some of its members worked in local Catholic schools. The order also operates the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio.

Bartley was in an archdiocesan high school when he was sexually assaulted by Galeb Mokarzel, an Oblate priest named on the list.

The order has paid for his counseling. I heard nothing from the archdiocese, Bartley added.

He and other survivors say Catholic leaders are in a hurry to move on and wash their hands of it.

While more accused priests die in solitude, their victims continue to experience post-traumatic stress disorder. Many are in their 70s.

Sometimes new pain is layered onto the old.

When Bartley, a retired law enforcement investigator, was getting compensated by the Oblates, he was told assistant treasurer Father Rocky Grimard would process payment.

Bartley googled him. He found that in 2015, Grimard was arrested and charged for indecent exposure and soliciting sex from two undercover officers. He got six months probation.

eayala@express-news.net
Hyde follows family tradition, takes home PIAA gold in shot put

"It's awesome," Hyde said. "It really feels like a tradition, now. It will be cool to see our names next to each other in the record books."
RSPCA issues plea to prospective North Wales adopters for two rabbits currently in care

This article is old - Published: Saturday, Feb 6th, 2021

RSPCA are currently looking to find a forever home for two rabbits who have spent more than a year in care.

Tofu and Falafel came into the RSPCAs care in early 2020, but have struggled to find adopters with centres closed due to lockdown restrictions.

The charity is able to re-home via a COVID-secure remote and delivery process, and have issued an urgent plea to suitable adopters in North Wales.

Tofu has a respiratory issue, meaning she needs to be nebulised twice a day, something which the centre acknowledges is a big commitment for a new owner to make.





Both would need to be indoor rabbits due to Tofus medical problems.

Rachel Gibbs, Deputy Manager of the Bryn-Y-Maen Animal Centre in Upper Colwyn Bay, said: These rabbits have sadly spent more than a year with us and the search for their forever home continues.

Both Tofu and Falafel would make amazing companions. Theyre such friendly and affectionate rabbits, and we know the perfect owners for them are out there.

Sadly, Tofu has respiratory problems, which means she has to be nebulised twice a day which we know is a big commitment for a new owner to sign up to. They would also need to live indoors. Staff at Bryn-Y-Maen would be happy to discuss this with any potential adopter.

However, we know these rabbits would make hugely rewarding pets and would suit most homes and experience levels; and could live with children in the right environment too.

The RSPCA urges people to do research prior to adopting an animal, information being available on the charitys website to help prospective owners make informed decisions.

Anyone interested in adopting the pair can contact the animal centre via 0300 123 0745 or via email at brynymaen@rspca.org.uk.

Other animals up for adoption can be found on the Find a Pet section of the website. To support the RSPCA, donate online.
Representative Image

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday said that the country is developing seven more COVID-19 vaccines and also working on further vaccine development to inoculate every citizen of India.

He said the Centre does not have any immediate plan to make the vaccines available in the open market and a decision will be taken as the situation demands. The COVID-19 inoculation process for people aged above 50 will start in March, he told reporters.

"We are not dependent only on the two vaccines as the country is working on seven more indigenous vaccines. Simultaneously, we are also working on the development of more vaccines because India is a huge country and we need more players and research to reach out to everyone," he said.

Three of the vaccines are in the trial phase, two are in the pre-clinical stage, one is in phase 1 and another in phase 2, the Union health minister said.

"Presently, COVID-19 vaccines are being administered an emergency basis, under full observation and in a controlled manner. If the vaccines are released in the open market, there won't be any control over them." he added.

In a Facebook post, senior RSS leader Raghunandan Sharma also told the Union agriculture minister that even his intention might be of helping the farmers, it is of no use as the farmers 'don't want to be helped'

Bhopal: In an apparent attack on Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar over the farmers' protest against three farm laws, senior RSS leader Raghunandan Sharma has said the arrogance of power has gone to his head.

Sharma, a former BJP Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh, in his Facebook post written two days back, also suggested to the minister that he should work towards strengthening nationalism.

In his social media post that starts with the line, "Narendraji, you are part and parcel of the government", Sharma said, "Your intention might be of helping the farmers, but if some people don't want to be helped, what is the use of doing such good?"

"If someone wants to remain naked, what is the use of forcibly clothing him," he said.

"If you are harbouring a thought that you are reaping the fruits of your hard labour, it is your illusion," the 73-year-old RSS leader said in the post.

"...Today arrogance of power has gone to your head. Why are you losing the mandate? We are endorsing all rotten policies of the Congress which is not in our interest. Leakage in drops of water from a pitcher empties it. So is with the mandate," he said.

"Employ all might to strengthen nationalism or else we have to regret. I think you might have read the indication to preserve the ideology," he added.

Sharma described how the (RSS's) ideology developed with toil, sacrifice and devotion over a century for expanding its footprints, propagating service to the motherland, putting nationalism first and leading to the installation of a nationalist government at the Centre.

"Thousands of nationalists have devoted their lives for today's nationalist government," he said.

WASHINGTON  U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal predicted Friday that a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package  complete with $1,400 direct payments to individuals and $350 billion in aid to state and local governments  will become law before current unemployment insurance extensions run out in March.

Neal, chairman of the powerful House Committee on Ways and Means, hosted a conference call with reporters hours after he, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and nine other Democratic leaders met in the Oval Office for two hours with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Neal described Biden, only in his second week in office, as engaged and committed to the size of the $1.9 trillion package and to the $1,400 relief payments.

He was sitting under a portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, which I thought was pretty appropriate for the moment we are in, said the Springfield Democrat, referring to the New Deal president who pulled the country from Depression and won World War II.

Biden wont retreat on the size of the package at $1.9 trillion, Neal said. He understands that we have to defeat the virus before we can get to a full economic recovery.

President Joe Biden, speaks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, in Washington.AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Neal said his committee  which handles taxation and other issues  is responsible for $941 billion of the package or about half the total amount.

The relief package includes, Neal said, the Butch Lewis Act that address worsening multiemployer pension crisis that threatens the savings of more than a million Americans.

Neal said Biden also told the committee chairs that he plans to move from this relief package to recovery bills, including a long-sought infrastructure development package.

Biden followed the meeting with a speech from the White House.

A lot of folks are losing hope, Biden said. I believe the American people are looking right now to their government for help, to do our job, to not let them down. So Im going to act. Im going to act fast. Id like to be doing it with the support of Republicans ... theyre just not willing to go as far as I think we have to go.

Fridays meeting came after Harris had to cast the tie-breaking vote to get the legislation through a procedural hurdle in the Senate, a body evenly split between Republicans and Democrats.

Bidens meeting with Neal and others also came as the federal government released disappointing news on the job front.

The economy added 49,000 jobs in January after losing 227,000 jobs in December, the White House said, describing the three-month trend as weak.

After downward revisions to the data for both November and December totaling around 160,000, the economy has added an average of only 29,000 per month.

The state of the economy with 19 million Americans unemployed and 23 million Americans unable to pay rent or mortgages illustrates the urgency, Neal said.

Neal said Ways and Means will start marking up the bill on Wednesday and he expects its work to be done on Friday, Feb. 12.

Neal was asked about the bipartisan nature of the upcoming debates. Republicans have said they are being left out.

Republicans can offer amendments, he said.

They are not precluded by any stretch of the imagination, Neal said. There is still time for them to make suggestions.

He would also remind the GOP that Republicans used the same reconciliation process in 2017 to borrow $2.3 trillion for the Trump tax cuts.

As for the state and local aide, Neal said Biden indicated that he will pay states the cost of sending National Guard troops to Washington in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot and invasion of the capitol by extremists.

And the $350 billion in aid state and local governments includes Medicaid relief.

I think that the governors would be quite pleased with the proposal that was offered today, Neal said.

As yet to be worked out are details about who would get the direct payments. The idea is to get them to low and moderate income folks but Neal said the income ceiling for eligibility is not yet set.

Former Massachusetts governor and current Utah senator, Mitt Romney, has talked about tying the relief to the number of children in a household.

I thought it was deserving of further consideration, Neal said of the Romney proposal.

Related content:
OTTAWA, ON, Feb. 5, 2021 /CNW/ - The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on the death of Christopher Plummer:



"Today, Canada and indeed the world lost one of our most iconic and beloved actors  Christopher Plummer.

"Whether performing on stage, in film, or on television, Mr. Plummer showed gravitas, dignity, and heart throughout a career that spanned over six decades. A longtime pillar of Canada's Stratford Festival, he also performed on Broadway and starred in over 150 feature films, television movies, and miniseries. He gave life to so many characters we grew to love and cherish, from Captain von Trapp, to Richard III and Star Trek's General Chang.

"Mr. Plummer's talent earned him numerous accolades. He received an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Genie Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards, the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. Mr. Plummer received honorary doctorates from several universities, was invested as Companion of the Order of Canada, and was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame and the American Theater Hall of Fame.

"Mr. Plummer was a timeless actor who entertained millions around the world and inspired many to pursue the arts. A true gentleman and a consummate professional, his presence both on and off the stage will be thoroughly missed. On behalf of all Canadians, I extend my deepest condolences to his family, his friends, and his many fans."

This document is also available at http://pm.gc.ca

SOURCE Prime Minister's Office

For further information: PMO Media Relations: [email protected]

Related Links

http://pm.gc.ca/


The United Nations Human Rights office on Friday called for 'maximum restraint' by both the agitating farmers and the government during the ongoing farmers' protest in India against the new agriculture laws.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in a tweet, said the rights to peaceful assembly and expression should be protected both offline and online.

Emphasising that it is crucial to find "equitable solutions" with due respect to human rights for all, the UN Human Rights's official Twitter handle wrote, "#India: We call on the authorities and protesters to exercise maximum restraint in ongoing #FarmersProtests. The rights to peaceful assembly & expression should be protected both offline & online. It's crucial to find equitable solutions with due respect to #HumanRights for all."

#India: We call on the authorities and protesters to exercise maximum restraint in ongoing #FarmersProtests. The rights to peaceful assembly & expression should be protected both offline & online. It's crucial to find equitable solutions with due respect to #HumanRights for all.  UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) February 5, 2021

The UN Human Rights tweet comes days after international celebrities like Rihanna, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and several others came out in support of the farmers' protest in the country.

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at three Delhi border points -- Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur -- for more than 70 days, demanding a complete repeal of three contentious farm laws.

They argue that the newly-enacted farm laws would weaken the mandi system and favour corporate giants; and legal guarantee for the minimum support price procurement system.

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of the farmer unions protesting the farm laws, on Friday said there would be no 'chakka jam' in Delhi on February 6 even as it asserted that peasants in other parts of the country will block national and state highways for three hours but in a peaceful way.

The SKM had earlier this week announced this nationwide chakka jam on Saturday, saying that farmers would block national and state highways for three hours in protest against the Internet ban in areas near their agitation sites, harassment allegedly meted out to them by authorities, and other issues.

Multiple rounds of talks between the government and the farmer unions have remained deadlocked. The protests at the Delhi borders for the repeal of the three contentious agri laws that was enacted in September last began on November 26.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said any protests must be seen in the context of India's democratic ethos and polity, and the ongoing efforts of the government and the concerned farmer groups to resolve the impasse.

"The Parliament of India, after a full debate and discussion, passed reformist legislation relating to the agricultural sector. These reforms give expanded market access and provided greater flexibility to farmers. They also pave the way for economically and ecologically sustainable farming," the MEA said in a statement on Wednesday.

In a strong response to the remarks made by foreign individuals and entities, the MEA on Wednesday said the "temptation" of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments is "neither accurate nor responsible".

With agency inputs

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The struggle by Chicago educators to prevent the reopening of schools in the third largest district in the US reached a critical turning point Friday. At present, the trajectory of the situation is heading towards a strike due to the intransigent opposition of rank-and-file teachers. This would have enormous implications, inspiring similar strikes across the US and joining a global upsurge of educators striking against school reopenings in over a dozen countries.

Negotiations between the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Public Schools (CPS) reached an impasse Friday, with CPS sending their last, best, and final offer to the CTU. Both sides are in basic agreement that schools should reopen, but the union is under enormous pressure from rank-and-file educators opposed to this homicidal policy.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot, left, and Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson, visit a preschool classroom at Dawes Elementary School in Chicago, Jan. 11, 2021 [Credit Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, Pool]

On Friday evening, Lightfoot and Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Alison Arwady released a video shamelessly attempting to sow divisions between teachers, other CPS workers, and broad sections of the citys population, falsely claiming that teachers want to be moved to the front of the line for vaccinations.

In the video, Lightfoot claimed, One of the main issues we are stuck on is vaccinations. CTU wants to prioritize teachers over every other resident in our city. Arwady followed Lightfoot to say, The problem is we just dont have enough vaccine.

CTUs demands for 20,000 vaccines, Lightfoot and Arwady argued, does not include all CPS workers and would take vaccine away from "the elderly, homeless, black and brown Chicago residents and other essential workers." Lightfoot stated cynically, All of you would have to take a back seat to teachers who have been working remotely for 11 months.

In denouncing teachers for their limitless self-interest, Lightfoot referred to politically-motivated statements made by the new Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who on Wednesday said that schools can reopen safely prior to the full vaccination of staff.

The video closes out a week of full-court press demanding that teachers return to school buildings at a critically dangerous point in the pandemic, and falsely portraying them as lazy and selfish. Lightfoot herself has made several national media appearances this week, becoming the public face of the Biden administrations central policy of reopening schools in order to get American workers back on the job to produce corporate profits.

In a Friday evening email to teachers, Lightfoot and CPS CEO Janice Jackson reprised threats to lock them out of their Google classroom accounts Monday if they do not show up to schools in-person. They demand that the CTU accept their proposal for a phased reopening beginning on Monday, February 8, stating, Pre-K and cluster teachers and staff without an approved accommodation or pending ADA accommodation will be required to report to classrooms.  [those] who fail to report will be deemed absent without leave (AWOL) and access to CPS systems will be terminated at the close of business Monday.

In the citys latest plan, pre-K and cluster students would return to schools on February 9, K-5 teachers and staff would return February 16 with K-5 students following February 22, and grades 68 teachers and staff would return February 22 with students following March 1.

This plan to return several thousand teachers, staff and students to buildings was made public on the same day the Lightfoot administration hypocritically warned Chicago residents not to gather in groups larger than 10 for Super Bowl Sunday. In fact, the city warned that gatherings of any kind increase the risk for spreading COVID-19.

Reports from a CTU meeting held Friday indicate that the union is also asking for a phased-in return to buildings, with pre-K through 8th grade teachers back in buildings by March 8 after having received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

CTU President Jesse Sharkey said in a communication to teachers, Three times in the past week, the mayor has drawn a line in the sand, and three times, our solidarity and our commitment has forced her and CPS leadership to step over that line. We remain remote until we land an agreement, because what were fighting for is right and necessary.

With a lockout anticipated on Monday, the CTU is continuing secret negotiations to return teachers to buildings, presenting unacceptable and unnecessary public health and safety risks. The CTU is under enormous pressure from rank-and-file educators, who overwhelmingly oppose reopening schools and already authorized a strike vote, compelling the union to also take steps to prepare a strike in the event that negotiations again break down.

It is vital that educators organize themselves in rank-and-file committees that they democratically control and that are answerable to workers, not the CTU bureaucracy. These committees must become the center of opposition to whatever miserable compromise the CTU inevitably reaches with CPS, either to avert a strike or to end one as quickly as possible.

The Chicago Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee is fighting to establish rank-and-file committees in every school and neighborhood throughout the city. On Thursday afternoon, the committee issued the statement Keeping Chicago schools closed during the pandemic is not negotiable! At a powerful meeting Thursday evening, members resolved to reject any deal that reopens schools during the pandemic.

Regarding developments Friday, one CPS elementary teacher told the WSWS, It is very disappointing the union is asking us to identify aspects of their bargaining we think are most important for reopening. We are being presented with a false dilemma. I dont think its safe to reopen at all and I said so.

While CTU continues to claim that it is CPS that divided the workforce with a phased reopening, the fact is the union permitted that to happen, encouraging individual sickouts that left teachers open to retaliation. Only after teacher opposition could no longer be diffused in this way did the union even call a strike authorization voteafter two groups of teachers and staff had been returned to buildings.

The pressure from teachers on the CTU to oppose a return to buildings is enormous and growing. Parents too are overwhelmingly opposed to placing students in school buildings. Only 32 percent of all pre-K, cluster and K-8 students eligible to return to school buildings have stated plans to do so.

Earlier on Friday, the union organized a conference of Democratic aldermen and state legislators who have signed onto a letter asking Lightfoot to continue negotiating with CTU and forestall a citywide strike by teachers.

Lightfoot, with the Biden administration behind her, is a ruthless defender of the financial aristocracy and the interests of the major corporations. For now, the Democrats are relying on the CTU to suppress teacher opposition and reach a reopening agreement. But the Democrats are holding more forceful measures in reserve for when teachers defy the back-to-work order, including fines and mass firings, and the increasingly vicious rhetoric from Lightfoot indicates that she is preparing to take such drastic measures.

As in Chicago, teacher opposition is applying immense pressure on union locals in other districts to posture as opponents of school reopenings even as negotiations continue. In response to the Philadelphia School District ordering 2,000 teachers to report to their classrooms on Monday, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) President Jerry Jordan directed school staff to work remotely, stating, There is absolutely no reason, other than sheer cruelty, to bring members into unsafe buildings Monday.

In recent weeks, an irreconcilable social opposition has developed. On one side, teachers, as part of the working class, are fighting for a science-based policy and the preservation of life and health. On the other, the capitalist class and its political representatives in both the Democratic and Republican parties ruthlessly subordinate human life to corporate profit, resulting in the needless deaths of more than 470,000 people in the US and over 2.3 million worldwide.

The fight by Chicago educators to contain the pandemic and save lives requires the broadest possible mobilization of the entire working class in a nationwide political general strike. There is not a moment to lose in expanding the network of rank-and-file committees that have been built across the US and globally to prepare for these coming struggles.
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP)  President Joe Biden gave a pep talk to a California woman who was laid off because of the coronavirus pandemic, during a conversation the White House said is part of an effort to help him engage more consistently with regular Americans.

The White House on Saturday released a two-and-a-half-minute video of Biden's long-distance telephone conversation with Michele Voelkert, identifying her only as Michele.

After losing her job at a startup clothing company in July, she wrote Biden a letter. He read it, then called her.

The Roseville, California, woman told Biden it's been a tough time" trying to find work.

Biden, who spoke from his Oval Office desk, replied that his father used to say a job is about dignity and respect as much as it is about a paycheck. He described his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan, which calls for $1,400 payments to people like Voelkert, and other economic aid for individuals and small businesses. There's also money to help distribute coronavirus vaccines.

I've been saying a long time, the idea that we think we can keep businesses open and moving and thriving without dealing with this pandemic is just a nonstarter, Biden said.

The Sacramento Bee said it spoke to Voelkert, 47, after the call. "It was the opportunity of the lifetime, she said. Im still riding high.

The conversation is part of an effort to help Biden, who has largely limited his travel because of the pandemic, communicate directly with Americans, the White House said. Biden did fly to Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday to spend the weekend at home with his family.

"There is a time-honored tradition in the country of hearing from the president in this way, press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday in previewing the video. She referenced Franklin D. Roosevelts fireside chats and Ronald Reagan's establishment of a weekly radio address.

The radio address eventually grew to include a video version seen over the internet. The practice, however, lapsed under former President Donald Trump.

Story continues

Biden's weekly address will be produced in a variety of forms, Psaki said.

Later Saturday, Biden left his home for a regularly scheduled X-ray of his right foot, which he broke in late November while playing with his dog Major.

Dr. Kevin O'Connor, the president's physician, said in a statement issued by the White House that the 10-week post-injury weight-bearing X-ray was to make sure Biden had regained stability in his ligaments.

O'Connor later reported that Biden's foot fractures had completely healed.
On December 30, Ukraine signed a contract with China's Sinovac for the supply of 1.9 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine.

Sinovac Biotech said on Saturday that its unit's COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for use by the general public by China's medical products regulator.

It marks the second vaccine approved for public use in China, after one developed by a Beijing institute affiliated with state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) was approved in December, Reuters reported.

Both vaccines, as well as a third candidate from Sinopharm, have already been used in China's vaccination program which has administered over 31 million doses, mainly targeting groups at higher infection risk. A fourth candidate from CanSino Biologics is being used among military personnel.

Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, and Laos have granted emergency authorisation for the CoronaVac vaccine developed by Sinovac Life Sciences, Sinovac said in a news release.

Approval of the two-dose regimen by China's National Medical Products Administration is based on results from two months of late-stage clinical trials overseas, from which the final analysis data has not yet been obtained, Sinovac said.

Its Beijing-based unit Sinovac Life Sciences is expected to be able to produce over 1 billion doses per year in the form of bulk ingredient by February, it said.

Read alsoPfizer to apply for vaccine registration in Ukraine soon  health ministrySinovac is also expanding its capacity to fill vaccine into vials and syringes, which currently lags its vaccine manufacturing capacity. It has also outsourced filling and finishing procedures to overseas partners.

China plans to provide 10 million vaccine doses to COVAX, a World Health Organization-backed global vaccine-sharing initiative that Sinovac, Sinopharm and CanSino have applied to join, the foreign ministry has said.

A Phase I and II trial in China showed the vaccine could safely trigger immune response for older participants and it is also being tested in participants aged three to 17.

Sinovac cautioned, however, that data for the protection rate among people aged 60 and above was "limited."

"When the relevant institutions... use this vaccine, the necessity of inoculating this product should be evaluated in consideration of the health status and exposure risk of this age group," it added.

Sinovac's vaccine is being tested in Phase III clinical trials in countries including Brazil, Turkey and Indonesia, where varied efficacy readings had been released separately, without sufficient details made available to public.

The vaccine was found 50.65% effective against COVID-19 disease in the Brazil trial, which had recruited 12,396 medical workers older than 18 as of December 16 and recorded 253 cases, Sinovac said in a statement on Friday.

The success rate from the Turkey trial was 91.25%, local researchers said, based on a preliminary analysis of 29 cases. There was a 65.3% efficacy rate in the Indonesia trial.

Brazil's more rampant epidemic, and the trial's focus on medical workers, are among factors which Sinovac believe may have lowered the efficacy rate seen in data from there, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters last month.

The Brazil trial also found the vaccine was 83.7% effective against the disease that requires medical treatment, and 100% effective against hospitalization, severe cases and death in the same trial, Sinovac said on Friday.

The protection rate was nearly 70% based on observation of a smaller sub-group in the Brazil trial, in which participants received the two doses at a three-week interval rather than two weeks apart for most participants, Sinovac said last month.

COVID-19 vaccination in Ukraine

On December 30, Ukraine signed a contract with China's Sinovac for the supply of 1.9 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine.

On January 30, 2021, Ukrainian Deputy Health Minister, Chief Medical Officer Viktor Liashko said Ukraine would receive 117,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine within the COVAX (the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility) in February.

From the middle of February to the end of June 2021, Ukraine will obtain 2.2 million to 3.7 million doses of an AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine.

First to get vaccinated will be healthcare workers, the elderly, and seriously ill patients.

In December 2020, the Health Ministry's coronavirus task force approved a COVID-19 immunization plan under which at least 50% of Ukrainians (20 million people) are to be vaccinated during 2021-2022.

On January 29, the National Commission for technology-related and environmental safety and emergencies approved a schedule for vaccination against the coronavirus in Ukraine in 2021.

On February 4, Ukrainian Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said the vaccination against COVID-19 in the country would start on February 15.

Reporting by UNIAN
If one of us had declared that a "cabal" of elites, composed of Big Corporate, Big Labor, Big Tech, Big Green, and Black Lives Matter had all conspired to rig the 2020 election, we'd have been called nuts. We'd be tinfoil hatters, far-right loonies, and denizens of the dreaded QAnon.

But surprise, surprise, the cabal has come out of the closet in a shocking piece that ran in Time magazine titled: "The Secret Bipartisan History of the Shadow Campaign that Saved the 2020 Election" by Democrat-with-byline Molly Ball:

This is the inside story of the conspiracy to save the 2020 election, based on access to the group's inner workings, never-before-seen documents and interviews with dozens of those involved from across the political spectrum. It is the story of an unprecedented, creative and determined campaign whose success also reveals how close the nation came to disaster. "Every attempt to interfere with the proper outcome of the election was defeated," says Ian Bassin, co-founder of Protect Democracy, a nonpartisan rule-of-law advocacy group. "But it's massively important for the country to understand that it didn't happen accidentally. The system didn't work magically. Democracy is not self-executing." That's why the participants want the secret history of the 2020 election told, even though it sounds like a paranoid fever dream  a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information. They were not rigging the election; they were fortifying it. And they believe the public needs to understand the system's fragility in order to ensure that democracy in America endures.

Trump was willing to "go there," back when the left was claiming all was free and fair, Ball continued:

To the President, something felt amiss. "It was all very, very strange," Trump said on Dec. 2. "Within days after the election, we witnessed an orchestrated effort to anoint the winner, even while many key states were still being counted." In a way, Trump was right. There was a conspiracy unfolding behind the scenes, one that both curtailed the protests and coordinated the resistance from CEOs. Both surprises were the result of an informal alliance between left-wing activists and business titans. The pact was formalized in a terse, little-noticed joint statement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO published on Election Day. Both sides would come to see it as a sort of implicit bargain  inspired by the summer's massive, sometimes destructive racial-justice protests  in which the forces of labor came together with the forces of capital to keep the peace and oppose Trump's assault on democracy. The handshake between business and labor was just one component of a vast, cross-partisan campaign to protect the election  an extraordinary shadow effort dedicated not to winning the vote but to ensuring it would be free and fair, credible and uncorrupted. For more than a year, a loosely organized coalition of operatives scrambled to shore up America's institutions as they came under simultaneous attack from a remorseless pandemic and an autocratically inclined President. Though much of this activity took place on the left, it was separate from the Biden campaign and crossed ideological lines, with crucial contributions by nonpartisan and conservative actors.

"There was a conspiracy"? "Not rigging, but fortifying"? Changed the rules? Did a campaign against misinformation, meaning, suppressed the New York Post story about Hunter Biden? "Every attempt to interfere with the proper outcome of the election was defeated"?

This is some creepy-ass gloating from leftists who have obviously won and would like us to know.

That's going to be their downfall, but right now, they don't know.

Ball's idea is to claim that Big Corporate, Big Tech, and the rest of the co-conspirators who brought us doddering puppet Joe Biden were actually heroes. They're like suddenly beloved hedge funds of GameStop fame. They saved "democracy" from the demos but claim they "saved" us from President Trump. Because, after all, we peons can't help ourselves; we just keep voting for Trump. Being big-hearted and all, they saved us from ourselves. This kind of sums up what Ball's story is about.

Ball wrote about plotting and co-ordination dating from 2019 among Big Tech, Big Labor, Big Corporate, the Chamber of Commerce, Big Media, far-left activists, and Molly's eyesight being kind of weak on the right, "bipartisan" help from the right, meaning the same old NeverTrumps who've been hating on Trump since the escalator. Imagine the phone calls. Imagine the money swooshing through the system. Imagine the spin plotting in the aftermath. They changed election rules, foisted upon us easy-to-fraud mail-in balloting, called the election for Biden before the votes were in, and shoveled money to bankrupt local governments who were incapable of running a decent election even under normal circumstances, as Frank Friday noted here. It was all planned. It was all rigged. Ball, though, uses their spin and now would have us know that it was "fortified."

Laura Ingraham has an appropriately outraged segment worth listening to on this now brazen, vile plot, which, if you can't stand reading Ball, amounts to an intelligent summary:

Two interpretations as to what it means are out  one, that it means that their Big Lie about all being free and fair in this election is falling flat, and they're trying to spin it now, as Mark Wauck notes here:

The Time story offers conservatives good news. The good news is that the Dems and all the authors of the Big Steal know they have a Big Problem. They realize that all their perception management efforts thus far have gone for naught. UPDATE: Wow! Glenn Reynolds is all over this angle with a truly smokin' article: Why are Democrats so scared of Donald Trump when they just defeated him? Another way to frame that question is: Why aren't Dems secure in their victory? The obvious answer  given their "prohibition on questions" is: They know that we know that they didn't actually win. And that's why they're trying this new tactic of, Here, now we'll tell you the secret truth that makes everything OK  for us! We wuz protecting the country!

There's additional support for this argument in a brilliant piece written for American Thinker by military historian James Corum, who described the bombing of Hamburg and how the Nazis were unable to suppress the news of it, simply because too many people already knew the truth.

Bottom line in this argument is that they know that everyone knows the rigging happened, so now the riggers are trying to spin it into a virtue.

The other is the one I suspect is perhaps even more likely: they know we know. So now they're into psy-ops, trying to demoralize us in their open gloating.

As Ace at Ace of Spades noted:

This is the part of the war where they have shot most of the survivors, and are now engaging in psyops to humiliate and degrade whoever is still alive. They are now admitting they rigged the election so that we understand that there is nothing we can do about it  we are a defeated people, they want us to know, and they intended to rule us.

This is a nasty picture but probably true. Someone is burbling with delight in leftist circles, delighted that the U.S. has been rigged into electing the most far-left administration ever and gotten away with it. And like all far-left regimes (see Venezuela), it can't be reversed. It's permanently rigged now, and we will just have to prepare for decline and learn to live with it, fading away into nothing. Nothing we can do can stop it, because they are all chain-locked together, and all of them are against us.

Bad as that sounds, it's good news, too. It's intelligence. It's someone opening up their secret files like what WikiLeaks used to do to John Podesta to give us their battle plans. The spin is (edited), but the truth is out. And with that in mind, we now know we're not conspiracy theorists, we now know we have a gloating enemy convinced that their victory is total. It's as if we now have their game plan and now know what to look for, come 2022, to counter it. Knowledge, after all, is power. But they're too dumb to know this. Even Antifa knows enough to keep these kinds of secret battle plans, memberships, victories, and techniques out of the news, denying everything, convincing us they're just "an idea"  but not these guys. That's what's good news for us. They've come out of the woodwork to do a victory dance. But we now know who the opponent is and are no longer battling an invisible enemy.

Yes, they gloat, but as they march in their victory parade, they seem to forget the lesson of the ancient Romans, to always have a victorious general parading around with a slave at his side whispering into his ear that "you are mortal."

We aren't slaves, they're brazenly stupid brimming with hubris, and they don't have that person.

Image: Matthias Kabel via Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Unofficial St. Patrick's Day revelers ham it up for the camera as they wait to cross Green Street at First Street on March 6, 2020, in Campustown.
New fans on social media say the unliley star is 'funnier than the presenters'

Handforth Parish Council star Jackie Weaver has admitted she went viral online this week without having a clue what Twitter is.

The acting-clark catapulted to fame this week when she kicked council chairman Brian Tolver out of a Zoom meeting for telling her she has 'no authority at all'.

The internet sensation has earned even more fame after tonights appearance on Channel 4s The Last Leg where she had presenters in stitches as she admitted to not knowing what Twitter is.

Jackie Weaving revealed she has no clue about Twitter despite her becoming an overnight star thanks to a planning meeting going viral on social media

The acting-clark was an instant hit on the Channel 4 show, with some people on social media claiming she was 'funnier than the presenters'

When asked by Josh Widdicombe what the last 24 hours have been like, Jackie said over another Zoom call on the show: I think the main thing is I dont really know what Twitter is and Im not sure what trending is.

My son tells me its really good. I think that has helped a lot.

Dozens of people online enjoyed Jackies brief appearance on the comedy show, hosted by Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker.

One said on Twitter: Jackie Weaver saying she doesnt really know what Twitter is, bless her.

Another said: Jackie Weaver on Last Leg right now, what a wonderful lady.

And one viewer added: 

Omg Jackie Weaver on the Last Leg right now is funnier than any of the hosts.

Get her on every single panel show immediately.

Josh Widdecombe could not help laughing when Jackie said she was clueless about Twitter and had to be told what trending meant

Jackie became an unlikely star this week when an edited highlights package of Handforth Parish Council planning committee's December meeting captured a multitude of chaos - including one person shouting 'f*** off', someone flushing a toilet and another answering the front door.

But the real show-stealer was acting-clerk Jackie who kicked out and ordered her to to 'stop talking'.

Her action has gained her wide-spread support, with Jackie's husband Stuart Weaver, 69 - a retired design engineer - telling MailOnline that he's 'proud' of his wife for standing up to them.

Viral council meeting star Jackie Weaver (pictured with her husband Stuart) has insisted she did have the power to boot out a 'disruptive' council chairman who ordered her to 'stop talking' in a now-viral Zoom hearing, MailOnline can reveal

Acting-clerk Jackie (pictured) kicked out council chairman Brian Tolver after he told her she has 'no authority at all' and ordered her to to 'stop talking'

Weaver, Cheshire Association of Local Councils, clashes with chairman Brian Tolver who claims he was chucked out of an earlier meeting by her and refuses to accept the meeting's legitimacy. He is later thrown out again for telling Weaver to 'stop talking' but today said he had no regrets

Jackie - who has worked with Handforth Parish Council on and off for nine years - says the hostility from Mr Tolver's faction of councillors was hardly a surprise.

In a normal parish council meeting, Jackie wouldn't have the authority to remove someone, but because it was called by two coucillors - who risked having the hearing 'hijacked' - she says she did.

Jackie earlier admitted that 'there is an element of bullying and bad behaviour around in local councils' - with councillor Peter Moore, 70, one of those on the Zoom call, describing Handforth Parish Council as a 'den of bullying'.

The small town of Handforth in Cheshire, close to Manchester Airport, is known for its gigantic M&S and its quiet suburban streets - but many residents now know that its parish council is split by infighting and a battle for power

Jackie told MailOnline: 'I had the authority to kick them of the call. They shout all the statements about it being illegal but I've been doing this for 25 years.

'If it had been a normal parish meeting I wouldn't have had the authority to do that.'
TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - One local Department of Child Services employee is being honored for her work at a statewide level. Ashley Jones a Tippecanoe County DCS supervisor won Youth Work Supervisor of the Year. The award was presented by the Indiana Youth Services Association. Jones was recognized for her mentorship of other staff and helping create innovative programs. She helped establish a dual-status assessment team for the county.

This group of people helps kids with involvement in juvenile probation who also have a history of abuse and neglect. Jones says helping at-risk youth couldn't be done without teamwork.

"This is one of the most supportive jobs that I have ever been in with the internal side of things, said Jones. Although we are kind of under a microscope we do have a lot of outside sources that are very supportive of us and prop us up on the pedestal as well as talk us up."

Jones has been working in the child advocacy sector for 9 years. She says DCS typically isn't recognized with this type of award. She hopes it shines a positive light on child welfare work in Tippecanoe County overall.
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NEW DELHI  With coronavirus cases still climbing, Honduras got tired of waiting to get vaccines through a United Nations program, so the small Central American country struck out on its own, securing the shots through a private deal.

Honduras cannot wait on bureaucratic processes or misguided decisions to give citizens the peace of mind offered by the COVID-19 vaccine, said Juan Carlos Sikaffy, president of the Honduran Private Business Council, which helped complete the purchase by providing a bank guarantee.

Other nations are getting impatient too. Unlike past disease outbreaks, where less wealthy countries have generally waited for vaccines to be delivered by the U.N. and other organizations, many are now taking matters into their own hands. Experts are increasingly concerned that these go-it-alone efforts could undermine a U.N.-backed program to get COVID-19 shots to the neediest people worldwide.

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Countries including Serbia, Bangladesh and Mexico recently began vaccinating citizens through donations or commercial deals  an approach that could leave even fewer vaccines for the program known as COVAX, since rich countries have already snapped up the majority of this years supply.

Led by the World Health Organization, a coalition for epidemic preparedness known as CEPI and a vaccine alliance called GAVI, COVAX was created to distribute COVID-19 vaccines fairly. Countries can join either to buy vaccines or to get donated shots.

Mustaqeem De Gama, a diplomat at the South African mission in Geneva, cited a level of desperation fueled by spreading virus variants and the uncertainty of when any COVAX vaccines might arrive. He doubted that countries that signed up for COVAX will even get 10% of what they require.

Even if the effort succeeds, COVAXs stated goal is to vaccinate less than 30% of people in poor countries, meaning that governments must seek other sources to obtain enough shots to achieve herd immunity.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said his country was forced to cut its own deals after watching rich countries scramble for the scarce shots. He criticized nations that, he said, bought more doses than they needed.

Its as if they intend to vaccinate all their cats and dogs, he said.

Although Serbia paid 4 million euros to COVAX last year, it has not yet received any shots and last month began its immunization campaign with vaccines from Pfizer, Chinas Sinopharm and Russia.

Recent manufacturing delays in Europe raise concerns about whether drugmakers will be able to fulfill the multiplying orders.

There are so many deals being signed that I think its hard to see how the numbers could possibly add up for all the doses ordered to actually be produced in the foreseeable future, said Amanda Glassman, a public health expert and executive vice-president of the Center for Global Development.

Last week, the African Union completed a deal for 400 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, to be produced by the Serum Institute of India. Thats on top of a previously negotiated African Union deal for 270 million doses from several pharmaceutical companies and in addition to the 600 million doses Africa expects to receive from COVAX.

Some experts warn that these new deals could move COVAX further to the back of the line, especially if some countries are willing to pay a premium for speed.

To ensure South Africans got doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine quickly, government officials reluctantly agreed to pay a higher price per shot than Europe or North America. The first shipments arrived this week.

COVAX hopes to start sending its first vaccine batches to Africa later this month, but those plans are subject to change depending on manufacturers production capacities and countries immunization plans.

Mexico began vaccinating health workers in December because of a direct purchase agreement with Pfizer, but progress has been slow. In recent weeks, the country gave emergency approval to Russias Sputnik V vaccine but said the first batches werent due until sometime later this month.

Kate Elder, senior vaccines policy adviser at Doctors Without Borders, said developing countries should not be criticized for securing private vaccine deals since that is precisely what rich countries did last year.

Every country is just doing what it feels it needs to do to protect their people, she said, but the ability of poor countries and regions to get vaccine faster than COVAX could hurt future U.N. efforts.

If countries are getting vaccines on their own, then how are WHO and GAVI delivering for them? she asked.

Although India is contracted to provide COVAX with several hundred million doses of vaccine, the shots have not yet been authorized by the WHO, meaning India cannot release them for the U.N. program. In the meantime, India has already gifted neighbors, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, with more than 5 million doses.

Dr. Haritha Aluthge of Sri Lankas Government Medical Officers Association, called for the WHO to intervene amid the intense competition for vaccines and the failure of COVAX to deliver.

Not a single dose (from COVAX) has been received, Aluthge said.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned recently that the world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure if COVID-19 vaccines are not distributed fairly, but the agency has no authority to force rich countries to share.

Its entreaties for countries to act in solidarity have mostly been ignored.

Norway is the only country that said it would send vaccines to developing countries as its own citizens are immunized, but it has not specified how many would be donated. Britain said it would not divert any vaccines until it finishes its own immunization program. Australia, which has mostly stamped out COVID-19, has no timeline for when it might share vaccines with its poorer neighbors in southeast Asia and the Pacific islands.

The unrelenting pressure on the worlds vaccine supplies might only lift when more shots prove successful, said Krishna Udayakumar, director of the Duke Global Health Institute.

COVAX is the only global, multilateral platform to enable something close to global access and equity, and yet, it has access to a relatively small amount of vaccines, he said. The only way out is to have more vaccines.

___

Cheng reported from Toronto. Associated Press writers Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Christopher Sherman in Mexico City, Marlon Gonzalez in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and Krishan Francis in Colombo, Sri Lanka, contributed to this report.
With vaccination drive against COVID-19 gathering steam across the world and restrictions on movements easing gradually, many millennials are keen on taking an international holiday this summer, according to a survey. Things are looking up for 2021, as 52 per cent millennials are eager to take an international holiday this summer as COVID-19 vaccine ushered in hope that the end to the pandemic is on the horizon, according to a survey by BOTT (Business of Travel Trade) Travel Sentiment Tracker.

The survey was done online with over 6,000 millennial travellers across the country during January 2021. As per the survey, 75 percent millennials would prefer to go to foreign destinations with fewer COVID-19 cases while 71 percent would opt for destinations with defined protocols for the pandemic to avoid unnecessary hassles.

The industry finds survey findings encouraging for the travel industry. The findings, they believe, will generate more confidence in an industry, which is currently disappointed by being ignored in the Union Budget. "However, inbound and outbound are two verticals of travel that go hand in hand. We hope the government will look into opening up borders in India soon, and so will other countries," Travel Agents Association of India president and the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality vice chairperson Jyoti Mayal opined.

The survey also showed that 62 percent millennials would prefer Thailand, followed by Singapore (58 percent), UAE (52 percent), Maldives (46 percent) and Saudi Arabia (40 percent) in the short-haul category of foreign destinations. Malaysia and Indonesia are chosen by 39 percent millennials each Sri Lanka (36 percent), Bhutan (31 percent), Turkey (28 percent) and Seychelles (24 percent) coming close among the top preferred short-haul foreign destinations, it noted.

In the long-haul category, the top-ranked international destinations include France (53 percent), Germany (51 percent), Australia (50 percent), Switzerland (49 percent), the USA (46 percent), Britain (45 percent), Canada (44 percent), Japan (38 percent). The ongoing vaccine drive coupled with dropping COVID-19 cases in India has instilled confidence in the travellers, especially the millennials, according to Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) President Riaz Munshi.

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 road to complete recovery is long and tough but we are definitely seeing an uptick in trip-planning and requests right now for the holidays and into 2021, as well as far-flung international trips. Many of our members are planning trips for 2021 and 2022 because they know demand will be high in popular destinations eventually, he added. The survey showed that 40 percent millennials are open to spend between Rs 2-5 lakh for their holidays while 35 percent would spend between Rs 5-10 lakh.

Around 34 percent millennials would like to book luxury hotels with limited inventory while 25 percent each would go for boutique and budget properties, it said. Travellers are still looking for places with fewer crowds, it added.


ALBANY  During the midst of the pandemic, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo found time to write a 300-page book about his administrations response to COVID-19.

But Cuomos office  citing constraints caused by the pandemic  for months, in response to a Freedom of Information Law request, has refused to provide a few pages of paperwork confirming whether the governor followed state ethics rules before striking his book deal.

Its one of many examples of the Cuomo administrations long-standing practice of stonewalling or delaying requests for information. That alleged practice was arguably revealed on Jan. 28 when state Attorney General Letitia James office issued a report finding that Cuomos administration had under-reported COVID-19-related deaths at nursing homes by 50 percent.

For months, state legislators, a non-partisan think tank and news organizations had sought information that would give a true picture of the death toll in nursing facilities. Within hours of James report, state Department of Health Commissioner Howard Zucker released the numbers, after months of stating that an ongoing audit  for accuracy  had prevented the release of the information.

Then last Wednesday, state Supreme Court Justice Kimberly O'Connor issued a ruling requiring the health department to provide the records supporting the death count to the Empire Center for Public Policy, which had sued the administration for the data. O'Connor found that Cuomo's administration had violated state law and its broad standard of open and transparent government.

Armed with new numbers, the Empire Center's Bill Hammond reported that New Yorks COVID-19 mortality rate in nursing homes had jumped from thirty-fifth highest in the nation to thirteenth, a potential explanation for the administration's reticence to release the figures.

Still, on many other fronts, the administration continues to frustrate attempts to gain public information.

When Cuomo ran for his first term in 2010, he promised to operate "the most transparent" administration in history. In the decade since, that promise has often not been realized. Here are a few examples involving the Times Union, other media, and actors within government itself.

Cuomos book deal

When a state government employee seeks to earn outside income, theyre required to answer a few questions in writing, then submit the information to New Yorks ethics oversight agency, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics. Those rules date back to at least 1990, according to a JCOPE spokesman.

But the Times Union has found that in 2012, when Cuomo sought approval for his first book as governor, All Things Possible, the letter that Cuomos government counsel submitted to JCOPE did not have all the required answers.

The letter from Cuomos office to JCOPE did not include the "number of hours of work per week" Cuomo would spend on the book nor "the times and days when the work will be performed." Although quantifying the hours spent crafting a book can be tricky  Cuomo's latest work was largely the product of a diary  there is precedent for the information to be listed.

The 2012 letter did not disclose whether the publisher HarperCollins did business with state government. JCOPE's disclosure form states the government worker must list whether their outside activity "involves a person or entity that does business with ... your agency or any other state agency." (HarperCollins' parent company, News Corp., had extensive state business, according to lobbying records, though the disclosure form does not indicate that JCOPE would require that information to be listed.)

Still, that year, then-JCOPE executive director Ellen Biben approved Cuomos book deal. The letter from Cuomos office to JCOPE, and Bibens approval letter, were released in a report issued by a JCOPE review panel in late 2015. In the years since, JCOPE has repeatedly faced questions about a lack of independence from the governor.

Cuomos office has delayed releasing the information submitted to JCOPE while seeking approval for Cuomos second book as governor, "American Crisis," published in October. The office also has declined to provide a copy of JCOPEs letter approving Cuomo's newest book.

The Times Union filed two appeals under the Freedom of Information Law, arguing that reviewing a few pages of records should not take months, but the Executive Chamber refused to budge. Cuomo's office pinned the delay on the work challenges posed by COVID-19.

Cuomos governmental counsel office  which would normally advise the governor on his paperwork submission to JCOPE  is involved in deciding whether the public gets to scrutinize those documents.

Richard Azzopardi, a Cuomo senior advisor, said that before the publication of "American Crisis," all information "required and requested was provided and approval was granted just as it was for the last book in 2012."

Citing the language of the disclosure rules, he added: "As previously reported, the publishing entity [Crown Publishing Group] is not regulated by/does not have/seeks to do/nor recently has done business with the state.

Azzopardi would not directly answer a question, however, about whether Cuomo's office provided all information that JCOPE's website says is required, including the hours that Cuomo planned to work each week on the book.

In a statement, Licha Nyiendo, Cuomo's special counsel for public integrity, also addressed the long delays faced by those filing Freedom of Information Law requests with state government.

The nearly 63,000 Freedom of Information requests from 2020  many of them voluminous and requiring extensive legal review  are responded to as they are received and as efficiently as practicable," Nyiendo said. "This is not only a higher number than in 2019, but also comes with the pandemic-related challenges that virtually every other sector has faced.

JCOPE commissioner thwarted

JCOPE Commissioner Gary Lavine, a Senate Republican appointee to the body, has been pressing for public release of JCOPE's letters approving outside income requests for high-level state officials. If released, the documents may include the commission's letter approving "American Crisis."

When Lavine has raised the issue at JCOPE meetings, commissioners appointed by Cuomo have pushed back, and Lavine's motion has been put off.

Lavine has been thwarted on another front. Last March, Cuomo issued an executive order suspending ethics requirements, which apply to state employees, for volunteers assisting New York in its response to COVID-19. Some of the volunteers include former top Cuomo aides who have taken prominent leadership roles in the coronavirus response.

Lavine doesnt object to Cuomo employing whomever he wishes, but said he wants the public to know whether those individuals are lobbyists or others with state government business.

My intent is disclosure, Lavine said. What I want to know is, Do any of the volunteers have any clear conflict of interest? Theres a lot of money sloshing around the COVID response. There ought to be some accountability.

Lavines request for the list of volunteers has also faced resistance from Cuomo's appointees to JCOPE.

We dont have jurisdiction, Commissioner Daniel Horwitz said in October. As I have said, I think this is a waste of time, respectfully.

More recently, JCOPE general counsel Monica Stamm relayed that the Executive Chamber was thinking about Lavines request, but also had questions about JCOPEs jurisdiction over the issue.

Last September, the Times Union filed a formal request for the list of exempted volunteers. Four months later, the Executive Chamber has not provided the records, again citing the pandemic.

Leak investigation

In October 2019, the state inspector generals office concluded that it could not substantiate a bombshell allegation that highly sensitive, confidential JCOPE voting information had been leaked to Cuomo.

The inspector generals office  which is part of Cuomo's executive branch  reached that conclusion, despite never interviewing several key witnesses, including the governor.

In November 2019, the Times Union filed a request seeking the documents resulting from the investigation. Sixteen months later, the inspector generals office says it still hasnt had enough time to fill the request.

The inspector general's chief counsel denied an appeal in December, stating the more than year-long delay was not unreasonable because the office had diligently worked to respond to the complex request and some records were difficult to obtain."

Lavine, the JCOPE commissioner, says fundamental reorganization and reform of both JCOPE and the inspector generals office is required to clean out the opaque sludge of cover-up.

Constitutional crisis

In 2014, Cuomo successfully pushed for an amendment to the state Constitution creating a bipartisan redistricting commission ending the Legislature's decennial practice of gerrymandering legislative and congressional districts. Cuomo said the commission would finally reform "the state's broken redistricting process."

But a Jan. 28 letter obtained by the Times Union, signed by all 10 members of the redistricting commission, alleges that for five months the Cuomo administration failed to acknowledge pleas for $1 million that had been allocated to fund the commission. The allocation was passed in last Aprils budget, but the money was not released to the commission by the Cuomo administration.

On Sept. 14, the redistricting commissioners sent a unanimous correspondence to state budget Director Robert Mujica asking for the $1 million, but received no response from Mujica, according to the commissioners recent letter.

The commission reiterated the request in an email on Dec. 10. According to the commissioners, Cuomos administration never offered an official response to that email, either. On Jan. 12, the commissioners submitted a request for $3.2 million in funding in the 2021-22 state budget to Mujica and Cuomo. Again, the commissioners say, they received no official response. No new funding for the commission was included in Cuomos budget.

Since their hiring in November, the commission's two executive directors have been forced to work without pay. Commissioners of both major parties wrote in the recent letter that they were at a loss to comprehend "the states clear desire to subvert the will of an overwhelming majority of voters who ratified this constitutional amendment."

On Feb. 4  an hour after the Times Union asked the Cuomo administration about the commissioners' scathing missive  the Division of Budget informed the redistricting commission that the long-delayed $1 million contract had been finalized.

The Division of Budget provided a different account, contending they've been in frequent contact with the commission about a series of thorny legal issues related to releasing the funding.

We have been working on this issue and have been in contact with commission representatives and their appointing authorities for months after the way the Legislature appropriated the funding limited the mechanisms for delivering it to the commission," said budget office spokesman Freeman Klopott. "Those issues have been resolved, the funding is now available."

Cuomo briefings

Some state Capitol journalists have been concerned about what they contend has been a lack of ability to ask Cuomo questions during his virtual daily briefings during the pandemic. While those briefings were initially held in-person, Cuomo has now switched to Zoom or conference calls, citing guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

By opening the virtual briefings to all journalists  not just those based at the Capitol who attend in-person news conferences there  it has resulted in a wider audience of reporters who are able to pose questions.

Anne McCloy, a television anchor at WRGB in Albany, has repeatedly raised questions during briefings about problems with the state's processing of unemployment claims. McCloy said that reporters are muted during the Zoom briefings after they ask a question and are unable to pose a follow-up question.

The Legislative Correspondents Association sent a letter on Feb. 1 requesting that Cuomo allow reporters to ask at least one follow-up question; diversify which reporters are selected for questions by taking into account race, ethnicity, gender and age; and alert news outlets at least two hours in advance of his public appearances.

Azzopardi, Cuomo's senior advisor, responded to the LCA's letter on Friday, a day after the Times Union published a story on the organization's official request. During the governor's Zoom news conference late Friday morning, reporters were not muted and were able to ask follow-up questions during the briefing. Cuomo, when asked about the LCA's letter, said he had not read it.

Nursing homes

Even after last week's court ruling favoring the Empire Center, key records related to nursing home deaths are still being withheld.

The Cuomo administration issued a report in July absolving itself of blame for thousands of COVID-19-related deaths at nursing homes. The report centered on a controversial Mar. 25 directive from the Department of Health, which caused many nursing homes to believe that if a COVID-positive hospital patient was medically stable, the nursing home had to accept that patient.

The administration's July report found the guidance was not to blame for the thousands of infections that followed in nursing homes. But the Department of Health is refusing to allow a public examination of whether DOH's analysis was accurate.

In January, six months after the Times Union filed an open-records request, the administration denied the newspaper's request for completed surveys filled out by nursing homes, which were repeatedly cited in the July report as the basis for the health department's conclusions.

The health department argues that releasing the information "would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy," but has not explained why any personal information, if there is any, could not be redacted from the records. The agency also asserted that its not obligated to release "inter- or intra-agency materials," although those types of records may be released at an agency's discretion.

The health department's spokesman, Gary Holmes, also has declined to explain how releasing the materials would raise privacy concerns, or why the materials qualified for the exemption allowing intergovernmental materials to be suppressed. The Times Union is appealing the denial.
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An Australian economic advisor has been detained following a military coup against Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Sean Turnell said he could not leave his hotel after Myanmar army generals seized power of the country on February 1.

The military alleges fraud in the November 8 election that Suu Kyi and her National League For Democracy party won in a landslide.

Mr Turnell is director of the Myanmar Development Institute in Naypyitaw, Myanmar and has served as special consultant to Aung San Suu Kyi since December 17. He is also a professor of economics at Macquarie University.

Mr Turnell is the first foreign national known to be arrested following the military coup.

Sean Turnell said he could not leave his hotel after Myanmar army generals seized power of the country on February 1

The military alleges fraud in the November 8 election that Suu Kyi and her National League For Democracy party won in a landslide (pictured, police march in line as protestors gather for demonstration against military coup)

'I've just been detained at the moment, and perhaps charged with something, I don't know what that would be, could be anything at all of course,' he said.

'Everyone's been very polite and all that, but obviously I'm not free to move or anything like that.'

Mr Turnell also sent a message saying he was 'fine and strong, and not guilty of anything'.

He posted on his Twitter account earlier this week about the volatile situation, including a photo featuring him sitting beside Ms Suu Kyi.

'Thanks everyone for your concern yesterday,' he wrote on February 2.

'Safe for now but heartbroken for what all this means for the people of Myanmar. The bravest, kindest people I know. They deserve so much better.'

A day earlier he wrote: 'Internet comes and goes, but not the grief on the faces of my Myanmar friends.'

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne has confirmed Australians are being detained in Myanmar.

Mr Turnell is the first foreign national known to be arrested following the military coup

Myanmar army generals seized power of the country from Aung San Suu Kyi (pictured, greeting supporters in 2015) on February 1

'We are providing consular assistance to a number of Australians in Myanmar,' Ms Payne said in a statement on Saturday.

'In particular, we have serious concerns about an Australian who has been detained at a police station.

'We have called in the Myanmar Ambassador and registered the Australian government's deep concern about these events.

'The Australian Embassy in Yangon continues to contact Australians in Myanmar to ascertain their safety, to the extent that communications allow.'

Ms Payne's statement did not mention Sean Turnell specifically.
Ukraine's SkyUp Airlines plans to launch Kyiv-Lodz-Kyiv, Lviv-Lodz-Lviv, and Kyiv-Katowice-Kyiv flights this spring, the airlines press service reports.

Flights from Kyiv to Lodz are scheduled for March 29, 2021. At first, flights will be operated twice a week: on Mondays and Fridays. From April 25, planes will depart four times a week: on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Lviv-Lodz-Lviv flights will start on April 30, 2021 and will be operated on Mondays and Fridays.

It will be possible to go to Katowice from Kyiv starting from May 29, 2021. Flights are scheduled on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

The airline notes that even if flights are canceled due to pandemic restrictions, all funds in the amount of the full ticket price will be transferred to the passenger's balance in the personal account on the SkyUp website. The company also provides an opportunity to withdraw money from the balance to the card.

As Ukrinform reported, from January 20, 2021, SkyUp increased the weight of hand luggage and updated the rules of its transportation for different rates.

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A 22-year-old Townsville woman killed in a head-on collision on Friday night has been remembered as a kind and talented friend who would have been the greatest police officer.

Jennifer Board was riding her motorcycle along Ross River Road at Kirwan when two cars collided, one of which then crashed into her bike just before 10pm.

Jennifer Board, 22, was killed while riding her motorcycle in Townsville on Friday night. Credit:Facebook

Police will allege the crash was caused by a group of vigilantes in a Holden Statesman who were chasing down a stolen Hyundai sedan.

It will be alleged that the Statesman sedan aggressively followed the stolen vehicle [then] collided with the rear of the vehicle, Superintendent Glen Pointing said.
California is creating and growing the markets of the future. It happens here first because our ambitious policies to protect the planet and public health have not only cleared the air but also fueled our economic growth  and developed pathways that the federal government can model nationally.

Our steadfast commitment to zero-emission vehicles takes into account that transportation is an integral part of our way of life and reduces harm to the air we breathe and the planet we leave for our kids future.

Last fall, I committed that only zero-emission vehicles would be sold in California by 2035. Today, zero-emission vehicles are Californias fastest-growing export. It came as no surprise last week when another automobile manufacturer, General Motors, announced it would follow Californias lead and commit to manufacturing only zero-emission vehicles by 2035. And then, seeing the handwriting on the wall, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler dropped their defense of Trump-era lawsuits challenging Californias authority to set clean car standards. With the renewed energy and hope created by President Bidens leadership on climate change and equity, California is leading toward an electrifying future.

Weve been leading the way for decades. Sixty years ago, the smog in Los Angeles was debilitating, and scientists determined it was emissions belching from the tailpipes of cars and trucks that were to blame. California, then as now, jumped into action and crafted our nations first rules to reduce smog from vehicles. Then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan enacted what were, at the time, the strictest air quality standards in the nation. Shortly thereafter, those identical standards were adopted by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, taking Californias laws governing the production of cleaner cars nationwide. The Golden States role in setting stricter-than-federal auto rules was made formal in the Clean Air Act signed by another Californian, President Richard Nixon.

These cutting-edge policies were also smart for our economy. Our state is now home to more than 500,000 advanced-energy jobs, including those focused on manufacturing zero-emission cars, buses and trucks. Our states gross domestic product growth has outpaced the nation, while we hit our 2020 climate target four years early. We are home to 34 zero-emission vehicle and equipment manufacturers who are driving economic growth across the state. Californians are behind the wheel of 45% of the countrys zero-emission cars. And this is just the beginning. Going zero-emission is key to our economic recovery strategy.

This sustained focus on our climate must continue. Transportation is responsible for the majority of harmful greenhouse gas emissions in California, which puts it at the top of both our state and nation's climate to-do list. If we are going to keep moving with the urgency the climate crisis demands, we must accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels by drastically reducing demand for gas-powered vehicles. We have a huge economic opportunity to lead the world by prioritizing innovation and investments in zero-emission vehicle manufacturing and charging infrastructure.

But national vehicle emissions standards need to catch up to include trucks that emit toxic diesel emissions. Decades of environmental inequity have resulted in communities of color living next to freeways, warehouses, ports and rail yards, leading residents to suffer disproportionately from asthma and elevated cancer risks. Last summer, the California Air Resources Board adopted the worlds first zero-emission commercial truck requirements  manufacturers must start selling zero-emission heavy-duty trucks in 2024, and by 2045, they can sell only clean trucks.

The transportation revolution needs to be inclusive. The barriers to purchasing electric cars are often greatest for low-income communities and communities of color. We need to make ZEVs work for those most in need. In California weve started by operationalizing equity through investing nearly 60% of our market-based cap-and-trade revenues to combat pollution in disadvantaged communities and establishing a low-carbon fuel standard that requires high-carbon intensity fuels and subsidizes zero-emission vehicles. Our policies must work to reverse disparities, promote justice and serve the most vulnerable populations.

Californians are being devastated by the impacts of climate change  fueling the biggest wildfires in a century, worsening our air quality and putting our health at risk. By taking swift, equitable action to reduce carbon emissions from vehicles, we can together deliver a climate-safe future for all.

During the last four years, the national clean car rules that President Obama put in place were undermined by the Trump administration with the support of big oil and car companies. This resulted in Californias car rules, followed by 13 states and the District of Columbia, being stricter than the scientifically unjustifiable standards rushed through by the Trump EPA (these so-called SAFE II rules are currently being litigated, and many car companies are still on the wrong side). Luckily there is a solution at hand that can get us to 2026 when the current scheme expires (after which we will need a road map to a zero-emission 2035). California together with Ford, Honda, VW, BMW and Volvo last year brokered deals to cut emissions from the fleet, between now and 2026, and set us on a path to zero from there.

Now, just as in the past, by following Californias leadership, we can continue to create jobs, improve health and advance equity. We can electrify our economy and our future.

Gavin Newsom is governor of California.
An officer has been suspended following the controversial arrest of a Troubles survivor at a memorial event, PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne has said.

Mr Byrne said another officer had been repositioned, as he apologised to all those who were present or had been affected by what they had seen on social media.

Mark Sykes, who was shot several times in the loyalist massacre at a betting shop in Belfast in 1992, was later released after Fridays incident on the citys Ormeau Road.

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Angry exchanges unfolded at the wreath-laying anniversary event for the five people killed in the Sean Graham bookmakers attack, when police intervened amid suspicions the gathering breached lockdown rules.

At a press conference on Saturday, Mr Byrne told reporters: Following the events in the Ormeau Road yesterday and the commencement of the ombudsman investigation, weve been able to establish today a number of things.

Firstly, that the police did not attempt to stop the commemoration event at the Ormeau Road.

That said, we have carefully had the opportunity today to review the totality of the incident, that led to the events weve seen on social media.

Having looked at the totality of what we have seen on the police body-worn video, which records things that have not yet been seen in the public domain, we recognise that the events that have taken place do not reflect the values of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

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Consequently, we have taken the decision this evening to suspend one of the officers involved and to reposition a second officer whilst the ombudsman completes her investigations and is able to make her own determinations.

Mr Sykes has condemned his arrest.

The only thing I had in my hands was flowers, that my three-year-old granddaughter had lain at her uncles memorial, he said in a statement released by campaign group Relatives for Justice.

Five people, including a 15-year-old boy, were murdered and several others injured in February 1992 when Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) opened fire at the bookies.

Footage of angry exchanges involving officers and those attending Fridays event have been posted online.

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Police said officers took action after witnessing a crowd of between 30 to 40 attending an event.

Public gatherings of more than six people are currently prevented under Covid-19 lockdown regulations in Northern Ireland.

Northern Irelands police ombudsman has launched an investigation into how the police operation was handled.

Mr Sykes contrasted the scenes on the Ormeau Road with the lack of arrests made by the police earlier in the week when a gang of masked men gathered in Pitt Park in east Belfast in an apparent loyalist paramilitary show of strength.
(Newser)  A 95-year-old woman who worked as a secretary and typist at a German concentration camp during World War II has been charged in the killings of more than 10,000 people. The senior prosecutor said she helped carry out "the systematic killing of Jewish prisoners," as well as those of Soviet prisoners of war and Polish partisans, NPR reports. Officials did not give the woman's name. She's also charged with aiding and abetting attempted murder, in reference to the tens of thousands of prisoners who survived the Stutthof concentration camp. A juvenile court will decide whether the woman will be tried, because she was under 21 when she started to work at Stutthof. The concentration camp was built in 1939 in what was German-occupied Poland, east of Gdansk. The woman worked there from June 1943 to April 1945 for the SS commandant.

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The woman has said she testified about the camp in the 1950s before the commandant was sentenced to prison. Prosecutors began investigating her SS work history in 2016, per the BBC, and have interviewed camp survivors who now live in Israel about her. She has told officials and interviewers that she knew nothing of the genocide, which included mass poisonings, partly because her office window looked out of the camp. Conditions at Stutthof were brutal, with many of the more than 100,000 prisoners dying of disease or starvation. Gas chambers were added in June 1944. She said she didn't learn the scope of the killings until after the war; she said she had assumed that anyone executed had done something to warrant it. Soviet troops liberated Stutthof in May 1945. The woman now lives in a retirement home near Hamburg. (Read more concentration camps stories.)
Nearly 300 members of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi's deposed ruling party proclaimed Friday to be the only lawful representatives of the countrys citizenry and called for global recognition as the stewards of the countrys government.

The politicians also formed a committee to execute parliamentary functions, according to the National League for Democracys Facebook page.

The party posted a letter on social media to the United Nations and the global community requesting targeted sanctions and calling for businesses to sever relations with the Myanmar military, which holds vast lucrative assets.

It was not immediately clear whether their declaration would have any practical effect, but the NLD vowed to act in the best interests of our people and in the very essence of democracy.

The NLDs announcement came hours after hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Myanmars capital Friday, as the military expanded its dragnet against ousted officials.

In the largest protests since Mondays military coup, protesters at Myanmar University and Yangon University, both in Yangon, demanded that the military hand power back to Myanmars elected officials.

They chanted Long live Mother Suu, a reference to deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and, We dont want military dictatorship.

Suu Kyi was detained Monday and faces charges of illegally importing and using six unregistered walkie-talkie radios found in a search of her home in the capital, Naypyitaw.

There was at least one protest in Naypyitaw, where Win Htein, a senior member of Suu Kyis NLD, was arrested. A party spokesman said Htein was taken from his home Friday before the university protests began.

Suu Kyis attorney confirmed Friday that the ousted leader and President Win Myint were being held at their homes, but he was unable to meet with them because they remained under investigation.

Government officials from various agencies joined the protest in Naypyitaw, including those from the Ministry of Electricity and Energy, and the Ministry of Ethnic Affairs and Social Welfare.

Like many other protesters, they donned red ribbons and raised a three-finger salute, a sign of resistance against tyranny in the Hunger Games movies.

Health care workers at Naypyitaws largest hospital also participated in the rally, gathering behind a large banner denouncing the takeover.

Protests, sometimes led by people from Myanmar, were also held Friday in India, Indonesia and South Korea.

Myanmars new military rulers blocked access to Facebook on Thursday, prompting thousands of social media users in the country to join Twitter, according to app downloads and an estimate by Reuters.

Later Friday, the military rulers ordered mobile operators and internet service providers to block access to Twitter and Instagram in the country until further notice, according to Norwegian telecom Telenor.

The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology did not immediately answer a request for comment from Reuters. Twitter did not immediately comment on the disruptions.

The military takeover began with the detention of Suu Kyi, who was the country's de facto leader, and other senior government officials. Suu Kyi is healthy as she remains under house arrest at her official residence in Naypyitaw, according to party spokesman Kyi Toe.

The Myanmar military said its state of emergency, set to last one year, was necessary because the government had not acted on claims of voter fraud in November elections that were overwhelmingly won by NLD.

U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders condemned the coup and called for the elected government to be restored to power.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has long struggled between civilian and military rule but until the coup had been enjoying a hopeful transition to democracy.

A British colony until 1948, Myanmar was ruled by military dictators from 1962 to 2010.
Here what to do in Ocean City on rainy days

Even on rainy days Ocean City has a host of indoor activities  like shopping, movie theaters, wineries and breweries  to entertain.
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This excerpt is adapted from Stress in Medicine: Lessons Learned Through My Years as a Surgeon, from Med School to Residency, and Beyond.

I will never forget the moment when I learned that a longtime physician friend had taken his own life. My friend was younger than I, had been in practice for five years, and was married with a loving family. The last time I saw him, we shared funny stories, and he was excited to show me his new car. He appeared and sounded well. There was no indication that he was having a difficult time.

Six months later, I was driving home after a long day in clinic when I received an urgent call from a mutual friend who shared the news. I was shocked and in complete disbelief. My friend was a wonderful person, full of potential, with so much more to give to the world.

Medical professionals face uniquely challenging pressures. Our work itself is extremely demanding, and always has high stakes for those we care for. External circumstances that impact our work carry uncertainties that add more stress. Constantly feeling targeted as the financial solutions to greater health system issues compounds our burden.

While some choose to talk about their struggles openly, many stay silent and suffer in solitude. There is reluctance to share for fear of being judged negatively in some way. This culture of silence is harmful, and it works against medical professionals wellness. It is time that we address our difficulties head-on.

The struggle is undeniableand so is the stigma

Many say physicians are a privileged group, that we are fortunate to have had the opportunity to go to school and achieve, to earn the money we do, and to live comfortably. In these same conversations, however, professional and personal struggles, sacrifices, resilience, and grit in our commitment to care for others are rarely acknowledged in any meaningful way.

Instead, we are represented as currency on political balance sheets with concerns for public opinion seemingly leading all decisions. Publicly funded health systems often devalue our work with every fee that gets cut, with every resource that gets restricted, with every demand for us to do more with less, over and over and over again.

All the while, counterparts in the private sector work in financial models with relatively less oversight since they are not funded by public money. The uncertainty that our best interests will be protected justly by the very systems we serve continues to build and becomes harder to shake.

A 2019 article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal notes that suicide is an occupational hazard for physicians and that it is the only cause of mortality higher in physicians than in non-physicians. The article goes on to note that increased suicidal ideation begins in medical school, and it says, In a recent meta-analysis, the prevalence of suicidal ideation among medical students was 11.1 percent. In analyses subdivided by time, 7.4 percent of students reported suicidal ideation within the past two weeks, and 24.2 percent within the past year.

Its clear that medical professionals are struggling with a host of unique challenges. Yet stigma often discourages us from seeking professional help for mental health concerns. The stigma is often due to a lack of facts and understanding. In our world of medicine, however, we are introduced to mental illness as part of formal curriculum in our undergraduate medical education. We know the facts of these conditions, as well as the associated challenges they may bring. As colleagues with knowledge and insight, we must encourage one another to seek support.

We need to protect each other

When we talk about physician wellness, our innate culture of silence about professional and personal challenges works against us. Remaining silent will not help physician well-being. It will not help reduce physician overwork and burnout. It will perpetuate physician disconnection and poor mental health.

Unless medical students, residents, physicians, and surgeons share our challenges and experiences with fellow colleagues, support one another, and remain united in our voice, external factors will continue to diminish the value of the work we do, and in turn, impact our wellness. However, to speak your truth can be challenging. You are amongst highly accomplished colleagues where sharing your most difficult and painful moments may bring fears of being judged as weak, incapable, difficult, or rebellious as examples, any or all in combination. The reality is that we all face significant challenges at one point or anotherwe just dont talk about them.

When you choose not to share, dismissing challenges and the associated stresses can become a pattern of avoidance. As you avoid these challenges, your stress will continue to build, as complexities continue to evolve in the interim. Over time, stress can manifest physically, emotionally, cognitively, or behaviorally.

When stress feels manageable and causes little disruption in your daily life, social supports such as friends, family, colleagues, and other social networks can be helpful in getting you through. When stress feels overwhelming and does begin to interfere, however, you may benefit from seeking professional support from a mental health provider.

Openly sharing our challenges is essential for well-being for ourselves, our families, our patients, and the health systems within which we work. Commit to speaking up, either to your peers, mentors, family, friends, or mental health professionals. Speaking out isnt a sign of weakness. In fact, its the first step toward developing mutually empowering frameworks that may actually serve to improve our health system overall.

Reject the culture of silence

Along with challenging our culture of silence within medicine, we must openly reject the stigma surrounding mental health concerns and be supportive of those who seek help. We should not be afraid to reach out to trusted relationships for the kindness, understanding, and social supports we need.

Feeling heard and supported builds interpersonal relationships, which ultimately improves your personal wellnessand transitively, that of your patients.

Nina Ahuja is an ophthalmologist and author of Stress in Medicine: Lessons Learned Through My Years as a Surgeon, from Med School to Residency, and Beyond.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 18:03:46|Editor: huaxia

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GUIYANG, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday inspected an aviation division of the Air Force stationed in southwestern Guizhou Province ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), extended New Year greetings to all soldiers and officers of the People's Liberation Army, armed police force, civilian personnel in the military, militia and reserve forces, on behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the CMC. Enditem


Raising the minimum wage, and puttting more pressure on small businesses, during the COVID-19 pandemic is a bad idea, local legislators say. And raising it will eliminate a lot of jobs  many of which provide young people with a work ethic.

I cant believe with everything businesses are going through that he (Wolf) would think this is a good time to even consider raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, said state Rep. Jerry Knowles, R-124, Rush Twp., at the Manufacturers and Employers Association semi-annual legislative forum Friday morning. I look at it as an entry-level job, or a job to supplement another income.

State Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-122, Lower Towamensing Twp., said these entry-level jobs give young people a work ethic they can take with them for the rest of their lives.

I dont think somebody 16 is worth $15 an hour, Heffley said. Its to get young people introduced to the workforce. With that first job, its learning to be on time, be responsible. Thats part of growing up. ... By raising the minimum wage to that level, it is going to eliminate so many of those jobs for 16- and 17-year old folks. Its going to be detrimental to the workforce.

Freshman State Rep. Joe Kerwin, R-125, Lykens, said raising the minimum wage will be devastating for restaurants, and their customers.

Going to $15 an hour will certainly make the price of your breakfast go up a lot, Kerwin said. No one is going to tip when it is that expensive. The wait staff is very unhappy about getting a minimum wage, because a good waiter or waitress would make more than $15 an hour.

Heffley said in Carbon County, the outdoor hospitality industry  ski resorts, whitewater rafting and parks  is doing OK during the pandemic, because people can and want to get out.

He added there are still issues with unemployment.

Im still hearing from a lot of employers who are having a hard time finding employees, Heffley said. Its remarkable, because I get inundated with calls at my office about calls on unemployment. Yet theres a lot of places hiring. But if people who are collecting more unemployment sitting home than going to work, people want to sit home.

Heffley said another problem is the job search requirement of unemployment has been eliminated during COVID-19. But this is a federal mandate, he said.

Regulatory reform and energy

State Sen. John Gordner, R-27, Berwick, said Wolfs proposal to tax the natural gas industry and use the money for workforce development is a nonstarter, because the industry is a resource that provides tens of thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania.

He pointed out the local impact fee on the natural gas industry has raised $2 billion, which has been distributed 60% to counties where there is drilling, 20% to bridges and parks, and 20% to counties and municipalities all over the state.

Gordner said the Senate is teeing up a number of regulatory reform bills.

State Sen. David Argall, R-29, Rush Twp., said there is considerable bipartisan opposition to the governors proposed new taxes on energy.

He quoted Democratic state Rep. Pam Snyder, Its not just a tax on the gas and oil industry, it would be a tax on our pandemic recovery. Havent our businesses, havent our employers suffered enough in the last 11 months?

Argall also pointed out the bipartisan agreement among local legislators helped independent power producers because natural gas prices have put a strain on the waste coal industry. Cogeneration plants in McAdoo and Frackville closed, but the Panther Creek plant in Nesquehoning is reinvesting for the first time in several years. Argall said. Losing those plants is not just losing jobs, but losing environmental protection.
They had a houseful. Their cousins, the Mantas family, were there as well. Our sons were fidgety after the drive. We had lectured the boys on the way over, about how they must sit quietly with their best manners. But they thought an afternoon of sitting quietly on the sofa, sitting on the epipla, was the worst torture imaginable.

IDLIB, Syria  The Interior Ministry of the Syrian Salvation Government affiliated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) issued Jan. 25 a decision to close all weapons stores in the areas under HTS control.

The decision stated, In light of the recurrent explosions in some arms stores, which caused the death of many Syrians in the liberated areas, the Salvation Government decided to close down all stores selling and buying arms in the liberated areas. The stores licenses will be suspended and they will have until mid-February to completely close their doors and be emptied of any goods.

After the deadline, the Interior Ministry will inspect the stores to ensure the implementation of the decision. Violators of the decision would be referred to the judiciary, their goods confiscated and their stores permanently closed.

The Criminal Security Department of the Interior Ministry will be following up on the implementation of the decision and will withdraw and suspend the license issued by the ministry for shops violating the decision.

On Jan. 18, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) documented the killing of a jihadist of Dutch nationality who succumbed to his wounds as a result of an explosion in a weapons store in Idlib. The shopkeeper of Syrian nationality and an Uzbek jihadist were also killed.

Moreover, on Jan. 25, SHOR reported the death of two jihadists  one of them is the owner of a weapons store in the city of Idlib and a man of Uzbek nationality. They were reportedly dismantling a land mine inside the store in Al-Jalaa Street in the center of the city. Five people, including jihadists and civilians who were close to the blast were wounded.

Ahmad Lattouf, interior minister in the Syrian Salvation Government, told Al-Monitor, The explosions that have recently taken place  especially near or inside arms stores and claimed the lives of many and injured civilians  are no surprise to anyone. These explosions have been causing panic, fear and destruction among the population.

He said, Our investigations showed that the negligence on the part of these storekeepers is one of the main reasons behind these explosions."

Lattouf noted, Since the Interior Ministry is concerned with maintaining internal security and securing the necessary conditions for a safe and stable life, we reviewed the matter and decided to completely close these stores within residential neighborhoods without any exception for anyone. We will later work on finding the appropriate solutions for running these stores without posing any danger to our people.

He said that the decision issued by the ministry is clear and explicit, and does not provide for withdrawing weapons from civilians or revolutionary factions. Some individuals and parties, however, are seeking to create a rift between the Salvation Government and the people, who are our main priority, he added.

We will work on providing our people with security and safety. The liberated areas under the Salvation Government are seen as the safest in Syria despite its large population, Lattouf noted, stressing that the ministry seeks to apply all security measures in the areas under its control.

Majd Kilany, an Idlib-based researcher at the Jusoor Center for Studies, told Al-Monitor, Several explosions took place last year in weapons stores, which have greatly proliferated in the markets and crowded neighborhoods. Many online campaigns have gone viral requesting the competent authorities to close them down.

He said, However, these decisions are usually not followed through and most of these stores are said to be affiliated with HTS and have licenses from the authorities. In any case, there is no party capable of controlling the chaotic proliferation of weapons. This requires a decision at the highest levels from authorities across northern Syria."

Kilany added, Arms trade is one of the most popular businesses in northern Syria and weapons prices are subject to the conditions of supply and demand. Their prices decrease in times of peace and hit record levels in times of war. Individual weapons can be found in almost every house in northern Syria. However, there are some restrictions on medium and heavy weapons, which are limited to official missions by the active factions.

Omar Abu Khaled, an arms dealer who owns a weapons store in Idlib, told Al-Monitor, The [Interior Ministry] decision is not right and has other dimensions, as it limits the possession of weapons in the hands of one party only, which is HTS. HTS fears a popular revolution against it. The decision also encourages arms trade on the black market, which is monopolized by a certain group. This only makes matters worse and will cause the arms prices to rise with the increased demand for weapons, while the Salvation Government seeks to take away arms from civilians.

Jumaa Najjar, a teacher at a school in Idlib, believes that the decision to shut down weapons stores is a positive step.

I believe that the decision would stop the explosions and accidental shooting inside these stores, which poses a great threat to civilians and terrifies them. Shutting them down would control the spread of weapons in the opposition-held areas, he told Al-Monitor.
By Sankalp Phartiyal and Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Twitter Inc's refusal to comply with an Indian government directive to block more than 250 accounts and posts has put the social media giant at the centre of a political firestorm in one of its key markets.

Government officials, business people and ordinary netizens are split over free speech and the U.S. company's compliance practices, in a controversy that comes soon after Twitter's top lobbyist in India resigned.

The showdown, after the firm this week "declined to abide (by) and obey" the order to remove posts and accounts that the government said risked inciting violence, is the latest instance of worsening relationships between Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration and U.S. social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp.

For Twitter, the stakes are high in a country of 1.3 billion where it has millions of users and is ardently used by Modi, his cabinet ministers and other leaders to communicate with the public.

Farmers are conducting a growing protest against new agriculture laws, with tens of thousands camping out on the outskirts of New Delhi and launching a nationwide road blockade on Saturday.

As the prolonged crisis escalated, the government this week sought an "emergency blocking" of the "provocative" Twitter hashtag "#ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide" and dozens of accounts.

Twitter initially complied but later restored most of the accounts, citing "insufficient justification" to continue the suspensions. The technology ministry warned the company, in a letter seen by Reuters, of legal "consequences" that could include fines or jail, saying the government was not required to justify its demand to ban accounts.

Twitter's public policy director Mahima Kaul recently resigned from her role, two sources said. A LinkedIn ad showed the company is seeking candidates for the key government relations position.

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Kaul did not respond to a request for comment.

Twitter confirmed Kaul's resignation, saying she would stay on through March and was helping with the transition, but otherwise declined to comment. It said this week that it withholds access to content on receiving a "properly scoped request from an authorized entity".

'NOT LAWMAKERS'

Free speech activists say the government should not attempt to use legal provisions to muzzle freedom of expression, while others argue Twitter should comply or go to court.

"Twitter is playing with fire," said an Indian social media executive who was surprised by the company's non-compliance. "If there is a legal request, you are required to take down content. You are free to challenge it" in court.

In 2019, a parliamentary panel headed by a lawmaker from Modi's Hindu nationalist party warned Twitter after CEO Jack Dorsey failed to appear before the committee. The previous year Dorsey sparked a social media storm after a picture of him holding a poster saying "smash Brahminical patriarchy", referring to the highest Hindu caste, went viral.

This week, Dorsey became a talking point on Indian TV news after he liked a tweet suggesting the company should consider introducing a farmer protest emoji.

Meenakashi Lekhi, a lawmaker from Modi's party who heads a parliamentary panel on data privacy, criticised Twitter for disobeying government orders, adding she has yet to decide whether to summon company executives.

"Twitter needs to understand they are not lawmakers," Lekhi told Reuters. "It is not their policy which will work, it is the policy of the state, country which will work."

Calling the showdown "inevitable", the Hindu newspaper said in a Friday editorial: "Provocative posts have no place on any platform, (but) free speech should not be hit."

Prasanth Sugathan of Software Freedom Law Center India, said, "The selective government approach to ask social media companies to ban content when it doesn't suit the official narrative is problematic.

"It stifles free speech and press freedom."

(Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal and Aditya Kalra; Editing by William Mallard)

Private non-life firm ICICI Lombard on Friday said it has received approval from international financial services centre (IFSC) to open an offshore insurance office in Gift City in Gandhinagar, making it the first private general insurer to do so.

The offshore unit will enable ICICI Lombard to harness new opportunities in direct insurance and reinsurance areas by offering offshore direct insurance solutions, especially to domestic corporates and individuals located overseas, thus expanding its international business, the company said.

"We are excited to set up an office in the IFSC, making us the first player in the private insurance sector to do so. This will enable us to expand our distribution reach and offer a range of risk management solutions to our customers based across the world," ICICI Lombard MD and CEO Bhargav Dasgupta said.

Tapan Ray, MD and Group CEO of Gift City, said the centre is fast emerging as a hub for the global financial services business.

Also read: PhonePe gives $200 million worth shares to 2,200 employees
After fighting for months to see police body cam footage of the fatal encounter between Darrell Zemault Sr., a Black man, and officers, his family finally saw the video Friday.

Melissa Zemault Wicker, Zemaults older daughter and other family members did not divulge publicly what they saw in the footage, but said they were thankful for the more than 40 people who showed up to support the family during a vigil in Zemaults name at Main Plaza.

You guys probably didnt know my father from Adam, and this is whats beautiful, Wicker said. Todays a hard day, OK? And its going to keep getting harder. But with yalls prayers and yalls love, I really appreciate it and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

On Sept. 15, San Antonio police were struggling with Zemault at his West Side home as they were attempting to arrest him on warrants for family violence, Chief William McManus said. At the time, police said Zemault was shot in the back by a detective after he allegedly hit an officer with a can of wood stain and then pulled the officers gun from its holster.

On ExpressNews.com: Affidavit: Teenager shot and killed longtime friend outside of Northwest Side home

SAPD issued a revised statement on the incident the next day. It said that the officer wasnt sure exactly how he was injured, and he wasnt sure if the actor intentionally hit him with the can or if the contact was incidental to the arrest.

Family members have disputed the police departments account of the incident, saying that it does not compare to what witnesses have told them. They said Zemault was attempting to go inside his home and call his lawyer when he was shot.

Zemaults death prompted protests and calls to defund the police.

At the vigil Friday, community organizer Marvin Davis led the group in a moment of silence in Zemaults name. The scent of sage burned by supporter Kayla Price filled the air while two women held a banner that read We demand justice for Darrell Zemault Sr.

Were here today to stand up for all the family that is suffering in a way that they should not have had to suffer, for a justice that has long been denied, Davis said.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio officials eye purchase of hotel for homeless after removal of tent camp near downtown

Over the past five months, family members filed open records requests, petitions, and sought help to gain access to the footage. They also reached out to District 1 Councilman Roberto C. Trevino for help.

City officials have since said that body camera footage was available for viewing all along, but that a previous open records request filed for the footage on behalf of the family was submitted by someone who was not a legal next of kin.

Black Lives Matter organizer Pharaoh Clark, who is running for City Council, said he and others came out to stand in solidarity with the Zemault family as they seek answers in their fathers death.

This family had to wait five months before actually waiting to see what happened on the body camera footage, Clark said. I think for anybody who is grieving you know that five months is a long time to get that closure.
Director Baz Luhrmann's film adaptation Romeo And Juliet won a slew of awards and became a cult classic when it was released in 1996.

However it turns out the film's breakout star, Leonardo DiCaprio, who hadn't yet become a household name, wasn't all that impressed with the script at first.

Speaking to Stellar Magazine, Romeo And Juliet's screenwriter, Craig Pearce, says the Leonardo, now 46, who was up for the role of Romeo, didn't think it worked.

Changes: Romeo And Juliet screenwriter Craig Pearce (pictured) the film's breakout star, Leonardo DiCaprio, wasn't all that impressed with the script at first

Craig explained: 'We persuaded him to come to Australia to do a workshop while we were writing the screenplay.

'He didn't know if he wanted to commit to the film or not yet because it sounded so strange  Shakespeare with guns and cars.

'At that time, the script was still a bit ridiculous, too; it wasn't really a world that you believed could be a functioning society.

Ideas: Speaking to Stellar Magazine, Romeo And Juliet's screenwriter, Craig Pearce, says the Leonardo, now 46, who was up for the role of Romeo, didn't think it worked. Leo is pictured in the 1996 film Romeo And Juliet

Craig said: 'The script was still a bit ridiculous, too; it wasn't really a world that you believed could be a functioning society. Afterwards, he was like, "It's kind of really cool when you're not trying to be cool, but when you're trying to be cool, it's not."' Pictured with Claire Danes

'Afterwards, he was like, "It's kind of really cool when you're not trying to be cool, but when you're trying to be cool, it's not."'

The comments from the plucky young actor led to script changes for the better.

Craig admitted: 'He was right. So we wrote for months more, he came and did another workshop, which we filmed and this time we'd got it.'

In a 1997 interview with ID magazine, Leo admitted he had doubts at first.

'The film's director, Baz Luhrmann, initially gave me a script and, at the time, I didn't really think I really wanted to do a traditional version of Romeo and Juliet.

Craig admitted: 'He was right. So we wrote for months more, he came and did another workshop, which we filmed and this time we'd got it'

'Then I went out to Australia to do a workshop with him and he told me about the new ideas he wanted to bring to the movie; a lot of the religious themes, the cars, the guns instead of the swords and a lot of the elaborate costumes.

'I wasn't sure then how it would all work out,' he said, adding, 'I have to say, the first time I knew it was working was the first day of work. It actually seemed more natural, more "meant to be" than a traditional version.'

The film, which also stars Clare Danes as Juliet, went on to win a number of awards, including the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Trade bodies and tourism players on Saturday welcomed the restoration of 4G mobile internet services in Jammu and Kashmir, saying it will boost economic recovery in the union territory.

High-speed mobile internet services were restored last midnight in 18 districts. The services were there in two districts - Ganderbal and Udhampur - since August last year.

"It is better late than never. The government has realised how much losses our economy has suffered. This move will give a boost to the economic recovery now," president, Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Sheikh Aashiq told PTI.

"Every sector was affected, especially our export-oriented industry which officially declined 40-50 per cent due to its non-availability. The low speed 2G services did not serve the purpose," he said.

Rstoration of high-speed mobile internet would especially help the young, budding, entrepreneurs who are dependent on social media, he said.

"Though the government has realised it now, the impact of non-availability of high-speed internet will last long. It will last until the government realises how to boost them, to provide them sops or cushion for running their businesses," he said.

Aashiq said education was one of the most important sectors which suffered a great deal over the last year-and-a-half.

He hoped that the security situation remains good so that these services continue without any interruption.

The valley's tourism industry termed it a big confidence building measure for tourism and other sectors.

"The tourism fraternity and all the stakeholders thank the government for the restoration of 4G services in J-K. It is a welcome step and a big confidence building measure for tourism and allied sectors," said Asif Burza, a hotelier and president of Pahalgam Hotel and Restaurant Owners Association.

He said the move will not only give a sense of confidence to the tourists, but will also help the industry in providing better logistics and services.

Private Schools Association of (PSAJK) termed the restoration of 4G internet as helpful for the student community.

"The 4G internet will definitely help our students who had been at a huge disadvantage over the last so many months. It was kind of a collective punishment to us for no fault and it pushed us years back. Our schools suffered, other educational institutes suffered as no one could work at its optimum," said PSAJK president G N Var.

He, however, said the government could have shown a small courtesy by announcing its restoration with a small apology.

"Like Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), the PSAJK had been at the forefront of a legal battle to restore 4G internet and the hearing with regards to its petition in the Supreme Court was due next week. The government pre-empted the hearing because on what basis could they have again banned it.

"On the one hand they say the situation is normal and on the other the reason for the 4G ban was that the situation is not normal in Kashmir," he said.

The association also demanded compensation for the loss caused due to internet blockade.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi, Feb 6 : The Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare said on Saturday that it will release the upgraded version of CoWIN app which is currently supervising the ongoing massive vaccination drive against Covid-19 in the country.

Health secretary, Rajesh Bhushan, while reviewing the status and progress of Covid vaccination with health secretaries of states and Union Territories (UT)s stated that CoWIN 2.0 version will also be released soon.

The centre is currently inoculating nearly three crore healthcare and other frontline workers. The app, being used by officials, currently contains data of millions of such healthcare and frontline workers who are being administered the vaccine first. The CoWIN helps in identifying target groups, keeping a track of those to be administered the doses and preventing malpractices.

The application has four modules - user administrator module, beneficiary registration, vaccination and beneficiary acknowledgment, and status update. It provides three options for registration to the beneficiaries - self-registration, individual registration (an official would help by uploading data) and bulk upload.

An individual could self-register on the app with a valid photo ID, which can be one of the following: Aadhaar card, driving license, PAN card, passport, pension document, MNREGA job card, passbook issued by bank or post office, pension document, voter ID, service identity card issued by central or state government or public sector undertaking or public limited companies, or official identity cards issued by MPs, MLAs, or MLCs.

After the registration is complete, details about where and when they will receive the shot will be sent to the person.

However, the CoWIN app is not yet available for public use and cannot be downloaded from app stores. The Union government has also warned against fake apps by the similar names available on app stores, and has asked people not to download on register on such fraudulent platforms.

On the vaccination front, the Union Health Ministry asked state health secretaries to analyse the daily variation in the number of average vaccinations and take necessary steps to increase them. Bhushan advised them to ensure 100 per cent saturation of people who have already been registered on CoWIN.

The Covid immunization programme which started three weeks ago, has inoculated more than five Million of population with the first dose of vaccines. The vaccination was started on January 16 wherein 56,36,868 people have been vaccinated, as per the latest data shared by the government.
A New Jersey lawmaker is pushing to impeach the head of the prison system, a day after three officers were charged in a growing criminal probe into a series of alleged beatings at the states only womens prison.

State Assemblywoman Jean Stanfield, R-Lumberton, said Friday it would be dangerous to keep Corrections Commissioner Marcus Hicks in office.

Peoples lives are at stake, and if Governor (Phil) Murphy wont act to remove the man at the top of all of this, I will, Stanfield said in a statement.

At least six women have said they were hurt by staff last month at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Clinton, and one woman told NJ Advance Media she was sexually assaulted by an officer. The allegations came less than a year after the U.S. Department of Justice found evidence of rampant sexual abuse behind bars.

Gov. Phil Murphy has appointed an independent investigator but hes stood by the commissioner so far, despite a growing bipartisan chorus demanding his ouster. Every Democrat in the state Senate recently signed a letter saying Hicks should go.

A prison spokeswoman previously said new leadership would only delay ongoing reforms, including expanding the use of cameras in prisons.

Impeaching a state official is similar to the process of impeaching a president.

All State officers can be impeached for any misdemeanor committed during their respective continuance in office, according to New Jerseys constitution.

Stanfield said she planned to introduce a resolution charging Hicks with official misconduct for failing to protect prisoners from serious harm and for violating their civil rights.

If a majority of the state Assembly voted to impeach, Hicks would then be tried by the state Senate. There are 40 senators, and two-thirds would need to approve conviction for Hicks to lose his job.

It was not immediately clear how many of Stanfields colleagues supported impeachment. The state Assembly is controlled by Democrats, and leaders have only committed to hearings on the alleged beatings.

Hicks has also been criticized for the dozens of prisoners and several staff who died last year with the coronavirus.

We have federal reports of constitutional rights violations, unnecessary COVID deaths, evidence of widespread sexual and physical abuse, and now criminal charges related to the ongoing mismanagement of our prisons, state Sen. Mike Testa, R-Cumberland, said in a statement Thursday. How much evidence does Governor Murphy need that Commissioner Hicks is unfit to lead the New Jersey Department of Corrections?

Others said the womens prison needed more than a new commissioner.

The federal government should take over Edna Mahan, said Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, and Sen. Linda Greenstein, D-Middlesex. The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey reiterated a call to reform the ombudsmans office, an independent prison watchdog.

Prosecutors have charged one officer with assault and accused two supervisors of lying to cover up excessive force by others. The state attorney general has said additional charges are likely against more officers stemming from the alleged beatings.

The union that represents supervisors at the prison urged caution.

While the allegations are somewhat troubling, officers deserve a full and fair investigation, William Toolen, president of the New Jersey Law Enforcement Supervisors Association, said in a statement.

NJ Advance Media staff writers Joe Atmonavage and S.P. Sullivan contributed to this report.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Blake Nelson can be reached at bnelson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BCunninghamN.
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DANBURY  Arguing a charter school would provide a diverse curriculum and staff, advocates called on the governor to fund the one that has been proposed for the city.

This Danbury Prospect Charter School would be better for students from diverse backgrounds, supporters argued Friday in virtual press conference organized by Latinos for Education Advocacy in Danbury, known as LEAD.

This is a school that will fight for diversity, a school that values representation and understand the importance of teaching Black and Latino history, said Gabriela Perez, a recent Danbury Public Schools graduate. This is a school that Danbury needs in order to move one step closer to education equity.

Despite the recent $25 million gift for construction from a philanthropist, the charter school still needs state funding to move ahead.

Yet, Danburys state delegation opposes Prospect, contending it would take away resources from the public schools. Leadership from the citys teachers union have also argued against the charter school.

Supporters say it would alleviate overcrowding in the public schools and would be less expensive for taxpayers because the Prospect building would not be constructed on the taxpayers dime.

These savings would allow Danbury to prioritize issues of equity and opportunity within our public school system, said PJ Prunty, a father and head of the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce. We really should be looking at all options when it comes to public education. Now, more than ever, we need creative solutions to difficult financial challenges.

State Sen. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, said she agreed Danbury needs to better address overcrowding, equity and diversity in the schools.

But the way to do that is through the proposed $90 million career academy for middle and high school students, she said. The city is seeking a state grant that would cover 80 percent of the cost.

This school will provide a high-quality academic program for middle and high school students that will focus on pathways to professional and middle-class careers, Kushner said. It will address overcrowding with a capacity of 1,400 seats. I will certainly stand with Black and Brown parents in making sure that the program encompasses the equity issues raised - a more diverse teaching staff and accessibility to all students, particularly our English Language Learner population.

Other projects to address enrollment growth include preschool classrooms added this year and an annex at one elementary school. Construction is planned to begin in the summer on the latter.

The state education board approved the charter school more than two years ago, but the opposition from Danburys legislators have put the project at a standstill.

Our community members have shown so much support, Perez said. Now, its time for our elected leaders to act.

This time, advocates appealed directly to Gov. Ned Lamont, saying they have 4,000 supporters and urging community members to call or email the governor. The spokespeople for the governor did not return a request for comment.

We are humbled to have the support of LEAD and the many Danbury voices this group represents, Penny Marzulli, deputy CEO of Prospect Schools, said in a statement. We have been fighting for Danbury Prospect to be funded for so long, so to have the support of these parents, leaders and community members truly affirms the strength of our program and the benefits we could bring to Danbury.

Mini Santosh, a parent and child care director for the Community Action Agency of Western Connecticut, said Prospect would better reflect the diversity in Danbury.

Danbury Prospect has built a culture of intentional diversity, designed a world-class international bachelor program and has developed a culturally rich curriculum, she said. As an educator and as a parent, I feel that the biggest barrier to educational equity in Danbury is denying our students access to this great opportunity and continuing to ignore the voices of our community.

The charter school could also hire more teachers from diverse backgrounds, so that students are better represented, Perez said.

When students are taught by educators that look like and sound like them, they blossom into leaders, she said. I cannot think of anything this city needs more desperately than a school that will serve our most vulnerable.
The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday, awarded N150,000 fine against Olawale Bakare, the 2nd defendant in the treasonable felony suit leveled against him and the Convener, #RevolutionNow Movement, Omoyele Sowore.

Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu awarded the cost on account of his failure to appear in court in the ongoing trial without genuine reason, an action the court deemed as affecting the pace of hearing the matter.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Sowore (1st defendant) and Bakare (2nd defendant) are facing a treasonable felony filed against them by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).

The court had, on Jan. 25, fixed Feb. 4 and 5 for trial continuation.

However, at the resumed hearing, the two defendants were not in court.

Counsel to the defence, Marshal Abubakar, informed the court that a letter had been written to the deputy registrar of the Court, seeking vacation of the case till after Easter; that is by April.

'It is a latter dated and filed on Jan 29 and addressed to the deputy chief registrar of the court

"As your lordship is aware, on 25th day of January, this matter was billed to go on on trial and we were ready and in court.

"However, owing to the demise of Justice Watila of Abeokuta Division, the court could not proceed.

"It was hoped that if the proceeding had gone on, we would have informed your lordship that today's date would not be convenient for the defence," he said.

Abubakar, who craved for the court's indulgence, said the AGF was copied in the letter.

When Justice Ojukwu asked the whereabouts of the defendants, the lawyer said: "They are on their way."

AGF's Lawyer, Kayode Halilu, described the development as "very shocking and alarming that this honourable court for the second time will be waiting for these eminent defendants."

Halilu reminded that the court awarded a N200, 000 fine against the government for lack of diligent prosecution sometimes ago.

"Now, the table has turned. Section 266 of ACJA (Administration of Criminal Justice Act) provides that a defendant shall be present in court during the whole of the trial except.

"It is an affront to this honourable court for them to stay away and still said they are on their way," he argued.

The lawyer, who said no reason was given for the act; whether medical or otherwise, stated that he had earlier informed that the witness in the trial was not from court the jurisdiction.

Halilu, who urged the court to make an order revoking the bail of the defendants and for their sureties to be invited to show cause why they should not forfeit the bail sum, also asked the court to award a cost for their act.

While the argument was ongoing, Sowore entered the courtroom.

In her ruling, Justice Ojukwu expressed her displeasure on the posture of the defence towards the lawsuit, stressing she would not condone any action that could jeopardise the peace of adjudicating on the matter.

The judge, who awarded the initial cost of N100, 000 against Bakare, refused to grant the application by the prosecution to revoke the bail of the two defendants.

Ojukwu held that writing a letter to the deputy registrar of the court was not enough reason to stay away from proceeding without the order of the court to such effect.

However, when Halilu told the court that he was ready for the trial to continue on Friday as ordered by the court, Abubakar urged the court to fixed another date because the 2nd defendant, Bakare, was in Osogbo, Osun State, and might not be able to meet up for the sitting.

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Abubakar also cited the present security situation in the country as reason for the court to grant the oral application.

However, Halilu said to say the defendant was in Osogbo was still a show of disrespect to the court.

He said Bakare ought to have known that there was sitting today (Thursday).

He urged the court to reconsider the earlier application that Bakare's bail be revoked and be made to pay a fine.

Justice Ojukwu, however, awarded another fine of N50, 000 against Bakare and ordered that the N150, 000ust be paid before the next adjourned date.

She adjourned the matter until April 28 and 29 for continuation of trial.

NAN
OTTAWA - A groundbreaking new report details how countries such as Saudi Arabia, China and Rwanda are meddling in democratic countries, including Canada, to harass, threaten and commit violence ...

OTTAWA  A groundbreaking new report details how countries such as Saudi Arabia, China and Rwanda are meddling in democratic countries, including Canada, to harass, threaten and commit violence against their citizens living abroad.

The report by Freedom House on transnational repression is believed to be the first broad attempt to provide a global overview the threat of foreign interference by hostile regimes.

The American-based organization says a worldwide pattern of violence and intimidation meant to squelch dissent can be seen in a study of 31 countries targeting hundreds of victims in 79 other states, and it names six countries that are undermining democracy: China, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia, and Canadas NATO ally Turkey.

The report indicates how anecdotal accounts of foreign harassment in various Canadian diaspora communities are part of a worldwide pattern.

It says 3.5 million people globally have been attacked directly or through secondary tactics of intimidation and coercion that then sends ripples through diaspora communities around the world.

Freedom House president Michael J. Abramowitz said the report underscores dangers faced by human-rights activists, dissidents, and their families even after they have fled their repressive countries.

Exiles around the world describe surveillance, assault, or even kidnapping and assassination as a constant threat that limits their ability to speak freely. Stopping transnational repression is vital to protecting democracy and rolling back authoritarian influence, said Abramowitz.

The report cites the 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by the Saudi Arabian government in its Istanbul consulate as the most brazen and high-profile example.

Khashoggi, who lived in the United States, was a frequent critic of the Saudi regime. He was beaten to death and dismembered and his body parts were dissolved in acid.

But the report says there are countless other examples that dont garner the headlines of the Khashoggi murder. And some of them have occurred in Canada.

In August 2020, former Saudi intelligence officer Saad al-Jabri, who lives in Canada, filed a lawsuit against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and others for threatening to kill him and detain his family members to force him back to Saudi Arabia, the report says.

In his lawsuit, al-Jabri alleges that a group of Saudi nationals stopped at the Canadian border were carrying the equipment needed to dismember a corpse. Al-Jabris allegations represent a familiar pattern of escalatory targeting, involving multiple means of repression against a single person, it says.

The report dovetails with previous accounts of Chinese nationals living in Canada who have complained of harassment by Chinese government agents.

The problem has been documented in the special House of Commons committee on Canada-China relations, which has also heard about the intimidation of ethnic Muslim Uighurs, whose relatives in Chinas Xingjian province have been rounded up into internment camps and subjected to forced labour and rape.

Freedom House makes clear that some Uighurs who have sought sanctuary in Canada have not found it, and cites one example:

The family of a Uighur woman in Canada is put in a labour camp in China; when they are released, they call and warn their exiled daughter to keep quiet as a Chinese official looks on.

The report notes that Tibetans in the United States and Canada have been subjected to intimidation and espionage by Chinese agents, including by a New York City police officer of Tibetan descent who was arrested in September 2020 for working with Chinese officials to spy on the Tibetan community.

The case resembles recent incidents of surveillance and intimidation of Tibetans in Sweden, Switzerland, and Canada. The same top-shelf spyware used against Uighurs has also been used in campaigns against Tibetans, said the report.

The Chinese intimidation extends beyond the government to a network of proxy entities called anti-cult associations, including Chinese student groups in Canada. The proxies have taken part in harassment and physical attacks against Communist party critics and members of religious ethnic minorities, the report states.

The greater distance from official Chinese government agencies offers the regime plausible deniability on the one hand, while accomplishing the goal of sowing fear and encouraging self-censorship far from Chinas shores on the other, the report says.

The report also shines a light on the reach of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who for 2 1/2 decades has won elections by margins of well over 90 per cent, and who goes to great lengths to silence his political critics.

Rwandans abroad experience digital threats, spyware attacks, family intimidation and harassment, mobility controls, physical intimidation, assault, detention, rendition, and assassination, says the report.

Rwandans as far-flung as the United States, Canada, and Australia report intense fears of surveillance and retribution. The cases documented by Freedom House represent a small fraction of alleged incidents, but provide a useful window into the extent and methods of the Rwandan governments campaign.

Freedom House cited a 2014 report by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada that describes the harassment of Rwandan nationals in Canada.

The report also singled out Kagames decades-long pursuit of his most vocal political critic, Paul Rusesabagina, who was immortalized in the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda for his efforts to shield hundreds during the 1994 Rwanda genocide. The movie turned Rusesabagina into an international hero but he fled Rwanda in 1996 because his prominence was a threat, as was the way his account of the genocide diverged from the official narrative.

In August 2020, Rwandan agents finally caught up with Rusesabagina in Dubai and they hatched a plan to lure him to a plane so they could render him back to Kigali, where he remains in prison.

The report quotes an assessment by Kagame of the capture.

It was actually flawless, Kagame said. Its like if you fed somebody with a false story that fits well in his narrative of what he wants to be, and he follows it and then finds himself in a place like that.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2021.

Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press
Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela (R) meets with Chinese Ambassador to Malta Yu Dunhai at the Prime Minister's Office in Valletta, Malta, Feb. 4, 2021. Malta is looking forward to strengthening cooperation with China in the post-pandemic process of economic recovery and creating a better future for the two countries together, Robert Abela said on Thursday. (Xinhua/Jonathan Borg)

VALLETTA, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Malta is looking forward to strengthening cooperation with China in the post-pandemic process of economic recovery and creating a better future for the two countries together, Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Thursday.

Abela made the remarks when he met with Chinese Ambassador to Malta Yu Dunhai at the Prime Minister's Office in Valletta, capital city of Malta.

Abela welcomed Yu to his new post, saying that Malta and China have traditionally friendly relations and the bilateral ties have maintained a good momentum of development in recent years.

Abela said Malta sincerely thanked China for its assistance in helping the Maltese side to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties nearly 50 years ago, China-Malta relations have maintained vigorous vitality, said Yu, adding that the two governments in 2018 signed a memorandum of understanding on jointly building the Belt and Road, which has injected new and strong impetus into the development of bilateral relations.

Noting that China and Malta have complementary advantages, Yu said the two sides can actively conduct cooperation in infrastructure construction, digital economy and new energy, and explore cooperation in the third-party market.

China is willing to share development opportunities with other countries including Malta, and jointly promote economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, said Yu.


Here what to do in Ocean City on rainy days

Even on rainy days Ocean City has a host of indoor activities  like shopping, movie theaters, wineries and breweries  to entertain.
Beijing, Feb 6 : China's space probe Tianwen-1 has sent back the first image of Mars that it captured from a distance of 2.2 million km from the Red Planet.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has released the image of Mars captured by Tianwen-1, Xinhua reported on Friday.

The probe conducted its fourth orbital correction on Friday at 8 pm, aiming to ensure that the probe achieves a sound planned rendezvous with Mars. The probe has travelled about 197 days in orbit, flying about 465 million km.

It is currently 184 million km from Earth and 1.1 million km from Mars. All probe systems are in good working condition, the CNSA said.

China launched the Mars probe on July 23, 2020 on a Long March-5 rocket from the Wenchang Spacecraft launch site in south China's Hainan province. The Tianwen-1 probe, weighing about 5 tonnes, consists of an orbiter, a lander and a rover.

The probe completed its first orbital correction on August 2, its second on September 20 and its third on October 28 last year. It is set to enter Mars orbit on February 10. After entering the Mars orbit, it will spend around three months surveying potential landing sites, using a high-resolution camera to prepare for the landing in May.

The most challenging part of the mission will be the soft landing, an autonomous process of the probe lasting seven to eight minutes, according to the CNSA.

The probe will use its aerodynamic shape, parachute and retrorocket to decelerate and buffer legs to touch down.

After the landing, the rover will be released to conduct scientific exploration with an expected lifespan of at least 90 Martian days (about three months on Earth), and the orbiter, with a design life of one Martian year (about 687 days on Earth), will relay communications for the rover while conducting its own scientific detection.

Tianwen-1 means 'Questions to Heaven' and comes from a poem written by Qu Yuan (about 340-278 BC), one of the greatest poets of ancient China.

Johanna Love steers the newsroom as editor. Her time off is occupied by kid, dog, biking, camping and art. She loves to hear from readers with story tips, kudos, criticism and questions.
The Homeseek Miami Team at Avanti Way Realty truly exemplifies our Agentpreneur concept, agents who are forward thinkers and are always looking for ways to upgrade the real estate experience

Real estate brokerage firm Avanti Way announced today that The Homeseek Miami Team of Javier Saravia and Alvaro Hurtado were honored as the companys top producing real estate professionals in 2020. The award-winning Avanti Way brings together over 1,000 professional real estate agents.

With more than $3.5 billion in transactions, Miami-based Avanti Way is leading the way in integrating innovative real estate technologies. Building on the companys commitment to transparency, data-driven communication, and client-agent collaboration, the firm launched a new technology platform which provides an education-driven experience to support its customers around the world and the only hyper-focused technology solution in the industry serving local markets. Avantis proprietary tech has become a magnet for real estate talent who appreciate big data solutions dedicated to serving their business and customers.

The Homeseek Miami Team at Avanti Way Realty truly exemplifies our Agentpreneur concept, agents who are forward thinkers and are always looking for ways to upgrade the real estate experience, said Enrique Teran, Avanti Way co-founder. By taking full advantage of the resources and technology available at Avanti, they were able to help hundreds of consumers, empowering their business and surpassing their real estate goals.

The fastest growing and top producing real estate team in South Florida, Avanti Ways Homeseek Miami Team specializes in the sale, relocation, and purchase of single and multi-family homes. With more than 20 years of combined professional experience, real estate leaders Javier Saravia and Alvaro Hurtado are dedicated to making real estate transactions stress free. Working with first-time home buyers, seasoned buyers, and investors  the Homeseek Miami Team brings experience, value, and hands-on market knowledge to each transaction.

Javier Sarabia is a successful real estate agent headquartered in Miami, FL with four years of professional experience and extensive knowledge of both residential and commercial real estate. His professional career also includes sales management experience in the area of property development, including in the Orlando market. Sarabia is dedicated to exceeding his customers expectations throughout the real estate process.

Alvaro Hurtado is an experienced Broker Associate with over 15 years of work in the real estate industry and financial sector. Prior to joining Avanti Way Realty, he was the founder and managing director of a successful real estate firm. His unique multicultural background coupled with Avanti Way's dominant presence in the market helps Hurtado showcase real estate assets at a local and global scale.

It is an honor to work with Javier Saravia and Alvaro Hurtado. They truly have a passion and commitment for what they do. Seeing teams like Homeseek Miami flourish in our ecosystem is always exciting. We are constantly looking for the best ways to service the real estate environment, said Andres Korda, its co-founder.

Who is Avanti Way?

Founded in 2007, Avanti Way has received multiple industry awards, including the Miami Chamber of Commerces Real Estate Leaders and Achievers Award and was named the South Florida Business Journals 3rd Fastest Growing Company in South Florida in 2016. Its unique business model and disruptive vision for the industry has been featured in respected industry publications from Florida Realtors Magazine and Inman News to the South Florida Business Journal and Miami Real Estate Show. As part of its alliance with Techo.org, the companys agents have donated more than 25 homes to unprivileged communities in Latin America in the past three years with contributions from their own commissions. A rapidly growing team, Avanti Way has sold over $3.5 billion in real estate with over 1,000 team members in six offices between Miami Dade and Broward County. The company is expanding to serve the entire state of Florida, bringing a unique model that empowers branch leaders and agents with Avanti Ways technology platform.
HIGH-potency narcotics sold on the Dark Web disguised as nasal sprays are being used to lace letters and parcels sent to prisoners.

And there are fears the scarcity of drugs behind bars because of Covid-19 restrictions could see a spate of overdoses if a batch gets through.

Users whose drugs tolerance levels have dropped after months with no supplies are prone to accidently taking a lethal dose.

Portable scanners installed in Irish prison last year can detect trace levels of drugs and have been used to discover hundreds of drug-laced items among prisoners postage.

The substances include fentanyl, the opioid which has triggered an epidemic of overdose deaths in the United States.

Read More

Another drug of choice is W18, like fentanyl, which is a synthetically-made opioid drug that copies the effects of heroin, according to Sunday World sources.

The Irish Prison Service introduced the scanners last summer as Covid-19 saw a total ban on face-to-face visits forcing inmates to find new ways to have drugs smuggled inside.

Sniffer dogs are effective in finding traditional drugs such as heroin, cocaine and cannabis, but are unable to detect the new generation of opioids.

The total number of illicit drugs identified from our drug detection machines for 2020 was 395, said an IPS spokesman this week.

An increase in drugs found in post, parcels, and prisoner clothing has also increased as a result of visits being suspended.

Read More

Advancements in our drug detection technology has proved particularly effective in identifying drugs that are sprayed onto letters, newspapers, and other prisoner property, he added.

Prison authorities are aware the pandemic lockdown and restrictions both inside and outside has seen a big drop in supplies which actually increases the risk of overdose.

As tolerance levels had decreased significantly during lockdown, any resumption to pre-lockdown levels of use carried a major risk of overdose or indeed fatality, said the spokesman.

The IPS has run a campaign in the prisons through adverts broadcast via cell TVs, as well as a leaflet drops, posters and direct contact with staff and counsellors warning of the danger.

Prison staff are already trained to deal with suspected overdoses and to make sure prisoners get emergency medical treatment.

We continue to research and explore new methodologies and technologies and constantly review our processes in this regard, added the spokesman.

The drug scanners will continue to be used when normal visiting starts again and can be used to detect if there are trace levels of drugs on a visitors clothes.

In cases where someone is detected as having a positive result they will only be allowed to go ahead with a screened visit instead of face-to-face.








A proposed tanker route out of Kitimat, B.C., related to the Northern Gateway project is shown on a map on Sept, 19, 2013. The project was effectively cancelled after the federal government banned oil tankers from B.C.s north coast. (The Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward)

Infographic: Canadas Cancelled Energy Projects

See infographic at end of article

While Canadas resource sector was dealt a blow with the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipelines permit by the United States, Canadian officials are facing another challenge as Michigans governor tries to shut down Enbridges Line 5 pipeline.

The Line 5 pipeline, which crosses Wisconsin and Michigan, brings oil from Western Canada east, where it is refined in Sarnia, Ont., into products like gasoline, diesel, and home-heating fuel. Shutting down Line 5 would have a major impact on the crude oil supply of Eastern Canada and cost thousands of jobs.

Some activist groups in Minnesota are also hoping to stop Calgary-based Enbridges Line 3 project, launching legal challenges and even hoping U.S. President Joe Biden will cancel the project like he did Keystone XL. Line 3, along with the Trans Mountain expansion project and Keystone XL, before the latters permit was revoked, are the three major oil pipeline projects currently underway in Canada.

But impediments to Canadas pipeline and resource projects arent limited to the ones crossing the border. In recent years the country has seen a number of cancellations and hold-offs on energy projects located within its own borders. Some were due to market conditions and prioritization decisions by owners. But a considerable number of projects have been cancelled due to cited uncertainty in the regulatory process and environmental policies, as well as indigenous consultation complexities.

Ottawa has introduced new environmental legislation, including Bill C-69, which faced challenges from some provinces for increasing the regulatory burden. Bill C-69, which became law in 2019, set out a new federal process for the environmental impact assessment of major projects. The opposition Conservatives and industry groups said the legislation will scare away investors, while the Liberals said the existing legislation didnt provide adequate environmental protections and that was why projects were getting stalled in the courts.

A 2019 study by the C.D. Howe Institute said that announcements of new energy and mining projects in Canada slowed after 2015. And between 2017 and 2018, the planned investment value of major resource sector projects went down by $100 billion, equivalent to 4.5 percent of Canadas GDP, the study said.

Many projects in Canada have faced environmental assessments that take much longer than in comparator jurisdictions: Canadian timelines for mining projects are substantially longer than in Australia, and Canadian pipeline approvals are protracted relative to those in the United States, the study said.

The infographic below shows some of the energy projects that have been cancelled in Canada for various reasons between 2015 and 2020, adding up to an estimated investment loss of over $175 billion. Also shown are the three major pipeline projects: Keystone XL, the Trans Mountain expansion, and Enbridges Line 3.

In many cases, the cancellation of energy projects has had the impact of reducing market access for Canadian oil and gas exports. In the case of the Energy East pipeline, which was to deliver crude oil from Western Canada to Eastern Canada, the cancellation meant more reliance on foreign imported oil for Eastern Canada, more oil exported from Western Canada to the United States at a discount, and more use of other means of transportation to move the oil.

In 2019, Canada exported 3.8 million barrels of crude oil per day, with 3.7 million barrels per day of those exports going to the United States. That amounted to 98 percent of all Canadian crude oil exports, with Canada supplying 48 percent of the total U.S. crude oil imports. That year, Canada imported 0.8 million barrels of crude oil per day, with those imports primarily coming from the United States (79 percent), followed by Saudi Arabia (12 percent) and Russia (2 percent).

Click image to enlarge. (The Epoch Times)

Click image to enlarge. (The Epoch Times)
SUV

The following video starts with a tasteful roast in the guise of everyones second favorite German car brand, which can be considered inaccurate as far as U.S. sales figures are concerned. On the other hand, its pretty obvious that Mercedes has a more cohesive design language and corporate identity.Doug also takes us down memory lane with the Bavarian automakers 2001 lineup for the U.S. market, which is compared to Chicago Bulls in the 1995 and 1996 seasons. Just over two decades later, things have changed. BMW has been, like, making fun of people on Twitter. Thats where its gone.The automotive vlogger is referencing the unsatisfactory reception of the iX, an electricwith an oversized kidney grille and a few other questionable styling motifs. For some reason or another, BMW criticized the critics by telling them OK boomer, which is hilarious for a couple of reasons.First of all, a condescending attitude is exactly the attitude we associate with a particular type of boomer. You know, those individuals who mention back in my day too often. Secondly, insulting the people who have enough money to afford to buy a BMW and service it at authorized dealers is crappy.After the mother and father of Twitter backlashes, BMW issued a public apology. No matter what age you are, we hear you. We are sorry, it wasnt our intention to insult anyone with meme slang. The way into the new world of mobility is bumpy, but we hope you join us on the journey. The question is, who is going to join a brand that doesnt really care about customers?This know-it-all and to-hell-with-your-opinion school of thought is best exemplified by none other than Domagoj Dukec, the chief of design.  It is not our goal to please everyone , he told British motoring publication Top Gear, and thats not the only problem with the automakers higher-ups.Not all our products get the same critics, said Domagoj. You can see that on something as polarizing like the kidneys on the 4 Series, 20 percent of people are liking it. That fits the type of customers we are targeting. When the design department believes that it knows better than the people in charge of consumer relations, you know that something will inevitably change.Given the current state of affairs, there are two changes to speak of. BMW will either act in the consumers interests or the consumer will bid the Bavarians farewell in favor of rival brands from Germany or Japan.
Here what to do in Ocean City on rainy days

Even on rainy days Ocean City has a host of indoor activities  like shopping, movie theaters, wineries and breweries  to entertain.
Zain Bahrain, a leading telecommunications operator in the kingdom, has launched an internal gamification and training platform  Travel in the Digital World for its employees.

The new platform is part of Zain Bahrains main developmental program that focuses on employee upskilling and reskilling in digital fields; the training platform will enhance employee engagement by gamifying the entire learning experience.

The platform developed by Zain Bahrains internal team promises to provide adventure and stimulation by altering the learning style into games and granting the employees game-like rewards such as points criteria, badges, and leaderboards.

Zain Bahrain over the years has been committed to continuous training and development of its employees enabling them to reach their full potential through various innovative training and developmental programs.

Through the Travel in the Digital World platform the company aligns with the top trending topics in the digital world there by focusing on Zain Bahrains strategic topics.

By using the e-learning platform, employees will convert themselves in to digital natives and will boost employee engagement by gamifying the entire learning experience.

Rana Al Majed, Manager Recruitment, Compensation and Benefits at Zain Bahrain, said: "Zain is a vanguard when it comes to upskilling and reskilling the employees towards future skills. The development training through gamification is strongly aligned with the company's strategic direction and is a step towards creating engagement and motivating the employees to take on new challenges and become digital natives."

"Our role has always been to create an innovative learning environment for employees to always evolve and become the best version of themselves," she stated.

Motivation and engagement are essential parts of Zain Bahrains internal structures and the company aims to offer its team more than just a job or a career  it wants to empower every employee with the chance to play a part in the future development and growth of the mobile telecommunications sector, observed Al Majed.

In addition to continuous development opportunities, the company is continuously introducing new ways that contribute towards building a stronger and healthier culture that enables employees to thrive, she added.-TradeArabia News Service
New Delhi, Feb 6 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said he will be visiting Assam and West Bengal on Sunday to launch several infrastructure projects.

In a series of tweets, Modi shared details of his visits to the two poll-bound states. Assmebly polls in Assam and West Bengal will be held in April-May this year.

"I will be among the people of Assam tomorrow. At a programme in Dhekiajuli, Sonitpur district, the 'Asom Mala' programme will be launched, which will boost the state's road infrastructure. This initiative will contribute to Assam's economic progress and improve connectivity," he tweeted.

The Prime Minister in another tweet said, "Foundation stones for medical colleges and hospitals in Biswanath and Charaideo will be laid. This will boost Assam's health infrastructure. In the last few years, the state has made rapid strides in health care. This has benefited not only Assam but also the entire northeast." Sharing the details of his programmes in West Bengal, where the BJP is combating the fierce Trinamool Congress led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Modi said, "Tomorrow evening, I would be in Haldia, West Bengal. At a programme there I will dedicate to the nation the LPG import terminal built by BPCL. And I will also dedicate Dobhi-Durgapur Natural Gas Pipeline section of the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project." "The foundation stone of the second Catalytic-Isodewaxing unit of Haldia Refinery will be laid. A Four-Lane ROB-cum-Flyover at Ranichak, Haldia on NH 41 would also be inaugurated," he tweeted.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, Feb 6 : Amid the continuing deadlock between the Centre and farmer unions and a countrywide 'chakka jam' (road block) called by agitating farmers, the situation at Singhu border protest site in Delhi was peaceful even as internet connectivity was suspended as a precautionary measure on Saturday.

A senior Delhi Police official told IANS, "The situation is peaceful here, however, security has been tightened. No one is allow to enter towards the protest site." In view of security, Delhi Police have put up barricades around one-and-half km (at Singhola village) away from the protest site. A second line of barricades has been put up 500 metres further. More barricades have been put up 300 metres from the protest site at Singhu border.

Mobile internet connectivity has been snapped in the border areas. Media personnel are also not allowed to enter the protest site.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The appointment of Mr. Muir as Mr. Bidens briefer last month was unusual because it was his second tour in that job, the only time someone had returned to the post under a new administration. He had served as one of George W. Bushs briefers midway through his presidency.

Former presidents, too, continue to receive briefings, though they are different from the classified one that a sitting president is given daily. Still, it is provided partly as a courtesy and partly for the instances in which a sitting president reaches out for advice. The team of C.I.A. analysts who would brief a former president is not the same team who would brief a current president.

The question of whether Mr. Trump should continue to get briefings has been raised in recent days. On Friday, Mr. Biden told CBS that there was no need for the former president to receive briefings, citing his erratic behavior. But a day later, the White House clarified those comments.

The president was expressing his concern about former president Trump receiving access to sensitive intelligence, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said in a statement, but he also has deep trust in his own intelligence team to make a determination about how to provide intelligence information if at any point the former president Trump requests a briefing.

On Saturday night, the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment clarifying whether Mr. Trump had asked for briefings.
Source: AP

A total of 52,90,474 beneficiaries have so far been vaccinated for COVID-19 through 1,04,781 sessions held till the evening of February 5, the 21st day of the immunisation drive, according to a provisional report of the Union Health Ministry.

On February 5, 3,31,029 beneficiaries were vaccinated till 6.00 pm, the ministry said.

A total of 96,28,179 healthcare workers and 78,51,249 frontline workers have been registered for COVID-19 vaccination till February 3, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has told the Lok Sabha. The expenditure to be incurred as operational cost for the vaccination of an estimated three crore healthcare and frontline workers is about Rs 480 crore, Vardhan said in a written reply.

Follow our LIVE blog for the latest updates of the novel coronavirus pandemic

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the vaccination drive with healthcare workers at the frontline of India's COVID-19 battle getting their first jabs on January 16.

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

Indias drug regulator has approved two vaccines - Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech and Covishield from the Oxford/AstraZeneca stable being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) - for emergency use in the country.

According to the government, the shots will be offered first to an estimated one crore healthcare workers and around two crore frontline workers, and then to persons above 50 years of age, followed by persons younger than 50 years of age with associated comorbidities.

Here are all developments related to the COVID-19 vaccine in India:

> The Uttar Pradesh government began inoculating the COVID-19 vaccine to its frontline workers on February 5, including police personnel and municipal officials, administering over 54,000 doses to people in a single day, an official said. Frontline workers include, police, civil defence staff, DJB and electricity department employees, among others.

> Just two days before pharma major Pfizer announced withdrawal of its application for emergency use authorisation of its COVID-19 vaccine in India, an expert panel of the country's drugs regulatory authority had recommended against granting such approval to the firm at this stage, according to officials. Pfizer has said that it has decided to withdraw its application for emergency use authorisation of its COVID-19 vaccine in India.

> At least 16,675 health workers in Assam received the shots of COVID-19 vaccine on the day, taking the total number of people inoculated so far to 77,264, according to a bulletin issued by the National Health Mission. 'Covishield' vaccine was given to 15,360 beneficiaries at 289 session sites, while 1,315 received 'Covaxin' shots at 29 sites. Two cases of adverse event following immunisation (AEFI) were reported from Kokrajhar and Barpeta districts, it said.

> A total of 3,195 people were administered COVID-19 vaccine in Himachal Pradesh on the day, taking the number of those who have received the jabs in the state to 51,573, a senior health official said. As many as 4,776 healthcare workers were to be administered the vaccine across 67 sessions on the day, but 3,195 could be given the jabs, which is 67 percent coverage, he said.

States Total Beneficiaries Andhra Pradesh 22,461 Arunachal Pradesh 774 Assam 13,939 Bihar 29,229 Chandigarh 360 Chhattisgarh 16,103 Delhi 8,038 Goa 620 Gujarat 27,862 Haryana 3,174 Himachal Pradesh 3,080 Jharkhand 8,188 Karnataka 23,291 Kerala 12,992 Madhya Pradesh 1,104 Maharashtra 35,172 Odisha 2,461 Punjab 4,472 Rajasthan 20,688 Tamil Nadu 6,258 Telangana 4,745 Uttar Pradesh 53,959 Uttarakhand 5,096 West Bengal 17,329

Here is the state-wise vaccination till 6.00 pm on February 5:

(With inputs from PTI)

Follow our full coverage on COVID-19 here
Paducah's Shurley Celebrates First Poetry Chapbook

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - Paducah's Britton Shurley has reason to celebrate. His first poetry chapbook, Spinning the Vast Fantastic, was recently published by the North Carolina-based Bull City Press.Shurley, who has worked at the West Kentucky Community and Technical, College for the past 12 years and serves as an associate professor of English and dean of Humanities, Fine Arts, Business and Social Science, said his collection reminds readers to enjoy the world around them."Some of this chapbook's poems are four or five years old, and others are much younger. But I think the thread which holds this collection together is the urge to slow life down, to pay attention to those moments of joy and awe we often overlook in our lives," said the Kentucky writer.Shurley said he's thrilled to have his first collection come out with Bull City Press."I've admired them (Bull City) for a long time, and they've been amazing to work with throughout the whole process. Admittedly, a pandemic is not the ideal time for a book release, but in a way, this feels like the right time for these poems to go out in the world."Born in 2016, the independent small press, said on its website, "The pandemic has got everyone in a deep malaise, and we believe this joyous book is the perfect antidote."Shurley noted their unique support."They believed so much in getting these poems in the hands of readers, they made copies available on a 'pay what you want' basis, so price wouldn't be an obstacle for anyone during these difficult times." said Shurley. "If you feel you need some poetry, please pick up a copy at their website (bullcitypress.com), paying what you want, to support the work of an independent press."Britton Shurley's poetry has appeared in such journals as Southern Humanities Review, Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review and Southern Indiana Review. He is the recipient of Emerging Artist Awards from the Kentucky Arts Council in both 2011 and 2016. Together with his wife and poet, Amelia Martens, they edit WKCTC's Exit 7: A Journal of Literature & Art and also curate the Rivertown Reading Series.

Chennai air customs department seized 2.32 kilograms of gold on Saturday which is worth 1.14 crores at the Chennai airport.

1.16 kg of the gold was recovered in a flight from Dubai and the remaining, 1.16 kg of gold, was seized from a passenger arriving from Guwahati, the Chennai Customs said in a tweet.

"In new modus, 2.32 kg gold worth Rs.1.14 crore seized. 1.16 kg gold recovered on rummaging flight 6E66 from Dubai from eat pipe and 1.16 kg gold from a passenger returning to Chennai from Guwahati by the same aircraft on its domestic leg. The passenger admitted role in both. Arrested," Chennai Customs said in the tweet.

Chennai Air Customs: In new modus 2.32 kg gold worth Rs.1.14 cr seized. 1.16 kg gold recvrd on rummaging flt 6E66 frm Dubai frm seat pipe & 1.16 kg gold from a pax returning to Chennai frm Guwahati by same aircraft on its domestic leg. Pax admitted role in both. Arrested. pic.twitter.com/GlgXelZzt6  Chennai Customs (@ChennaiCustoms) February 6, 2021

Earlier on 24 January 2020, Chennai Air Customs seized 3.46 kilogram of gold worth 1.75 crore along with cigarettes and used laptops valued of 2.5 lakh from five passengers coming from Dubai.

The 18 bundles of gold paste recovered from the rectum and six cut bits from pants. All five passengers have been arrested by the airport police.

"Chennai Air Customs: 3.46 kg gold worth 1.75 crore; ciggs and used laptops worth 2.5 lakhs seized under Customs Act from 5 pax who arrived from Dubai by EK 542; 18 gold paste bundles received from rectum and 6 cut bits from pants. All 5 were arrested," said the Department in a tweet.

The Customs department also seized 722 grams of gold on 15 January worth 36.52 lakhs and arrested one passenger at the airport and arrested one passenger.

The department arrested a 21 years old passenger, Manikandan Shankar, who arrived from Dubai by flight 6E66 at Chennai Airport. Three bundles of gold paste weighing 836 grams were recovered from the rectum of the passenger, according to a press statement from the Commissioner of Customs, Chennai International Airport.

As per the statement, on extraction 722 grams of gold worth 36.52 lakhs were recovered and seized under the Customs Act.

Further investigation is in progress, the Customs department said.

With inputs from ANI

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Sabrina Rishmague caught her breath when she was asked what she had learned from Nicole Chipi in the five-plus years of dating that led to their Jan. 23 wedding at the Perez Art Museum Miami, where the brides and three guests stood before Edwin G. Torres, a Florida magistrate judge, who officiated.

At first, I was skeptical, I wasnt quite sure, said Ms. Rishmague, 28, an associate at Avila Rodriguez Hernandez Mena & Ferri, a Miami law firm.

I think it took two conversations to make me realize that the reason I was so skeptical was that I really liked her, she said. I never felt that way about a person, or a woman before, she has taught me to be patient, responsible, brave and accountable.

Ms. Rishmague and Ms. Chipi, both Miami natives, met as law school students at the University of Miami in early December 2015 during a dinner organized by a mutual friend who also attended law school there.
The list of potential challengers to embattled Hughes MP Craig Kelly is growing, and could include the widow of an Afghan war veteran whom Prime Minister Scott Morrison has known personally for a dozen years.

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and state MP Lee Evans have both backed an open preselection in the southern Sydney electorate, which could see Mr Kelly lose the seat he has held since 2010.

Pete Evans and MP Craig Kelly.

Mr Kelly was carpeted by Mr Morrison last week for his promotion of alternative, medically unproven COVID-19 treatments on social media and for a public clash with Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek.

The dressing down came after The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age outlined Liberals dismay over Mr Kellys behaviour, with one dubbing him the Pete Evans in the party room, a reference to the anti-vaxxer celebrity chef. Mr Kelly and Mr Evans subsequently recorded a podcast about COVID-19.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has barred its officers attending meetings, official or unofficial, from interacting with the press as part of efforts to deter leaks, and directed them to 'confine' to the official position on the issues they publicly speak on.

Indias banking regulator prohibited its officers from interacting with the media under any circumstances, showed an internal circular that Moneycontrol reviewed. It is (therefore) advised that such officers attending the meetings may be necessarily advised by the HoDs/RDs to strictly confine to the policy position of the Bank as stated in various circulars issued and under no circumstances interact with the press, said the circular issued on February 2.

This is perhaps the first time that the central bank has issued a formal circular warning its officers against interacting with the press, said a person familiar with the development. The idea could be to avoid confusing reports in the public, the person said, asking not to be named.

RBIs senior officers typically attend various meetings at regional levels. These are formal and informal gatherings. The central bank is concerned that the opinions expressed by officials in such meetings are deemed by the public as RBIs official opinion.

The trigger for the circular happens to be a news report concerning an RBI plan to withdraw old currency notes. The RBI refuted the report that said it was planning to withdraw old notes of Rs 100, Rs 10 and Rs 5 denominations.

Referring to that report, the circular said: With regard to the reports in certain sections of media on withdrawal of old series of Rs100, Rs 10 and Rs 5 banknotes from circulation in near future, it is clarified that such reports are incorrect, the RBI tweeted on January 25.

https://twitter.com/RBI/status/1353639983693713408

The RBI introduced Rs 2,000 currency notes in the aftermath of the November 2016 demonetisation exercise that invalidated Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes almost overnight.

These notes amounted to 86 percent of the currency in circulation at that point. On January 25, 2021, the RBI clarified that the reports of currency withdrawals were false as part of efforts to allay fears of a demonetisation-like exercise.

RBI also asked regional offices of the bank to sensitise employees about this policy. It is necessary that during the deliberations of the meetings at the district level/state level, views expressed should be on the lines of the explicitly stated objectives of the Bank and strictly in conformity with the extant instruction/guidelines, said the circular issued on February 2.

Code of Conduct

The circular asked the regional offices to sensitise all their staff who attend such meetings to be extremely discreet while attending official/unofficial meetings at any level.

The circular was issued by a Deputy General Manager ranked officer of the RBI and is addressed to Regional Director/ Chief General Manager, Officer-in-Charge of all zones.
A trainee priest accused of downloading indecent images of children wearing nappies had the case thrown out by a judge due to lack of evidence.

Henry Balkwill, 33, was arrested in his room at Saint John's Seminary in Guildford, Surrey, following a tip-off from the US Department of Homeland Security, a court was told.

He denied a charge of printing off 12 indecent images before scrapping them later.

The prosecutor at Staines Magistrates' Court was unable to tie the account to Balkwill

Police in the UK were alerted after a United States Department of Homeland Security special agent tracked a user account 'Diapered', which trawled through child abuse websites, to IP addresses residing in his hometown of Wells, Somerset.

But the prosecutor at Staines Magistrates' Court was unable to tie the account to Balkwill which resulted in the case being dismissed.

Alexa Le Moine, defending, said: 'There is no causal link to connect the username "diapered" and the IP addresses.

'There has been no admissible evidence that the username 'Diapered' accessed the platform with the [computer] or any admissible evidence that links the IP addresses with the 12 charged images.

'There is no admission he used the name.

'Diapered' on any website nor any images were found on his devices.

'He was arrested in September 2019 and the Crown have had ample time in making this connection but it remains absent in this case.'

District Judge Susan Cooper said: 'The case is dismissed. You are free to go.'

Madeleine Deasy, prosecuting, said the Crown may consider listing the matter again for Balkwill to be handed a 'sexual risk order', citing evidence given in police interview - the court heard.

A Sexual Risk Order may be made in respect of an individual where it is believed that the individual has done an act of a sexual nature as a result of which there is reasonable cause to believe that they pose a risk of harm to the public in the UK or children or vulnerable adults abroad.

Katherine Heigl has a reputation as being difficult to work with  but we doubt her husband, Josh Kelley, agrees. The two tied the knot in 2007 and are still together today. And Heigl once noted their bond is so unbreakable that even if Kelley cheated, shed likely stick it out. Heres what she said.

Katherine Heigl married Josh Kelley in 2007 and now have 3 kids

Josh Kelley and Katherine Heigl attend the 2017 CMT Music Awards | Mike Coppola/WireImage

RELATED: Firefly Lane: What Is Katherine Heigls Net Worth After Being Blacklisted From Hollywood?

Heigl may not have a great relationship with a lot of Hollywood elites, but she certainly is one of the lucky ones when it comes to love. Wide Open Country notes Heigl met Kelley back in 2005 when she starred in his music video for Only You. The two connected quickly and finally tied the knot in 2007.

Were madly in love and she makes me excited to become married and to have a family and spend my life with someone, Kelley said at the time. Were fairly opposite but we also share a lot of the same values.

Heigl and Kelley then decided to pursue adoption. They adopted Naleigh from South Korea and later adopted another daughter, Adalaide Marie Hope. The couple then decided to have a biological child. They welcomed Joshua Bishop in 2017 and were very thankful for their blended family.

With Adalaide, you know, we adopted her from birth, so we got that experience, Kelley said. Naleigh, we got her when she was 9 months old, so this obviously is our first time going through this. Its exciting and super new.

Katherine Heigl said shed likely stick with Josh Kelley if he cheated

Katherine Heigls husband, Josh Kelley, and Katherine Heigl | Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images

RELATED: What Katherine Heigl Thinks Is the Real Reason She Couldnt Get Jobs After the Greys Anatomy Drama

Its tough to make any marriage work, especially when youre constantly thrust into the spotlight. Despite the hardship, Heigl and Kelley are committed to each other. And Heigl even noted shed probably stick through her marriage with Kelley even if he cheated.

Josh and I always said that cheating would be a deal-breaker; there is no second chance, Heigl told British Cosmopolitan, according to People. But Ive seen friends and acquaintances go through it and theyve found a way back to the relationship, and a way to forgive each other.

As much as I would kill him if he cheated because it would destroy me, I have started to question whether, if a mistake were to be made and it was a one-time thing, I would forgive him, Heigl added. Because look at the life weve built together. We have history, we have a child.

The couples still going strong in 2021

Thankfully, it doesnt seem like Kelley and Heigl will have to go through a cheating scandal. The two are still going strong in 2021. And Heigls talked about the strength of her relationship in the past.

I think that we just really enjoy each other, Heigl told Us Weekly. Hes kind of my best friend. I think that can be tricky. When it starts to become too much of a friendship and not enough of a romance, that can also be a problem.

While the couple hits their relationship snags, theyre still able to overcome. I remember thinking, I should just ask him what would make him really happy,' Heigl continued. Just recognize what your partner really needs from you, ask them and if you can do that, do that.

Well be interested to see what 2021 has in story for Heigl and Kelley!

Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook!
Teachers from Yangon University of Education wear red ribbons and pose with a three-finger salute as they take part in demonstration against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, February 5. (Image: Reuters)

Myanmar's junta extended a social media blockade to Twitter and Instagram on Saturday in the face of a growing protest movement against the coup that ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and halted a transition to democracy.

Days after a temporary blockade on Facebook, authorities ordered internet providers to enforce the latest ban "until further notice", Norwegian mobile phone company Telenor Asa said.

Demand for VPNs has soared in Myanmar, allowing some people to evade the ban, but users reported more general disruption to mobile data services that most people in the country of 53 million rely on for news and communications.

"We lost freedom, justice and urgently need democracy," wrote one Twitter user. "Please hear the voice of Myanmar."

Army chief Min Aung Hlaing seized power on Monday, alleging fraud in a November 8 election that Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy had won in a landslide. The electoral commission dismissed the armys accusations.

The takeover drew international condemnation with a UN Security Council call for the release of all detainees and targeted sanctions under consideration by Washington.

Suu Kyi, 75, has not been seen in public since the coup. She spent some 15 years under house arrest during a struggle against previous juntas before the troubled democratic transition began in 2011.

The lawyer for Suu Kyi and ousted President Win Myint said they were being held in their homes and that he was unable to meet them because they were still being questioned. Suu Kyi faces charges of importing six walkie-talkies illegally while Win Myint is accused of flouting coronavirus restrictions.

"Of course, we want unconditional release as they have not broken the law," said Khin Maung Zaw, the veteran lawyer who is representing both of them.

Although there have been no mass street demonstrations in a country with a history of bloody crackdowns on protesters, a civil disobedience movement is growing and every night people bang pots and pans in a show of anger.

In addition to about 150 arrests in the wake of the coup reported by human rights groups, local media said around 30 people have been detained over the noise protests.

DISOBEDIENCE

Teachers became the latest group to join a civil disobedience campaign with some lecturers refusing to work or cooperate with authorities. The movement that began with doctors has also brought in some government ministry employees.

International pressure on the junta has increased.

UN Myanmar envoy Christine Schraner Burgener strongly condemned the militarys actions in a call with the countrys deputy military chief Soe Win, and called for the immediate release of all those detained, a U.N. spokesman said on Friday.

The junta defended its action in a statement from the foreign ministry, saying the refusal to take action on the army's election complaints was "tantamount to the attempt to take the sovereignty of the Union by wrongful forcible means".

It said the army would practice "genuine and discipline-flourishing multiparty democracy" suited to Myanmar and then transfer responsibilities after a fair election.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressed top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi in a phone call on Friday to condemn the coup in Myanmar, the State Department said.

China, which has close links to Myanmar's military, joined the consensus on the Security Council statement, but has not condemned the army takeover and has said countries should act in the interests of its neighbours stability.

The United States is considering targeted sanctions on individuals and on entities controlled by the military.

The generals have few overseas interests, but the militarys extensive business interests could suffer if foreign partners leave  as Japanese drinks company Kirin Holdings said it would on Friday.

Telenor, another company attracted to invest by Myanmars decade of opening, said it was legally obliged to follow the order to block some social media, but "highlighted the directive's contradiction with international human rights law."

US based pressure group Human Rights Watch called for the lifting of the internet restrictions, the release of detainees and an end to threats against journalists.

"A news and information blackout by the coup leaders can't hide their politically motivated arrests and other abuses," said Asia director Brad Adams.
Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman and firefighters union president Alex Forrest publicly locked horns Friday in the aftermath of a damning report into racism in the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman and firefighters union president Alex Forrest publicly locked horns Friday in the aftermath of a damning report into racism in the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.

The spat began with Bowman calling out Forrest for his public silence on the findings of a recent independent probe that ruled "implicit racial bias" among a city firefighter crew was responsible for failure to properly treat an Indigenous patient during an October 2020 call.

"Earlier today, I wrote to the longstanding president of the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg... to express my concern regarding the lack of public communication from the UFFW regarding issues of systemic racism in the WFPS and the UFFW," Bowman said in a news release issued at 12:50 p.m.

At 2 p.m., the mayor was holding a news conference on the subject. After Bowman read his opening remarks and began fielding questions from reporters, Forrest fired back with a message of his own.

"In response to Mayor Bowman, myself and the UFFW will not be making any statements at this time until after all of the issues and information is addressed and the disciplinary meetings have concluded," Forrest said in a news release.

"Unlike the mayor, we will respond at the appropriate time in a professional manner so that it does not prejudice the ability of our members to defend themselves from these accusations."

Forrest said the UFFW will defend its members "to the fullest extent possible," and believes they will be "vindicated."

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS FILES United Firefighters of Winnipeg President Alex Forrest said the UFFW will defend its members to the fullest extent possible, and believes they will be vindicated.

On Oct. 7, 2020, the WFPS responded to a critical care call in the North End, after a 23-year-old Indigenous woman stabbed herself in the throat.

After a paramedic on the call accused attending firefighters of failing to provide treatment and delaying patient transportation to the hospital, the City of Winnipeg hired an independent investigator to look into the matter.

In her final report, Laurelle Harris of Equitable Solutions ruled the firefighters conduct was likely motivated by a combination of "implicit racial bias" against the patient and "racial animus" against the paramedic, who is also a person of colour.

In addition, Harris ruled the firefighters were also likely acting in retaliation against the paramedic, who was known to have filed complaints about racist conduct within the WFPS. They were also found to have conspired to obstruct the investigation into the incident.

What Im urging him (Forrest) and, quite frankly, urging leaders throughout our community within the City of Winnipeg workforce, is to really acknowledge that systemic racism exists, because it needs to be said, and it needs to be said often,  Mayor Brian Bowman

In his written comments Friday, Forrest seemed to push back against those findings, saying: "Our members and our department have been tried and convicted before the full facts were dealt with."

When portions of the UFFW news release were read out by reporters, the mayor said he was happy the union leader was speaking publicly about the case  since he had been concerned about Forrest's silence.

Nevertheless, Bowman reiterated he would like to see Forrest publicly acknowledge systemic racism exists in the WFPS and UFFW.

"What Im urging him and, quite frankly, urging leaders throughout our community within the City of Winnipeg workforce, is to really acknowledge that systemic racism exists, because it needs to be said, and it needs to be said often," Bowman said.

"We also need to discuss what each of us are doing within our areas of responsibility to address it."

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Mayor Brian Bowman said the disciplinary process into the case is ongoing, and will continue to unfold over the coming weeks.

The mayor said the disciplinary process into the case is ongoing, and will continue to unfold over the coming weeks. Bowman said he would commit to making public as much information about the outcome of that process as possible.

"What I want to see is discipline occur in accordance with due process and those governing parameters, including the parameters set out in the collective agreement, which include the ability for a hearing," Bowman said.

Bowman also confirmed Forrest  a full-time union leader  continues to have a portion of his salary paid for by Winnipeg taxpayers, as part of a longstanding and controversial arrangement.

Last month, the UFFW announced Forrest had been re-elected for a fourth term as International Association of Fire Fighters Canadian trustee, the highest elected firefighter labour role in the country.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe

The Biden administration will reverse President Trump's decision to designate the Iranian-backed Houthi militia group in Yemen as a 'terrorist organization'.

The move was confirmed by a State Department official on Friday - one day after President Biden also declared a halt to U.S. support for the Saudi Arabia-led military campaign in Yemen.

The ongoing civil war in the Middle Eastern country is widely seen as a proxy conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blacklisted the Houthis on January 19 - just 24 hours before Biden took office.

At the time, The Washington Post reported that 'Trump administration officials denied that they were complicating the peace efforts for President-elect Joe Biden'.

The Biden administration will reverse President Trump's decision to designate the Iranian-backed Houthi militia group in Yemen as a 'terrorist organization'. Yemen's Houthi supporters are pictured on Thursday

'Trump administration officials denied that they were complicating the peace efforts for  Biden', despite decided to designate the Houthi militia as a 'terrorist organization' 24 hours before the new President took office

An official told The Post that the Trump administration decision was based on the fact that the Houthis had 'involvement in terrorist activities, including a missile attack on a Saudi airport in 2019 and another on a Saudi oil distribution station in 2020.'

The slogan of the Houthi movement is 'Allah is Greater, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam'.

Pompeo stated last year that the Trump administration 'simply recognized reality,' by designating the group as terrorists.

'The Houthi forces are terrorists, underwritten by the theocracy, the kleptocracy that runs the Islamic Republic of Iran. That regime is funding a missile program, funding capabilities inside of Yemen that put Europe at risk and put the Middle East at risk,' he stated.

However, experts warned that the Trump administration's designation 'could complicate UN-brokered peace talks between the Iran-aligned Houthis and the Saudi-backed government in Yemen'.

President Trump had been a vocal critic of Iran, and accused Democrats of being too soft on the Middle Eastern power and their various allies.

A young child stands with Yemen's Houthi supporters on Thursday as they take part in a gathering to donate for those fighting against the Saudi-backed government

The war in Yemen has been stretching on for six years, with nearly a quarter-million people dying due to starvation and a lack of medical care

The war in Yemen has been stretching on for six years, with nearly a quarter-million people dying due to starvation and a lack of medical care.

The UN describes Yemen as the world's biggest humanitarian crisis, with 80 percent of its people in need.

On Friday, a State Department official stressed that the decision for the Biden administration to reverse the designation does not reflect the U.S. view of the Houthis and their 'reprehensible conduct'.

'Our action is due entirely to the humanitarian consequences of this last-minute designation from the prior administration, which the United Nations and humanitarian organizations have since made clear would accelerate the worlds worst humanitarian crisis,' the official said.

They added that new Secretary of State Anthony Blinken conducted a 'comprehensive review' of the case.

Donald Trump is pictured with his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Pompeo said the Administration simply recognized the 'reality' that the Houthi militia were 'terrorists'

New Secretary of State Anthony Blinken conducted a 'comprehensive review' before deciding to reverse the Trump Administration's decision to label the Houthi militia a 'terrorist organization'

President Barack Obama began support for Saudi side in the Yemeni conflict, before President Donald Trump ramped it up.

However, Biden has now announced he is ending support for Saudi Arabia's controversial war in Yemen - his first major foreign policy reversal.

'Today he will announce an end to American support for offensive operations in Yemen,' said National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan at the White House press briefing on Thursday.

The move would fulfill a campaign pledge by Biden, whose administration plans to pursue diplomacy to end the overall conflict in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia began the offensive in 2014 to counter a Yemeni Houthi faction that had seized territory in Yemen and was launching cross-border missiles at Saudi Arabia.

A Saudi-led air campaign since then has killed numerous civilians, and survivors display fragments showing the bombs to be American-made.
A former digital strategist who helped design social media ads for Donald Trump's reelection campaign was arrested Friday for his alleged role in a child-porn distribution ring.

Ruben Verastigui, 27, was charged with distributing child pornography, according to a release from the Metropolitan Police Department.

'Between March 2020 and February 2021, an investigation revealed the suspect distributed, received and possessed images of child pornography,' the release states.

Ruben Verastigui, 27, was charged with distributing child pornography, according to a release from the Metropolitan Police Department

According to his LinkedIn, Verastigui worked for the Senate Republican Conference from March 2019 until July 2020. By then, the investigation into Verastigui had been in full swing.

According to his LinkedIn, Verastigui worked for the Senate Republican Conference from March 2019 until July 2020. By then, the investigation into Verastigui had been in full swing

The Texas native had most recently been working at non-profit Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions. He was no longer working there as of Saturday, the Daily Beast reports.

'The details of the allegations against Mr. Verastigui are tragic and shocking,' a spokesperson for the non-profit told the Daily Beast. 'He is no longer employed by the organization and we are prepared to fully cooperate with law enforcement requests in this matter to any extent needed.'

Special agents with Homeland Security began looking to Verastigui while investigating a group of at least 18 people who they say were trading child porn, according to court documents.

The website name was not released 'to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation.'

Investigators say that Verastigui allegedly went by the username 'Landon' in the group chat and used the handle @somethingtaken.

In one instance of communication, Verastigui is said to have told another user that 'babies' were his 'absolute favorite.'

The Texas native had most recently been working at non-profit Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions. He was no longer working there as of Saturday

Photos on Verastigui's social media show him all over the White House and the Capitol last year

'Well like I said babies are some of my biggest turn-ons and beast,' Verastigui allegedly said in the direct message, according to the court documents. 'Young rape F**k I love all that.'

He also allegedly sent additional messages about wanting to look at 'hardcore' videos, responding 'F**K YES!!!' to a video he was sent of an adult sexually penetrating a child.

Photos on Verastigui's social media show him all over the White House and the Capitol last year. Following the attack on the Capitol January 6, Verastigui posted a photo of the Capitol building.

'America will prevail,' he said in the post.
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911767.hzzycm.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 14 Jan 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

The total number of people who shared the 911767.hzzycm homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. The total number of people who shared the 911767.hzzycm homepage on Delicious. The total number of people who shared the 911767.hzzycm homepage on StumbleUpon. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the 911767.hzzycm homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if 911767.hzzycm has a Facebook fan page). This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the 911767.hzzycm homepage on Twitter + the total number of 911767.hzzycm followers (if 911767.hzzycm has a Twitter account).

Basic Information

PAGE TITLE -bb- DESCRIPTION -bb- KEYWORDS -bb- OTHER KEYWORDS bb, s , bb, s, qq , qq , qq



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 title found in the head section of the homepage. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE GB2312 DETECTED LANGUAGE SERVER Microsoft-IIS/6.0 (PHP/5.2.17) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003

The language of 911767.hzzycm.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Type of server and offered services. Character set and language of the site. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) 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 911767.hzzycm.com by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines.

Facebook link

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Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. 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. 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

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New Delhi, Feb 6 : The Delhi Police arrested four persons involved in phishing and running a fake call centre at Badli extension in North West Delhi and recovered 14 mobile phones with SIM cards, three ATM cards, two laptops, seven other SIM cards and calling data from them.

The accused used to post their advertisement on Shine.com and Facebook for job openings at two reputed private companies at different locations across the country. They asked the candidates to deposit Rs 275 as registration fee for the interview after which one of the accused, Ramesh Yadav, conducted their interviews. After the interviews, the other accused asked the candidates to deposit Rs 2250 as dress material charges and Rs 5500 as security deposit.

After receiving the deposit from the candidates, they used to send a fake 'job confirmation letter'.

"The accused used to stop answering the calls of the candidates when they asked them for joining date. The accused targetted the candidates who were not much educated," said DCP Northwest Usha Rangnani.
Despite what skeptics may say, Canadas largest furniture manufacturer wants you to know theres a future for brick-and-mortar stores beyond COVID-19.

Despite what skeptics may say, Canadas largest furniture manufacturer wants you to know theres a future for brick-and-mortar stores beyond COVID-19.

In an interview with the Free Press on Friday, the CEO and president of Winnipeg-headquartered Palliser Furniture  which is the parent company of furnishing and upholstery brands including EQ3, Pinnacle and Casana  said itll take "more than this virus to get the physical aspect of our industry down."

Peter Tielmann, president of Palliser.

Nearly a year of back-and-forth pandemic reopenings across North America later, Peter Tielmann believes theres been more good news for anyone selling home-based products than bad.

"Almost all our problems were good problems to have, like demand rising and causing supply issues," he said. "And especially if you were able to get the ball rolling quickly on your e-commerce early on, your furniture business wouldve likely been in good shape."

While Pallisers business-to-business and contractual sales were down, consumer demand rose significantly  even if that wasnt coming from storefronts exactly. E-commerce revenue has reportedly increased for just EQ3 alone by 150 per cent in 2020, as storefronts were forced shut for crucial parts of the year.

Thats because the vacillation caused by public-health orders has affected certain parts of the furniture-selling business more than others, Tielmann said. Its also ranged from region to region and comes as a result of one government decision to the next.

"A lot of it wasnt the case in the U.S. though," said Tielmann, "because things have remained open there for the most part for almost the whole pandemic."

In Canada, he said, its been quite different. "Every province handled it in their own ways and everyone was taking the science differently to keep certain stores open and others not."

It was especially the case in Manitoba, Tielmann said, where the governments decision to create lists that determined essential and non-essential services caused several difficulties for furniture retailers.

"We werent considered essential and I mean I dont want to be playing any blame games for that, but it definitely disrupted things quite a bit until it was finally evened out."

Tielmann said now its time to start looking at what the future could be. "And I certainly think," he said, "storefronts is still where a lot of it will continue to be."

That motivation is also the reason behind the companys upcoming investment in Winnipeg, where EQ3 is moving its current storefront at the corner of Portage Avenue and St. James Street into the old Sears building at CF Polo Park mall  expanding from 11,000 square feet to about 44,000 square feet.

Talks surrounding this expansion had been in the works with Cadillac Fairview at least since early 2018. Palliser wanted to give EQ3 a bigger space to diversify its products and partner with more Canadian manufacturers.

"What the pandemic did though is it fast-tracked everything for us," said Tielmann. "We had to make some difficult decisions early in 2020 when things were locked down, but once we started to understand how this virus worked, we started moving ahead in a very positive way on some key ideas that were already being planned out."

The new location at Polo Park will be a combination of digital commerce and the brick-and-mortar concept. With a planned reopening set for mid-August, EQ3s already installed plexiglass barriers and hand-sanitizer stations, "with a space just right for exact social-distancing," said Tielmann.

"Were trying to do something different here that blends into a full experience for the customer  itll have a cafe, itll have very integrated technology that allows you to feel products, but also large touchable screens that will allow you to visualize how they will look in your home, right there and then when you shop."

The location is looking to recruit a "well-known local restaurant" that Palliser doesnt want to reveal yet.

"Its been a good year for us in a weird way," said Tielmann. "And honestly, I remain excited for our future ahead."

Twitter: @temurdur

Temur.Durrani@freepress.mb.ca

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry on Friday sued a reporter for The Advocate and The Times-Picayune over a public-records request she filed, asking a judge to issue a declaratory judgment denying the request and seal the proceedings.

The unusual action came a few days after the newspaper warned Landry that it intended to sue him if he didnt turn over the requested records.

In my 40 years as an editor, Ive never seen a journalist get sued for requesting a public record, said Peter Kovacs, the newspapers editor. Were not intimidated. In fact, were more determined.

Read Attorney General Jeff Landry's court files against The Advocate reporter Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry filed a lawsuit Feb. 5 against a reporter for The Advocate and The Times-Picayune over a public records

The matter dates to Dec. 14, when the reporter, Andrea Gallo, first filed a public records request with Landrys office seeking copies of sexual harassment complaints against Pat Magee, the head of the offices criminal division, and records of how the complaints were handled. Magee was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation that day.

"The only complaints against Mr. Magee are part of the ongoing investigation," Landry's office responded at the time. "As long as the investigation is still open, the records are considered confidential and cannot be disclosed at the moment. Once the investigation has been officially closed, the records will be available for review."

On Jan. 4, attorneys in Landry's office reiterated that their reasoning for withholding the documents was "temporary and not permanent and we will make the appropriate documents available once the investigation is over."

+2 Top deputy to AG Jeff Landry, subject of sexual harassment probe, suspended without pay A top deputy to Attorney General Jeff Landry returned to work Tuesday after an investigation that found he "engaged in inappropriate verbal co

Landrys office hired lawyer Vicki Crochet of the firm Taylor Porter to conduct the investigation.

Magee returned to work Jan. 19 after an investigation found that he had "engaged in inappropriate verbal conversations," used sexual slang and made unprofessional comments over the appearance of employees. Landry's office ordered Magee to take a one-time $20,559 salary reduction and directed him to take courses on workplace professionalism and conflict management.

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

On Jan. 22, Landry's office said the newspaper would receive the requested records within the next week. But soon after, the attorney general sounded a different message.

Top official in Jeff Landry's office put on leave amid investigation into violation of office policy A top official in Attorney General Jeff Landrys office is on leave while the agency investigates an office policy violation after a complai

His lawyers said they had located the complaint filed against Magee, but that they would not release it publicly. Rather than relying on an exemption in the state public records law, Landry's lawyers said they were withholding the complaint because of a constitutional right to privacy and policies within the Attorney General's office and state Civil Service that call for confidentiality in such investigations.

The newspaper offered to make concessions for privacy interests.

"We would invite redaction of the initial complaint to protect the identity of the victim, but that is the only privacy interest even arguably applicable," attorney Scott Sternberg, who represents The Advocate and The Times-Picayune, told Landry's office in a Feb. 2 letter.

Sternberg also argued that Louisiana Civil Service guidance is not an exception to public records law.

Landry's office did not respond to Sternbergs letter, which threatened legal action, until Fridays filing.

You have demanded information which will compromise the rights of our employees and could lead to litigation over the violation of those rights, Landrys attorneys wrote in a letter on Friday to Gallo. Allegations of sexual harassment that turn out to be unsupported, inaccurate and unfounded can destroy marriages, damage employees children, wreck families and ruin reputations.

Sternberg expressed surprise at the attorney generals actions but said hes confident the newspaper will prevail.

"Mr. Landry is using taxpayer dollars and the power of his office to punish a citizen for demanding public records about public employees, Sternberg said. His office's actions are a perversion of the law and the system. We stand behind the request, and believe the judge will agree with Ms. Gallo that Mr. Landry's actions are arbitrary and capricious."
A leaked internal report this week into the conduct of four Winnipeg firefighters showed evidence of implicit racial bias against an Indigenous woman and racial animus towards a paramedic (also a person of colour) on a call in October 2020.

A leaked internal report this week into the conduct of four Winnipeg firefighters showed evidence of "implicit racial bias" against an Indigenous woman and "racial animus" towards a paramedic (also a person of colour) on a call in October 2020.

The report is clear: identifying the actions of the firefighters put the womans health at risk, delayed her journey to the hospital, and showed callous disregard for her safety. One firefighter riding in the ambulance refused to help the paramedic, forcing the injured woman to hold the dressing to the stab wound on her own neck.

Later, one of them called it: "Just another call in the North End."

According to the report, it was part of "retaliation" against the paramedic, who previously alleged racist conduct by members of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service  including one of the firefighters involved, who called him a "sand n-----."

Despite this information, WFPS Chief John Lane announced during a news conference Thursday: "The investigator concluded that explicit anti-Indigenous racism did not play a role in the care of the patient There may have been implicit bias."

Um, no.

While its clear the firefighters involved dont like "rats" (the term they used in the report) airing their systemic and racist dirty laundry, its equally clear if this patient was a non-Indigenous person in Charleswood no one would have had to try to stop their own neck wound from bleeding.

This isnt playing the "race card," giving an "opinion," or anything but a cold, hard truth: racism exists in the WFPS and its not just four firefighters.

Proof resides in the fact all four continued in active duty as if nothing had happened, even after the independent investigator's report was handed to Lane and the WFPS weeks ago.

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES WFPS Chief John Lane announced during a news conference Thursday: The investigator concludled that explicit anti-Indigenous racism did not play a role in the care of the patient There may have been implicit bias.

On Thursday, days after the Winnipeg Free Press broke the story and public outcry rained down on the WFPS, all four were put on "administrative leave."

Theres nothing "implicit" about that racism, nor is bias "implicit" when you know what you have done is racist. The investigator found the firefighters conspired to fabricate stories and obstruct the probe into their conduct, as well as participated in harassment and threats against the paramedic.

That paramedic is now "on leave," after swearing at the firefighters during that October call. The action brought him charges of breaching workplace safety policies, which the report found him guilty of, but stated: "While unacceptable, should be contexualized."

Who was assaulted and punished here? Who was protected and rewarded?

There is absolutely, positively, and definitively nothing "implicit" about this situation. Everyone involved knew fully what they were doing.

There is absolutely, positively, and definitively nothing implicit about this situation. Everyone involved knew fully what they were doing.

In a statement Tuesday to the Free Press, Lane admits "issues of racism exist in the organization" and "there is no tolerance for racism or discrimination based on any human rights characteristics among (WFPS) employees, any City of Winnipeg employees or with any members of the public."

At a news conference Thursday, Mayor Brian Bowman noted "anti-racism" training will be mandatory for all city employees, beginning in March.

This is a good step, but isnt enough.

"Implicit bias" never goes away until its made explicit.

Its not enough to talk about it. Take action  identifying, recognizing, and addressing racism and discrimination in whatever form it takes.

If done immediately, the outcomes dont have to be so drastic as people losing jobs, being exposed publicly, and using words like "rats" and "n-----."

It can be done with kindness, care, and consideration. Ask people to have empathy, learn about privilege and their part in violence. None of this harms anyone, but instead demands hard, honest, and serious self-reflection.

"Cultural awareness" training wont cure racism. Look at the WFPS chief. Hes aware of racism, but apparently lets racists work without interruption while letting those who report on racism be harassed and attacked.

Awareness maintains the status quo.

Cultural awareness training wont cure racism. Look at the WFPS chief. Hes aware of racism, but apparently lets racists work without interruption while letting those who report on racism be harassed and attacked.

What we need is action: honesty, bravery, and a tangible commitment to the principle no one is born racist but is conditioned into holding racist views.

We need to accept racism is in every part of society, from firefighters and paramedics to police officers and politicians, and this doesnt make us weaker but stronger for having realized this truth.

We need training that will affirm those who stand up against racism and help those who hold racist views get opportunities to change their actions and make restitution. We also need to have patience with those confronting their own racism, too.

We also need to get this paramedic his job back. He is exactly the kind of person I want dealing with an emergency.

We need to stop hiding behind words like "implicit bias" and be explicit.

niigaan.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca
The majority of Irelands over-85s will be able to get the Covid-19 vaccine from their own GP while 6,000 will be administered the jab in another surgery or hub, it emerged last night.

A small minority of the 72,000 people in this age group will have to travel to another doctors practice or a special centre. They will get the jab from their own doctor.

But an uncertain and limited supply of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines will mean these over-85s, as well as others over 70, will see an uneven roll-out and access to the vaccine may be dependent on where they live or how soon supplies are delivered to their GP.

The over-70s will be vaccinated through three different systems.

Read More

Most will receive the vaccine in their own doctors surgery, others will travel to another doctors practice where a number of GPs will buddy up.

In other cases they will get the jab in vaccination centres .

The first will be in Dublin City University (DCU) in Dublin and centres will all be opened in Galway and Cork, according to an email from the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) to GPs late last night.

The email said all practices with more than 200 over-70s on their list will receive deliveries through cold chain and operate their vaccination clinics within their own practice premises with the GP practice team.

In certain areas where there are a large number of smaller list practices there will be a GP run vaccination clinic at an agreed location such as Dublin, Cork and Galway

The first clinic will be DCU, Dublin, where there are 121 practices in the surrounding area with fewer than 200 over-70s in total.

This will operated by GPs, practice nurses and staff who will do sessions and be led by a lead GP to organise rotas and scheduling.

All booking, registration and payment for your own patients will be via your own practice management system  the only change is the venue at which the patient will receive the vaccine.

The clinics will operate in the agreed age phases until all these patients are vaccinated and at the 28 day intervals. These clinics will operate at weekends.

It said that for a small number of practices outside of Dublin, Cork and Galway we are assisting those GPs who have less than 200 patients on the over-70 age category in buddying up with a larger practice in the area.

In this way the small patient numbers from one practice will attend at the larger practice for vaccination but this will be delivered by the patients own GP team in that setting.

We will be contacting those practices and assisting with the buddying-up system.

Doctors will identify their patients, register them and invite them to the location where they will receive the vaccine.

There are around 490,000 patients over 70 in the community almost all of whom are patients of GPs around the country. Within this group the first patients to be vaccinated are those 72,000 over-85s, then moving on to patients between 80 and 84, 75 to 79 and 70 to 74.

Dr Denis McCauley of the IMO, who met with the HSE yesterday, said: The majority can get the vaccine at their own GPs surgery.

GP practices with a lower number of patients in these age groups will link up with other surgeries and, in exceptional circumstances, they will all set up in a designated centre. The alternative plan is just a tiny amount of patients, he said.

Dr McCauley said the deliveries would be staggered, with some GP practices in an area getting them before others.

However, the plan still is to begin the roll-out in the week beginning February 15.

If people are given a date to get the vaccine, they will not care if another practice gets its first.

Doctors will be given about five or six days notice of when their supplies will be delivered.

It follows the decision to make these two vaccines the preferred jabs over the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine because of a lack of evidence to the European Medicines Agency on how effective it is on older people.

Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said last night: Data on efficacy among older adults with AstraZeneca vaccine is lacking at this time.

GPs are expected to get a clearer idea of how the roll-out will operate today after a briefing from Irish Medical Organisation representatives.

However, several doctors across the country say they are in the dark about the arrangements and they have concerns about some elderly patients living in rural areas.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said yesterday the vaccination of the over-85s would start in the week beginning February 15.

Dr Gary Stack a GP in Killarney, Co Kerry, said he had 45 patients over 85 who are eligible for vaccination but was waiting for clarity on how the vaccination would operate.

Around one in 10 of these patients are living in quite rural areas and two or three are housebound.

He said he would still like to see a role for the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine to allow him to give it to housebound patients.

He said doctors were still unclear how much vaccine they would get.

There are other issues arising where a patient is entering a nursing home and has not been vaccinated although all the other residents have already received their first dose.

His call was echoed by Dr Michael Harty. The former Independent TD, who is a GP in rural Clare, said the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines created logistical complications due to storage and temperature

control.

There is not a critical mass of patients in each practice in west Clare, he said.

He said they would team up in a central location which could be located in Ennis.

Dr Ken Egan, a GP in Co Mayo, said he had 243 patients over the age of 85.

It was important to ensure there was safe transport provided for those who must be supported to travel to a surgery or vaccination centre, he said.

The HSE is also recruiting vaccinators and nurses, physiotherapists, doctors, paramedics and advance paramedics can apply.

The first batches of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine are due at the weekend with 21,600 doses. Another 190,000 are expected in February and these will now be offered to frontline healthcare workers.

These were earmarked for the over-70s but will now be given to frontline workers instead.

As of yesterday, 220,000 doses of vaccine have been administered since December.

Meanwhile, 35 more Covid- related deaths were reported yesterday with 1,047 cases.

The median age of those who died is 84 years and the age range is 63-96 years.

Among the new cases 292 are in Dublin, 119 in Cork, 76 in Wexford, 60 in Limerick, 47 in Kildare with the rest of the 453 cases among the remaining counties

The number of patients with Covid-19 fell to 1,221 with 181 in intensive care.

Dr Holohan said: No single intervention is perfect at preventing the spread of Covid-19. It takes many different individual actions to slow down the spread of the disease.

Every action you take is another layer of protection between you and the virus  the more layers you have the more protection you have.

Public health measures are based on this principle.

Keep physical distance from others, wash hands regularly, avoid crowds, wear face coverings and vaccines: all provide you with layers of defence against Covid-19.

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Dear Mr. Brittain ...

Paul Anderko

Dear Congressman Madison Cawthorn and Mr. Jere Brittain,



I would like to set the record straight on Mr. Jere Brittain letter to the editor last week. I have been a lifelong conservative Republican for 50 years living in Chicago, Ft. Worth, Rock Hill and presently reside in Hendersonville.

I really enjoyed the lecture given to our new Congressman, but Madison Cawthorn is a Conservative who believes in the U.S. Constitution. He supported a 10-day review of the election to see if there was corruption, voter fraud and illegal states changing their laws. He stood as a leader trying to find Truth, justice and the American way to coin an old phase.

Only time will tell if Joe Biden was elected honestly. More than 75 million voters want to know the Truth. The Democratic Party leaders should have been happy to join us in the constitutional effort. Why are they scared of the truth?

Living in Chicago I have seen corruption in elections, dead people voting, stuffing ballots and ballots changed. I was proud of our new congressman wanting to find what happened on Nov. 6.

Last item, there is no conservative or Republican that wants to overthrow our nation. We want freedom and not the socialist government your party is seeking to change our way of life.

Our congressman will learn every day and we are very proud of him. God Bless Madison Cawthorn and Jere Brittain for their opinions.

* * * * *

Paul Anderko is a retired sales manager for Simpson Door Co. for 34 years, former President of the Reaganites of York County, South Carolina, and a member of GPS Conservatives for Action. His opinion piece is in response to Jere Brittains Jan. 27 column.
In her young career Minnesota Fifth District Rep. Ilhan Omar has made her mark in a variety of ways. To take one, she was the first member of the Minnesota legislature to take office while married to her brother (her first of three legal, sort of, husbands). Moving on to Congress, to take another, she was the first member of the House of Representatives ever to have been married to her brother or nonbinary sibling, as House rules now deem him.

Omar also made her mark with third husband Tim Mynett. Working as Omars campaign consultant, Mynetts firm was the prime beneficiary of the millions of dollars Omar raised for her congressional campaign. Omar worked this particular loophole in campaign finance law like a champion corruptocrat. The Washington Free Beacon reports, for example, Omar Kept Husbands Consulting Firm Afloat. Subhead: Campaign payments to her husbands firm accounted for nearly 80 percent of its 2020 cash haul.

Now Omar is the first member of Congress to be recognized in one of those bills whose titles make for a relevant acronym. Yesterday Wisconsin Seventh District Rep. Rep. Tom Tiffany and Eighth District Rep. Mike Gallagher introduced the Oversight for Members And Relatives Act, which would put an end to the practice of candidates for office tapping their campaign accounts to enrich their spouses (and themselves). Rep. Tiffanys press release on the proposed OMAR Act is posted here.
Nine out of 10 patients with COVID-19 in a university hospital in Slovakia's second-largest city of Kosice have contracted the UK coronavirus variant, hospital's spokeswoman Monika Galanova said on Friday

PRAGUE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th February, 2021) Nine out of 10 patients with COVID-19 in a university hospital in Slovakia's second-largest city of Kosice have contracted the UK coronavirus variant, hospital's spokeswoman Monika Galanova said on Friday.

First cases of the UK variant in Slovakia were detected in Kosice in early January. All people who are diagnosed with COVID-19 in the city are brought to the university hospital.

"There are now about 300 patients in the hospital. So far, analyses of 119 patients are checked, and the 'British mutation' is confirmed among 91 percent of coronavirus patients. I think that the results of other patients will not lower this figure, it is even more likely to increase," Galanova said at a press conference.

Meanwhile, Martin Paulo, the hospital's director, said that the COVID-19 situation has deteriorated since December.

"In January alone, 207 people died from COVID-19. Every day, 20-30 infected people are admitted, less than 10 percent of beds are still available," Paulo said, adding that he now often sees young people, who are coronavirus-positive, in critical condition.

According to local health workers, the UK variant is 70 percent more transmissible, causes more severe disease and is more fatal than most coronavirus stains.

As of now, Slovakia has confirmed nearly 260,000 COVID-19 cases, including over 234,000 recoveries and 5,050 deaths.

UK public health officials in December announced the emergence of the new more transmissible coronavirus strain. The strain was first discovered in southeast England in September and subsequently spread rapidly throughout the United Kingdom and continental Europe.

An Australian man who bought a lottery ticket for a drawing in October said he didn't learn until three months later that he was a $1.2 million winner.

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The Canberra man told The Lott officials he's been playing the lottery regularly for about 10 years, but often goes long periods without checking his tickets.

The man's Saturday Lotto ticket for the Oct. 24 drawing, purchased from Euro Garages Australia in Hume, was a $1.2 million top prize winner, but the ticket sat in a drawer unchecked for three months.

"It has been in a drawer at home this whole time," the winner said. "It's crazy to think that $1.6 million [U.S. $1.2 million] has been sitting in that drawer for months!"

The winner said the money will allow him to live with financial freedom.

"I am going to take care of my family and pay off the mortgage," he said. "I'll definitely keep working and think of how to invest the rest!"
ROCHESTER, Minn. - If you're heading to Improv-Ice this weekend, a Mayo Clinic doctor has a few tips for avoiding frostbite.

Doctor Peter Smars of Mayo Clinic's Department of Emergency Medicine says the best way to avoid frostbite is to dress for the weather. That means layers, gloves or mittens, and a warm hat, as well as hand warmers if you have access to them.

Dr. Smars says if you begin feeling pain in your fingers, toes, ears, or at the tip of your nose, warm them up immediately, and don't re-expose them to the cold.

"Once you have re-warmed them, it's critical that you do not expose yourself again right away to the cold weather, because then the damage will be much worse," Dr. Smars said.

The doctor also says if those affected areas start feeling numb or turning whitish or yellowish, seek medical attention.

Additionally, Dr. Smars says adults should avoid smoking cigarettes in very cold conditions, as they increase their risk of getting frostbite.

"Do not smoke, do not chew tobacco, because that does constrict your blood vessels, and you're at much higher risk of frostbite," Smars said.

Dr. Smars says some people are more prone to frostbite than others for a multitude of reasons.

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The Bauchi Community Volunteers and Temporary Health Workers Union has appealed to the state government to support its members to provide effective healthcare service delivery.

The Chairman of the union, Yusuf Fada, made the call during a visit to the correspondents chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Bauchi State council, on Saturday.

He said members were faced with challenges, including lack of incentives and means of transportation, which is affecting their performance at the community level.

Mr Fada said members of the union included all cadres of healthcare workers with the exception of medical doctors.

He noted that some had been rendering voluntary health services in remote areas for over 17 years with no government support or recognition.

The chairman lamented that instead of government to consider their members for employment anytime the opportunity availed, they preferred to employ fresh graduates or favoured candidates at the expense of their members.

According to him, they were at the Chapel Secretariat to seek support in the area of publicity so that governments, NGOs as well as private organisations will be aware of their contribution to healthcare delivery.

We know the importance of publicity, we cant do without you, our union was established in November 2020 with a view to tackling some of our challenges, Mr Fada said.

The chairman said the volunteers lacked the financial capacity to sponsor publicity, adding that this informed their decision to seek the support of journalists in championing their plights.

In providing non-monetary incentives, recognition and logistics to enhance our performance as community health volunteers.

Also motivate them to continue to provide health services to their own people at the community level, he said.

Responding, Ahmad Mohammed, the chairman of the chapel, pledged his members support to the union.

ALSO READ: Nigeria police rescue eight abducted health workers

He commended them for carrying out such humanitarian services free of charge and urged them not to be deterred by the neglect so far as Allah will one day reward you.

In the area of collaboration, our doors are open, especially for people like you, even this year we have a plan to expand our coverage to grassroots areas, so to me, you have come on time, he said.

He assured the volunteers that their visit and activities would feature in the subsequent magazine of the chapel, the Correspondents Watch. (NAN)
VIRDEN  A Carlinville man wanted on a charge of obstructing justice in a Monday homicide in Virden has been arrested in Kentucky, but is challenging extradition.

A warrant was issued for Dalton M. Obermark, 20, of Carlinville during the investigation into the death of John Rennie, 58, of North Dye Street in Virden. Macoupin County authorities accuses Obermark of leaving the state to obstruct his prosecution while having material knowledge about Rennies death.
As the number of Texans who have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine climbs above the 2 million mark, many health care workers in the states 1A bracket still have not.

High vaccination rates among this population could be key to convincing members of the public who may be hesitant to sign up for their own shots. Trusted experts who can talk about their vaccination experiences can combat misinformation about vaccine content and safety, and speed along herd immunity.

Yet only 58 percent of health care workers said they would take or have received the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a national health policy think tank.

It lines up with most Houston hospitals figures. Baylor-St. Lukes Medical Center has vaccinated more than 13,000 people, including 7,500 1A health care workers, which represent 58 percent of the total first doses administered at the hospital.

ASK A REPORTER: Bring the Houston Chronicle Health Desk your COVID questions

Memorial Hermann has vaccinated more than 32,500 health care workers. United Memorial Medical Center in north Houston, where the U.S. Army set up a COVID care unit last summer, has vaccinated about 60 percent of its frontline workers. HCA Houston Healthcare also said it provided thousands of vaccine doses to its employees, but declined to provide a figure.

Vaccine providers need to immunize doctors and nurses to prevent them from getting sick and causing more harm, experts said.

Hospitals have an additional set of obligations to communities to provide safe medical care, said Janet Malek, a Baylor College of Medicine professor who studies medical ethics. If their own employees are getting sick, they pose a risk to patients and their co-workers.

Some hospitals are using perks to convince workers to get vaccinated, leading to better results. Houston Methodist offered $500 bonuses for employees working during the pandemic. One of the eligibility criteria? Getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

Houston Methodist has vaccinated approximately 92 percent of its doctors and 75 percent of its frontline workers, which include nurses and therapists who work with COVID-19 patients.

While we would like to have 100 percent vaccinated, this is still great to see, Dr. Rob Phillips, Houston Methodists chief physician executive, wrote in an email to employees.

Even though the promise of a bonus may not sit well with outsiders, Malek said it makes sense for a hospital to do whatever it takes to fulfill its obligations for safe medical care.

Vaccine hesitancy

Most of the vaccine hesitance came before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna for emergency use, but medical leaders are still struggling to get their staff on board. In December, Dr. Joseph Varon, chief of staff at United Memorial Medical Center, told national media that his nurses  despite seeing dozens of COVID-19 patients a day  did not trust the vaccines then in development.

Two months later, Varon has had some luck swaying nurses who were initially going to wait to get vaccinated. But hes still struggling to convince the last 40 percent to get the shot.

These are nurses that see people die, he said. The amount of misinformation is huge.

Many told him they dont trust new vaccines or medications because of racist medical trials like the Tuskegee syphilis study, or theyre worried safety precautions were skipped as vaccine developers received more funding to get emergency use authorization.

The coronavirus vaccines have been developed so quickly because it builds on previous research from the SARS and MERS epidemics, and breakthroughs in vaccine technologies in the last 30 years enabled scientists to create materials such as mRNA quickly. The vaccines are authorized for emergency use during a public health crisis by the FDA, speeding up their availability in the U.S. This means there has to be scientific evidence it is effective, and no approved alternative.

By vaccinating as many health care workers as possible, hospitals are able to ensure they have a full workforce in case of surges.

The frontline health care workers are caring not only for COVID but every other medical illness right now, said Dr. David Lakey, a former Texas health commissioner who sits on the Texas COVID-19 Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel. And if they are sick, then you lose that critical workforce to care for the rest of us.

Another 33 percent of health care workers said they're hesitant to get it, but will as more data comes out or if it's required by their employers.

NEW REPORT: One in five Texans do not want the COVID-19 vaccine, University of Houston reports

Its encouraging for the public to hear that roughly six in 10 health care workers are willing to be immunized, said Liz Hamel, one of the Kaiser Family Foundation studys authors.

Even people in the medical profession have never seen a vaccine be pushed out and approved this fast, Hamel said. Hesitance is a perfectly natural standpoint to have at this point.

People are more likely to trust doctors and nurses for information about the vaccine, Hamel said. Eight in 10 people surveyed by the Kaiser Family Foundation said they would consult a health care provider before getting the shot, and that includes asking for information from friends and family who work in clinical settings.

But even if health care workers can persuade more people to get immunized, they need manufacturers, the federal government and state officials to expand vaccine supply or people wont bother getting the vaccine.

The more we increase the size of the enthusiastic group, there may be frustration and attitudes changed based on availability, Hamel said.

gwendolyn.wu@chron.com

twitter.com/gwendolynawu
New Delhi:

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday took on Pakistans foreign affairs head Sartaj Aziz for failing to acknowledge her letter urging him to grant visa to Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother. In a series of tweets, Swaraj launched a blistering attack on Aziz following reports in Pakistani media that India was not granting medical visas to patients from across the border. Mrs Swaraj said her government it was Aziz who was responsible for blocking medical visas for Pakistani nationals in need of urgent medical intervention in hospitals across India.

Swarajs reaction comes after a Pakistani cancer patient sought her help in getting a medical visa for her treatment in India.

Swaraj wrote on Twitter that she has full sympathies with the Pakistani nationals who are seeking medical visa for their treatment in India, but for that India requires Azizs recommendation.

I see no reason why should he hesitate to give his recommendation for nationals of his own country. /4  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 10, 2017

She said she had personally written a letter to Pakistans PM advisor on foreign affairs over pending visa application of Kulbhushan Jadhavs mother Avantika Jadhav to which Aziz did not show any courtesy to acknowledge her letter.

We also have a visa application pending for an Indian national Mrs.Avantika Jadhav who wants to meet her son in Pakistan /5  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 10, 2017

Swaraj said India will issue medical visa immediately if a patient takes his recommendation for the same.

But I assure Pakistan nationals seeking medical visa with a recommendation from Mr.Sartaj Aziz, we will issue the visa immediately. /9  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 10, 2017

Faiza Tanveer, 25, is suffering from a recurrent ameloblastoma, an oral tumour which is aggressive in nature.

She planned to visit the Inderprastha Dental College and Hospital (IDCH) in Ghaziabad and paid Rs 10 lakh in advance for treatment, according to a Pakistani media report.

But the Indian High Commission in Islamabad rejected her medical visa application, the report said.

Also Read: Pakistan summons Indian high commissioner for not issuing medical visas

Tanveer's mother claimed that her application was rejected because of deteriorating ties between the two countries. That forced Tanveer to take to social media to move Indian authorities.

Tanveer in several tweets over the past couple of days has urged Swaraj to intervene. She has also posted her photo and a video that showed her tumour.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Art prodigy

Born in 1948 in Cau Den Hamlet in Bac Giang Province, Thanh Chuong was a child prodigy and began painting at the age of seven. He moved to Hanoi with his family in 1954. His father Kim Lan was a well-known writer and his sister Nguyen Thi Hien was already an established artist. After he finished high school, artist Thanh Chuong became a soldier to fight against the French armed forces. After fulfilling his civic responsibility as a soldier in the army for ten years, Thanh Chuong returned to Hanoi and worked as a lead art designer for the Van Nghe newspaper and soon established his position in the field of fine arts. Thanh Chuong later became famous across the world when his painting titled Love was chosen by the United Nation as the symbol for the International Year of Volunteers in 2001.

Critic Nguyen Quan once described him by saying that if Vietnamese fine art is like a map then Thanh Chuong is a famous location on that map and an artist that has moved incrementally from war art to innovation art and then to contemporary art with absolute ease. Poet Be Kien Quoc, a colleague at Van Nghe newspaper, composed a poem to praise the artist's works. His poem described how Thanh Chuongs art was hidden in every wonderful piece of human world, in colors of infinity, prayer and a perfect restoration of a devastated world.

Buyers vying to purchase

When referring to artist Thanh Chuong, many also know him as the owner of a special house in Soc Son District in the capital city of Hanoi. His special house is large, and has typical features of Vietnamese traditional culture in its structure. Many famous international celebrities have come to Vietnam and visited Thanh Chuong's Vietnamese house. The huge amount of money to build this magnificent house all came from sale of his paintings as Thanh Chuong has been among Vietnams top artists for more than three decades.

Art collectors agree that artist Thanh Chuong's paintings are not cheap, but they still sell well and are in much demand. Thanh Chuong does not need to show his paintings at an art exhibition, as buyers are continually vying to purchase his works. Thanh Chuong says he only paints from his heart and does not paint to satisfy public taste. He feels that if he was to paint only to satisfy the public then nobody would buy his works as they would lack his creativity.

Self-portraits and buffaloes

Two features are prominent in Thanh Chuongs paintings, which are his self-portrait and buffaloes. He paints buffaloes from different angles and in different colors and compositions. The paintings stand out as beautiful, warm and inspiring. He has painted so many pictures of buffaloes that many think that he used to be a buffalo boy for many years in his childhood. In fact, he just only looks at buffaloes and paints them because he loves farms and the countryside. His interest in buffaloes is so deeply entrenched that he can paint countless numbers of buffalo pictures in a row.

He says that a buffalo is not only important for a farmer, but it is also a member of a Vietnamese family. A Vietnamese farmer's life used to be bonded to a buffalo once upon a time. In their childhood, many children in the countryside had to take care of their house buffaloes. If a buffalo was healthy, strong and clean, the boy would be praised for his effort in taking care of the animal. As adults, Vietnamese farmers had to work with buffaloes, and when they became old, they returned to taking care of their buffaloes. This showed that a buffalo was extremely relevant to Vietnamese daily life.

Artist Thanh Chuong has painted different images of buffaloes, such as buffaloes on a farm, buffaloes having a bath in a river or canal, buffaloes walking with people while harvesting a crop, and buffaloes shivering in the cold weather. The buffalo in Thanh Chuong's paintings is a character with special emotions, and many collectors choose to buy Thanh Chuong's buffalo paintings because of the subtle emotion they exude. Each buffalo painting exudes a new feeling and emotion, expressed in simple lines and colors.

Year of the Buffalo

This year is the year of the Buffalo, when artist Thanh Chuong will turn 73. Now he shows a bald head and wears glasses, but is still very healthy and sharp in mind. He still paints and still receives orders for buffalo paintings. He sells off a painting almost as soon as it is complete. He has plenty of money and believes that money is one of the things that shows the real value of a piece of art. Nobody will pay money for something of no value, so if someone is willing to pay a large sum of money for a work of art, the work must be truly valuable.

Artist Thanh Chuong has gone through three marriages. After his marriage to a woman named Hoa, he married actress Thanh Quy. Later he married journalist Ngo Huong, who inspired him and a poem written by him under the pen name Truong Cuoc Trien describe this emotion. Words in the poem talk about him being scared when going out with his wife and glancing at another woman in scant white blouse with thin shoulder straps, and by even a quick glance at another woman his wife would sulk for days.

Gia Quan
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The enforcement of the Central Bank of Nigerias directive to financial institutions to stop cryptocurrency transactions will affect investors and operators in the country, currency experts and enthusiasts have said.

The regulator on Friday ordered Nigerian banks to close all cryptocurrency-related accounts. It has also barred financial institutions from facilitating cryptocurrency payments in the country.

In the letter, the CBN referenced a circular it issued on January 12, 2017, which cautioned Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFIs), and other financial institutions (OFIs) as well as members of the public on the risk associated with transactions of cryptocurrency.

In that memo issued in 2017, the bank had said digital currencies such as bitcoin, litecoin, and others are largely used in terrorism financing and money laundering since most transactions are executed virtually.

The regulator bank had also warned that such currencies are not accepted as legal tender in Nigeria.

Also, in February 2018, the CBN also cautioned Nigerians against investing in cryptocurrencies, noting that they would be unable to seek legal redress in the event of losses as they are not protected by the law.

Further to earlier regulatory directives on the subject, the Bank hereby wishes to remind regulated institutions that dealing in cryptocurrencies or facilitating payments for cryptocurrency is prohibited, the bank said in its latest statement to all regulated financial institutions in the country.

Analysts react

A financial analyst and senior banker, Olumide Balogun, said the CBN policy has been there for a while now and that the recent memo is just to reiterate its position on cryptocurrency.

He said the directive will have no effect on the financial institution since cryptocurrency had never been legally integrated into the countrys financial institutions.

The Nigerian banking industry is one of the most resilient in the world, and its for a reason. The industry is regulated and every now and then, the regulators review happenings and make laws to protect the industry, Mr Balogun said.

He said if Bitcoin is allowed, it will soon become a valuable asset, security, or collateral that banks can use to secure lending. He said that is when the real manipulation will begin.

He said Nigerians should not forget all the experiences of wonder banks, Mavrodi Mundial Money (MMM) Ponzi schemes, and the likes.

In any case, the CBN has not prohibited trading in bitcoins in Nigeria, you can still do if you want. The CBN only prohibited the banks from facilitating the transactions, Mr Balogun said.

Asked if cryptocurrency can be used for money laundering in Nigeria, he said: The volumes being moved via the cryptocurrency is so huge these days and thus become a veritable medium for money laundering and funding terrorism. Until there is a way to regulate it, do not make it an official means of transferring value.

It is not our legal tender or a legal tender of any other nation for that matter, so may be CBN at the moment is not equipped to regulate an isolated item with no statutory issuer or underwriter anywhere, he said.

Although he said he may not be aware of any instance where cryptocurrency had been used for money laundering, he said it is 100 per cent possible for that to happen.

Again, the CBN is established by a sovereign nation with a recognised legal tender, the Naira. CBN is for now taking precautionary measures, he added.

Iniobong Williams, a cryptocurrency enthusiast, said the people that will feel the brunt of the CBN policy are the cryptocurrency exchangers.

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People like Patricia, Binance, Luno, and all those big companies who are providing exchange services where you can pay naira to buy Bitcoin; so you will not have all those service providers anymore, he said.

Mr Williams said a lot of people will not have the opportunity to invest in the market easily anymore, and that most of the players in the industry will have to stick to petty transactions or source their Bitcoins from other countries.

It is going to be a bit difficult to buy cryptocurrency right now, he said.

However, he said he does not think the CBN policy will have much effect on the cryptocurrency market.

The cryptocurrency market is bigger than this, he added.

Mr Williams said the only challenge we will have is that we will find it hard to invest more money or buy some more coins in the market at our own will. So, we may have to source for coins. But I dont think it will have a significant effect on the market.

Exchangers react

Luno, a cryptocurrency trading platform, in a statement on Friday, urged investors not to panic as their funds will be safe.

The platform asked crypto traders to exercise patience, and that theres no need to take any action regarding your account at this time.

In the statement, Luno noted that naira depositing methods are currently affected on its platform and that deposits via PayU and Flutterwave are unavailable until further notice.

Luno will continue to operate as normal while we seek further clarity from the authorities. Some Naira deposit methods are currently affected, please check the status page for updates. Withdrawals are unaffected and will continue to be processed, but may take longer than usual. All customer funds are completely safe, the statement reads.

Theres no need to take any action regarding your account at this time. We will update our customers on all incoming developments as soon as we receive further information, and certainly well in advance should withdrawals be affected, the cryptocurrency platform explained.

Also, another cryptocurrency exchange platform, Binance, in a statement issued via its official Twitter page, said it is monitoring the situation closely, noting that funds on its platform remains safe, but that its Naira payment partners are suspending deposit services until further notice.

Please note all your funds on Binance.com remain safe and crypto services on Binance.com will continue as normal. However, our NGN payment partners are suspending deposit services until further notice. From 7 PM (GMT*1) on Feb 5th 2021, the statement reads.

Binance will temporarily suspend NGN deposits through our fiat partner channels. Withdrawal services remain normal and will continue to be processed but might take slightly longer time than usual. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, it concluded.
The United Nations Human Rights Office has called on the protestors and Indian authorities to exercise "maximum restraint" during the ongoing farmers' protest in the country.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in a tweet on Friday, February 6, said that it is crucial to find "equitable solutions" with due respect to human rights for all.

"We call on the authorities and protesters to exercise maximum restraint in ongoing farmers' protests. The right to peaceful assembly and expression should be protected both offline and online. It's crucial to find equitable solutions with due respect to human rights for all," OHCHR's official Twitter handle said in a tweet.

#India: We call on the authorities and protesters to exercise maximum restraint in ongoing #FarmersProtests. The rights to peaceful assembly & expression should be protected both offline & online. It's crucial to find equitable solutions with due respect to #HumanRights for all. a UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) February 5, 2021

The UN Human Rights statement comes days after global celebrities like Rihanna, Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg and several others supported the farmers' protest.

Also Read: 'Peaceful protests hallmark of democracy': US on farmers' stir

Meanwhile, the Indian government has categorically dismissed foreign intervention into its domestic matter, saying that any attack on the country's sovereignty will not be accepted.

Farmer unions have announced 'chakka jam' on Saturday, February 6 when they will block national and state highways for three hours, from 12 pm to 3 pm in protest against the internet ban in areas near their agitation sites and harassment allegedly meted out to them by authorities and other issues.

Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting against the Centre's three new agri laws at several Delhi borders for over two months now.

Also Read: Farmers' protests: Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar come out in Centre's support

Farmer unions' chief demands include a rollback of the new farm laws, which they claim would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporations.

However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring farmers better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture.

Despite 11 rounds of discussions between the Centre and the farmers, the stalemate continues as both sides are firm on their stance.

Also Read: Opposition tells Centre to stop monologue; slams handling of farmers' protest
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Haiti - FLASH : Washington supports Jovenel Moise





Friday February 5, Ned Price, the Spokesman for the US State Department, answering a question on the position of the United States on the Haitian opposition which wants the departure of the President Sunday February 7, 2021 which it considers to be the end of the Mandate answered "[...] ln accordance with the OAS position on the need to proceed with the democratic transfer of executive power, a new elected president should succeed President Moise when his term ends on February 2nd, 2022.



The Haitian people deserve the opportunity to elect their leaders and restore Haiti's democratic institutions. The United States continues to maintain that the Haitian Government should exercise restraint in issuing decrees, only using that power to schedule legislative elections and for matters of immediate threats to life, health. and safety until parliament is restored and can resume its constitutional responsibilities."



Reacting to this position, the Haitian chancellery took note "[...] of the position of the United States Department of State in favor of legislative and presidential elections in Haiti with a view to providing for the replacement of President Jovenel Moise on the 7th February 2022. With the support of the friends of Haiti, the OAS, the UN, the OIF, the Haitian people will have the right to free and inclusive elections in order to choose their leaders."



For his part, the Ambassador of Haiti in Washington, Bocchit Edmond, who discussed the elections, the upcoming constitutional referendum and the challenges related to security in Haiti, thanked the United States Government for its continued commitment to strengthen democracy in Haiti.



SL/ HaitiLibre


















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By Joseph W Hottendorf

I read the article titled Fear of Mass Evictions Builds in Hudson County and am asking you stay on top of this issue in the upcoming months. Each of the articles in your publication relating to this topic discusses the concerns for tenants and many times are justified. But there are problems looming for the real estate industry and the taxpayers especially in urban communities.

First, let me inform you that we understand why Governor Murphys executive order does not allow evictions during this crisis. We just believe it should not be a blanket policy for all tenants. Unfortunately, like in many other government programs, there are those who take advantage of good intentions.

Here are some issues that have not yet been raised by reporters when interviewing public officials regarding evictions:

Since the governors order has been in effect for months and it appears it will be for many more to come, it is time that the order be modified to exclude those that have not been financially affected by the national emergency. It should also exclude those that are not in need of financial assistance or who currently reside in high-rise luxury buildings.

The lack of income for many apartment building owners will cause a reduction in services, as well as increase the number of tax appeals. At first, many Tax Assessors will act smart and properly by allowing a temporary tax reduction for many apartment buildings with many vacancies and/or tenants not making their monthly rent payment. Tax appeals will start this spring and once an apartment building pays less, it will increase property tax rates for all property owners.

Another concern we have is that some Tax Assessors may not show any compassion to apartment building owners. Those property owners may then take their appeal to the courts using the constitution as their reason why they deserve a large tax reduction. Once that happens, there may be a large increase in successful tax appeals in many communities. Let us never forget: less taxes from apartment buildings will increase property tax rates for all property owners. It may be time for someone to ask the governor to consider an executive order giving guidance to local Tax Assessors.

Lastly, in many cities in Hudson County, the vacancy rate continues to grow. We hope it will improve in the next few years. But as these vacancies continue to grow in the near term, it will allow for more successful tax appeals. The larger the vacancy factor, the greater the tax appeal, thereby reducing taxes paid by apartment buildings to support city, school, and county services. Again, this will shift the tax burden to all property owners.

However, we can prevent many of these tax appeals by not allowing all tenants to be included in the blanket policy and allow property owners to evict those tenants that have no reason not to pay their rent. It is time for our government leaders to address the concerns we outlined.

Joseph W Hottendorf is Executive Vice President of the Liberty Board of Realtors.

Submit letters to the editor and guest columns at jjletters@jjournal.com
Jane Russell was, in her time, a very famous film star  you may have seen her alongside Marilyn Monroe in the classic Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, released in 1953. She first hit notoriety when she starred in Howard Hughes The Outlaw, as a sulky, sexy, siren lying on a bed of straw: Hughes, an engineer, had designed a special cantilevered bra to the shape of Janes voluptuous figure (although she says in her autobiography that she never actually wore it).

When she was 18 years old, she slept with her boyfriend, and became pregnant. In those days no nice girl got pregnant, she wrote in her autobiography. There was no such thing as keeping a child out of wedlock in 1942. The only solution was to find a quack and get an abortion. This was California, and she duly found a quack, who did the job, and was subsequently described as a butcher by the doctor who patched her up.

Subsequently, she married Robert Waterfield, and her career prospered  she did movies with Bob Hope, Robert Mitchum, Roy Rogers. But, after eight years of marriage, to her disappointment, there were no children. Jane was raised a Biblical Christian and so she prayed. She said that the Lord directed her to seek to adopt a child. When she mentioned this in a media interview a grandmother contacted her to say that her daughter would soon have a child available for adoption. Jane said Praise the Lord, and the baby was delivered. I had a baby daughter born on my birthday! It was as simple as that.
Even as Baker Hughes reported a rise in the number of active drilling rigs in the United States on Friday, oil prices continued to see gains on Friday afternoon.

At 4:19pm EDT, WTI crude was still up 1.32% on the day at $56.97. Brent was still up over 1% on the day, at $59.44dangerously close to the $60 psychological threshold for the benchmark.

Last week at this time, the spot price for Brent was just $55.04. The near $5 gain is due to a combination of factors, including a large crude oil inventory decrease in the United States, continuing OPEC+ production restraint, Aramcos price hike to crude for Europe, U.S. traders drunk on stimulus chatter, and whispers of an overall tightening oil market.

These are bullish signals indeed. But can this uptrend last amid lockdown extensions and oil demand that just isnt there yet?

When a stimulus deal is finalized, oil prices are expected to jumpthis is certainly still bullish. But on the bearish side, oil demand is still lagging, and some analysts are not calling for a full rebound in demand for yearsif ever.

The EIA, for one, doesnt see U.S. energy consumption rebounding fully for another eight years. Thats certainly on the bearish side.

Will OPEC will be able hold back the flood of supply until that time? Can they afford not to? Russia is still itching to ramp up its oil production, leery of opening the door for U.S. shale producers. For now, Saudi Arabia is happy to take one for the team, resigned to curb production so others in the group will continue with at least some of the cuts. For now, OPECs actions are bullish.

The EIA sees U.S. oil production setting new records, but not until 2023.

Goldman Sachs, however, is still bullish, calling for $65 Brent by mid-year, with WTI in the low $60s.

Rystad Energy, however, sees a price correction on the horizon.

Many technical indicators are flashing red, so a price correction soon would not be unsurprising, Rystad said on Friday, according to Oilfield Technology.

By Julianne Geiger For Oilprice.com

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RT Kendall tackles the pervasive problem of being a Pharisee in new book

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Are you a Pharisee? According to a newly released book by distinguished theologian, pastor and author R.T. Kendall, the answer is very likely yes.

Kendall outlines the nature of modern Pharisee tendencies in You Might Be a Pharisee If...: Twenty-five things Christians do but Jesus would rebuke, released Tuesday through Charisma House.

While the term originally meant one who was separated, in modern language, a Pharisee is generally considered someone who is hypocritical on religious issues or sanctimonious.

Kendall explains that he was inspired to write the book during a theological debate via correspondence with prominent Jewish leader Rabbi David Rosen.

In his book, Kendall wrote that Rosen actually preferred the term Pharisee, believing that the phrase was given an unjustly negative meaning in the New Testament.

The 25 examples of Pharisee behavior listed by Kendall included: "We esteem 'the way we've always done it' above change, even when the latter is not heretical," "We are more concerned to uphold our theology than to help people," and "We major on minors."

Other listed examples were: "We love to point the finger," "We do not practice what we preach, "We are motivated by money, and "We call another person a 'Pharisee.'"

In an interview with The Christian Post on Monday, Kendall explained that he believed every single one of them is pervasive in American churches.

The interesting thing is, when I sent this book, the manuscript, to some friends, four or five of them, every single one of them, no exception, wrote back and said, 'your book made me see that I'm a Pharisee, he recalled.

There's Pharisaism in all of us because we are all by nature self-righteous and this just pops out all the time. It pops out in me and we're not exempt from it, but its something we should be conscious of and guard against."

Kendall, who told CP that he mostly struggles with pointing the finger, judging another person, said that those outside of the Christian faith are just as susceptible to being Pharisees.

"Everybody by nature is born with a self-righteous attitude. I'm sure the Pharisees that Jesus referred to, they were not converted at all. They thought they would get to Heaven by their good works, said Kendall.

There are unconverted people who think that their good works save them and then, sadly, there are also Christians who, out of faulty theology, still are trusting in their works."

In recent years, some Christian writers, among them Dan Delzell, pastor of Wellspring Church in Papillion, Nebraska, have felt a need to address the concern of modern Pharisee tendencies.

In an op-ed published by CP in 2018, Delzell put forth five questions to ask oneself to determine how much of a Pharisee one might be:

Is there any category of people who are "bigger sinners" than me? Does the story of Simon the Pharisee have relevance for others, but not so much for myself? When Scripture identifies examples of sin, do I tend to think about the sins of others rather than my own sin? Is there anyone I am mad at right now who needs to change more than I do? Would I be shocked to see Jesus accept certain sinners if they came to Him in repentance and faith?

If you answered Yes to one of these questions, then you have identified a little Pharisee in you, added Delzell. And if you answered Yes to more than one question, then the Pharisee in you is probably a lot more active than you realize.

Kendall told CP that he hoped his book would help preachers gain a greater awareness of their own propensity to be Pharisees, thus helping their ministry efforts.

I would hope that they would be conscious themselves and make them gentle with their people, those that they speak to, they preach to, they lead, he said.

Being aware that all of us are like this, so that we would be less judgmental and more humble, gracious when talking to those who are following us."
The Oversight Board, made up of 20 academics, lawyers, writers, politicians and other heavyweights from around the globe, approached its task with evident rigor. Its rulings on the posts each ran thousands of words, citing Facebooks dense community standards guidelines as if they were case law. The group overruled Facebook in four of the five cases, involving matters of nudity, coronavirus misinformation, Nazi propaganda and hate speech.

In its findings, the board said Facebook had improperly removed posts from a user criticizing the French government for withholding an alleged coronavirus cure; one attempting to quote the Nazi official Joseph Goebbels; and one from a user in Myanmar disparaging Muslims. The board also found that an Instagram post showing nipples in the context of cancer awareness should not have been removed, a decision Facebook itself had previously reversed. The Oversight Board agreed with Facebook on its removal of a posting with a Russian slur for Azerbaijanis.

Mr. McConnell, of the board, said Facebook could decide that, for instance, posts displaying nipples in an anatomical, rather than sexual, context might still warrant removal, even when appearing to fall within the context of the Oversight Boards intent.

There is no obligation for them to accept any or all of our policy recommendations, he said.

Facebook acknowledged as much, calling the boards policy recommendations advisory, and saying that similar posts as those ruled on would be removed when feasible.



I can only reassure you that its the teams intention to follow the recommendations of the Oversight Board, said Nick Clegg, a spokesman for Facebook. The company was given 30 days to address the policy recommendations.

The board also suggested that the company offer users more clarity about why their posts were removed, and about the ability to appeal decisions made by software to human moderators. But those, too, the company can choose to ignore.

How Facebook responds takes on great importance in just under three months when it rules on whether it was appropriate, under the companys rules, to have banned Donald Trump from its sites. That could have vast implications for how Facebook handles political speech, particularly when world leaders spew racial invectives or misinformation about the coronavirus or voting.

But with Facebooks tolerance for politicians and other influential users telling outright lies, it is easy to imagine the boards ruling on Mr. Trump being narrowly applied so that, for instance, Brazils president, Jair Bolsonaro, can continue promoting unproven coronavirus treatments. The company bent over backward to accommodate Mr. Trump until it was politically expedient to turn on him.
The Dig reminds us that the role of archaeology is not in treasure-seeking, but in reflecting on our complex relationship to the past, and how and why we value it.

By Roberta Gilchrist

Edith Pretty was convinced that the mounds on her land in Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, held important archaeological secrets. In 1939, on the eve of the second world war, she was proven right as the sumptuous ship burial of an Anglo-Saxon king was uncovered. For a nation on the brink of war and facing its own 'dark age,' the Sutton Hoo ship burial was a source of pride and inspiration, equivalent to the tomb of Tutankhamun.

Netflixs The Dig, based on the novel of the same name by John Preston (2007), recounts the tale of this remarkable find. It transformed understanding of the 'dark age' of the seventh century. Before this discovery, a dearth of written sources was presumed to signal an absence of culture in this period.

Films tend to portray archaeologists as treasure-hunters or forensic detectives  notably the Indiana Jones franchise. However, this Netflix dramatisation approaches archaeology with a new level of subtlety and accuracy, probing death, loss and memory  key themes in the archaeological study of the past.

Revealing the dead

The funerary mound contained the remains of a decayed oak ship, 27m in length, which had been dragged from the nearby River Deben to serve as a royal tomb. Over 250 artefacts revealed the sophistication of East Anglia in Anglo-Saxon times. There were riches garnered from across the known world, including silver bowls and spoons from Byzantium and gold dress accessories set with Sri Lankan garnets.

Although the body had long since disappeared, the personal regalia of a warrior-king survived, his sword, shield and ceremonial helmet. He is believed to be King Raedwald, whose reign corresponded with the early seventh-century date of the coins contained in a gold purse (c. 610-635CE)

The Dig focuses on the relationship between Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) and Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes), the local amateur excavator hired to investigate.

It draws on genuine elements of the central characters biographies, including Prettys bereavement after her husbands death and the diagnosis of her terminal illness (she died in 1942). Like many at this time, Pretty was fascinated by 'spiritualism,' the idea that we can communicate with the dead through the use of a spiritual medium. Spiritualism may have spurred her archaeological patronage, just as it motivated investigations at other famous sites, especially Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset.

Turning the camera on archaeology

When the ship is revealed, Pretty and Brown are joined by 'professional' archaeologists, the real-life Sutton Hoo excavation team. However, dramatic license changes their roles and ages to emphasise the hierarchical character of 1930s archaeology.

The film gives an accurate portrayal of the archaeological excavation in the 1930s, conducted using workmen with just a few skilled excavators and qualified academics. There is careful attention to archaeological detail, emphasising that the ships timbers had virtually disappeared, surviving as nothing more than iron rivets and a silhouette stained in the sand.

However, the rivalry between the self-taught amateur 'digger,' Basil Brown, and the Cambridge-educated archaeologists is perhaps exaggerated. Brown is portrayed as having native, intuitive knowledge. He could examine a handful of soil from anywhere in Suffolk and know exactly what farm it came from. Although he was indeed self-taught, Brown was not exactly an amateur. He was employed as an excavator by Ipswich Museum for 30 years and was highly respected by the local archaeological community.

The Cambridge men also patronise the only female archaeologist, the real-life Peggy Piggott (Lily James), when she arrives accompanying her more experienced husband, Stuart. Peggy is welcomed because her slight frame will be ideal for working in the delicate conditions of the ships hull. Shes shown unearthing the first gold artefact (which really happened) but theres no hint of the meticulous field skills for which the real Peggy was known during her illustrious career. Indeed, few professional skills are depicted at all: the archaeologists were brought in to draw, plan and record archaeological features  not simply to extract artefacts.

The professionals are portrayed cynically, exploiting the discovery to bolster personal and institutional reputations. In contrast, Pretty and Brown reflect philosophically on the meaning of the grave and the need to respect the memory of its human inhabitant.

As the skeleton of the ship emerges from the sand, it is a metaphor for the transience of human life, particularly poignant with war looming. Edith says to Brown, We die and decay and dont live on. He counters, From the first human hand-print on a cave wall, were part of something continuous, so we dont really die. The idea that all human lives are connected through the thread of the past is at the heart of burial archaeology, which is not about treasure but unearthing relationships between the living and their memories of the dead.

The Sutton Hoo ship burial was certainly exceptional in its wealth and state of preservation. Further excavations at Sutton Hoo revealed richly furnished royal burials in other mounds, including those of women and children, while comparable high-status burials have been excavated elsewhere, such as the Prittlewell Prince in Essex.

Today Anglo-Saxon archaeology explores many different social roles and lifestyles, including (pagan) women-priests and ordinary farmers. The archaeologists themselves are also a more diverse and inclusive lot, committed to working with local communities to discover their past, and giving careful reflection to ethical issues  such as whether, and under what circumstances, we should disturb the remains of the ancient dead. The Dig reminds us that the role of archaeology is not in treasure-seeking, but in reflecting on our complex relationship to the past, and how and why we value it.

Roberta Gilchrist, Professor of Archaeology, University of Reading

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Ankita Bhargava and Karan Patel, who welcomed baby girl in December 2019, have been sharing adorable posts on social media about Mehr. Recently, they had a fun and relaxing getaway in Maldives and it was their baby's first vacation. The actors had shared cute pictures from the vacay. Recently, Ankita shared an adorable family picture along with a heartfelt note on how their little budle of joy changed their lives. She also revealed in the post what they stopped doing in front of Mehr.

In the post, Ankita mentioned that she and Karan are on their best behaviour around her so that their daughter picks only good things from them. And this has made them better human beings.



Ankita wrote, "Our Children aren't just a reflection of our looks or our DNA per say, They are Also a reflection of The Habits,Attitude and Behaviour that we have picked up or inculcated over the years! Becoming a parent has made us more aware of ourselves,Cos we by all means want to show our best version to our babies so that they pick up only the good things from us! And It made me realise that in this entire Rigmarole of Shushing the bad words,Not shouting or talking loudly in front of the baby,Using the golden words,Showing the calmer side,Not talking in a bad way,Not gossiping with the baby around,Not putting anyone down just for fun etc etc..."

Thanking Mehr from helping them become better human beings, the actress wrote, "Turns out we have so much growing up to do ourselves... Being good for the baby was just a start... The actual work needs to be done within! Babies teach us to be better at so many levels that we cant even imagine !! Thanku Mehr, For helping us become or atleast try to become better human beings ! ."

Also Read: Nakuul Mehta And Jankee Parekh Welcome A Baby Boy; Share An Adorable Post For The Same

Also Read: BB 14: Eijaz Khan Says He Has Finished His Work And Is Waiting To Enter The House
Today host Allison Langdon suffered a leg injury while doing a watersports stunt during a pre-recorded segment for the breakfast program on Queensland's Gold Coast on Thursday.

It's now understood the 41-year-old television presenter will undergo surgery on her injured knee, just days after her accident.

According to the Daily Telegraph Allison will have the procedure done in Sydney and will likely have to take a 'lengthy break' from her on-air duties.

Ouch: Today host Allison Langdon (pictured) suffered a leg injury doing a watersports stunt during a pre-recorded segment for the breakfast program on Queensland's Gold Coast on Thursday. The 41-year-old television presenter will undergo surgery on her injured knee

The publication further claims that Channel Nine will most likely 'foot the bill' for Allison's medical bills and rehabilitation.

An unnamed reporter for another Network told the publication: 'That segment would have been signed off by a producer and ultimately above them, the executive producer, so it does fall on them at the end of the day.'

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Channel Nine for comment.

Extreme sport: Hydrofoiling, also known as foil surfing, is a relatively new watersport. The foil is attached to the bottom of a surfboard and features a wing-like design that helps lift the rider above the water

Allison was injured while hydrofoiling during a pre-recorded segment for the breakfast program on Queensland's Gold Coast.

Hydrofoiling, also known as foil surfing, is a relatively new watersport.

The foil is attached to the bottom of a surfboard and features a wing-like design that helps lift the rider above the water.

Explaining his colleague's absence from the Today show on Friday, Karl confirmed Allison had been rushed to hospital after the accident.

'She had a bit of an accident yesterday she hurt herself really badly. She's in hospital this morning,' he said on Today.

Helping hand: The reporter was put on her back while wearing a life vest and helmet and dragged back to a wharf by two male rescuers

As Karl updated viewers, dramatic footage was shown onscreen of Ally being pulled from the water after her accident.

The reporter was put on her back while wearing a life vest and helmet and dragged back to a wharf by two male rescuers.

She then sat up by the water and composed herself as Karl helped her take off her helmet.

In a statement to Daily Mail Australia on Friday, Channel Nine described the incident as 'an unfortunate accident'.

Post-accident: As Karl updated viewers, dramatic footage was shown onscreen of Ally being pulled from the water after her accident

'After nearly an hour of incident-free filming of a segment about hydrofoiling, Ally fell awkwardly as she headed back to the marina at the end of the shoot,' they said.

'It was an unfortunate accident, and she was immediately taken to hospital.

'Both Karl and Ally had looked forward to the experience, and both had a wonderful time.

'They had a comprehensive safety induction, and a thorough run-through of all aspects of hydrofoiling.

'As with every shoot, safety requirements, briefings and subsequent after-care, are strictly followed and prioritised.'
Gina Miltiadou and her husband John Mullins are the founders of 'Zahra Helps', the charity wing of their Bray-based company Zahra Publishing.

They founded the charity Zahra Helps in 2003 to carry out work in Africa and Vietnam. The charity is funded by the company, which donates 10 per cent of its profits each year to charity and covers all administration costs.

One of the key pillars of Zahra Helps is education and helping to improve children's access to education.

John is Irish and Gina is South African 'We met in Australia, as you do,' said Gina. 'We decided to live in Ireland and en-route we travelled for a year.' They went on to settle in Avoca. They spent six months in Vietnam working with Saigon Children's Charity. 'It made us fall in love with giving and helping,' said Gina.

They got back to Ireland in 2003 and started looking for work, then decided to set up the company. 'We had both worked in big multinationals in Australia and London and asked ourselves what kind of company we wanted to run,' said Gina.

'It was very clear that we wanted a mandate from the start that we would donate 10 per cent of the profits to charity. Imagine the kind of world we would have if every business gave a portion of their revenue away. If everyone gave a little bit it would be amazing.'

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Some years might be bad and some good, and they would give accordingly. 'We learned quickly that people are hungry whether you have money to feed them or not. We made a commitment that whether we were making a loss or not we would support others.'

Gina said that they also decided to give 10 per cent of the profit share to staff. 'Then the success of the company is part of our DNA, and the staff's DNA. Everyone likes to feel that their work is serving a purpose.' Over the years, Zahra Helps has undertaken a number of educational projects to help children:

One of the projects the charity supports is RIZE, a literacy school in Zambia. Since Zahra's involvement the school has grown from 70 students with five teachers to 150 students and 11 teachers.

In 2020 their first primary school student graduated to secondary school. This inspired two more students to take the exams in December and hopefully they too will go to secondary school this year. In Zambia, the transition rates from primary to secondary school continue to remain low at just 67.5 per cent.

'A challenge last year was for all staff to get out and walk or run, with a 1,000 km target to reach. They didn't have to raise money and we donated 50c per kilometre,' said Gina. That resulted in an extra 500,000 for RIZE and money to buy Covid care packs for children to take home.

Gina said that while the schools were all safe, they wanted to ensure that children could bring supplies home to their townships to help their families stay safe. Supplies included sanitiser and soap. 150 care packs will be distributed to each student when they return to school this month.

RIZE has also assisted the school to purchase essentials such as hand sanitisers, disinfectants and thermometers.

Zahra Helps also played a role in building an after-school care centre in association with another charity called Tapologo. This is in a township called Freedom Park near a town called Rustenburg (South Africa). This after-school centre provides a safe place for kids to go after school and get help with their homework and do after school activities. The space was also used to teach vocational skills like sewing and woodwork in the evenings.

They have supported a uniform project in Port Alfred, South Africa for the past 10 years. In South Africa children are not allowed to go to school if they don't have a uniform.

'This is outrageous when you think about the lack of the right clothes getting in the way of receiving an education,' said Gina. 'So we work with St Vincent de Paul in Port Alfred on a programme, whereby children help the local community in exchange for a school uniform.

'Education is something that many have the privilege of taking for granted,' said Gina. 'But this is definitely not the case in many parts of the world. This is tragic because education (particularly of women) holds the key to ending the poverty cycle. Even providing the most basic literacy skills can change the trajectory of someone's life and we are so proud that we can help in some way.'

She and John are passionate about helping to support children achieve the right to an education and that rubs off on their team. 'Our staff are behind Zahra helps all the way,' said Gina. She said that they held an incentive whereby people could hold different fundraisers and the person who raised the most was sent to South Africa to open the after-school centre on their behalf.

'It was a lovely way to get everyone behind the cause and feel that what they were doing was valued,' said Gina. 'All administration costs to do with Zahra Helps are paid by Zahra publishing, so all money raised goes directly to those who need it.'

She and John have been able to visit the projects, incorporating visits with Gina's trips home to visit family. 'I'll go home and pop by Zamiba en-route,' she said. 'We would love to involve more people but it is expensive,' she said. Travel home hasn't been possible to any great extent during the pandemic for Gina.

'We have so loved being in Bray,' she said, on the current location of the business at Prince of Wales Terrace.

'We started in Dalkey and outgrew that premises, then went on to Greystones and outgrew that. The opportunity came up to buy the building in Bray and we took it. It's such a great community, so vibrant and multicultural.'

Gina said that currently about half of the staff of 32 is from around County Wicklow.

'We are a content agency and specialise in creating content for brands like Virgin, Aviva, ESB and more, be that annual reports, web content or e-zines,' she said. They also own Easy Food magazine, and the Everymum.ie platform and successful podcast. The premises includes a video studio, podcast studio and staff from designers and content creators to strategists. Business has not been without its challenges. 'Publishing has had a really rough ride,' said Gina. 'But we have pivoted. We realised early on that our superpower was content creation and we needed to do that for others. That saved the business and even allowed it to thrive.'
Preparations are made at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland for the departure of outgoing President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2021. (Alex Edelman/AFP via Getty Images)

Air Force Investigating Security Worldwide After Man Entered Jet at Joint Base Andrews

The Air Force is reviewing security at its facilities around the world after a man without authorization gained access to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland this week, entering a jet.

Everybody takes seriously what happened, and they will do a thorough investigation, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington on Friday.

The acting secretary of the Air Force and the Air Force chief of staff are going to order the Air Force Inspector General to investigate, he said.

Security adjustments have been made at the base, home to Air Force One, and officials are ordering a review of all security protocols on facilities worldwide.

Officials at the base said that an adult male gained access on Thursday, at one point entering a C-40 aircraft assigned to the 89th Airlift Wing. Security officers responded and detained the individual.

The Air Force booked the man and gave him a federal summons for trespassing. Officers then handed him over to local law enforcement, because he had two outstanding warrants.

Arlington Countys sheriff named the man as Joseph Armstrong, 36.

The man wasnt armed, didnt harm anybody, and there was no indication he had links to extremist groups.

President Joe Biden boards Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., for a weekend trip to Wilmington, Del., on Feb. 5, 2021. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo)

The security of our installation is paramount, Col. Roy Oberhaus, vice wing commander of the 316th Wing at Joint Base Andrews, said in a statement. This was a serious breach of security and Joint Base Andrews is investigating the incident to determine how this happened so it doesnt happen again.

The breach occurred a day before President Joe Biden flew from Joint Base Andrews to Delaware. Presidents are typically flown to the base in a helicopter from the White House before switching to a plane for further travel.

Located in Prince Georges County, the base is east of the city of Alexandria and about 12 miles southeast of Washington.

According to the Air Force, C-40 planes provide safe, comfortable, and reliable transportation for U.S. leaders to locations around the world. The planes are primarily used to fly combatant commanders and members of the presidential Cabinet and Congress. One version is designed to be an office in the sky for senior military and government leaders, boasting an ability to broadcast data and video. The design is based on the commercial Boeing 737-700 business jet.

The 89th Airlift Wing is 1 of 17 Air Force active-duty wings. The wing provides global Special Air Mission airlift, logistics, aerial port and communications for the president, vice president, cabinet members, combatant commanders, and other senior military and elected leaders as tasked by the White House, Air Force chief of staff and AMC, or Air Mobility Command.
Hunter Biden arrives to the inauguration of his father, Joe Biden, on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2021. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

White House Appears to Confirm Hunter Biden Still Holds Stake in Chinese Private Equity Firm

White House press secretary Jen Psaki appeared to confirm that President Joe Bidens son Hunter still holds a stake in a Chinese private equity firm.

He has been working to unwind his investment, Psaki said during a Feb. 5 press conference when asked about Hunter Bidens stake in Bohai Harvest RST Shanghai Equity Investment Fund Management, commonly known as BHR Partners.

Psakis remarks confirmed an early report by the Daily Caller saying the presidents son still holds a stake in the Chinese company.

She then directed reporters to the younger Biden for further questions.

I would certainly point youhes a private citizen. I would point you to him or his lawyers on the outside on any update, she said.

Hunter Biden didnt immediately respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times.

George Mesires, a lawyer who represents the presidents son, said in an Oct. 13, 2019, statement that Hunter Biden intended to resign from the BHR board of directors on or by Oct. 31, 2019.

Business records show that Hunter Biden left the board of directors on April 20, 2020. However, he still holds a 10 percent stake via his company, Skaneateles LLC.

Hunter Biden is the sole beneficial owner of Skaneateles LLC, according to Washington, D.C., corporate records obtained by the Daily Caller.

The president told CNNs Jake Tapper that his family would refrain from foreign business to avoid conflicts of interests.

My son, my family will not be involved in any business, any enterprise that is in conflict with or appears to be in conflict, where theres appropriate distance from the presidency and government, he said during the Dec. 3, 2020, interview.

According to the assessment of Bidens top intelligence pick, Hunter Bidens stake in BHR Partners needs to be put in the crosshairs.

Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, said during her confirmation hearing that the Chinese Communist Party is an adversary of the United States on some issues.

China is adversarial and an adversary on some issues and, in other issues, we try to cooperate with them, whether in the context of climate change or other things, she said.
Sara Gardner spends her COVID-19 days in her Sellwood condo living a lonely life on repeat.

The 82-year-old goes on walks, if its not too slick, and occasionally drives her 88-year-old neighbor to medical appointments. She moderates social media comments for a national cancer group of which shes the vice president. But she mostly hangs out with her two cats and stares out the window at the Willamette River and tries not to think about the big trips shes had to cancel, the friends shes not seeing, the two new great-grandchildren born in other states she hasnt met or held.

Waiting for her chance to be vaccinated isnt just an annoyance. Shes lost two friends to the pandemic  one in Illinois and one in Oregons Rogue Valley  and Gardner considers her own eventual vaccination a matter of life or death.

Starting Monday, Oregon will become one of the last states in the country to make all seniors 80 and older eligible for the vaccines. But state officials have stressed being eligible doesnt mean seniors will get a shot in the arm whenever, or wherever, they want. Other states have seen bumpy rollouts, and Oregon expects the same at least for a while.

I would put money that Im not going to get it next week, said Gardner, a retired neuropharmacologist who was on the faculty at the University of Iowa and worked for the National Institutes of Health. I have no faith in this whatsoever.

Patrick Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority, agrees many seniors will be frustrated, saying next week could include some level of chaos.

Next week you will not have to look hard to see people experiencing confusion, he said during a news conference Friday. We will fall short.

Seniors and advocates for older Oregonians are still concerned the state doesnt have a more targeted plan to reach elderly people other than a link to a website or a text service and a promise that theyll eventually be able to get an appointment. Experts worry about how vulnerable seniors with mobility issues, technological challenges and in some cases language barriers are supposed to get coveted vaccines when the number of eligible Oregonians far outpaces available doses. They decry the fact that it might matter more who you know, and where you live, than anything else.

The biggest issue is going to be access, said Mary Rita Hurley, the chair of the Governors Commission on Senior Services.

Funneling seniors through a text service or website portal is a recipe for disaster, advocates say, with those least likely to have skills or support the most likely to be left out.

Thats just really difficult for our seniors that dont have the technology, internet access or language skills to be able to do that, said Duncan Hwang, associate director of the nonprofit Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon.

Those gaps need to be really thought through, he added, saying: The outreach that has been done hasnt really reached immigrant communities.

As of Friday, at least 389,503 Oregonians had received either one or two doses of the vaccine. Some 73% of them were white, a higher proportion than those known or suspected to have contracted the virus.

An estimated 29,573 people aged 80 and older have been vaccinated in Oregon so far, an unknown combination of people in long-term care facilities eligible since December and independent seniors in certain counties where eligibility opened in January.

Although state officials expect increases in federal vaccine supplies in coming weeks, roughly 750,000 Oregon seniors will soon join the line. Eligibility extends to Oregonians 75 and older Feb. 15 and by March 1 everyone 65 and older will qualify.

Gov. Kate Brown on Friday highlighted the challenges to come.

I want to say thank you to our seniors for your patience so far, she said, and your patience in coming weeks.

A CVS staff member prepares to administer the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at Rose Villa Senior Living in Oak Grove, just outside Portland, on December 21, 2020. Brooke Herbert/The Oregonian

Frustration

Oregons vaccine eligibility and distribution plans have been in a constant flux, but one thing that hasnt changed is Browns decision to prioritize teachers.

In her push to reopen schools, Brown made teachers and other early learning workers eligible Jan. 25 even though federal officials have said schools can safely reopen without vaccinating teachers. The decision came even as 77% of Oregons now 2,002 COVID-19 deaths occurred in Oregonians 70 and older.

Siobhan Maty, president of the Oregon Gerontological Associations board of directors, wrote Brown Jan. 24 calling the plan for seniors a grave misstep and said prioritizing teachers over seniors directly contradicts federal health guidelines.

Rita Hurley, a national leader in advocating for seniors and LGBTQ+ people, said shes never been so passionate and charged up about something in my entire career as she was when Brown told seniors theyd go after teachers.

Talk about a low point about living in a state that is sacrificing treasured older folks for kids again, said Hurley, who chairs the Governors Commission on Senior Services and penned her own scathing letter asking Brown to reverse course.

The governors office and the health authority never responded, she said.

State officials originally planned to begin vaccinating all teachers and seniors 65 and older at the same time but backtracked last month over confusion about how many doses the Trump administration would supply.

Thanks to increased vaccine production and new assurances from the Biden administration, state officials Friday said they now expect to have enough first doses by early April to accommodate 75% of all seniors and teachers who want to be vaccinated. Thats about a month ahead of the most recent schedule.

Seniors have been eying the looming Feb. 8 eligibility date with anticipation and anxiety.

Groups like the AARP, which has more than a half a million members in the state age 50 and up, have been inundated with calls from concerned and confused Oregonians.

Joyce DeMonnin, spokesperson for the AARP of Oregon, said shes spent a long time on the phone with people who feel no one cares about them.

They dont have great computer skills, she said of many elderly Oregonians. They dont have a family living with them.

The calls are heartbreaking. Ive been taking a lot of angry and sad calls for 10 days now, DeMonnin said.

Christopher Markesino, right, incident commander, talks to Brian Terrett from Legacy Health outside the COVID-19 vaccination site at The Oregon Convention Center on January 27, 2021, in Portland.Brooke Herbert/The Oregonian

OREGON VS WASHINGTON

As Oregon prepares to open the floodgates, lessons can be learned from Washington, where all seniors age 65 and older have been eligible for vaccines since Jan. 18.

Franji Mayes, a state health spokesperson, acknowledged Washingtons online appointment system crashed due to a crush of traffic and was temporarily unavailable. Nearly two weeks after the rollout, The Seattle Times chronicled the ongoing frustrations, which one senior described as playing internet roulette trying to land an appointment across various health systems.

The website has improved, Mayes said, but appointments fill up quickly.

The Washington Department of Healths toll-free phone number in 2020 became the states de facto COVID-19 hotline and its been the primary phone number throughout the pandemic. People can use it to book appointments from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. Wait times for the toll-free number were initially long but eventually fell as the state hired more workers to help with appointments, Mayes said.

A call to the line Friday produced a two-and-a-half minute wait before reaching a representative.

Oregon has had two-and-a-half more weeks than Washington to prepare for vaccinating seniors. But advocates say enough hasnt been done across multiple fronts.

DeMonnin said AARP recently asked the state to set up a toll-free number for seniors.

Oregon health officials opted instead to stick with 2-1-1 as the designated phone method for all COVID issues. People can also text ORCOVID to 898211 or email ORCOVID@211info.org.

Please be aware that wait times may be long, Tim Heider, an agency spokesman, said in an email. Brown noted Friday that she is directing 30 National Guard members to help staff the phone line.

The state said it will also launch a new feature on its covidvaccine.oregon.gov website to allow people to register for email alerts and text notifications once they are eligible for a vaccine. That information will be in 11 languages, according to the state.

Heider said the state is also partnering with trusted resources of older adults to reach seniors and immigrant or refugee groups.

Hwang, whose organization advocates for Asian and Pacific Islander communities, said regular updates are provided by the health authority, but he said talking points are one thing  its hard to get people on the phone.

The state needs to invest in trusted organizations and messengers to reach some seniors, particularly in east Portland. Its got to be in the Chinese paper. Its got to be in the Korean newspaper, Hwang said of information about how to get a vaccine.

That hasnt happened yet.

Theres a lot of wait and see right now, Hwang added.

Other issues, like transportation, are also unclear.

Hwang said many transit-dependent east Portlanders are unlikely to get on a bus and head to the Oregon Convention Center, home to a large-scale inoculation clinic. He said it is important to have sites where the most vulnerable people are.

Allen, the health authority director, on Jan. 29 said that the state was exploring ways to expand transportation options to help older Oregonians who are homebound get access to vaccines.

Those explorations apparently produced very little benefit for seniors.

When asked for details this week Heider said older Oregonians who are in Medicaid programs should contact their provider to coordinate transportation or possible reimbursement for transportation.

Heider said there may be transportation options through local governments or nonprofits. But he didnt have any more information to provide.

Location matters

For many, Oregons vaccine rollout may depend largely on where people live, something Brown and Allen acknowledged Friday. They said that more vaccines are on the way, and the phased-in four-week approach to vaccinating seniors will eventually be a success.

Some seniors were already receiving vaccines or scheduling appointments in other parts of the state without a hitch.

Jane Lincoln, a 61-year-old social worker at a Lakeview hospital in eastern Oregon, got her vaccine last month. She was surprised and delighted with how easy it was, including the chance to have her 73-year-old wife, Valerie, sign up and get her vaccine despite not being in phase 1a or a teacher.

Weve been lucky, Lincoln said, noting that her kids on the East Coast are far down on the list.

Valerie has multiple sclerosis, or MS, and the family isolated as much as possible for the last year.

Lincoln said its tough to see other Oregonians who are older have to wait or not have access. It breaks my heart because I know theres a lot of people of all ages who have underlying conditions and are scared, she said.

Gardner, the 82-year-old Portland woman with a Sellwood condo, said she knows just one person, other than a niece who works in the health care industry, who has received a vaccine  a sister-in-law in Central Oregon in her 70s.

Gardners sister-in-law was able to secure a shot through someone who knows someone that she knows, Gardner said.

Three days later, Deschutes County become one of the jurisdictions to start vaccinating seniors ahead of the states upcoming deadline.

Gardner said she was admittedly jealous.

If I lived over there, she said, shed be vaccinated. Here, God only knows.

-- Andrew Theen; atheen@oregonian.com; 503-294-4026; @andrewtheen
The Archbishop Emeritus of the Kumasi Metropolitan Archdiocese, Most Rev. Peter Akwasi Sarpong, has commended the Minister-designate for Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, for the passion he exhibited in ensuring food sufficiency in the country over the last four years.



He prayed and thanked God for enabling him to specialise in food and agricultural production on account of which this same God has given him the awesome portfolio of seeing to it that there is enough food for his compatriots to eat and even to make them export commodities to help the Ghanaian economy.



Special thanksgiving mass



Archbishop Emeritus Sarpong made the commendation at a special thanksgiving mass at the St Peter's Basilica in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital, to mark the 70th birth anniversary of Dr Akoto.



The occasion also coincided with the 25th anniversary of the enstoolment of Baffour Ohyeaman Bratuo VI as Mawerehene and the 50th birth anniversary of Rev. Sister Grace Nuamah.



The Mass was to thank God for the gift of life, good health and also for enabling him to successfully complete four years as Minister of Food and Agriculture.



Thanksgiving



"The Honourable Minister is asking us to join him in thanking God for all the blessings and graces God has given him that enabled him to go through vicissitudes over the last 70 years.



"He is asking us to join him in thanking God not only for all the blessings he showered on him, but also enabling him to specialise in food and agricultural production," the Archbishop Emeritus said.



Food sufficiency



Most Rev. Sarpong extolled Dr Akoto for using his expertise to ensure that there was enough food in the country with surplus for export to the neighbouring countries.



"Food is the third of the three things in life created by God on which our life depends, the first two, of course, being air and water. God is the author of life, yet, he has given this ability to our brother to help us maintain life through helping us to lead the country in the provision of food. In this, God the sustainer of life, has given our Honourable Minister the power to help sustain life," Most Rev. Sarpong stated.



Love



Speaking on love for neighbour, he said, if it were possible, sin should not be part of the vocabulary of any Christian, because, every Christian should know that he is a member of the church, which is built on God's love.



Sin, iniquity and unrighteousness have no place whatsoever in the church. The only moral concept that the church knows is the concept of love, charity, kindness and compassion, Most Rev. Sarpong said.



He said there was one type of love that was hard to come by, but which was everlasting, unrestricted and unconditional and mentioned it as the agape love, which did not depend on anything outside itself.



Dr Akoto described the sermon as a spiritual experience to listen to such a godsend man to be blessing him at the same location where he was baptised and confirmed.



Underprivileged



Speaking on his contribution to food sufficiency, Dr Akoto said it was by the grace of God that he was able to touch the lives of many underprivileged in the society made up of the smallholder farmers.



"It gives me the greatest of joy to practice what the Catholic faith teaches us to be of help to our neighbour," Dr Akoto said, adding that putting smiles on the faces of that category of farmers gave him satisfaction.



He also expressed gratitude to God and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for entrusting him with the responsibility.









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.

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Residents of the City of Johannesburg were outraged on Friday when rotational power cuts did not correspond with City Powers stage 2 load-shedding schedule.

Frustrated citizens took to social media to find out what was going on, only discovering hours after load-shedding started on Friday that City Power had overhauled its schedules.

Block designations had been renumbered, with blocks 1A to 8A losing the A and simply becoming 1 to 8, while blocks 1B8B became 9 through 16.

In addition, load-shedding was now scheduled in two-and-a-half hour intervals, where previously each block was load-shed for four hours at a time.

Based on one of City Powers posts on Twitter, it has essentially appropriated Tshwanes load-shedding schedule.

This is really unacceptable. You could have at least warned us like the rest of the other areas  Gopolang (@GopsMbewe) February 5, 2021

City Power said that two-hour load-shedding in Johannesburg was impossible

City Powers switch from four-hour load-shedding intervals to two-hour periods is curious, as the organisation told MyBroadband in January that it was impossible for Johannesburg to migrate to a 2-hour load-shedding schedule.

We chose four hours because of many reasons  including our capacity to manage it, the interconnectivity of our network, and the ability of our infrastructure to handle the load-shedding demand, City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena told MyBroadband.

Mangena explained that in Johannesburg the grid is so interconnected as to make it impossible to switch of specific areas like Tshwane and Ekurhuleni are able to.

For example, if City Power switches off the Orlando substation it feeds into almost twenty other substations that may impact twenty suburbs or townships such as Lenasia, Eldorado, Mulbarton, Nirvana, and Mondeor.

Unlike other municipalities, we dont have the luxury to separate our network blocks for now, Mangena stated at the time.

Mangena also said that four-hour load-shedding was preferable as it spares the senescent municipal electrical infrastructure the stresses of being switched off and on regularly.

By its nature, electricity infrastructure is not meant to be switched on and off, he said.

Our aging infrastructure wont stand two-hour frequent switching. Already, we have a challenge of substations blowing up due to on and off of load shedding.

On 19 January, City Power told MyBroadband that it had no plans yet to adapt its load-shedding schedule, though it noted that it had received a number of suggestions.

If anything changes, we will involve our customers and communicate accordingly, City Power promised.

Poor communication

While Johannesburg residents will no doubt be happy that their load-shedding intervals have been shortened, they were infuriated by the lack of communication from City Power.

City Powers decision to shorten its load-shedding intervals has also raised questions about the dire warnings the utility gave in January about the consequences of shorter load-shedding periods.

Will this cause more substations in the Johannesburg area to explode, as City Power suggested? What plans does it have to mitigate the risk to its aging infrastructure that comes with shorter load-shedding intervals?

City Power did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding its change of heart.

EskomSePush also caught off guard

City Powers schedule change also caught the developers of the popular load-shedding notification app, EskomSePush, off guard.

Dan Wells, who co-developed the EskomSePush app, told MyBroadband that they received no advance notice from City Power regarding the change.

We have asked many municipalities to inform us when schedules change  were very open to a collaboration! Wells said.

Ultimately we help their Customer Service departments by providing information to their customers and softening the blow during load shedding. We want to help!

Wells said that City Powers new schedule is fairly straight-forward compared to the old one, but that an important part is still missing  the list showing which suburbs are contained in each block number.

Despite the initial confusion, Wells and co-developer Herman Maritz said that they were able to figure out the new schedule and have updated EskomSePush.

Asked how they were able to puzzle it out in the end, Wells said: A lot of Google Sheets! Weve become quite good at the sheets.

Wells said that they are seeking an open collaboration with the municipalities so they can provide a common format for the schedules.

The tough part is that every municipality has a different format for their schedule so we have to decipher them every time so our system can understand it.

https://twitter.com/EskomSePush/status/1357771871564017676

City Power apologises, blames Eskom

Following the outrage on social media, City Power apologised to residents and business in Johannesburg.

City Power has just started implementing a new two-hour load shedding schedule which comes into effect immediately, the power utility stated.

We are aware that the implementation of this schedule at such short notice does not allow our customers to plan their lives and the lives of their businesses, and for that we apologise for the inconvenience caused.

City Power emphasised that it does not want to load-shed its customers, but that constraints on the Eskom network has made it necessary.

It explained that the City Power technical team has in recent weeks been in discussions with Eskom to align its load shedding schedule with theirs.

This would result in City Power migrating from its current four-hour schedule to a two-hour schedule similar to that of Eskom.

In preparation for this, we developed a two-hour schedule which we were preparing to discuss, communicate and workshop with you, our customers, as we do before making any business changes that affect you and your lives, City Power said.

However, City Power said that its talks with Eskom and the to align their load-shedding schedules were overtaken by power generation and supply challenges on Eskoms side.

City Power stated that this compelled it to implement a two-hour load shedding schedule before embarking on a proper engagement and communications with its customers.

We now have to communicate the two-hour load-shedding schedule as we implement it and we understand the inconvenience and shock it causes to you and your business and for that we apologise.

Now read: How much it costs to say goodbye to Eskom
Education Minister Norma Foley has bought more time to agree a back-up plan for the Leaving Cert with intensive talks getting underway this weekend.

The minister is desperately trying to find some common ground between student calls for choice around assessment methods and teacher union insistence that traditional exams are not abandoned.

Ms Foley was under pressure to bring proposals to Cabinet next week that would provide certainty for the estimated 63,000 candidates entered for the Leaving Cert.

But there was no consensus yesterday at the meeting of the advisory group set up to look at arrangements for the State exams in 2021 against the backdrop of the continuing pandemic.

Read More

Instead, she announced a new phase of one-to-one negotiations with education partners to explore how to run exams as well as another, non-exam, process.

A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Education, planned for Monday, where Ms Foley was expected to outline her plan for Leaving Cert 2021, ahead of a full Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, has been cancelled to allow space for the intensified talks process.

At this stage, no one knows what the final shape of the package will be, or indeed, what level of agreement may be reached before Ms Foley goes to Cabinet with her proposals.

The ongoing closure of schools  with no date pencilled in for the return of Leaving Cert students  is a key factor in the moves to agree a Plan B for the State exams.

Announcing the talks process, the minister said they would be actively planning both to hold the Leaving Certificate exams, and to put in place a corresponding measure that can also be offered to students. The talks will also consider the Junior Cycle exams.

She said: Examinations need to be available to students.

But she added that due to the nature of the pandemic, and the need to always have regard to public health advice, in addition to planning actively to hold the Leaving Certificate examinations, it is necessary to have in place a parallel measure that can also be offered to students. She said: I am committed to working with all the education partners to achieve this.

Among the unknowns is whether, ultimately, students may have the option of a hybrid of traditional exams and a corresponding measure, or a straight choice between two assessment methods.

Ms Foleys intention is that the State Examinations Commission (SEC) will run both the exams and the corresponding process, which will meet the concerns of teachers that the plan might rely on them assessing their own students.

The minister said that any corresponding measure should have the confidence of the education partners.

She noted that last year when the June exams were cancelled, the alternative, calculated grades process involved schools generating estimated marks and the application of national standardisation.

This year, she said: Any corresponding measure would need to incorporate new features. In particular, the State Examinations Commission would need to be given the necessary legal powers to run the process. In 2020, the SEC did not have the powers to run an alternative to conventional exams.

The intention is that the corresponding measure would play a role in the conduct of orals and practicals,

Ms Foley said recognition of the skills and competences associated with orals, practicals and coursework should form a clearer part of any such measure.

She said the corresponding measure would also need to provide more comprehensively for students studying outside school as oppose to what happened last year.
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In this moment of climate disaster, when young people are more anxious and depressed about the future of the planet than ever before, stories about real people whove made a difference can offer hope and inspiration. PW spoke with authors and editors of forthcoming biographies whose subjects may be ordinary or exceptional, historical or contemporary, about the importance of narrative nonfiction, and biography in particular, to educate and empower.

Learning from the past

With the youngest book lovers in mind, Gibbs Smith is building on its Little Naturalist series of board books. As with the 2020 titles Ansel Adams and His Camera and Georgia OKeeffe Loved the Desert, the March release Beatrix Potter Wrote Stories by Kate Coombs, illustrated by Seth Lucas, promotes engagement with the natural world through the arts, a developmentally appropriate approach to environmental stewardship.

Michelle Branson, trade managing editor at Gibbs Smith, says one aim for the series is to expand on the meaning of the word naturalist. Its not just the mountain climber or the bird watcher, but also the photographer, the painter, the writer, she says. Our books ask children to look and see whats out there, value nature, appreciate the world, learn about it, question it, and understand that theres all different kinds of ways to enjoy it.

Other biographies, geared toward slightly older children, link environmentalism to womens history. Secrets of the Sea by Evan Griffith, illustrated by Joanie Stone (Clarion, Mar., ages 69), depicts Jeanne Power, a 19th-century dressmaker turned marine scientist. The book emphasizes Powers persistence in the face of sexism and misogyny in the world of science and includes information in the back matter on how readers, too, can involve themselves in caring for and conserving marine life and oceans. Lady Bird Johnson, Thats Who! by Tracy Nelson Maurer, illustrated by Ginnie Hsu (Holt, Mar., ages 59), focuses on Johnsons environmentalist legacy as first lady of the U.S., addressing both civics and conservationism.

As part of Laurence Kings Words That Changed the World nonfiction series for ages seven and older, author Anna Brett and illustrator Nick Hayes collaborated on Charles Darwins On the Origin of Species (Feb.). Darwins ideas were just as exciting then as they are now, Brett says of the naturalist, geologist, and biologists theory of evolution. What he wrote about is still relevant today.

Looking ahead

Several contemporary biographies highlight young people of color and stories from the Global South. For Old Enough to Save the Planet (Magic Cat, Feb.), Loll Kirby chose the 12 teenage climate activists she profiles with an eye toward diversity. When you look at communities around the world proportionately, it isnt going to be the white Western people who are affected by climate change nearly as much as others, she says. (See our q&a with Kirby, Teen Titans.)

Kim Tomsic was inspired to write the picture book The Elephants Come Home (Chronicle, May 18) after reading about her subjects, Lawrence Anthony and Francoise Malby, following Anthonys death in 2012; the couple ran an elephant sanctuary in South Africa, work that Malby has continued.

I wanted to be sure to get every detail accurate, Tomsic says. I reached out to [Malby], who generously replied to all my questions, reviewed the text, opened the doorway for me to speak with her staff, and provided photos for the book.

Tomsics husband and his sister later traveled to the Thula-Thula sanctuary to interview Malby and gather additional photographic references for the books illustrator, Hadley Hooper. I hope children fall in love with the elephants and become curious about the magic of these wondrous creatures, Tomsic says. She also wants to convey the importance of preserving endangered species and their environments.

Like Tomsic, Susan Hughes took care to ensure accuracy and authenticity in Walking for Water (Kids Can, June), illustrated by Nicole Miles. Set in Malawi, the picture book examines the intersections between gender equity and water access through Victor, a composite character based on a real-life child, and his quest to bring clean water to his village.

Hughes, who is white and lives in Toronto, conducted extensive online research and relied on a Malawian journalist to help hone the text, and a Malawian sensitivity reader to vet the artwork. The cultural attitudes, the visuals, all had to be researched, she says. Its someone elses story in so many respects. I wanted to make sure that it was going to be true and believable.

Hannah Moushabeck, marketing manager at Quarto, emphasizes the need for children to hear positive stories by and about people of color and to understand the links between environmental justice and other social justice movements. She worked as a freelance editor on Planting Peace (Interlink, May), a picture book biography of Wangari Maathai, written by Gwendolyn Hooks and illustrated by Margaux Carpentier. Maathai fought for womens rights and environmental justice in Kenya and in 2004 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prizeshe was the first African woman to receive the honorfor her far-reaching efforts.

There are people from non-Western countries, people who are not white, who have been involved in this work for a really long time, and we wanted to make sure they were celebrated equally, Moushabeck says. A lot of books separate social justice and the environment and view them as different issues. Social justice is an environmental issue and vice versa. Showing children that you can come to it through any path and any passion is important.

Pooja Makhijani is a writer and editor in New Jersey.

Below, more on environmental books for young readers.

Teen Titans: PW talks with Loll Kirby

In Old Enough to Save the Planet, British primary school teacher and author Loll Kirby profiles 12 contemporary teenage climate activists from around the world, focusing on lesser-known stories and marginalized voices.

No Planet B: PW talks with Naomi Klein

Journalist and activist Naomi Klein discussed her new book, How to Change Everything, which aims to prepare children and teens to protect and reshape the planet they will inherit.

Speaking for the Trees: 'The Lorax' Celebrates 50 Years

To mark a half-century of publication, Random House and Dr. Seuss Enterprises are celebrating the environmental legacy of Seusss hero with special editions and more.
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China attaches great importance to Nepal's urgent need of COVID-19 vaccines and has decided to provide the first batch of vaccine aid for Nepal, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday.

Wang made the remarks during a phone conversation with Nepali Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Wang said, China and Nepal have helped each other, strived to work together to defeat the virus, and carried out sound cooperation in the anti-virus fight.

China has been earnestly fulfilling President Xi Jinping's commitment to making Chinese COVID-19 vaccines a global public good, and is willing to facilitate the purchase of vaccines for Nepal, he added.

In 2019, Xi's historic visit to Nepal lifted the bilateral relations to a new level, Wang said, adding that at the end of last year, Xi and Nepali President Bidhya Devi Bhandari exchanged letters and jointly announced the new height of Mount Qomolangma, sending a positive signal about the time-honored friendship and thriving relations between the two countries to the outside world.

The two sides should continue to make every effort to implement the results of Xi's visit to Nepal and promote the continuous development of China-Nepal relations, he added.

Gyawali, for his part, said that Nepal and China are all-weather friends.

Nepal appreciates China's support for Nepal in safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and will continue to firmly adhere to the one-China policy and will never allow any forces to engage in anti-China activities in Nepal, Gyawali said.

The Nepali government and people are grateful for China's timely and valuable vaccine aid, and stand ready to continue to deepen anti-epidemic cooperation with China, he said.

Nepal is ready to work with China to well implement the important consensuses reached by the leaders of the two countries, deepen cooperation in various fields and push for further development of bilateral relations, Gyawali added.

The two sides also exchanged views on Nepal's domestic situation.

Wang said that China adheres to the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs and respects the development path chosen by the Nepali people.

As a friendly neighbor, China hopes that all parties and factions in Nepal will bear in mind the fundamental and long-term interests of the country and its people, seek common ground while shelving differences, and maintain unity and stability, so as to create favorable conditions and environment for its own development and prosperity, Wang added.

The Harbor Beach City Council voted Feb. 1 to purchase two trucks from Ordus Ford.

Department of Public Works Supervisor Mike Jurgess had solicted bids from local vehicle dealerships, and presented a request to council to purchase the two vehicles.

Council agreed to purchase a 2021 Ford 250 truck from Ordus Ford, Inc. for a price of $33,875. This vehicle will replace the 2016 DPW pick-up truck they are currently using, and it will be transferred to the Harbor Beach Waste Water Treatment Plant.

Jurgess also requested the city purchase a smaller pick-up truck. He had previously solicited bids and felt the best deal would be through Ordus Ford, Inc. After hearing his request, the city council agreed to purchase the Ford 150 pick-up truck at a price of $27,500 from Ordus.

The new vehicle will replace a 2011 Ford 150 pick-up truck, and this vehicle will be transferred to the city's park and recreation department.

After hearing his request, the council agreed to purchase a 2021 Ford 250 truck from Ordus Ford, Inc. for a price of $33,875. This vehicle will replace the 2016 DPW pick-up truck they are currently using, and it will be transferred to the Harbor Beach Waste Water Treatment Plant.

In other business, the council moved to increase the Harbor Beach Small Container Permit Fee to $40. The fee had not been raised since 2012, when it was set at $35.00.

The $40 fee allows those with permits to fill small jugs approximately -- 1 to 5 gallons each -- as often as they like at the water treatment plant. The program is aimed to help those area residents who do not have suitable drinking water.

The meeting was finalized by reappointing five members to the Harbor Beach Board of Review. These members include Al Kleinknecht, Kevin Ramsey, and Michael MacArthur. Alternate members, Jeff Mosey and Chad Gainer were also re-appointed.

Later, Harbor Beach Mayor Gary Booms told the Tribune these five members had been previously appointed. Due to new information received by the council, it was determined the members must be sworn in no later than 10 days after their appointments.

These members will now have until the end of next week to go to city hall and be sworn in by Harbor Beach City Clerk Leslie Woycehoski.

The next Harbor Beach City Council Meeting is scheduled to be at 7 p.m. on Feb. 16, 2021. It is scheduled to take place at the pavilion in North Park.
Yenagoa  Bayelsa State Government yesterday condemned the attack by suspected militants in the Niger Delta area on operatives of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Ekeremor Local Government Area of the state.

The attack was allegedly carried out by armed militants engaged in crude oil theft.

This was alleged in a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the state Deputy Governor, Mr. Doubara Atasi, after a meeting at the Government House in Yenagoa among the Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo; NSCDC officials, community leaders and stakeholders from Ekeremor.

The militants were said to have ambushed and attacked a team of NSCDC personnel, and engaged them in a gun battle that led to the loss of weapons. One of the NSCDC men was reportedly captured and taken away by the militants.

The members of the Amabulou community, however, rescued the personnel.

The state government, however, warned that it would descend on communities discovered to be aiding and abetting criminality in the state.

The deputy governor ordered community leaders to work with security agencies to identify and expose criminal elements within the community.

Ewhrudjakpo emphasised the need for effective collaboration between community leaders, security agencies and the government to safeguard lives and property in the state.

He said stakeholders, including traditional rulers, youth leaders and community development committee (CDC) chairmen, have a critical role to play for any security arrangement to succeed.

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The deputy governor also warned that the state government would be brutal in dealing with community leaders who provide a safe haven for pipeline vandals, pirates and other criminals to carry out their operations. According to him, "Our community leaders should understand that they also have a lot of responsibilities. As a CDC chairman, you have a duty to protect government facilities in your community.

"Your duty as youth president includes identifying criminal elements in the community and reporting them to the CDC chairman, the ruler, elders of the community and even security agencies, and not to share in royalties."

Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security, CP Akpoebi Agberebi (rtd), and the state Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Commandant Christiana Abiakam-Omanu, applauded the people of Amabulou community for rescuing the NSCDC officials.
U.S. trade gap grew nearly 18% in 2020; many cruises to Alaska are off for 2021
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Virtual reality isn't just for gaming. Researchers can use virtual reality, or VR, to assess participants' attention, memory and problem-solving abilities in real world settings. By using VR technology to examine how folks complete daily tasks, like making a grocery list, researchers can better help clinical populations that struggle with executive functioning to manage their everyday lives.

Lead author Zhengsi Chang is a Ph.D. student that works in the lab of Daniel Krawczyk, Ph.D., deputy director of the Center for BrainHealth. Along with Brandon Pires, a researcher at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, the team investigated whether VR can be used to effectively test a participant's executive functional load, or how much information a person can process to achieve a goal. Their findings were recently published in Computers in Human Behavior Reports.

The researchers adapted the Virtual Reality Functional Capacity Assessment Tool's (VRFCAT) "kitchen test", where participants plan a trip to the grocery store by comparing ingredients in kitchen cabinets to a list of recipes. Making a grocery list is an everyday task and should therefore accurately capture participants' daily working memory and performance. "Function-led tasks using VR technology allow us to maintain a balance between ecological validity and experimental control," said Chang.

In the virtual kitchen, 42 healthy adult college students memorized a slew of ingredients from a recipe list. The participants then navigated the kitchen to check for ingredients and tried to remember which ingredients they found. They returned to their recipe list, crossing off all the ingredients they didn't need at the store. Once they finished checking their grocery list, participants picked up their wallet and left the virtual kitchen.

To test their executive functional load, the researchers increased the number of ingredients and recipes to be memorized. Participants took longer to complete their grocery lists when they had to memorize more ingredients. This aligns with the researchers' prediction that participants' task performance would decrease as functional load increases, which suggests that this VR assessment can effectively test executive functional load.

Computers in Human Behavior ReportsVolume 2, August-December 2020, 100035Researchers were surprised to find that participants' working memories were not related to how well they performed the task. "People might spend the same amount of time on the task, and make the same number of errors, but they could have totally different working memory capacities," said Chang.

Upon further analysis, the researchers realized that participants were actually switching up their strategies as executive functional load increased. Some participants tried to memorize as many ingredients as possible before looking at the recipe while others frequently switched between rummaging through the kitchen cabinets and examining the recipe list.

This strategy-switching explains why the researchers did not see a relationship between performance and participants' working memory. "This study indicates that our strategies have a dramatic effect on our capacity. If you enter into a task prepared with a plan, you will get the most out of your brain and see much better performance," said Krawczyk. Participants' performance reflects their executive function and supports the idea that the researchers' VR assessment can effectively test participants' executive function load.

The researchers hope to use their VR assessment to help people that suffer from executive function impairments. "We used VR technology to create an executive function assessment that can be used in neuropsychology to understand how veterans and other clinical populations manage their everyday lives," said Chang.

Explore further How does pain experienced in everyday life impact memory?

More information: Zhengsi Chang et al, Functional performance in a virtual reality task with differential executive functional loads, Computers in Human Behavior Reports (2020). Zhengsi Chang et al, Functional performance in a virtual reality task with differential executive functional loads,(2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.chbr.2020.100035

Provided by Center for BrainHealth
Paul Grisham holds his 1968 Navy ID card at his home in San Diego Image Nelvin C Cepeda/AP)

Paul Grisham, a retired US Navy meteorologist, received his wallet which was lost 53 years ago in Antarctica. The 91-year-old, now residing in California's San Diego, was left shocked on finding the wallet which he never thought to see again.

The wallet included his Navy ID card, a pocket reference card, tax withholding statement, a beer punch card and small mementos linked to his assignment in Antarctica, a local daily reported.

Grisham was in the continent in 1967 on a 13-month assignment linked to US Navy's "Operation Deep Freeze".

A resident of Douglas, Arizona, Grisham had joined the naval forces in 1948, and retired in 1977. During the three-decade tenure, he served as weather technician and then a weather forecaster.

His wallet in Antarctica was found in 2014, during the demolition of a building at McMurdo Station on Ross Island of the continent.

While Grisham's ID cards were recognisable, finding him was a challenge and took nearly six years.

Two New Hampshire residents Stephen Decato and his daughter Sarah Lindbergh, and Bruce McKee, a member of the nonprofit Indiana Spirit of '45, had gained a reputation after returning a navy service ID bracelet to its owner. They were approached by the authorities to similarly find Grisham.

It was Lindbergh who finally succeeded in finding Grisham through the Naval Weather Service Association. "There was a long series of people involved who tracked me down and ran me to ground," the San Diego Union-Tribune quoted Grisham as saying.
Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc is betting on expanding in Africa to grow the power-systems division after its main business building and maintaining wide-body jet engines was derailed by the coronavirus.



The continents abundant natural resources, fast-growing economies and increasing urbanization make it a promising market for the unit, Rolls-Royce Strategic Marketing Director Ben Story said in an interview on Thursday.



Weve got our eyes open, looking out for opportunities, he said by phone. M&A is certainly part of that.



The bid to grow in Africa comes as Rolls-Royce seeks to pivot away from a focus on aircraft engines, with Chief Executive Officer Warren East saying the company wants revenues to be more evenly split between all of its business segments. The company currently has a presence on the continent through subsidiary MTU, as well as relationships with airlines such as Egypt Air and a deal to power South African trains.



Rolls-Royce would favor small, bolt-on deals, Story said, such as its purchases of power companies Qinous and Kinolt. Those acquisitions cost a combined 100 million pounds ($137 million).



Rolls-Royce employs 150 people across Africa, mostly in power systems, and sees an opportunity to develop hydrogen power and small nuclear reactors. The company made just 246 million pounds in sales from the continent in 2019, according to its annual report, compared with 4.7 billion pounds in the U.S. and 5.3 billion pounds in Europe.

Source: Bloomberg









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Featured Video
Update: Fugitive wanted in 2020 Syracuse homicide arrested, charged with murder, attempted murder

Syracuse, N.Y.  Two people are accused of murdering a man and trying to kill a woman last summer in a shooting near Washington Square Park in Syracuse.

Jonathan Sanchez, 19, and Angel Rosario, 15, have been charged with murdering Draquan McDonald, 24, on the citys North Side. McDonald died shortly after he was shot in the back near Wolf and Park streets.

A 55-year-old woman was shot in the leg, but survived.

READ MORE: 31 people were murdered in Syracuse in 2020: Here are the victims

Sanchez and Angel were both indicted this week by an Onondaga County grand jury. Two others  whose names have not been released  are suspected in connection to the deadly shooting.

A spray of gunshots were fired shortly after 6 p.m. July 26, 2020, near Washington Square Park. McDonald was killed. The woman was wounded.

Members of the Syracuse Police Department investigate the shooting that killed Draquan McDonald on Park Street near the Wolf Street intersection on July 26, 2020.

Sanchez and Angel have been charged with murder and attempted murder. They have also been charged with illegally possessing two 9 mm guns and one .40-caliber gun, according to their indictment.

Sanchez is being held in the Onondaga County Justice Center without bail.

The custody status of Angel, a juvenile, was not immediately available.

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.


Its good to know the adults are back in charge. Otherwise, wed lie awake in bed at night, wondering what were going to do about those twin scourges of global warming and white supremacy.

But with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris running the show, and with the worlds finest military at their disposal, the skys the limit. After all, what organization could be better equipped to tackle these two existential threats than the worlds foremost killer of bad guys and breaker of bad things?

As for sending a clear signal of resolution to our geopolitical foes, what could be more convincing than an avowed commitment to rooting out the lactose-intolerant Einsatzgruppen in our midst?

Weakness is provocative, but the Biden DoD is so strong it doesnt even need to worry about military readiness.

So dont mess, China. You either, Russia. Iran, NoKo, jihadists, ditto.

Naturally, the architect for this new approach to national defense will be Joe Bidens man at the Pentagon. As The Washington Times reports, Across the armed forces, climate change and its ripple effects are taking center stage.  The militarys climate change mitigation efforts certainly did not stop during the Trump administration, but the issue was pushed to the political back burner. Top leadership in the Defense Department rarely spoke out on environmental matters despite mounting concerns behind the scenes that it remain a top priority. Now, analysts and military insiders say, the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has an opening to reshape the climate change debate fundamentally and permanently, perhaps putting an end to any remaining internal skepticism over whether the issue is deserving of time and resources.

Got that? The Pentagon will no longer tolerate climate skeptics. Because, well, the science is settled.

Austin, 67, is our nations first black secretary of defense and therefore the perfect embodiment of the Biden administrations obsession with race. A West Point graduate and former commander of U.S. Central Command under Barack Obama, Austin retired in 2016 and therefore needed a waiver from Congress to override the law that says a member of our military must wait seven years from active service to take the top civilian post.

Given the immense and urgent threats and challenges our nation faces, he should be confirmed swiftly, Biden wrote in a predictably hagiographic Atlantic op-ed. The fact is, Austins many strengths and his intimate knowledge of the Department of Defense and our government are uniquely matched to the challenges and crises we face.

Austin got his waiver, and he was quickly confirmed on a 93-2 vote in the Senate. Missouris Josh Hawley and Utahs Mike Lee were opposed.

Once confirmed, Austin didnt waste any time getting to the crux of what ails our nations military. As The Hill reports, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday ordered a U.S. military-wide stand-down to address extremism in the ranks, an issue that has long stumped Pentagon leaders but came to the forefront after the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol. The Defense Department is still scant on details on Austins decision, which came after he met with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley and the service secretaries and chiefs on Wednesday morning. Leaders are expected to hold needed discussions with subordinates about extremism in the next 60 days, top department spokesperson John Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon.

The Washington Examiner adds, The FBI is reportedly investigating 25 individuals at the riot who might be active service members or veterans, according to the Military Times. Almost nothing is known about the status or details of any of the investigations. The only service member who authorities have fingered as part of the siege on the Capitol is Timothy Louis Hale-Cusanelli, an Army reservist.

Lloyd Austin, said Joe Biden, is the person we need in this moment. Were to assume, then, that this moment demands that our military focus on the non-calamity of climate change and the white supremacist extremism that has infected its rotten ranks. If those two initiatives dont build troop morale, its hard to imagine what will.

But here we thought the mission of our Department of Defense was to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nations security  you know, like it says right here on its website.

We can only hope that our military readiness doesnt suffer, and that our failure to focus on war-fighting doesnt prove provocative.

Comment: Thank the good Lord that we have made political and commercial peace with the peace loving people of the Democratic Republic of China. I am sure we can trade our military secrets for their promise to reduce their output of pollution

This should be the final gift to the Communists as we have already given them uranium and top secrets. Especially now that they have a numerical superiority in war fighting equipment and personnel. ( I know it was Clinton who gave away the uranium to Russia but how do we know she didn't share the wealth.)

Agin the military is going to become a petri dish for a non-warrior leader. A politician for hire.
More than 1,000 medical abortions have been carried out in Northern Ireland since new laws came into force last year.

The figure was revealed by Health Minister Robin Swann.

Legislation was passed at Westminster in 2019 and regulations giving the laws effect were introduced five months later.

They provide for terminations on request for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, and up to 24 weeks where there is a risk of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman

Read More

Under the new regulations a notification of termination must be sent to Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride within 14 days of an abortion.

According to the Department of Health, 1,091 notifications have been received since March 31 last year.

Prior to this, abortion was illegal in Northern Ireland except in very limited circumstances, such as where the life or mental health of the mother is in danger.

Seven abortions were carried out in local hospitals between January 1 and March 30, 2020, the department also confirmed.

South Belfast MLA Christopher Stalford, who obtained the details in an Assembly question, described the figure as "very sad".

"We warned of the potential scale of abortion in Northern Ireland prior to this legislation being introduced," he said.

Mr Stalford said "there is nothing like a majority in favour of this regime" after Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow in London, led the campaign to decriminalise abortion in Northern Ireland.

Mr Stalford added: "Eleven months on, it is now clear that the number has exceeded the forecasts. In this pandemic, we have quite rightly, championed the protection of life.

"At the same time, we have witnessed the ending of the life of 1,091 unborn babies.

"This is a very sad statistic and something that as a society we need to do everything in our power to reverse. I will continue to stand up for the right to life."

Philip Lynn from the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) described the death toll as "staggering".

He has launched a petition to reverse the legislation of abortion on demand here.

"This number stands as an indictment of our political institutions and their failure to protect the most vulnerable members of the human family.

"It should galvanise both the public and our politicians to end the killing of unborn children," Mr Lynn said.

Patrick Corrigan from Amnesty International says the number of Northern Ireland women seeking abortion healthcare is broadly consistent with previous years.

"In 2019, there were 1,014 abortions in England and Wales for women from Northern Ireland, while there were 1,053 in 2018.

"In addition, there was a significant, though unknown number of women who were forced to access abortion pills online.

"The previous near-total ban on abortion didn't stop women needing or seeking abortions, it just forced them to board planes and ferries to access this vital healthcare. Women should be treated with respect and dignity, and given the right to access healthcare close to home."

Last month the UK Government was urged to intervene over abortion services here.

Individual health trusts have set up temporary early medical abortion pathways but Northern Ireland-wide abortion services have not yet been commissioned.

Legal action has also been initiated by Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission chief Les Allamby.

Karin Smyth, shadow Northern Ireland minister, has written to the Secretary of State Brandon Lewis demanding action to ensure services are commissioned here urgently. It comes after Northern Ireland minister Robin Walker said he would "consider further legislative action" if services are not commissioned.
OTTAWA - Canadian banks should have to disclose data related to race, gender, income and neighbourhoods to ensure more equitable access to credit and loans, say organizations representing racialized and Indigenous business owners who want Ottawa to step in.

Nadine Spencer, the president of Black Business and Professional Association, poses for a photograph in Toronto on Friday, January 29, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tijana Martin

OTTAWA - Canadian banks should have to disclose data related to race, gender, income and neighbourhoods to ensure more equitable access to credit and loans, say organizations representing racialized and Indigenous business owners who want Ottawa to step in.

Nadine Spencer, president of Black Business and Professional Association, says Black business owners grapple with microaggressions, unconscious bias and discrimination in banking, and both tracking and releasing this data would help hold banks accountable.

"In order for us to move along, we have to look at the data, look at the gaps and address the issues," she said.

Banks in the United States have had to keep track of applicants for business loans by race, gender, income and neighbourhood for more than 40 years through their obligations under the Community Reinvestment Act. Designed as a way to encourage banks to better serve lower-income neighbourhoods and racialized communities, it involves the U.S. Federal Reserve and other banking regulators evaluating their performance on this front, with ratings published in an online database.

Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, said the federal government should require something similar of banks in Canada as a way to fight systemic racism.

"Four of our six big Canadian banks own U.S. banks and have, for decades, followed the U.S. law in the U.S. but they have not done anything up here to track and disclose discrimination," said Conacher.

He was referring to Bank of Montreal, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce the Royal Bank, and Toronto-Dominion Bank, which all own U.S.-based operations.

Herbert Schuetze, an economics professor at the University of Victoria, said disclosing such data would encourage more researchers to look at whether businesses owned by racialized people are getting the same access to credit and other services. He said U.S. studies have shown a discrepancy, but that research cannot easily be done in Canada.

"I wouldn't be surprised to see that (here) but it's something that, without data, we can't identify how big of an issue it is in Canada," he said.

The government announced up to $221 million for Black entrepreneurs in partnership with several Canadian financial institutions in September, but Conacher said this program is not enough to address the gap in funding for Black-owned businesses.

A spokeswoman for Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the Liberal government is open to adopting other measures, although did not commit to this one.

"The federal government is currently undertaking pre-budget consultations. We invite all Canadians to share their ideas and priorities," said press secretary Katherine Cuplinskas.

"We absolutely know there is much more work to be done."

RBC spokesman Andre Roberts said the bank does not collect information on race or gender when clients access services, noting the bank is participating in the Black entrepreneurship program.

Bank of Montreal spokesperson Jeff Roma did not say whether BMO would support the disclosure of data but said it is also participating in the federal Black entrepreneurship program. TD Bank and did not say whether it would back sharing data and CIBC did not respond to a request for comment.

"The banks are already collecting this data on all their borrowers, and can easily add one box on the form saying: do you want to identify as a visible minority?" Conacher said.

Vivian Kaye, who owns an online business selling hair extensions to Black women, said she has faced discrimination from her bank since she started eight years ago.

She said her bank's agents repeatedly questioned money transfers she made and never offered her a line of credit, even though they could see her business had been growing.

Caroline Shenaz Hossein, a professor of business and society at York University, said disaggregating the data would show who gets access to banking services in Canada  and who does not.

She said many Black people, including herself, have turned to online banking, even before the COVID-19 pandemic, to avoid dealing with racism at bank branches.

"I hated the humiliation of going in to a bank, and them watching me up and down like I am some sort of like terrorist's drug mule, because I'm of Black-Caribbean descent," she said.

"We already know about systemic racism and it does exist. We do not need data to tell us that part. We want to know who actually gets the loans."

She said also said minority communities often create alternative sources of funding.

"Chinatown and (Gerrard India Bazaar, in Toronto) have all been built on these informal collectives or co-operative groups that are really rooted in mutual aid," she said.

Shannin Metatawabin, the CEO of the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association, which provides alternative funding for Indigenous businesses, said publishing data from the banks would allow organizations like his to create new products or advocate for better services.

"Historically, Black, Indigenous, people of colour have always been an afterthought," he said. "The response to the needs of our community has always been after the mainstream population."

He said policy-makers should change that, noting that banks are federally regulated.

"It's integral for them to get involved to make sure that everybody receives equitable service," he said.

Jason Rasevych, president of the Anishnawbe Business Professional Association, which supports Indigenous businesses in northern Ontario, said accessing race-based data would guarantee transparency and could prompt banks to make changes.

"It also puts the financial institutions in a position to explore a potential refresh (of their policies) and strategies related to Indigenous relations, or Black or people of colour relations."

Schuetze, the University of Victoria professor, said creating a ratings system for financial institutions to encourage them to provide loans to minority-owned businesses, like the one in the U.S., would have a positive impact.

He said other policies could also help, including tackling discrimination in the labour market, reducing barriers to operating businesses and getting experience and providing startup grants for minority-owned businesses.

"If you can reduce those barriers then, obviously, access to capital from financial institutions will increase," Schuetze said.

Spencer said governments and financial institutions should talk to business owners and ask them what they need.

"The No. 1 thing that the financial institutions can do is to look at each customer and client as a contributor to their revenue base and respect them in a way that they should," she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 6, 2021.

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 21:24:46|Editor: huaxia

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Workers take part in a Spring Festival couplets writing activity at the construction site of the "Huawei Cloud" data center in Guian New Area, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 6, 2021. Workers who have decied to stay put celebrated the upcoming Spring Festival together at the construction site. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)

Biden raises possibility of rotating Supreme Court justices

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Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden expressed openness to the idea of rotating Supreme Court justices during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania Monday.

Bidens appearance came one day after CBS 60 Minutes aired an interview with the former vice president. CBS Evening News host Norah ODonnell, who conducted the interview, explained in a voice-over that Mr. Biden is under pressure from his own party to consider increasing the number of justices if elected. Its called court packing and while he said hes no fan of the idea, hes never completely ruled it out.

If elected, would you move to add more justices to the Supreme Court? ODonnell asked Biden. If elected, what I will do is I will put together a  bipartisan commission of scholars, constitutional scholars, Democrats, Republicans, liberal, conservative, and I will ask them to over 180 days to come back to me with recommendations as to how to reform the court system because its getting out of whack, he replied.

Its not about court packing, theres a number of other things that our constitutional scholars have debated and Id look to see what recommendations that commission might make.

At his campaign stop in Chester, Pennsylvania, Monday, Biden was asked if he was open to establishing term limits for Supreme Court justices, who currently serve lifetime appointments. The candidate responded in the negative: Its a lifetime appointment. Im not going to attempt to change that at all.

WATCH: "It's a lifetime appointment. I'm not going to attempt to change that at all."



 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden when asked by @DanielBush if he's open to term limits for Supreme Court justices pic.twitter.com/m4qKltQHkf  PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) October 26, 2020

Theres some literature among constitutional scholars about the possibility of going from one court to another court, not just staying always the whole time on the Supreme Court, he said. Biden stressed that he had made no judgment as to what changes he would like to be made to the Supreme Court, describing his proposed commission as a group of serious constitutional scholars who have a number of ideas how we should proceed from this point on.

Im going to give them 180 days, God willing, if Im elected, from the time Im sworn in, to be able to make such a recommendation, Biden said.

The idea of rotating Supreme Court justices was raised by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., during the 2020 presidential campaign. He contended, I do believe that constitutionally we have the power to rotate judges to other courts.

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, disagrees with his analysis.

Thomas Jipping, deputy director of the Heritage Foundations Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, explained that Sanders proposal would allow a president to remove a Supreme Court justice in active service and send him, even involuntarily, to a lower court. According to Jipping, rotating a justice off the Supreme Court and converting his or her status to a judge on the new court would run afoul of the Constitution.

The Constitution does not empower presidents to make general appointments to undefined positions somewhere in the judiciary, and to move them around whenever they choose, he wrote. Jipping warned that the proposal to rotate justices would enable a president to banish a justice he did not like to some other court for the rest of his judicial life. He referred to rotation as simply packing the Supreme Court by other means.

The idea of court packing was previously raised in the 1930s by President Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat. He wanted to increase the size of the Supreme Court so that justices appointed by him would dilute the votes of the sitting Supreme Court justices who found his New Deal programs unconstitutional.

The Democratic-led Senate rejected Roosevelts proposal and the number of Supreme Court justices has remained at nine for more than a century and a half. In 1983, Biden, whose vice presidency was preceded by a decades-long career in the United States Senate, described Roosevelts push to enlarge the Supreme Court as a bonehead idea that put in question, for an entire decade, the independence of  the most significant body in this country: the Supreme Court of the United States of America.

The debate about court packing and changes to the Supreme Court comes as Democrats are fuming about the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the court one week before the 2020 presidential election.

Barretts presence on the high court means that the third branch of government now consists of six Republican-appointed justices and three Democrat-appointed justices. Barrett replaces the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who had earned folk hero status among the feminists and liberals that make up an important constituency of the Democratic Party.

Democrats have expressed concern that the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide and the Affordable Care Act will meet their demise with Barrett on the court.

Notably this year, at least one Republican-appointed justice joined liberal justices in two cases involving abortion and gender identity.

In the case of Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, two Republican-appointed justices, Neil Gorsuch and John Roberts, joined the four liberal justices in ruling that it is a violation of civil rights law to fire an employee based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

In the case of June Medical Services v. Russo, Roberts joined the liberal justices in ruling that a Louisiana state law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals was unconstitutional.

Calls to expand the size of the Supreme Court immediately followed Barretts confirmation Monday. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., outspoken voices in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, sent out tweets, saying, Expand the court.

A Delhi court on Saturday issued an arrest warrant against Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief and 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed in a money laundering case related to terror funding in Jammu and Kashmir.

Besides issuing the non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Saeed, Special Judge Praveen Singh also issued warrants against three co-accused  Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, separatist Altaf Ahmad Shah alias Funtoosh and businessman from the UAE Naval Kishore Kapoor  who are currently lodged in the Tihar central jail here, seeking their production before the court.

The court passed the direction while taking cognisance of a chargesheet filed in the matter by the Enforcement Directorate for alleged money laundering.

The judge also issued summons to the representatives of Watali's company M/s Trison Farms and Construction Pvt Ltd, which has also been named as accused in the matter.

Special Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana, appearing for the ED, told the court that the accused hatched a criminal conspiracy to carry out subversive and secessionist activities in Jammu and Kashmir.

The accused established a network of cadres who were funded through Pakistani agencies via hawala dealers and local conduits by raising funds through local donations and funds have also been received from abroad, Rana told the court.

The ED had filed a case based on an NIA matter against Saeed, Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin and others for "conspiring to wage war against the government" and fomenting trouble in the Kashmir Valley. The separatist leaders have been accused of taking a cut before handing over the money to generate trouble.

Saeed has also been accused of using the services of Watali for passing on the money to the separatists and some individuals who were actively indulging in stone-pelting in various areas of the Valley, the ED said in the charge sheet.

In the NIA's case, besides Saeed, Salahuddin and Watali, the agency had also named hardline pro-Pakistan separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani's son-in-law Altaf Shah alias Altaf Fantoosh, Bashir Ahmad Bhat and Javed Ahmad Bhat as accused.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 09:55:43|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Britain's communications regulator Ofcom launched a political suppression against China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Thursday by willfully revoking the latter's licence in the country.

Such wrongdoing stemming from the Cold-War mentality, which has seriously tarnished the reputation of the Chinese media, hindered normal cultural exchanges between the two countries and undermined China-Britain relations, should be corrected immediately.

China has expressed its firm rejection to this unwarranted move by the British regulator, which is derived from an ideological prejudice against Chinese media.

Since starting its service in Britain, CGTN has been strictly abiding by local laws and regulations, respecting professional ethics of journalism, and insisting on the principles of objectivity, fairness, truthfulness and accuracy in conducting news reports.

For over a decade, it has played a positive role in enhancing mutual understanding between the Chinese and British people by providing objective programs and reports for local audience.

Moreover, CGTN reporters have neither engaged in exporting ideological biases, nor in hyping up sensations in the country. Their reports can withstand the test of history and time.

Britain, which claims to champion freedom of the press, is now bent on wantonly thwarting Chinese media's normal work through political maneuvering. This has exposed the hypocrisy of its so-called freedom of the press. It is stark double standard and blatant political oppression.

By revoking CGTN's license, Britain has impeded normal bilateral people-to-people and cultural exchanges, provoked ideological confrontation, and strained bilateral relations.

London should be aware that its reckless attack against the Chinese media has a negative impact on its own international image.

Such a narrow-minded and short-sighted suppression against a foreign channel can never match the ambitious strategy of "Global Britain" the country is actively promoting in the international arena.

Any political suppression against media based on ideological prejudice is detrimental not only to normal cultural exchanges but also to bilateral ties of concerned countries.

The British side must realize that such a politically motivated act is wrong and unpopular, and doomed to fail. It should immediately remove the unwarranted restriction on CGTN to ensure the healthy and stable development of China-Britain relations. Enditem
New Delhi, Feb 6 : Irrespective of what your mood is, nothing is as revitalising as a perfect cup of coffee. Although sometimes, we do manage to hit all the right notes, nonetheless a couple of tips can go a long way in adding to its taste.

Bharat Sethi, Founder at Rage Coffee shares few suggestions to help you savour your coffee to the last drop of it.

Take it with a pinch of salt! In this case, it's literal. Pioneered in the US decades ago, adding a pinch of salt to your cup of coffee helps offset the bitterness. This can be extremely useful if you've prepared a strong cup of coffee and don't want to start the process all over again. The sodium content also enhances the flavour of the coffee.

Coffee Ice Cubes Let's say, you've made yourself a delicious cup of cold coffee. You then drop in a couple of ice cubes from the freezer. The problem is, now your coffee is watery and will taste a bit weak. This is where coffee ice cubes make a massive difference. All you have to do is freeze some coffee in the ice tray, and use it in place of regular ice cubes.

Water Matters Even though you might use deliciously flavoured coffee granules, the water you use matters a lot. It's always best to use bottled or filtered water to ensure a clean tasting cup of coffee.

Try different sweeteners and milk Any boring cup of coffee can be brought to life with the right creamer or sweetener. Some people insist on a certain sweetener but it depends on your tastebuds. You can try palm sugar, honey, jaggery, cinnamon, and other sweeteners that suit your taste.

When it comes to milk, you can pick from a bunch of options like oat milk, soy milk, almond milk, etc. You can also choose different creamers or even add a sliver of butter to your coffee.

Chocolate You can never go wrong with chocolate! If you don't want to add a lot of sweetness, a dash of unsweetened cocoa powder will do the trick. You can also drizzle a little chocolate syrup to your cup of coffee to give it a rich flavour.

Use a drink frother To give your cup of coffee a warm, comforting layer of foam, use a drink frother. It's a compact, easy-to-use tool that can make a sizable difference.

Add some protein powder If you're working towards a fitness goal or, rather, just want to add a protein supplement to your routine, you can create your own coffee-flavoured protein shake. This way you stay on track with your fitness routine and simultaneously get your caffeine fix.

Store your coffee properly This is a pretty important tip as it will ensure that the taste of your coffee remains consistent. So, always ensure that your coffee is stored in a cool and dry place.

For most of us, coffee has become a part of our daily routine and it should be enjoyed. Whatever your reason for drinking coffee, the right brew often does the job.

(N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe can be contacted at lothungbeni.h@ians.in)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
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China has decided to assist Papua New Guinea (PNG) with a batch of vaccines to help the country completely overcome the pandemic, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday.

Wang made the remarks in a phone conversation with PNG's Acting Foreign Minister and Minister for National Planning and Monitoring Rainbo Paita.

Noting the mutual respect and mutual trust between the two countries since the establishment of diplomatic ties 45 years ago, Wang said China and PNG have always supported each other on issues concerning each other's core interests and that bilateral relations have become a model of friendly exchanges between China and Pacific Island countries.

China and PNG are sincere friends and trustworthy partners, Wang said, adding that since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two sides have worked hand in hand to fight the pandemic, and the friendship between the two countries has been further promoted.

China, Wang said, is ready to enhance the synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Connect PNG Infrastructure Development Program to facilitate PNG's economic recovery.

The Chinese government supports Chinese enterprises to invest and operate in PNG, and hopes that PNG will continue to provide an open, fair and friendly business environment for Chinese enterprises, said Wang.

Wang said that China appreciates that the PNG government has been firmly upholding the one-China policy. China firmly supports PNG in safeguarding its national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and exploring a development path that suits its national conditions.

Wang said China stands ready to continue its mutual understanding and support with PNG on issues concerning each other's core interests. China supports PNG in playing a more important role in international and regional arena, and pays attention to and understands the special concerns and reasonable demands of PNG and other Pacific island countries on climate change issues.

Wang stressed that China is willing to strengthen dialogue and communication with the PNG side on global climate governance.

Wang said that China is taking concrete actions to fulfill its commitment to make vaccines a global public product, and is willing to offer help to PNG within its capacity. China has decided to assist PNG with a batch of vaccines to help PNG completely overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, Wang said.

Paita congratulated China on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, and appreciated China's major achievements in various undertakings.

A friend in need is a friend indeed, said Paita. He said the government and people of PNG sincerely thanked China for its decision to provide COVID-19 vaccines to his country and spoke highly of China's positive contributions to assisting PNG in its pandemic fight and economic recovery.

The relations between PNG and China are mutually beneficial, friendly and sincere, Paita said, noting that his country always pursues the one-China policy and is willing to continue deepening mutually-beneficial practical cooperation within the frame of the Belt and Road Initiative and enhance exchanges and coordination with the Chinese side on international issues such as climate change.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been reappointed as UN Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions ahead of the climate summit in Scotland in November, United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement on Friday

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th February, 2021) Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been reappointed as UN Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions ahead of the climate summit in Scotland in November, United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement on Friday.

"United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today announced the reappointment of Michael R. Bloomberg of the United States as his Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions to mobilize stronger and more ambitious climate action in the lead-up to the critical Glasgow Climate Conference - COP 26 - in November 2021," Dujarric said.

In his new role, Bloomberg will strengthen the coalition of governments, companies, cities and financial institutions committing to carbon neutrality before 2050, Dujarric said.

The former mayor will also work with government officials, the private sector and civil society to help them transition to a clean energy economy and phase-out coal by 2040, in line with the Paris Climate Agreement.

Bloomberg said he was honored to serve as UN climate envoy and become the first Global Ambassador for the campaigns "Race to Zero" and "Race to Resilience" that unite cities, businesses and investors to step up climate resilience.

"Climate change is a global challenge, and I'm looking forward to continuing to accelerate progress," Bloomberg said via Twitter.

The new appointment is the third UN Special Envoy role for Bloomberg. In 2014, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Bloomberg as his first Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change.
In what is now the 11th month of shuttered or partially opened public schools since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the call to return to brick-and-mortar classrooms seems to be intensifying.

But does that mean anything substantive or comprehensive has been done to address the biggest barriers to safely reopening our nations public schools?

I wish the answer to that were yes.

In the affluent Wallingford-Swarthmore School District in Delaware County, where students have been in actual school buildings for only a few days a week, the community was in an uproar Monday over plans for a five-day-a-week return to classrooms for children through fifth grade. People appeared split into two camps: Team Hell No or Team Hell Yes. That days snowstorm prompted postponement of a school board meeting until Monday, Feb. 8.

On Tuesday in a district 2 hours west in Shippensburg, the school board gave angry parents what they wanted and approved a four-day-a-week return to buildings for all grades by Feb. 22. It was not clear if students would be spaced six feet apart as federal health guidance has urged.

On Wednesday, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said on national television that opening schools could be done safely in the absence of a vaccinated workforce if certain other mitigating steps were taken. That includes low-density classes  i.e., ones with room to space kids. The CDC was still working on what exactly those guidelines should be.

On Thursday in Philadelphia, where children have been home since March from buildings that often lack even a working ventilation system, the teachers union asked the district for third-party evidence that classrooms were now safe. The superintendent is expecting teachers to report to school on Monday as part of a plan to reopen in phases, as Inquirer colleagues Kristen Graham and Maddie Hanna reported.

On Friday, the union told its teachers not to report to work in Philadelphia on Monday. Can you say showdown?

So, yes. There is momentum for public schools to open their doors wide after a long stretch mothballed. Its happening as COVID-19 vaccines are making their way into states at a turtles pace. But can schools safely do so without a fully vaccinated population?

Private ones have done so for months. Public ones could, too, but no one has publicly explained exactly what that would entail and how to get there.

There appear to be two stakeholder groups slinging grenades across the ideological center since March: Perfection-or-bust types who dont believe middle-ground solutions during a national emergency can be anything but careless. The others are suck-it-up-and-wing-it nimrods who demand, ignorantly, that under-resourced schools reopen without addressing safety concerns during a pandemic that has claimed more than 457,000 American lives.

Who, if anyone, in Pennsylvania or South Jersey, has come up with a pragmatic plan to tackle three of the biggest barriers to reopening that private schools have largely figured out? Id love to know.

 READ MORE: At the elite Shipley school in Bryn Mawr, money is no object in coronavirus-reopening plans | Maria Panaritis

1) Public school buildings were so packed with students pre-pandemic, with large class sizes aimed at keeping local property taxes in check, that they had no lavish extra real estate capacity to create classes large enough to keep students spaced six feet apart, as recommended by the CDC.

2) Many public schools lack adequate or any mechanical ventilation to circulate fresh air into rooms. Ventilation  whether open windows, fans, or elaborate HVAC systems  help prevent the spread of COVID-19 among masked, carefully spaced people indoors.

3) Many public schools lack the resources to hire enough additional teachers, substitutes, and support staff to shrink class sizes so that kids can be spaced apart, or to handle absences due to teacher leaves or quarantines.

Those three factors have meant the difference between being open five days a week or being closed. Addressing them enabled many private schools to open fully in September, long before any approved vaccines.

Public schools dont have the luxury of charging private tuition or even the right to cap admissions to keep class sizes small. So what, then, are the alternatives?

In a metropolis of five million people, you would think that political, corporate, philanthropic, and education officials would have come together by now to brainstorm. Especially in light of the leaderless neglect of former President Donald Trump at the tippy top.

 READ MORE: What does in-person school look like in the COVID-19 era? Heres a look inside.

Some school districts have plenty of space, good ventilation systems, plenty of teachers. They can get substitutes. These primarily wealthier, well-funded school districts, its perfectly safe to open because they can keep COVID mitigation practices in place, said Susan Spicka, executive director of the public school-funding advocacy nonprofit Education Voters of Pennsylvania.

And yet, even wealthy Radnor, Lower Merion, and Cherry Hill have opened schools only hybrid, for a few days a week for children.

Some $2.2 billion in federal pandemic aid is heading soon to Pennsylvania public schools, Spicka said. Districts had better spend it fast, with impact, and with the goal of fully reopening.

Vulnerable children may need summer school, which means extra money for teacher labor hours. Tents and cameras to broadcast classes in real time must also be high priorities if no other strategies to expand real estate are on the table. Another easy buy: more school buses so that kids are safely brought to buildings once they do go back to five days.

But why have we heard nothing of a plan for more real estate? Where is the district that has laid out specifics about ventilation upgrades that are affordable, effective, and fast? Who is tackling the problem of finding enough staff to be on par with private schools?

If anyones on this, Im all ears. Isnt it about time?
Egypt's Ambassador to Juba Mohamed Qaddah affirmed Cairos support of the peace treaty entitlements in South Sudan during a meeting with the new governor of South Sudans Upper Nile state Abudhok Kur on Friday.

In 2018, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir signed a landmark agreement with rebel factions in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa to end the decades-long war that claimed the lives of tens of thousands.

During the meeting, Qaddah affirmed Egypts support of the efforts to consolidate security and stability in South Sudan.

Qaddah reviewed Kurs vision for stability, social reconciliation, and reconstruction and development efforts in the Upper Nile state.

The two sides discussed cooperation between Egypt and the state in various fields, including the management of water and irrigation sources, water treatment, education and energy.

Egypt has been a major supporter to the peace agreement in South Sudan.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi visited Juba in November last year, where he reiterated Cairos "full and unlimited support for the efforts exerted by Sudan's government to achieve peace and stability nationwide.

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Political satirist Bill Maher has defended Hollywood actor Armie Hammer following allegations of abuse and sexual misconduct from multiple women that have surfaced on social media over the past month.

Hammer is accused of a host of shocking allegations recently with the leak of social media messages which included fantasies of cannibalism, graphic sexual experiences, abuse and a BDSM fetish.

The controversy around the 34-year-old actor sees him accused of emotional and physical abuse by a number of women.

But on Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday night, the comedian suggested that the women involved would have known what they were getting themselves into from the very start.

On his HBO talk show, Bill Maher, defended Hollywood actor Armie Hammer suggesting the women involved 'knew what they were getting themselves into.'

Armie Hammer has been rocked by disturbing claims of cannibalism and violating BDSM practices with multiple women, which his lawyer has denied

'I think we can talk about this in relation to where feminism is, because apparently, Armie Hammer has a predilection to tell his dates he wants to 'eat' them. And who wouldn't want to be eaten by Armie Hammer? Come on,' Maher started.

'Apparently this is something called 'ethical human cannibal fetishism.' No actual women were eaten in the making of this movie. They were just talking. They have his texts, where he was saying things like, 'I want to take your rib out and boil it with barbecue sauce,' says Maher.

'We're in such a porn-centric societypeople have been watching really hardcore porn for so long that 'spank you' doesn't really cut it anymore.

'My point is that the women who are objecting to this now, who went out with Armie Hammerwillinglyand stayed inwillinglyand there wasn't physical bad stuff happening, OK we can all agree that's intolerablebut if there wasn't any physical coercion, why isn't this just filed under, 'That seemed like a good idea at the timeto let Armie Hammer eat mebut it really wasn't.' It seems like we don't have any ownership anymore of our own choices.'

Hammer began trending online earlier this month after a series of sexually graphic Instagram DMs that he allegedly wrote to a woman were leaked publicly by an anonymous, now-private account, House of Effie.

The leaked Instagram messages saw Hammer allegedly express fantasies of cannibalism, rape, and kidnapping to women.

The messages then became conflated with actual allegations of coercion and emotional and physical abuse.

As a result, he has exited multiple film projects in recent weeks over graphic messages he allegedly sent several women over social media.

Hammer also was dropped Friday by his talent agency, WME, and his publicist has stepped away from working with him as well.

Maher said the women who went out with Hammer did so 'willingly' and 'should have known what they were in for'

Armie's ex-lover, Paige Lorenze, told The Kyle and Jackie O Show that he allegedly wanted to remove one of her ribs and eat it.

'In non-sexual settings he asked me on multiple occasions to remove my ribs,' she said. 'He wanted to find a doctor in LA to like, remove the ribs that I don't need. And he wanted to, like, he has a smoker at his house in L.A. and he wanted to smoke it and eat it.'

The model admitted that she took it as 'dark humor' at first, before he made the request 'five times'  to the point that she believed it was more of a 'serious thing.'

'He would always say, "I wonder what it tastes like, I bet it tastes good," stuff like that,' she claimed.

When asked if she thought the actor would have really eaten her ribs, Lorenze responded firmly: '100 percent.'

Hammer's ex-girlfriend, Courtney Vucekovich, told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview that the star was into 'master-slave fetishes' and told her he wanted to break and eat her ribs

Hammer's ex-girlfriend, Courtney Vucekovich, told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview that the star was into 'master-slave fetishes' and told her he wanted to break and eat her ribs.

The Dallas-based app founder said she met Hammer in June through mutual friends, and from the beginning he was 'intoxicating.'

'He's a very charming, intense human being. But once you start talking to him, he's pretty aggressive right from the start. Not violent, but just sexually aggressive in the way he speaks,' she said.

Another woman, 22-year-old Paige Lorenze, claimed Hammer sent around nude photos of her to other people without her consent and then emotionally manipulated her into letting him bruise her

Another woman, 22-year-old Paige Lorenze, claimed Hammer sent around nude photos of her to other people without her consent and then emotionally manipulated her into letting him bruise her, encouraging her to 'show off' the marks and to 'be proud' of them.

She claimed to Page Six that Hammer 'enjoyed hurting women, but used BDSM as a mask for this,' and claims that she has been undergoing in trauma therapy since the ordeal.

On Maher's show, Real Time, he defended Hammer suggesting that everything between the women was 'consensual'.

'I think he is exactly the guy in the book Fifty Shades of Grey, which was the most popular book ever, I think, with women He's this rich, handsome, movie star guy, and he's got a kink.'

A panelist on the show, Time journalist Charlotte Alter, noted that some physicality occurred between Hammer and his accusers.

'Some of the women have alleged that there was sort of some slapping around. One woman said he carved his initials into her body,' Alter added.

'Did he tie her down and do that?' asked Maher. 'I don't think so.'

Maher went on to blame Hammer's accusers: 'If you're gonna swim with the alpha sharks, it's not gonna come out well in the end. Shouldn't you know that? I mean, is it really that hard to figure out without the law getting involved?' claimed Maher, adding, 'He's a cad!'

A lawyer for Hammer has categorically denied the allegations against him, calling them 'patently untrue'.

'Any interactions with this person, or any partner of his, were completely consensual in that they were fully discussed, agreed upon, and mutually participatory,' Hammer's attorney said in a statement to DailyMail.com.
Features, Health & Society Editor

Southern African Development Community (Sadc) chairman and Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi last Friday recommended the pooling of resources in the region for the collective procurement and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines for member states.

In a statement on the Covid-19 pandemic, President Nyusi said the initiative will be led by Sadc's Committee of Health Ministers.

"In this regard, we recommend the Sadc Committee of Ministers of Health to establish a strong regional collaborative strategy which pools resources together to urgently acquire the vaccine for distribution to our citizens setting priorities in accordance with the level of risk and enhance vaccine research capabilities and develop regional manufacturing capacity for vaccines in the future," President Nyusi said.

He said the region must intensify cooperation and collaboration between member states, through increased data sharing, policy harmonisation and standardisation, pooled procurement of essential medical and non-medical equipment to address the pandemic in a more effective way.

Given the increasing Covid-19 cases and deaths on the continent and the SADC region in particular, President Nyusi's call for pooled procurement is most welcome and the best way forward.

As at February 1 the SADC region had 1 708 718 cases, 49 224 deaths and 1 497 951 recoveries according to Africa Centres for Diseases Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). South Africa had 1 456 309 cumulative cases with 44 399 deaths and 1 306 022 recoveries.

Zambia had a cumulative 55 042 cases, while deaths stood at 780 with 43 394 recoveries recorded.

Zimbabwe had 33 548 confirmed cases, 26 583 recoveries and 1 234 deaths as at February 1. Regional integration is needed to contain the Covid-19 pandemic and it will not help if only a few of the 16 SADC member states ring fence themselves.

Before we even start talking about donors and development partners helping individual countries, it is important for the regional block to take the first step as already done and ensure its people are vaccinated.

This can only be done through full implementation of the SADC Pooled Procurement Services for pharmaceuticals and medical supplies to provide sustainable availability and access to affordable and effective essential medicine and health commodities which was recommended at the start of the pandemic last year.

While the SADC secretariat cannot push member states to implement the SADC Pooled Procurement Services for pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, but can only advise and provide information, it is time member states become each brother's keeper.

If anything, SADC's borders are open for essential services like haulage trucks, which pass through using the road networks everyday as they move from one country to the other.

Ring fencing is likely to result in reinfections and another wave of infection at a time new variants are emerging.

The advantage of buying in bulk as a region means negotiating for economic prices, and there are opportunities to go and bid as a block and buy bulk commodities and negotiate for a good price.

While recognising the need for countries to secure vaccines for their populations, there is equally a need for regional dialogue and measures to ensure cooperation on regional needs, and between relevant national authorities, appreciating that the region is not collectively secure until all its countries and communities are vaccinated.

While SADC is pushing hard for pooled procurement of vaccines, COVAX, the global initiative to ensure rapid and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines for all countries, regardless of income level has also been pushing.

The African Union (AU) has also come out with strong statements that they want to see 60 percent of all African countries' populations protected with vaccination.

AU is pushing very hard with vaccine developers to try to get access to the vaccines through COVAX and their own negotiations.

As every country and continent grapples with the pandemic, it is no secret that developed countries have a bigger financial muscle to purchase Covid-19 vaccines in plenty, putting less income countries under intense pressure to access them.

The chorus on the need to avoid ring fencing globally, especially by developed countries is getting louder with global experts speaking.

Speaking to journalists during a media round table at the International Aids Society (IAS) Covid-19 Conference: Prevention on Monday, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases of the United States (NIAID), who is also one of the main researchers in Covid-19, Dr Anthony Fauci, said to stop the pandemic, every country in the world should be protected.

According to Dr Fauci, the impact of a vaccine is not only due to its efficacy, but also "to the coverage that we give to vaccination."

He said if there is a reduction in efficacy it can be attacked if more people are vaccinated.

"But, we will only have light at the end of the tunnel if we implement a global programme to protect the whole world, not just the rich countries, the whole planet. If you only protect your country without protecting the world, the pandemic will go on and on," he said.

"When you're in a public health crisis, you've got to pull together, everybody rowing in the same direction. Otherwise, you're not going to stop what is now as we all know, this historically destructive pandemic that we're dealing with."

Dr Fauci, who is also US President Joe Biden's top coronavirus advisor called for greater investments in vaccine production, saying it is in everyone's interest for the world to be immunised as soon as possible.

IAS past president Dr Linda-Gail Bekker, who is also an infectious disease specialist from the University of Cape Town, South Africa said: "If we know that the efficiency has gone down we must make sure that we reach more people, and thus the transmission will go down. That is why it is important to make sure that production increases and can reach all corners of the world".

In an interview with The Herald, Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) Executive Director, Itai Rusike, said many developing countries are facing the prospect of delays and significant cost barriers in accessing vaccines, medicines and diagnostics to control the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said in the face of the prospect of delays and cost barriers, the rapid scaling up of local production where feasible could make a big difference to pandemic control in developing countries.

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"Scaling up of local production would be greatly facilitated by waiving compliance with the Section 1,4,5, and 7 of Part ll of the TRIPS Agreement (dealing with copyright, industrial designs, patents, and the protection of undisclosed information) in relation to Covid-19 and for the duration of the pandemic," suggested Mr Rusike.

"Three main arguments were brought forward by countries opposing the waiver when it first considered by the TRIPS Council: (i) that Intellectual property protection is not a barrier to wider access to Covid-19 health products (ii) that the flexibilities already provided for in the TRIPS Agreement are not well suited to the task of scaling up across a range of health products and involving collaborating groups of countries."

In fact, Mr Rusike further suggested, the proposed waiver would only apply to Covid-19 products; would only apply for the duration of the pandemic; and would only apply to those countries who chose to make use of it.

"It is most unlikely that allowing limited waiver proposed would materially affect commercial incentives to invest in innovation for Covid-19 products during the pandemic," he said. "The proposed waiver would only apply to countries who chose to make use of it. Intellectual property rights would remain untouched in countries who chose not to make use of the waiver."

Mr Rusike said countries whose access to Covid-19 products is secure should not stand in the way of those countries who need the policy space to scale up local production in the face of the very real threat of delays and cost barriers and the consequential morbidity and mortality.

According to a government statement, Modi will visit Assam on Sunday around 11.45 a.m. and will lay the foundation stone of two hospitals and launch 'Asom Mala', a programme for state highways and major district roads, at Dhekiajuli in the state's Sonitpur district.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a day's visit to poll-bound Assam and West Bengal on February 7 to lay the foundation stone for several infrastructure projects.

Later on the same day, the Prime Minister is scheduled to visit Haldia in West Bengal around 4.50 p.m. There, he will lay the foundation stone of key infrastructure projects.

The statement said Modi will dedicate to the nation the LPG import terminal built by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited in West Bengal, which has been constructed with an investment of around Rs 1,100 crore and has a capacity of one million metric tonne per annum.

It said that LPG import terminal will cater to the growing requirement of LPG in West Bengal and other states in eastern and north-eastern India and is an important step towards realizing the vision of the Prime Minister to provide clean cooking LPG to every household.

The Prime Minister will also dedicate to the nation the 348 km Dobhi-Durgapur Natural Gas Pipeline section, which is part of the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project.

According to the government, the pipeline will help revival of HURL Sindri (Jharkhand) fertiliser plant, supply gas to Matix Fertilizer Plant in Durgapur (West Bengal) and cater to gas demand of industrial, commercial and automobile sectors, and city gas distribution across all major towns in the state.

Modi will then lay the foundation stone of the second Catalytic-Isodewaxing unit of Haldia Refinery of Indian Oil Corporation, which will have a capacity of 270 thousand metric tonne per annum, and once commissioned, is expected to result in a saving of about $185 million in foreign exchange.

Modi will also dedicate to the nation the four lane ROB-cum-flyover at Ranichak, Haldia on NH 41, which has been built at the cost of Rs 190 crore.

The statement said that these projects are in line with Prime Minister's vision of Purvodaya, of driving growth of Eastern India. Governor and Chief Minister of West Bengal, and Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas will be present on the occasion.

In Assam, the Prime Minister will launch 'Asom Mala', aimed at helping improve state highways and major district roads network in the state.

It said that the programme is unique for its emphasis on effective maintenance through continuous field data collection and its linkage with the Road Asset Management System.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will also be present on the occasion.

The Prime Minister will then lay the foundation stone of two medical colleges and hospitals, which are being set up at Biswanath and Charaideo, at a total estimated project cost of over Rs 1,100 crore.

It said that each hospital will have 500 bed capacity and 100 MBBS seats capacity.
Kabul, Feb 6 : Fighting in Afghanistan has increased as over 90 militants and soldiers have been killed in the past 24 hours amid the stalled peace talks in Doha.

In the latest wave of violent incidents, Taliban militants stormed a base of pro-government militiamen in Khanabad district, Kunduz province, on Friday, killing 16 fighters and injuring four others, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the fighting involving hundreds of Taliban militants and lasted for three hours, 10 armed insurgents were killed and five others injured, he added.

Similarly, the militant group attacked a police checkpoint in Muqar district, Badghis province, also on Friday and escaped after killing seven policemen, a local government official confirmed.

Badghis Governor Hasamudin Shams has confirmed the incident by saying, "both sides suffered casualties".

A statement issued later in the day by the Defence Ministry said that the government forces backed by fighting planes struck the militant group's hideouts and positions in Arghandab, Panjway and Dand districts of Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban.

The security forces killed 62 militants, while 23 others were injured, the Ministry said in the statement.

No meeting has been held between the Afghan Republic and the Taliban negotiators in Doha over the last 19 days after the peace talks resumed between the two sides on January 5 following a break.

The Afghan peace talks, which started on September 12, 2020, following the US-Taliban peace deal inked last February to end the war, has made little progress to achieve the goal.

She's recently been nominated for a Golden Globe for her role as wicked assassin Villanelle in Killing Eve.

And Jodie Comer took on an all together different role as she filmed scenes for new Channel 4 drama Help in a caravan in Cheshire on Monday.

The actress, 27, was joined by co-star and fellow Liverpool native Stephen Graham, 47, for the scenes, in which she plays a carer, while Stephen is her patient who suffers from early on-set Alzheimer's disease.

New role: Jodie Comer took on an all together different role from evil Villanelle as she filmed scenes for new Channel 4 drama Help in a caravan in Cheshire on Monday

Jodie, who plays Sarah, cut a casual figure on set, dressing down in a shabby black anorak and green wellies, teaming this with a cream jumper and black leggings.

Immersing herself in character, the stars blonde tresses were worn loose and unkept, while she also went make-up free.

Meanwhile, Stephen, dressed in a burgundy cardigan, looked geared up for a day of filming in his role as Tony as he was seen chatting to members of the crew.

The filming in a caravan reflects the real-life situations of carers, with many moving into mobile homes rather than heading home in a bid to reduce the transmission of the Covid-19 virus to their patients.

Filming: The actress, 27, was joined by co-star Stephen Graham, 47, for the scenes, in which she plays a carer, while Stephen is her patient who suffers from early on-set Alzheimer's disease

Help is set in Liverpool and centres on the relationship between the young care home worker and her patient as they deal with the effects of the pandemic.

It will tell the story of Sarah's relationship with Tony  a 47-year-old man with the degenerative condition  as the care home struggles to cope with the spread of the virus.

When Channel 4 first announced the drama, Stephen said: 'I've wanted to work with Jodie for ages, and together we're hugely passionate about shining a light on one of the biggest tragedies of our time and the people at the heart of it.'

Jodie added: 'For us to be able to explore such a relevant and emotive story through the eyes of such beautifully real characters, and in our home city of Liverpool, is a real honour.'

Low-key look: Jodie, who plays Sarah, cut a casual figure on set, dressing down in a black anorak and green wellies, teaming this with a cream jumper and black leggings

The duo lauded creator Jack Thorne, as Jodie went on: 'I am, of course, thrilled to finally be working alongside Stephen and the supremely talented Jack, Marc and those at Channel 4...

'We're determined to do justice to so many of the untold stories and heroes that have been affected as a result of this crisis and to handle them with care.'

Echoing her sentiments, Stephen said 'Jack is one of the greatest and most truthful writers of our generation and in Help he has crafted a profoundly important piece of social realism'.

Care homes have one of the hardest-hit areas during the COVID-19 pandemic, with many residents separated from loved ones for months.

Jodie is known to many for her role as the ruthless assassin Villanelle in Killing Eve, a role which saw her awarded with a BAFTA and a Primetime Emmy.

She is looking at adding to her trophy cabinet as it was revealed on Wednesday that she has been nominated for a Golden Globe.

HAD Wayne McWhirter, Don Plett and Rodney Baker spent any time as a reporter in a Canadian courtroom, they might have thought about this lesson before they decided to carve out their own tenets for a pandemic: Not only must justice be done; it must also be seen to be done.

Opinion

HAD Wayne McWhirter, Don Plett and Rodney Baker spent any time as a reporter in a Canadian courtroom, they might have thought about this lesson before they decided to carve out their own tenets for a pandemic: "Not only must justice be done; it must also be seen to be done."

Translation? You cant just talk about how other citizens or your staff should acting during a pandemic. You must demonstrate it, too. Its part of being a leader.

McWhirter, the now former chair of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, chose to go to Arizona this winter for reasons unknown, but we can safely assume it wasnt to volunteer in a local hospital. Senate Opposition Leader Don Plett went to Mexico after issuing a video Christmas message lamenting how sad it was that Canadians would miss their family traditions this year.

But Rodney Baker, CEO and president of Great Canadian Gaming Corp., wins the prize for redefining what is good and just, after he chartered a plane so he and his wife could go to a remote Yukon community of 100 people, where they got in line with Indigenous locals for a COVID-19 vaccine at a mobile clinic, after claiming to be workers at the nearby motel.

When locals figured out the scam, the police were notified and the couple were charged with "failing to behave in a manner consistent with (their) declaration" and fined $1,500  although locals were rooting for the six-months-in-jail option, which they felt would be better justice for a multi-millionaire.

The casino boss and his employer immediately parted ways  a clear, swift move. Its exactly what we would have told any corporation to do in this same situation.

In our experience as PR professionals, the most common mistake employers make during a crisis is to hesitate too long before doing what they know they must do. And in the ensuing time that they stall, research, explain, defend, rationalize and consider all their options, the story gets bigger and bigger. Every day is another 24 hours of mainstream and social-media attention.

Days into the issue, the premier finally did what the Great Canadian Gaming bosses knew they needed to do immediately. He acted.

And thats where McWhirter and Premier Brian Palliser got it wrong. It took too long to reach the inevitable decision, and was made worse by an unnecessary swipe by the premier at local journalists who asked why the chair of the largest health authority in the province was not being held accountable for an unhealthy decision.

Days into the issue, the premier finally did what the Great Canadian Gaming bosses knew they needed to do immediately. He acted.

Pallister issued a notice that stated: " all Manitoba government order-in-council appointees  including those serving on agencies, boards and commissions  may not travel for leisure purposes outside permitted travel areas, effective immediately. Should they do so, their appointment will be terminated."

Clear and decisive, but tardy.

To be fair, the Manitoba government had a few more pressing things to do last week besides having to remind its leaders on what is good, healthy leadership. And therein lies the second most common mistake made during a crisis: the decision-makers get trapped by other duties. They cant seem to find the time to clear their desks for a few hours to deal with the crisis in front of them. They halfway hope it will go away if they just keep their heads down.

Thats because at first, the issue appears to be like a tiny, annoying bug that surely will eventually just flit off. Its not until the buzzing grows louder  in the shape of reporters asking harder and harder questions  that they look up from their desks to see the buzzing sound is actually a growing swarm of wasps.

And by this time, the premier, prime minister, chair of the board, CEO or president will have taken a few swats at the media for being harsh or negative. And now, finally, under increasing pressure from their constituents, voters, stockholders or consumers, they finally bear down and do what they should have done when the issue first arose: deal with the issue, justly.

Shirley Muir is a former crime reporter and current president of The PRHouse.


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Assiniboine Community College will be receiving $83,700 this upcoming spring to study white mould management, specifically when it comes to dry beans that are growing within Manitobas climate.

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Assiniboine Community College will be receiving $83,700 this upcoming spring to study white mould management, specifically when it comes to dry beans that are growing within Manitobas climate.

According to a Friday morning news release from the school, this research funding will be provided through two $41,850 grants from Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers and the Canadian Agricultural Partnerships Ag Action Manitoba Program.

Even though ACC wont receive this money until April, local researcher Dr. Baljeet Singh said he is itching to get this project off the ground, especially since he is serving as its principal investigator.

"White mould is a serious threat to many Manitoba crops, including dry beans," Singh said in Fridays release. "To prevent crop losses to white mould, we will work to provide real-time disease risk warnings for Manitoba growers."

Fridays release also revealed the project, titled "Weather Based Fungicide Application Decision Support Tool (FADST) for Managing White Mould in Dry Beans in Manitoba," will be carried out in three phases over the course of two years.

After optimizing a disease severity model, ACC researchers will then develop and release a weather-based fungicide application decision support tool Manitoba producers can use to manage white mould in dry beans.

The overarching goal of the study is to combine information surrounding weather data, white mould severity and agronomic practices to assist Manitoba producers in making informed fungicide application decisions.

"Dry beans represent an important, growing market in Manitoba," said Dr. Daryl Domitruk, executive director of Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers. "Research partnerships such as the one MPSG has with Assiniboine Community College to tackle the issue of white mould are vital to ensuring our farmers are as supported as possible and vital to establishing dry beans as a viable crop option in multiple regions of Manitoba."

 The Brandon Sun



A woman who allegedly helped her boyfriend run an illegal prostitution ring has been caught lashing out at a photographer after leaving court.

After a tip-off by a member of the public, Matthew James Markcrow, 35, and Crystal Marie Sawyer, 23, were arrested in a police raid on a townhouse in Brisbane's south on Thursday.

At least four women aged between 17 and 24 were allegedly drugged, tattooed, filmed and exploited into unpaid prostitution in what a court was told was a 'particularly sinister' case.

Sawyer was charged with conducting a business of unlawful prostitution along with contravene a police order for failing to provide cops with the passwords to her phone and laptop.

After being granted bail on Friday, she was seen fleeing from the courthouse until she was confronted by a photographer.

Sawyer, who was wearing bright orange exercise tights, is then seen sprinting towards the photographer demanding he stop taking her picture before tripping and hitting the ground.

She then storms off claiming the snapper did not have 'permission' to take her photo.

'Don't take my f**king photo! You didn't ask for my permission!' she is heard saying.

Her boyfriend, Markcrow has been charged with conducting a business involving servitude, making recordings in breach of privacy, and conducting a business of unlawful prostitution.

He also allegedly tattooed the women with the phrase 'property of Matt'.

Matthew Markcrow (pictured) has been charged with multiple offences after police allege he targeted vulnerable young women and forced them into unpaid prostitution

Police allege his co-accused Sawyer acted as the 'senior girl' in the house where the group were living with the other women following her lead.

'[A] community member [informed police] that at least four young women had [allegedly] been recruited, provided with drugs and illegally prostituted against their own will,' Prostitution Enforcement Taskforce Detective Inspector Juliet Hancock said.

The two accused along with three young women were found at the house by officers conducting the raid, The Courier Mail reported.

Police said the young women had been from dysfunctional homes and had been targeted through social media by the pair.

Sawyer (pictured) is also charged with running the illegal prostitution business in which the women were treated as 'slaves', police allege

The business allegedly operated by transporting the women to an inner-city apartment from suburban Brisbane where they were forced to work before being driven back.

Police claim the young women were not paid for the work and were financially dependent on the accused.

'It would be, I think fair to say, some of these women (allegedly) don't understand they've been exploited,' Det Insp Hancock said.

A post by Markcrow showing four women with the same tattoo 'property of Matt M.' (pictured)

Markcrow did not apply for bail at the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday and was remanded in custody - making a heart shape with his hands to a young woman at the back of the court as he was led away.

Under Sawyer's bail conditions she is not to go within 100 metres of the house, must report to police twice weekly, and must not contact certain people including Markcrow.

She had previously been found guilty of engaging in prostitution through unlawful prostitution business, the court heard as reported by the publication.

She was fined $1,200 and was spared a conviction.

Crystal Sawyer is pictured leaving Brisbane watchhouse on Friday afternoon

A police prosecutor said Sawyer told officers 'she was like a mother' to the other girls in the house - and they observed she appeared to have a 'degree of control' over the women who followed her lead.

The court also heard when she spotted Markcrow in the police holding cells she yelled she would 'take care of everything for you'.

Investigations are ongoing with police suspecting there could be more victims and ask for anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers anonymously.

Both Markcrow and Sawyer's matters are adjourned until February 24.
The kicked off the selection of its next secretary-general on Friday, asking the 193 UN member states to submit candidates to be the world organisation's chief diplomat and operating officer.

The process officially began with a joint letter signed virtually by General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir and Britain's UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward, this month's president of the Security Council opening the nomination of candidates.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, whose current term expires on Dec. 31, announced last month that he is seeking a second five-year term.

Honduras' UN Ambassador Mary Elizabeth Flores Flake also sent a letter to all UN member nations saying there has never been a female secretary-general and asking them to present women candidates.

I am writing this communication from a place of conviction, where standing for equal rights makes a difference in creating a fair and equitable organization, and opening opportunities for women all over the world," Flores Flake said.

A 2015 General Assembly resolution, which was adopted by consensus, changed the previously largely secretive selection of the secretary-general to a more open and transparent process. It allowed the world body's member states for the first time to see basic information about all candidates, including their resumes, and to meet and question them at open sessions.

Just before Christmas, a group of 25 nations from all regions called the Accountability Coherence and Transparency group wrote to the General Assembly and Security Council urging that the selection process for the next secretary-general meets at a minimum the 2015 standards of transparency and involvement of the 193 U.N. member nations.

Guterres' election was a disappointment to women, who had hoped to break the all-male hold on the post, and to East Europeans who have never had a secretary-general from the region. It was supposed to be next in the informal geographical rotation for U.N. chief when Guterres, a Portuguese, was elected.

The General Assembly elects the secretary-general on the recommendation of the 15-member Security Council where the five permanent members -- the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France -- have veto power, so their support is crucial.

In the 2016 race, there were 13 candidates vying to be secretary-general, seven women and six men, and the General Assembly held open interviews for each of them, where ambassadors from all countries could ask questions. Six straw polls were held in the Security Council between July and October, and Guterres led in all of them.

The current election is the first under the 2015 resolution where an incumbent is seeking reelection. Whether any candidates are put forward to challenge him remains to be seen.

In their joint letter, Woodward and Bozkir said the position of the secretary-general is one of great importance that requires the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity, and a firm commitment to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the It stressed that candidates should have proven leadership and managerial abilities, extensive experience in relations, and strong diplomatic, communication and multilingual skills.

The letter states that Guterres indicated his readiness to meet the expectations of the membership regarding transparency and inclusivity with the submission of a vision statement and participation in an informal dialogue with member states.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already endorsed Guterres for a second term.

Woodward and Bozkir said informal dialogues with candidates will take place before the Security Council begins the selection process by May or June.

Woodward tweeted that the Security Council and General Assembly presidents have worked kick-starting the process of selecting and appointing the UN secretary-general.

We look forward to contributing to an open process over the coming months, Woodward said.

Nokia is set to launch its Nokia 5.4 smartphone in India soon. A page for the Nokia 5.4 has been made live on e-commerce website Flipkart, hinting at an imminent launch soon. Apart from that, Flipkart has released a couple of short video teasers that give us an idea about the smartphone's camera and design. While there is still no launch date for the upcoming Nokia smartphone, reports have said that it is set to debut on February 10.

Alongside the Nokia 5.4, the HMD Global brand is also reported to launch the Nokia 3.4 smartphone in the country. Both the Nokia 5.4 and the Nokia 3.4 have been launched in Eurpoe already, with the Nokia 5.4 priced at EUR 189 (roughly Rs 16,900) and the Nokia 3.4 being priced at EUR 159 (roughly Rs 13,900). A recent report in NokiaPowerUser, a website that tracks Nokia developments, said that the Nokia 3.4 will be priced at Rs 11,999 onwards in the Indian market.

The video teasers shared on YouTube show the Nokia 5.4's camera capabilities and the design. The Nokia 5.4 Europe variant is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 662 chipset paired with 4GB of RAM and up to 128GB of internal storage, which is expandable via a microSD card slot. The smartphone shipped with Android 10 out of the box, but Nokia has said that it will be updated to Android 11 soon. There is a 4,000mAh battery on the Nokia 5.4 and the smartphone comes with a quad rear camera setup.

The quad camera setup on the Nokia 5.4 includes a 48-megapixel primary sensor, a 5-megapixel ultra-wide angle snapper, a 2-megapixel depth sensor, and a 2-megapixel macro shooter. Up front, the Nokia 5.4 has a 16-megapixel selfie shooter.


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Otero County Commission Chairman and Cowboys for Trump co-founder Couy Griffin rides his horse on 5th avenue in New York City, on May 1, 2020. (Jeenah Moon/Getty Images)

Cowboys for Trump Founder Released From Jail Pending Trial on Unlawful Entry Charges

Couy Griffin, the founder of the organization Cowboys for Trump, was released from a federal prison on Friday, where he remained in pretrial detention on allegations stemming from the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol.

Griffin, who is also a county commissioner in New Mexico, was arrested by the FBI on Jan. 17 and charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful entry after video showed him breaching the Capitol grounds, according to the Justice Department.

Last week, a judge in Washington ordered Griffin detained pending trial, ruling that his history of provocative statements suggested that he was at risk of not showing up for trial.

In a Feb. 5 order (pdf), Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell overturned the lower court ruling, saying she weighed Griffins unrepentant appearance among the crowd at the Capitol against his apparently candid subsequent interactions with law enforcement. She noted repeatedly that Griffin on Jan. 6 did not carry weapons, commit violence, or enter the Capitol.

I appreciate that the charge here is that he disregarded signage about restricted areas of the Capitol on Jan. 6. But his subsequent cooperation with law enforcement showed that he is not a person who has a categorical disdain and disregard for any and every government act or authority, Howell said.

Griffin denies federal charges that he knowingly entered barricaded areas of the Capitol grounds with the intent to disrupt government as Congress convened for a joint session to certify electoral votes.

Under the terms of his release, Griffin is banned from visiting Washington outside of court proceedings, must surrender his passport, and must not possess a firearm, destructive device, or any other weapon.

According to the Justice Department and an affidavit (pdf), Griffin told FBI special agents that he had traveled to the nations capital on Jan. 6 with another person to participate in a protest over election integrity.

When Griffin arrived at the U.S. Capitol, he noticed a large crowd forming around the barricade and that he was caught up in that crowd, which pushed its way through the barricades and into a restricted area, he told agents.

Griffin said he and his friend didnt enter the U.S. Capitol building at any time and remained on the steps outside the building during the breach. During that time, he led a group of protesters in prayer using a bullhorn outside the Capitol, but up where the president is inaugurated at. Videos of the incident and other open-source materials corroborated Griffins statements, according to the affidavit.

He said that the police never asked him to leave the area, and he and his friend exited the U.S. Capitol grounds peacefully.

More than 150 people have been charged in federal court with crimes following the Jan. 6 incident.

Janita Kan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This is how people assert their feminism? (Image via Simon Chartrand/Facebook)

GCN: A couple of TERFs were caught red-handed plastering an NYC neighborhood with disgusting anti-trans stickers  then they insulted the couple who called them out as being misogynistic.

FORBES: Lou Dobbs just had his highly rated Lou Dobbs Tonight canceled by Fox over his legally actionable lies about the election having been stolen. He's done.

WCVB: USA Today erroneously reported that Jenny Cudd, arrested for her part in the Capitol riot, had been granted the right to take a Mexican vacation while out on bond, a ridiculous thing that no Black person in the U.S. would EVER be granted. Turns out, the judge was merely considering the request, so all the uproar was premature. Now, following national attention to how insane that would be  a federal judge has formally GRANTED the request. Unbelievable.

SOCIALITE LIFE: Todrick Hall is tacky trash. Even Trump would find this bed too much.

YOUTUBE: Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska) is about to get censured for the second time by his own party for daring to be anti-Trump. In response, he posted a direct-to-camera video in which he complains about members of his party being hacked off over not bending the knee to one guy:

CBS NEWS: America's right to LIVE FREE is somehow greater than Americans' right to LIVE AT ALL  SCOTUS says California can't stop massive, indoor religious services. Tell me this: If the government apparently has zero power to force us to do/not to do things in order to protect public health, why is prostitution illegal anywhere?

TWITTER: Don't try it with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York)  his speech, swatting down GOP posturing about patriotism, is a can't-miss. He was dragging Utah's new Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah), a Black Trumper:

TOWLEROAD: Iowa's Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds suddenly ended all COVID-19 restrictions in her state ... just before Super Bowl Sunday.

Naughty nineties! (Images via movie still & Facebook)

FACEBOOK: One of Hollywood's most unapologetically glamorous starlets, Mamie Van Doren, turns 90 with a pledge to no longer Photoshop her pictures. But she isn't swearing off her penchant for posing nude just yet.

(Image via The Lincoln Project)

THE HILL: Jennifer Horn is leaving the Lincoln Project, claiming it's due to co-founder John Weaver's sexual improprieties ... but the org very vocally denounced him after firing his ass, and they're now saying she actually left after demanding a ton of cash and promises of TV glory.

VARIETY: Armie Hammer has been dropped by William Morris Endeavor over complaints about his kinky texts. Is more info coming?

INSTAGRAM: Remembering Silent Era superstar Ramon Novarro on the anniversary of his birth. The closeted gay actor had one of the more gruesome Hollywood endings  beaten by hustler brothers, left to choke on his own blood. One of his killers is still alive today and in prison  but not for murdering an old gay coot, because he was out of prison within just a few years for that. He's in for rape.

A man from Massachusetts who unexpectedly woke up unable to breathe was shocked when doctors told him that he had swallowed his airpod.

A man swallowed wireless headphones while asleep

On Tuesday, after he was left deep throating while trying to drink a glass of water after waking up, Brad Gauthier, 38, from Worcester, Massachusetts, went to the hospital.

His X-rays showed that in his esophagus, one of his wireless Apple headphones had been wedged.

In order not to wake up his six-month-old daughter Avianna, with what he was listening to, the Massachusetts man had gone to sleep with his airpod and had swallowed it somehow without waking up during the night, as per the Mirror.

The following day, the blockage forced Gauthier's throat to fill up with water when he tried to drink, which made him feel as if he was choking, Daily Mail reported.

Despite the odd feeling in his chest, he was able to get the water out by bending over and started his day, as usual, clearing his driveway at night, which got covered with snow after a heavy blizzard.

During the day, Gauthier realized that one of his airpods was missing. When his family helped him look for it, they joked that maybe he had eaten it because he had a sore chest.

"My wife mentioned it when I came in and we laughed about it, but something just clicked and I got a weird sinking feeling that I'd swallowed it in my sleep," he said.

"At that moment, I thought about it for another 10 minutes, but we all decided it'd be better than sorry to go to the hospital," Brad added.

He endured nothing more than slight pain, Gauthier said, and continued with his day as usual. "The GI physician said it's extremely uncommon for a blockage not to be painful or discomforting. It never occurred to me that sleeping with headphones could be a potential hazard. I was really quite lucky," he said.

To get an x-ray, Gauthier went to a doctor, only to discover the missing object in his esophagus. He underwent an emergency endoscopy to have it removed, as per the IBT.

Massachusetts man found one of his missing airpods via x-ray

Hospital workers had first announced that the food the night before from Gauthier's wife Heather's birthday party could be the cause of his pain, but x-rays quickly discovered the real reason.

The 38-year-old claimed that when he went to bed with them, the airpod somehow got into his mouth when he was unconscious. However, he was fortunate that the location where the airpod got stuck had prevented him from further harmful effects.

Through endoscopy, the airpod was removed, but not without complications. Although physicians were confident of the results, the Massachusetts man was warned that there was a risk of dislodging the system and entering his stomach or lung passageway.

Fortunately, the procedure was a success, and soon afterward, Gauthier was able to get a meal and even return home to work.

Gauthier thanked workers for their contributions but joked that while the recovered headphone still operated, its microphone feature was broken due to its unexpected trip.

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
New Delhi:

To mark Swedish scientist Eva Ekeblad 293rd birthday today Google dedicates doodle with a quirky animated doodle. Ekeblad was the first woman agronomist who discovered how to extract starch from potatoes.



She was admitted to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for her discovery of how to use potatoes to make flour and alcohol.

It was in 1746, Ekeblad wrote to the Royal Swedish Academy, of Sciences on her discoveries of how to make flour and alcohol out of potatoes

Potatoes first arrived in Sweden in 1658, but for a century would only be available to the aristocracy. Before Ekeland's discovery, potatoes weren't considered to be edible for humans, but were reserved for animals.
A total of 1,782 new .ie domains were registered in Wexford in 2020 as local businesses, services and community groups mobilised online in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

New .ie domain registrations increased in the county by 39 per cent over 2019, contributing to the highest number of new registrations ever nationwide at 65,113, with a peak in May, six weeks after the Government ordered non-essential retail to close down.

Pandemic and health-related keywords were common in new .ie web addresses with 'mental health' and 'counselling' increasing by 105 per cent over the previous year.

'A local .ie web address has been a lifeline. It has also advantageously positioned many Wexford businesses and services for the post-Covid-19 economy', commented .ie CEO David Curtin.

There were 39,722 new .ie domain registrations in Leinster last year, a 28 per cent increase on 2019 and every county on the island of Ireland recorded an increase in registrations.

'The nationwide increase in new .ie domain registrations is very encouraging. It suggests that businesses and public services, regardless of county or whether they are in a city or a small town, were able to quickly and easily set up an online presence and meet local demand in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This is evident in Wexford and across the entire province of Leinster', said Mr Curtin.

The highest peak occurred in May, when 7,003 new .ie domains were registered. This peak began to drop off from June, as restrictions eased, but moved up sharply in October, peaking again in November corresponding to the announcement of the second national lockdown.

He said there had been a 'mass mobilisation of digital in every part of the economy and society' in response to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.

'Businesses migrated online, many for the first time, in direct response to the lockdowns. They realised that having an online presence, and in many cases e-commerce capabilities, would at the very least minimise the damage of reduced or non-existent footfall', Mr Curtin said.

'Some businesses have fully embraced digital, using multiple platforms to sell to their customers. For example, some restaurants are using their own websites to advertise special offers but redirect customers to third-party apps and platforms for food ordering. Delivery is then outsourced. Many who have pivoted their business model in this way have reaped the rewards and stayed afloat, even thrived, in an intensely challenging period.

'A local .ie web address has therefore been a lifeline; a way to mitigate the worst effects of the physical lockdown, including permanent closure.

'It has also advantageously positioned many businesses and services in Wexford for a more digitally integrated post-Covid-19 economy,' he said.
Woman in Motion  Nichelle Nichols of Star Trek fame defied gravity shaking up TV history and NASA

Nichelle Nichols dreamed of being in space  but Im getting ahead of this story as told in Woman in Motion a nod to the name of her company, that she created to add diversity and inclusion to the NASA program.

It started with a line. To go boldly go where no man has gone before, the iconic opening narration, for each episode of Star Trek. To Star Trek fans around the world, Nichelle Nichols is known for playing Uhura in three seasons of the original series and six Trek feature films.

A trailblazer breaking stereotypes for African-Americans in the late 1960s in the new documentary Woman in Motion the filmmaker explores the actresss contributions to change NASA and the space program. From the beginning, Nichelle wanted more, saying  If they let me in the door, I will open it so wide  they will see the world !

If you think you already know Nichols story you most likely would be off the mark. In reality, her dreams were as wide as the sky above our heads and as deep as the unexplored universe. She dared. Woman in Motion is a compelling documentary that deftly combines new and archival interviews along with historic photos and film, all assembled in an effort to bring light to how this African-American woman changed the space program.

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Nichols was born in Robbins, Illinois, near Chicago, and raised in the Jim Crow-era, her father (Samuel Earl Nichols) a factory worker championed his daughters ambitions and respected her vision. Nichols dreamed of space but how she could get there, was a confusing conundrum but destiny lead to a fated meeting with Gene Roddenberry, on the set of The Lieutenant in 1964. This simple hello changed the trajectory of her career and her life.

But before there was NASA, there was Star Trek, the place Nichols left her mark in television history for her role in Star Trek smashing limitations and giving thousands of inspiration for just being on the show. This was a period of history when television was mostly populated by White people. Her very presence on the USS Enterprise was an act of revolution and a sign of major and positive changes to come. Nichols says, I became essentially who I became through [creator] Gene Roddenberry. He discovered me. It was meant to be.

Kismet aside, the doc doesnt shy away from discussing the shortcomings of Star Trek as it relates to diversity and inclusion. Co-star George Takei, David Gerrold, and late Star Trek writer DC Fontana shared how storylines, that were written for Uhura would be severely altered and eventually axed through the writing process.

Under the weight of racism and sexism, Nichols almost cracked under pressure and had decided to leave the show. The reason she stayed, a conversation with Martin Luther King, Jr., who felt that her very presence was a step in the right direction during the turbulent Civil Rights era.

Martin Luther King III shared how his father, so proud, would find time to watch Star Trek with his family. He was not the only person of note to get inspiration from Nichols, others were inspired like congresswoman Maxine Waters, future astronauts like Frederick Gregory, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Star Trek: The Next Generation star Michael Dorn.

After the cancellation of Star Trek, Nichols volunteered her time in a special project with NASA to recruit minority and female personnel for the space agency, making an affiliation between NASA and a company which she helped to run, Women in Motion.

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Nichols program was a success helping to change the lives of many including Dr. Sally Ride, the first American female astronaut, and the United States Air Force Colonel Guion Bluford, the first African-American astronaut, as well as Dr. Judith Resnik and Dr. Ronald McNair, who both flew successful missions during the Space Shuttle program before they died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986.

Devoted to space exploration, Nichols served on the board of governors of the National Space Society, a nonprofit, educational space advocacy organization founded by Dr. Wernher von Braun.

Woman in Motion is more than just Gene Roddenberrys vision and desire for a diverse future. Its more than a story about Nichols, at its core, its a celebration of everyone involved at NASA and beyond to make it possible.

In the end, Nichelle Nichols summed it up, perfectly, saying We have only begun to begin. Fathom Events has added more shows (February 2  6). To learn more, go to www.FathomEvents.com. Woman in Motion is expected to be released for video on demand later this year.
Fox Business has canceled "Lou Dobbs Tonight" one day after the host was named in a multibillion dollar defamation lawsuit against the network and its parent company.

Dobbs, 75, was among the most ardent pro-Trump voices on air. He held influence over Trump administration policy - particularly on trade and immigration - and relentlessly promoted the former president's false claims of election fraud late last year. His nightly program, which a person close to Dobbs said aired its final episode Friday, was by far the highest-rated on Fox Business.

The news was first reported by the Los Angeles Times and confirmed by a Fox spokesperson. Dobbs will be unlikely to return to air, although he still has a contract with Fox News Media, according to the Times.

Election technology company Smartmatic filed a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit Thursday against Fox News, its parent company Fox Corp. and several on-air commentators, including Dobbs.

The network, however, said Dobbs's cancellation had already been in the works.

"As we said in October, Fox News Media regularly considers programming changes and plans have been in place to launch new formats as appropriate post-election, including on Fox Business - this is part of those planned changes," a Fox News Media spokesperson said in an email. "A new 5 p.m. program will be announced in the near future."

Smartmatic's nearly 300-page complaint alleges the network and hosts such as Dobbs "decimated" the company's future earnings by falsely accusing it of helping to rig the presidential election in favor of Joe Biden.

It cited several examples of Dobbs promoting baseless claims of voter fraud, including a Nov. 12 episode in which Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani claimed that Smartmatic was founded by Venezuelans close to former dictator Hugo Chavez "in order to fix elections." Dobbs thanked Giuliani for being "on the case," which the host said "has the feeling of a coverup in certain places."

A Fox Business staffer said employees were surprised by the cancellation and presumed that it was connected to the lawsuit. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The network has not announced any changes to the shows of two other hosts named in the complaint:Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro.

Dobbs started his career in local television, joined CNN at its inception in 1980 and became one of the network's stars, best known for hosting "Moneyline with Lou Dobbs." Amid reports of clashes with network executives, he left CNN in 1999 to start the astronomy news website Space.com.

He eventually returned to CNN but left again in 2009 as hard-line views on immigration became a bigger part of his personality. He was an early proponent of the "birther" conspiracy theory, which falsely held that Barack Obama had not been born in the United States and was thus ineligible for the presidency.

Dobbs landed on Fox Business in 2010, and over the years became must-watch TV for Donald Trump.

The two men spoke regularly, sometimes daily, The Post reported in 2019, and Dobbs's views on immigration influenced the president's policies. He was among a cohort of Fox personalities who became something of a shadow Cabinet for Trump. During an annual get-together with the Council of Economic Advisers in 2019, Trump placed a call to Dobbs to consult him, much to the surprise of the attendees.

Even before he began peddling election fraud claims, Dobbs was a reliable cheerleader for Trump's reelection efforts. A friend of Dobbs told The Post in 2019 that the host was aware his program had turned into "Trump 2020 TV" but "doesn't care. He's at the end of his career, and he's going to do what he wants to do."

Trump responded to the news of the cancellation in a statement Friday evening: "Lou Dobbs is and was great. Nobody loves America more than Lou. He had a large and loyal following that will be watching closely for his next move, and that following includes me."

Dobbs's departure from the air comes as Fox is grappling with an identity crisis following Trump's departure from office. Trump elevated the network during his presidency by citing the network's hosts and programming frequently from his Twitter account, and in Cabinet meetings.

Fox News has already made several other significant programming changes since the election: It has removed Martha MacCallum from hosting her regular 7 p.m. news show and replaced her with a rotating cast of opinion hosts including Fox Business host Bartiromo, Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade, and former congressman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C. The network also jettisoned two key members of its election night decision desk, politics editor Chris Stirewalt, and a senior vice president and Washington managing editor Bill Sammon.

Last month, Fox announced it had hired Larry Kudlow, former director of the National Economic Council, to host a daily show on Fox Business. Before joining the Trump administration, Kudlow hosted a show on Fox Business rival CNBC.

"Lou Dobbs Tonight" drew an average 305,000 daily viewers in 2020. Starting Monday, the network plans to start airing an interim show called "Fox Business Tonight," with a rotating pair of hosts: Jackie DeAngelis and David Asman.

- - -

The Washington Post's Jeremy Barr and Josh Dawsey contributed to this report.
Colorado Springs, CO (80903)

Today

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Malaga Airport will be one of a group of Spanish airports to have a coronavirus testing area established in its departure lounge.

The airports' operator, Aena, hopes that the initiative will benefit outgoing passengers who need proof of a negative test result before travelling or allow them to avoid quarantining after arrival.

A spokesperson for Aena said the plan, which affects all fifteen of the busiest airports in Spain, will "facilitate the return of tourists" to the places from which they came. Individuals will have to have their boarding passes with them to access the service.

That said, the plan will not be extended to those arriving into Malaga Airport. Indeed, anyone flying into the city will need to have completed the appropriate steps on tests before leaving their place of origin in order to gain entry into Spain.

In Malaga, the Recoletas-Arquimea-Lagben-GTT consortium has been awarded the contract to provide the service for six months (with the possibility of an extension until the end of 2021). The consortium has facilities to examine for active coronavirus infections (PDIA test) and carry out PCR tests and antibody tests.

Aena stresses that all tests will meet the standards set by the Ministry of Health and that they will be available at a reasonable price comparable to those carried out in other clinics.

The testing area will be complete with a waiting zone, and the process will be carried out with passenger privacy in mind. The relevant regional health authorities will be informed in the case of a positive test result.

Former colleagues of people's champion Brigid Hannon have sent messages to the Bray woman on the occasion of her 90th birthday.

'I am delighted to wish Brigid Hannon a very Happy 90th Birthday and to join with the many messages of congratulations to Brigid on this very special occasion,' said Cllr Joe Behan.

'I was honoured and humbled to serve as a member of Bray Urban District Council with Brigid from 1985 to 1994. Brigid was already an experienced councillor when I joined the council in 1985 and I learned so much from watching how Brigid went about her work as a councillor.'

He said that she has many excellent qualities and three stood out for him. 'They are kindness, courage and independence,' said Cllr Behan.

'She showed sincere kindness to everyone she met and especially to those people who asked her for help as a councillor. Whenever she raised issues at council meetings, whether it was housing, community issues or unemployment, she was sincerely concerned that people who needed help should get it.'

Every time Brigid spoke, she was genuine in her contributions, Cllr Behan said, and people listened to what she said. 'She was also extremely kind and generous in all her dealings with her council colleagues and the staff of Bray Urban District Council. Brigid's courage was always evident when she was making the case for improvements in people's lives,' said Cllr Behan. 'She didn't mind if the issue was not a popular one or that it seemed impossible to achieve. If she believed in something, she consistently pursued it week after week, month after month and year after year.'

One issue which stands out for Cllr Behan was Brigid's campaign to have the old Fassaroe Flats replaced with traditional council houses. Although she was told every time she raised it that it was an impossible dream because of the cost, she never gave up.

'She pushed, she cajoled and she fought and eventually she succeeded,' said Cllr Behan. 'The flats were demolished and replaced with traditional new houses. Liz McManus was also very instrumental in this success as well.'

Brigid's independence of mind and spirit was also very obvious to him in his time working with her. 'She was fearless in defending vulnerable people but she also worked closely with all of her council colleagues to get what was needed. Her first priority was the good of the people and the community and she had no problem working with all of the political party councillors although she was a totally Independent councillor herself. It was a historic day for Brigid and Bray UDC when she was elected as the Chair of Bray UDC, one of the very few Independent councillors to fill that role. She was an excellent Chair of the Council, fair to everyone and always keen to make progress for the people of Bray at every meeting.'

Cllr Behan paid tribute to her late husband Dave, their children, and their families. 'Dave was a gentle and kind man who, although in the background, was a strong support to Brigid in her tireless work for the community,' he said.'Brigid's sons and daughters and their families have carried on Brigid's work in many different ways. They have campaigned for vulnerable people in the community, particularly the homeless. They have been actively involved in many community and residents organisations and activities. They each have exactly the same qualities of kindness, courage and independence that Brigid has and the next generation, Brigid's grandchildren are exactly the same.

'It is a fabulous legacy for any person to look back on as they celebrate their 90th Birthday and I join with all of the people of Bray and beyond in sincerely wishing Brigid a fantastic day and many more still to come.'

Former minister Liz McManus said that it was a great privilege for her to work with Cllr Brigid Hannon on Bray UDC. 'She was a great champion for the people, particularly the people of Little Bray whom she represented for years,' said Ms McManus. 'She was resolute in ensuring that people got the very best service from the council. She succeeded almost single-handedly in getting rid of the old Fassaroe flats which were replaced with good quality housing. Brigid has a great sense of humour as well as the strength of her convictions. When she saw an injustice, if she couldn't resolve it inside the council chamber she bravely went outside to protest in the streets. She was a true campaigner. The people of Bray have been fortunate to have her as a public representative. I wish you a very Happy Birthday, Brigid and I hope you enjoy your day. You certainly deserve it.'

Former councillor John Byrne congratulated her and said he hopes she had a wonderful day. 'Brigid, you were a very good friend and colleague of mine on Bray Town Council and you can be extremely proud of the hard work and many achievements that you accomplished for the people and the town of Bray,' he said. 'You were always a great champion for working families, and for representing the interests of the poorer and weaker sections in our community.'

Former councillor Pat Vance said that Brigid has been a great citizen of the town and throughout the years she has made a great contribution to the development of Bray. He said that it was his pleasure to work with her on Bray Urban District Council. 'I have always admired your work ethic and particularly your work for the people across the bridge,' he said in a message to Brigid. 'Congratulations and I hope you have a lovely day with your family.'

Former councillor Ciaran Murphy said he has known Brigid and her late husband for many years. 'They are wonderful people,' said Mr Murphy. 'I worked alongside Brigid representing the people of little Bray,no one served them like Brigid! She is a very honourable person and was fair with you if you were fair with her. I have many fond memories working with her.' He wished her a happy birthday and good health and happiness in the year ahead. 'A wonderful councillor and a dear friend, the people of little Bray will never see the likes of you again.'

Wishing her continued good health, former councillor Noel Keyes said that his neighbourly and political memories of Brigid are 'numerous and pleasant', and that she 'always extended a warm hand of friendship' to him.
While mobile money apps have been slow to gain acceptance in the US, theyve taken other nations like Sweden, China and especially Kenya by storm, enabling people for whom conventional banking has remained out of reach new ways to send, receive and invest their hard-earned cash. In Reimagining Money: Kenya in the Digital Finance Revolution, author Sibel Kusimba examines how apps like M-Pesa have radically adjusted the ways in which everyday people throughout Africa manage their money. In the excerpt below, Kusima looks at the financial roadblocks that prevents a significant portion of the countrys population from participating in this emerging digital economy.

Stanford University Press

Excerpted from Reimagining Money: Kenya in the Digital Finance Revolution by Sibel Kusimba, published by Stanford University Press. 2021 the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All Rights Reserved.

Digital inequality describes the uneven distribution of connectivity and access to digital infrastructures. Often these inequalities are assumed to be a natural problem of rural areas, one that broadening the agent network or switching to smartphones will remedy. The way these networks themselves produce and amplify inequalities is less rarely considered. Maintaining a phone over time, replacing and fixing it, purchasing airtime, and paying for money transfer (including cash-in/cash-out fees) displace significant costs onto the users, with the result that inequalities based on social class, gender, and disability affect the ability to securely access mobile technology. Users in Western Kenya frequently access the phones of others or keep a SIM card that they insert into a borrowed handset. Accessing phones or handsets through social relationships may be more likely among women and can create social dilemmas and risks ranging from compromising ones PIN number to jeopardizing ones physical safety. Literacy and numeracy are also barriers: at least one billion people cannot read digital displays of money amounts accurately; yet people in Myanmar, Ethiopia, and Tanzania are quite competent in using colors and symbols on cash money to denominate, earmark, and plan money use. Accessing services often requires local knowledgefor example, which hill is the one to climb to find mobile network service? People who are more than a short walk from a mobile money agent may see no reason to keep e-money on a mobile wallet when they will need cash for their daily use, which they can keep at home. Most rural areasincluding rural Western Kenya, the setting of much of the field research for this bookstill experience regular interruptions in electricity, and smartphones are largely nonexistent. According to FSD Kenya, in 2016 only 16% of Kenyans owned a smartphonea fact frequently forgotten in the race to become a fintech hub.

In Kenyas urban settings, smartphone and Internet access are more common. Here, the mobile money channel is increasingly used together with social connections on platforms such as Facebook. WhatsApp, the cross-platform instant messaging and voice over IP service offers text and media messaging, voice and video calls, and user location sharing. WhatsApp, I learned, was the main reason why the Nairobi dweller wanted a smartphone. It can be an achievable status marker: Chinese Huawei smartphones were widely advertised for around $60$80 in 2016. By this time, the feature phone I had fondly kept since 2009 provoked concern, as it hardly connoted sufficient status. When visiting the doctors office in Rwanda in 2016, I was told, Such a person as yourself should not have a phone like this. The handy feature phones were now called kabambe (roughly, little cute thing) or mulika mwizi (to shine light on a thief ). They were sold for as little as $20and still used.

I discovered the importance of kabambe when living with my sister-in-law Lillian in 2016 and 2017 in Kawangware, an area in the west of Nairobi. A high school teacher with two daughters in college, Lillians husband had died suddenly a few years earlier. Her Samsung smartphone stayed in a locked bedroom cabinet during the day, while she rose at four a.m. to commute across town to her school by public transportation, returning at close to nine every night. After dinner she unlocked the phone and connected to her WhatsApp groups and to Facebook on its generous screen.

Twice during my stays, Lillians kabambewhich she used during the day on her commutewas stolen at a crowded bus stop. I also was once on the city bus with several thieves, one of whom posed as a ticket collector. As they left in a rush, my seatmate discovered that his money and kabambe were missing. Although smartphones are widely advertised and sought after, they are rarely in view outside of upscale restaurants and spaces. Hopeful international start-ups with Internet-based products have not considered the contingencies of daily life in the city nicknamed Nai-robbery.

Instead of following an approach based on creating and installing apps on expensive smartphones, designers can use another mediumuniversal applications. Universal apps can reach people on any phone, including basic phones, and are particularly important for development initiatives. Universal apps include voice, SMS (Short Message Service), and USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data), which has the most design flexibility. M-Pesa and Safaricoms group messaging service, Semeni, use USSD programming. Safaricom users have memorized many sets of star codes that allow them to query balances or perform other functions. However, USSD communication sessions have a set time duration, and many designers consider them limited. Regardless of which design approach they choose, digital commerce and finance start-ups are flocking to Nairobis growing fintech sector. Aside from digital microloans (see Chapter 4), digitizing agriculture is a big focus. I attended a reverse hackathon (technology redesign event) in Nairobi in 2017 as an anthropologist to crowdfunding start-up M-Changa (see Chapter 10). Here I met representatives from local companies who had come to help farmers get comfortable using digital financial products. The start-ups included iShamba (shamba means farm)an information service for farmers; Cowsoko (soko means market)for livestock e-commerce; Chomoka (unleashed)record keeping for savings groups; and Maano, another virtual farmers market. Timiza digitizes microfinance group savings programs; Digicow enables farmers to make data-driven decisions about dairy production; AcreAfrica links them to insurance; Farmdrive, Digifarm, and many others provide them with loans. Data-driven agriculture could make credit and insurance much cheaper and more available and make a precarious and risky way of life more predictable. Many platforms such as Digifarm, a Safaricom partner, bundle end-toend services, offering credit, inputs like seeds and fertilizer and pricing and weather information, and improved access to a market through its Digisoko partner. For example, some platforms are managed by the buyers of, say, green beans meant for export to Europe; they sell the seeds, offer credit, and buy the finished product, and they work with individual farmers or with farming cooperatives. These platforms also bring together and control as much data as possible about clients, including social media use and financial behavior, along with farm productivity, weather, and geospatial data, all of which are used for credit scoring. Observers worry that this kind of pervasive data control could embed inequalities and disadvantage farmers who experience drought or those who lack other sources of income to repay loans. Over a buffet lunch, company representatives at the hackathon shared an extensive array of quite different concerns: their difficulties in advertising for, finding, and retaining customers. They bemoaned what they saw as the communicative limitations of SMS and USSD protocols: once customers have memorized star codes to interact with a mobile operator, they dont like changing or learning new ones. Other problems they mentioned included, the inability to advertise, and problems with network connectivity. Digifarm, by far the largest of these agricultural digital finance platforms, has about one million users already subscribed and aims to enroll five million subscribers by 2022.

The hackathon event itself provides clues as to why such platforms fail to find customers. The gathering was held at a posh hotel in the upscale Westlands neighborhood of Nairobi. The farmers I met included a member of parliament, college students interested in commercial farming, and representatives of farming cooperatives. One farmer told me he had paid to take a 60-kilometer bus ride early that morning. Developers and farmers were paired up or put in small groups that tested apps or SMS scripts for opening accounts and communicating with providers. Little else of the experience or needs of farmers, particularly rural smallholders, was probed, such as the ongoing rural crises of landlessness, low productivity, climate change and food insecurity. The event focused on the Nairobi area and on commercial markets, especially international ones, and exemplified the reasons why so many apps and platforms fail to give target customers a reason to use them.

The most successful approach builds on what people are already doing. As the lessons of sambaza showed, remittances are the key, along with using the agent network to reach customers. Equity Bank became the largest bank in Kenya by scaling rapidly through its agent network and through mobile phone loans. And the agent network is indeed very capable of scaling across the continent. Consider the case of MFS Africa, which has grown one of the largest payment networks in Africa by building on the agent network. Dare Okoudjou is CEO of MFS Africa. Originally from the Ivory Coast, he began his career with MTN, the South African mobile network operator (MNO). Early on he realized that the problem of scaling African fintech would be interoperability. Interoperability refers to the fact that mobile money systems operated by different companies and in different countries were unable to communicate with each other. Interoperability severely limits peoples ability to send and receive money.

Okoudjous company, founded in 2015, gradually built a cross-border remittance product to connect the patchwork of MNOs across national boundaries. MFS Africa designed an application programming interface (API) that had the capacity to act as a messenger between the mobile money systems operated by different companies, thereby making it possible for MFS to draw more and more mobile service providers over time into the interoperable network provided by its API. Beginning in East Africa, where MFS Africa first applied their API to integrate MTN and M-Pesa transfers, the company has gradually integrated more and more MNOs and countries into its network. In 2020 MFS Africas partners included 22 MNOs in 27 African countries, and together this network can reach 180 million mobile money customers through 2 million cash-in/cash-out agents. The network also includes money transfer operators like World Remit, as well as banks, fintechs and companies that want to pay commissions or salaries.

Okoudjous goal is to eventually connect all mobile money agents in Africa and to provide the interoperability that can lower costs. He works with the reality . . . that the vast majority of people across sub-Saharan Africa are still using feature phones, or even more basic phones. He explained that many innovators dont want to work with the USSD communication language of these phones:

North of the Limpopo, people use USSD, which is a very rudimentary channel to try to do any type of service. The ability to work on a channel that is very unfriendly to developers is something that is really quite unique to the rest of the continent. . . . In the United States, Europe, even Cape Town, they wonder, why dont you just do an App when you are doing money transfer?

In a SoundCloud interview, he elaborated on the difficulties of sustaining two-way communication between agents and mobile network operators to enable cross-border money transfers, all while complying with identity and antimoney laundering regulations:

[USSD] is a very rudimentary channel. You have to get things done in 45 seconds or the channel will close. You still wanna get forex through, the customer confirm, the kyc check, the aml check.25 You do not know when the electricity will go off, or if the servers will go off. When it rains transactions wont go through because some links to internet are still running on VSAT.26 If [it] is raining you will get so many complaints.

As an innovator, Okoudjou is committed to working with the agent network. At the end of the day digital money in Africa was not about the technology but about the agents, he noted at a 2018 conference, where he emphasized that African fintech companies, to scale their products, must perfect their service and experience with accessible and universal SMS/USSD communication protocols if they want to reach a broad range of customers.

Agents and cash-out services are still fundamental. The realities of cost, access, uptake and usage, and Internet and smartphone use question the leapfrogging imagery. Instead, innovators are charting an African path to money. As Okoudjou said, If we can operate in this environment imagine what there will be [for Africa]when we have infrastructure. Okoudjou is innovating in the context he has to work with now. He is imagining a better money infrastructure in the future, and building towards it in the present.
A member of the National Guard gives people direction standing in line at a COVID-19 vaccination site at Yankee Stadium, in the Bronx borough, New York, on Feb. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Pentagon to Deploy 1,100 Troops to Help COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts

WASHINGTONPresident Joe Bidens administration on Friday announced that the Pentagon had approved the deployment of 1,100 active-duty troops to assist with COVID-19 vaccination efforts in the United States, a number likely to rise in the coming weeks and months.

The pandemic has killed more than 447,000 Americans and thrown millions out of work.

Andy Slavitt, senior adviser to the White Houses COVID-19 response team, said in a briefing that part of the group would start to arrive in California within the next 10 days.

The Pentagon said the 1,110 troops would be broken down into five teams, each with vaccinators, nurses and clinical staff.

The deployment is likely just the first tranche of U.S. military personnel assisting in administering vaccinations around the country.

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain last week said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was working with the Pentagon to use 10,000 troops and open 100 centers across the country to increase the availability of vaccines.

Using the military to fight the coronavirus is not new. At its peak under former President Donald Trump, more than 47,000 National Guard troops were supporting COVID-19 operations and about 20,000 continue to help.

The Army Corps of Engineers has also built thousands of rooms across the country to assist hospitals with the strain caused by the spread of the coronavirus.

By Idrees Ali
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Among various outstanding achievements in recent years, Hue Central Hospital is affirming its very special position as the first radiotherapy unit in the country to apply radiotherapy to children.

Prepare carefully for children before radiotherapy

We felt secure

Hue Central Hospital is currently one of the three largest and most advanced general hospitals in Vietnam. In comparision with the hospital 5 years ago, the total number of medical visits increased by 28%; the total number of inpatient patients increased by 30%; the total of medium, major and special surgery increased by 15%.

The hospital has the most techniques deployed in the country with a total of nearly 18,000 types of techniques. Many specialized diagnostic and treatment techniques are at regional and international level. Particularly in the field of cancer, in 5 years, the hospital has performed radiotherapy for 178 cases of children; of which, there were 45 cases with general anesthesia, as it was the first unit to deploy the technique in Vietnam.

From Hanoi, Mr. Duong Van Ich "temporarily resided" at the Oncology Center (Hue Central Hospital) to help his son-in-law take care of his grandson Nguyen T. L. who was receiving radiation therapy there.

L. is 4 years old this year, has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor since L. was 3 years old and underwent 2 operations in Hanoi. As many famous hospitals in Hanoi did not provide children under 7 years old with general anesthesia in radiotherapy, T. L. was introduced to Hue Central Hospital to continue the treatment.

Seeing his grandchild playing with his friends in the hospital room, Mr. Ich was happy. Before taking my grandchild to Hue, from the hospital's introduction in Hanoi and through friends, T. L.'s father consulted very carefully about the radiotherapy capacity of Hue Central Hospital. After coming here, as L. has been well treated, from the doctors to the nurses, everyone was friendly, taking good care of L. so my family felt very comfortable, Mr. Ich shared.

And to him, the greatest happiness was seeing T. L.'s health getting better every day. Although there were still some periods of frustration and fatigue, L. has been able to play and laugh more.

The child was "distracted" by assisting equipment to make them cooperate better when doctors were performing radiation therapy

T. L.'s room was located in the Oncology Center, decorated with pictures of cute cartoon characters in bright colors. This is a special space for children receiving radiation therapy.

Each hospital room has more than 10 children. Each patient is in different circumstance, but the parents do not feel lost or sad, because most of them come from major hospitals in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and are introduced to come here. More importantly, their children are receiving very good care and treatment.

Talking about radiation therapy for pediatric cancer, Dr. Bui Ngoc Lan, Head of Oncology  Hematology Department, Vietnam National Children's Hospital highly appreciated colleagues at Hue Central Hospital: Hue Central Hospital is a good place for us to send pediatric patients who need radiotherapy. They obtain proper qualifications and good care for the children, so we are very reassured.

Warm-hearted care for the children

In 2015, through the ODA project of the Austrian Government, Hue Central Hospital was the first unit in Vietnam to install and activate the new generation radiation machine Axesse Elekta in the field of cancer treatment.

Axesse Elekta radiation machine system is the latest generation of accelerator machine in the world for the treatment of tumors. The advantage of this system is its considerable accuracy and very little adverse effect on adjacent healthy cells.

However, by this time, this technique has gradually become popular in major hospitals in the country. Meanwhile, also on the basis of this accelerator system, Hue Central Hospital has developed into a new potential place and is at the forefront in the field of pediatric radiotherapy nationwide.

Giving instruction to children before radiation therapy

In 2013, for the first time, Hue Central Hospital successfully applied radiotherapy to brain tumors with general anesthesia in children, in the case of pediatric patient P.H.H.H (born in 2009, from Gia Lai province). However, realizing that the demand for radiation therapy for children is increasing, while radiotherapy facilities in the country have not drawn much attention, Hue Central Hospital has focused on investing in this field, purchasing a variety of equipment for pediatric radiation therapy in children, as well as establishing a "team" of radiation therapy with general anesthesia.

Accumulated over time, the hospital afforded various specialized equipment, taking advantage of funding sources and facilitating a team of doctors and technicians to participate in radiotherapy training courses with the opportunity to study abroad.

Up to now, the hospital's Oncology Center has become a reliable address of pediatric radiotherapy for major hospitals in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to send their patients for medical treatment. The number of pediatric patients choosing Hue to have advanced radiotherapy and radiation therapy with general anesthesia has increased gradually, from 10-20 cases to nearly 100 cases per year.

In terms of radiotherapy for children, especially radiation therapy with general anesthesia, we can confirm that we have been at the forefront of the country. We have the advantage that the hospital's Board of Directors have paid much attention to us and invested in high technology, modern facilities and equipment, the hospital not being overloaded yet, and a team of good and enthusiastic partners. Especially, it has a team of anesthesiologists who is always available to help children during long-term radiation therapy. We are really proud and happy to effectively contribute to an important stage in the cancer treatment process for children, Dr. Phan Canh Duy, Ph.D., (Oncology Center) shared.

In addition to pediatric radiotherapy, with funding from Japan, Pediatric Cancer Treatment and Transplantation Unit has also been put into operation. The Pediatric Center of Hue Central Hospital is the third unit in the country to implement high-dose chemotherapy - bone marrow transplantation technique, beside the Vietnam National Children's Hospital and Ho Chi Minh City Hospital of Hematology and Blood Transfusion. This technique is indicated for pediatric cancer, especially high-risk neuroblastoma.

Story: Dong Van

Photo: Thu Thuy  provided by the Hospital
Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Partly to mostly cloudy. Low 47F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy. Low 47F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.

Here what to do in Ocean City on rainy days

Even on rainy days Ocean City has a host of indoor activities  like shopping, movie theaters, wineries and breweries  to entertain.
My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding star Paddy Doherty has been rushed back to hospital less than three weeks after he returned home following a battle with coronavirus.

The 62-year-old shared a video on Facebook today in which he told his followers he was back at the Countess of Chester Hospital after suffering from shortness of breath.

Mr Doherty is seen struggling to breathe and coughing in the clip, as he says: 'I'll be out in the morning. Just be careful everyone.

'I'm worse than a cat. A cat's got seven lives, I've got 100 lives.'

He explains his previous Covid-19 infection had caused him to become 'short of breath', as he continues to take oxygen from a machine throughout the footage.

'Catch you all later. Be lucky,' he concludes.

My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding star Paddy Doherty has been rushed back to hospital less than three weeks after he returned home following a battle with coronavirus. Pictured: Mr Doherty today

The Celebrity Big Brother winner was rushed to hospital last month when a mystery illness worsened, prompting his wife Roseanne Doherty to call 999.

He was later diagnosed with pneumonia and coronavirus and admitted to hospital.

Mr Doherty - who was previously given a 50 per cent chance of survival by medics - had suffered extreme exhaustion which left him stuck in bed for two days after he first fell ill.

As his condition worsened, his worried wife Roseanne alerted emergency services before he was taken to hospital in Chester.

He was placed on oxygen by doctors to help him fight the illnesses.

As he fought the conditions, Mr Doherty urged his fans not to underestimate the impact of coronavirus.

The reality TV star said although he was reluctant to go to hospital, paramedics told him he may not have woken up the following morning had he stayed at home.

My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding star Paddy Doherty has been rushed back to hospital less than three weeks after he returned home following a battle with coronavirus. Pictured: Mr Doherty

Pictured: Doherty shared a video from his home on the English Welsh border thanking his fans for their well wishes and praising doctors and nurses as 'true angels' who he says saved his life

In a video shared from his hospital bed, he warned fans the virus was 'not a joke' as he thanked them for their well wishes and added: 'Be lucky, be safe and God bless you all. Look after yourself.'

He returned home a week later on January 19, speaking in a video from his home on the English-Welsh border to praise the doctors and nurses who helped care for him as 'warriors of God'.

Mr Doherty said: 'Thank my god. They let me home about half an hour ago. I'm at home now. I've got a load of steroids I've got to take, just a bag of steroids.

'Just got to keep indoors now for 10 days and I'm a new man. So I want to thank you all for praying and just being concerned about me.

'But the most important people I've ever seen in my life is them nurses and doctors. They're a great team.

'Can I just say one thing? Listen - you're on about a front line, not being a c*** or anything, but you're on about a front line - imagine soldiers, they've got to go up front first before the back crew gets killed, they got to go up.

'And that's what it's like, they're going up. They know exactly what's happening, and they're wearing this [PPE], and they can catch it faster and they're putting their lives...

'I've never seen nothing like them. They are the true warriors of God, true angels.

Doherty with his wife Rosanne at their home on the England/Wales border in March 2013

Doherty (right) with his son Simey (left) at the 2011 TV Choice Awards in September 2011

'They've nerves of steel. I was afraid there. It was 50-50, it wasn't even 50-50 but I lived to tell the story.

'Them nurses and doctors - thumbs up - there's no words for them. They're just a different level. They're the greatest people on the planet.

'Without them, life wouldn't exist.'

As he signed off by saying 'I'm home, I'm home', he asked fans to pray for nurses and doctors and added: 'God be good to them all and their families.'

In March 2019, Doherty had a five-and-a-half-hour operation to treat his prostate cancer after suffering excruciating pains when he urinated and passing blood.

He had his first operation at Manchester Royal Infirmary and said at the time how he had considered taking his own life because of the pain from the cancer.

Doherty is a British former bare-knuckle boxer who rose to national fame when he featured on My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, a Channel 4 documentary about travellers.

He then won the eighth series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2011 after beating Kerry Katona in the final. Other housemates that series included Jedward and Amy Childs.

Doherty also appeared with another housemate, Sally Bercow, on the Channel 5 documentary When Paddy Met Sally which saw them stay at each other's homes.
My friend Everett Fly, who is a National for the Humanities medalist, and I, both Alamo Heights High School graduates, are trying to identify Black pioneers of the Alamo Heights school system to recognize. These folk integrated Heights during the 1950s and 60s. We have some names and need help finding them so we can recognize them. If you could help, it would make a great column for Black History Month in the Express-News. Joseph and I are determined to use the February event to bring awareness to history that has been denied.

 Joseph B. Lambert

Both you  a research professor of chemistry at Trinity University  and Everett Fly, a local landscape architect and historic preservationist, are distinguished alumni of Alamo Heights High School, as described by district spokeswoman Patti Pawlik-Perales, who worked with you last year to research Black students who attended Alamo Heights during the first 20 years after integration (1955-1975).

Based on a review of yearbooks and other district materials, Pawlik-Perales said, it appears that Fly, a member of the class of 1970, is the third Black graduate of Alamo Heights High School, and classmate Rosemary Sauls was the fourth. Carrie Mae Harbert, class of 1962, was the first. Brenda Louise Pleasants 69, was the second.

Fly, who was featured in this column Feb. 28, 2018, regarding his investigation into the removal of the private Winters-Jackson-Anthony cemetery, has since done extensive research with Lambert on early Black students at Alamo Heights schools.

The earliest were in 1955, after the district announced its decision to integrate. Following the 1955 Supreme Court decision, Brown II, that ordered the lower federal courts to require desegregation with all deliberate speed, San Antonio school districts moved to do so without waiting for appeal of the recent Big Spring court decision. Alamo Heights board released a statement that Negroes would be admitted to their schools formerly limited to the white contingent, as published in the San Antonio Express and News, Aug. 28, 1955.

Alamo Heights ISD was the fifth area school district to change its policy for the 1955-1956 school year, amid concerns that refusal to comply could adversely affect eligibility for state funding.

Black students could choose to attend Alamo Heights schools or to have the district pay tuition if they preferred to stay where they were, said Mary Fisher in One Hundred Years of Excellence: The Story of the Alamo Heights Independent School District, having noted that before integration, the district already was paying for its Black students to be educated in Los Angeles Heights district schools (later part of San Antonio ISD). In 1955, the history book states, The school census counted 22 African-American students living in the district.

The low number reflects the fact that restrictive covenants imposed on property owners in Alamo Heights, incorporated in 1922, prevented houses from being sold or leased to one not of the Caucasian race. When the Alamo Heights school district was founded the next year, however, Black people already were living within its boundaries and continued to do so.

African American domestic workers lived in Alamo Heights as early as 1910, Fly said. Some were children of domestics who lived with their employers, but there also was a small piece of Olmos Park off McCullough (Avenue) that consisted of the homes of some Black families.

Black students who lived in the Alamo Heights School District were required to attend the Sojourner Truth School located in the Kenwood neighborhood west of McCullough and north of Olmos Drive through the primary grades, then transfer to San Antonio ISD schools  typically, Douglass Middle School and Phillis Wheatley High School, both designated as colored schools. This, Fly discovered, was the practice from 1911 through 1955.

The first three Black children to enroll in Alamo Heights schools were from the Smith family, who lived at 201 Annie St. in Olmos Park.

As reported in the Express on Aug. 31, 1955, they were John Henry Smith Jr., 13, and Paulette, 11, who registered for Alamo Heights Junior School; and their brother, William George, 8, who went to Cambridge Elementary. All three previously had attended Sojourner Truth.

The Smiths were not only the first Black students to attend Alamo Heights schools, they were also the first to attend any previously all-white San Antonio junior high or elementary school. Their sister, Shirley Smith (now deceased) would briefly attend Alamo Heights High School, which John Henry also attended but left in his senior year to graduate later from Wheatley High.

Fly and Lambert would like to locate John Henry, Paulette and William George Smith as well as other early Black students who attended or graduated from Alamo Heights schools for future recognition. To share your stories with them, contact this column. All replies will be forwarded.

historycolumn@yahoo.com | Twitter: @sahistorycolumn | Facebook: SanAntoniohistorycolumn
Ahead of the 2023 general and presidential elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has concluded arrangements to embark on creation of additional polling units to provide for a good voting environment and effective implementation of the regulations and guidelines of the commission on election day.

According to INEC, polling units which form the basis on which citizens exercise their fundamental rights to vote and make electoral choices freely, must be areas where voters have access.

The commission said the current configuration of 119,973 polling units was established by the defunct National Electoral Commission of Nigeria, NECON in 1996 when Chief Karibi Dagogo-Jack was chairman of the commission between 1994 and1998 when late former Head of State, General Sani Abacha, was still in power.

It said that figures produced in 1996 were used for the 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019 general elections without being corrected.

The commission explained that it has become imperative to carry out the creation of the additional polling units in the six ge-political zones of the country and the nation's capital, Abuja, because of violence, voter apathy, insecurity, congestion, lack of safety, among others, that are associated with the existing ones.

Disclosing these yesterday in Abuja, a top official of INEC, who noted that Nigeria had been bedevilled with the constant problem of low voter turn out in nation's elections, said the issue was attributable to insufficient polling units that the commission wants to address at the moment.

According to the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, there is the fear of violence which affects the performance of electoral officers.

"There is one factor that worsens the situation and that is the availability of places for citizens to cast their votes, it is almost a scandal.

"Our own has remained constant, static since 1996. We don't want to politicise the process that is why we want people to know what the commission is trying to do without politicising the process," he said.

He also disclosed that the management of the commission will meet with the 18 political parties in the country and unfold to them plans to create additional polling units in the country.

He also said there would be consultation with socio-cultural organisations across the country, including PANDEF, Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, the media, the academia, international election observer group, women leaders, students, among others, as from next week.

The source the commission has met with former Federal Commissioner for Information and South South, Chief Edwin Clark, among others and would still meet with him and others to tap from their experiences.

He said: "Polling units has been since 1996. Since 25. In 2016 before the FCT area council election in response to the need to break polling units, we established the voting point settlements in the FCT. Because of the new settlement that have emerged, and the increase in population everywhere."

"In 2018, we tried to break additional polling units and then it was very close to the 2019 elections we didn't quite succeed. This time around, learning from the experience of what happened, and the little advantage we have of haven conducted the last election, so we need to go full blast as we prepare for 2023. So this time we decided to start early. We have two years to the next general elections.

"In 2014, the Jega commission took the protection of section 42 of the electoral act literally and that was what we did in 2018. The commission has Power to establish polling units and to allot voters to the polling units. So we took it as an administrative action so the commission just allows the creation of polling units but it was objected, so under pressure the commission had withdrawn.

"This time around, we don't want any Nigerian to input motives in what we are trying to do. We will lay bare our intention on the table so that every Nigerian will see what we are trying to do.

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"We are going to.put it on the table to say this is what we are trying to do, if Nigerians support it, nice if they object it, we drop it and continue with preparations for the next general elections.

"But the second thing learning from experience is that there was insufficient consultation we really never sufficiently consulted and so people imputed motives. This time around, we are going to start very early we are going to consult widely, we have not started the series of consultations. We have issued a statement to say we will start the process of consultation, we are going to start with the political parties, CSOs, media, security we want to expand the consultation this time around.

"We will go to the sociocultural associations. I have spoken to Afenifre. Edwin Clark, arewa consultative forum, can supreme council for Islamic affairs. We are also going to make presentations to nass, fec, national council of state and national economic council, judiciary, labour unions. Let Nigerians see clearly what problems we are confronting and how they are going to address these problems."
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He inherited a historic title, the 200-room Floors Castle and an estimated 100million estate when his father died in 2019, but the Duke of Roxburghe lacked a wife.

Now, I can reveal, Charlie Roxburghe, 39, an Army pal of Prince Harry, has put that right by proposing to Annie Green, 31, the delightful stepdaughter of a South African mining tycoon.

How could I say no? Annie told friends.

Another chum tells me: They will get married as soon as this pandemic is over.

I can reveal, Charlie Roxburghe, 39, (left) an Army pal of Prince Harry, has put that right by proposing to Annie Green, 31, (right) the delightful stepdaughter of a South African mining tycoon

Former Army captain Charlie  who has a daughter with his ex-girlfriend, the Iranian fashion designer Morvarid Sahafi  met Annie last summer.

Shes an Edinburgh University graduate whos training as an occupational therapist.

She grew up in South Africa, where her stepfather, Patrick Quirk, is one of Africas biggest tycoons.

Her brother Nick was a leading light of the notorious Bullingdon Club while students at Oxford.

Eton-educated Charlie and his Duchess will move into Floors (prononounced Fleurs), while his stepmother, Virgina, will live elsewhere on the 52,000-acre estate in Roxburghshire.

Eton-educated Charlie and his Duchess will move into Floors (prononounced Fleurs), while his stepmother, Virgina, will live elsewhere on the 52,000-acre estate in Roxburghshire (pictured)

He was previously married to Lord Beaverbrooks elder daughter, Charlotte Aitken, but the couple separated just a few months later. She works as a wedding planner.

Charlie's father Guy Innes Ker died in 2019 after a long battle with cancer at the family's ancestral pile, Floors Castle, near Kelso, in the Scottish Borders.

He was a graduate of Sandhurst Military Academy and Cambridge University, inheriting the title from his father at the age of just 19.

Guy split from Charlie's mother Lady Jane Grosvenor, sister of the Duke of Westminster, in 1990, and married Virginia Wynn-Williams two years later.

Prince Harry's (pictured) pal, former Army captain Charlie  who has a daughter with his ex-girlfriend, the Iranian fashion designer Morvarid Sahafi  met Annie last summer

The castle has a history of tempestuous break-ups with Charlie's grandfather, the 9th Duke, famously trying to evict his wife in 1953 after he had an affair.

She refused leave, locking herself in a suite at the castle for six weeks.

In response the Duke turned off the electricity and gas and even attempted to cut off her water supply to get her out. Eventually, the dispute was settled out of court.

2021 marks the 300th-anniversary of Floors Castle, with the team maintaining the estate planning a series of events to celebrate the landmark.

Choo chuffed at Carrie reboot

High-heel obsessive Carrie Bradshaw, as played by Sarah Jessica Parker, helped make Jimmy Choo a global brand, so the shoe designer is delighted that Sex And The City is getting a reboot. This is a good chance for me, admits Choo, who hopes students from his own London Fashion Academy will get to create new styles for the series.

Choo, 72, still misses his most famous customer, Princess Diana. Whenever she travelled to different parts of the world, she would call me and say, Oh, Jimmy, can you design a range for me? Im travelling to Japan, India ... my birthday is coming up, can you design something for me? We had a trust.

So people said, Oh, I must also ask Jimmy to design something for me.

Its thanks to Princess Diana for giving me this opportunity.

High-heel obsessive Carrie Bradshaw (pictured), as played by Sarah Jessica Parker, helped make Jimmy Choo a global brand, so the shoe designer is delighted that Sex And The City is getting a reboot

Erstwhile drag queen Paul OGrady has been forced to accommodate some extra visitors at a proposed new guest house for his pals at his 3 million country home.

The For The Love of Dogs presenter wants to knock down a cottage and build a new one in the grounds of his Georgian farmhouse in Kent.

Hes also applied for permission for a loft conversion to create a sixth bedroom at his home. But a bat survey found both buildings are home to soprano pipistrelle and brown long-eared bats  protected species. It means hell have to apply for a special licence from Natural England and install a bat loft in his guest house and a bat box in a nearby tree.

He said: Its like the Addams Family at twilight. They all come flying out, all the bats.

Anna still Friel-less about stripping off

Marcella star Anna Friel is happy to keep baring all for her art at the age of 44

Some actresses, such as Keira Knightley, loathe stripping off so much that they have no-nudity clauses written into their contracts.

But Marcella star Anna Friel is happy to keep baring all for her art at the age of 44.

Im fearless when it comes to nakedness, for some reason, she declares. I dont really get intimidated by that, unless Ive been eating too many crisps.

Its more difficult as you get older, but weve all got bodies and shouldnt be ashamed of them.

The actress  who made history on soap opera Brookside in 1994 when she shared, with Nicola Stephenson, the first pre-watershed lesbian kiss on British television  is pleased that shes still being offered strong parts.

Im really grateful at this age Im working, she says. Even five or six years ago, there were very few parts for someone whos 44. You could make it til your late 30s, then youd be reintroduced in your 60s when you can play a grandma. Now they are saying, People in their 40s are actually interesting. Thank God.

He made 3 million last year, but Grand Designs host Kevin McCloud is likely to leave backers of his own 2.3 million property venture out of pocket. He encouraged viewers to pump up to 150,000 each into the eco-friendly housing scheme he launched in 2007.

But now liquidators have told them theyre likely to see nothing in return. In a newly filed document, they state: Based on current estimates, it is uncertain whether there will be a dividend to unsecured creditors.

Hollywoods ex bids loyal pal farewell (not you, Paul)

Paul Hollywoods ex-wife, Alex, is bereft after the death of her beloved chocolate Labrador, Rufus, who helped her through the acrimonious breakdown of her marriage to the Bake Off star.

When times were tough and my marriage collapsed so messily and so publicly he would sit patiently whilst I cried into his warm furry shoulder, she says. He was my friend. Loyal, brave, trustworthy, completely without guile or selfish-ness, attributes that are sometimes sadly lacking in humans we know.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed "common challenges" faced by Washington and Riyadh in his first phone call with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, state media said Saturday.

Bin Farhan congratulated Blinken on his appointment and said Riyadh looked forward to working with Washington, said the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The kingdom was keen to cooperate with President Joe Biden's US administration to uphold "security and stability" in the region, it said.

Blinken and bin Farhan also discussed the "historical and strategic relations" between the two countries, the agency added.

The reported phone call comes after Biden announced Thursday he was ending US support for Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen, where it has been involved since 2015 to shore up the government against the Iran-backed Huthi rebels.

Biden also said his administration would end all support, including connected arms sales for ally Saudi Arabia in the war that has brought impoverished Yemen to its knees.

He also appointed veteran diplomat Timothy Lenderking, who has wide knowledge of the region, as US special envoy for Yemen.

Saudi Arabia reacted to Biden's decisions by welcoming his "commitment to cooperate with the kingdom to defend its sovereignty and counter threats against it," SPA said.

State department spokesman Ned Price has noted that Biden made clear the United States still supported Saudi Arabia outside the Yemen war.

He described the administration's stance as a "return to standard procedures" in reviewing every arms deal.

In ending support for the Saudi war in Yemen, Biden was fulfilling a campaign promise to activists who have been horrified by the suffering.

The grinding six-year war in Yemen has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, triggering what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

Yemen's internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia, and the Huthis have welcomed Biden's stance and the renewed push to end the conflict.

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Farmers in Rajasthan blocked many national and state highways for three hours on Saturday, from 12pm to 3 pm, demanding the withdrawal of three farm laws and protesting against the internet ban near their protest sites and alleged harassment by authorities, among other issues.

The Congress government had already extended its support to farmers. Following orders from the AICC, Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasara on Friday directed all party officials to fully cooperate in making the highway jam a success, after which Congress leaders took to the streets for the chakka jam.

The protests started around 12 noon. In Jaipur, tractors were placed on roads to jam the traffic while in Alwar, stones and thorny shrubs were placed on roads to check the traffic on roads.

In Kota, a massive tractor rally was taken out.

The Delhi-Jaipur highway was completely blocked as the lane passing through the Shahjahanapur border (Alwar) was also closed around 11 am in morning. It shall remain closed till 3 pm, said farm leaders.

Former deputy CM Sachin Pilot, who started a kisaan mahapanchayat on Friday from Dausa, reached Bharapur on Saturday to address a farmers' gathering as a part of this chakka jam protest.

Madrid health authorities on Friday confirmed the region's first case of the Brazilian COVID-19 variant, while a national committee was debating whether to recommend AstraZeneca's vaccine to people over 65.

The national health ministry said it was not aware of any other cases of the highly contagious Brazilian variant in Spanish territory.

Catalan authorities announced the country's second known case of the South African variant on Wednesday, a day after the government restricted air travel with Brazil and South Africa to curb the spread of the virulent new strains from those countries.

Officials have warned that although a third wave of infection has slowed, with the 14-day incidence rate falling to 751 cases per 100,000 people on Friday from 900 cases in late January, the arrival of the new strains could drive a resurgence.

The health ministry recorded 28,565 new cases on Friday, bringing the total above 2.94 million, while the death toll climbed by 584 to 61,386.

Meanwhile a national vaccine committee was expected to announce that Spain would follow France and Germany in restricting the AstraZeneca vaccine to younger people amid a lack of data on its use in the elderly.

Nearly three quarters of Spaniards are willing to receive a shot as soon as one became available, according to a recent poll by the Centre for Sociological Studies (CIS) but some remain wary.
(CNN) -- Shipments of Covid-19 vaccines will be headed to pharmacies next week under a federal program that aims to get more people vaccinated quickly.

Twenty-one "national pharmacy partners and networks of independent pharmacies representing over 40,000 pharmacy locations nationwide" are taking part in the program, according to a government fact sheet, which includes a list of all participating pharmacies or networks.

In phase one of the distribution plan, 1 million doses will be sent out to about 6,500 stores including Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, Publix pharmacies, and others, starting on February 11.

Many pharmacies already vaccinate people against a number of illnesses, including the flu and shingles. Some experts have suggested that pharmacies nationwide will have the capacity to administer 100 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine once supply is available.

"Based on conservative assumptions, pharmacies have the capacity to meet the demand for 100 million vaccine doses in one month when that level of the vaccine supply is available," Steven Anderson, president and CEO of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, told reporters last month.

Pharmacies are also "readily accessible in most communities, with most Americans living within five miles of a pharmacy," White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said earlier this week.

Here's a look at how the plan will work.

Phase one will include only some pharmacies in certain states

The pharmacies that will have the vaccine are selected by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and states, taking into account "their ability to reach some of the populations most at risk for severe illness from Covid-19, including socially vulnerable communities," according to Zients.

"In the early phase, many pharmacies across the country will not have vaccine, or may have very limited supply," Zients said Tuesday.

CVS and Walgreens will be getting a large share of the first shipment of vaccinations.

Starting Thursday, CVS said it will be offering doses to people eligible in some of its stores in 11 states, including California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

CVS will have about a quarter of the total initial million doses.

Walgreens said it will begin offering vaccines on February 12 in 15 states, including Chicago and other places in Illinois, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, including New York City, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Vermont, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

Not every CVS or Walgreens pharmacy in these states will have the vaccine in this initial phase.

However, "as more supply becomes available the company will expand to additional states while increasing the number of stores offering vaccinations," CVS said in a news release.

Walmart will be offering the vaccine in some of its stores in Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Louisiana and Wyoming.

"Once a store or club receives allocation, our online scheduler will be available to make appointments," Walmart said in a statement.

Walmart said last month that it expects it will be able to administer 10 million to 13 million doses per month "when supply and allocations allow" across its more than 5,000 pharmacies in the United States and Puerto Rico.

CVS has said it eventually expects to be able to administer as many as 20 million to 25 million shots per month across its nearly 10,000 stores.

You must be eligible to get a vaccine before booking an appointment.

The pharmacies in the program will follow the state's guidelines and only vaccinate people who are eligible in that state.

Most states have followed the CDC's recommendation and are offering vaccines to frontline workers and the elderly in long-term care facilities right now.

States like Florida and Georgia are also offering vaccines to people 65 and older.

Those who are eligible will be able to sign up for an appointment.

Experts are hopeful that vaccination appointments will eliminate wait times for clients, and make the process similar to getting a flu vaccination at your local drug store.

There is normally a 15-minute wait time after getting the Covid-19 shot, which is in place to make sure people don't have an allergic reaction.

Appointments can be made online or by phone.

At Walgreens, appointments can be booked through a vaccine scheduler. The CVS website lets you search by state.

Requiring everyone to have an appointment will also help stores make sure people are socially distanced and that there's no crowding.

"Vaccines are by appointment, so we know how many people will need to be observed," a Walmart spokesperson told CNN in an email.

In locations where Walmart will host vaccination clinics, it will have floor decals to mark social distancing. Stores will also space out chairs so people are socially distant.

Everyone will be able to get the vaccine at no cost, even people who have no health insurance or are under-insured.

Vaccine supply at this stage is the main challenge. There will only be 1 million doses sent to drug stores at first, and it's not clear if or when the allocation to drug stores will be increased.

That will ramp up over time, as more supply becomes available.

CVS has hired around 10,000 pharmacy technicians to administer vaccines and coronavirus testing, Michael DeAngelis, a CVS spokesman, said. It plans to have around 90,000 employees, including pharmacists, licensed pharmacy technicians and nurses, administering vaccines.

Walmart has not put a number on how many pharmacy staff members it will need to add for vaccine administering. But it is offering current staff a bonus for referring qualified candidates, a Walmart spokesperson told CNN in an email.

Supply constraints and a patchwork system of vaccine eligibility by states are not the only challenges facing these chains and their staff.

The pharmacy chains are also preparing for misinformation online about the vaccine as well.

Giant Eagle, which has more than 400 stores in five states, has prepared talking points for its more than 600 pharmacists who will administer the vaccine. The goal is to help combat false information about the virus, Victor Vercammen, chief pandemic officer at the chain, said in an interview last month.

"We are also doing our best to educate the public ... to help them sift through what might be on social media, what might be factual, what might be opinion, around topics like Covid vaccine safety," he said.

Once the supply of vaccine is available, pharmacies around the country could be vaccinating seven people an hour and 100 million a month, even with current staffing, according to the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.

The group's model assumes that 40,000 chain pharmacies, including traditional drug stores like CVS and Walgreens, grocery stores like Kroger and large retailers such as Walmart and Costco, can administer 3.3 million vaccinations per day.

The model does not include independent pharmacies in the United States that will also administer the vaccine and are part of the federal partnership.

If all of the nearly 17,000 independent pharmacies that give immunizations had the vaccine, they could administer approximately 1.28 million per day, according to the National Community Pharmacists Association.

Four Senate Democrats who once backed the controversial Keystone XL pipeline have switched their position amid changing climate politics.

On his first day in office, President Biden canceled a permit for the 2,000-mile oil pipeline that would have run from Alberta in western Canada through to Texas. The move, part of a day-one climate change executive order, has drawn harsh backlash from Republican lawmakers and even some Democrats who say the cancellation will kill thousands of construction and energy jobs.

Republicans forced Democratic senators, during a 15-hour "vote-a-rama" on amendments to the budget resolution Thursday, to go on record on the pipeline. Two more conservative Democrats, Senate Energy Committee Chairman Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Montana Sen. Jon Tester, joined Republicans to vote in favor of the pipeline project.

That vote and a few others, including an amendment barring the Council on Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency from banning fracking that several Democrats backed, preview some of the tensions Biden and Democratic leadership will face as they attempt to craft aggressive policies to curb emissions that can gain the support of their whole caucus.

The Keystone vote, however, also saw four Democratic senators renege their prior support for the project. All four had bucked former President Barack Obama in 2015 by voting to authorize the pipeline. Obama ultimately vetoed that bill and then rejected the pipeline.

Here are the senators who have switched their position:

Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware

Carper just took the gavel as the new Senate Environment Committee chairman, and he has strongly backed the sweeping climate executive actions Biden has taken in his first few weeks.

The Delaware senator once backed the Keystone pipeline, however.

"I voted to approve the pipeline in part because I felt that six years of deliberation on this project was enough, and it was time to move on to other matters that will have a greater impact on our environment, our economy, and our energy security," Carper said in 2015, defending his vote to approve the pipeline.

He added the State Department's environmental analysis "demonstrated that the negative environmental impacts of the pipeline will be relatively few."

Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado

Bennet, who was among the Democratic Party's many presidential candidates in the 2020 cycle, voted against the Keystone pipeline Thursday. But even as recently as the 2020 campaign trail, he found himself defending his vote in 2015 to authorize the project.

"I took no pleasure in voting for Keystone," Bennet said in January of last year, according to E&E News. He added that then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was teeing up the Keystone vote to try to "disqualify Democrats on jobs and infrastructure."

Bennet, though, has previously criticized fellow Democrats and environmental activists for making the Keystone pipeline "their cause" instead of reducing emissions.

"Imagine if, instead of opposing the Keystone Pipeline, we had included it within a bipartisan deal to secure the Clean Power Plan or other meaningful steps to reduce our carbon emissions," Bennet wrote in a 2017 op-ed in USA Today.

Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania

Casey, whose state is a natural gas stronghold, in the past had repeatedly split with most other Democrats to back the Keystone pipeline.

A spokesman for Casey told the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2014 that Casey "believes the project could create jobs and bolster energy security." The spokesman added Casey supports continuing to "grow the domestic energy supply to fuel the economy and increase our energy independence."

Casey has also previously pressured TransCanada, the company building the pipeline, to use U.S.-made steel for the project.

Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia

Warner, following a vote in 2014 to back the Keystone pipeline, said in a statement the State Department's environmental review had "found the project would not significantly add to global warming, it will create jobs (though likely not as many as supporters claim), and it will allow the U.S. to increase its energy security."

In 2015, Warner again voted to authorize construction of the pipeline.
Upper Crust and Ritazza cafe owner SSP has ramped up its Government borrowing by 175million to cope with tough travel restrictions, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The increase takes the travel food operator's borrowing through the Bank of England lending programme to its agreed maximum of 300million.

The move comes after the latest stringent lockdown measures were put in place across the country a month ago and as the window to draw additional funds from the scheme is fast closing.

It is not yet clear if the March 22 deadline for extra borrowing will be extended.

Struggling: SSP is now among the biggest corporate debtors under the Covid Corporate Financing Facility

It means SSP  which is also an M&S Simply Food and Burger King franchisee  is now among the biggest corporate debtors under the Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF), which was launched to offer help to Britain's biggest firms through the crisis.

British Airways, bus and rail operator FirstGroup and aerospace engineer Rolls-Royce have all borrowed the same amount under the taxpayer-backed initiative.

FTSE 250-listed SSP operates at airport and railway stations where closures and plummeting tourist and commuter trade have left its finances battered.

The company's chief executive Simon Smith warned last year that it was 'burning' cash at around 25million a month.

Its increased borrowing under the CCFF is understood to have taken place in recent days.

Shore Capital said in a report last week that speculation of a fresh fundraising by SSP was 'an ongoing debate' in the City.

The analyst said SSP may yet seek to raise around 200million through a share sale to provide it with breathing room as it emerges from the crisis.

The remaining credit available from all its lending sources was about 520million before the Bank of England facility was drawn, which Shore said would sustain SSP until next year.

SSP is understood to have until February 2022 to pay the money back  an arrangement well in excess of the 12-month facilities arranged by many large firms under the scheme.

It is likely to face restrictions on executive pay and dividend payments until the money is repaid.

Shore Capital said the company could still benefit from pent-up demand for leisure travel this summer as the vaccine roll-out programme accelerates.

The boom could eventually see it return to profitability in its financial year to September 2022 if consumer confidence returns.

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EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen today compared vaccine nationalism to the Cold War space race.

The beleaguered Brussels chief said this 'old confrontational mindset' akin to US-Soviet tensions was not helping global efforts to beat coronavirus.

She told students at Warwick University: 'Some countries see the quest for a vaccine as a race amongst global powers, like the space race in the 1960s.'

Her remarks came a week after the bloc tried to implement strict export controls in a bid to stop doses reaching the UK, before backtracking amid uproar.

Vaccine rollouts on the Continent have been comparatively sluggish and Brussels has demanded British shots are diverted to top up EU shortfalls.

The EU has even turned to Moscow for help and is leaning on the European regulator to approve the Russian Sputnik V jab.

Speaking to the student-led Warwick Economics Summit via video-link, she said: 'When I was your age, the world was still divided in two blocs.

'The superpowers were fighting to expand or maintain their sphere of influence. Well, this world is long gone.

'And yet, the old confrontational mindset has arrived. Think for instance about Covid-19 vaccines. Some countries see the quest for a vaccine as a race amongst global powers, like the space race in the 1960s.

'This is an illusion. The only race is against the virus, and the virus is spreading faster than ever before.'

Ms von der Leyen added: 'This is not a competition between Europeans, Russians, Chinese and Americans; this is too serious.'

Tory MP Bob Seely told MailOnline: 'These are sensible words and I agree, but I hope that means no more aggressive or petulant bullying tactics over the Northern Irish border or over threats to block exports.

'The Government's brilliant vaccination policy is not designed to show up EU incompetence, it's designed to save British lives and thank God it's doing just that.'

More than 11million people in the UK have now received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine - about 16 per cent of the population. The average for the EU is dramatically lower at 3.5 per cent.

Brussels has rowed with AstraZeneca for not supplying the bloc with enough doses of its Oxford jab.

Britain opted out of Brussels' vaccine-buying scheme and signed a contract with the big pharma firm three months before the EU - and so has secured a steady supply.

The Brussels chief said this 'old confrontational mindset' was hindering global efforts to beat coronavirus

Broadcaster and author Loyd Grossman, 70, receives an injection of the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at North Cotswold Hospital, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire

In a sign of the desperate situation, the EU's foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell yesterday held a joint press conference with Russia's foreign mininster, Sergey Lavrov.

Mr Borrell congratulated Russia for its Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine, before pushing the independent European Medicines Agency to authorise the jab so that EU citizens can use it.

Ms von der Leyen, who took the helm in Brussels only last year, has already come under fire in European capitals for the bungled rollout.

This week a senior German minister even broke cover to brand her leadership during the vaccine drive as 'really s***'.

A student at the London School of Economics in the 1970s, the Brussels supremo said Brexit was a 'painful page' in the UK's history with the bloc.

But she reserved her biggest swipes for China, who she said were the EU's 'systemic rivals'.

In a sign of the dire situation, the EU's foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell yesterday held a joint press conference with Russia's foreign mininster, Sergey Lavrov

Ms von der Leyen told the Warwick Economics Summit: 'Our offer to engage on the global scene is not only addressed to our oldest friends.

'How could we tackle the greatest issues of our time, from coronavirus to climate, if we don't engage with China?

'And let me be very clear, although China and the European Union are cooperating when it comes to fighting climate change, although we are competing in the economic field, we are systemic rivals.

'When it comes to society, individual rights and the role of governments, Europe will continue to call out human rights abuses, to push for change. We believe that every human being is entitled to the same fundamental rights. The people of Hong Kong asking for democracy, the Uighurs, Europe will always speak up for them.'
Late on Friday night, the Supreme Court blocked Californias public health ban on indoor religious services in a splintered 63 decision that augurs a major shift in the law of religious liberty. Justice Elena Kagans extraordinary dissent accused her conservative colleagues of endangering lives by overruling public health officials and potentially facilitating the spread of COVID-19. But the courts new conservative majority ignored her warningand, in the process, gave itself new powers to strike down alleged burdens on religious freedom. The Supreme Court effectively tossed out decades of case law in a late-night emergency order, unsettling precedent that states have relied upon to craft COVID restrictions. As Kagan sharply noted, Fridays order injects uncertainty into an area where uncertainty has human costs.

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South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom is the latest in a long line of COVID cases to reach the Supreme Court. The plaintiffs challenged three pandemic-related restrictions on religious worship: a total ban on indoor services in areas where cases are surging (which covers much of the state right now), a 25 percent cap on indoor services where they are permitted, and a ban on singing and chanting during those services.

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In a muddled order, SCOTUS shot down the total ban on indoor services, but upheld the 25 percent cap and the singing ban. The majoritys decisionissued as a highly infectious California variant of the coronavirus sweeps across the stateallows residents to resume indoor worship, the cause of countless superspreader events since the start of the pandemic. While there is no single majority opinion, five justices supported the proposition that Californias regime violates free exercise because it treats secular businesses more favorably than religious establishments. Notably, no justice in the majority even pretended to apply the appropriate standard for this emergency request, which requires plaintiffs to prove that the legal rights at issue are indisputably clear and that an injunction is in the public interest. They simply issued a decision on the merits, another example of the court making law through its shadow docket.

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Kagan, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer, dissented from this order in a blunt opinion highlighting the possibility that her colleagues decision will kill people. Justices of this Court are not scientists, Kagan began. Nor do we know much about public health policy. Yet today the Court displaces the judgments of experts about how to respond to a raging pandemic.  That mandate defies our caselaw, exceeds our judicial role, and risks worsening the pandemic. She pointed out that, contrary to the courts belief, California has not actually treated churches less favorably than secular businesses and assemblies: Political meetings, lectures, and plays are also banned, she wroteand these secular gatherings, like religious worship, are constitutionally protected by the First Amendment. The court simply created a special exception for worship services.

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To state the obvious, judges do not know what scientists and public health experts do, Kagan explained. So it is alarming that the Court second-guesses the judgments of expert officials, and displaces their conclusions with its own. In the worst public health crisis in a century, this foray into armchair epidemiology cannot end well. She continued:

I fervently hope that the Courts intervention will not worsen the Nations COVID crisis. But if this decision causes suffering, we will not pay. Our marble halls are now closed to the public, and our life tenure forever insulates us from responsibility for our errors. That would seem good reason to avoid disrupting a States pandemic response. But the Court forges ahead regardless, insisting that science-based policy yield to judicial edict.

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None of Kagans conservative colleagues heeded her advice. To the contrary, five justicesClarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrettdove deeper into armchair epidemiology than ever before. Gorsuch complained that California allowed movie studios, malls, and manicurists to open while keeping churches shuttered. He simply ignored the extensive expert testimony that religious services pose a dramatically higher risk of spreading COVID infection than these secular businesses.

Gorsuch also castigated California for allowing singing during film production and not during worship, disregarding the stringent rules that apply to filmmaking (including thrice-weekly testing) that cannot possibly be applied to church services. He went so far as to suggest that California officials wrote confusing regulations to conceal this alleged unequal treatment. (Even Kavanaugh and Barrett backed away from this attack on the states singing rules because they found the record unclear.) And in a startling passage, Gorsuch accused public officials of issuing COVID restrictions in bad faith: Government actors have been moving the goalposts on pandemic-related sacrifices for months, he wrote, adopting new benchmarks that always seem to put restoration of liberty just around the corner.

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This five-justice ultraconservative majority also took a huge step toward overturning Employment Division v. Smith, the landmark 1990 precedent curtailing free exercise claims. In Smith, the Supreme Court held that religious plaintiffs cannot claim an exemption to laws that are neutral and generally applicablethat is, laws that dont target religion. While Smith was authored by Justice Antonin Scalia and joined by his fellow conservatives, it is widely despised by todays conservatives, who demand broader exemptions for religious liberty. The new majority either rewrote or implicitly reversed Smith on Friday by creating a new rule: If a law creates any exemption for any secular business or activity, then it is no longer neutral toward religion. Thus, the law must give an exemption to religious establishments and religious exercise as well. This revision of what constitutes neutrality toward religion portends a new era of religious freedom jurisprudence in which churches, employers, colleges, and individuals are all able to flout laws that include a single secular exemption.

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Chief Justice John Roberts attempted to find a middle ground on Friday, reiterating that federal courts owe significant deference to politically accountable officials but finding that Californias total ban on indoor services reflected insufficient appreciation or consideration of the interests at stake. But Roberts is no longer the courts swing vote, and his five more conservative colleagues seized upon this case to dramatically undercut the ability of politically accountable officials to limit COVIDs spreador impose any regulation that happens to burden religion. The short-term consequences of this newly extreme solicitude for religious freedom may be measured in human lives. The long-term consequences will give free exercise priority over all other constitutional rights, regardless of the harm it may inflict on others.

Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 19:38:01|Editor: huaxia

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ADEN, Yemen, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- A high-level delegation of European Union (EU) ambassadors to Yemen arrived in the country's southern port city of Aden on Saturday, a government official told Xinhua.

"The EU's ambassadors to Yemen along with high-ranking diplomatic officials arrived at Aden's International Airport on their first visit to the country's temporary capital of Aden," the local government source said on condition of anonymity.

The EU's delegation instantly accompanied by armored vehicles and headed to the presidential compound where the new power-sharing government is based, the source said.

It is scheduled that the EU's delegation will discuss a number of issues with the Yemeni government, including the situation in the government-controlled provinces and the progress of implementing the Riyadh deal.

On Wednesday, an international team composed of senior experts arrived in Yemen's Aden to investigate the deadly bombings that struck the city's airport last December.

The impoverished Arab country has been locked into a civil war since late 2014, when the Houthi rebels overran much of the country and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa. Enditem
Britains Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and counterparts from the US, France and Germany held virtual talks on Friday for the first time in almost three years (Aaron Chown/PA)

The senior diplomats of Britain, France, Germany and the United States met on Friday for the first time in almost three years as the European allies welcome Americas return to centre stage in world affairs under President Joe Biden.

Britains Foreign Office and the US State Department said the foreign ministers of the three European nations and the US secretary of state held virtual talks on topics that included Iran, China, Russia, Myanmar, climate change and the coronavirus pandemic.

The last time the top foreign affairs officials from the four countries met as a quartet was in April 2018.

Expand Close US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (Evan Vucci/AP) / Facebook

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The meeting of UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian came a day after Mr Biden told US diplomats at the State Department: America is back. Diplomacy is back.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the ministers had affirmed the centrality of the Transatlantic relationship in dealing with security, climate, economic, health, and other challenges the world faces.

He added that Mr Blinken underscored the US commitment to coordinated action to overcome global challenges. The statement offered no other details.

Mr Biden has turned sharply away from the America first policies of his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, on issues such as climate change and Russia. One of Mr Bidens first acts as president was reversing Mr Trumps withdrawal of the US from the 2015 Paris climate accord.

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Mr Biden said on Thursday the days of the US rolling over to Russian President Vladimir Putin were over.

He committed to reversing Mr Trumps order to withdraw US troops stationed in Germany and ending support for Saudi Arabias military offensive in Yemen.

Britain, which is heading the G-7 group of industrialised nations this year and is set to host a global climate conference in November, has welcomed the United States renewed focus on engaging with its allies around the world.

The UK is also seeking new ways to exert influence now that it has left the European Union, such as working with small groups of like-minded countries on major issues.
The Delhi Police has arrested three more people in connection with the Red Fort incident on Republic Day, taking the total number of those in its custody for the violence that took place across the national capital during the farmers' tractor parade to 126, officials said on Saturday.

The three have been identified as Harpreet Singh (32), Harjeet Singh (48) and Dharmender Singh (55), all residents of Delhi, they said.

They were nabbed by the special investigating team (SIT) of north district on Wednesday. The crime branch, which is also investigating the cases, formally arrested them on Friday, police said.

Thousands of farmers protesting the Centre's new agri laws had clashed with the police during the tractor parade on January 26.

Many of the protesters, driving tractors, reached the Red Fort and entered the monument. Some protesters even hoisted religious flags on its domes and a flagstaff at the ramparts, where the national flag is unfurled on Independence Day.

Police said they have released pictures of over 70 people who were involved in the violence on January 26. Now their identification is underway, they said.

So far, a total of 126 people have been arrested in connection with the Republic Day violence across the national capital, police said.

"We are constantly examining the videos and footage which we have received to get clear picture of the people involved in the violence. The process of identification is underway," Delhi Police PRO Chinmoy Biswal said.

The objectionable videos on farmers' issue being uploaded from locations out of India are also being examined. The Cyber Cell of the Delhi Police is investigating the matter, he added.

The Cyber Prevention Awareness and Detection (CyPAD) unit of Delhi Police has served around seven to eight notices.

"We have sent notices to around seven to eight people. However, only two of them have responded. They have asked for some time to join the investigation," a senior police officer said.

The Delhi Police on Wednesday arrested a man named Dharmendra Singh in connection with the violence at Red Fort during the farmers' tractor parade on Republic Day.

Earlier, the police had announced cash reward of 1 lakh for information that can lead to the arrest of actor Deep Sidhu, Jugraj Singh, Gurjot Singh and Gurjant Singh who hoisted flags at the Red Fort or were involved in the act.

A cash reward of 50,000 each was also announced for Buta Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Jajbir Singh and Iqbal Singh for allegedly instigating protesters.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.

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Janet Hanson hasnt had anyone inside her home outside of maintenance workers for almost a year.

Because of the pandemic, the 86-year-old -- who lives in the Friendship Village senior citizen complex in Kalamazoo -- cant travel to see her daughter in Arizona. Hanson saw her son only in outdoor venues until it got too cold, and now theyre limited to phone calls. Her social life these days are limited to outdoor walks with several neighbors, all fully masked.

But on Friday, Hanson got her second dose of the Moderna vaccine. In two weeks, she will be considered 95% protected against COVID-19.

And yet its unclear when Hansons life will change; she still needs to adhere to the strict rules put in place by Friendship Village.

And its not just Friendship Village. Hanson is one of a quarter-million Michigan residents who have gotten two doses of a coronavirus vaccine so far, and public-health experts and infectious-disease doctors are saying all those individuals need to continue with masks and social distancing for now.

We havent gotten to the point yet where we say, OK, you can go go around maskless even after vaccination, even two weeks after the second dose, said Dr. Frank Rosenblat, an Oakland County infectious disease specialist with McLaren Health.

The issue is this, say Rosenblat and others: The data is clear that the vaccines greatly reduces the risks of being hospitalized or dying of COVID-19. What is much less clear is whether the current vaccines protect against asymptomatic cases.

And if, in fact, vaccinated people can still be infected with the virus, that means they could infect others and put them at risk of severe illness or death.

So whats happening now is, in effect, a real-world experiment to see what happens, and help public-health experts craft appropriate guidelines.

We have a pretty good confidence level that the vaccines prevent serious illness associated with COVID, Rosenblat said. But we dont know if people who are vaccinated can still transmit the virus to others. Theres no real data yet. Were experiencing and collecting the data as we go.

So Im telling my patients to stay safe, he said. Continue to put a mask on and do all the things you were doing before with social distancing and all that stuff until we have some better data, which Im pretty confident well have in the coming months.

Dr. Anurag Malani, an Ann Arbor infectious disease specialist with St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, said hes also telling his patients to stay the course on coronavirus mitigation strategies for now.

If you look at the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine trials, the vaccines were 95% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID infection, he said. But we dont have the answers yet on whether people can still be infected and infectious. And the other thing thats really important is you dont necessarily know whos had the vaccine.

For those reasons, he said, the guidance around masking and social distancing, thats not going away right now, and I dont see that changing in the near future.

That said, Malani said that researchers will be looking closely at different metrics to see how fast the nationwide vaccination program can bring down the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, and at what point herd immunity kicks in -- which means case rates fall low enough that even unvaccinated people are unlikely to get the virus.

While doctors stress the importance of masking and social distancing in public venues, they do say people who are fully immunized can start weighing the risk of increased interactions with friends and family in private settings, particularly with others who are also immunized.

If youve had the vaccine and someone else has had the vaccine, that kind of changes things in terms of rules for interaction, Malani said. The risk of spending time together is going to be significantly less, if theres any risk at all.

Its been almost a month since Dr. Maureen Ford, an emergency department physician at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, got her second dose of vaccine. Shes still masking and social distancing around those outside her household.

I definitely havent changed my immediate behavior, she said.

But once her parents and in-laws get fully immunized, Ford said that she may loosen things up a bit with them -- although one factor is that Fords husband and children will still be unvaccinated.

We may hang out indoors, but I honestly think well still mask, she said. And hopefully, in the spring and summer, we can do more -- especially outdoor stuff -- and be able to see each other more regularly.

Ford said there are tentative plans for a summer camping trip with extended family. Were optimistic that can happen, she said.

Dr. Dennis Cunningham, an infectious disease specialist with Henry Ford Health System in metro Detroit, said the vaccine does give more protection, which means, say, sharing a meal with people outside the household becomes less risky.

But even with the vaccine, he said, theres still a 5% risk for a vaccinated person to have a symptomatic case of COVID. You have to think about whether its worth the risk, he said. It can be a pretty brutal infection, so I would advise people to be more conservative in relaxing the rules.

But Malani also acknowledges that many people -- especially senior citizens -- have had severely constricted social lives for almost a year, and the risk vs. benefit calculations have shifted as the pandemic has continued.

COVID has taught us that nothing is 100% risk free, right? he said. Its all about risk mitigation.

So yes, I think even if youve been vaccinated, you need to avoid a Super Bowl party with people you dont know, he said. But there are situations where the risk is low enough that Id be willing to consider the potential upside, like grandparents seeing their family members. Vaccinated people getting together with other vaccinated people.

He and others also said that as more people become vaccinated and, hopefully, coronavirus case levels diminish, public-health recommendations are likely to loosen in upcoming months.

The way we move towards a time where were not wearing masks is by having enough of population immune -- herd immunity -- and were nowhere near that now, Malani said. But as more people get vaccinated, every day is hopefully a step in the right direction.

It cant come fast enough for Hanson and her friends in Friendship Village.

A lot of us do feel its about time to start the change in moving back to normal, Hanson said. Change at least some things. Im looking forward to it.

Read more on MLive:

Restaurants reopen today for indoor dining  here are Michigans new rules

Double masking as coronavirus variants spread, where to find the right masks

9% of Michigan adults vaccinated against COVID-19 so far; see numbers in your county
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Student astronomer finds galactic missing matter

Astronomers have for the first time used distant galaxies as 'scintillating pins' to locate and identify a piece of the Milky Way's missing matter.

For decades, scientists have been puzzled as to why they couldn't account for all the matter in the universe as predicted by theory. While most of the universe's mass is thought to be mysterious dark matter and dark energy, 5 percent is 'normal matter' that makes up stars, planets, asteroids, peanut butter and butterflies. This is known as baryonic matter.

However, direct measurement has only accounted for about half the expected baryonic matter.

Yuanming Wang, a doctoral candidate in the School of Physics at the University of Sydney, has developed an ingenious method to help track down the missing matter. She has applied her technique to pinpoint a hitherto undetected stream of cold gas in the Milky Way about 10 light years from Earth. The cloud is about a trillion kilometres long and 10 billion kilometres wide but only weighing about the mass of our Moon.

The results, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, offer a promising way for scientists to track down the Milky Way's missing matter.

"We suspect that much of the 'missing' baryonic matter is in the form of cold gas clouds either in galaxies or between galaxies," said Ms Wang, who is pursuing her PhD at the Sydney Institute for Astronomy.

"This gas is undetectable using conventional methods, as it emits no visible light of its own and is just too cold for detection via radio astronomy," she said.

What the astronomers did is look for radio sources in the distant background to see how they 'shimmered'.

"We found five twinkling radio sources on a giant line in the sky. Our analysis shows their light must have passed through the same cold clump of gas," Ms Wang said.

Just as visible light is distorted as it passes through our atmosphere to give stars their twinkle, when radio waves pass through matter, it also affects their brightness. It was this 'scintillation' that Ms Wang and her colleagues detected.

Dr Artem Tuntsov, a co-author from Manly Astrophysics, said: "We aren't quite sure what the strange cloud is, but one possibility is that it could be a hydrogen 'snow cloud' disrupted by a nearby star to form a long, thin clump of gas."

Hydrogen freezes at about minus 260 degrees and theorists have proposed that some of the universe's missing baryonic matter could be locked up in these hydrogen 'snow clouds'. They are almost impossible to detect directly.

"However, we have now developed a method to identify such clumps of 'invisible' cold gas using background galaxies as pins," Ms Wang said.

Ms Wang's supervisor, Professor Tara Murphy, said: "This is a brilliant result for a young astronomer. We hope the methods trailblazed by Yuanming will allow us to detect more missing matter."

The data to find the gas cloud was taken using the CSIRO's Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope in Western Australia.

Dr Keith Bannister, Principal Research Engineer at CSIRO, said: "It is ASKAP's wide field of view, seeing tens of thousands of galaxies in a single observation that allowed us to measure the shape of the gas cloud."

Professor Murphy said: "This is the first time that multiple 'scintillators' have been detected behind the same cloud of cold gas. In the next few years, we should be able to use similar methods with ASKAP to detect a large number of such gas structures in our galaxy."

Ms Wang's discovery adds to a growing suite of tools for astronomers in their hunt for the universe's missing baryonic matter. This includes a method published last year by the late Jean-Pierre Macquart from Curtin University who used CSIRO's ASKAP telescope to estimate a portion of matter in the intergalactic medium using fast radio bursts as 'cosmic weigh stations'.

###

Ms Wang and Professor Murphy's research was done in collaboration with CSIRO, Manly Astrophysics, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery, OzGrav.

DOWNLOAD the illustration, photos and a copy of the research at this link.

INTERVIEWS

Ms Yuanming Wang | ywan3191@uni.sydney.edu.au (English and Chinese)

Professor Tara Murphy | tara.murphy@sydney.edu.au (English)

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Marcus Strom | marcus.strom@sydney.edu.au | +61 423 982 485

DECLARATION

The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder is part of the Australia Telescope National Facility which is managed by CSIRO, Australia's national science agency. ASKAP uses the resources of the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre. Establishment of ASKAP, the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory and the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre are initiatives of the Australian Government, with support from the Government of Western Australia and the Science and Industry Endowment Fund.

Yuanming Wang is supported by the China Scholarship Council. Tara Murphy acknowledges the support of the Australian Research Council. David Kaplan is supported by a US National Science Foundation grant. This work used resources of China SKA Regional Centre prototype funded by the National Key R&D Programme of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The researchers acknowledge the Wajarri Yamatji as the traditional owners of the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory site.

This story has been published on: 2021-02-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The idiots at Fox Business are shooting themselves in the head. Dobbs, Liz McDonald, Charles Payne, and Bartiromo, are all they had left. They are killing themselves. The defamation lawsuit is garbage, trust me, when a lawsuit starts with the "world is round and 2+2=4" it is garbage.



https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2021/02/05/report-fox-news-cancels-lou-dobbs-showreport-fox-news-cancels-lou-dobbs-show/
Ottawa, Feb 6 : Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has urged citizens not to worry about the increasing concerns on the Covid-19 vaccine rollout in the country.

"When the vaccines are going to come? That's why there's a lot of anxiety and there's a lot of noise going on right now. I want to reassure Canadians: we are on track," Xinhua news agency quoted Trudeau as saying at a press conference here on Friday.

The Prime Minister said that he has spoken with Pfizer and Moderna.

"I speak almost every week with CEOs of these vaccine companies, and they have assured me that they will meet their obligations.

"I want to reassure Canadians that we're on track," he said, adding that as many as 20 million more doses will start to arrive in the spring as his government keeps its sight on vaccinating all people who want a shot by the end of September.

Trudeau asked Canadians to stop worrying about the country's vaccine efforts, saying the temporary "ups and downs" may be frustrating to some people, but they're just that temporary.

It is reported that Pfizer and Moderna are grappling with manufacturing issues at their plants in Europe that have severely disrupted deliveries to markets outside the US.

In the US, both companies are producing vaccines exclusively for the American market.

Trudeau did not however respond when asked if Canada had any legal recourse if the companies don't meet their contractual obligations.

The Prime Minister instead said he spoke with the CEO of AstraZeneca this week, who told him vaccines would follow shortly after Health Canada's green light.

The 20 million AstraZeneca doses reportedly will be delivered between approval and the end of September, with the delivery schedule for those doses to be confirmed after the vaccine is approved.

Health Canada reportedly has assessed AstraZeneca's submission for safety and efficacy since last October, and the two-dose vaccine could be granted approval as early as next week.

So far, more than 1.2 million vaccine shots have already been delivered in Canada, with an estimated 1.3 million more slated to arrive this month.

Canada has so far reported a total of 796,892 Covid-19 cases and 20,594 deaths.

Over the past seven days, there have been an average of 3,947 new cases reported daily, as case counts continue to decline and many provinces reported over 15 per cent fewer infections, compared to last week, the Public Health Agency of Canada said on Friday.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Photo: The Canadian Press Myanmar nationals living in Thailand set a fire to a picture of Myanmar military Commander-in-Chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing during a protest in front of the United Nations' building in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday.

Myanmars new military authorities appeared to have cut most access to the Internet on Saturday as they faced a rising tide of protest over their coup that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi's elected civilian government.

Numerous internet users noted a slow disappearance of data services, especially from mobile service providers, that accelerated sharply late Saturday morning. Broadband connection also later failed, while there were mixed reports on whether landline telephone service and mobile voice connections were still working.

Netblocks, a London-based service that tracks internet disruptions and shutdowns, said Saturday afternoon that a near-total internet shutdown is now in effect" in Myanmar, with connectivity falling to just 16% of normal levels.

The broad outage followed Friday's military order to block Twitter and Instagram because some people were trying to use the platforms to spread what authorities deemed fake news. Facebook had already been blocked earlier in the week  though not completely effectively.

The communication blockages are a stark reminder of the progress Myanmar is in danger of losing after Monday's coup plunged the nation back under direct military rule after a nearly decade-long move toward greater openness and democracy. During Myanmar's previous five decades of military rule, the country was internationally isolated and communication with the outside world strictly controlled.

Suu Kyis five years as leader since 2015 had been Myanmar's most democratic period despite the military retaining broad powers over the government, the continued use of repressive colonial-era laws and the persecution of minority Rohingya Muslims.

The blockages are also adding greater urgency to efforts to resist the coup, with Saturday seeing some of the largest street protests against the takeover. In one of the bigger ones, about 1,000 protesters  factory workers and students prominent among them  marched down a main street in Yangon, the countrys biggest city, and were met by more than 100 police in riot gear.

Members of the crowd shouted down with dictatorship and other slogans. They marched with their hands in the air, formed into three-fingered salutes, a symbol of defiance adopted from protesters in neighbouring Thailand, who borrowed the gesture from the Hunger Games movie franchise.

The demonstration ended peacefully with no clashes reported. It dispersed around the time communications were cut, and it was unclear if the marchers later regrouped.

Similar-sized demonstrations took place in at least two other areas of the city, and likewise were tense but peaceful. People at a protest at Yangons City Hall presented flowers to the police.

Other reports that slipped through the communications blockade said protests were held in other areas, including Mandalay, the country's second-largest city.

Telenor Myanmar, a major mobile operator, confirmed it had received Friday's order to block Twitter and Instagram. In a statement, Twitter said it was deeply concerned about the order and vowed to advocate to end destructive government-led shutdowns.

It undermines the public conversation and the rights of people to make their voices heard, its spokesperson said.

Since the coup, social media platforms have been major sources of independent news as well as organizing tools for protests.

Amnesty International said that to shut down the internet while the country was coping with the coup, people displaced by years of civil conflict and the COVID-19 crisis was a heinous and reckless decision."

Those opposed to the coup and the arrests of activists and politicians have also been gathering at night at windows and on balconies around Yangon to make a cacophony of noise in protest by banging on pots and pans.

The action was not limited to aggrieved citizens on the street. On Friday, nearly 300 elected lawmakers from Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party who met in an online meeting declared themselves as the sole legitimate representatives of the people and asked for international recognition as the countrys government.

They were supposed to have taken their seats Monday in a new session of Parliament following November elections when the military announced it was taking power for a year.

The military accused Suu Kyi and her party of failing to act on its complaints that last Novembers election was marred by fraud, though the election commission said it had no found no evidence to support the claims.

Suu Kyi and President Win Myint are also under house arrest and have been charged with minor offences, seen by many as merely providing a legal veneer for their detention.

In addition to the 134 officials and lawmakers who were detained in the coup, some 18 independent activists were also held, said the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Myanmar, which added that some have been released.

The office of Australia's foreign minister said in a statement Saturday that the government was deeply concerned about reports of Australian and other foreign nationals being detained arbitrarily in Myanmar.

The statement said the government was concerned in particular about one Australian who was detained at a police station. The statement did not provide details on the identities of those being held or the reasons for their detention.

In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pledged Friday that the United Nations will do everything it can to unite the international community and create conditions for the military coup in Myanmar to be reversed.

Guterres said Christine Schraner Burgener, the U.N. special envoy for Myanmar, had a first contact with the military since the coup and expressed the U.N.s strong opposition to the takeover.

Pierre Guillemin, Vice President Technology at Wartsila Voyage, delivered the business standpoint on the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on shipping at the Maritime Future Summit (MFS) hosted by SMM Digital.

At the event entitled Aye, Aye, AI Guillemin, alongside other industry stakeholders, spoke of a maritime future powered by data and an industry primed to reap the benefits of systems thinking and interoperable networking.

Its time to focus on what AI can deliver today, and the power it can enfold by bringing together a currently fragmented maritime ecosystem. This transformation will be driven by solid value propositions for our customers  such as decarbonisation, safety and operational efficiency. This offering will ultimately usher the era of a truly open and interconnected shipping ecosystem, said Guillemin.

From unconnected traditional sails to data-driven intelligent ships and ports that make voyages safer, greener and more efficient  this is the vision behind Wartsilas Smart Marine Ecosystem drive shared Wartsila Voyages Head of Technology at this years SMM digital conference.

So far, the maritime industry has had a sluggish and fragmented approach to digitalisation. But 2020 made it evident that shipping needs to pick up its pace towards smarter operations. And Wartsila Voyage is bringing that transformation.

Looking at the upsides  safety, cost-effectiveness, operational and fuel efficiency  the case for maritime digitalisation is not just strong, it is inevitable, said Guillemin. Now, its only a matter of implementation, and we have a roadmap drawn for it.

AI already solving todays challenges

The tech is futuristic, but it is targeted at solving very real problems being faced by the industry presently. Leveraging effective AI technologies, Wartsila Voyages solutions address a comprehensive range of key shipping operations. There is a plethora of practical solutions that can create immediate and quantifiable economic value for customers, such as:

 Optimised route planning

 Real-time vessel tracking

 Vessel performance systems to manage speed, propulsion and trim optimisation

 Improved ship-to-shore connectivity

 Predicting and saving fuel consumption

 Eliminating human error to enhance safety

 Reducing emissions for better environmental compliance

To support the marine industry in meeting its decarbonisation targets, Wartsila Voyage is constantly researching, developing and investing in a wide range of products and solutions that enable a variety of vessel classes to substantially reduce their emissions, said Guillemin.

For instance, our Fleet Operations Solution (FOS) and other smart optimisation applications gather real-time data to ensure efficient ship-to-shore and shore-to-ship operations, optimise routes, reduce fuel consumption through trim, speed and propulsion management, while solutions like Wartsila Navi-Port ensure 'just-in-time' arrival to avoid unnecessary near-shore anchorage.

The data also helps us to continuously learn, improve and update the vessel engine, fuel and propulsion systems.

While these solutions are already in place and being implemented, the bigger picture is to rapidly move towards a seamless and interconnected marine ecosystem, added Guillemin.

Moving from silos to integrated ecosystems

Digitalisation is happening but the applications have mostly remained in silos, underutilised. Or completely unexplored due to a hesitation in committing to futuristic tech that may not be compatible with other operations.

Wartsila Voyage, therefore, has designed an incremental approach. Customers can start climbing the AI ladder with retrofitted solutions and slowly move towards digital-native new builds.

Our simulators and latest cloud-based training solutions are also a step towards making the transition to AI easier for both existing and future crews, added Guillemin.

Also, digitalising a vessel or a port is just a stepping stone towards building a holistic Smart Marine Ecosystem. Wartsila Voyage has developed a unique integrated infrastructure that combines bridge systems, cloud data management, data services, decision support tools, and access to real-time information  resulting in a smarter voyage.

We are not just talking about automating a vessel, a port, or one particular function, said Guillemin. Were talking about building a single interconnected, intelligent marine platform for all stakeholders involved in moving a vessel from point A to point B. This requires adoption of the latest technologies, data sharing, open-source APIs, and collaboration across multiple industry verticals to build a network that works in tandem to achieve new levels of efficiency and safety.--TradeArabia News Service
Delhi and its borders have been a hub of the farmers' protests, since they started on November 26, 2020. Delhiites and the residents of NCR region have experienced a continued disruption in their daily lives due to barricading, blocked roads, diverted routes and traffic. Is it high time that Delhi should be emancipated from the continued hindrances?

Farmers protesting against the Centres three new farm laws have called for a nationwide three-hour Chakka jam, or road blockade, between noon and 3 PM today. Barring Delhi, the blockade will take place in other parts of the National Capital Region, and the rest of country. In view of the nationwide Chakka Jam, the Delhi Police has strengthened security arrangements at all border points in the national capital.

The police have erected multi-layer barricades to stop the movement of vehicles at the Ghazipur border. Barbed wires have also been put up to keep off people on foot. The entry and exit points of Delhis Lal Quila, Jama Masjid, Janpath and Central Secretariat metro stations have been closed ahead of the Chakka Jam protest, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) announced. With this, the DMRC has closed 10 metro stations in the National Capital so far. The gates of Mandi House, ITO, Delhi Gate, and Vishwavidyalaya stations were also sealed earlier today.

Police personnel have been deployed at strategic locations such as Road number 56, NH-24, Vikas Marg, GT Road, Jirabad Road, since its a call for nation-wide chakka-jam. Barricading has been done in a way that there is no intrusion in Delhi, said Alok Kumar, Joint CP, Delhi Police. Around 50,000 personnel of Delhi Police, paramilitary and reserve forces have been deployed in the Delhi-NCR region and borders.

Also read: Kisan Union all-set for Chakka Jam across states: 12 Metro stations on alert; police monitor all checkpoints

Amid the heightened security, the Delhi police has deployed drone cameras to monitor the situation during the farmers Chakka Jam protest. These drones hovering over the Tikri border area, where farmers have been protesting against the Centres farm laws for the last few months.

Delhi and its borders, being the National Capital has been the hub of the farmers protests and these protests have led to regular and frequent inconveniences for the residents of the city and NCR region. Due to the protests, there have been regular road blockages, route diversions leading to traffic and barricading across Delhi-NCR which have caused disruption in the residents daily lives, since the protest started in November.

Also read: China expels US warship from South China sea after Biden pledges to confront Beijings aggression
When we spoke to Hanibal Salvaro, all he could talk was about the India Fest 2021. As the main organiser of the event in the Croatian capital city of Zagreb, he was bristling with energy and enthusiasm. A ceramic artist, sculptor and painter, he has produced a wide array of artistic creations in various media.

A highly accomplished and widely acclaimed artist, his creations are to be seen around the world. This was the second edition of the India Fest, the first having been organised by him in 2018. India Fest 21 concluded yesterday at the European House in Zagreb.

The Croatian ceramicist has been promoting Indian art in Croatia for the past few years. His visit to India in 2017, when his porcelain and cement mosaic creations were up on display at New Delhi, proved to be the beginning. Recalls Salvaro, In 2017, I was invited by Indian artist, Rekha Bajpe Aggarwal, to take part in an international ceramic exhibition, A Journey

of Transformation, at the India Habitat Centre. We understood that it is necessary, possible and very useful to develop artistic and creative cooperation between India and Croatia on a purely humane and collegial basis. That is why a month after returning from India, I organised the India Fest, an exhibition of acrylic collages inspired by Indian colours, and impressions from India, at the European House in Zagreb. It was organised on the occasion of Indias Republic Day in January 2018.

Positive curiosity

Over the past three years, Salvaro has been organising various art events, and Indian artists have participated in these events and also been on the jury. In 2019, India Welcome, was organized in Zagreb by Salvaro, and was co-curated by him and the Indian studio potter and ceramicist, Rekha Bajpe Aggarwal. And what was this event? The event, held at the Zvonimir Gallery, showcased contemporary Indian ceramics, photographs of Indian cultural landmarks, poems, as also works of art by Croatian artists and artistic hosts inspired by India, says Salvaro. And he adds, After Zagreb, I organised the same exhibition in the Slovenian mine museum in the town of Velenje, where Slovenian artistic hosts and ceramic artists were included.

Explaining the role of the artistic hosts, Salvaro says, The artistic hosts of the exhibition expressed a positive curiosity towards the work of the invited artists. They also, in this case, want to be inspired by Indias art, culture and tradition, and the Indian everyday life. In this way, they achieve creative and artistic collaboration with the hosted Indian artists.

Salvaro has also organised international art events like the Zagreb Full Colour to mark the International Colour Day (March 21) in 2019 and 2020, with the paintings, on appropriate material, displayed out in the open for a wide viewership. During Salvaros visit to India in 2019, he visited, besides New Delhi, the cities of Pune, Chandigarh and Hyderabad, and held two art workshops, and also interacted with potters and ceramic artists.

India Fest 21 included the works of Indian and Croatian visual artists and poets. The well-known Indian artists whose works were part of the exhibition were Basudeb Pal Majumdar, Kiran Soni Gupta and Mousumi Pal Majumdar. On the Croatian side, besides the art works of Salvaro, there were works of Vilko Ziljak, Jana Ziljak Grsic, Nada Ziljak, and poet Goran Gatalica on display.

Says Salvaro of his artwork in India Fest 21, I will present digital pictures using different places of the Indian geographical map. I have prepared digital images of 15 Indian cities. And likewise 15 Croatian cities. Each of the 15 digital paintings of Indian cities and places will have an attached haiku poem. The Indian cities/places included are Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Goa, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kanha Shanti Vanam, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pondicherry, Srinagar and Surat.

New models of expression

About the future scope of India Fest 21, Salvaro remarks, India Fest 2021 will be the beginning of permanent communication between Indian and Croatian artists. We may do other events in future and motivate artists in engaging in creative dialogues between India and Croatia.

And what are his views on having the exhibition in these pandemic times? In this Covid pandemic situation, we need to find new ways and models of visual expression. As also creative communication. And an exchange of ideas and dialogues in contemporary times and in the future. Croatia was hit by an earthquake at the end of 2020, and Salvaro says, The situation arising out of the earthquake and its fallout in Croatia is difficult and depressing. With the India Fest exhibition, we are promoting a little optimistic and creative thinking.

The Croatian ceramicist, who trained to be a civil engineer, but went on to pursue his passion for art, has about six decades of artistic work to his credit and has been awarded many an international award. Of his future work vis-a-vis Indian art, Salvaro says, I hope to come again to India sometime soon and to live and work as an artist for 100 days, and engage in art creativity and organise exhibitions. I am aiming to publish a book 100 days of the Artistic Life of Hanibal Salvaro in India.

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Armie Hammer has been dropped by his talent agency WME after pulling out of two film projects amid his controversy surrounding 'leaked cannibalism and rape messages.'

The 34-year-old actor's publicist has stepped away from working with the actor according to a Friday report from The Hollywood Reporter.

He has exited multiple film projects in recent weeks over graphic messages he allegedly sent several women over social media.

Moving on: Armie Hammer has been dropped by his talent agency WME after pulling out of two film projects amid his controversy surrounding 'leaked cannibalism and rape messages'

Interesting: The 34-year-old actor's publicist has stepped away from working with the actor according to a Friday report from The Hollywood Reporter, the WME logo is shown

Just last week it was reported that Hammer was stepping down from the Paramount Plus series The Offer, which tells the behind-the-scenes story of creating The Godfather, according to Variety.

Hammer was reportedly set to lead the 10-episode show as Godfather producer Al Ruddy, which follows his work on the iconic '72 film.

The actor is accused of a host of shocking allegations recently with the leak of social media messages which included acts of cannibalism, graphic sexual experiences, abuse and a BDSM fetish.

Out: Just last week it was reported that Hammer was stepping down from the Paramount Plus series The Offer, which tells the behind-the-scenes story of creating The Godfather, according to Variety

Hammer began trending online earlier this month after a series of sexually graphic Instagram DMs that he allegedly wrote to a woman were leaked publicly by an anonymous, now-private account, House of Effie.

Armie also dropped out of his film with Jennifer Lopez titled Shotgun Wedding.

Amid multiple accusations, the actor broke his silence about the rape fantasies, BDSM and cannibalism accusations waged against him in a statement to DailyMail.com last month.

'I'm not responding to these b******* claims but in light of the vicious and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot in good conscience now leave my children for 4 months to shoot a film in the Dominican Republic,' he told DailyMail.com.

Armie's ex-lover, Paige Lorenze, told The Kyle and Jackie O Show that he allegedly wanted to remove one of her ribs and eat it.

Revenge is a dish best served cold: Hammer was reportedly set to lead the 10-episode show as Godfather producer Al Ruddy, which follows his work on the iconic '72 film

Yikes: Amid multiple accusations, Armie has since dropped out of his latest film  Shotgun Wedding with Jennifer Lopez  and, broke his silence about the rape fantasies, BDSM and cannibalism accusations waged against him in a statement to DailyMail.com

'In non-sexual settings he asked me on multiple occasions to remove my ribs,' she said. 'He wanted to find a doctor in LA to like, remove the ribs that I don't need. And he wanted to, like, he has a smoker at his house in L.A. and he wanted to smoke it and eat it.'

The model admitted that she took it as 'dark humor' at first, before he made the request 'five times'  to the point that she believed it was more of a 'serious thing.'

'He would always say, "I wonder what it tastes like, I bet it tastes good," stuff like that,' she claimed.

When asked if she thought the Call Me by Your Name actor would have really eaten her ribs, Lorenze responded firmly: '100 percent.'

'In non-sexual settings he asked me on multiple occasions to remove my ribs,' she said. 'He wanted to find a doctor in LA to like, remove the ribs that I don't need. And he wanted to, like, he has a smoker at his house in L.A. and he wanted to smoke it and eat it.'

The actor often tied up Lorenze, hit her with paddles and planned out 'high protocol nights' of painful sexual moves, which often left her covered in bruises.

Hammer's ex-girlfriend, Courtney Vucekovich, told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview that the Call Me By Your Name star was into 'master-slave fetishes' and told her he wanted to break and eat her ribs.

The Dallas-based app founder said she met Hammer in June through mutual friends, and from the beginning he was 'intoxicating.'

'He's a very charming, intense human being. But once you start talking to him, he's pretty aggressive right from the start. Not violent, but just sexually aggressive in the way he speaks,' she said.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Shoppers in Bahrain will join GCC customers of LuLu Hypermarket, to celebrate the 200th hypermarket opening in Cairo, Egypt, with 200 hours of fabulous offers and discounts on all product categories from supermarket to lifestyle sections in its 200 stores for the next eight days and online at www. luluhypermarket.com. The promotion is valid till 13th February 2021.

During this 200-hour celebration, shoppers can get 50% back when they spend BD 10 on garments, sarees, Churidars, Baby accessories, Footwear, Ladies Bag, Jewellery, Toys, Bicycle, Furniture, Home Decor categories and a straight 50% off on Tableware items.

There will also be attractive special promotions on daily essentials such as grocery, fresh food, and also selected goods will be In special offers in fashion, IT, TV, Mobile, gadgets household Items and much more.

Online shoppers in Bahrain have one more reason to celebrate: for the period of the promotion, all orders booked online for above 20BD will be delivered free of charge to their doorstep, regardless of the size of the purchase.

Ashraf Ali M.A., Executive Director of LuLu Group, said, We are humbled by the utmost support of our shoppers which is the reason we have reached this great achievement. As a way of giving back, this promotion will benefit our shoppers with the best deals and offers on their food and lifestyle essentials.

Our 200th store milestone will inspire us further to continue supporting the economic activities with our expansion plans and strengthen our presence not only in the Middle Eastern region but across the world. LuLu launched its newest hypermarket at Park Mall, New Cairo, Egypt.

With 200 stores operating worldwide, LuLu has continuously been exerting its greatest efforts to provide and sustain the supply of global products at the best rates, especially amid the pandemic.

With its organised food sourcing centres across 22 countries, LuLu remains the favourite shopping destination in the GCC and is fast emerging as a strong retail leader in other areas when it comes to a broader selection of international products.
The long-running financial feud over a land swap that could transform development on the shoulders of Mount Hood hit a significant milestone this week as the U.S. Forest Service issued a final environmental analysis of the deal and a draft decision on proposed terms.

If this sounds familiar, its because some form of this grand bargain involving a swap of federal land in Government Camp for acreage owned by Mt. Hood Meadows at Cooper Spur has been in the works for two decades.

After years of dispute, Congress mandated that the Forest Service go ahead with a swap in 2009. But the deal has been repeatedly stymied by disputed appraisals, community and congressional concerns, new clarifying legislation, mediation, litigation and what many consider a slow walk by the Forest Service.

This is the first time, however, that the swap appears to be entering the home stretch with the Forest Service publishing a draft decision laying out the terms it sees as equitable. The decision is subject to a 60-day objection period, but in theory, it could be finalized by this summer.

Mount Hood National Forest Supervisor Richard Periman said in his decision posted Thursday that the terms satisfy congressional intent and provide significant public benefits. Mt. Hood Meadows officials called the decision fair and accurate and said it is important that we recognize that this draft decision is in the public interest

While there is still a ways to go, we are excited by the progress made to date and for the many potential opportunities completion of this historic land exchange will bring to the communities of Mt. Hood and to Oregon, said Matthew Drake, chief executive of Mount Hood Meadows Oregon.

Community members on the north side of Mt. Hood, meanwhile, are aghast. After two decades trying to solve this puzzle, they say the deal doesnt come close to satisfying the aim of Oregons congressional delegation or their own vision of a so-called clean sweep that would protect the area around Cooper Spur from development and direct all future building activity to Government Camp.

Its way worse than I thought it would be and its a terrible deal for the public, said Heather Staten, executive director of Thrive Hood River, a conservation group in the Hood River Valley. If this doesnt solve the problem that Congress got involved to solve, which is to protect the north side, then all that has happened is that the government has facilitated a sweetheart deal for one corporation.

In short, they intend to keep fighting.

Mike McCarthy is an orchardist whose great-grandfather homesteaded in the upper Hood River Valley in 1910. His family has been involved in efforts to stop further development at Cooper Spur and protect the watershed since Mt. Hood Meadows started contemplating a destination resort there in the 1970s. He says his mother was an early environmentalist in the area and he had hoped to see a deal done before her death in 2015.

Now, he said, Im hoping well finish it before my death, whenever that is.

The deal

The proposal calls for the Forest Service to transfer 67 acres of prime real estate for residential development in Government Camp to Mt. Hood Meadows. Company officials say thats enough land for 144 building lots, though some estimates put it higher.

In exchange, Meadows would relinquish 605 acres of forestland on the north side of the mountain. That land, along with 2,700 acres of existing federal lands, would become a protected riparian area designated as the Crystal Springs Watershed Special Resources Management Unit. The Forest Service intends to add another 1,700 acres of land to the Mt. Hood Wilderness area between Cooper Spur and the Tilly Jane campground.

Yet opponents remain wary of one ownership proposal: The deal calls for Mt. Hood Meadows to retain ownership of Cooper Spur Mountain Resort, which comprises 159 acres of land, an inn, log cabins and other facilities. Meadows would transfer the Cooper Spur ski buildings and equipment to the Forest Service and relinquish its permit to operate it.

However, the Forest Service would seek a new operator of the ski area under a permit of up to 40 years. And that could be Meadows again, if it sought the permit.

According to appraisals approved by the Forest Service, the land in Government Camp is worth $3.76 million, while the land it would acquire at Cooper Spur is valued at $4.1 million. To equalize those values, Meadows would be paid $338,940.

The entire deal hinges on the fair market appraisals, the key basis for determining whether the public is getting a good deal for the land, whether Meadows is being treated equitably, and ultimately how much land, if any, that Meadows would keep on the north side.

The community group and their lawyers say the Forest Services appraisals once again grossly undervalue the land in Government Camp. They say that undermines the public interest, and scuttles the original intention by leaving Meadows with about 159 acres of land on the north side, where it could pursue further development.

The Forest Service and Mt. Hood Meadows chose to negotiate behind closed doors, rely on flawed appraisals and fundamentally alter the deal without the support of conservation groups, recreation clubs and local residents that supported them over two decades, said Ralph Bloemers, the lawyer who has represented Thrive for two decades.

As originally envisioned when proposed to the Forest Service in a 2005 agreement between Hood River County, the residents committee and Mount Hood Meadows, the swap involved 120 acres of federal land at Government Camp for all 770 acres of Mt. Hood Meadows land at Cooper Spur. But that clean sweep deal got hung up over controversy over the original appraisals.

Four years later, Oregons delegation pushed Congress toward a permanent fix in the 2009 Omnibus Public Lands Act, which mandated the trade happen within 16 months. But by 2014, the deal had gone nowhere, and Oregon lawmakers began to prod the Forest Service to make it happen after residents sued to force the swap.

The Forest Service hired an appraiser from Alabama to evaluate the properties. In summer 2017, the appraiser valued the Government Camp parcels at about $5 million and the Cooper Spur land at $9.5 million, using properties in Hood River, Sandy, Redmond and Medford to value the land in Government Camp

Thrive and Bloemers Crag Law Center hired their own expert from Portland to review the federal appraisals. He found significant errors that undervalued the land in Government Camp and overvalued Mt. Hood Meadows property at Cooper Spur.

After mediation, the Forest Service ordered a new round of appraisals. The federal appraisers new report in December 2019 used properties in West Salem, Camas, Vancouver and Ridgefield to value the 107 acres of land in Government Camp at $5.7 million. After deducting unusable land due to required buffers, new roads, existing easements and other building constraints, the remaining 67 acres of Government Camp land was valued at about $85,000 an acre.

The Forest Service reviewed and approved those appraisals last year, prompting another round of reviews by Crags appraiser. They delivered that review to the Forest Service earlier this week.

Again, they claimed to find significant flaws. In particular, they say the federal appraiser failed to deduct unusable land from two of the comparable properties he examined to value the Government Camp property, and in essence, simply divided the sales price by the gross acreage.

They cited numerous issues, including that the federal appraiser:

 Undervalued two of the comparable properties by between 75% and 100% on a per acre basis when he failed to note that up to half the land in question was not developable.

 Used one comparable property in West Salem where housing prices are typically low, and certainly not comparable to the limited supply of developable land in the mountain resort.

 Applied the faulty valuation on the comparable properties  a value per gross acre  to the net acres of usable land at Government Camp.

 Failed to adjust for appreciation on the majority of sales that were negotiated 1.5 to 2 years prior to closing.

Crags reviewer ultimately determined that the Government Camp property would be better valued at between $128,333 and $165,200 per buildable acre. Using a lower value of $125,000 an acre, thats the equivalent of $8.3 million, 46 percent higher than the value in the federal appraisal.

The Forest Services draft decision on the land swap is now based on only 67 acres of land on the west side of Government Camp. The federal appraisal values that plot at $3.76 million, while applying Crags valuation would put it closer to $5.6 million.

Greg Leo, a spokesman for Mt. Hood Meadows, declined to delve into the specifics of the Crags review of the federal appraisals, but said the disagreement would be aired out during the Forest Service decision process, and the appraisals have to conform with very strict rules on government land trades.

Theres another way to look at the deal. Meadows says the 67 acres at Government Camp will accommodate about 144 building lots. Based on the Forest Service approved valuation of the land, thats about $26,000 per lot. There will be extensive engineering, infrastructure and other costs associated with developing the land. But comparably sized lots in the area that have recently sold in Government Camp  albeit with road and utility access  have gone for up to 10 times that price.

Whats next

The deal is now open for a 60-day objection period in which members of the public who participated in the planning process can voice their concerns to the Forest Service.

Heather Ibsen, an agency spokeswoman, said it didnt receive Crags review of the transaction until last week, so hadnt completed a detailed review. But she said Crag and the citizens group, like other entities, will have the opportunity to participate in the process.

Neighbors overriding concern is that because of the faulty appraisals, Meadows could be left with 159 acres of land at Cooper Spur and potentially pursue future development. They point out that the company circulated a memo in 2017 contemplating a significant expansion of the Cooper Spur ski area as part of the process. That included expanded parking capacity, a new quad chairlift operating year round (think mountain biking), new ski runs and additional lodge and food service capacity.

Meadows would be giving up its permit for the ski area as well as associated equipment as part of the deal outlined by the Forest Service. But nothing in the deal stops the company from submitting a proposal to operate it again when the Forest Service looks for new operators. If successful, the company could reinitiate its expansion efforts as well, said Staten, of Thrive.

We had two goals: directing development to Government Camp, and providing us certainty about the future, she said. By retaining this land, it undermines the certainty for the future. Theres still a bunch of development potential.

Ibsen says the so-called clean sweep was never mandated by Congress, and that the agency has never received a formal expansion proposal for the ski resort. She points out that some of the land for the expansion will be wilderness area after the land exchange is completed, and not open to recreational development.

Meadows, meanwhile, says 156 of the 159 acres of the land it would be left with after the exchange would be subject to highly restrictive forest zoning regulations. There are no further development plans other than to continue the existing allowed uses for the subject properties, said a statement from the company.

Thats not reassuring for advocates, and if the deal goes through as contemplated, it may end up back in court. Staten said Thrive is willing to avail itself of all options, and she wonders whether Oregons Congressional delegation plans to live up to its previous commitments to protect the north side.

Hank Stern, a spokesman for Sen. Ron Wyden, said Wyden is aware of the issues being raised about the appraisals. He wants to ensure the Congressional intent of his 2009 Mt. Hood Lands Act is met to preserve the north side of the mountain and that fair appraisals are conducted, Stern said.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer said he was encouraged that the process had reached a new milestone, but said a full public review of the underlying data and impacts were critical.

From the beginning, the goal was to have a fair land exchange that protects the north side of the mountain, he said in an emailed statement. It is my expectation that all parties will work together to make that happen, and soon. Oregonians have waited long enough.

-- Ted Sickinger; tsickinger@oregonian.com; 503-2218505; @tedsickinger
Atheist group demands Maryland city stop opening meetings with Christian prayer

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A leading atheist organization is demanding that a city in Maryland stop allowing city officials to open council meetings with a prayer, which it says is most often a Christian prayer that closes with the words "in Jesus' name."

The American Humanist Association sent the letter on Wednesday to Aberdeen officials, namely Mayor Patrick McGrady and city council members, condemning the regular prayers.

AHA Legal Director Monica Miller wrote in the letter that the council members open meetings with prayers that are Christian in nature, often ending in the phrase in Jesus name.

This practice flagrantly violates binding precedent, said Miller. Fourth Circuit precedent has long prohibited local governments from opening public meetings with sectarian Christian prayers.

This letter serves as an official notice of the unconstitutional activity and a formal demand to terminate this and any similar illegal activity immediately.

Miller argued that while the United States Supreme Court had ruled in Town of Greece v. Galloway that Christian prayers were allowed at public meetings, this only applied to prayers when they are delivered by private citizens pursuant to a neutral and non-discriminatory open forum policy that allows anyone to deliver an invocation of their choosing.

Miller requested a response from the city officials within two weeks, threatening them with potential legal action if they refused to discontinue their prayer practice.

In June 2018, the Supreme Court sent mixed signals regarding whether it was constitutional for local officials to open meetings with Christian prayers when it declined to hear two cases.

The first, Bormuth v. County of Jackson, Michigan, involved the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upholding a similar invocation policy for the Jackson County Board of Commissioners.

The board's invocation practice is facially neutral regarding religion. On a rotating basis, each elected Jackson County commissioner, regardless of his religion (or lack thereof), is afforded an opportunity to open a session with a short invocation based on the dictates of his own conscience, ruled the full appeals court in 2017.

Neither other commissioners, nor the as a whole, review or approve the content of the invocations. There is no evidence that the board adopted this practice with any discriminatory intent.

Since the high court refused to hear an appeal in the case, the decision allowing for the officials to give sectarian prayers was allowed to stand.

However, in the same list from 2018, the Supreme Court also refused to hear an appeal in the case of Rowan County, North Carolina v. Lund, in which the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled against an invocation policy due to the prayers being almost exclusively Christian.

"We conclude that the Constitution does not allow what happened in Rowan County. The prayer practice served to identify the government with Christianity and risked conveying to citizens of minority faiths a message of exclusion," read the majority opinion, issued in 2017.

"Rowan County elevated one religion above all others and aligned itself with that faith. It need not be so. As the history of legislative invocations demonstrates, the desire of this good county for prayer at the opening of its public sessions can be realized in many ways that further both religious exercise and religious tolerance."


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The Gurugram Police have been put on high alert in view of the farmer's threat of blocking toll plazas and state and national highways to protest against the three Central farm laws on February 6.

The 'Chakka Jam' by the farmers is scheduled to take place for three hours, between 12 noon and to 3 pm.

The Gurugram police have intensified security and deployed huge force on the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway (NH-48), Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway, Kheri Daula toll plaza on the NH-48 and state highways.

All the Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACPs) and Deputy Commissioners of police (DCPs) have been asked to ensure patrolling in their respective areas. Police presence have been increased along the border areas and near the Kheri Daula toll plaza.

"The protesters have announced to block the highways for three hours on Saturday. The Gurugram district has been peaceful ever since the beginning of the farmers' agitation and till now no untoward incident has been reported. But we have beefed up security arrangements to maintain peace in Gurugram," said Commissioner of Police, K.K. Rao.

The police said that the Delhi-Jaipur Highway and the KMP Expressway are lifelines for the daily commuters. If these two stretches are disturbed for a few minutes, it will affect many other areas. In view of this, the Gurugram police have depolyed force along with the stretch.

Apart from this, special instructions have been issued to the police force to keep a vigil on suspicious elements.

"Policemen have been deployed in all the crowded areas, including the Sadar Bazar. The police strength has also been increased around the Metro stations, railway stations and bus stands to maintain law and order," Rao said.
The pandemic didnt allow Debra Ferrell to gather with her whole family for her birthday. So instead, she celebrated the day by giving back  with 53 gifts from her heart.

Ferrell went on social media and asked people for suggestions on acts of kindness that she could perform for others during her birth month, one for every year that shes been alive.

Its one of the hardest times in my history, so I figured why not make other people smile, said Ferrell, who is from Roanoke, Va.

The requests for her Oct. 4 birthday arrived from across the U.S.: parents who hoped for words of encouragement for their kids on their first year of virtual school. A woman who wished for a gift basket for her fiance; a doctor at a hospitals COVID-19 unit; a friend of a family in Minnesota that lost their 4-year-old to cancer, who wanted them to feel that they were not alone.

For the Minnesota family, Ferrell found a memorial wind chime with a note on the clapper that says, When you hear the wind, I am with you.

We just felt like that was appropriate to send to them with a letter about, you know, that someone hears and someone is there all the way from Roanoke, Virginia, Ferrell said. We just want you to know someone cares.

This is not the first time she has shown her instinct for caring. On her birthday in 2014, she started Love With Skin On, an organization that she runs with family and friends. According to its Facebook page, the group aims to share tangible acts of love and kindness.

Its motto? Be Love. Do Stuff.

I know that might sound cheesy, but its just one of my favorite things to do, said Ferrell, who works as a resident service coordinator at a retirement community. I just feel that if we live our life trying to make other people smile, Im the one who gets the most out of it.

Sometimes that includes taking donations of childrens books for hospital waiting rooms, or leaving teddy bears and rubber duckies in random places to brighten strangers days.

For her birthday, Ferrell also recruited her teenage granddaughters to paint signs with messages such as Let your awesome out, Youre amazing, and The world needs your light. They planted them in peoples yards.

One of the things that I see the most is posts about how hard its been for everyone, people struggling with sadness and with grief and not able to see their families and not able to worship together, celebrate together, grieve together, Ferrell said.

Its just a very painful time for people, our family included. And I mean, if one random act of a yard sign can make someone smile at this time, then  its more than worth it.
New Delhi: Dancer-actress Nora Fatehi has been at the top of her game since she shot to limelight with her superhit song Dilbar. Earning the moniker as the Dilbar girl, Nora is celebrating her 29th birthday on Saturday (February 6).

The Moroccan beauty is a dancer, model and actress hailing from Canada. Her recent music video, 'Chhor Denge' is already trending at number one on YouTube.

Here are a few lesser known facts about the dazzling dancer:

1. Nora Fatehi made her Bollywood entry with Roar: Tigers of the Sundarbans in 2014. Helmed by Kamal Sadanah, the star cast involved Abhinav Shukla, Himarsha Venkatsamy and Achint Kaur among others.

2. She has been a part of several regional language films including Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil movies. Marking her debut in the Telugu film industry with Puri Jagannadh's 'Temper', Nora performed a dance sequence in the movie.

3. Nora Fatehi participated in the controversial reality show Bigg Boss 9 in 2015. Her relationship with Prince Narula became a much-talked about aspect of the show. However, Nora maintained that the duo were not together.

4. Noras family is from Morocco, but she was born and raised in Canada. The Street Dancer 3D actress asserts that she is Indian at heart.

5. Nora Fatehi collaborated with Rayvanny, a famous Tanzanian musician for the song Pepeta'. She also turned producer for the project.

6. Nora has featured in many music videos exhibiting her impeccable dance skills. In 2018, the song Dilbar in Satyamev Jayate gave Nora her due recognition. She also worked with the Moroccan hip-hop group Fnaire [fr] to release an Arabic version of the Dilbar song.

In a recent interview with actress Kareena Kapoor, Nora revealed the challenges and stereotypes she faced during her initial days in the film industry.

On the work front, besides Chhor Denge, Nora Fatehi collaborated with Punjabi singing sensation Guru Randhawa recently for Nach Meri Rani song, which turned out to be a chartbuster. 'Kamariya', 'O Saki Saki' and 'Garmi' are some of her other blockbuster songs to name a few.
EMILY ST. LAWRENCE, Chariho girls lacrosse, senior: St. Lawrence tied a school record for goals in a game with nine in a win over Smithfield. St. Lawrence scored 17 goals for the week and has 32 for the season.

CARLY CONSTANTINE, Stonington softball, sophomore: Constantine singled home Shea OConnor with the winning run to hand Waterford, the states No. 2 ranked team at the time, its first loss of the season. For the week, Constantine was 5 for 15.

GREG GORMAN, Westerly baseball, junior: Gorman, a junior, hit a massive home run in a win against Barrington. The homer went over the fence in center field and landed in a nearby road. Gorman was 3 for 3 with four RBIs in the game. He is hitting .571 with 10 RBIs for the season.

BRADIN ANDERSON, Wheeler baseball, freshman: Anderson, a freshman, pitched a complete-game shutout to beat Grasso Tech. Anderson struck out three to earn the first win of his varsity career.

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'Runway Roadkill' rapidly increasing at airports across the world, UCC study finds

- World's wildlife, from giraffes to voles, kangaroos to coyotes being hit by aircraft. - Study identifies incidences at airports in 47 countries across the globe. - 'Runway Roadkill' increasing by up to 68% annually and has caused damage that has cost in excess of $103 million in the United States alone over a 30 year period. - It is hoped study could pave way for international efforts to protect wildlife and reduce costly aircraft damage.

From giraffes to the world's smallest mammals, the world's wildlife is being increasingly struck by aircraft, a global study finds.

Airports from Sydney to London and the USA to Germany were examined by researchers who found that incidences of mammal strikes with aircraft - so-called 'runway roadkill' - are increasing significantly year-on-year, are costing aviation authorities millions per annum, but are under-reported internationally.

The international study led by University College Cork (UCC) researcher Samantha Ball, found that 'runway roadkill' has been increasing by up to 68% annually and have caused damage that has cost in excess of $103 million in the United States alone over a 30 year period.

The global review of mammal strikes with aircraft, is funded by the Irish Research Council and the Dublin Airport Authority and is published in Mammal Review.

It is hoped the findings of the study may aid aviation authorities worldwide to increase mitigation measures to protect wildlife and prevent costly damage.

Ms Ball of UCC's School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences said mammals are incredibly diverse and those involved in strike events are no exception.

"As we identified 47 countries which have reported strikes with mammals, the species involved ranged from some of the world's smallest mammals, such as voles, all the way up to the mighty giraffe and included mammals of all sizes in between. As strike events can affect everything from passenger safety, airline economics and local conservation, understanding the species composition and ecology of the local fauna at an airfield is paramount for effective strike mitigation," she said.

However, most aircraft strikes involve birds, meaning there has been comparatively little research to date on collisions with mammals.

The airport environment can provide productive habitat for wildlife due to expanses of semi-natural grasslands, creating favourable ecological habitats, often in heavily urbanised areas.

Airport operators have a legal obligation to reduce wildlife hazard at airfields. It is therefore important for airports to understand the relative risk associated with each species, in order to prioritise and implement effective Wildlife Hazard Management Plans (WHMP).

By analysing published information and mammal strike data from national aviation authorities in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, researchers found that bats accounted for the greatest proportion of strikes in Australia; rabbits and dog-like carnivores in Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom; and bats and deer in the United States. Average mammal strikes per year ranged from 1.2 to 38.7 across the countries analysed, for every million aircraft movements.

Researchers identified:

- Reports of around 10 strikes a year with kangaroos - Around 40 strikes a year with coyotes - Around 60 strikes with skunks. - Around 100 strikes a year with fruit bats in Australia - Over 100 strikes annually in recent years with leporids (rabbits and hares) in only three countries in Europe (France, Germany, UK).

They also found that:

- More mammals were struck during the landing phase of an aircraft's rotation than any other phase. - Dusk was identified as having the highest strike rate per hour for Australia and the USA and night conferred the greatest risk in Canada and Germany. - In the USA, it is estimated that mammal strikes are five times more likely to cause damage to aircraft than bird strikes. - Under-reporting of strikes is recognised on both an international and national level: estimates suggest that only 5-47% of wildlife strikes are reported to aviation authorities, and the reporting of strike events remains voluntary in many countries.

The researchers argue that the ecological and behavioural traits of mammal populations in proximity to and inhabiting airports need to be understood and integrated into WHMPs if effective management policies are to be developed and implemented.

"Therefore, mitigation measures developed in the USA for the specific fauna of North America may not be effective for high-risk species in other parts of the world. As air travel is a global industry, increased research efforts targeted at high risk mammal families outside the USA would benefit not only the national aviation authorities responsible for the research, but also international authorities and airline operators. A more thorough understanding of the ecology of mammal groups inhabiting and using airfields is required to maximise the efficacy of any mitigation measures," their paper argues.

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https:/ / onlinelibrary. wiley. com/ doi/ abs/ 10. 1111/ mam. 12241

This story has been published on: 2021-02-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
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New Delhi, Feb 6 : In order to provide inclusive and quality education to all as envisaged in the National Education Policy, the Union Ministry of Education has decided to rename the 383 residential schools and 680 hostels, under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme, as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose residential schools.

Talking about the decision, Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' said, "The Education Ministry has funded schools in the sparsely populated areas, especially in tribal areas, where it is difficult to open schools, and for the urban children who are in special need of care. Funding is being provided to the states and for opening residential schools and hostels. All the schools which will be renamed as Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose residential schools will follow the rules followed by Kasturba Gandhi Girls Schools and will strive to achieve the same quality." Apart from the regular curriculum, skill training and self-defence etc. will also be imparted in all these schools.
In the area of Toretsk and Severodonetsk in Donbas, two servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were wounded amid shelling by Russia-occupation forces at Ukrainian positions, the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) said.

"Today, on February 6, at about 13:00, as a result of enemy shelling in the area of Toretsk and Severodonetsk, two servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were wounded. They received medical assistance, their condition is stable," the statement on Telegram channel said.

The Ukrainian side of the JCCC, using a coordination mechanism, introduced a "regime of artillery silence" on both sides of the front and sent the corresponding notes to the OSCE SMM.
A lawsuit alleges a Baton Rouge man died from an asthma attack awaiting trial on an attempted murder charge after corrections staff ignored his pleas for life-saving medical care.

The family of Cecil Williams, 20, filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit Wednesday against LaSalle Corrections, LLC, a private company that manages the Madison Parish Correctional Center in Tallulah, where Williams died. LaSalle did not reply to a request for comment.

Warning: The following video contains material that some viewers may find upsetting.

Records show Williams was arrested last February on attempted first-degree murder and other counts, violating state parole terms imposed in another case, and booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. Police say he had mugged and shot a man Feb. 19, then he and another man put the victim in the trunk of a car before releasing him later.

After his booking, Williams complained of breathing problems and was taken to the Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center. He escaped, fled and holed up in a home near Scenic Highway, triggering a four-hour standoff that ended after law officers fired chemical irritants into the house.

The Department of Corrections had Williams transferred from Baton Rouge to Tallulah last July.

Attempted murder suspect arrested after escaping Baton Rouge hospital, standoff with deputies Authorities arrested an attempted murder suspect who escaped a hospital wearing only a gown and slippers and later barricaded himself in a nor

At Tallulah, Williams told the staff he had no albuterol medication left to control his severe asthma, which he had had since childhood. The lawsuit says that, during an asthma attack July 9, an on-duty nurse told him to "stop playing ... and wait" after he struck the door to a dormitory near her work station and later collapsed.

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The family claims the nurse and a prison guard later did not render aid, but told other inmates to drag Williams into the dorm. The officer just assumed that Williams had passed out from an asthma attack, the lawsuit says.

According to the lawsuit, other guards also wouldn't attempt to resuscitate Williams but that several inmates did for about an hour, without success.

An Emergency Medical Services crew arrived later, found no pulse or heartbeat and pronounced him dead, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit says an inmate in possession of a contraband cell phone took a video of the inmates attempting to revive Williams. The video, provided to The Advocate by the family's lawyer, shows a group of people in a circle around a man's body while two of them attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

"You've been on that floor for an hour...c'mon," one man says. He then identifies where he is: Madison Parish, Tallulah, Louisiana.

+2 Disabled inmate alleges mistreatment, gets $400K settlement in lawsuit against private prison A man detained for more than a year while awaiting trial won $405,000 in a recent civil settlement after claiming he suffered negligence and m

Williams' mother, Karnasha Williams, not a party to the lawsuit being brought on behalf of Williams' children, said her son did not receive proper care.

"He didnt get the proper medical attention that he needed," she said. "Basically, from what Ive seen and heard ... they watched him die."

This story has been updated to clarify that the state Department of Corrections was the agency in charge of Williams' detention because of the parole violation and asked that he be transferred to the facility at Tallulah.


In recent weeks, scientists have sounded the alarm about new variants of the coronavirus that carry a handful of tiny mutations, some of which seem to make vaccines less effective.

But it is not just these small genetic changes that are raising concerns. The novel coronavirus has a propensity to mix large chunks of its genome when it makes copies of itself. Unlike small mutations, which are like typos in the sequence, a phenomenon called recombination resembles a major copy-and-paste error in which the second half of a sentence is completely overwritten with a slightly different version.

A flurry of new studies suggests that recombination may allow the virus to shapeshift in dangerous ways. But in the long term, this biological machinery may offer a silver lining, helping researchers find drugs to stop the virus in its tracks.

Theres no question that recombination is happening, said Nels Elde, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Utah. And in fact, its probably a bit underappreciated and could be at play even in the emergence of some of the new variants of concern.

The coronavirus mutations that most people have heard about, such as those in the B.1.351 variant first detected in South Africa, are changes in a single letter of the viruss long genetic sequence, or RNA. Because the virus has a robust system for proofreading its RNA code, these small mutations are relatively rare.

Recombination, in contrast, is rife in coronaviruses.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center led by the virus expert Mark Denison recently studied how things go awry during replication in three coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID. The team found that all three viruses showed extensive recombination when replicating separately in the laboratory.

Scientists worry that recombination might allow for different variants of the coronavirus to combine into more dangerous versions inside of a persons body. The B.1.1.7 variant first detected in Britain, for example, had more than a dozen mutations that seemed to appear suddenly.

Elde said that recombination may have merged mutations from different variants that arose spontaneously within the same person over time or that co-infected someone simultaneously. For now, he said, that idea is speculative: Its really hard to see these invisible scars from a recombination event. And although getting infected with two variants at once is possible, its thought to be rare.

Katrina Lythgoe, an evolutionary epidemiologist at the Oxford Big Data Institute in Britain, is skeptical that co-infection happens often. But the new variants of concern have taught us that rare events can still have a big impact, she added.

Recombination might also allow two different coronaviruses from the same taxonomic group to swap some of their genes. To examine that risk more closely, Elde and his colleagues compared the genetic sequences of many different coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2 and some of its distant relatives known to infect pigs and cattle.

Using specially developed software, the scientists highlighted the places where those viruses sequences aligned and matched  and where they didnt. The software suggested that over the past couple of centuries of the viruses evolution, many of the recombination events involved segments that made the spike protein, which helps the virus enter human cells. Thats troubling, the scientists said, because it could be a route through which one virus essentially equips another to infect people.

Through this recombination, a virus that cant infect people could recombine with a virus like SARS-CoV-2 and take the sequence for spike, and could become able to infect people, said Stephen Goldstein, an evolutionary virologist who worked on the study.

The findings, which were posted online on Thursday but have not yet been published in a scientific journal, offered fresh evidence that related coronaviruses are quite promiscuous in terms of recombining with each other. There were also many sequences that cropped up in the coronaviruses that seemed to come out of nowhere.

In some cases, it almost looks like theres sequence dropping in from outer space, from coronaviruses we dont even know about yet, Elde said. The recombination of coronaviruses across totally different groups has not been closely studied, in part because such experiments would potentially have to undergo government review in the United States because of safety risks.

Feng Gao, a virologist at Jinan University in Guangzhou, China, said that although the new software from the Utah researchers found unusual sequences in coronaviruses, that doesnt provide ironclad evidence for recombination. It could simply be that they evolved that way on their own.

Diversity, no matter how much, does not mean recombination, Gao said. It can well be caused by huge diversification during viral evolution.

Scientists have limited knowledge about whether recombination could give rise to new pandemic coronaviruses, said Vincent Munster, a viral ecologist with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who has studied coronaviruses for years.

Still, that evidence is growing. In a study released in July and formally published today, Munster and his collaborators suggested that recombination is likely how both SARS-CoV-2 and the virus behind the original SARS outbreak in 2003 both ended up with a version of the spike protein that allows them to deftly enter human cells. That spike protein binds to a particular entry point in human cells called ACE2. That paper calls for greater surveillance of coronaviruses to see if there are others that use ACE2 and may thus pose similar threats to people.

Some scientists are studying recombination machinery not only to fend off the next pandemic, but to help fight this one.

For example, in his recent study on the recombination of three coronaviruses, Denison of Vanderbilt found that blocking an enzyme known as nsp14-ExoN in a mouse coronavirus caused recombination events to plummet. This suggested that the enzyme is vital to coronaviruses ability to mix-and-match their RNA as they replicate.

Now, Denison and Sandra Weller, a virologist at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, are investigating whether this insight could treat people with COVID.

Certain antiviral drugs such as remdesivir fight infections by serving as RNA decoys that gum up the viral replication process. But these medications dont work as well as some had hoped for coronaviruses. One theory is that the nsp14-ExoN enzyme chucks out the errors caused by these drugs, thereby rescuing the virus.

Denison and Weller, among others, are looking for drugs that would block the activity of nsp14-ExoN, allowing remdesivir and other antivirals to work more Weller likens this approach to the cocktail therapies for HIV, which combine molecules that act on different aspects of the viruss replication. We need combination therapy for coronaviruses, she said.

Weller notes that nsp14-ExoN is shared across coronaviruses, so a drug that successfully suppresses it could act against more than just SARS-CoV-2. She and Denison are still at the early stages of drug discovery, testing different molecules in cells.

Other scientists see potential in this approach, not only to make drugs like remdesivir work better, but to prevent the virus from fixing any of its replication mistakes.

I think its a good idea, Goldstein said, because you would push the virus into whats known as error catastrophe  basically that it would mutate so much that its lethal for the virus.
Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) Director Jagat Ram and his wife Asha Kumari on Saturday got Covishield, the vaccine of Covid-19, here Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, Feb 6 : The Centre said on Saturday that around 55 per cent of health care workers have been vaccinated in the country so far whereas nearly 5 per cent of frontline workers have received the Covid vaccine till date.

"As per the figures drawn till 6 p.m. today, 56,36,868 health care and frontline workers have been vaccinated. In which, 3,70,693 beneficiaries were the frontline while the remaining 52,66,175 were the health care workers," the Union Health Ministry said.

"The figure of health care workers are 54.7 per cent of their total strength registered on CoWIN app while the share of the frontline workers inoculated till date stands at 4.5 per cent," it specified.

The inoculation exercise of health care workers started from January 16 whereas the frontline workers started receiving vaccine shots from February 2.

Meanwhile, the ministry also informed that 13 states have covered more than 60 per cent of their health care workers in the vaccination drive. These states include Bihar (76.6 per cent) Madhya Pradesh (76.1) Tripura (76), Uttarakhand (71.5), Mizoram (69.7), Uttar Pradesh (69), Kerala (68.1), Odisha (67.6), Rajasthan (67.3), Himachal Pradesh (66.8), Lakshadweep (64.5), Andaman & Nicobar Islands (62.9) and Chattisgarh (60.5 per cent).

However, it also added that 12 states fared poorly in terms of vaccinating their healthcare workers, including Delhi which has only covered 37.1 per cent of them. The least on the chart is Puducherry which has vaccinated only 13.1 per cent of its healthcare workers.

The ministry also informed that all states and Union territories have been directed to complete the administration of the first dose of vaccines to their health care workers by February 20 and conclude mop-up round by February 25. It also directed them to push the beneficiaries' count beyond the daily target of 100 per session.
An unarmed man gained access to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Thursday and boarded a plane typically used by senior government and military leaders, prompting the authorities to order a review of security at Air Force bases worldwide, officials said.

The intrusion happened on Thursday when the civilian, whose name was not released, gained unauthorized access to the flight line  an area at the base that includes the runways and ramps  and boarded a C-40 plane assigned to the 89th Airlift Wing.

The aircraft, which is based on the commercial Boeing 737-700 business jet, was designed to be an office in the sky for senior military and government leaders, with an array of communications technology. Joint Base Andrews is also known as the home of Air Force One, the presidents plane.

Security forces at Joint Base Andrews responded, detained and interviewed the man with the help of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the base said in a statement.

Supreme Court allows California churches to hold indoor services at limited capacity

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After months of legal battles over Gov. Gavin Newsoms COVID-19-related restrictions, churches in California can finally restart their indoor worship services, though only at 25% capacity, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday night.

We are not scientists, but neither may we abandon the field when government officials with experts in tow seek to infringe a constitutionally protected liberty, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

Even if a full congregation singing hymns is too risky, California does not explain why even a single masked cantor cannot lead worship behind a mask and a plexiglass shield, Gorsuch added. Or why even a lone muezzin may not sing the call to prayer from a remote location inside a mosque as worshippers file in.

Justices Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor dissented.

Under the Courts injunction, the State must instead treat worship services like secular activities that pose a much lesser danger, Kagan wrote. That mandate defies our caselaw, exceeds our judicial role, and risks worsening the pandemic. In the worst public health crisis in a century, this foray into armchair epidemiology cannot end well.

She added, Given Californias mild climate, that restrictionthe one the Court today lifts for houses of worship alonedoes not amount to a ban on the activity.

The ruling came in a case led by South Bay United Pentecostal Church in the San Diego area, noted Politico, which reported that the court released a similar order in a parallel suit filed by Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena. The churches argued that they should have the same freedom as shopping malls and retail businesses that are allowed to operate at 25% of their capacity.

Chief Justice John Roberts took a middle path and voted, along with Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, to lift the ban on indoor worship while retaining the restriction on singing, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The applicants bore the burden of establishing their entitlement to relief from the singing ban. In my view, they did not carry that burdenat least not on this record, Barrett wrote.

Roberts wrote, The States present determinationthat the maximum number of adherents who can safely worship in the most cavernous cathedral is zeroappears to reflect not expertise or discretion, but instead insufficient appreciation or consideration of the interests at stake. Deference, though broad, has its limits.

Last month, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied South Bay United Pentecostal Churchs request to overturn the states COVID-19 restrictions on indoor worship gatherings while acknowledging that the congregation was suffering irreparable harm due to the temporary ban.

Although South Bay has demonstrated irreparable harm, it has not demonstrated that the likelihood of success, the balance of equities or the public interest weigh in its favor, U.S. Circuit Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw wrote in the courts opinion at the time. Although there is no record evidence that attendance at South Bays services in particular has contributed to the spread of the virus, the record does evidence outbreaks tied to religious gatherings in San Diego County and in the Southern California region.

In November, a California judge ordered San Diego to reopen strip clubs while the county carried on with its restrictions on worship services and in-person learning at schools.

The state of California has faced numerous lawsuits stemming from the governors gathering restrictions as well as restrictions on other activities.
Every year, some two lakh Indians travel to Macca to perform the Haj, but this year, pilgrims are waiting for a call from the Haj Committee for completing pre-selection formalities. (AP)

HYDERABAD: Indians looking forward to performing the Haj this year might be in for a disappointment again as there is no official word yet on whether the annual pilgrimage to Islam's holiest place is on.

It may be recalled that last year, the pilgrimage was scrapped because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This year too, with continuing fears of the pandemic, Saudi authorities have banned arrivals from 20 nations till May 17, including those from India.

Every year, some two lakh Indians travel to Macca to perform the Haj, but this year, pilgrims are waiting for a call from the Haj Committee for completing pre-selection formalities.

There is also uncertainty over the February 10 meeting between Indian diplomats and Saudi authorities to finalise the Haj pilgrims' quota for this year and arriving at a mutual agreement.

A source in the State Haj Committee said chances of allotment of quota looks bleak with the pilgrimage dates drawing near.

The Haj is scheduled for July this year. Officials in the Haj Committee believe that even if Saudi government allows Indians, it is likely that the quota will be reduced.


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India reported 11,713 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the positive cases tally in the country to 1,08,14,304, according to the data released by the Union Health Ministry on Saturday morning.

With 95 more deaths due to the Covid-19 infections, the total number of fatalities in the country has climbed to 1,54,918.

As of today morning, there are a total of 1,48,590 active cases, which accounts for 1.37% of the total caseload, while 1,05,10,796 people infected with the killer virus have been recovered with 14,488 new discharges in a span of 24 hours.

The national recovery rate is at 97.19% and the Covid-19 case fatality rate stood at 1.43%.

Meanwhile, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said that 20,06,72,589 samples have been tested up to 5 February with 7,40,794 samples being tested on Friday.

Update on Covid vaccination in India

The cumulative number of healthcare workers vaccinated against coronavirus is 54,16,849.

India has become the first country in the world to reach the 5 million coronavirus vaccination mark in just 21 days, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday as 53 lakh beneficiaries were administered shots under the countrywide inoculation exercise till Friday evening.

The USA, the UK and Israel have reached 5 million vaccinations in 24, 43 and 45 simultaneous days, respectively.

"The countrywide Covid-19 vaccination program was conducted successfully on the twenty-first day as well," the ministry said.

On Covid vaccine against new UK virus

AstraZeneca and Oxford University's vaccine against the novel coronavirus has similar efficacy against the British Covid-19 variant as it does to the previously circulating variants, the university has said.

The variant, first identified in Kent, southern England, is more easily transmissible, prompting many countries to restrict travel to Britain. It also led to a spike in infections that forced a new national lockdown in England last month.

With agency inputs

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A Pennsylvania company is bringing a manufacturing line from Michigan to one of its Pennsylvania facilities.

The move is part of a three-step relocation for Knoll Inc., a designer and manufacturer of workplace and residential furniture.

Knoll relocated its textile employees from Water Street in Upper Hanover Township, Montgomery County near East Greenville to a new 57,000-square-foot facility on West Pumping Station Road in Richland Township, Bucks County near Quakertown last year. The company is completing a relocation of a manufacturing line from its Michigan facility to its location in Montgomery County .

And finally, it will relocate and expand its mixing center facility in the Allentown area to a new facility on Congdon Hill Drive in Lower Macungie Township, Lehigh County. Knoll expects to grow its mixing center from 300,000 square feet to 500,000 square feet within the next three years.

Gov. Tom Wolf announced the three-step relocation last month in a press release. The company has pledged to invest at least $6.8 million into the project and has committed to creating at least 138 new jobs in Pennsylvania and retain an additional 920 jobs in the state over the next three years, the press release said.

The company is eligible for as much as $783,800 in state funding from the Department of Community and Economic Development.

The project was coordinated by the Governors Action Team, a group of economic development professionals who report directly to the governor and work with businesses that are considering locating or expanding in Pennsylvania.

Knoll Inc. was founded in the 1940s in East Greenville.

--Business Buzz

You can follow Daniel Urie on twitter @DanielUrie2018 and you can like him on Facebook.



(Natural News) Wealthy countries are balking at a proposal currently under discussion by the World Trade Organization to temporarily suspend intellectual property rules surrounding COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.

The global trade body was approached in October by India and South Africa. The two developing countries asked them to waive certain parts of the agreement known as Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, or the TRIPS Agreement. They argued that by suspending rights such as patents, copyrights and industrial designs, they would gain timely access to affordable medical products including vaccines and medicines or to scaling-up of research, development, manufacturing and supply of medical products essential to combat COVID-19.

The proposal would allow countries to opt not to enforce or apply patents and other exclusive rights that could stand in their way of producing and supplying coronavirus-related medical tools until the world reaches global herd immunity.

However, wealthy nations like the U.S., the UK, and Switzerland, along with the European Union, vehemently oppose the idea. All of these countries, Reuters points out, are home to major pharmaceutical firms. They said that a ban would stifle innovation in pharmaceutical companies by taking away their incentive to make big investments in researching and developing vaccines and treatments  something they said would be particularly counterproductive during the pandemic as drug makers grapple to respond to the mutating virus.

Moreover, they argue that waiving intellectual property rights does not address the problems with manufacturing and distribution capacity that are holding up drug supplies.

The talks come as some of these wealthier countries are coming under fire for taking billions of COVID-19 vaccines, vastly exceeding the size of their populations, while leaving poorer countries out in the cold. For example, Canada has pre-ordered enough vaccines to vaccinate each of its citizens six times. The U.S. and UK have stockpiled the equivalent of four vaccines per person, while the EU and Australia have secured enough for two per citizen. This global scramble for vaccines could prolong the pandemic, experts claim.

Meanwhile, the vaccines that are being made available to developing countries are either very expensive, or they are untested ones from Russia and China. South Africa ordered 1.5 million doses of AstraZenecas vaccine, but they are being charged more than double the amount the EU is paying. While the EU says they are entitled to the discount because of their investment in the development of the vaccine, South Africa points out that the jab was tested on South Africans in clinical trials in Johannesburg.

Although the World Trade Organization members agreed on the urgency of ensuring that vaccines and drugs are distributed equitably and quickly, they could not reach an agreement on whether an IP waiver was the best way of accomplishing this mission.

Medecins Sans Frontieres, also known as Doctors Without Borders, has called on wealthy nations to stop opposing the proposal on the grounds that they could be ruining its life-saving potential for billions of individuals. The Executive Co-Director of MSFs Access Campaign, Dr. Sidney Wong, said: This pandemic will not be over until it is over for everyone.

No one knows the long-term effects of COVID-19 vaccines

Placing profits over people is nothing new for Big Pharma, but those who dont end up getting the vaccine may actually be the last ones standing in this whole mess. Millions of people around the world are being injected with a largely untested vaccine, the long-term effects of which are unknown.

Some experts are concerned it could lead to deadly antibody-dependent enhancement, and others suspect it may even be a form of weaponized medicine. It could be years or even decades before the effects of these vaccines become apparent.

Sources for this article include:



DW.com

Reuters.com

MSF.org

Belfast City Council has rejected a proposal asking health officials to take over private hospitals as part of the Covid-19 response.

The motion, put forward by People Before Profit, called for the health service to take possession of the likes of the Ulster Independent Clinic, North West Independent Clinic and Kingsbridge Private Hospital for the duration of the pandemic.

The proposal called for the Executive to immediately bring the personnel and resources of the private healthcare facilities into public control and under the direction of the health service.

The proposer, People Before Profit councillor Fiona Ferguson, described the plan as an emergency response to ease the burden on the overwhelmed health service and health workers.

She said the measure would help to ensure that the health service has the available beds, capacity and staff to care for all Covid-19 patients and also ensure that all red flag surgeries and other vital operations could go ahead.

However, the DUP put forward an amendment which instead called for Stormont to continue to work with all available health care resources, including all publicly funded health professionals and the private health sector.

The amendment, in which any suggestion that Stormont should take over control of private facilities was removed, was passed by a majority vote.

The issue was discussed as hospitals across Northern Ireland continue to struggle with the demands of the latest Covid-19 surge, with more than 900 cancer operations cancelled so far this year.

Health Minister Robin Swann has warned that a proportion of those people will come to harm as a result.

Speaking after the debate, DUP councillor Brian Kingston said: We felt that the original wording was about compelling and saying that the private health sector should be taken over.

We want the Executive to work with all sectors during the pandemic, which is already happening, and we didnt believe that the original proposal was realistic.

There are many examples of the private healthcare sector supporting the NHS and making resources available.

Were in the middle of a health emergency and this is about everyone co-operating and working together.

UUP councillor Jim Rodgers also voted against the original proposal and said he was highly critical of the plan as it gave no consideration to the potential cost of such a move.

I think most people would agree that the health service is doing an outstanding job under the circumstances, he added.

Ms Ferguson said she was disappointed that her proposal had not garnered the necessary support.

This motion was aimed at alleviating the pressures within the health service and the stresses that are being endured by those on the frontline, she said.

The staff are overworked and traumatised and we wanted to do something that would mean that intensive care beds would be available to anyone who needs one.

We dont really believe this a novel idea, it happened in Spain last March and April.

Unions such as Nipsa and the Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation have also started to push for this to happen.

Were not convinced that this is the last wave and we need to do everything we can to help the staff.

I dont believe it is the silver bullet but it is common sense and I think saying that the health service is coping, I dont think I have heard anything more out of touch in my life.

Commenting on the Belfast City Council debate, a spokeswoman from the Department of Health said trusts have been working with the private sector to treat patients.

She said this has been vital in ensuring as much surgery as possible has been able to continue while the system copes with the high number of seriously ill Covid-19 patients.

From April to December 2020, approximately 3,900 patients have been treated by health and social care consultants in the three local independent sector providers, she added.
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The first West Australians to be vaccinated against COVID-19 will receive the jab at the end of this month at six vaccination hubs scattered across the state, the government has revealed.

Perth Childrens Hospital, as well as the health campuses in Albany, Kalgoorlie, Port Hedland, Geraldton, and Broome, will be the first sites to offer Phase 1a priority groups the Pfizer vaccine.

A vial of the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19, a product that is in high demand. Credit:AP

Western Australia will receive a shipment of 10,000 doses of the vaccine on February 22, which will be administrated to hotel quarantine workers, international airport employees, seaport workers and frontline medical staff at Fiona Stanley and Royal Perth hospitals.

The vaccination announcement comes as Western Australia emerged from a five-day lockdown after a quarantine hotel security guard tested positive for the highly contagious UK strain of the virus on Sunday.

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Oh, you've read about serial killers before. But something in you draws you back again and again. It's a compulsion, really -- maybe because evil is real (and it lives within you and you and also probably you ). But anyway, here are those particularly awful ones who escaped justice, like ...

5 The German Sewer Murders

The first time Frankfurt authorities found a body in the sewage system, in May 1982, they figured someone had murdered the teenager elsewhere and had dumped the body down a manhole to get rid of it. And maybe that's what happened. But in time, it seems the killer graduated from using sewers as just a disposal system to using as a disposal system and murder method. Some of his six victims were alive when he dropped them down there. Then the sewage drowned them, or the sewage gas suffocated them. In the unlikely event they survived both those, they then faced this:

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That's a screw conveyor, and it mashed the bodies up so much (sometimes ripping off a leg, for instance) that identification became a tricky process. One victim, Markus Hildebrandt, might have been hard to identify but for a distinctive tattoo on his arm. Markus had been thrown into the sewers handcuffed. He was a sex worker, as were a few others of the victims, while two others were 14 and 11 and had been reported missing by their parents before turning up in the sewers.

The final body turned up in 1989. So much time had passed since the other ones that you might think this was unconnected, but the victim, Daniel Schaub, had been reported missing all the way back in 1983. All we found of him in 1989 were scraps of recognizable clothing and bits of bones, washed up by one of the waterways leading out of the sewage plant. Police made no progress whatever at hunting down the killer. According to criminal profilers, though, he was most likely German, due to the fact that, well, the murders occurred in Germany.
Fast-food players like Jubilant FoodWorks and Westlife Development are now shifting focus to growth by accelerating store launches and putting a blueprint in place to expand dine-in and delivery services. The fast-food business is one of the sectors that has been recovering rapidly as India went into 'Unlock' mode and restrictions were completely lifted.

Westlife Development, which operates popular burger chain McDonald's restaurants in the west and south India, plans to use the attractive real estate prices to its advantage.

"Store openings are on. Since real estate prices have rationalised, it gives us room to lock more properties. And our strategy has been to have a diversified real estate portfolio," Amit Jatia, vice-chairman, Westlife Development told Business Standard.

Westlife Development is expected to focus on both dine-in and deliveries. Dine-in sales for December were 83 percent of pre-COVID levels, which is a good sign. Also, sales from our convenience channels such as takeaway, delivery, and drive-throughs have remained robust. This, to me, indicates that the confidence in organised players, especially western QSRs, remains intact, Jatia added.

Meanwhile, Jubilant FoodWorks, the franchisee of Domino's Pizza and Dunkin Donuts in India, said that it has opened 57 Domino's stores in the October-December period, its highest in a single quarter.

"We turned the corner decidedly in Q3 with Domino's returning to growth, driven by strong momentum in delivery and takeaway channels," Pratik Pota, chief executive officer and whole-time director of Jubilant Food -Works, said, adding that the company is now 'preparing for an exciting period of growth ahead'.

Jubilant FoodWorks, which has 1,314 stores currently, has said that it will add three times the number in the coming years. Westlife Development presently operates 304 outlets in India and plans to raise the number to 500 by FY23.


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Dashcam footage showing a red car being rear-ended after merging and then suddenly turning has divided drivers over who is in the wrong.

A motorist crashed into a small Hyundai on Boronia Road in the Melbourne suburb Wantirna on January 26 after it merged from the right and then suddenly turned left.

While rear end collisions are usually blamed on the driver that was behind, many social media users said the red car that suddenly braked to turn moments after merging was at fault.

Dashcam footage showing a red car being rear-ended after merging and then suddenly turning has divided internet users. Pictured: The red car merging ahead on Jan 26

A motorist crashed into a small Hyundai (pictured) on Boronia Road in the Melbourne suburb Wantirna on January 26 after it merged ahead and then suddenly turned

After driving through an intersection, a red Hyundai passed the dashcam driver and on the right and then merged ahead on the unmarked road.

Once in front and seemingly driving on as the lanes begin to merge, the motorist suddenly braked to turn into a driveway that lead to a parking lot outside a medical centre and pharmacy.

The driver from behind crashed into the small red car as it began to turn.

In Victoria, the rear driver is usually deemed responsible for collisions from behind.

According to insurance company AAMI, 'the driver who ran into the back of the other vehicle is usually found at fault,' unless the front car has rolled back.

While rear end collisions are usually blamed on the driver that is behind, some social media users said the motorist that suddenly braked was at fault

'[The] car in front might have slammed on their brakes suddenly, but it can often be argued that with the right amount of space left a driver should have enough time to safely brake,' AAMI's website said.

According to Highways Victoria, there was nothing wrong with the merger as every part of the red car was in front of the dashcam driver when it merged and it did not cross over any lines.

But the rules also state that before turning, drivers have to use indicators for long enough to warn others about their intended turn - which the red car arguably did not do.

While some social media users blamed the Hyundai driver for breaking and turning suddenly, others agreed with the law.

[The] driver of the red car, knowing they were going to turn left immediately after merging is an [a**hole] when they should have simply merged behind,' one irate commenter remarked.

In Victoria, the rear driver is usually deemed responsible for collisions from behind. Pictured: The red Hyundai after being ran into from behind

Poll WHO WAS IN THE WRONG? Red car Dashcam driver WHO WAS IN THE WRONG? Red car 682 votes

Dashcam driver 144 votes Now share your opinion





Another agreed, saying the front driver should have missed the turn and gone back.

'No matter what the circumstances, never hard brake in front of any car. Just asking to be hit,' they wrote.

However, others believed the dashcam driver should have left some space.

'I was on team red car. But upon closer inspection the 2 lanes merge into 1. Red car is ahead at that stage so the dc car needed to yield,' one person said.
Turkeys president has ordered the establishment of two new departments in the countrys most prestigious university, following weeks of protests.

Recep Tayyip Erdogans decision, published in the Official Gazette on Saturday, said law and communications faculties are to be launched in Istanbuls Bogazici University.

Critics say the new departments would allow the presidentially-appointed rector to staff them with government loyalists.

Student groups involved in the protests tweeted against the new decision, saying it was an occupation attempt to curb academic freedoms.

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For weeks, students and faculty have led mostly peaceful protests against the new rector, Melih Bulu, who has links to Mr Erdogans ruling party.

They are calling for Mr Bulus resignation and for the university to be allowed to elect its own president.

Police have detained hundreds of demonstrators at the university and others taking part in solidarity protests elsewhere, some of whom taken away following raids of their homes. Most were later released.

Top government officials have said terrorist groups are provoking the protests, and Mr Erdogan has called the protesting students terrorists.

Officials from the United States, the United Nations and the European Union have criticised Turkeys handling of the protests, as well as a series of homophobic comments that were made by Mr Erdogan and other officials while denouncing the demonstrations.
US President Joe Biden has stated his forerunner Donald Trump should not be given access to classified intelligence briefings, as is a tradition for past presidents, because of his ''erratic behavior''.

Addressing an interview on ''CBS Evening News with Norah O?Donnell'', Biden said ''I would rather not speculate out loud. I just think that there is no need for him to have the intelligence briefings. What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?? The interview is scheduled to be aired on Sunday. Excerpts of the interview were released on Friday.

Biden said that Trump should not have such briefings ?because of his erratic behavior unrelated to the insurrection.? He said that Trump represents an ?existential threat'' and ?dangerous.? In remarks following the January 6 insurrection in the US Capitol by pro-Trump supporters, Biden told reporters, ''I've been saying for now, well, over a year, (Trump's) not fit to serve. He's one of the most incompetent presidents in the history of the United States of America.'' White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday said that ''the intelligence community supports requests for intelligence briefings by former presidents and will review any incoming requests, as they always have.''

During his presidency, Trump was not known to fully or regularly read the President's Daily Brief, the highly classified summary of the nation's secrets. Rather, he was orally briefed two or three times a week by his intelligence officials, the report said. The US intelligence community would review any requests for intelligence briefings from Trump, in keeping with normal practice, it said.

China to provide 500K doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Nepal

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Joe Biden calls Canada's Trudeau, Mexico's Lopez Obrador
Francesca Paris covers North Adams for The Berkshire Eagle. A California native and Williams College alumna, she has worked at NPR in Washington, D.C. and WBUR in Boston, as a news reporter, producer and editor. Find her on Twitter at @fparises.
Hundreds of San Francisco students gathered outside Lowell High School Friday afternoon to call for an end to merit-based admissions and to express outrage at what they said is a culture of racism fostered by administrators.

Members of the Black Student Union expressed their support for a plan to eliminate merit-based admissions. The proposal, set for a school board vote on Tuesday, would make admission to Lowell based on random lottery, the same as other San Francisco high schools.

I hear more about protecting Lowells reputation than about addressing racism, said Hannah Chikere, 14, a freshman and Black Student Union member. Our trauma has been dismissed, ignored and made fun of. We want change.

Black students said the districts failure to address Lowells historic lack of diversity had left few other options to remedy what they characterized as a school environment rife with racial tensions stoked by unfair admissions policies. Just 45, or 2%, of the selective high schools 2,900 students are Black. About a third of students are from low-income families, compared to about half for the district overall.

The student rally follows an emotionally charged reckoning over the future of the school. Lowell routinely ranks as one of the top-performing public schools in the country, but critics argue that lottery admissions could diminish its top-tier status.

Where is this push for high performance when it comes to leading our school? said Emmanuel Ching, 17, the student body vice president.

Many speakers pointed to administrators handling of a racist outburst on the elite high schools online forum last month as emblematic of a larger climate of racism at the school.

Today we say to the administration: Step up or step aside, Ching said.

Laura Dudnick, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Unified School District, said in a statement that "Lowell and SFUSD are committed to working toward a more inclusive community where every student feels safe and supported."

A group of Black students led by Shavonne Hines-Foster, a senior and student member of the school board, called for sweeping changes to school policies.

Wearing matching jackets emblazoned with the Lowell name and reading off a document on their cell phones, Hines-Foster, 17, and seven other Black Student Union leaders laid out a list of demands that included more cultural sensitivity training for teachers and the requirement that all Lowell students complete a course in ethnic studies.

Leslie Vallejo-Avila, 17, was among the many students who voiced their support for Black students demands. She said she was moved to speak at Fridays rally after being asked by school administrators to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Lowell only supports change when it supports the image, she said.

Nora Mishanec is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nora.mishanec@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@NMishanec
 Flash

Two Chinese vaccines are "in very advanced stage" of the World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Use Listing Procedure (EUL) assessment, an official from the WHO said on Friday.

The vaccines, produced by Sinovac and Sinopharm, are among the four vaccines in very advanced phase of approval, said Mariangela Simao, assistant WHO Director-General for Access to Medicines, Vaccines and Pharmaceuticals, at a press conference.

A team of experts from the WHO are now already in China, and they "will start inspections next week" as they are currently in quarantine, she said.

This could bring an approval for the vaccine in a relatively short timeframe as Sinovac and Sinopharm have completed several Phase 3 trials, as shown by a public document weekly updated on the WHO website.

The EUL, a process for licensing new vaccines by the WHO, is important for many applications, not least to be approved as part of the COVAX Facility led by the WHO for efficient and equitable global access to the COVID-19 vaccines.

So far, only the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has received EUL approval. Two other vaccines -- Britain's AstraZeneca and South Korea's SK Bioscience -- are also being assessed, Simao said.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in some countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, 238 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 63 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by the WHO on Tuesday.
A contingent American soldiers has reached Rajasthan to take part in a fortnight-long Indo-US joint military exercise along the Pakistan border, starting Monday, a defence official said.

The contingent of 270 US soldiers reached Suratgarh in a special aircraft and left for Mahajan Field Firing Range where the joint ''war exercise'' will start on February, Defence spokesperson Lt Col Amitabh Sharma said on Saturday.

This will be the 16th edition of the US military exercise under the military exchange program at the Mahajan Field Firing Range, he said, adding the exercise will continue till February 21.

The Indian soldiers taking part in the exercise belong to the 11th Battalion of Sapt Shakti Command of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, Lt Col Sharma said.

The American soldiers taking part in the exercise belong to the US Armys 2, Infantry Battalions, 3, Infantry Regiments and 1-2 Striker Brigade Combat Team, he added.

On reaching Suratgarh, the Indian Army gave a warm welcome to the US Army contingent and the commanders and soldiers of the troops of the two countries greeted each other, the Lt Col said.

In his statement, Lt Col Sharma said it is one of the largest military training and defence cooperation efforts between India and the United States.

The joint exercise is another step in the growing military cooperation between the two countries which shows the continued strengthening in Indo-US relations, he added.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
With its 1.3 billion population, India has the world's second-highest number of coronavirus infections -- more than 10.8 million -- but new cases and deaths have fallen sharply in recent weeks.

This week, new daily infections were the lowest in eight months, while deaths fell below 100 -- the smallest single-day total since May.

AFP looks at how the South Asian giant has tackled the pandemic:

India reported its first Covid-19 infection on January 30, 2020 and its first death in mid-March.

The number of new daily cases peaked at just over 97,000 infections in September, with deaths averaging 1,000 a day that month.

Deaths then started to decline. On Tuesday, just 94 fatalities were reported, out of 8,635 fresh infections.

Read: India reports 12,408 new Covid-19 cases, tally tops 1.08 crore

India has one of the lowest case-fatality ratios among the top 20 worst-affected nations in the world.

Experts say the number of people in India who have contracted the disease is probably much higher than the official figure. They are backed by various state and national surveys measuring antibodies for the virus.

An official national survey in December-January of urban and rural neighbourhoods as well as healthcare workers suggested that some 21.5 percent -- almost 280 million people -- carried antibodies.

In the capital New Delhi, one of India's worst-hit cities, serological data released this week found that more than half of the 28,000 people sampled had developed antibodies.

Experts had warned that the coronavirus would wreak havoc in India's densely populated cities, which are plagued by poor sanitation. There were also fears the chronically underfunded healthcare system would not be able to cope.

The government sought to clamp down early, halting international flights and imposing one of the world's strictest lockdowns in March. Masks were made compulsory in many states.

Restrictions have been gradually eased since June as the government sought to boost the pandemic-devastated economy.

The population has become more relaxed. Hundreds of thousands flocked to the Kumbh Mela Hindu festival in January, mostly without masks.

And tens of thousands of farmers have been taking part in crowded protests in Delhi since November to fight new agriculture laws.

Doctors in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh states, as well as in major cities Delhi and Mumbai -- with a combined population of more than 330 million -- told AFP they have seen a significant decline in cases at their hospitals.

In Delhi, the government said 90 percent of dedicated Covid-19 beds were unoccupied.

Read: Pfizer withdraws application for emergency use of its Covid-19 vaccine in India

"Earlier there used to be a huge waiting list. Now hardly 40-50 patients are here," said Deven Juneja, a doctor AFP met at the Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital in June.

"We are now slowly limping back to normalcy in terms of offering our services in departments, which until now, were virtually paralysed due to the pressure of Covid-19 cases," said Sudhir Singh, spokesman at King George's Medical University in Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh.

Experts said that without conclusive data, it was impossible to say why India's figures had fallen so dramatically.

There are mixed views on whether herd immunity -- when a significant proportion of a population is immune to an infectious disease -- may be present in much of India.

"My understanding is that there are enough people in India who have been exposed to the virus. And that's possibly why the numbers are going down," virologist Shahid Jameel told AFP.

"But in the absence of real numbers, it's really hard to say."

The World Health Organization's regional director, Poonam Khetrapal Singh, praised the country's mask wearing, distancing and hygiene, saying they had proved effective in curtailing transmission.

Also read: Coming Soon: The Vaccine Passport

But she added: "India is a vast and diverse country and it's hard to attribute the decline in cases to herd immunity."

Meanwhile, India has rapidly rolled out vaccinations with the ambitious goal of inoculating 300 million people by July.

A study published in The Lancet last week noted that in the hard-hit city of Manaus, Brazil, there had been a resurgence of Covid-19 -- despite a high prevalence of people with antibodies.

Some of the reasons offered include waning immunity from prior infections, and a new, stronger variant.

Experts say such developments mean it is too soon for India to celebrate.

"We cannot let our guards down," Singh said.

"The longer we let the virus transmit anywhere, the higher the risk of variants. This risk is real, globally."
MADRID (Reuters) - Eight members of a gang suspected of trafficking migrants from Spain's North African enclave of Melilla to the Spanish mainland have been arrested, police said on Saturday.

Migrants were charged 2,000 euros ($2,400) each to make the journey across the Mediterranean in speedboats.

The gang is also suspected of transporting hashish from Melilla to Andalusia in southern Spain, the Civil Guard and National police forces said in a statement.

Those arrested were Spanish and Moroccan nationals. Two other suspects were under investigation.

Police seized three speedboats, 335 kg of hashish, 17 vehicles, and seven mobile phones.

($1 = 0.8304 euros)

(Reporting by Graham Keeley Elena Rodriguez; Editing by Alison Williams)
Gandhinagar, Feb 6 : Claiming the Aam Aadmi Party was the best alternative for Gujarat, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday said the AAP government in Delhi has revolutionised the health care system as well as the education system in just five years and has achieved what the BJP government in Gujarat has not been able to do in its 25-year rule.

Sisodia was in Gujarat to campaign for AAP candidates for the local body elections slated at the end of this month.

Talking to the media, Sisodia said, "The five-year period is also a very long period and in just 2 years, the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi, by creating 'Mohalla clinics' revolutionised the health care system in such a manner, that not only from national but also from abroad, people came to see how the health care system can work for the common man. Whereas even after 25 years of BJP rule, the common man anywhere in Gujarat cannot feel confident about receiving good health care in the government-run health facilities." "Similarly, the education system is also a total failure in the BJP-led governance in the state, whether it be the state government or the local body-run systems. The role of early child care education and the primary education is very vital in forming the personality of a citizen in his or her career. The BJP, in its 25 years of being in power, has not been able to set up a proper education system in Gujarat. Whereas, the Kejriwal government has set up primary schools in Delhi and the education is far better than that in primary private schools," Sisodia added.

"So these are the two models of governance, which people have to choose from - one is that of 25 years of BJP-led governance in Gujarat, versus the five-year rule of AAP in Delhi," said Sisodia.

"People in Gujarat are tired and frustrated due to the corruption in the local body administrations and they have to run from pillar to post in getting their work done. The AAP government in Delhi revolutionised the way government administration works by coming out with historic initiative of Doorstep Delivery. Now the people in Delhi don't have to go to any office, but the administration goes from house to house and provides the citizens all that is required," added Sisodia.

"The people in Gujarat are fed up with the BJP government, and are looking for an alternative which they don't find in the Congress. We don't see Congress as an alternative. The people in Gujarat even when they vote for the Congress, they get disappointed when the same Congress leaders thereafter join the BJP," said the Delhi Education Minister.

The AAP launched its election campaign for the local body elections in Gujarat on Saturday, holding roadshows in Ahmedabad and Rajkot. Sisodia, as the star campaigner of this roadshow, started by visiting Nagarvale Hanuman temple in Hatkeshwar area of Ahmedabad.

Sisodia will lead a roadshow in Rajkot on Sunday.

Along with Sisodia, AAP MP Sanjay Singh is also in Gujarat to campaign and hold roadshows in Surat. Besides them, 10 AAP leaders will be campaigning in the coming days for the AAP candidates contesting the local body elections for the municipal corporations, municipalities, district and tehsil panchayats in Gujarat.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Ballinamore Municipal District councillor, Paddy O'Rourke is urging the Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe and the Central Bank to call on the Ulster Bank to outline their plans for their services in the Republic of Ireland in the future.

Cllr O'Rourke noted the uncertainty at the moment and said it was vital that staff and customers are told what plans Ulster Bank have going forward.

"Is it to seek to sell their network to another bank? Or is it to simply close it down throwing the lives of the many thousands of staff and customers into chaos?" he asked.

He said such decisions will have an enormous impact on other business, farming enterprises and on general customers and said if closing all branches here was the future of the business this will ultimately mean that people will have to find another financial institution to deal with.

"The delay in securing services, particularly her where property certificates (deeds) or letters of undertakings are used to secure loans and overdrafts, has the potential to starve these account holders of the necessary funds to run their affairs and could result in closures and job losses," claimed Cllr O'Rourke.

"Ulster Bank was in the past a major force in this region, but following an introduction of a very centralised management structure, along with closure of branches, it has lost market share," said Cllr O'Rourke, although he acknowledged that some rationalisation of the business was necessary.

"Having despaired of the bank telling their staff and customers what their plans are, the Minister and Central Bank must now step up and find out on their behalf what is in store for them," stressed the Fianna Fail councillor this week.
21 runners killed during mountain race in northwestern province of Gansu; Indian variant of Covid-19 found in Guangzhou; Beijing willing to arrange for vaccines to be sent to Taiwan

May 28, 2021 08:15 PM



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File image: Paramilitary force soldiers stand against layers of barricades at Delhi-Utttar Pradesh border, India on February 2, 2021. Authorities have heavily ramped up security along three main protest sites outside New Delhi's border, using cemented iron spikes, steel barricades and deployed hundreds of police in riot gear in their latest attempt to thwart the growing farmers' protest on the edges of the capital. (Image: AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

The UN human rights office on Friday called on Indian authorities and farmers protesting against the new agriculture laws to exercise maximum restraint, emphasising that it is crucial to find "equitable solutions" with due respect to human rights for all.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in a tweet said the rights to peaceful assembly and expression should be protected both offline and online.

"#India: We call on the authorities and protesters to exercise maximum restraint in ongoing #FarmersProtests. The rights to peaceful assembly & expression should be protected both offline & online. It''s crucial to find equitable solutions with due respect to #HumanRights for all," it tweeted.

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at three Delhi border points -- Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur -- for over 70 days, demanding a complete repeal of three central farm laws.

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of the farmer unions protesting the farm laws, on Friday said there would be no ''chakka jam'' in Delhi on February 6 even as it asserted that peasants in other parts of the country will block national and state highways for three hours but in a peaceful way.

The SKM had earlier this week announced this nationwide chakka jam on Saturday, saying that farmers would block national and state highways for three hours in protest against the Internet ban in areas near their agitation sites, harassment allegedly meted out to them by authorities, and other issues.

Multiple rounds of talks between the Government and the farmer unions have remained deadlocked. The protests at the Delhi borders for repeal of the three contentious agri laws that was enacted in September last began on November 28.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said any protests must be seen in the context of India''s democratic ethos and polity, and the ongoing efforts of the government and the concerned farmer groups to resolve the impasse.

"The Parliament of India, after a full debate and discussion, passed reformist legislation relating to the agricultural sector. These reforms give expanded market access and provided greater flexibility to farmers. They also pave the way for economically and ecologically sustainable farming," the MEA said in a statement on Wednesday.

In a strong response to the remarks made by foreign individuals and entities, the MEA on Wednesday said the "temptation" of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments is "neither accurate nor responsible".
President Mnangagwa will be virtually attending the 34th African Union Ordinary Session Assembly of Heads of States, which starts today and runs until the end of day tomorrow.

Key issues expected to be on the agenda as the continent`s leaders meet include the collective Covid-19 response, vaccine procurement, peace and security as well as food security.

The two-day summit is being held under the theme Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want.

The annual AU Summit comes at a time when the continent, just like the rest of the world, is battling the Covid-19 second wave.

In an interview, acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Professor Amon Murwira said President Mnangagwa will be attending the continental indaba.

Ordinarily, presidents would have convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia but Covid-19 protocols are discouraging large gatherings.

Minister Murwira said that the summit will focus on the Africa Centre for Diseases Control (CDC) and Prevention.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is a public health agency of the African Union established to support public health initiatives of member states and strengthen the capacity of their health institutions to deal with disease threats.

Apart from that, Professor Murwira said Zimbabwe has two senior civil servants who are vying for top posts at the upcoming summit.

Former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development Engineer Amos Marawa is vying for the Infrastructure and Energy portfolio while Professor Fanuel Tagwira, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, is eyeing the Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Commission post.

Member states will vote this weekend to choose those to lead a restructured AU executive body.

The results are expected to shape how the multi-national alliance responds to the pandemic and a host of economic and security challenges.

We are also discussing issues regarding the elections of the commissioners. We are expecting to have new commissioners. Zimbabwe has two candidates there. We have people in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, who are canvassing support for our candidates, said Prof Murwira.

The Commission is composed of a chairperson, deputy chairperson and eight commissioners, plus staff.

A number of Zimbabweans are hoping to be part of those steering the continent`s direction. The agenda of the summit was already prepared by the council of ministers meeting which was held on Wednesday and Thursday.

Security issues in the region such as in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique, among other countries will be deliberated at the summit.

Outgoing AU chair, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will relinquish the role at the summit, paving way for the election of a new leader.

As outgoing AU chairman, President Ramaphosa has spent the past year overseeing efforts to scale up testing and delivery of vaccines.

The summit will present an opportunity for African leaders to refocus their attention on a number of conflicts that have had attention diverted away from them, due to the logical focus on Covid-19 last year.
Unusual times call for unusual measures. At a time when resilience of Democracies is being tested from Washington to New Delhi; spirit of Globalisation is being tested from UK to Europe & China to the US, and even fundamentals of Economics are being tested in pocket-busting stimulus measures by governments around the world, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has shed old baggage and broken new grounds. Budget 2021 has re-imagined both spending and borrowing and reposed faith in large-scale infrastructure building and healthcare as well as bold disinvestment to trigger economic growth and consumption cycle in the economy. That's just what the doctor ordered.

For the past four years, despite a rapidly decelerating economy, a defiant government stayed the course on supply side economics. Pumping liquidity, announcing reforms, goading private sector to borrow and invest. Clearly, the measures fell way short of slogans of firing up the "animal spirits" or delivering "China-like" investment-led growth. Especially, since none of the initiatives were aimed at reviving demand and consumption in the economy.

Until now, that is. Starting October, Centre kicked off a capital expenditure cycle in large-scale infrastructure development that has raised the Budget expenditure for FY21 already by Rs 4 lakh crore and increased fiscal deficit to 9.5 per cent of GDP. That would have sounded warning bells in a normal year. But not in the Covid-affected year. Borrow, spend and build is not just a necessity but also the only way to prevent what the Economic Survey calls an Economic Hysteresis - large-scale bankruptcies and job losses in the economy. Stock markets gave a thumbs up to Budget 2021 with its biggest intra-day surge since 1999.

But that's just one way in which Budget 2021 has reset the nation's economic priorities. The highest-ever allocation towards health and well-being, a roadmap for monetisation of government assets including pipelines, power grids, railways and stadia, and disinvestment from non-strategic sectors remain progressive moves, despite a dismal track record of successive governments in disinvestment in the country.

The spiralling allocation to the agriculture sector is another dramatic shift in the Centre's directions to the banking sector. FY22 agri credit target of Rs 16.5 lakh crore is a new high and a 10 per cent jump over the previous year.

A major chunk of the higher fiscal deficit reported in current year FY21 is due to more transparent accounting, a shift from the opaque and off-Budget financing of Budgets of the past. About 2 per cent of the 9.5 per cent fiscal deficit projected this year is due to food and fertiliser subsidy which was parked in Food Corporation of India as a highly criticised off-budget financing move. In the interest of transparency, the Centre decided to bring it on to its own balance sheet this year.

Finally, No News is, after all, very good news on the tax front. Despite the pre-Budget hysteria around a possible Covid-cess, FinMin officials say new taxes were not even on the table for discussion this year.

On the downside, the near-flat Budget expenditure projected in FY22 as compared to FY21 is perplexing. Even though capital expenditure is going up 34.5 per cent to Rs 5.54 lakh crore, flat total expenditure could only mean two things: projected fall in fiscal deficit from 9.5 per cent to 6.8 per cent is being achieved by flat spending; and shaky buoyancy in tax revenue in FY22!
A Russian LGBT rights group says two young men it helped escape Chechnya have been kidnapped from a safe house in central Russia by Chechen security forces and returned to the region against their will, where they could face torture.

The Russian LGBT Network, a Saint Petersburg-based charity with branches throughout Russia, according to their website, has helped hundreds of people in recent years leave Chechnya, a mountainous region in southern Russia, where security forces routinely imprison and torture people they suspect of being homosexual.

PHOTO: The Head of Russia's Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, speaks at an event in Chechnya, Russia, Jan. 27, 2021. (Yelena Afonina/TASS via Getty Images, FILE)

The charity had helped Salekh Magamadov, 20, and Ismail Isteyev, 17, leave Chechnya last year after they were detained by police for two months and tortured, a representative for the network said.

The two were resettled in an apartment in Nizhny Novgorod, about 250 miles from Moscow.

But on Thursday one of the men made a panicked call to a worker at the charity calling for help, while in the background shouts from unknown people could be heard, David Isteyev, who took the call, told ABC News.

The apartment was ransacked and the two men disappeared, Isteyev said. According to his information, the two men were seized by local police who then handed them over to Chechen security agents, who drove them to Chechnya.

A lawyer for the two men has flown to Chechnya to find them.

The lawyer, Alexander Nemov, who represents LGBT Network, told ABC News by phone that police had told him the two were being transported to the town of Gudermes, west of the capital Grozny.

He said that police had confirmed that the two men had been detained as witnesses in relation to an old criminal case, but would not say what the case was. Neither man is a suspect in the case, he said.

Nemov said he was concerned for the men's safety because they were taking an unusually long time to arrive in Gudermes and had still not arrived Friday night, long after local police said they would.

"At the present moment we aren't occupied with defending either Isayeva or Magamedova. We are trying to at least just find them," Nemov said. "A significant amount of time has passed and that is very suspicious," he said.

Story continues

The lawyer said it was good that the police had at least confirmed they were the ones who had detained the two men. He asked why as witnesses they had been forcibly brought to Chechnya.

"They both are not suspects. They are witnesses. Why did they need to question them specifically in Chechnya? And for that bring them a thousand kilometers," Nemov said.

The LGBT Network said a complaint about the men's detention was being filed to Russia's Investigative Committee that handles serious crimes.

'Any day you can be taken': Inside what it's like to be gay in Chechnya

WATCH: Am I Next? Gay and Targeted in Chechnya

The alleged abduction highlights ongoing persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya under its strongman leader Ramzan Kadyrov. The routine kidnapping and brutal torture of gay men and women in the republic has been heavily documented by rights groups and journalists, since a so-called "gay purge" in 2017 made global headlines, when dozens of men were rounded up and tortured at police bases.

Despite an international outcry, little has changed and the persecution has never stopped, with security forces continuing to regularly kidnap and abuse LGBT people, as well as those who criticize Kadyrov.

PHOTO: British gay rights activist Peter Tatchell stages an anti-Putin protest against the mistreatment of LGBT people in Russia in front of a monument to Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov on Manezhnaya Square in Moscow on June 14, 2018. (Maxim Zmeyev/AFP via Getty Images, FILE)

An ABC News Nightline documentary in 2019 documented the cases of several gay men who were taken by police and tortured, beaten with rods and electrocuted.

Chechen authorities have dismissed the allegations by telling media repeatedly that homosexuality doesn't exist in Chechnya or that people who are gay can't be Chechen.

Despite the extensive documentation of the illegal detentions and torture, the federal Russian government has never condemned the persecution in Chechnya or ensured those responsible be brought to justice.

Activists say they are helping people flee new anti-gay purge in Chechnya

That time I told the head of Chechen police I was gay. Standing in a jail cell: Reporter's notebook

Chechens living in exile in Europe have said they fear the reach of Kadyrov's security forces even there. Over the years there have been repeated reports of death squads targeting critics of Kadyrov and recently such activity seems to have intensified, with four assassinations or attempted killings against opponents in Europe in a year.

Last July, Mamikhan Umarov, a former rebel commander, was shot dead in Vienna. Earlier that year, a well-known YouTube vlogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov fought off an attacker with a hammer who nearly killed him at his home in Sweden.

PHOTO: The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and Nizhny Novgorod Stadium sit in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, June 21, 2018. (Vladimir Smirnov/TASS via Getty Images, FILE)

The two men taken on Wednesday, Magamedov and Isayev, were seized by police in Chechnya last April, according to the LGBT Network. Magamadov had been a moderator in a social media group that mocked Kadyrov's government, Isteyev said.

During their detention, police found material on the men's phones indicating their sexuality, Isteyev said. They were kept in detention for two months, beaten and humiliated, according to Isteyev, who said they were released after they made video statements posted online where they appeared under duress.

After their release they were put under the control of police and ordered to remain in contact with them, Isteyev said. Following more threats, the LGBT Network helped the men leave.

The United States and European countries have condemned the persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya. The U.S. Treasury Department in December announced additional sanctions against Kadyrov himself and six others, as well as a foundation and a mixed-martial arts club linked to him.

2 young men kidnapped in Russia by Chechen security forces: LGBT activists originally appeared on abcnews.go.com


House Bill 133 aims to extend Medicaid coverage to eligible new mothers. The House version of the bill calls for a one-year extension, whereas the Senate version calls for a six-month extension. Advocates say the bill could reduce the states maternal mortality rate. Currently, the state offers Medicaid for two months after giving birth. Should Texas extend Medicaid for eligible new mothers for six months or one year?

You voted:

Mumbai, Feb 6 : The Mumbai Crime Branch raided a bungalow in Madh Island and arrested five persons for allegedly making pornographic films, officials said.

The raid was carried out by the Property Cell following a tip-off of a porn film racket, which circulated videos via mobile applications.

One of the prime accused who has been arrested allegedly runs a paid mobile app, 'HotHit Movies', where she uploaded adult amd pornographic content produced by her group. As per the preliminary investigation, the accused persons lured unsuspecting women by promising them a break in mainstream Bollywood films.

In the raid, the police found a couple in a compromisimg postion while three others were filming the act.

While the woman was not arrested, the others, including two male performers, a cameraman and a woman graphic designer were nabbed from the premises.

They were produced before a magistrate who remanded them to police custody till February 10.

The police have seized cameras, light equipment, a laptop and a dialogue script, K. Pawar, the investigation officer, told mediapersons.

Further probe resulted in the freezing of bank account of the main accused with deposits of Rs 36.60 lakh.

While the actors were paid meagrely, the filmmakers made huge money by uploading the adult content on their app and by further selling them to other apps or clandestine channels, he added.

Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 01:04:25|Editor: huaxia

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LUSAKA, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Zambia, in collaboration with the United Nations (UN), on Saturday launched an initiative aimed at encouraging the wearing of face masks in public as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The initiative, dubbed "Mask Up Zambia", comes in the wake of the poor adherence to preventive guidelines including wearing of face masks.

Minister of Health Jonas Chanda has since urged citizens to share photos where they are wearing face masks on various social media platforms in order to encourage others.

He further said the ministry will recommend to the cabinet for mandatory wearing of face masks in public in order to avert a possible third wave of the pandemic.

According to him, the number of COVID-19 cases seen in health facilities was a reflection of continued community transmission due to poor adherence to preventive guidelines.

"People transit daily in crowded buses on local and long-distance routes, with hardly a face mask in sight. We have observed school children taking off their masks as soon as they leave the school grounds, and adult shoppers as soon as they leave the mall or markets," he said in a release on the COVID-19 update.

According to him, the consistent and correct wearing of face masks could cut transmission by as much as 80 percent.

Meanwhile, the country recorded 1,000 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. The cumulative cases now stand at 61,427. The country also recorded 11 new deaths during the period, bringing the total deaths to 839 while 1,365 patients were discharged, bringing the total recoveries to 53,410. Enditem
Chandigarh: Shooting of actor Bobby Deol's upcoming film 'Love Hostel' was disrupted in Punjab's Patiala district by a group of farmers protesting against the three agri laws, police said on Saturday.

The incident took place on Friday when the film's shooting was taking place at a house in Mehon village near Devigarh in Patiala district, they said.

Around 150-200 farmers gathered there and halted the shooting of the film, Inspector Harmanpreet Singh, Julkan police station, Patiala, said over the phone.

The protesting farmers said they will not allow the shooting as none from the actor's family spoke in favour of the protesting farmers.

The police official said Bobby Deol was not present during the time of the incident. 'Love Hostel', a crime thriller, also stars Vikrant Massey and Sanya Malhotra.

Earlier, farmers had halted the shooting of Janhvi Kapoor's upcoming film 'Good Luck Jerry' thrice. Shooting of the film was disrupted twice in Patiala and one-time in Fatehgarh Sahib district last month.

Farmers had insisted that actor Janhvi Kapoor should make a statement in support of farmers who are agitating against the Centre's three new farm laws.

Thousands of farmers have been protesting at Delhi's borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh demanding the rollback of the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporations.

However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring farmers better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture.
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th February, 2021) The US Defense Department will conduct a review of the American military's global presence by the middle of this year, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters on Friday.

"The Department will conduct a global force posture review of the US military footprint, resources and strategies," Kirby said. "We expect to have it completed by mid-year."

The main left-wing candidate in Sunday's presidential election in Ecuador, the economist Andres Arauz, will not be able to vote in his own country because his residence is registered as being in Mexico, where he normally lives, the electoral authorities said Friday.

"He cannot (vote), he could only do it in Mexico" at the Ecuadoran consulate, Enrique Pita, vice president of the National Electoral Council (CNE) told AFP. Another CNE adviser, Jose Cabrera, confirmed that since Arauz "is registered in Mexico, he cannot vote in Ecuador."

Even though voting is compulsory in Ecuador for people aged between 18 and 65, it is optional for those living abroad, so he will not have committed any offence, the officials said.

Before presenting his candidacy in August, Arauz, an ex-minister under former president Rafael Correa (2007-2017), lived in Mexico where he was completing a doctorate at the National Autonomous University (Unam).

So in his case, the "vote is optional, he doesn't have to vote," Pita confirmed.

Alongside right-wing former banker Guillermo Lasso and left-wing indigenous leader Yaku Perez, Arauz is leading in the polls -- among a record number of 16 candidates -- to succeed President Lenin Moreno, who is not running for re-election and will complete his four-year term on May 24.

sp/fpp/alc/st
An off-duty Houston Police Department Officer shot at men he said were stealing his car Friday evening, according to law-enforcement officials.

The officer was shopping at a store around 4:30 p.m. in the area of 5959 Westheimer near Fountainview Drive, police said, and when he came out he found multiple men in the process of stealing his car.

The passenger window of his car had been smashed in, said Houston Police Assistant Chief Wendy Baimbridge. He also noticed another car parked next to his with a couple of passengers inside.

The officer, who was in plain clothes and was driving a personal vehicle, approached the men and brandished a gun at them, said Baimbridge. He told them to get away from the car, she said.

One of the men inside the car replied, Not if we shoot you first, said Baimbridge.

At that point, they started driving up toward the officer, she said. He felt threatened and he shot more than one round -- we think maybe two or three

The officer said he does not believe he shot any of the suspects.

The three men left the scene in a black Dodge Durango, Baimbridge said.

The investigation into the shooting and the attempted theft are ongoing, police said.
Probably like many of you, I think of Costco as an enlightened company exemplifying capitalism that works. One ranking listed it as the No. 1 company to work at in terms of pay and benefits  a prime example of a business that is both profitable and humane.

Unless, it turns out, youre a chicken.

Rotisserie chickens selling for just $4.99 each are a Costco hallmark, both delicious and cheap. They are so popular they have their own Facebook page, and the company sells almost 100 million of them a year. But an animal rights group called Mercy for Animals recently sent an investigator under cover to work on a farm in Nebraska that produces millions of these chickens for Costco, and customers might lose their appetite if they saw inside a chicken barn.

Its dimly lit, with chicken poop all over, said the worker, who also secretly shot video there. Its like a hot humid cloud of ammonia and poop mixed together.

You may be thinking: Huh? People are dying in a pandemic. Donald Trump is facing a Senate impeachment trial. And were talking about chicken, er, poop?
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister on Saturday said the BJP-led government at the should accept the demands of the farmers protesting against the three new agriculture laws.

He alleged that the ruling BJP has brought these laws for the benefit of some corporates by ignoring the interests of farmers.

Sisodia is in Ahmedabad to hold a road-show ahead of the municipal corporation elections.

His statements come amid the nationwide 'chakka jam' protest being held on Saturday by the farmers protesting the farm laws.

"There is high alert in Delhi, but one can understand the pain of farmers across the country. I have seen that farmers from Gujarat also went to Delhi to present their points (on farm laws)," he said.

"The main issue is why did the BJP bring the laws to benefit select corporates by setting aside the interest of farmers? And if the BJP thinks that the laws are in the interest of farmers, and they understand them better, then why doesn't it accept the farmers' demands?...It should accept their demands," he said.

Asked whether the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supports the agitation by farmers, he said that his party supports all the lawful activities.

"The issue is not about AAP's support...AAP supports the demands made by the farmers. We support all the lawful activities," he said.

Sisodia added that the AAP presents the only alternative to the ruling BJP as the main opposition Congress has lost its credibility.

He alleged that despite being in power in municipal corporations for 25 years, the BJP could not ensure strong health care and school infrastructure for the urban population, unlike the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP that ensured it through mohalla clinics and government schools.

"BJP has been in the municipal corporations for the last 25 years, but has not constructed proper primary health centres. In 25 years, no urban dweller can say he depends on the primary health care system, that he trusts it. It is a complete failure," he said.

Sisodia alleged that the BJP has also failed in terms of the civic facilities.

"On the other hand, Arvind Kejriwal set up mohalla clinics merely in five years. The AAP government in Delhi started doorstep delivery of documents and other services to the beneficiaries," he said.

In Gujarat cities, people have to run from pillar to post for the same, he said.

"If it can happen in Delhi in five years, why it couldn't be done in Gujarat in 25 years?" he asked.

BJP councillors are busy promoting their own business, the AAP leader alleged.

"Congress, on the other hand, has lost all its credibility. It has no strength. In the last 25 years, that party has not led any agitation against the BJP. When people are angry with BJP, they vote for Congress. When Congress leaders win an election, they join the BJP. AAP is the only alternative," he said.


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HONCUT, Calif. - A Chico woman is behind bars after CHP officers say she was driving drunk Thursday and caused a wreck that killed one person on Highway 70 south of Oroville.

The crash happened around 11:24 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4, on Highway 70 north of Middle Honcut Road, According to Officer Ben Draper, from the CHP Oroville area. It started when the driver of a 2018 Volvo SUV was driving north on the highway behind an Acura model car.

The driver of the Volvo, identified as Nicole Schalles, 35, of Chico attempted to pass the Acura; in the process, the right front of Schalles' SUV collided with the back part of the Acura, according to Draper.

The crash caused Schalles to go in a north-easterly direction off the roadway into a perimeter fence.

The Acura lost control and spun in a counterclockwise direction and came to rest on southbound Highway 70. That's when a Ford Focus was traveling south and collided with the rear of the Acura, killing the Acura driver.

Officers arrested Schalles on suspicion of DUI and manslaughter. The driver of the Ford Focus received minor injuries.

Action News Now is working to find out the identity of the person killed in the Acura model car.

Draper did not tell Action News Now if the deceased was a male or female. Every vehicle involved had only one person inside.

Last week Louisiana-based shipbuilder Metal Shark announced that the U.S. Marine Corps had selected them to develop a Long Range Unmanned Surface Vessel (LRUSV), an 11-meter robot boat capable of operating autonomously and launching loitering munitions to attack targets at sea and on land. The unmanned boat is just the latest of a series of new platforms for launching drone swarms.

This tiered, scalable weapons system will provide the ability to accurately track and destroy targets at range throughout the battlespace, according to Metal Sharks press release.

Metal Shark's new unmanned vessel will work in clusters, delivering swarms of attack drones to hit ... [+] METAL SHARK

Loitering munitions, otherwise known as kamikaze drones, differ from other weapons in being relatively slow but able to patrol an area for a prolonged period looking for targets before identifying, selecting and attacking them.

The LRUSV is much smaller than the flagship Sea Hunter unmanned experimental vessel and the Navys Overlord robot transport but shares many of their goals. Like them, the LRUSV is supposed to travel the sea lanes without direct human supervision, sailing safely with other vessels. Unlike them it will collaboratively interact with other vessels as a cluster, suggesting that numbers of LRUSV would be deployed together. Such a cluster could unleash a swarm of dozens, hundreds or even thousands of small drones to overwhelm a target. (And while they might not be able to sink a warship, knocking out radar and defensive systems would leave it an easy target for other weapons).

Raytheon previously developed low-cost swarming drones based on their proven Coyote under the U.S. Navys LOCUST program in 2015. The goal was for a swarm which would work together collaboratively as a unit  and which would collectively cost less than a single missile. By 2016, 30 of the 13-pound drones were flying together, but the swarm size is likely to have increased significantly since.
A 26-year-old Navy sailor who had been abducted in Chennai on January 30 was set on fire by the kidnappers in jungles of Maharashtra's Palghar district and he died of injuries, the police said on Saturday. Suraj Kumar Dubey, the victim, died while he was being shifted to hospital in Mumbai on Friday, district police said.

Dubey, who hailed from Ranchi, was posted at INS Agrani near Coimbatore, said Palghar district police spokesperson Sachin Navadkar. As per the preliminary information, when he was returning from vacation on January 30, three men abducted him at gun point outside Chennai Airport around 9 pm and demanded ransom of Rs 10 lakh.

He was kept captive in Chennai for three days and later shifted to area near Vevji in Talasari area of Palghar district of Maharashtra, close to Mumbai and 1,400 km away from the Tamil Nadu capital. On Friday morning, the abductors tied his hands and legs and set him on fire in jungles near Gholvad, and fled leaving him for dead, police said.

Dubey managed to run away and with the help of some locals, reached Dahanu Primary Health Centre. As he had more than 90 per cent burn injuries, he was rushed to the naval hospital in Mumbai but he died on the way, police said.

Before dying, he narrated the ordeal to police, Navadkar said. A Navy spokesperson said that Dubey was on leave when he was abducted and found in Palghar with 90 per cent burns on Friday morning.

He was brought to INHS Asvini  the Navy hospital  but was declared dead on arrival. A case of murder under section 302 of IPC and other relevant sections has been registered against the unidentified trio and probe is on, the district police spokesperson said.
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This Trump declaration was part of a deal between Morocco and Israel for the former to recognise Israel and its illegal occupation of Palestinian lands in return for recognition of Moroccos occupation of Western Sahara. It is a business transaction like selling a goat. Trump cannot give a territory he does not own

Mohammed Salem Uld Salek descended the stairs of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) Embassy in Abuja with an agility that belied his seven decades on earth. The foreign minister reminded me of our last meeting in June 2019, during the visit of the SADR (also known as the Western Sahara) President Brahim Ghali. Salek, like a doting uncle, insisted on personally serving tea to Comrade Abiodun Aremu of the Nigeria Movement for the Liberation of Western Sahara, and I. He was accompanied by Ambassador Brahim Saleh Buseif and the First Secretary, Fadil Amari. Nigerian activist and facilitator, Suleiman Pema was also present.

Minister Salek was in Abuja to brief President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigerian officials on the situation in Western Sahara, following the November 13, 2020 violation of ceasefire agreements by Morocco, a sister African country, which is occupying two thirds of Western Sahara. That violation has resulted in the resumption of armed conflicts between both countries.

Ordinarily, Saleks visit should have been smooth sailing. First, Western Sahara has justice and morality on its side, as humanity recognises the inviolable right of all peoples to self-determination. Secondly, the African Union (AU) has, since 1982, recognised the independence of Western Sahara and admitted that country as a full member of the union. Thirdly, Nigeria had, since 1984, recognised Western Sahara independence and rejected Moroccos recolonisation of the space. Fourthly, the Nigerian Head of State, then General Muhammadu Buhari, who 37 years ago announced Nigerias recognition, is today the elected president of the country. To solidify the Western Sahara position in Nigeria, Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, who as Nigerian Foreign Minister in 1984 announced the recognition of Western Saharas independence, is today the powerful Chief of Staff to President Buhari. In fact, he was the President of the Nigeria Movement for the Liberation of Western Sahara before his current appointment on May 13, 2020.

But politics is not linear and the sum total of its numbers change with circumstances and time; the Nigeria of the 1970s and 80s that stood on principles espousing the values of Pan Africanism, perhaps due to advancing poverty, prevaricates now. The same Sunday, January 31 that Salek left Nigeria, President Buhari and Moroccan King Mohammed VI, had a telephone conversation, during which they agreed to execute the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline and construction of a fertiliser production plant in Nigeria. It just might have escaped the memory of Buhari that materials for the fertiliser plant will be looted from Western Sahara, as Morocco has done in the past few years. Buhari thanked the King for support in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism. This ordinarily seems okay. But if terrorism is the use of unlawful force or violence to further political or social objectives, King Mohammed VI, by the violence and looting he executes in Western Sahara, is perpetuating nothing but terrorism.

Salek said he is aware that Morocco, itself a poor country, is being given some empowerment to bribe very poor African countries or those in difficulties to sell off the independence of Western Sahara by opening non-functional consulates in the occupied territories; but that in itself will not stop the de-colonisation process.

Salek had, in our conversations, said Morocco crossed the buffer zone because it thought that with its allies like France and America in the United Nations Security Council, the body will not condemn it and that the Polisario-led Saharawi will merely protest. It did not bargain that the Saharawi would fight to defend their country. So Morocco did not envisage a long-drawn guerrilla war, which Salek says will not end until Morocco ends its occupation. He said the United Nations-supervised referendum should have taken place decades ago but has been stalled by Morocco, when it realised the Saharawi will never vote to be part of that kingdom.

Salek said: Morocco has phosphate, but knowing that it would one day lose Western Sahara, it is looting our resources using companies like Dangote. He said the fundamental issue is: What will be the future of our union, the AU? If an African country becomes a coloniser like the European coloniser; if our leaders on the continent allow this to happen, what will be the fate of our continent? Can countries like Nigeria, Egypt and Algeria allow an African country to be colonised?

Salek said he is aware that Morocco, itself a poor country, is being given some empowerment to bribe very poor African countries or those in difficulties to sell off the independence of Western Sahara by opening non-functional consulates in the occupied territories; but that in itself will not stop the de-colonisation process. He named some of the compromised countries as Guinea which, led by the unforgettable Sekou Toure, had historically stood alone in West Africa against continued French colonisation; Guinea Bissau, which under the brilliant African revolutionary, Amilcar Cabral, had fought a bloody war of de-colonisation against brutish Portuguese colonisation; Democratic Republic of Congo, which under the principled Patrice Lumumba had forced Stone Age Belgium to concede independence, and former Upper Volta, renamed in 1984 by Thomas Sankara as Burkina Faso, meaning the Land of Incorruptible People. Salek also listed among these compromised nations, Zambia, whose founding President Kenneth Kaunda famously proclaimed: Zambia Shall Be Free! Gambia, the Comoros, war-torn Central Africa Republic and Liberia, whose motto famously proclaimed: The Love Of Liberty Brought Us Here.

Salem wrapped up the discussions with his submission that Nigeria as an African leader must play its role to defend the shared principles of Africa.

Salek, a lawyer trained in Rabat, at this point, made his basic submissions: We have an aggressor and aggressee. There is the principle in international law against acquiring lands by force. Secondly, how does the world allow someone to kill his neighbour and occupy his home? Thirdly, most African countries had some relationship with ancient empires (like Ghana, Mali, Songhai and Oyo); will they come today and claim proprietorship over independent countries? If we allow foreign interests to use an African country against another, we cannot progress What is at stake is the Constitutive Act of the AU. What will be the legitimacy of the AU if it cannot call a member violating its basic principles to order?

On the recognition by the Trump administration of Moroccos claimed ownership of Western Sahara, Salek chuckled: If Moroccans really believe Western Sahara is theirs, they will not need Trump to say it is theirs; if your house is your house, you do not need somebody to say it is your home. This Trump declaration was part of a deal between Morocco and Israel for the former to recognise Israel and its illegal occupation of Palestinian lands in return for recognition of Moroccos occupation of Western Sahara. It is a business transaction like selling a goat. Trump cannot give a territory he does not own; he cannot give one country to another country. It is a joke. If Trump says he recognises Togo or Benin Republic as part of Nigeria, will that not be crazy?

Salem wrapped up the discussions with his submission that Nigeria as an African leader must play its role to defend the shared principles of Africa.

Owei Lakemfa, a former secretary general of African workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author.

A MAN has been accused of injuring a garda by repeatedly hitting him on the head with a mobile phone when the officer investigated a public order disturbance on a city street.

Joseph Gleeson (37) pleaded not guilty and the case against him was adjourned at Dublin District Court for hearing on a later date.

Mr Gleeson, with an address at a guest house in Swords, is charged with assault causing harm to a garda at Sackville Place on October 9, 2019.

He is also charged with threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour on the same date; obstruction and criminal damage to a cell in a garda van and at Store Street garda station.

The DPP consented to summary trial of the case on the indictable assault and criminal damage charges, a garda sergeant said.

She said it would be the prosecution's case that the accused was acting aggressively and was highly intoxicated when gardai arrived at the scene.

He was demanding to get his phone from a nearby hostel but had a phone in his hand.

He lay down in the middle of the road and when a garda approached, he became very aggressive and hit the officer on the head with the phone several times, it was alleged.

Judge Bryan Smyth accepted jurisdiction on all charges.

Defence solicitor Brian Coveney said a date for hearing the case was required on a not guilty plea.

The court heard there would be 12 state witnesses and CCTV evidence.
New Zealand health authorities said on Saturday they were investigating a new community coronavirus infection, the fourth in two weeks among people who completed mandatory isolation at an Auckland quarantine facility for returned overseas travellers.

The new case was diagnosed in a person self-isolating at home in Hamilton, a city in the North Island of New Zealand, who was released from a two-week hotel quarantine on Jan. 30 after testing negative twice for the virus.

We consider the public health risk to be low and people in and around Hamilton should not be alarmed," Director of Public Health Caroline McElnay said.

We are acting out of an abundance of caution. We are not advising any restrictions or cancellations of events."

The ministry has recently required all travellers who completed the 14-day quarantine at the Pullman Hotel in Auckland to self-isolate for five more days at home.

Genome sequencing has been carried out to determine if the case has the South African COVID-19 variant, which was reported in three other cases linked to the hotel. Those were New Zealands first cases of COVID-19 in the community in months.

Some community events related to this weekends marking of Waitangi Day were nonetheless cancelled in Hamilton, New Zealand media reported.

The Feb. 6 Waitangi Day is named after the Waitangi region in the North Island of New Zealand, where a founding treaty was signed between representatives of the British Crown and more than 500 Indigenous Maori chiefs in 1840.

New Zealand has had only 1,959 confirmed COVID-19 cases. But with the pandemic raging globally, more people are returning with infections, including the new variants, raising concerns the virus may spread widely in the community again.

With the crumbling economy clawing daily life, all other political issues have lost importance, and expert advice is focussed on getting back to normalcy that for most is where SL was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

by Kusal Perera

Completing 73 years of Independence on 04 February, Sri Lanka was left with songs of praise sung with no attention given to their meanings. While radio channels and TV stations projected Sri Lanka as the most noble nation on earth, this country remains a brutally and a shamelessly divided country. Minority Tamils and Muslims are not treated with due respect and dignity while the State takes pride in representing Sinhala Buddhists. There is unrestricted, continued destruction of environment everywhere carried out with political power. State agencies go blind over ravaging forests and wildlife sanctuaries. Law and order often decided politically, people now hesitate to accept the judiciary as their last resort for justice. Inefficient and corrupt public administration intimidates public life, and the political system is anything but mega corrupt.





Celebrating independence is to endorse all that rotten social life that accumulated a massive debt of 2.3 trillion dollars no government would be able to payback within this free market economy. With COVID-19 pandemic making economic life far worse, getting Sri Lanka economically back on its feet is a major challenge. Crumbling economy and the ever-towering debt, has left Sri Lanka in tight geo-political conflict between China and US led Western power bloc, and India as a concerned neighbour.

Rajapaksas back on the saddle of power announcing in February 2020 Sri Lankas withdrawal from UN Resolutions 30/1 and 40/1, the UNHRC has once again come with a damning report on accountability, impunity, human rights violations and war crimes committed. It has clear indications the UNHRC has no faith in domestic mechanisms for investigations and inquiry. Everything added, it is a daunting task for any government to now take responsibility in finding stable answers to save Sri Lankas future.

With the crumbling economy clawing daily life, all other political issues have lost importance, and expert advice is focussed on getting back to normalcy that for most is where SL was before the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, reducing everything to economics, what is the society expecting as answers to this complicated and complex crisis? Do they have any idea as to what Sri Lankas shared future should be?

There seems no difference between different social segments in their perceptions of future SL. Almost all have turned selfish and there is truly little thinking of a collective future. Urban or rural, middleclass or low down, they all speak of their own issues and have no time for others. For the poor, it is about their day-to-day life. They certainly lack intellectual capacity and information to think differently and think about answers for the future. The more educated urban middleclass also dont have any interest in socio economic development that can provide answers for all what they grumble about. In simple language, the urban middleclass is the most selfish social segment, despite their ability to think beyond today and in collective form.

Tomorrow lost its importance and social relevance after JRJs free market economy. Two generations lived through it since 1978 and the third in this new millennia are racing for personal success in crazy consumerism. Success is never defined within this free market economy in terms of quality and standard of life in a democratic society. Fundamentals of free market economies want governments to keep the State out of its business and that leaves governments outside defining and planning development for People.

Fact remains, despite all ignorance, disrespect and disregard for a better collective tomorrow, we need to find answers for a future that will ensure our independence and sovereignty. Answers in creating a society that accepts and respect cultural diversity, save and conserve our environment, forests and wildlife sanctuaries, lift us out of debt and keep us free from international probes and geo-political conflicts. That totality can only be assured with development and democratising of the State.

Changing of leaderships, looking for new leaderships to run this dilapidated and decayed society has been a waste of effort and time. New or old, within this nauseatingly corrupt free market economy that holds no morals and decency, all politicians hold on to privileges they decide for themselves in a parliament that is no more than a rowdy gathering. Within this politico-economic system politicians of all colour and all ages are agents of filthy rich business dealers who decide profits. Changing of leaders thus have never been an answer.

We are therefore left to open the discussion for an alternate approach for a new and a shared future. That needs some direction towards new development, very much different to what Sri Lanka came through 40 years. That also compels us to first decide what development is, that we want.

Development is about creating a society that accepts and respects cultural diversity with equal opportunities for all People to improve their standard of life with quality and dignity. Development therefore should provide better infrastructure, better services, better incomes, more free time for leisure and cultural activities, freedom and dignity in life with equal opportunities and equal access to resources. It may have different models for different societies, but in debt ridden poor countries the State is held to be politically independent and responsible for providing all citizens equal opportunities and equal access to essential services and resources.

Two major changes are therefore needed immediately in economy and in education to begin such far reaching reforms all round. Economy is not about tax regimes, bank interests, trade tariffs and the stock market. Economy should also not depend on FDIs manufacturing for profits in the global market. Including market behaviour, the economy has to be planned and regulated, very much different to the 70 era of rations and queues. Whatever investments called for, should be for clearly identified areas that would strengthen national and rural economy as identified within a National Development Policy (NDP) declared publicly and endorsed by the People.

NDP should focus, lay stress and work towards establishing our national economy as part of and within the South Asian market. Politically, this needs a government leadership that can negotiate a new Democratic South Asia, not one that reacts to geo-political demands. To be economically and culturally within a functional democratic region, provides us the political compulsion to remain as a secular, plural nation too.

To be part of a democratic, secular region with historically established cultural diversities, Education must be seriously reformed to produce rational minded future generations. Over decades, education has robbed the capacity of students to think rationally. Very much proved with all the hype created around fake cures for COVID-19 virus that had professionals and unskilled labour alike, queueing up. Free education within this mess is just habitual talk today. The term free is a total misnomer in national education. Kannangara Educational Reforms never proposed education for free. What is still called free education is a politicised educational network of 10,000 plus schools with over 240,000 teachers that keeps urban poor and rural children literate with only educational certificates.

Serious reforms should begin with, all 350 plus National schools turned into fee levying public schools. More popular national schools within municipal council limits, should be placed at the high end of fee levying. Grade V scholarship should be scrapped and replaced by a scholarship that covers university education as well, offered to the best students at G.C.E O/L exam from non-fee levying schools in every district. Fee levying private schools under whatever label, should only be allowed to tutor children within the national education system and not for what they decide for profits.

School structure beginning from pre-school, syllabi, curriculum, teacher recruitment and training, tertiary and university education, adult and aesthetic education and everything else related to national education should be submitted to social dialogue as a White Paper on Educational Policy, before adopting it.

Healthcare is another that requires serious change. Healthcare should focus on prevention of diseases. Curative healthcare should be the extension in healthcare service. In short, healthcare should reduce numbers falling sick, instead of expanding to treat increasing number of patients. Curative healthcare is only about investing heavily in providing hospitals, staff, medical professionals and ever modernising medical equipment to treat ever increasing numbers of patients. What we need is to improve, modernise and strengthen preventive healthcare services at community level to keep reducing people falling sick.

So is public transport that JRJ ruined in 1979 by bringing in micro and small investments into public transport. Integrated public transport need to be re-introduced as a provincially and nationally organised essential service, managed as efficient, comfortable and affordable public enterprises.

All these would lead to far reaching, serious reforms that would change the entire socio-economic landscape and also in how People think about the other. They would demand major changes in democratising the State with peoples participation for policy and decision making at local government and provincial council level.

Now, if anyone asks me Whats your Sri Lanka you wish for? my answer is simple. It is where People in a secular, plural society decide what they collectively need to prosper and work towards achieving it with State Power shared at local and provincial levels. Where politicians come in as elected legislators there are conditions attached. Right of Re-call being fundamental. All these certainly need a very serious social dialogue. A responsibility we cannot keep dodging or postponing. Protests on Independence Day by Tamils and Muslims in North-East demanding justice and life with dignity and by Sinhalese in agri-society demanding an end to environmental destruction and security to life, say it all.



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China has granted conditional approval for its second COVID-19 vaccine, ahead of the expected emergency approval from the WHO for two of its jabs that would enable the country to step-up global supplies of the shots.

China's drug regulator has given approval for the conditional mass use of the coronavirus vaccine produced by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech. Sinovac Biotech announced on Saturday that CoronaVac, an inactivated vaccine candidate against COVID-19, received authorisation from the National Medical Products Administration for conditional mass use in China.

It is the second locally made vaccine to be given conditional approval. Beijing authorised the state-owned Sinopharm's vaccine in December. The conditional approval was based on the results of the overseas Phase-III clinical trials of CoronaVac. Final data from the trials has not been made available yet and the results of its efficacy and safety require further confirmation, state-run Global Times said, quoting a Sinovac statement.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday said two Chinese vaccines are "in a very advanced stage" of its Emergency Use Listing Procedure (EUL) assessment. The vaccines, produced by Sinovac and Sinopharm, are among the four vaccines in very advanced phase of approval, Mariangela Simao, assistant WHO Director-General for Access to Medicines, Vaccines and Pharmaceuticals, said in Geneva.

A team of experts from the WHO are now already in China, and they "will start inspections next week" as they are currently in quarantine, she said. So far, only the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has received EUL approval. Two other vaccines  Britain's AstraZeneca and South Korea's SK Bioscience  are also being assessed, Simao said.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

According to WHO, 238 candidate vaccines are being developed worldwide  63 of them in clinical trials in various countries. China is currently testing 16 vaccines which are in different stages of trials. It has vaccinated over 32 million people at home so far.

China has offered to provide 10 million COVID-19 vaccines to COVAX, a global initiative, which aims at ensuring that middle and lower-income countries get timely access to coronavirus vaccines.
Luxair is to receive a new, state-of-the-art hangar with space for offices and the company's administrative department.

"The hangar is 55 metres long, 45 metres wide, and the whole complex is divided into two workshops, which are both 45 metres long."

So stated engineer Emile Nennig in issue 21 of the magazine "Revue", which was published in 1951. Nennig was the individual responsible for constructing Luxair's first hangar.

It also remains Luxair's only hangar, as to this day the company checks its fleet of aircraft in the almost 70-year-old "Hangar Nennig". Even though the structure still fully complies with safety standards, Luxair's managers admit that the time for a new hangar may be ripe. The plans for the new building have already been drawn up and construction will start in the near future.

Back in the 1950s, Nennig used the then-novel method of "prestressed concrete"; concrete which is compressed during production by the tension of steel wires located within the material. The old hangar stands out due to its striking arch. Since September 2018, Hangar Nennig, located on the premises of the "old" Luxembourg Airport, has been under a preservation order, meaning that it will definitely not be torn down.

Minister of Culture Sam Tanson explains that, at the moment, there are no plans for a repurposing of Hangar Nennig. If such plans were to arise, the minister adds, they would have to be carefully considered. In any case, the building needs to be renovated and if Luxair had no use for it anymore, it could be assessed whether Hangar Nennig could be opened up to the public. On the other hand, if Luxair wants to keep the building and make changes, then they will have to work alongside the National Sites and Monuments Service, Tanson explains.

Hangar Nennig will not be Luxair's only hanger for much longer. Luxair CEO Gilles Feith showed RTL the plans for the new hangar, which will be built by Luxairport near the Cargolux Maintenance building.

While Feith highlights the importance of the new hangar, especially for the aircraft fleet, he also stresses the historical importance of Hangar Nennig. Feith explains that, as a Luxembourger, he would be happy if the building could be repurposed. It is always a shame, Feith says, when a building withers away without purpose. In collaboration with Rockhal, Luxair recently learnt that the building could potentially be more than "just" a hangar.

While Tanson does not rule out a more "artsy" future for Hangar Nennig, the director of Luxairport seemed less keen when queried, merely stating that the building is and will remain the property of Luxairport.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 5)  One tropical cyclone may enter the country this month, the state weather bureau said Saturday.

Maari pong isa o wala, PAGASA weather specialist Shelly Ignacio said in a briefing on possible cyclones that could hit the country.

[Translation: Maybe one or none.]

Ignacio said the bureau is monitoring a potential low-pressure area.

Meanwhile, a tail-end of a frontal system may bring scattered rains that may trigger landslides and floods in Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Aurora, and Quezon on Saturday, forecasters said.

The northeast monsoon could also drench the Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, and the rest of Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon, they said.

Mindanao and the rest of the country would have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers due to localized thunderstorms, PAGASA said.
The predominantly Kurdish US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have skirmished in recent weeks with Syrian government troops, putting the SDF on defense, politically and militarily.

For the Kurds, the decision for limited military coordination with Syrian President Bashar al-Assads forces in October 2019 was a desperate hedge after Turkey, including Turkish-backed Syrian armed groups, launched Operation Peace Spring and seized over 1,800 square miles of mostly Kurdish-administered towns.

The SDF is made up primarily of the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG), the gendarmerie of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is the leading political party in Kurdish-administered regions in Syria. Turkey considers the PYD/YPG a terrorist group linked to the Turkish Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and therefore on a par with the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. Both Turkey and the United States consider the PKK a terrorist group, but the United States does not share Turkeys view on the PYD/YPG/SDF. The SDF has been the US on-the-ground partner in the military campaign against the Islamic State in Syria.

Assad now senses an advantage to press the Kurds for further concessions, with both an assist from Moscow and the concurrence of Ankara.

"The latest showdown [between Syrian Kurdish and regime forces] seems to have further weakened the standing of the Kurds," writes Fehim Tastekin. "Arab tribes were already irked by Kurdish control of the oilfields and frequent unrest over the SDFs 'anti-terror' operations. The blockades in Hasakah and Qamishli have given fresh ammunition to those who seek to discredit or criminalize the Kurds. Stories of sick people unable to reach blockaded hospitals, students missing exams and drivers desperate for fuel made headlines, tarnishing the image of the Kurds. Tellingly, the local governor and Syrian military officials attended the funeral of the slain protester in Hasakah, while some tribal leaders and politicians vocally criticized the SDF."

No surprise that Russia brokered the deal this week for both Damascus and the SDF to de-escalate the conflict. Russian President Vladimir Putin prefers that the SDF be pressured militarily and isolated politically, and will increase or lower the heat as needed.

As we wrote back in January 2020, his endgame has always been to try to broker an understanding between Ankara and Damascus for the Kurdish region to come under Syrian government control. Recall the January 2020 meeting in Moscow between Turkish Intelligence chief Hakan Fidan and his Syrian counterpart, Ali Mamlouk. According to the Syrian daily Al-Watan, Turkish intelligence and military officials held talks in Damascus in December, but this hasnt been verified.

If Putin were ever to get traction on a Syrian-Turkish channel  still a reach given the bad blood between Assad and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan  he would benefit from a weakened Kurdish hand and a less-engaged United States, as well as further estrangement in US-Turkish relations over Syria.

Kurds remain "topic of disagreement" between US, Turkey

The Biden administration, however, has not signaled that the United States will be stepping back in Syria.

The remaining 500 or so US troops there remain a source of leverage, as do the many sanctions imposed during the Trump administration.

The SDF also has much good will and respect among US political and military leaders as a result of its successful partnership with the United States in the campaign against the Islamic State.

The United States and Turkey therefore remain divided in their Syria policies because of differences over the SDF.

A White House readout of the Feb. 2 call between US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Turkish presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin made no mention of Syria.

Kalins readout, however, recounted his telling Sullivan that it was "necessary to carry out an effective and joint fight against all kinds of terrorist organizations" in Libya and Syria, adding that "joint efforts are necessary to resolve through a new perspective the topics of disagreement between the two countries such as S-400s, F-35s and the PYD-YPG."

US backs intra-Kurdish talks to counter Assad

The Kurds can only stave off the pressure from Assad, Turkey and Russia with support from Washington, which continues to back intra-Kurdish reconciliation talks initiated by SDF leader Mazlum Kobane in October 2019 with the Kurdish National Council.

The council is a coalition of non-PYD Kurdish parties, backed by the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq, and therefore more palatable to Ankara. That, in any case, is the US strategy in the talks.

Dialogue with the opposition parties was also meant to ease relations with the Iraqi Kurds, who are the principal mentors of the Kurdish National Council, and to eventually melt Turkish hostility, which is one of the main reasons Washington signed on," explains Amberin Zaman. "Turkey continues to block the PYDs participation in UN-facilitated talks in Geneva between the Syrian opposition and regime representatives to model a new constitution on the same grounds that Turkish forces keep attacking Syrian Kurdish forces in the northeast: that they are all linked to Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels fighting the Turkish state. The fact is that they are, and this is one of the reasons that the talks have hit a wall."

UN Syria process stalls  which is fine with Assad and the Astana group

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, after meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, reaffirmed the relevance of the Astana format  that is, the coordination of positions among Russia, Iran and Turkey on Syria  and advised that the Jan. 25-29 meeting of the Syrian Constitutional Committees Drafting Commission (the so-called "small group") in Geneva be "held strictly in accordance with their negotiated agenda."

The committee has 150 members, equally divided among representatives of the Syrian government, opposition and civil society (the small group has 45 members, drawn from the 150). According to UN Security Council Resolution 2254, passed in 2015, a new constitution is required prior to new elections. The timetable for the new constitution and elections outlined in the resolution, which guides the UN-mediated political process, is not even worth mentioning, it is so far behind schedule.

At the end of the Geneva meetings Jan. 29, UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen declared his disappointment to the commission members and the press, saying, "We cant continue like this."

Of course, Assad, the Syrian government-aligned participants and the Astana trio are all fine with the commission sessions to "continue like this"  that is, indefinitely and with little or no progress  and this was almost certainly their intent going in.

Pedersen, however, is drawing a line, and probably could use an assist from Washington to get the process back on track. To his credit, he never inflated expectations about the Constitutional Committee, telling Al-Monitor back in September 2019 that he saw it only as a "door opener for a broader political process."

For Turkey, which unlike Iran and Russia does not back Assad, the Constitutional Committee is barely a sideshow. Turkey's influence with the Syrian opposition parties has frozen the PYD out of the committee, another means of isolating the Syrian Kurds politically, and opening it up to pressure from the Astana trio.
In a first - even for our local paint-daubers - someone this week scrawled a graffiti clarification on a shop wall in Belvoir. In rhyme. His previous offering, an "Ode to Leo Varadkar", had made headlines due to a disgusting racist threat. His new "poem" claimed that the first had been misconstrued.

Apparently the graffiti-er wasn't being racist. Just abusive. Ah, so that's all right then.

We have a bit of a thing for graffiti in Northern Ireland. A former colleague of mine used to describe it as being the paramilitary equivalent of the "breaking news" ticker on TV news channels.

This week, amid the chaos of new customs checks, the signs have been ominous.

Port workers have been described as "targets". The PSNI say they don't think the people behind the threats are paramilitaries. But I imagine if you were a port worker, this mightn't come as such great reassurance.

Especially since the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council does seem to feel that paramilitaries are responsible.

Staff in Larne and Belfast have been withdrawn from their duties, as have EU officials.

The fear has to be that loyalist paramilitaries will capitalise on the shambles created by Brexit.

And on the genuine anger felt by decent loyalist people, who see themselves as sold out by the Government.

Unionists, particularly in working-class areas of Northern Ireland, feel that their views about post-Brexit border controls have been entirely ignored.

They believe their perspective is regarded as a matter of no consequence and that their concerns count for nothing.

They saw how Boris took a hand out of the DUP and then dumped Arlene when it suited him. They watched the EU claim that a hard border in Ireland (which nobody, including even the DUP, wanted) would imperil the Good Friday Agreement.

It would encourage republican paramilitary violence - and the high-minded EU maintained it could not be party to destabilising peace.

But the logical follow-on was that the same could be argued re the sea border potentially provoking various loyalist paramilitary outfits never known to pass up on any opportunity to style themselves as defenders of Northern Ireland's constitutional position (as opposed to the shower of drug-dealing leeches that they are).

For this, and an upsurge in community tensions, the EU is primarily to blame. It has treated Northern Ireland and all its people with utter contempt.

All that concern about a hard border? And then they try to impose it themselves to stop the movement of vaccines...

It was always accepted that the EU would do its damnedest to make Brexit painful for the UK. But it has ended up taking it out on the one small part of the UK where, by the EU's own admission, it was vital to tread carefully over borders.

Northern Ireland has been used as the punchbag by Boris and by Brussels. And has been badly let down by both.

It's to the EU's shame that a supposedly benign organisation committed to human rights actually threatened to stop medicines passing our borders and, in some instances, has stopped foodstuffs and other vital supplies reaching here.

Even mud. One of the maddest stories about new customs restrictions concerns the digger which had to be jet-hosed in case it transported English soil on to our shores.

Some may see a certain constitutional symbolism there, but what it most conveys is the level of EU bloody-mindedness and pettiness.

It's been stubbornly refusing to show flexibility.

Nobody is benefiting from this. Businesses and consumers on all sides of the community here are being hit.

The local economy is now at risk. And, once again, our ever-fragile peace.

Something has to give.

Spinach emails are food for thought

Scientific breakthrough of the week. You would think scientists would have more pressing concerns right now, but apparently they've been busy teaching spinach how to send emails. Ours not to wonder why etc.

The worry is that, having mastered the art, spinach will not know when to stop.

You get enough spam as it is without being on the mailing list of one of your five-a-day.

Why does spinach even need to send emails? Couldn't it just tweet, text or WhatsApp like everybody else?

Tom just one of many elderly heroes

Sad news about the late Captain Sir Tom, a remarkable old gentleman who fully deserves the tributes paid to him.

But shouldn't we now, as the Beatles said, let it be? Naming a hospital after him is a fine idea, given the money he raised for the NHS. But a statue (also suggested) is maybe taking it a bit far.

Captain Tom was lauded and his contribution recognised when he was alive.

But there are also hundreds of thousands of other old people who've had to sacrifice their freedom is this last awful year.

They're heroes, too.

Thief should have kept up with Kim

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The importance of research - even if you're a burglar. One of the thieves who stole millions from Kim Kardashian says he wouldn't have had done it if he'd known how famous she was and the attention it would attract. He'd never heard of her, he says. He's now in jail. Something to be said, then, for keeping up with the Kardashians.
Chicken wings are more than late-night food that comes glossed in buffalo sauce. Theyre an international, year-round obsession, and Phillys kitchens represent the full global spectrum. So, whats the best place to get your wing fix in Philly? Here are your best bets.

Salt-baked wings

The salt-baked wings from shuttered Tasty Place are impossible to replace, but the Cantonese classic Davids Mai Lai Wah has a similar version that should get you through a late-night Chinatown craving. Lately, though, Im thinking more about the spicier Szechuan rendition, and the lip-numbing wings dusted with peppercorns and chilies at Mama Wong are worth the drive. For those in the city, visit any location of the Mama Wong chefs previous employer, Han Dynasty.

Davids Mai Lai Wah: Address: 1001 Race St., Phone: 215-627-2610, Website: davidsmailaiwah.com, Hours: daily 4 p.m.-3 a.m., no delivery.

Mama Wong: Address: 268 Eagleview Blvd., Exton, Phone: 484-713-8888, Website: bestmamawong.com, Hours: daily 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m., no delivery.

Han Dynasty: Address: multiple locations including Cherry Hill, Exton, Manayunk, Old City, Royersford and University City, Website: handynasty.net, Instagram: @handynasty, Hours: vary by location Delivery: Caviar, DoorDash, Grubhub, Uber Eats

 READ MORE: Chick-adelphia: Philly's best chicken | Craig Laban's Dining Guide

Black garlic wings

The Cantonese-style salt-and-pepper crust gets the hipster fusion upgrade of black garlic caramel with lime and sesame at creative Fishtown noodle bar Cheu Fishtown.

Cheu Fishtown: Address: 1416 Frankford Ave., Phone: 267-758-2269, Website: cheufishtown.com, Instagram: @cheufishtown, Hours: Mon.-Thu. 4:30-9:30 p.m., Fri. 4:30-10 p.m., Sat, 1-10 p.m., Sun. 4-9:30 p.m., Delivery: DoorDash

Deep-fried/BBQ wings

People come to Henris Hotts Barbeque for the excellent smoked meats at Doug Henris South Jersey roadhouse, but he also happens to make some of the best fried chicken anywhere. Its even better in wing form, as those meaty flappers are served with a shimmer of his dark and tangy honey-kissed sauce. Mikes BBQ (1711 S. 11th St.) or Sweet Lucys Smoke House (7500 State Rd.) are great alternatives.

Henri Hots BBQ, Address: 1003 E. Black Horse Pike, Hammonton, NJ, Phone: 609-270-7268, Website: henrishottsbarbeque.com. Instagram: @henrishottsbbq, Hours: Fri.-Sun. noon-7 p.m.

Mikes BBQ: Address: 1703 S 11th St., Website: mikesbbqphilly.com, Instagram: @mikesbbq_215, Hours: Thu.-Sun. noon-5:15 p.m., Delivery: Grubhub

Sweet Lucys Smoke House: Address: 7500 State Rd., Phone: 215-333-9663, Website: sweetlucys.com, Instagram: @sweetlucys_bbq, Hours: Sun.-Thu. 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Delivery: DoorDash

 READ MORE: Its crunch time in Philly. Heres whats new in fried chicken sandwiches

Classic wings

These wings get an update at Ripplewood in Ardmore: Chef Biff Gottehrer confits the sage- and spice-cured wings to tenderness in a hot schmaltz bath then crisps and glazes them to finish in the funky spice of house-fermented fresno chile hot sauce.

Ripplewood: Address: 29 East Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, Phone: 610-486-7477 Website: ripplewoodbar.com, Instagram: @theripplewood, Hours: Takeout & Delivery: Tue.- Sun. 3 p.m.-9 p.m., outdoor Dining: Tue.-Sun. 4 p.m.-9 p.m., Delivery: through the website.

Korean-fried chicken wings

The supersized wings at Southgate are a polished rendition of the KFC genre (other favorites include Cafe Soho and Andys Chicken), and this Korean gastropub has mastered the double-crust crackle, with juicy meat and a sauce so fragrant, you can smell its sesame and soy-sweet spice wafting halfway up 18th Street.

Southgate: Address: 1801 Lombard St., Phone: 215-560-8443, Website: southgatephilly.com, Instagram: @southgatephilly, Hours: Tue.-Thu. 5-10 p.m., Fri. 4-11 p.m., Sat. 2-11 p.m., Sun. 2- 9 p.m., Delivery: Caviar, Grubhub, Uber Eats

Cafe Soho: Address: 68 W Cheltenham Ave., Phone: 215-224-6800, Website: cafesohophilly.com, Instagram: @cafesoho, Hours: daily 12:3010:30 p.m., Takeout only.

Andys Chicken: Address: 2001 Memphis St, 2108 South St, and 709 West Ave, Jenkintown, Phone: 215-291-0700 (Memphis St.), 215-515-3553 (South St.), 215-935-6074 (Jenkintown) Instagram: @andys_chicken Hours: vary by location Delivery: Caviar, DoorDash, Grubhub, Uber Eats

Buffalo wings

Old-school Buffalo-style wings at Moriartys Irish Pub and Restaurant: for those who crave the nose-tickling, neon-orange spice of traditional buffalo wings, this venerable Irish pub serves them plump, crisp, and punchy with Franks hot sauce heat.

Moriartys Irish Pub and Restaurant: Address: 1116 Walnut St., Phone: 215-627-7676, Website: moriartyspub.com, Instagram: @moriartysonwalnut, Hours: daily, noon-11 p.m., Delivery: Grubhub, Uber Eats

Cambodian-stuffed wings

Try them at Sophies Kitchen. Cambodians have a special talent for giving their chicken wings extra intrigue  deboning, then stuffing them with chopped chicken, glass noodles, and wood ear mushrooms zapped with holy basil and a lemongrass spice paste called kroeung. The flavors are electric, and the wings new form is itself a revelation, the chicken transformed into its own char-kissed dumpling.

Sophies Kitchen: Address: 522 Washington Ave., Phone: 215-271-0888, Instagram: @sophieskitchenphilly, Hours: Tue.-Sat. noon-9 p.m., Sun.-Mon. noon-8 p.m.

 READ MORE: Our best Philly tips: Read our most useful stories
Albany, N.Y.  New York has confirmed 15 new cases of the United Kingdom coronavirus variant in the state, bringing the total to 59.

The new cases include one in Onondaga County.

The U.K. variant appears to spread more easily than other forms of the virus. Health officials and government leaders are concerned it could lead to more cases and eventually to more hospitalizations and deaths.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has warned it has the potential to stress the states hospital system and possibly lead to another widespread shutdown of businesses.

Its all throughout the state, Cuomo said today during a press conference in Albany, And it is something we that we are watching.

For now, the numbers on the virus remain encouraging, he said. And so New York is pushing ahead with reopening.

Cuomo recently lifted nearly all of the states restrictive Covid-19 cluster zones, restarted indoor dining and moved to allow wedding receptions up to 150 people.

Cuomo has said frequently that the states economy cant afford to wait for the pandemic to end completely before restarting.

But that doesnt mean officials are taking the U.K. variant lightly. If need be, the state will adjust its plans, Cuomo said.

If those new threats actualize, we will respond to them accordingly as we have all through this, he said today.

Statewide hospitalizations due to the virus dropped 30 on Thursday to 7,937. Thats down from over 9,000 in January.

A total of 1,516 people with the virus were in intensive care units yesterday, up 10, and 1,000 were intubated, up 14.

Another 153 people died due to Covid in New York on Thursday. The statewide death toll is now 35,920.

The statewide percentage of people testing positive for the virus on Thursday was 4.31%. Thats down from over 8% at times in January.

The statewide seven-day average of the positive test rate dropped to 4.67% on Thursday, down from 4.72% the day before.

Central New Yorks seven-day average positive rate was 2.82% yesterday, down from 2.88% the previous day.

The state confirmed 8,777 new cases of the virus on Thursday and conducted 203,627 more tests.

The number of new cases has fallen from well over 10,000 a day in recent weeks. The states all-time high in new cases in a single day came on Jan. 14 at over 19,000.

New cases now remain much higher than they were in the summer when the state was generally finding less than 1,000 new cases a day.

New York has now had 1,449,495 confirmed cases of the virus since the pandemic began.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources

In Syracuses deadliest nursing home, an overwhelmed staff could not put out the Covid fire

No Covid-19 vaccine yet for Onondaga County waiters, Uber drivers. Heres why

Whos getting Covid vaccines in Onondaga County, broken down by race and age

Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com

Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598
GUIYANG, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Li Di never doubts China's FAST will provide faster access to epoch-making discoveries for human beings.

"Unexpected discoveries will be made with the help of some equipment that has achieved a leap in observation capability," said the chief scientist of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST).

Starting formal operations on Jan. 11, 2020, FAST, located in a deep and round karst depression in southwest China's Guizhou Province, is believed to be the world's most sensitive radio telescope.

The largest single-dish radio telescope in the world has a huge potential for verifying and exploring mysteries of the universe in fields including gravity theory, galaxy evolution, the origin of stars and planets and even the origin of matter and life, according to Li.

With the assistance of the FAST, scientists have made a series of breakthroughs. They have discovered a new fast radio burst (FRB), which are mysterious signals believed to be from the distant universe, while detecting the neutral hydrogen line emission from extragalactic galaxies for the first time, which could help enrich the understanding of dark matter.

Li said astronomy is an open discipline, and experts worldwide have participated in most of the early scientific achievements of the FAST, which will be available for global service from April 1.

The National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the operator of the telescope, confirmed that scientists across the world can make online appointments to use the device for observation from April 1. An allotted timetable will be available by Aug. 1.

It is the motive force and ultimate goal of building the FAST to explore the origin of the universe and reveal its mysteries. Foreign scientists are welcomed to lead research projects independently or as the leaders using the FAST for observation.

Both Chinese and foreign scientists comply with the same online application formality for observation. And their research projects are not evaluated by Chinese scientists, but by the top international experts in their respective fields such as interstellar molecules and pulsars.

"No matter who is leading the project, everyone is moving toward the same scientific goal," said Li Kejia, a researcher at the NAOC.
Six migrants were detained by Border Force officers overnight after crossing the Channel in what appeared to be a brand new boat.

The group of men, thought to be African, were picked up mid-channel and taken on board the Border Force cutter before being brought into the port of Dover at around 12.40am this morning.

Border Force officers intercepted the grey, yellow and blue rigid hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) in the channel in flat calm and mild conditions after it made the treacherous crossing.

The group of men, thought to be African, were picked up mid-channel and brought into the port of Dover at around 12.40am this morning

One of the men is seen being escorted up the dock by a Border Force official this morning

The RHIB was towed behind and tied up in the harbour.

It comes after 13 migrants reached the UK today by boat on Friday as weather conditions eased after a week of strong winds and heavy seas.

The French authorities intercepted another boat with 10 people on board who were returned to France on Friday.

Two men are seen arriving at the Dover Marina, accompanied by Border Force officials (left and right)

A man wraps himself in a blanket after being picked up in calm and mild conditions following the treacherous crossing

The total number of migrants detained so far this year has risen to 242 although the Home Office is yet to confirm official figures

The two groups used the small window in the weather to make the crossing as strong winds and bad weather are expected over the next few days.

The latest arrivals takes the number who have been detained so far this year to 242 although the Home Office is yet to confirm official figures.

January 9 was the busiest day so far when 103 people arrived in six boats.

A record 8,410 migrants made the dangerous journey in 2020.
The plan is to fly the G1 aircraft from the port city of Bata to the island of Bioko approximately 128 miles away

The previous longest known drone flight was recorded in 2017 with a fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle by a Nevada UAS Consortium and spanned 97 miles

Alpine 4 Technologies Ltd ( ) announced today that Vayu, one of its drone subsidiaries, is making a run at the world record for drone flight distance using its autonomous delivery G1 vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft.

The Vayu team will be heading to Equatorial Guinea in the coming weeks to achieve this accomplishment, the company said. The plan is to fly the G1 aircraft from the port city of Bata to the island of Bioko approximately 128 miles away. For good measure, Vayu then plans to fly the G1 from Bioko Island to Annobon Island, a roughly 364 mile-journey.

The previous longest known drone flight was recorded in 2017 with a fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) by a Nevada UAS Consortium and spanned 97 miles.

"Who doesn't love a world record, Ian Kantrowitz, a member of Alpine 4's executive leadership team, said in a statement. Since the Vayu team is already going to be in Equatorial Guinea meeting with the Ministry of Health anyway, we figured we may as well go for a world record."

An application has been filed with the Guinness Book of World Records, the company said, and the Vayu team, lead by CEO Daniel Pepper, is working through the logistics of moving the G1 aircraft internationally.

This isnt Peppers first time in Africa. The CEO and his team previously partnered with USAID in Malawi to help combat Zika by testing payload capacity deliveries to remote areas. The team also partnered with the Stony Brook University Global Health Institute to deliver blood samples and vaccines in Madagascar.

Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel
Journalists Ines Kurschat, Jean-Lou Siweck, and historian Gilles Genot discussed the role of the media during the coronavirus pandemic on RTL Radio on Saturday.

Overall, the three guests agreed that the Luxembourg authorities are struggling to gather data and use it properly as well as to share information with the media and the public.

Kurschat, journalist with the weekly newspaper "D'Land" and president of the Luxembourg Association of Professional Journalists (ALJP), stated that it has been very difficult to analyse the situation since the beginning of the pandemic due to Luxembourg's "disturbingly bad" handling of information. When it comes to communication, the current government is even worse than the previous one, according to Kurschat.

The general manager of Editpress and president of the Press Council, Jean-Lou Siweck, agreed that the government is lacking a certain "professionalism" regarding communication. Over the course of the coronavirus crisis, the media depends on the data provided by the administration, which has been sparse at best. The government still does not send out statements with a summary of the data mentioned during press conferences, Siweck criticised.

This situation has been ongoing, and journalists are currently experiencing the same confusion regarding the vaccines. To this day, the government has yet to publish a document containing the exact number of vaccines delivered so far. At times, Siweck added, it is unclear whether the government are unable to communicate certain data or whether they are simply unwilling.

Controlling information

A phenomenon, which seems to have become more prominent over the course of the pandemic, is that politicians as well as other people who want to communicate address the public via social media instead of conveying the information via journalists. Siweck suspects that this may be due to the fact journalists ask potentially "annoying" follow-up questions.

There is a tendency to control information, Siweck explained, adding that despite what people think, the relationship between the media and politicians is generally not "friendly" or "cordial". Historian Genot speculated that this controlling tendency might be an attempt to influence public opinion to a certain extent.

Mistakes expected

Genot explained that the media has made mistakes and that is to be expected, but to stop people from completely losing trust in the press, those mistakes need to be fixed.

According to Kurschat, linguistic inaccuracies should also be addressed, for example a headline reading '47 cases of UK variant in Luxembourg' would be more accurate written as '47 cases detected'. The ALJP president also thinks that some journalists lack the necessary statistical knowledge to properly assess certain information.

Taking responsibility

The media carries a certain responsibility, especially in times of crisis. However, the Covid-19 crisis has been very different in many aspects. Everyone is affected and that is something new, according to Siweck. The public has substantive questions and demands genuine answers, but neither the media, nor the scientists can provide them.

Many people are bewildered when scientists make contradictory statements, even though a critical debate is essential to their field. This means that it is necessary to explain the scientific method and how it works. The media needs to find a way to communicate the idea that we have very little knowledge and have to live with a certain degree of uncertainty. And all of that preferably in a concise form, something which remains a challenge, according to Siweck.

Kurschat explained that Luxembourg simply lacks proper scientific or expert editorial teams. Another problem is that many scientists in Luxembourg either work in the government's task force themselves or have been told not to share data publicly.

Fake news and conspiracy theories

The media are often criticised for not giving "certain" people a platform. However, it is not the media's job to give people platforms, according to Siweck. Instead, journalists need to try to reflect reality as best as possible. If there are people in a society that reject official data, then that is an interesting phenomenon and needs to be covered, Siweck added. However, this should be done in a way that the reader can always put it into context.

Genot explained that conspiracy theories often spread faster during times of crisis. Genot is the curator of the Luxembourg City Museum and is currently working on an exhibition on the subject of conspiracy theories. In times of crisis, people are desperate for answers, something which needs to be considered when trying to understand the phenomenon. In the case of Covid-19, scientists either had no answers at the beginning or when they had some, they were too complicated and thus, people started to look elsewhere.

Fuel to the fire

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or even more recent platforms like Clubhouse, fuelled the spread of conspiracy theories and accelerated the isolation of entire groups of people from the public and traditional media. So far, the problem of widespread disinformation on these platforms has been mostly ignored in the Grand Duchy. Kurschat thinks that the regulation of companies like Facebook is therefore a topic of prime importance.

In order to fight this problem, the government should consider introducing a course on media literacy in schools, Genot added. Young people and adults alike need to understand why they are shown certain information in the first place. Many people are also not aware of aspects like social bots, who influence public opinion to a frightening extent.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 10:40:26|Editor: huaxia

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PHNOM PENH, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia reported two new imported COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the total number of infections in the kingdom to 472, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said in a statement.

The new cases were detected on a 50-year-old Cambodian woman returning from Switzerland on Feb. 4 and a 31-year-old Indonesian man coming from Indonesia on Jan. 23, the statement said.

"The woman was tested positive for COVID-19 upon her arrival, while the man was found positive for the virus in his second test on the 13th day of his quarantine," MoH secretary of state and spokeswoman Or Vandine said in the statement.

Currently, they are undergoing treatment at the National Center for Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control in the capital of Phnom Penh, she said.

The Southeast Asian nation has so far recorded a total of 472 COVID-19 cases, with zero deaths and 453 recoveries, Vandine said. Enditem
Natalie Portman has addressed rumoursthat she was pregnant after photographs of her in Sydney emerged showing the actor wearing a loose-fitting vest top.

The 39-year-old, who is currently filming Thor: Love and Thunder in Australia, was pictured out and about in the city on Saturday.

Recommended Singer Halsey is pregnant with 1st child

The images prompted US outlet Page Six to run an article with the headline: "Natalie Portman steps out seemingly with a baby bump in Sydney".

On Friday, the actor shared a screengrab of the article on her Instagram Story and confirmed that she was not, in fact, pregnant.

"Hey, so I'm totally not pregnant," she wrote.

(Natalie Portman/Instagram)

"But apparently it's still okay in 2021 for anyone to speculate and comment on a woman's body shape whenever they want? Do better."

Portman already has two children with husband Benjamin Millepied, who she met while filming Black Swan in 2009 before marrying three years later.

The couple welcomed their son, Aleph, in 2011, and their daughter, Amalia, in 2017.

In May, Portman shared a rare picture of her two children on social media as the US celebrated Mothers Day.

On Instagram, Portman shared a lengthy message about her mother, describing her as the most loving, caring, generous, cuddly, funny, smart, talented, creative person I could ever imagine getting to spend my childhood with.

In a second post, the Jackie actor shared a throwback picture of herself cuddling her two children.

Portman captioned the image with a series of love heart emojis.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 16:35:47|Editor: huaxia

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Ying Min Chu, Chinese born designer, shows the 2021 Year of the Ox stamps she designed in Wellington, New Zealand, Feb. 6, 2021. New Zealand Post has published the 2021 Year of the Ox stamps to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year. It is the 25th consecutive year that New Zealand has published Chinese zodiac stamps. (Xinhua/Guo Lei)

WELLINGTON, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Post has published the 2021 Year of the Ox stamps to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year.

It is the 25th consecutive year that New Zealand has published Chinese zodiac stamps.

Ying Min Chu, Chinese born designer of this year's Ox stamps, introduced her inspiration of the design, saying, "The 2021 year of the Ox stamps take inspiration from the Chinese New Year posters tradition, called Nianhua in Mandarin."

These posters are created specifically to commemorate the arrival of a new year in Chinese tradition, and "to me, they evoke a strong sense of nostalgia for Chinese traditions," the designer said.

"By referencing the Nianhua posters, the stamps create a connection between Chinese New Zealanders and the ancient cultural practices of China," Ying added.

Ying migrated to New Zealand at age 4 with her parents and before that she lived in Guangzhou, the southern metropolitan of China as well as a place renowned for well-preserved Chinese traditions.

The word "nostalgia" is the one Ying murmured many times.

To Chinese, the year of their birth is believed to be significant in shaping the trajectory of their lives and people born in the Year of the Ox are thought to be dependable, diligent, determined, honest and hardworking.

"In the stamps, we showcase the lotus, which the little baby hold, means purity. We showcase kite flying which is a ritual we do in Chinese New Year. It is the significance of the letting go of the past and moving on to a new prosperous year. And we also have a little girl holding an apple, which means peace," Ying said.

Lynette Townsend, programme and content manager of NZ Post Stamps and Collectables, highly praised the design, saying that it was a perfect combination of traditional symbols and modern context.

She also added that after close 25 years of zodiac stamps publication, New Zealand wants to keep doing it because it was not only important to be part of Chinese New Year celebrations, but also showcased the diversified cultures flourishing in New Zealand as well. Enditem
Donald Trumps grand entry into the political arena greatly helped the cable news television business and created thousands of jobs, according to his Feb. 4 letter of resignation from SAG-AFTRA.

The former president specifically names MSNBC, which he refers to as MSDNC, and Fake News CNN as the major benefactors of his political presence.

He leaves out Fox News, which is currently living in the Trumpian dog house for the temerity of being the first network to call Arizona for Joe Biden.

Trumps letter follows a recommendation from SAG-AFTRAs disciplinary committee to boot him from the membership ranks for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol and sustaining a reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists.

Trumps response to the recommendation: Who cares!

And then, of course, Trump hit back at the union.

He dismisses the disciplinary move as nothing more than a publicity stunt, a blatant attempt at free media attention to distract from your dismal record as a union.

The master of distraction knows what he is talking about when it comes to shifting the focus from a dismal record.

America's democracy just barely survived four years of distractions from the White House.

Hail, hail the gangs all here. Fox Corp., Fox News Network, Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, Jeanine Pirro, Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell are named defendants in Smartmatics $2.7B defamation and disparagement lawsuit.

The 276-page complaint is a good read.

Smartmatic alleges that the defendants cooked up a story about a rigged presidential election.

But they needed a villain to make it fly so they concocted a tale in which Smartmatics election software rigged voting machines to swing the election to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

A story of good versus evil, the type that would incite an angry mob, only works if the storyteller provides the audience with someone who personifies evil, reads the complaint.

Millions of Fox watchers swallowed the stolen election lie. Smartmatic officers received death threats, while clients panicked.

The companys reputation for providing transparent, auditable, and secure election technology and software was irreparably harmed, according to the complaint.

Smartmatic went from an under-the-radar election technology to a villain in a disinformation campaign.

The fake news push did more than just jeopardize the future of a company.

The story turned neighbor against neighbor. The story led a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol.

Defendants started a fire for selfish and financial reasons and they cared not the damage their story caused to Smartmatic, its officers and employees, and the country, says Smartmatic.

It will take the country a long time to put out that fire.

Fox News provided a statement, saying it is proud of its 2020 election coverage and "will vigorously defend against this meritless lawsuit in court.

It claims to be "committed to providing the full context of every story with in-depth reporting and clear opinion."

Fox Business has canceled Lou Dobbs Tonight, one of its highest-rated shows, on Feb. 5, a day after the filing of the lawsuit, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Fox News Media says Dobbs' exit is part of an earlier plan to change programming.

Let's hope for the better.
Our American medical system with its deep pool of highly trained specialists, the best in the world when it accrued inside a culture of science and learning, is Humpty Dumpty falling off the wall. It has had to focus its priority away from the doctor-patient relationship and more toward appeasing ever-expanding federal and bureaucratic control. Doctors and patients are pawns caught in a game of power. All the king's horses and all the king's men, so they say...but is there any way to save the best parts of our health care?

As the federal government hurtles toward a Medicaid-for-all system, justifying the expansion of access and affordability as its primary goals, it is alienating those who are supposed to provide that care. It is impossible to have access, affordability, and quality co-exist in any proposal. Access assumes there will be enough doctors to see all the patients and assumes efficiency in the doctor's offices. Nothing is as unaffordable as "free" anything when it comes to the federal government. Quality plummets when the best doctors quit.

Many doctors are losing their love of medicine. (Make no mistake: there are few professions as challenging and rewarding. Name another job where you are thanked for saving a life, even when that is often an exaggeration, on a daily basis.) But advances in care like the electronic medical record, while awesome in some respects, are a real time sink. In order to fulfil EMR billing requirements and still see enough patients to be able to cover their overhead, it is difficult to produce a factually accurate, non-fraudulent medical record.

Reimbursement is plummeting as unpaid busy work is accelerating. Doctors, as a result, are looking to retire early or try a new career. Older specialists, an irreplaceable reservoir of knowledge and skill, are the least pleased. While their merit as physicians is often close to peak value, their pay is not. Physicians over 65 represent 21% of the total number of practitioners in the United States. When talking about doctors over 55 years old, this represents 42% of the total. That's 336,000 out of 800,000 physicians, and a lot of them do not like the way medicine is changing.

The bureaucrats who study the problem of access think overwhelmed primary care providers will get real help from physician extenders like physician assistants and nurses. But the training is just not commensurate, and the quality of care suffers as a result. And even if they become excellent providers, we are seeing burnout of them as well.

So we have a federal takeover of health care coming with a rapidly dwindling cohort of doctors. Most of the happiest remaining primary care doctors are turning to concierge medicine, hardly an affordable alternative for most Americans. Many of the older specialists are leaving altogether because of a general feeling that their work is not properly valued. The doctors who choose to continue have to deal with a bunch of people telling them how to practice and how many people that they need to see a day, all the while knowing that every patient represents a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Patients are consequentially overtreated, over-tested, and over-scanned. This stems directly from the fact that providers don't have the time to get a full grasp of the patient's illnesses. But there are answers out there that could catch Humpty Dumpty and put him back up on the wall.

Dr. Tom Price was a successful orthopedist in Roswell, Georgia before he felt called to leave patient care and try to help find a way to fix the country's health care problem. He introduced a bill that would get all Americans covered and could actually bring down the cost of care while he was in the House of Representatives. Eight hundred of us involved in the newly formed "Docs 4 Patient Care" went to Washington, D.C. in support of that bill back in September 2009. Despite being dressed in white coats and scrubs, taking the stage on the National Mall, and flooding the halls of the House and Senate buildings, we got no news coverage. Dr. Price's bill got hung up in the Democratically controlled House, never seeing the light of day. The mainstream media had four "pink ladies" supporting abortion on all of the news channels but no mention of our group or what we supported. It was obvious that cutting costs and getting everyone covered for care was not a Washington, D.C. priority. Obamacare was the priority.

Unless the ideas of Dr. Price are revisited, we will have less access to real doctors, "free" yet unaffordable care, and much greater exposure to poor-quality health care providers.

Docs 4 Patient Care and their commitment to the doctor-patient relationship still exist. Dr. Price thought a combination of insurance pooling of at-risk individuals, health care savings accounts, tax credits, malpractice reform, and options for pre-existing conditions were the keys to a better future. Will we find out the truth of this before we lose our most experienced providers?

Image via Pixy.
In Myanmar's largest anti-coup protests yet, young demonstrators on Saturday spilled on to the streets to denounce the country's new military regime, despite a nationwide internet blackout aimed at stifling a growing chorus of popular dissent. As many as 1,000 demonstrators marched on a road near Yangon University, most holding up the three-finger salute that has come to symbolise resistance to the army takeover, and demanded the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Here are the top developments so far:

1,000 Protest Military Coup

The march came amid Myanmar's second nationwide internet blackout this week, similar in magnitude to an earlier shutdown that coincided with the arrest of Suu Kyi and other senior leaders on Monday. Online calls to protest the army takeover have prompted increasingly bold displays of defiance against the new regime, including the nightly deafening clamour of people around the country banging pots and pans -- a practice traditionally associated with driving out evil.

Myanmar Junta Shuts Twitter and Instagram as Protests Expand

Myanmar was reportedly plunged into a new nationwide internet shutdown on Saturday, days after a military coup that coincided with an earlier blackout. Myanmar's junta has tried to silence dissent by temporarily blocking Facebook and extended the social media crackdown to Twitter and Instagram in the face of the growing protest movement. Authorities ordered internet providers to deny access to Twitter and Instagram "until further notice", said Norwegian mobile phone company Telenor Asa.

UN Has "First Contact" With Myanmar Military

The United Nations had its first contact with the Myanmar military since its coup, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday, repeating calls for civilian leaders to be freed. Guterres said a special envoy to the country had made "first contact" with Myanmar's deputy military commander to urge the junta to relinquish power to the civilian government it toppled.

International Pressure

The United States is considering targeted sanctions on individuals and on entities controlled by Myanmar's military. US President Joe Biden was among the world leaders to demand the generals to relinquish power and release advocates and activists and the officials who they had detained. Biden also asked the military to lift its restrictions in telecommunications, and refrain from any violence. US based pressure group Human Rights Watch called for the lifting of the internet restrictions, the release of detainees and an end to threats against journalists.

Blinken Presses China to Condemn Military Coup

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also "pressed China to join the international community in condemning the military coup in Burma", using the former name of Myanmar. The top US diplomat said the United States would hold Beijing "accountable for its efforts to threaten stability in the Indo-Pacific, including across the Taiwan Strait, and its undermining of the rules-based international system." The tough tone comes after Blinken in his confirmation hearing said he would continue former president Donald Trump's approach to China in a rare point of agreement between the two administrations.

Dozens of Rohingya refugees caught arriving in Malaysia

Dozens of Rohingya, mostly women and children, were caught as they arrived by boat in Malaysia last month after fleeing a refugee camp in neighbouring Indonesia, police said Friday. Almost 400 members of the persecuted Muslim minority from Myanmar arrived by boat in Indonesia last year after perilous journeys, and just over 100 now remain at a camp there.
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This morning we start off with just a few local links that are worth a look along with newsworthy hottie CharMac doing her very best to revive a panty brand suffering COVID harsh times. And all of THAT inspires this look at pop culture, top headlines and more . . .

Kansas City Old School Cope With COVID Vaxx Scarcity

Even Though Doses Are Low, Older People In Kansas City Are Getting Help Finding Vaccinations James Watts was eager to travel again, to see his children and grandchildren. This week, that dream inched a bit closer to reality when the 71-year-old from Kansas City got his first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccination at the Linwood YMCA. "I want to be able to see (family), with some protection," Watts said.

Contest Betwixt Top Cops

KCPD chief makes friendly 2021 Super Bowl wager with Tampa's police chief Kansas City police Chief Rick Smith has made a friendly 2021 Super Bowl wager with Tampa police Chief Brian Dugan.In a video posted to the KCPD Facebook page, Smith held up the Chiefs' 2020 Super Bowl ring and the trash-talking began.

Celebrate Hottie Pioneer

Meet Shirley Marley, the woman who created the original Chiefettes Drill Team OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - The original Chiefettes Drill Team started in 1965 thanks to an Overland Park woman with a passion for teaching dance. Shirley Marley is 84 years old and is still turning out professional performers from her studio, The Miller-Marley School of Dance and Voice, in Overland Park.

We Remember CharMac

What Happened To Charlotte McKinney After 'Baywatch'? One of the most notable works that Charlotte McKinney took part in since starring in Baywatch was the film Fantasy Island. The path to stardom is one that is unique for each traveler, and while it may take years, those with the talent and the determination can find a way to make a name for themselves in the business.

DOBBS DUMPED!!!

Fox Business Network cancels 'Lou Dobbs Tonight,' one of its highest-profile shows Fox Business Network viewers may have seen the last of conservative talk host Lou Dobbs, after the cable network canceled his show, "Lou Dobbs Tonight," on Friday. It would be an unceremonious ending for Dobbs, 75, one of Fox Business Network's highest-profile personalities and one of the strongest supporters of former President Donald Trump in cable news.

Prez FAILS Fair Wage

Biden casts doubt on $15 minimum wage hike in Covid relief package Biden's coronavirus relief plan included a provision that raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the chair of the Senate Budget Committee, has been leading the charge to move it forward in the Senate through the so-called reconciliation process, which essentially allows Democrats to pass a broader coronavirus relief package without GOP support.

Former Prez Trump Debriefed

Biden says Trump should not receive intelligence briefings due to his 'erratic behavior' President Joe Biden said that former President Donald Trump should not receive intelligence briefings even though they typically have been given to other former presidents. Biden told CBS News in an interview that Trump was "unfit to be president" and his "erratic behavior" is why he should not have access to the nation's classified information.

Insurrection Aftermath Contd

Seditionaries: FBI net closes on Maga mob that stormed the Capitol s prosecutors from the House of Representatives prepare to present their case against Donald Trump at his impeachment trial next week for incitement of insurrection, supporters who heeded his call on 6 January to "fight like hell" and went on to storm the Capitol Building are finding themselves in far greater legal peril.

Payback Promised

'You'll Regret This': House Republicans Swear In-Kind Retribution For Greene Removal In their arguments against House Democrats stripping Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-Ga.) committee assignments on Thursday, House Republicans repeatedly warned in not-so-subtle terms that when they take power, they will remove Democrats who have made controversial comments. Democrats initially attempted to get Republicans to remove Greene on their own - like they did with then-Rep.

Hip-Hop Comeback

Tekashi 6ix9ine is BACK! Drops New Music, Claims Internet Is Boring Without Him "Coming to save 2021!!  Insta becomes entertaining again ," a fan wrote after seeing the clip. "He's Back!  is back," other agreed. But, as you can imagine not everyone is pumped to see the 'TuTu' rapper, posting things like, "I blame Covid-19 for this."

Kansas City Coffee Talk

170: KC Coffee Veterans Talk Industry Culture On this episode of the Northeast Newscast, we're joined by three well-known veterans of the Kansas City coffee scene as part of the Northeast News' Coffee Issue.

Kansas City Repeated Gunfire Warning Habitually Ignored

Kansas City police planning, hoping for fun but safe Super Bowl weekend KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Excitement is building on this final Red Friday before the Super Bowl. As fans prepare for game day celebrations, police are planning how to keep everyone safe. Chiefs Kingdom is pumped, itching for Super Bowl Sunday to arrive. "It's pretty exciting.

TROLLZ - 6ix9ine & Nicki Minaj is the song of the day and this is the OPEN THREAD for right now.
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India will start distributing second dose of coronavirus vaccine to beneficiaries from 13 February, the ministry of family and welfare said. The nationwide COVID-19 vaccine drive started on 16 January. The healthcare workers and frontline workers were the first group to receive the much-awaited COVID-19 vaccine .

India has granted emergency use authorisation to two COVID-19 vaccines  Pune-based Serum Institute of Indias Covishield and Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International Ltds Covaxin which are being used in the governments vaccination drive.

Over fifty lakh people have received the first dose of coronavirus vaccine in the country. Parsing the efforts of the states, Rajesh Bhushan, the union health secretary urged the authorities "to exponentially increase the pace of vaccination."

"The State Health Secretaries were asked to analyze the daily variation in the number of average vaccinations and take necessary steps to increase them. States/UTs were advised to ensure 100% saturation of people who have already been registered on CoWin digital platform," according to the statement by ministry of family and welfare.

The states were also asked to organise simultaneous vaccination sessions or day in the health facility wherever possible. Each state or union territory was advised to devise a state specific strategy to achieve this target.

At least 12 states and union territories reported 60% or more vaccination coverage of healthcare workers. "They were all advised to improve the percentage coverage of vaccinated beneficiaries as there are many states and UTs that need to improve their performance on this parameter," the ministry said.

"States/ UTs were advised to ensure regular review meetings of the State, District and Block Task Force to assess the emerging challenges, understand the ground issues and promptly address them at the appropriate levels," the statement read.

"Every State/UT must schedule all healthcare workers for vaccination at least once before 20th Feb 2021 and immediately thereafter organize mop-up rounds for them. Similarly, all frontline workers must be scheduled for vaccination at least once before 6th March 2021 and immediately thereafter organize mop-up rounds for them," it added.

"Elaborating on the global landmarks crossed by India, he underlined that India is the fastest country to reach the 5 million mark in COVID-19 vaccination in just 21 days," the official statement mentioned.

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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang attends a high-level virtual dialogue with European business leaders in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2021. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday hosted a high-level virtual dialogue with European business leaders in Beijing.

Li started by giving an overview of the current state of the Chinese economy and its outlook, and exchanged views with participants on China-Europe trade and investment cooperation, China's business environment, COVID-19 response, climate change and other issues of mutual interest.

On China's economic situation, Li commented that facing the impacts of COVID-19 and a deep global recession, the Chinese government maintained a cool-headed approach and adopted timely, decisive and effective macro policies, which produced good results at a reasonable cost.

The Chinese economy achieved early and steady recovery, registering a year-round growth of 2.3 percent, he added.

According to Li, China's central and local governments introduced targeted relief policies to address the needs of struggling market entities. Methods such as phased, large-scale tax and fee cuts were adopted to help market entities overcome their difficulties, especially the large number of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and household businesses in various sectors that are the hardest hit by the pandemic.

"Last year, these policies saved more than 2.5 trillion yuan of business costs for market entities of all types," he said.

In the meantime, China has done much to improve the business environment and unleash market vitality, said Li, adding that China has further streamlined the business registration procedures and offered equal safeguards for all types of businesses to level the playing field.

Thanks to these steps, the number of MSMEs and household businesses rebounded in the second half of last year, with the total number of market entities reaching 130 million in China, Li said.

Li noted that the newly established businesses have shown a robust performance, contributing 2.5 trillion yuan to the tax revenue last year.

"The surviving and thriving of hundreds of millions of market entities has furnished a solid foundation for keeping employment stable, meeting people's basic needs, and stabilizing the fundamentals of the Chinese economy," he said.

The high-level dialogue was moderated by Peter Mandelson, former European trade commissioner and British first secretary of state, and attended by business leaders representing close to 30 leading European companies including VOLVO, Airbus, JCDecaux, AstraZeneca, L'Oreal, BASF, and SAP.
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

The man who police say shot and killed a New Mexico State Police officer during a traffic stop outside Deming on Thursday was on his way to Las Cruces for a drug deal.

Omar Felix Cueva, 39, was pulled over in his white Chevrolet pickup truck heading eastbound on Interstate 10 as part of an operation by State Police and Homeland Security Investigations.

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Police say he fired at least one shot, killing Officer Darian Jarrott, before leading other officers on a chase, firing at them and blowing through a tire deflation device.

About 30 miles from where developments began, he shot a Las Cruces Police Department officer and multiple officers fired back, killing him. The LCPD officer was treated at a hospital in El Paso and released later that evening.

Roxanne Garcia-McElmell, a spokeswoman for the 3rd Judicial District Attorneys Office in Dona Ana County, said they were told the suspect was wearing a bulletproof vest. A State Police spokesman has since said thats not true.

It wasnt the first time Cueva was reportedly involved in a high-speed chase during a drug transaction.

In September 2010, he was federally charged with possession with intent to distribute crystal methamphetamine in California. According to an article in the San Diego Union Tribune, Cueva and two other men led police on a chase  at times exceeding 100 miles per hour  on the interstate before crashing into a fence and fleeing into a nearby ravine.

The men were eventually arrested, and found to have a loaded assault rifle and a duffel bag containing 15 pounds of methamphetamine, worth about $252,000, according to the article.

Cueva pleaded guilty to three counts of using a cellphone to facilitate a drug offense and, in August 2011, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, according to court documents. It is unclear when or why he was released.

Cueva, who was living in the Deming area, does not have a criminal history in New Mexico and its unclear how long he has been in the state. Lt. Mark Soriano, a State Police spokesman, said Cueva had been charged with possession of a controlled substance twice, importation of a controlled substance  at least one of which was cocaine  three times, writing a fake check and burglary. He said the charges were accumulated between 2000 and 2010 in Southern California.

Details about what exactly HSI agents were looking for on Thursday and what Cueva was being investigated for remain sparse, but State Police Chief Robert Thornton had said in a late-night news conference Thursday that they knew he was traveling from the Deming area to Las Cruces to engage in a drug interaction or a drug buy.

Leticia Zamarripa, a spokeswoman for the Department Of Homeland Security, did not answer questions about the operation, or about whether authorities knew how dangerous Cueva was or what safety protocols were in place.

She did say State Police had been assisting HSI special agents  who focus on investigating transnational crime and threats  in an enforcement operation in Deming, New Mexico, related to an ongoing narcotics investigation.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) extends its deepest condolences to our law enforcement partners at the New Mexico State Police for the tragic loss in the line of duty of Officer Darian Jarrott. We grieve along with the rest of our law enforcement community for this heroic officer who lost his life serving his state and protecting his community, Erik Breitzke, special agent in charge of HSI El Paso, said in a statement. The community should also be thankful and proud of the courageous Las Cruces Police Department officer who was injured in Thursdays shooting incident.

Thursday night, Chief Thornton said investigators were serving search warrants on Cuevas home. The 6th Judicial District Attorney said his office has asked for those records to be sealed in order to protect the ongoing investigation.

Editors note: this story was updated to correct inaccurate information provided to the Journal that Cueva was wearing a bulletproof vest.
US President Joe Biden has vowed to provide people with employment as well as vaccinate the people to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic.

In an address to the nation, Biden said, "We do have the tools to reduce a lot of suffering in this country. We just have to choose to use them. So it's time to act. We can reduce suffering in this country. We can put people back to work. We can gain control of this virus. That's what the American rescue plan does."

While mentioning that the US economy was still in trouble, Biden informed that only 6,000 private-sector jobs have been added in the last month. A total of 49,000 jobs were added at a time when more than 10 million people are out of work, he said.

The closely-watched jobs data showed the unemployment rate dropped to 6.3% in January, but the economy added only 49,000 jobs.

"I see enormous pain in this country. A lot of folks out of work, a lot of folks going hungry, staring at the ceiling tonight wondering what am I going to do tomorrow. A lot of folks trying to figure out how to keep their jobs and take care of their children," Biden remarked.

Laying out his 'American Rescue Plan', the President explained that it will put $160 billion into our national Covid-19 strategy, which includes more money for manufacturing, distribution, and setting up of Covid-19 vaccine sites.

The American Rescue Plan will focus on $2,000 of stimulus payments, of which 600 has already gone out and $1,400 checks to people who need it, he said."This is money directly in people's pockets. They need it, we need to target that money so folks making $300,000 don't get any windfall," he said.

"It has money to help folks pay their health insurance. It has rental assistance to keep people in their homes rather than being thrown out in the street. It's got money to help us open our schools safely. And there's money for childcare, for paid leave. It gets needed resources to state and local governments to prevent layoffs of essential personnel, firefighters, nurses, folks who are school teachers, sanitation workers. It raises minimum wage," he added.

Biden also mentioned that suicides are up in the country, mental health needs are increasing and there is an uptick of violence against women and children, which necessitated the government to act fast, while adding that he would like to do the same with the support of Republicans.

Meanwhile, the US Congress have passed a budget resolution, a key procedural step that paves the way for Democrats to pass Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package, without the threat of opposition from Republicans.

The United States on Thursday reported at least 618 cases of Covid-19 variants across 33 states.

The vast majority (611) of these cases are the more contagious variant known as B.1.1.7, which was originally detected in the United Kingdom (UK). However, Florida has the highest count, with 187 cases, and California follows with 145. The rest are scattered across a few dozen states.

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A county deputy was arrested on Friday night for allegedly assaulting his wife.

At 7:09 p.m., the Hamilton County Sheriffs Office Patrol Division was dispatched to a residence in the 7800 block of Saylor Lane in Hixson in reference to a domestic disturbance.

Upon arrival, it was alleged that an off-duty deputy had assaulted his wife.

Deputies called detectives with the Hamilton County Sheriffs Office Criminal Investigations Division to conduct an investigation into the matter.

At the conclusion of the investigation, Sheriffs Deputy Jorge Araiza was arrested and booked into the Hamilton County Jail where he was charged with one count of simple assault (domestic). Deputy Araiza is a five-year veteran of the Hamilton County Sheriffs Office and is currently assigned to the Patrol Division.

Deputy Araiza has been placed on administrative leave with pay pending the conclusion of an internal affairs investigation.

This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round blue objects), also known as novel coronavirus, the virus that causes COVID-19, emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab which was isolated from a patient in the United States. (NIAID-RML/Handout via Reuters)

Study Raises Concerns Over CCP Virus Mutations During Chronic Infection

A new UK study has raised concerns that the CCP virus has more chance to mutate during chronic infections, and it could mutate to outwit our vaccines, a leader of the study said.

In an unedited manuscript pre-published by Nature on Friday, a team led by researchers at Cambridge University said they saw repeated mutations while treating an immunocompromised patient.

The team sequenced virus genomes in a patient 23 times across 101 days while he was treated for COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

The patient, who has now died, was a man in his 70s with a seriously compromised immune system.

After the patient was given two doses of convalescent seraplasma from the blood of recovered COVID-19 patients that contains antibodiesthe team saw a dramatic shift in the virus population.

According to a Cambridge University news release, one of the variants that emerged, which became dominant for a while, contained two mutations of concern.

One is the D796H mutation, which seemed to be responsible for decreasing susceptibility to the antibodies in the plasmaa typical viral mutation to escape immune pressure.

The other is H69/V70 amino acid deletion in part of the spike proteina mutation that makes the virus twice as infectious.

This paradigm is classic for viruses, whereby escape mutations are followed by or accompanied by compensatory mutations, the university wrote.

The H69/V70 deletion had been detected multiple times, including in the so-called UK variant VUI 202012/01 and in the cluster-5 variant found both in minks and humans in Denmark. But this is the first time researchers have observed its emergence in a patient.

The team found that although the dominant variant initially appeared to die away, it reemerged again when the third course of remdesivir and convalescent plasma therapy were administered.

Ravi Gupta, a Cambridge professor who led the research, said, What we were seeing was essentially a competition between different variants of the virus, and we think it was driven by the convalescent plasma therapy.

He said the findings raise a worrying possibility.

Given that both vaccines and therapeutics are aimed at the spike protein, which we saw mutate in our patient, our study raises the worrying possibility that the virus could mutate to outwit our vaccines.

This effect is unlikely to occur in patients with functioning immune systems, where viral diversity is likely to be lower due to better immune control. But it highlights the care we need to take when treating immunocompromised patients, where prolonged viral replication can occur, giving greater opportunity for the virus to mutate, Gupta added.

Dr. Julian Tang, a virologist from University of Leicester, said that a similar phenomenon has been observed before in a 45-year-old immunocompromised patient who received different treatment.
DOWNIEVILLE, Calif. (AP)  A California man survived seven days in the Sierra Nevada after following his GPS navigation system down a treacherous mountain road and getting hemmed in by deep snow.

The Sierra County Sheriff's office says 29-year-old Harland Earls was rescued by a helicopter crew Sunday, hours after emergency dispatchers tracked his cellphone to a unplowed county road in the heart of Tahoe National Forest.

Authorities say he was in good condition after being holed up in his pickup truck with food, water, winter clothes and a propane heater he had brought with him for the trip.

Earls had visited friends in Grass Valley the weekend before the worst of a winter storm hit California. Interstate 80, the main route over the Donner mountain pass, was closed on Jan. 24 due to heavy snowfall, and Earls told authorities his GPS rerouted him to travel on Henness Pass road, unaware that it is not plowed in the winter.

His truck got stuck on a dirt portion of the road and wasnt able to move through a thick layer of snow.

Family members who hadnt heard from Earls searched for him before reporting him missing on Saturday. The next day, as authorities launched a search by air and by snowmobile, Earls strapped snowboards onto his feet and hiked from his truck to a spot with cellphone reception and dialed 911.

The call dropped, but not before dispatchers confirmed his GPS location.

Authorities say they conduct dozens of searches and rescues on Henness Pass during snow season, as motorists stuck in ski traffic rely on their navigation devices for alternative routes. One winter day in 2018, Fisher said 50 cars got stuck in the snow on the eastern end of the road.

Fisher said while he wishes navigation apps provide warnings when they redirect drivers, motorists need to be better prepared for winter travel when they come to the mountains to avoid putting themselves in dangerous situations.
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A wave crashing off the rocks at Hook Lighthouse. Photo: Liam Ryan

Gabriel Lyster from Co Westmeath wrote the following poem about what Hook Head and its famous lighthouse means to him.

Having worked as a young steel erector back in 1961-62, putting an extension on the Albatross outside New Ross, he met his future wife, Marie Roche from Chapel Lane who worked as a hairdresser for Seamus Furlong. They were married on January 2, 1965 in the parish church.

They settled in the UK for 36 years and had three children and eight grandchildren, returning to his home village of Rochfortbridge in 2000. 'We are up and down to New Ross four or five times a year and my son lives in the area now.'

The Hook

On your peninsula of light you stand

Black and white tunic, so dapper, so grand

Eight hundred years and still aglow

Should Marshal awaken, he'd smile, I know

You bathe your feet when the tide is right

Go the whole hog on a wild stormy night

We all come to see you from near and from far

Loch Gorman's jewel, you are a star

The history you've seen, remember the sort

That monster Cromwell, the one with the wart

The line that he threw, from another he took

Waterford I'll take, by hook or by crook

Dunbrody hit full sail now, she had left the quay at Ross

Precious life below deck, feeling hungry, weary, lost

You strafed your light along her side to give a ray of hope

For gravy on a dinner, for a bath with scented soap

Your flashing beam was a magnet now, a final link with home

Fading in the darkness to a murmur on the foam

Now the cord had broken, a tearfulness set in

Knowing they would never see your lifting light again.
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Malda: BJP president J P Nadda on Saturday slammed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for depriving farmers of the state of the PM Kisan scheme benefits to satisfy her ego.

He also wondered why she loses her cool over "Jai Shri Ram" slogans.

Nadda, while attending the final round of the month-long "Krishak Suraksha Abhiyan" of the party, said people of the state have made up their mind to bid "namaste and tata" to Banerjee and her party after the assembly polls.

"What Mamata di did with farmers of Bengal by depriving them of PM Kisan Scheme benefits was an injustice. She did not allow the implementation of the welfare programme in the state to satisfy her ego.

"Now after realising that the farmers themselves have allowed the scheme she has said she would implement it. The 70 lakh farmers for the last two years have been deprived of annual aid of Rs 6,000," Nadda said.

The BJP chief also had lunch with the farmers on the open ground as part of the "Krishak Suraksha Saha-Bhoj" at Sahapur village in Malda. He had 'kichdi' and 'sabji' on the menu.

"When I was coming here I was greeted with Jai Shri Ram slogans. But I don't understand why Mamata didi gets angry after hearing it," he said while referring to the January 23 incident at Victoria Memorial Hall in Kolkata.

Banerjee had declined to speak at the event to celebrate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's birth anniversary where "Jai Shri Ram" slogans were raised in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Banerjee had not started her speech when the slogan was raised by a section of the crowd at the Victoria Memorial event to celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of the legendary freedom fighter.

Live TV
President Vladimir Putin's announcement in August that Russia had cleared the world's first covid-19 vaccine for use before it even completed safety trials sparked skepticism worldwide. Now he may reap diplomatic dividends as Russia basks in arguably its biggest scientific breakthrough since the Soviet era.

Countries are lining up for supplies of Sputnik V after peer-reviewed results published in The Lancet medical journal this week showed the Russian vaccine protects against the deadly virus about as well as U.S. and European shots, and far more effectively than Chinese rivals.

At least 20 countries have approved the inoculation for use, including European Union member-state Hungary, while key markets such as Brazil and India are close to authorizing it. Now Russia is setting its sights on the prized EU market as the bloc struggles with its vaccination program amid supply shortages.

In the global battle to defeat a pandemic that's claimed 2.3 million lives in little more than a year, the race to obtain vaccines has assumed geopolitical significance as governments seek to emerge from the huge social and economic damage caused by lockdowns imposed to limit the spread of the virus. That's giving Russia an edge as one of a handful of countries where scientists have produced an effective defense.

Its decision to name Sputnik V after the world's first satellite whose 1957 launch gave the Soviet Union a stunning triumph against the U.S. to start the space race only underlined the scale of the significance Moscow attached to the achievement. Results from the late-stage trials of 20,000 participants reviewed in The Lancet showed that the vaccine has a 91.6% success rate.

"This is a watershed moment for us," Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive officer of the state-run Russian Direct Investment Fund, which backed Sputnik V's development and is in charge of its international roll-out, said in an interview.

While it's too early to gauge the political gains for Putin, Russia is already making much of the soft-power impact of the vaccine on its image after years of international condemnation over election meddling and targeting of political opponents at home and abroad. State television reports extensively on deliveries to other nations.

Sputnik's success won't change hostility toward Putin among Western governments, though it could strengthen Russia's geopolitical clout in regions such as Latin America, according to Oksana Antonenko, a director at Control Risks consultancy.

"With this vaccine, it's proven itself capable of producing something new that's in demand around the world," she said.

Production constraints are the biggest challenge facing all manufacturers as global demand far outpaces supply. Russia, pledging free shots for its 146 million population, began output last year and the vaccine is currently being manufactured in countries including India, South Korea and Brazil.

This week, it emerged a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed an agreement to produce Sputnik V in Turkey, even as the nation has deals to buy 50 million doses of China's Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac vaccine and 4.5 million doses of the Pfizer- BioNTech shot.

Despite Russia's success, domestic demand remains lukewarm so far, driven by public suspicion of the authorities. Putin, 68, fueled the skepticism in December when he said he was waiting to get the inoculation until it had been cleared for people his age.

He still hasn't said whether he's been vaccinated, but other nations aren't waiting to find out. The day after announcing he'd contracted covid-19, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Jan. 25 he'd thanked a "genuinely affectionate" Putin for pledging 24 million doses of Sputnik V in the coming two months. Three days later, Bolivian President Luis Arce personally took delivery of a batch at La Paz airport.

Latin America is proving fertile territory. Argentina, which has struggled to obtain vaccine supplies, started its mass inoculation program after taking delivery of more than half a million Sputnik V doses by January. It's been joined by Nicaragua, Paraguay and Venezuela. In Brazil, the region's biggest market, a decision announced Feb. 3 to scrap the requirement for phase three trials for emergency use may speed up approval.

Guinea became the first African nation to start dispensing Sputnik V in December with Moscow-friendly President Alpha Conde and several ministers taking the vaccine. It expects to get 1.6 million doses this year and is also in talks on acquiring Chinese vaccines, along with AstraZeneca Plc's shot. Zimbabwe, the Central African Republic and Ivory Coast are among other potential customers for Russia.

"We're not in a position where we can say no to any vaccine. We've opted for the Pfizer vaccine, but we're looking at other vaccines as well," said Professor Joseph Benie, head of the National Institute of Public Hygiene in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. "There's an urgency now to start inoculating."

Unlike the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, Sputnik V can be stored in a fridge rather than a freezer, making it easier to transport and distribute in poorer and hotter countries. At around $20 for a two-shot vaccination, it's also cheaper than most Western alternatives. While more expensive than AstraZeneca, the Russian inoculation has shown higher efficacy than the U.K. vaccine.

For some nations such as Iran, which received the first batch of a promised 2 million doses this week, Russia offers a more palatable political alternative than Western suppliers. But Russia is also making inroads into countries such as the United Arab Emirates, which is traditionally close to the U.S. and has approved Sputnik V for use.

China, whose inoculations are as low as 50% effective in the case of Sinovac Biotech, retains a lead in Asia. Only a handful of countries have opted for Sputnik V, including the Philippines, which is in talks for 25 million doses.

Chinese developers may now team up with Russia. The RDIF struck a preliminary deal to test a combined regimen of shots from Sputnik V and China's CanSino Biologics to boost effectiveness against Covid-19, people with knowledge of the matter said Friday.

In what could represent the Kremlin's biggest potential breakthrough, Russia has asked European regulators to examine a request for authorization of Sputnik V after Germany promised to help expedite the process. With top EU officials still smarting over a sluggish vaccine roll-out, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday the Russian shot could be used to protect people in the 27-member bloc as long as it was approved by the European Medicines Agency.

Hungary has already granted emergency approval, signing a deal for 2 million doses of Sputnik V with the first 40,000 shots delivered Tuesday. "The vaccine cannot be a political question," Prime Minister Viktor Orban told state radio Jan. 29. "One can only choose between western and eastern vaccines when you have enough."

European approval may take several months because of the need to submit detailed data, The Lancet's Editor-in-Chief Richard Horton told Bloomberg's QuickTake. "I do think this Russian vaccine will come on tap," but "not quickly," he said.

While Russia says it expects the vaccine to be available to 700 million people this year, it's facing production bottlenecks. "We have to be realistic. Given our other commitments, we will not be able to supply to Europe before May, other than Hungary," said RDIF's Dmitriev.

Still, the vaccine is paying dividends for Putin. Even as he visited Moscow Friday to confront Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov over the imprisonment of opposition leader Alexey Navalny, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell took time to congratulate Russia on developing Sputnik V.

"It's good news for the whole mankind," Borrell said. "It means that we are going to have more tools to face the pandemic."
A significant winter storm is set to hit New England on Super Bowl Sunday. What do we know about the storm and do opinions vary on the expected impact to Massachusetts?

See the thoughts of national and local meteorologists below.

National Weather Service

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for Southeastern Massachusetts and a watch for multiple Massachusetts counties Saturday ahead of the storm.

The winter storm warning goes into effect for Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes and Plymouth Counties at 7 a.m. Sunday and will remain in effect until 1 a.m. Monday.

Heavy wet snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 5 to 9 inches. Winds gusting as high as 40 mph, the warning states. Heaviest snow is expected Sunday afternoon with 1 to 2 hour snowfall rates possible a times.

A winter storm watch was issued for the following counties: Essex, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk and Worcester.

In an expected snowfall map issued by the National Weather Service late Saturday afternoon, most of the state is forecast to see four to eight inches, with pockets of communities seeing higher and lower totals.

In Boston and the Greater Boston area, six to eight inches is in the forecast. Just south of the city and down to Foxborough, eight inches of snow up to a foot is expected.

In Central Massachusetts, the storm is now expected to have a more significant impact further north. While previous storm models suggested Worcester would see more snow than Fitchburg, now both communities are expected to see six to eight inches of snow. Western Worcester County should expect four to six inches.

More snow is expected further north in the Pioneer Valley as well. From Springfield to Greenfield, four to six inches is in the latest forecast, with a pocket of communities west of Springfield likely to see six to eight inches.

Berkshire County can expect four to six inches in Great Barrington, and three to four further north in Pittsfield and North Adams.

In an expected snowfall map issued by the National Weather Service late Saturday after, most of the state can expect four to eight inches, with pockets of communities seeing higher and lower totals.

Accuweather

Calling it an impactful storm, meteorologists at Accuweather said snow may be disruptive to regular life on Super Bowl Sunday.

This snowstorm on the way this weekend is going to be a glancing blow, but still an impactful storm from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast, AccuWeather chief on-air meteorologist Bernie Rayno said.

Travel disruptions are likely due to the high rate of snow possible Sunday afternoon, but should be manageable for crews to clean up before Monday morning.

This is a fast-moving storm, Rayno added. Its gonna be a quick hitter, and that is going to keep some snow accumulations down.

Calling it an impactful storm, meteorologists at Accuweather said snow may be disruptive to regular life on Super Bowl Sunday.

22 News

In a forecast focused on Central and Western Massachusetts, three to six inches are estimated for all of Franklin and Hampshire Counties. In Hampden County, three to six inches is expected for most of the region except east of Springfield south of the Massachusetts Turnpike where five to eight inches is forecast.

In Worcester County, five to eight inches are expected for Worcester and south of the city, three to six north of the city.

In the Berkshires, two to four inches are anticipated for much of the county, with three to six expected in the hilltowns.

If you missed 22News this AM, here's our snowfall map for tomorrow. Do look for refinements to this tonight and especially tomorrow AM!  pic.twitter.com/oBXHUgvHu5  22News StormTeam (@22NewsStormTeam) February 6, 2021

WBZ

In a Friday night forecast focused on the Greater Boston area, meteorologist Terry Eliasen offered those complaining about the coming snow some good news.

This will be a quick mover, in and out of here in about 8 hours, he wrote in a weather post, adding, Mainly a light and fluffy snowfall for those north and west of Boston.

He estimated most of the snow will fall between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. in the region, tapering off between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The demand for making transactions, payment and giving lucky money online has soared these days, giving hackers opportunities to increase their phishing activities.

CyRadar's monitoring system recently discovered two IP server addresses used to place phishing websites.

CyRadar, a cyber security company, on February 3, 2021 released a warning about the two groups of hackers who specialize in carrying phishing that target users of 27 commercial banks and e-wallets.

CyRadars Duong Thanh Hai said the companys monitoring system recently discovered two IP server addresses used to place phishing websites. Since January 2021, 180 fake domain names have been found pointing to the two servers.

The first malicious server cluster has the IP address 193[.]abc[.]xyz[.]41, which has placed a lot of websites with the domain names forging Military Bank and Techcombank, such as mbtk-bank[.]com, mbho-bank[.]com, mbmaybank[.]com, techvncom-bank[.]com, vntechcombank[.]com, techcomvn-bank[.]com, and vn-techcombank[.]com.

Meanwhile, the server cluster with the IP address 167[.]abc[.]xyz[.]51 targets many banks and e-wallets with the forged domain names such as hosomat2021[.]com, xacnhangiaodich165[.]com, giaisukien2021[.]com, tranggiaiviet2021[.]com, thutucvayvonvn[.]com, tracuutheonline[.]com, giaitang168[.]com, tinquathang2[.]com, traoquafb2022[.]com, hosovn2021[.]com, gamezingvn[.]com, hethongbank[.]com, yvtcvn[.]com, quanammoi2021[.]com, tinthuongthang2[.]com, inthuongthang2[.]com, traothu2021[.]com, giaitang2021[.]com, traoquaxe09[.]com, traoquaxe78[.]com, vtcpayvn[.]com, sukienxuan2021[.]com, trunggiai2021[.]com, xacminhgiaodich[.]com, xuan2021[.]com, mualegiai2021[.]com, legiaivang365[.]com, phanqua2021[.]com, and trianthang2[.]com.

The forged domain names assume the names of 27 banks in Vietnam and the best known e-wallets. There are also some domain names targeting social network users and gamers.

The experts from CyRadar commented that cybercriminals are increasing their operations, as the number of online transactions has increased on pre-Tet days.

The Vietnam National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) warned of five prominent cyber attack trends in 2021, including phishing attacks.

One of the reasons for the warning is the unpredictable development of the Covid-19 pandemic. Hackers may exploit the volume of information related to vaccines, governments and organizations reactions, and long-term impacts of the pandemic to conduct phishing attacks.

Thr trend of working from a distance also increases the risk of cyber threats.

Because of the limited awareness of many users, the number of phishing attacks accounts for the largest proportion among three types of cyberattacks to information systems. The other two include Deface and Malware attacks in the last three years.

NCSC discovered 5,168 cyberattacks to information systems in Vietnam that caused incidents, including 1,778 phishing attacks.

To avoid phishing attacks, experts have recommended users not to click abnormal links and thoroughly check the addresses of websites before entering passwords.

They also advised users to set OTP (one time password) for email, bank and social network accounts, as well as equip their computers and smartphones with suitable security software to protect their devices.

Van Anh

More than 4,000 cyberattacks in 10 months Vietnam recorded more than 4,100 cyberattacks in the first 10 months of this year, a decrease of 7.8 per cent over the same period of last year.
NEW DELHI: State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Saturday said it has received debt restructuring requests worth 12,000 crore.

Out of this 9,000 crore was for corporates, which we have already invoked before December 31," the managing director and chief executive officer S.S. Mallikarjuna Rao said, adding that the bank had earlier expected a total amount of 40,000 crore to be restructured.

Request for restructuring has not been as we expected, Rao added.

In August, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had allowed banks to restructure some loans to support economic recovery and help businesses survive the covid-19 induced crisis.

PNB on Friday reported a net profit of 506.03 crore for the December quarter, which was driven by decline in bad assets. It had posted a net loss of 492.28 crore in the year-ago period. PNBs asset quality improved in the third quarter, with gross bad loans ratio of 12.99% in October-December period as compared to 15.34% a year ago and 13.43% in July-September quarter.

Rao said that he expected better recoveries in January. If you remember, the last time we had given the guidance of around 8,000 crore cash recovery there are big major accounts such as Bhushan Power and in that we are anticipating cash recovery of 3,800 crore," he said, adding that he expects good recovery from the DHFL account as well.

The bank also plans to raise 3,200 crore from share sale during the current quarter to expand its capital base, Rao said. It had taken approval for raising 14,000 crore through a mix of equity and debt.

We are also actively looking at going for the IP again with respect to the remaining 3,200 crore to be acquired from the market at an appropriate time...it could be in this fiscal also," he said.

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The California mother-of-three who has been missing for a month had been arguing with her husband during a family trip camping in the desert just days before her disappearance, according to the woman's sister and brother-in-law.

Maricris Drouaillet and her husband, Richard, said that Larry and Maya 'May' Millete had been arguing over a Jeep Wrangler that they had brought with them on a family camping trip to the Glamis Sand Dunes in California over the New Year holiday.

The 39-year-old mother was last seen at her Chula Vista home by family on January 7 at around 5pm.

In an interview with DailyMail.com, Maricris - the oldest of six siblings - said their large family had been planning to take a trip up to the mountains to go snowboarding for Maya's daughter's 11th birthday before Maya disappeared.

The sister and brother-in-law of Maya May Millete say that she and her husband Larry (pictured) had been arguing over a Jeep Wrangler that the couple brought with them on a family trip to the Glamis Sand Dunes in California over the New Year holiday

Richard and Maricris pictured. Richard said of the couple: 'They argued a lot and it was a little bit uncomfortable. It was weird because Larry was acting different. He wasn't acting like Larry. He was acting different...They were done. The relationship was done. You could just tell'

'At that time, they should have been packing,' Maricris said, adding that Maya would have sent a message to their group chat if the trip had been cancelled or changed.

Maricris had previously shared with local reporters that Larry had retained a lawyer and was no longer cooperating with police in their investigation into the disappearance. She also told reporters that the couple had been arguing in the days leading up to Maya's disappearance.

'For a year or two, it has been kind of rocky relationship,' she said of her sister's marriage with Larry. 'They even tried marriage counseling.'

'When we do have a get together they would be there arguing... and then another time, they would be close again. Like oh ok, they worked it out. So it had been like that for the last year.'

Richard added: 'They argued a lot and it was a little bit uncomfortable. It was weird because Larry was acting different. He wasn't acting like Larry. He was acting different... They were done. The relationship was done. You could just tell.'

Richard describes Larry as 'always quiet' on the trips, typically staying near the camp or with his car 'in his own business.'

'He was always quiet but on this last trip he was having fun and he was having a lot of fun but with her vehicle,' Richard stated.

'During the day, he wasn't really at the camp. He was always driving around and then he would come and ask her a question and then they would argue. Not argue in front of the family but you could tell that there was no communication between them. No positive communication between them.'

Maya (second from the right) and Maricris (left) pictured with their siblings

'She was having a good time but I know that in the back of her mind she just wanted her Jeep. She was becoming a different person and starting a new chapter,' Richard said of Maya (pictured)

Both Richard and Miracris noted that Larry had been having a lot of fun with the Jeep Wrangler, which had been purchased by the mother.

'He was having more fun than my sister considering it was my sister's Jeep,' Miracris said. 'He wanted to take the Jeep and he wanted to drive it and my sister wanted to drive it. So they had been arguing about that.'

Richard added: 'You would think that they would have ridden together but that never happened. The relationship was done. She wanted to get out of the relationship.

'She was having a good time but I know that in the back of her mind she just wanted her Jeep. She was becoming a different person and starting a new chapter.'

Since retaining a lawyer, Larry has only let Maricris and members of her family see the three children once, this past Monday

Maricris and Richard expressed their grief over Maya's disappearance and the lack of time they have had with the couple's children, their nieces and nephew.

Since retaining a lawyer, Larry has only let Maricris and members of her family see the three children once, this past Monday.

'Larry has not been, again, responding to our text messages or answering our phone calls,' Maricris said. 'So we got worried... Me and my sister-in-law went to go check on the kids Monday and to make sure that they were ok and that was a lot.'

May 'Maya' Millete was last seen at her Chula Vista home by family on January 7 at around 5pm

Maricris shared that the pair mostly chatted with Larry's father and with the children, who acted 'distant.'

'It was awkward and it was weird,' she said. 'The kids they were very distant. They used to be excited to see us. Especially the young one, her four year old. He would be excited and give me a hug and come running to me to give me a hug. We were calling each other our bff.

'But this time they just kind of looked and didn't give me a hug.'

And while they shared that Larry's family hasn't assisted them much in the search for May, they don't have ill feelings towards them.

'I don't want to cut ties with them,' she said. 'I don't want to burn bridges. They are still family.'

Maricris and her husband struggle with finding words to describe how the disappearance has impacted them. The family has launched a GoFundMe to help raise money for the search.

Richard said: 'We're all sad and just want our sister back... To find her and bring her home. Everyday that goes by just breaks us down a little bit more.'

May 'Maya' Millete was last seen at her Chula Vista home by family on January 7 at around 5pm, according to a January 24 police report from the Chula Vista, California, Police Department.

Police were called to her family's Paseo Los Gatos home on January 10 and informed that the mother was missing. They have been investigating her disappearance ever since.

The 39-year-old mother missed her daughter's 11th birthday, which family said was 'unusual'

Police were called to her family's Paseo Los Gatos home on Jan. 10 and informed that the mother was missing. Family noted that it was 'extremely unusual' that the mother would miss her daughter's 11th birthday

They said that all of Maya's vehicles were at the home but noted that the last time she responded to a text was on January 7.

Authorities served a search warrant to the address on Jan. 23, hoping to get insight as to Maya's whereabouts.

The mother is described as being 5'2" and 105lbs with brown hair. She is said to have tattoos of musical notes and hummingbird

Her family has launched a number of pages dedicated to finding the mother of three - originally from the Philippines.

They've also send fliers around the local community in hopes they'll get some information as to her whereabouts. The family shared that it was 'highly unusual' that Maya would miss her daughter's upcoming 11th birthday.

While the family searched the local community for Maya, Larry is said to have gone into hiding with his children and is reported as keeping them away from their mother's family

'We can't imagine him doing anything to our sister,' Drouaillet added

But they noted that the woman's husband of 21 years, Larry, has been noticeably absent from the search parties.

Maricris Drouaillet, Maya's older sister, told NBC 7 that she was shocked to learn that Larry had retained a lawyer and was no longer cooperating with the police investigation. Larry is even reported as having turned off his cellphone during the search for Maya.

A pile of stickers asking for information on the missing mother is pictured

'It's tough, because he is our family,' the concerned sister asserted.

Larry was the last person seen with Maya and the two had just had an argument, the sister shared. Drouaillet added that recently, Larry was 'distancing' himself and the couple's three children from their mother's side of the family.

'We can't imagine him doing anything to our sister,' Drouaillet added.

Drouaillet, who has not spoken with Larry, said that she would ask him to help the family find Maya if she could get a hold of him.

She pleaded: 'Show that you do care for my sister. Show that you do love her. That's all I'm asking.'

Drouaillet told DailyMail.com that the family was headed to the Chula Vista Police Department to have a peaceful protest in hopes of getting more resources directed at finding Maya.

Larry was the last person seen with Maya and the two had just had an argument, the sister said
In announcing his appointment this week to the Senate Intelligence Committee, on which he previously had served from 2007 through 2013, Sen. Bob Casey of Scranton pointed to a shift in threats that has occurred over the last seven years.

I look forward to having the opportunity to serve on the Intelligence Committee as our Nation faces threats of domestic terrorism at home and complex challenges abroad, Casey said.

When he first joined the committee in 2007, Casey did not give domestic terrorism top billing. Then, just six years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the focus squarely was on threats from abroad. As chairman of the subcommittee for South Asia, including the Middle East, Casey later got a detailed look at the threat.

Now, in the wake of the Jan. 6 deadly insurrection at the Capitol  which itself followed extremist events at several state capitols  it is abundantly clear that domestic terrorism should receive the focus that Casey suggested in his statement.

Because of rising far-right extremism, the assault on the Capitol was, as Brian Michael Jenkins of the Rand Corp. recently put it, a predictable possibility, in which democracy held, but security failed, spectacularly.

Congress must ensure that security does not fail again. That means not just physically protecting the Capitol, but taking seriously domestic terrorism threats as they arise, providing the appropriate agencies with the resources to fight it, coordinating state, local and federal intelligence and communications, and ensuring that federal law provides serious consequences for those who would attack their own country and fellow citizens.
With TV ratings under intense scrutiny in the recent months following the ratings manipulation scam that has come to the fore, the Government is looking at the recommendations made by the four-member committee constituted by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting in November 2020.

Minister for Information & Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar informed the Lok Sabha the committees recommendations involve the TV ratings measurement methodology as well as structural changes in the composition of the rating agencies and audits.

Also read:

MIB steps into TV ratings ecosystem; sets up committee led by Prasar Bharti CEO

As reported earlier, this committee, led by Prasar Bharti CEO Shashi S Vempati, is reviewing the guidelines on television rating agencies in India that the Ministry had notified in 2014. The present guidelines issued by MIB on TV rating agencies in India were notified after detailed deliberations by the Parliamentary Committee, Committee on Television Rating Points (TRP) constituted by the MIB and recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), etc. Other member of this committee include  Dr Shalabh, Professor of Statistics, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, IIT Kanpur; Dr Rajkumar Upadhyay, Executive Director, C-DOT; and Professor Pulak Ghosh, Decision Sciences, Centre for Public Policy (CPP).

Replying to questions raised in the Lok Sabha, Minister for Information & Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar informed the House that the Ministry was analysing the current guidelines on television rating agencies in India and evaluating if there are any shortcomings. He further said that the modifications, if any, might involve a thorough and elaborate review of the paradigm.

Several Lok Sabha MPs raised questions regarding the TV ratings controversy and wanted to know what the Government as well as the TV ratings body Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) were doing to address the concerns.

Javadekar informed the House that BARC was able to detect anomalies in the viewership behaviour and had taken various steps to stop the ratings manipulation, including filing FIRs as well as undertaking structural, regulatory and procedural changes at regular intervals to maintain accuracy and transparency in television ratings.
Colorado Springs, CO (80903)

Today

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Photo: Contributed

Its February. The weather is mostly grey and wet.

There is no chance for any kind of bikini getaway, so we are stuck wearing the same winter clothes, or staying in and hoping NetFlix releases something amazing soon, because we watched everything they have so far.

Thankfully, the Canadian groundhogs were not scared off by their shadows, so that bodes well for the weather  if you believe in rodent prognosticators.

February does only have 28 days but then there is March to get through before we get those cute pastel Easter colours and fuzzy bunnies. (It really does seem that all our hopes for getting happily through winter are based on rodents, doesnt it?)

For many of us, this is the time when we fall into a rut. We may have fallen off the resolution wagon and slowed up our workout schedule. Its easy to rationalize those potato chips we ate while sitting on the couch; we worked hard in the home office.

Many studies have told us that chocolate is good for us in all kinds of ways.

Did you know:

A 100-gram bar of dark chocolate with 7085% cocoa contains:

11 grams of fibre

67% of the RDI for iron

58% of the RDI for magnesium

89% of the RDI for copper

98% of the RDI for manganese

It also has plenty of potassium, phosphorus, zinc and selenium

Its at this point that we forget to include in our thinking that eating 100 g of chocolate in one sitting is downright silly  all because we are stuck in the winter blues.

Fear not, gentle reader. Those infinitely wise pundits (heavy on the pun here) have recently posted in the news that they have the answer.

They want us to eat all that comfort food and keep smiling on our couches, and now we can do that without feeling guilty. After all, Super Bowl weekend is coming, and then Valentines Day  we need to participate in the snacking.

With so much more time spent at home, many of us have indulged more. Alcohol consumption is up, and a recent survey in the U.S. found that 40% of Americans are snacking more than they were before the pandemic.

We Canadians are not falling that far behind. Frito-Lay has seen a 21% increase in snack foods.

Some of this indulgence is also about nostalgia, a concept central to comfort food. We like to remember happy times, and comfort food is usually centred around those times. The breakfast cereals we ate as kids hold a special place in our hearts.

That is why General Mills brought some of them back last fall. Trix, Golden Grahams, Cocoa Puffs and Cookie Crisp were re-released with a return of the 80s taste, meaning all the work done to make them a more healthy recipe was thrown out in our time of emotional distress.

Of course, we all know we need a middle ground. The pandemic has not gone away, so our need for some comfort remains but we also want to consider our own wellbeing.

Announcing the new wellness trend for 2021: emotionally soothing indulgent snacks.

You might think Im kidding. This is not just the rationalization that eating chocolate or ice cream makes you feel better, it is about including ingredients that have benefits such as immune-boosting antioxidants or healthy fats.

The holistic benefits of spices like cinnamon, ginger and turmeric have also become more popular.

Some examples of new items are:

Golden lattes with turmeric, and ginger in coffee or hot chocolate

Wild mushroom powder in but butters

Snack mixes flavoured with herbs and spices instead of salt

Of course, as sceptical as one might be about these combinations, there is a genuine upside  or so they say. Awareness about sustainability has increased, as many people make a greater effort to shop locally.

There has been more bulk shopping, which means less packaging.

The only problem with bulk packages is that there is more inside said package and if our will power is not great then we tend to eat more, and more regularly (you can see where this is going  straight to our hips).

The solution now being offered is to sell multi-packs, a large container of small serving sized packages to help us control our portions. This does mean our efforts to lessen the waste go out the window, but we can get off the couch.

The one shift that seems to be carrying on undaunted in this new world is the trend to eating plant-based foods.

There are increasing efforts to showcase colourful dishes full of textures and flavours, enticing people to try this new approach to eating. Even if we dont all get on this train 100%, it is certainly a healthy way of eating.

In closing, I want to offer up a selection of Super Bowl-worthy snacks that are all plant-based. Even if youre not a believer, Im sure you can use the basic recipe and add back in the meat or cheese if you wish.

Here are some recipes:.

If you support an independent store when you buy any ingredients, you get extra points.

For those of you wondering about my advice for Valentines Day, it is simply this: forego the out-of-season roses and enjoy chocolate or whatever your favourite treat might be.

This goes for everyone, single or attached. Love must come from within  be comfortable with yourself and you will likely find your comfort food is in a healthy balance too.
Chile led the Global Opportunity Index 2021, published by the Milken Institute, which identified it as the region's most attractive country for foreign investment.

SANTIAGO, Chile, Feb. 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- InvestChile, the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency, highlighted the results of the Milken Institute's Global Opportunity Index 2021, which positioned Chile as the Latin American country with the greatest potential to attract foreign investors.

"Chile received the highest ranking in the region due to its strong performance across all categories measured, particularly regarding how friendly its institutions are to foreign investors," stated the California-based institute.

According to the report, Chile showed the best performance in the five categories measured by the Index - business perception, economic fundamentals, financial services, institutional framework, and international standards and policy - and ranked 36th globally. In Latin America, it was followed by Uruguay (48th), Costa Rica (55th), Mexico (64th) and Panama (65th). Sweden led the global ranking, followed by the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

The director of InvestChile, Andres Rodriguez, commented that the results are good news for Chile, particularly given the situation of foreign investment globally. "World foreign direct investment was down by 42% in 2020, so it is important to stay competitive, offer good business opportunities and stand out regionally," he said.

"Despite the pandemic, InvestChile's portfolio grew by 23% last year, with a 20% increase in the number of projects, demonstrating the interest of foreign investors in starting operations or expanding their business in Chile. In this process, it is essential that they have a public agency like InvestChile, which assists foreign investors and provides free advice to facilitate their installation and expansion in our country," added Rodriguez.

The Global Opportunity Index assesses countries' strengths and challenges according to the support that their institutions and policies provide for foreign investment. The annual ranking uses 96 variables, including a country's macroeconomic outlook, potential for future innovation and development, access to financial services and compliance with international standards, as the basis for a forward-looking analysis of the potential for foreign investment in 145 countries.

Press Contact:

Francisca Schwerter, [email protected]

Denisse Vasquez, [email protected]

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Vaccine call center goes live for those 75 and older in Mass.

There has been enough demand already for the hotlines services that the librarys main Napa branch has chosen to reduce its operating hours in order to dedicate more staff to answering the phones, he said.

Were pretty capable when it comes to helping folks who are not familiar or comfortable using computers, Halstead explained, describing programs already offered by the library to its digitally unsavvy patrons. If they call us, well answer. We are helping everyone from those that might have some computer capacity and access all the way through those that need us to help register them for a vaccine clinic.

At this point, Halstead emphasized, the hotline cannot register anyone for an appointment to receive their first dose of the vaccine  the lack of vaccine supply made available to Napa County has stopped first dose clinics altogether for the time being. But eligible residents may still call for help filling out the interest form, Halstead said, a way to ensure the county will follow up with them when supply does become available.

Responses to the form made clear there was a need for such a service, according to Halstead.
2020 was a year marked by hardships and challenges, but the Fauquier community has proven resilient. The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you for your continued support, wed like to offer all our subscribers -- new or returning --

4 WEEKS FREE DIGITAL AND PRINT ACCESS.

We understand the importance of working to keep our community strong and connected. As we move forward together into 2021, it will take commitment, communication, creativity, and a strong connection with those who are most affected by the stories we cover.

We are dedicated to providing the reliable, local journalism you have come to expect. We are committed to serving you with renewed energy and growing resources. Let the Fauquier Times be your community companion throughout 2021, and for many years to come.
One year on from when she was elected to Dail Eireann, Deputy Verona Murphy feels she already has enough of an insight into politics to cement her place as an all-action public representative who can deliver for her county.

Having emerged from a scandal-ridden by-election which saw her fall out of favour of then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and get ejected from Fine Gael, Deputy Murphy went it alone and came in third in the General Election with 11,849 votes (after transfers).

'It was such an honour that people of Wexford had given me a chance and had put their confidence in me to represent them. The previous election had been such a baptism of fire and to be an Independent and to have their faith put in me was such a huge honour.'

She said going out on her own as an Independent with no political experience was daunting. 'It was daunting. I made friends very quickly and I joined the technical group. It is very difficult to navigate the corridors of power and to find out who's who and even to find out what you're supposed to be doing and how the agenda works; how the actual Dail debates work; your time. It's very difficult. The first six months were an onslaught of 18 hour days, seven days a week and I learned very quickly.'

The hard work paid off, she said.

'I put my heart and soul into it but there were objectives to be achieved because I had outlined to the people of Wexford what I was going to undertake and particularly Rosslare Europort was a big feature of that, a third level college for Wexford, bringing IDA jobs and balancing rural and regional development also.'

Expand Close Verona Murphy celebrating last years election result at the count centre with brother John, mother Breda, daughter Robyn, partner Joe Druhan and father Paddy. Photo: Mary Browne / Facebook

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Whatsapp Verona Murphy celebrating last years election result at the count centre with brother John, mother Breda, daughter Robyn, partner Joe Druhan and father Paddy. Photo: Mary Browne

Early on Deputy Murphy felt ostracised by her fellow Co Wexford TDs.

'What really frustrates me is I'm the only Independent in the county and you constantly hear them reverberate things that you know are so bad for the county but it's based on party policy. At least I can keep my eye on the ball and make sure the people's voice is heard without fear or favour and I feel I've had great influence in doing so.'

She said Covid and Brexit, in particular, saw her catapulted into the limelight.

'While Covid struck everybody, Brexit was also coming down the tracks and having been president of the IRHA I didn't struggle with trying to balance the two and I could see that Covid was going to have an impact on Brexit as much as Brexit was going to have an impact itself.'

She said being a businessperson, she could empathise with people trying to keep their companies going.

'The solidarity I've shown; I'm the only TD in the country who has taken the level of PUP salary in the second lockdown and I absolutely had empathy with the people; not just the employees but also the employers because I was an employer for 30 odd years. My own business closed because of Covid; my drivers didn't want to travel. It was probably naturally going to come to an end but it came to an end specifically because of Covid. That's what many businesses are suffering now. I think the prolonged agony is not going to help with the viability of businesses going forward. Most employees who expect to get back to work I would be very concerned that they will not, and that would be because of a combination between Brexit and Covid.'

She held no romantic views of a glamorous life as a politician. 'I'm not someone who romanticises about things at all. Anything I do I undertake because I know it's going to be very hard work and it's the target I set myself: to give it my all and make sure it's a success. What I found difficult was five politicians were elected for the county and I had four pulling against me. Effectively cartelling as an old boys club in trying to destabilise me from making any progress, saying my approach was wrong and what I was saying was rubbish.'

Deputy Murphy criticised her fellow TDs for inaction on Rosslare Europort, especially their claim that the port was out of reach because of a legacy ownership issue.

'That was the first red herring. That it could only carry 30 per cent of the traffic; that the land-bridge would continue. I found all of that very, very difficult because not only was it the old boys club, it was also the fact that they were trying to undermine me and my 30 years experience. It's very hard that you have to keep up your own level of enthusiasm when people are trying to knock you.

'You'd feel that as politicians for Wexford, they should be batting for Wexford. All I was doing was batting for Wexford and I found they were batting against me; it's something I found very difficult to understand.'

She says she has experienced misogynism and sexism while trying to work for the people of Co Wexford and has developed strong relationships with female TDs and ministers in the Dail.

'I get on very, very well with ministers for disability and mental health. There is an empathy there. I instigated the transport policy that is now in place at Cumas because of my interaction with the minister.'

Describing her work as a TD as more difficult than her work running a business and being head of the IRHA, Deputy Murphy said: 'There are times when I feel I've never worked as hard simply because I'm dealing with such a myriad of issues and I'm learning as much as I'm dealing with stuff. Certainly it's a different type of job, but no I don't regret it for a minute. It's a very hard job like anything you put your heart and soul into and I'm privileged to have the opportunity.'

'I thought I'd never get to grips with the Dail in my first six months and I'm a year in and I don't even have to think about writing a speech that could take me hours; I know what the issues are. They are on the tip of my tongue and I know how the people of Wexford feel about almost everything and I can represent it. I think that's great job satisfaction and I hope they feel I'm doing justice to the position,'

'With Rosslare I have a level of competence above the others. I don't have to get up and deliver a crock of rubbish that isn't going to deliver for Co Wexford. At least three out of our five politicians are delivering something they don't believe but they're in a party.'

She says her ding dong battles have revolved around Brexit and the IMDO report.

'It was a report that said we didn't need additional shipping resources. Here we are a month into Brexit and we have an extra 30 sailings in Rosslare, as opposed to six sailings, and there still isn't enough capacity. So I am vindicated. It's frustrating that the other TDs now take credit for this. They did nothing and now everybody is clapping themselves on the back.'

She singled out Brendan Howlin as the exception to this.

'He was the only one who had any engagement with the new company DFDS. That was done independently. Brendan Howlin did his bit; I did my bit. They almost didn't come in because of the IMDO report. For three weeks there was a period that this is a government report, it must be correct. It took three weeks to convince them. I had to give my 30 years experience, not just about how transport works, but how it's going to work in the future and the new set of rules that have come from the EU and that impart of knowledge is what has changed their minds and I'm just delighted Rosslare and DFDS have been Ireland's saviour as our trade can continue.'

She doesn't count herself lucky to have been the right woman in the right place at the right time to address the issue.

'The biggest effect on us was going to be trade and transport. Certainly, it is my area of expertise. It's not difficult for me. I find there is a huge void in government in relation to logistics of any kind. You can see that with the testing and tracing. I'm so used to getting things done, it's extremely, extremely frustrating. When I put my mind to something I generally know where to go, how to sort it out. Coming from dealing with different countries and different experiences. Why do we have antigen testing for drivers when we aren't antigen testing for anything else? I've been calling for antigen testing since August.'

The 'Local and Vocal' TD says it's not all about shouting loudest: 'I'm not going to shout if it doesn't make sense which is what our party politicians do. They're not shouting for Wexford because most of what they're saying doesn't make sense for Wexford.

'Parties are concentrating on an urbanised vote because that's where the concentration of the population is. They want to garner an urban vote because there's 1.2m voters in Dublin and 110,000 in Wexford, so most of the time we have politicians who are saying things that are bad for Wexford.

'As much as I am a national politician, I am a politician for Wexford and I don't want to see Wexford neglected by the IDA so I am going to continue to harangue the IDA until they recognise that Rosslare Europort is a national port of strategic importance and that can only be good for Wexford. That would mean industries would want to be nearer the port and that's why we have to develop the whole of the county towards Rosslare Europort from an industry-led perspective and we can't have our children travelling outside of the county to attend third level education.

'Many parents have spent thousands of euros, wasted because their children have not attended college last year but they have paid for them to go there. If we had a third level institute for Wexford they'd be sitting at home and all they'd be missing is their drive to Wexford.'

Among her priorities for the coming four years are tackling unemployment. 'Wexford is in the top five for unemployment. My aim is to make it number 15.

'We have to promote Wexford for what it's worth; both in hospitality and in industry. Covid has decimated all of that. We have no manufacturing but we definitely have to see more balance in the regions because the parties are urban focussed because the party whip dictates what they say and their policies are generally anti rural.'

She defended attending municipal and county council meetings. 'You have to be there for all of the people. I don't pick and choose who I represent; they choose me. There is individual housing in each of the districts; that's why I sit on every district council meeting that I can and at county council meetings because that's the structure that implements that and government policy if how housing is developed, but when it comes to getting a house in Wexford it's at county council level so I'm not just a TD I'm also a county councillor.'

She said she takes as much satisfaction from getting a result for a family under pressure as she does what she has achieved for Rosslare Europort.

'When somebody rings me up and tells me that their long-term carer who has become a family friend to their severely intellectually disabled sibling or child is going to be taken away because the HSE has decided to administer differently how they release carers into a community. That was a result for three families. That was as big an achievement for me as Rosslare is. Yes it is a short term. It arose today and it was fixed within two days. Speaking to Minister Anne Rabbitte on the floor of the Dail it was immediately taken in hand and it was stopped.'

She is not a believer in promoting someone based on gender.

'Your ability is more important, There is not much point in making up the numbers to balance the quota. They are there not because they are women; they are there because they have the ability. It does feel like an old boys club. I am the only female member of the technical group, but I have never felt that I am the only woman. It seems to me to be party led. I was very much subjected to that type of behaviour when I was a candidate for Fine Gael. Did I get much support from Paul Kehoe and Michael D'Arcy, they were there for the photograph.'

She's confident Co Wexford will emerge stronger from Covid, saying people will work together.

'Our staycation policy last year was very valuable and I think the same should apply this year. I believe that Rosslare will be given the investment and that will have such a ripple effect that we can see an industrial park go into Rosslare, that can expand into Wexford, We'll probably see hotels in Rosslare in the future. We have everything to look forward to.'
A senior official in Libya's east-based government on Friday hailed the move towards unity among the country's warring factions as a "step in the right direction." Delegates from the North African country's factions on Friday selected four leaders to guide it through to national elections in December in a major - if uncertain - step toward unification.

Abdisalam al-Badri, the east-based government's deputy prime minister, said he hoped this would return Libya to being "a sovereign and independent state where no one interferes in its internal or external affairs." Al-Badri added that change wouldn't be easy, noting that "occupiers from all corners of the earth" on Libyan territory needed to leave. Since 2015, Libya has been divided between two governments, one in the east and another in the west of the country, each backed by a vast array of militias.

In April 2019, Khalifa Hifter, a military commander allied with the eastern government, launched an offensive to seize the capital, Tripoli. His campaign failed after 14 months of fighting and last October, the UN convinced both parties to sign a cease-fire agreement and embark on a political dialogue.

On the streets of Benghazi, there were mixed feelings about the country's new interim government. Local resident Moataz Belaid said things couldn't get worse than before, stressing that the coming months would be a test for the new Presidential Council. Osama Al-Warfali, however, suggested both regional and local powers would reject the new arrangement, which would lead to a "stronger and fiercer civil war."

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Jeffrey Epstein and his mother would have said Ghislaine Maxwell was innocent if they were still alive, Maxwell's lawyers said in a court filing.

Maxwell, 59, was arrested in New Hampshire last summer before being charged for conspiring to 'entice' and 'transport' minors between 1994 and 1997.

In a court filing that argued the US government waiting too long to bring charges, her lawyers said the government turned to Maxwell after Epstein's death because they were 'left with no fish to attempt to fry', reported The Times.

It said witnesses could have died and documents been lost in the time it has taken the government to bring Maxwell to court.

For example, they claim Epstein would have testified and told the court Maxwell was 'unaware' of his activities.

Jeffrey Epstein (pictured) would have testified to say Ghislaine Maxwell was innocent. She was arrested in New Hampshire last summer before being charged for conspiring to 'entice' and 'transport' minors between 1994 and 1997

Maxwell's lawyers challenged the case brought against their client last July on multiple grounds in papers filed last week and unsealed on Thursday with some redactions. She is set for July trial over claims she procured girls for Jeffry Epstein

And Epstein's mother Paula, who died in 2004, would have told the court she did not see Maxwell with any of the accusers between 1994 and 1997, they added.

'As early as 1996 but at least by 2006, the government was aware of allegations that Mr. Epstein solicited females for sex,' the lawyers said.

'It also was no secret that Epstein worked out a deal with the government that resolved the allegations against and any potential co-conspirator.'

The government 'broke that agreement' and charged Epstein, who then committed suicide while in prison. The filing said charges against Maxwell were 27 years old and 'dithering' would have corrupted memories.

Her lawyers challenged the case brought against their client last July on multiple grounds in papers filed last week and unsealed Thursday with some redactions.

In a court filing that argued the US government waiting too long to bring charges, her lawyers said the government turned to Maxwell after Epstein's death because they were 'left with no fish to attempt to fry'

'One does not need to engage in complex analysis to understand what has happened here,' her lawyers wrote in the Manhattan federal court documents.

'The government has sought to substitute our client for Jeffrey Epstein, even if it means stretching - and ultimately exceeding - the bounds of the law.'

The agent of one of the women, who died in 2017, and Detective Joseph Recarey, who died in 2018 but led the investigation of Epstein, would have testified there was no evidence against Maxwell.

Lawyers added: 'The government's sudden zeal to prosecute Ms. Maxwell for alleged conduct with Epstein in the 1990s - conduct for which the government never even charged Epstein - follows a history that is both highly unusual and deeply troubling.'

Maxwell, 59, is scheduled for a July trial on charges that she recruited three teenage girls from 1994 to 1997 for Epstein to sexually abuse. Sometimes, prosecutors alleged, Maxwell joined in.

Maxwell has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) since July 2020 when she was arrested for allegedly procuring girls as young as 14. She has denied all charges

The charges against Maxwell came exactly a year after Epstein was arrested on sex trafficking charges in Manhattan. He killed himself in a federal jail a month later.

Maxwell, who has citizenship in the U.S., the United Kingdom and France, has been held without bail after a judge rejected a $28.5 million bail proposal on the grounds that she had not been fully forthcoming about her finances and other matters and that she remained a threat to flee.

As part of the bail proposal, Maxwell disclosed that she has set aside more than $7 million to be spent on lawyers out of $22.5 million in assets belonging to herself and her husband.

In documents released publicly last week and Thursday, Maxwell's lawyers attacked the government's case on multiple grounds, including that a grand jury seated in suburban Westchester County deprived her of nonwhite grand jurors who would otherwise have decided her fate.

They also said perjury charges stemming from her testimony in two depositions in 2016 in a since-settled civil case must be tossed out because the questions posed were ambiguous and the answers given were true.

Another of her unique challenges to the indictment pertained to a non-prosecution agreement Epstein signed with federal prosecutors in Florida a dozen years ago that spared him from charges as he pleaded guilty to a Florida state charge and served 13 months in prison.

Her lawyers say Epstein intended for the document to protect any alleged co-conspirators, including Maxwell.

'The government is bound by the agreement it negotiated and executed,' the lawyers wrote, adding that the wording of the document was 'clear, explicit, and unambiguous.'

The lawyers alleged that attorneys representing plaintiffs in civil litigation against Maxwell in 2016 met with a supervisor in the Manhattan federal prosecutor's office and pitched the idea that Maxwell could be charged criminally.

'The section chief appropriately declined,' the lawyers wrote.

They noted that prosecutors charged Epstein in 2019 months after a Miami Herald story drew new attention to the long running sexual attack claims against him by women, some of whom described being assaulted when they were as young as 14.

The British socialite (pictured in a court sketch last year) was arrested last July on child sex trafficking charges and has remained jailed on grounds she might flee

Again, the lawyers noted, Maxwell was not arrested.

They said prosecutors only went after Maxwell after Epstein's death and what then-Attorney General William Barr characterized as 'a perfect storm of screw-ups' left the government embarrassed.

The lawyers wrote that the death caused media attention to shift from Epstein to Ms. Maxwell.

'She was portrayed as Epstein's equal - if not his superior - and baselessly caricatured as a villain of near-mythical proportions,' the lawyers said.

'In short, the government's response to the media frenzy was not to adhere to its earlier objective analysis and consideration of the facts, but to feed the frenzy and substitute Ms. Maxwell for Epstein.'

Maxwell is due to go on trial in July.
Jacqueline Maleys assertion (Killed by the pandemic: united Australia gone for all-time, January 31) that the last federal Labor government delivered nothing real on climate change action is patently false.

In the face of Liberal Party opposition, our government introduced a suite of climate change policies including a carbon price, which abated up to 17 million tonnes of CO2 over two years; the insulation of 1.2 million homes; and 73,000 rebates for solar home hot water systems. Our most enduring achievement, however, was the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target, which legislated a five-fold increase in the share of renewable generation to 20 per cent by 2020  a target that was met and exceeded. Through policy and legislation, we created a renewable energy industry with enough critical mass to keep pushing forward with the clean energy transition.

These policies were all bitterly opposed by the Liberal Party, first in opposition and subsequently in government. But, taken together, they resulted in a drop of Australias emissions by about 10 per cent in real terms. Commentators who lament Australias weak climate policies should look to those responsible  the Coalition, the fossil fuel industry and the Murdoch media  not the Labor Party, which has remained committed to climate action throughout.

Kevin Rudd, Brisbane

Expanding on Jacqueline Maleys excellent article  albeit it shows a rather depressing expose of our states political meanderings  we could make some light for the end of the tunnel. It would be fair to say that the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, our head of state, will come to an end in the not too distant future. When that time comes it could be made a catalyst for us to become a republic and change our constitution to give our Indigenous people and their culture the meaningful recognition they deserve and a great opportunity to abolish the states and territories altogether. Then we could truly say that we are all in this together.
Medical staff take samples of residents in Hanoi for coronavirus testing, February 4, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.

The Ministry of Health is considering reducing the Covid-19 quarantine period from 21 to 14 days since the incubation period for the new coronavirus variant is also two weeks.

A ministry official said at a government meeting Friday that the latest studies in Vietnam showed while the new strain, originating from the U.K., has a higher basic reproduction number than previous strains and faster onset time, its incubation period remains the same.

The ministry is waiting for final reports before amending the quarantine period.

Countries around the world have kept the 14-day quarantine unchanged unlike Vietnam, which increased it to 21 days recently regarding the ongoing community outbreak that emerged on January 28.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had ordered F1 people, or those who were in close contact with patients, to be quarantined for 21 days instead of the usual 14 days following the new outbreak. Social distancing, if imposed, will also last 21 days, up from the earlier 15.

The disease has spread to some major cities such as Hanoi, HCMC and Hai Phong and 394 people have been diagnosed with it as of Saturday morning.

Vietnamese will celebrate the Lunar New Year, their biggest holiday of the year, starting next week, with people traveling back home to their extended families.

The government has imposed lockdowns at coronavirus hotspots and many cities and provinces have canceled Tet fireworks shows and other celebrations.
Although it's still early days, the managers entrusted to repair the reputation of two of the country's most popular investment funds have made a promising start.

Ciaran Mallon and James Goldstone were asked jointly to take over the reins at Invesco Income and Invesco High Income last May after former manager Mark Barnett was sacked after a woeful six-year period at the helm of the two multi-billion pound funds.

Under Barnett's stewardship, both funds shrank in size by an alarming 75 per cent as a result of a double whammy  poor stock selection and thousands of investors heading for the exit doors as performance deteriorated.

Under former manager Mark Barnett's stewardship, both funds shrank in size by 75%

Barnett had taken over the running of the funds from Neil Woodford in the spring of 2014 after the latter (much lauded at the time) jumped ship to set up his own investment business, Woodford Investment Management.

It no longer exists after a string of disastrous investment decisions which resulted in the break-up of master fund Woodford Equity Income, triggering big losses for thousands of investors.

Given Barnett was dubbed 'Son of Woodford' for his close working relationship with the disgraced fund manager, Mallon and Goldstone could mischievously be called 'Sons of Barnett' as a result of working for the former head of UK equities at Invesco.

Mallon, 49, has been at Henley-on-Thames based Invesco for 16 years and also runs investment trust Invesco Growth and fund Invesco Income and Growth. Goldstone, seven years his junior, manages investment trust Keystone.

But in an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, the managers say they are determined to stamp their mark on the funds  now relabelled Invesco UK Equity Income and Invesco UK Equity High Income.

No one can accuse the joint managers of sitting on their hands since taking command last May. Despite working remotely for the entire time, they've overhauled both portfolios.

Clean sweep: Ciaran Mallon is shaking up Invesco funds, together with James Goldstone

On the 3.3billion High Income fund, they've sold 30 quoted stocks while buying 23. On the 1.5billion Income fund, they've sold 30 and added 26. Over half of both portfolios have been changed.

So out have gone the likes of BT, British Land, Card Factory and IP Group. In have come Ashtead, Bunzl, Barrick Gold, Croda, RELX and Vodafone. Stocks such as BP, BAT, Legal & General, National Grid, Next, PureTech Health, Tesco and Whitbread have been kept  and in some cases added to.

The two funds' portfolios are very similar with seven of the funds' top ten holdings common to both. The main difference is that, as the name suggests, High Income has a greater emphasis on generating an attractive income for investors that it pays quarterly.

In contrast, Income is run on a more total return basis with the scope to invest in smaller listed companies. So, for example, Income holds shares in FTSE 250 stock Coats Group, while High Income doesn't.

'It's been a joint process,' says Goldstone in explaining the overhaul of the portfolios, 'a partnership of equals'. He adds: 'It's involved a lot of change and although it's still early days, we're really pleased with the results. The performance so far has been encouraging.'

Mallon adds: 'If you look at the performance of the two funds since we took over and look at all the portfolio changes we have made  changes that have involved costs  we think it is quite creditable.'

It's not flannel. The numbers back them up. Since getting their hands on the portfolios, the two funds have registered returns in excess of 20 per cent. Both have outperformed the FTSE All-Share Index.

Hold, buy or sell? What the experts are saying... DARIUS MCDERMOTT, Chelsea Financial Services: 'They are still a watch or hold. It's early days but since taking on the funds, the managers have done a decent job and started to turn things around. 'Invesco is undergoing some quite big changes as a company and we'd like to see this settle down. We would also want to give the managers more time to adjust the portfolios and show continued outperformance before we'd consider making them a buy again.' JASON HOLLANDS, Tilney Wealth Management: 'I wouldn't advocate new investment in these funds at the moment. Turning them around is still work in progress but it is clearly underway. 'If you are an existing investor, there is a case for hanging on. A lot of the pain on the rump of unquoted holdings has already been taken and these funds are now more liquid in profile. 'Also, the funds are still managed with a 'value' approach  picking shares that are relatively cheap in the expectation their price will rebound. Value investing has been out of favour as markets have favoured growth companies such as tech and online businesses. But there have been the inklings of a shift over the last few months as investors start to look again at out-of-favour sectors with recovery potential. 'Alternative UK income funds worth considering include Threadneedle UK Equity Income, Jupiter Income and Evenlode Income.' BRIAN DENNEHY, Fund Expert: 'Investors must switch to vastly superior income funds.'

Yet the long-term numbers still look horrendous. Over the past one, three and five years, the two funds have recorded double-digit losses.

Over the past year, both have registered losses of 20 per cent  compared with an 8 per cent loss for the FTSE All-Share Index. The funds continue to shed investors.

'What do we want to own in the portfolios has been our approach,' says Mallon. 'As a manager, you can either look back and find error, or be more positive and say, 'What should the portfolios be built on? What will make a fantastic investment?' '

Goldstone admits the changes have been dramatic, but was keen not to appear to be 'conducting a fire sale of assets' adding: 'We're at the point where we can say they are our funds, substantially ours.'

Barnett had taken over the running of the funds from Neil Woodford in the spring of 2014 after the latter jumped ship to set up his own investment business

One hangover from the Woodford era is the funds' exposure to unquoted and illiquid smaller listed firms that should never been in an income oriented fund.

As one fund manager said: 'One of the reasons for the massive underperformance of the two funds in the past four to five years is that they were weighed down by the dross Woodford bought and Barnett could not sell.'

As at the end of last year, Income and High Income had 1.4 and 1 per cent exposure to unquoteds respectively, both spread across 13 companies and 20 holdings. They also had nearly 10 per cent and just over 8 per cent respectively of their assets in listed smaller companies.

Overall, Mallon believes the pair have started well at the helm of Income and High Income. Goldstone agrees. 'Every decision we are making is a joint decision. We challenge each other. So far, one plus one is more than two.'

Though investment advisers are impressed, they are not yet ready to recommend the funds to investors.

For now, one plus one means two managers desperately trying to rectify the errors of the past.

Lawyers at Leigh Day are a step closer to seeking redress for investors who lost money in the break-up of Woodford Equity Income.

The firm has obtained funding and insurance for a claim against Link for letting the fund hold so many illiquid investments. Link declined to comment.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 19:35:37|Editor: huaxia

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MOGADISHU, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The fifth round of talks aimed at resolving the electoral impasse in Somalia failed to reach an agreement, a government official confirmed on Friday evening.

Osman Dubbe, the Somali information minister said the talks which were held in the central town of Dhusamareb, the capital of Galmudug state, deadlocked over the composition and management of the elections in Jubbaland regional state.

Dubbe said President Mohamed Farmajo and regional leaders from Galmudug, Hirshabelle, Puntland, Jubaland, and South West states have traveled back without resolving the impasse and will have to meet again later to resolve the issues.

He said the government side made a lot of concessions on all contentious issues including removing certain election committee members who the opposition and regional leaders said are close to the president but this could not break the deadlock.

Failure to resolve the electoral impasse has plunged Somalia into a political crisis since President Farmajo's term will end on Feb. 8 while the four-year term of parliament ended on Dec. 27, 2020.

The president was due to address both Houses later on Saturday amid reports he may seek for extension of his term.

Under the pre-election deal reached in September 2020, parliamentary elections are to take place in two locations in each federal state within the five federal member states.

Dubbe said the government cannot withdraw its troops from Gedo, the capital of Jubbaland in the southern region following the recent clashes between Somali army forces and those from the federal territory of Jubbaland which is near the Kenyan border.

He said the government also rejected attempts to establish a new administration in Gedo without any resolution of what led to the clashes.

The consultative meeting was expected to arrive at a way forward for the delayed elections, considered critical for the sake of entrenching the federal system of governance, which is required to appease communities and regions claiming systematic exclusion and marginalization for decades. Enditem
People around the world watched aghast as hundreds of swarming insurrectionists infiltrated the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

People around the world watched aghast as hundreds of swarming insurrectionists infiltrated the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

A bastion of democracy overrun by thugs who believed a conspiracy theory that their vote was co-opted in last Novembers election, allowing Joe Biden to steal the presidency.

Protesters supporting U.S. President Donald Trump break into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Win McNamee / Getty Images / TNS Files)

Biden is now tasked with the gargantuan responsibility of bringing a broken country together. A country that cant agree on the American identity. A country that cant agree on its core moral principles. A country that cant agree on how events, whether historical or present-day, occurred.

Citizens are shouting past one another. Scarcely, it seems, they are speaking the same language.

Its hard to know how America will bridge the chasm. But one of the first steps is to learn from the political tactics that brought the country to its breaking point. And its critical to recognize democracies are fragile, and good policy and bedrock institutions must be nurtured if they are to endure the tests of time, politics and strife.

Countless factors led to the carnage on Jan. 6 but one that has been replicated in other countries is the implementation of populist, nationalist rhetoric and the manipulation of historical identity narratives for political gain.

While it seems America is likely to come back from the brink of a fractured democracy, other countries may not fare so well.

It often begins with something benign. Rallying the support of the people to a cause. But often that cause is pitted in distortions of truth, manipulated historical events that give people a common purpose and identity  often a common enemy. Sometimes the historical manipulations involve a specific, iconic event; other times it is more vague and nebulous. It is always built on emotion rather than reason.

Elizabeth Domokos, 94, lives alone on the top floor of an old downtown Winnipeg apartment building. The floors creaked as she shuffled through the kitchen and the sitting room preparing coffee for her visitor, a nosy journalist. She lit up a cigarette as she got to reminiscing.

Domokos was interviewed in late 2019 about her life growing up in Hungary and Romania as part of a larger project looking at political events and troubling trends in Eastern and Central Europe. Many of the interviews in this piece were conducted at that time.

Elizabeth Domokos, 94, keeps connected to Hungary from her Winnipeg apartment. (Sarah Lawrynuik / Winnipeg Free Press)

Domokos was happy to talk about the history of her home country, describing how she kept a lifelong connection to her ancestral roots. Visits to Budapest were common until her husbands passing. She still boots up her old desktop computer every day to read the news from home in Hungarian.

"After the First World War, so many things changed in Europe. I was born in Romania, of Hungarian parents, and spoke Hungarian," Domokos said. Her entire life was shaped by the Treaty of Trianon, signed in 1920, which mandated that three-fifths of Hungarian territory be reassigned to other countries and territories as the borders of Eastern Europe were redrawn. Today, the land principally belongs to Romania, Croatia, Serbia and Slovakia.

During the Second World War, Hungarian soldiers attempted to reclaim the territory in Romania where Domokos was born. This is how she met her soon-to-be husband Alex. But their engagement was cut short; they rushed to the altar as Soviet troops closed in on Hungary. For their "honeymoon," she remembers spending weeks crowded with her extended family in a small basement in Budapest as bombs fell, destroying the Hungarian capital at the end of 1944 and the early months of 1945. The killing and destruction was indiscriminate.

"When we came out of the basement, I didnt know where I was anymore because it was so damaged," she said. "As soon as the Soviets came in, my husband was taken. And he was in a Soviet prison camp for six years."

The 20th century was not kind to Hungary, but such was the price for being aligned with the Axis powers during the Second World War. Today, cast-iron shoes are placed along the shores of the Danube River that snakes through Budapest; a memorial to the lives of Jews lost at the hands of fascist Hungarian Arrow Cross soldiers during the war.

Cast-iron shoes along the shore of the Danube River honour Jews who lost their lives to fascist Hungarian Arrow Cross soldiers in the Second World War. (Sarah Lawrynuik / Winnipeg Free Press)

The Cold War then saw Hungary turned into a Soviet satellite state in the Eastern Bloc. In the case of the Domokos family, it meant being separated and spread out around the world, as some members fled for safety in other western countries, some stayed in Budapest and Alex Domokos served out his time in a Soviet prison camp.

Now the pain of the people who lived through these periods, and those who grew up hearing about it from their parents, is being used to stoke emotional responses for political purposes.

A photo taken by Domokos shows a postcard map identifying Greater Hungary, which was reassigned to other countries and territories in the Treaty of Trianon. (Sarah Lawrynuik / Winnipeg Free Press)

Before I left her apartment, Domokos pulled out a postcard she purchased on one of her last trips to Hungary, a map with a pull tab. It starts with a map of present-day Hungary with its current borders. As the tab is pulled, pieces of land appear from the corners and converge on the original borders, demonstrating, she said, the land that is truly Hungarian that was ripped away from them during the 20th century. The map bears the words "Justice for Hungary" at the top.

Adorning the wall of the Hungarian Canadian Cultural Centre in Toronto, that same map, this one carved in wood, keeps alive the narrative that Hungarians have been robbed of land that is rightfully theirs.

Viktor Orban, Hungarys populist, right-wing leader, didnt create this narrative, but hes certainly capitalized on it to rally nationalist sentiment for years. When he came to power in 2010, one of his first acts in office was to create a "day of national unity" on June 4, the day of the Treaty of Trianons signing. The significance of the treaty and its perceived injustices to the Hungarian people has since been perpetuated through many channels, including a rock opera in 2018.

A monument commemorating the loss of the territories was erected last summer, marking the 100th anniversary of the treatys signing. In May, Orban posted a photo of "Greater Hungary" on his Facebook page, which worried leaders in some of Hungarys neighbouring countries.

This narrative is being entrenched for generations to come, as the school curriculum is being altered to reflect this version of history. A progressive and neutral rewrite of the history, literature and science curriculums was rejected by the Orban government, says Laszlo Miklos, the head of the Hungarian Association of History Teachers. And over time, control of the school system, all the way down to the textbooks, has been undertaken.

Laszlo Miklos, the head of the Hungarian Association of History Teachers, says there has been a dangerous rewriting of history in the countrys school curriculum. (Sarah Lawrynuik / Winnipeg Free Press)

Miklos details the issues he sees in the states manipulation of the school system as he sips iced tea at one of Budapests many hip coffee shops. He speaks with the help of a translator.

"Its entirely consistent with all of the other things that have been happening in the wider context. This government dislikes professional autonomy, free-thinking, and it seeks to imbue society with its own ideology.... The same thing is happening in academia and research sciences."

In fact, one Hungarian university  Central European University  headed up by former Canadian Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, was (for the most part) forced out of Hungary due to Orbans continued demonization of university founder George Soros, an American-Hungarian philanthropist. Soros is demonized by the political right the world over in what is often described as an anti-Semitic slander campaign, again, giving people a common enemy to rally against.

Hungarys perceived victimhood is a key rallying point for Orban and his Fidesz party; a call to rise to greatness once again, fighting the external forces that keep them down. But this is not the end, but rather the means. It is also not the only example of historical manipulations at work.

Building a wall to keep migrants and refugees out might have garnered much attention in the United States, but it happened in Hungary before former U.S. president Donald Trump was elected. In 2015, razor-wire fences were erected along Hungarys border with Serbia to stymie the flow of migrants. Legislation was passed making it a crime for Hungarian people or charitable organizations to offer help to migrants; they risked significant financial penalties as well as jail time in doing so.

To rationalize the prohibition of Muslims, Orban references the Ottoman Empires conquest of the region in the 16th and 17th centuries.

"I think we have a right to decide that we do not want a large number of Muslim people in our country," Orban told reporters in Brussels in 2015. "We do not like the consequences of having a large number of Muslim communities that we see in other countries, and I do not see any reason for anyone else to force us to create ways of living together in Hungary that we do not want to see. That is a historical experience for us."

The view of the Hungarian Parliament Building from across the Danube River. Critics of the Viktor Orbvan government argue Hungary is no longer a democracy. (Sarah Lawrynuik / Winnipeg Free Press)

His transparently xenophobic efforts have been effective in garnering and maintaining support. In 2018, Orban won his fourth term and, with his increasing power over the past decade, has rewritten the rules under which the Hungarian judiciary operates. Last year, with a two-thirds majority, Orban was able to pass legislation that suspended regular elections, allowing him to govern without a term limit as long as the legislation remains in place.

In 2018, a member of the ruling Fidesz party, Zsuzsanna Szelenyi, left office after growing increasingly frustrated with the partys direction under Orbans rule.

"Hungary is not a democracy anymore," she told Vox. "The parliament is a decoration for a one-party state."

The use of historical manipulations proved so effective as a political tool that Polish leaders of the right-wing Law and Justice arty decided to try their hand at it, too.

Leader Jarosaw Kaczynski said as far back as 2011 that he idolized Hungarys trajectory and hoped that one day Warsaw would be just like Budapest.

The red-and-white flag adorned with a black Kotwica symbol adorns many busineses and homes in the Polish capital. The flag symbolizes the Warsaw Uprising during the Second World War. (Sarah Lawrynuik / Winnipeg Free Press)

Donning the doorway of countless businesses and homes in the Polish capital is the red-and-white flag with a black Kotwica symbol on it. The flag symbolizes the Warsaw Uprising and the underground resistance to German Nazi occupation during the Second World War.

The revival of pride in resistance to Nazi occupation seemed benign at first. However, darker implications soon became more evident.

In 2018, the Law and Justice Party passed legislation that criminalized any reference to Polish guilt and complicity connected to the atrocities that occurred under Nazi rule. Breaking the new law would result in jail time.

This development occurred at an interesting time, said Jonathan Ornstein, executive director of Krakows Jewish Community Centre. Because 30 years after the end of communism, more Poles are discovering their Jewish roots for the first time, coming to understand that their true heritage had been masked by the tragedies of the 20th century.

Jonathan Ornstein, director of Krakows Jewish Community Centre, says the direction of the Polish government has left Jews worried about their future in the country. (Sarah Lawrynuik / Winnipeg Free Press)

"We have a growing Jewish community, and the backdrop of that is a Poland that has been very welcoming, and nurturing of that Jewish revival," Ornstein said. "It has been a rough few years, though. This government has taken some actions which have been difficult for us as a Jewish community, that have in some ways caused us to worry about the future of Jews here in Poland."

The law was abandoned after coming under global scrutiny. After all, Poland is home to some of the most infamous, historically preserved Holocaust memorials, including the Auschwitz concentration camp and Oskar Schindlers enamelled-goods factory.

"For the six months that it was the law of the land it was a problem for us. It opened up this whole Pandoras box of difficult, nasty, comments on all different sides and we really felt that we saw these anti-Semitic statements that we hadnt seen here in a very long time," Ornstein said.

Magda Blackmore, a professor of Polish studies at the University of Manitoba, says that the failed push to change the law was felt all the way back to Winnipeg. Inroads had been made between the local Polish and Jewish communities, but trust was broken when the Polish government tried to rewrite history by abdicating any complicity in the horrors of the war.

"I believe this was an attempt of a right-wing government to strengthen the national identity in the worst ways possible. Thats my personal opinion," she said.

U of M professor Magda Blackmore says Poland was ripe for manipulation because, with the onset of the Cold War following the Second World War, the country had no time to grapple with what had occurred. (Sarah Lawrynuik / Winnipeg Free Press)

Blackmore suspects a big part of why Poland is ripe for manipulation of its past is the onset of the Cold War immediately after the Second World War. There was no time for the country to grapple with what had happened.

"There was no opportunity to learn the historical truth," Blackmore said. She adds that this has strained relationships between Poles and Jews, Poles and Ukrainians. It took more than a decade after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 for the national consciousness and identity to begin to grapple with the events of the Second World War, she said.

The Hungarian government erected a monument in 2014 to all the victims of German occupation during the Second World War. Critics say the statue showing the archangel Gabriel being attacked by a German eagle works to absolve the country of complicity. (Sarah Lawrynuik / Winnipeg Free Press)

"Some of the events were very difficult to suddenly accept, especially blame for some of the World War II atrocities. So this process, we only started it not even 20 years ago. It takes a while to process it," she said.

Ironically, last summer the Polish government accused the Russians of whitewashing Soviet crimes during the Second World War and in the years that followed. "A nations greatness and international relations may not be built upon lies and by falsifying history," a resolution from the countrys parliamentary house read.

Marcin, a Krakow-based medical doctor who wished not to disclose his surname, agreed to chat about politics over coffee one afternoon. He said over the course of his career he watched the medical system improve but more recently decline, with hospitals closing and fewer supports for people, as the government shifts its focus elsewhere.

Knick-knacks for sale in the market in Krakows Jewish quarter. (Sarah Lawrynuik / Winnipeg Free Press)

One of his key worries is that the ruling partys stoking of nationalist sentiments is emboldening citizens to become more extreme and vocal, believing that their points of view are now more widely accepted.

"Its like how fascism was born in Germany before World War II. It became stronger and stronger. And those kinds of ideas are happening right now in Poland, I would say. I would not say as strong. But its moving that way."

The summer before Polands last national election in 2019, a conservative Polish magazine, one that supports Law and Justice, distributed stickers for readers to place on their homes or businesses declaring those areas LGBT-free zones.

"So you can buy a newspaper, you can put up a sticker that LGBT people cannot buy something here," said Dawid Wojtyczka, a gay-rights advocate living in Krakow. "Come on; this is something that happened with Jews. This is the same story on repeat, and we know how that ended. The world knows how that ended,"

Anti-LBGTTQ+ efforts supported by the Polish government is a disturbing trend, says Krakow-based gay-rights advocate Dawid Wojtyczka. (Sarah Lawrynuik / Winnipeg Free Press)

The party did not condemn the distribution of the stickers, instead saying it stood by the right to freedom of the press.

Emboldened citizens engaging in right-wing nationalistic displays passively and actively condoned by the ruling party. That would never get out of hand. Right?

Rewriting historical narratives has been used for as long as political minds have tried to manipulate a populace.

Author and journalist William Shirer wrote in his book The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich that Germans came to believe they had been betrayed by their political leadership at the end of the First World War when an armistice was signed at great cost to the country.

The Polish National Museum, devoted to the Second World War, opened in 2017 in Gdansk, where the first shots of the war were fired on Sept. 1, 1939. (Sarah Lawrynuik / Winnipeg Free Press)

It didnt matter if the political leadership was following the urging of the military leaders. By creating an enemy of the political leadership, the Nazis were able to come to power in 1933 through legitimate means, while tearing apart the countrys budding democratic roots.

"One had to live in Germany between the wars to realize how widespread was the acceptance of this incredible legend by the German people," Shirer wrote.

"They had to find scapegoats for the defeat and for their humiliation and misery.... The gullibility of the Germans is a subject (Adolf) Hitler often harps on in Mein Kampf. He was shortly (after writing the book) to take full advantage of it."

This is not to suggest the leadership of Nazi Germany and current-day Hungary or Poland are guilty of the same crimes, but only that they used the same political techniques to achieve their own ends. For an example closer to home, one perhaps even more potent, look no further than south of the border and the four years of the Trump presidency.

The museum was criticized for overlooking Polish involvement during the war, instead emphasizing those who opposed the German occupation. (Sarah Lawrynuik / Winnipeg Free Press)

Trumps "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan harkens back to a golden age that is non-descript and thus infallible. But surely, Americans dont want to go back to a time marked by the indiscriminate death of the world wars. And they probably dont long for the economic hardships of the Great Depression. Those who care in earnest about equality and justice wouldnt want to return to the era of Jim Crow laws that enforced the segregation and disenfranchisement of Black Americans. During what time period was America so great?

Its hard to say what time in history these people yearn for. But that yearning is powerful. It became a demand for more than what they have; a plea based in emotion rather than reason and civic engagement.

Marton Gyongyosi is a Hungarian member of the European Parliament and executive vice-president of Hungarys right-leaning Jobbik party. In years past, Jobbik had been the countrys right-wing party before Fidesz pushed ideology further right on the political spectrum. Jobbik continues to hold a place in Hungary as the opposition. The political events there have led to Gyongyosi becoming an unlikely man to sound the alarm on the distortions of power in Eastern Europe.

"From now on, Donald Trump, the role model for the worlds populist leaders, will be represented in the history books as the man who thought that he could use his tweets to single-handedly control the sophisticated system of checks and balances that forms the very core of the United States, and when he failed, he instigated his followers with conspiracy theories and sparked a skirmish that eventually led to human casualties in the Capitol," Gyongyosi said in an online blog post last month.

While Trump was forced to hand over power, he warns other populist leaders will not fold the same way.

"Just as Hungary is much smaller than the United States, our political system is that much more vulnerable, which allowed Orban to completely shape the state administration to his own liking over the past 11 years. Trump could only dream of what Orban has already put into practice," Gyongyosi said.

"This is especially frightening because while the U.S. political system clearly determines what happens when a presidents mandate expires, Orban has built a country where the leaders occupying nearly all key institutional positions are loyal to Orban and Fidesz rather than Hungary or the Hungarian people. We can only hope that Hungarys 2022 elections will not bring such events that we saw in Lukashenkos Belarus."

A makeshift memorial, installed by citizens to recognize the lost lives of Hungarian Jews during the Second World War, was erected in front of the governments official monument. (Sarah Lawrynuik / Winnipeg Free Press)

The creation in our collective minds of far-off enemies is a unifying force  and one thats not always unreasonable. But we must not cherry-pick narratives to understand our place in the world.

Trump systemically eroded political and judicial institutions  the underpinnings of the countrys democracy  in his time in office. And yet, he earned 74 million votes in November.

On Jan. 20, Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States, leaving Americans to decide what historical truths theyre willing to face.

In his inaugural address, Biden affirmed just that:

"Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh, ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear and demonization have long torn us apart."

sarah.lawrynuik@freepress.mb.ca

Funding for the reporting done in Eastern and Central Europe was provided by the Gordon Sinclair Foundation.
Conservative Member of Parliament David Davis has asked Prime Minister Boris Johnson that the British Government apply what he called the 'Andalucia method' in the fight against Covid-19.

Davis, who has previously called for vitamin D supplements to be offered to people at higher risk of the virus in society, asked that Britain should "follow the example of the Spanish region of Andalusia", which distributed Calcifediol, a vitamin D supplement, to residents of care homes in November.

Since then, he claimed that this region's number of deaths per million from coronavirus had fallen from 187 in November to just 11 in early January and is on track for just 33 for the month, an 82 per cent drop since November.

Davis has asked Boris Johnson if he was aware of how effective this 'Andalucia method' could be for the British.

The Daily Express newspaper reported that Davis said: "Andalucia, with a population of eight million, had a Covid death rate of around 190 deaths per million in November - higher than ours at that time. After giving activated vitamin D to nursing home residents and some GP patients, the death rate nearly halved, while ours doubled. Can you ask your advisers to urgently refer back to the latest Spanish research on this cheap, safe and apparently effective treatment?"

Boris Johnson replied, "We will continue to study and analyse all the evidence on the effectiveness of the vitamin D treatment."

The Daily Express reports claims that vitamin D is essential in the treatment of acute respiratory infections, in addition, it has a number of other very positive effects on the immune system and lung function that could be crucial in the fight against Covid-19.

The newspaper recalls that Health Secretary Matt Hancock ordered a review of the effectiveness of vitamin D on Covid in October, after being criticised for dismissing reports of its possible efficacy in treating the virus.

A group of experts from various government agencies, including Public Health England, analysed "the best" scientific studies from around the world, although they did not say which ones or how many articles they examined. But the team, led by the NHS watchdog NICE, said it was "not possible" to determine a direct relationship between vitamin D and Covid, citing a lack of high-quality trials.

A significant number of studies have found that large numbers of people who contract Covid-19 do not have enough vitamin D in their bodies, and the sickest patients are often deficient.
Conservative peer Baroness Warsi has taken a stake in fast-growing social media platform Wakelet, parliamentary disclosures reveal.

Wakelet is an online organiser that allows users to curate and share a library of information more easily on the internet.

It is used by students, as well as bodies such as the World Health Organisation, colleges such as Harvard Business School, and is popular among athletes and celebrities.

Warsi, who was Tory co-chair from 2010 to 2012, has taken a stake in Wakelet

The Manchester-based firm, founded by former Airbus employee Jamil Khalil, has tripled in size over the past year and now has some 40 staff.

It has forged close links to technology giants including Microsoft.

British technology sources said the company was among those expected to be in a wave of success stories after the pandemic. Warsi was Tory co-chair from 2010 to 2012.
US Warship Sails Near Chinese-Controlled South China Sea Islands

TAIPEIA U.S. warship sailed near the Chinese-controlled Paracel Islands in the disputed South China Sea on Friday in a freedom of navigation operation, the U.S. Navy said, the first such mission under President Joe Bidens new administration.

Chinas military condemned the move, saying it had dispatched naval and air units to follow and warn away the ship.

The busy waterway is one of a number of flashpoints in the U.S.-China relationship, which include a trade war, U.S. sanctions, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Beijing has territorial claims over most of the waterways covering the South China Sea, which were ruled as unlawful in a 2016 decision by an international tribunal. Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan have competing claims in the waterways. Home to rich fishing grounds and potentially valuable natural resources, the South China Sea is also one of the worlds major shipping routes.

The U.S. Navys 7th Fleet said the destroyer USS John S. McCain asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the vicinity of the Paracel Islands, consistent with international law.

The freedom of navigation operation upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognized in international law by challenging the unlawful restrictions on innocent passage imposed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam, it said.

The Southern Theatre Command of Chinas Peoples Liberation Army said the ship had entered into what it termed the territorial waters of the Paracels without permission, seriously infringing upon Chinas sovereignty and security.

China took full control of the Paracels in 1974 after a short battle with South Vietnamese forces. Vietnam, as well as Taiwan, continue to claim the islands.

The regime has in recent years sought to bolster its claims in the South China Sea by building military outposts on artificial islands and reefs. It has also deployed coast guard ships and Chinese fishing boats to intimidate foreign vessels, block access to waterways, and seize shoals and reefs. Such actions have been condemned by the United States and its allies.

The same U.S. ship involved in this mission earlier this week transited the sensitive Taiwan Strait, drawing an angry response from Beijing.

Last month, a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group entered the South China Sea for what the Navy said was routine operations.

By Ben Blanchard and Beijing newsroom
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Newly surfaced video shows Trump ally Roger Stone being flanked by members of far-right Oath Keepers on the morning of January 6, just hours before members of the group stormed the Capitol.

The video is a part of the evidence being used by House impeachment managers to determine whether there are links between the former president and those who stormed the building in Washington D.C., last month.

'So, hopefully we have this today, right?' a man - who goes by the Black Conservative Preacher on social media - can be heard asking Stone at the Willard InterContinental hotel, just blocks from the White House.

Stone responds: 'We shall see.'

Scroll down for video

The video was captured by the Black Conservative Preacher and is part of the evidence used by Congressional investigators

Posing with fans for photos after that moment, Stone takes a photo with the preacher who had the brief exchange with him.

The Black Conservative Preacher would later post several videos of his time at the actual Capitol riots. Members of the Oath Keepers were also seen at the Capitol on January 6.

Stone has claimed that he played 'no role whatsoever in the January 6 events,' adding that he 'never left the site of my hotel until leaving for dulles Airport,' later that afternoon, ABC News reports.

'I had no advance knowledge of the riot at the Capitol,' Stone told the outlet in response to the footage. 'I could not even tell you the names of those who volunteered to provide security for me, required because of the many threats against me and my family.'

The Black Conservative Preacher would later post several videos of his time at the actual Capitol riots. Members of the Oath Keepers were also seen at the Capitol on January 6

Stone has claimed that he played 'no role whatsoever in the January 6 events,' adding that he 'never left the site of my hotel until leaving for dulles Airport,' later that afternoon

An investigation by ABC News into nearly 200 accused rioters facing federal charges for their part at the Capitol riot found that at least 14 people have claimed that they were following Trump's encouragement.

The Oath Keepers are among the largest radical antigovernment groups in the U.S. today, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

'While it claims only to be defending the Constitution, the entire organization is based on a set of baseless conspiracy theories about the federal government working to destroy the liberties of Americans,' the SPLC state on their website.

An investigation by ABC News into nearly 200 accused rioters facing federal charges for their part at the Capitol riot found that at least 14 people have claimed that they were following Trump's encouragement

The group consists of tens of thousands of present and former law enforcement officials and military veterans.

Vice News previously reported that the group acted as security detail for Stone the night before the riot and while he stayed at his hotel.

Trump previously commuted the prison term for Roger Stone on July 10, 2020, who was convicted of lying to Congress during its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Stone was pardoned on December 23.

On Thursday, impeachment managers invited Trump to testify in his trial under oath. The former president's legal team has already rejected the offer, calling it an unconstitutional 'public relations stunt,' and claiming Trump is now a private citizens.

In addition to Stone, investigators are also looking into former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and the possible role he and others took in relation to the attack. Meadows is said to have urged Trump to condemn the violence at the Capitol as it was happening.

It will take a two-thirds vote of the 100-member Senate to convict Trump of the impeachment charge, which is 'incitement of insurrection.' If all 50 Democrats voted to convict him, 17 Republicans would have to join them to reach that threshold.

Most Republicans have avoided defending Trump's actions the day of the riot. Instead, lawmakers have argued that the trial is unconstitutional because Trump is no longer in office. Democrats and many legal scholars disagree.
Paul Grisham holds his 1968 Navy ID card at his home in San Diego, California on February 3, 2021. Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP

Paul Grisham's wallet was missing for so long at the bottom of the world he forgot all about it.

He joined the Navy in 1948 and sent to Antarctica to work as a meteorologist for 13 months.

The wallet was returned to him by a father-daughter duo and a veteran's tribute organization.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Paul Grisham returned home from his 13-month assignment in Antarctica in 1968, but his wallet didn't.

Grisham, 91, joined the Navy in 1948 and worked as a weather technician before being shipped to the frozen continent to work as a meteorologist.

After five decades, Grisham was reunited with his wallet - which he forgot all about.

"I was just blown away," Grisham told The San Diego Union-Tribune after the wallet was returned on March 31. "There was a long series of people involved who tracked me down and ran me to ground."

Inside the wallet were Grisham's navy ID, driving license, a beer ration punch card, a recipe, a tax withholding statement, and receipts for money orders sent to his wife.

The recovered billfold was found by Stephen Decato and his daughter Sarah Lindbergh, both of New Hampshire, and Bruce McKee of the Indiana Spirit of '45 nonprofit foundation, according to the Guardian.

Decato found the bracelet in a shop and bought it. With the help of his daughter, he found McKee's organization and saw an online post to help find the owner. Soon after, Grisham and his wallet were together again.

Grisham told the Union-Tribune that his time in Antarctica was "unusual and memorable." The temperature in the winter months would drop as low as -65 degrees.

"Let me just say this, if I took a can of soda pop and set it outside on the step, if I didn't retrieve it in 14 minutes it would pop open because it had frozen," Grisham told the outlet.

Read the original article on Insider
PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne has issued an apology to the families present at a memorial service for those killed in the Sean Graham bookmakers massacre on Friday.

Speaking during a press conference on Saturday, he also said one of the officers present has been suspended over the incident, which saw the arrest of a man wounded in the atrocity as he attended an event on the anniversary of the attack.

Mark Sykes was shot multiple times in the 1992 gun attack which claimed the lives of five men. One of those killed - Peter Magee - was Mr Sykes's brother-in-law.

Video of Friday's incident posted on social media showed heated exchanges between PSNI officers and relatives outside the Ormeau Road bookmakers. It shows Mr Sykes being handcuffed just yards from the memorial to those killed in the attack.

Police said "between 30 and 40" people had gathered and a man was approached regarding Covid regulations.

Mr Sykes was arrested on suspicion of disorderly behaviour and was taken to Musgrave Street police station. He was later released.

The chief constable said: "Whilst the Police Ombudsman has just commenced her initial investigation into yesterdays events on the Ormeau Road, I felt it necessary to address the widespread public concern across our community. It is I think important that people understand that Police did not attempt to prevent the commemoration.

Expand Close PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne at Saturday night's press conference. Credit: Colm O'Reilly/Sunday Life / Facebook

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Whatsapp PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne at Saturday night's press conference. Credit: Colm O'Reilly/Sunday Life

"After the commemoration had finished, the officers present became involved in an incident with a man who had been there. What followed was not reflective of the values of the Police Service of Northern Ireland."

Mr Byrne said that, after reviewing the footage from the officers' body cameras, a decision has been taken to suspend one officer and re-position another. He said that the two officers involved were relatively inexperienced, having only joined the PSNI in July last year.

"I want to apologise to all those who were present yesterday and to those who have been affected by what they have seen on social media," he said.

"I will be writing to the legal representatives of families who lost loved ones in the 1992 atrocity and offering to meet them in person to listen to their concerns and to apologise.

"The police service has, in particular during the last week, been under significant scrutiny from all communities for its policing of the coronavirus regulations.

"Policing during a global pandemic and the enforcement of the Health Protection Regulations is at times drawing us into conflict with the communities we serve. We do not want this and are keen, if we can, to find a way to draw a line under the events of the last week and move forward together with the community.

"We are and continue to fully co-operate with the Police Ombudsmans investigation."

Mr Byrne was asked if he is considering his position over the matter and he replied: "I'm no quitter."

Referencing contrasting PSNI responses to different high profile alleged coronavirus regulation breaches in recent times, he said: "It would be foolish if I wasn't alive and didn't hear public concerns.

"Two tier policing is an easy accusation to make but the coronavirus regulations do present particular challenges for policing."

He said the response required could change depending on the dynamic of a particular situation officers faced.

"We are struggling sometimes to get that balance right because of the fast paced nature of events," he said.

Mr Byrne added: "Policing is a complex business and sometimes things go wrong and mistakes are made and that's what we're reflecting on this evening."

The chief constable said he was unable to de-arrest Mr Sykes and the matter now rested with prosecutors to decide whether prosecution was appropriate.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald tweeted: "The damage done to public confidence in policing will not be undone by a statement by [the chief constable] or by token gesture responses. The disrespect and mistreatment of victims of British state collusion and their families is now on full ugly display. Again."

In a joint statement, DUP Policing Board members Joanne Bunting, Trevor Clarke, Tom Buchanan and Mervyn Storey said Mr Byrne's apology, and the redeployment of one officer and the suspension of another, "raises many questions".

"We cannot have trial by social media and we cannot have rushed announcements to suit some political agenda. We would have thought the proper course of action would have been to await the outcome of the Ombudsman Inquiry," they said.

"In addition, the chief constable needs to explain why two relatively inexperienced officers were dispatched to this scene and if any other senior officers were present. The PSNI has enough trouble recruiting without a perception that officers have been scapegoated.

"There are questions for the Policing Board as well. Its statement was not an agreed position adopted by the board. They, like us, must be in possession of all the information before any conclusions can be reached.

"As Policing Board members, we need to see the full video footage to ascertain the circumstances behind what appears to be uncharacteristically swift action by the police. We have requested an urgent meeting with the chief constable on Monday morning where we can ascertain the full facts."

Speaking following the press conference, NI Policing Board chair Doug Garrett said he met with Mr Byrne earlier on Saturday to discuss the actions of those officers present at Friday's incident.

"Whilst this matter is now rightly under investigation by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland as the appropriate authority, the chief constable has confirmed that action to suspend and reposition two of the officers involved has now been taken," he said.

"As a board, we expect the highest professional standards from our officers and a policing approach throughout the service that reflects those standards at all times. I have clearly conveyed to the chief constable the urgent necessity to repair damage caused to community relations arising from the policing approach on Friday and at a number of other events in recent times.

"The apology and offer of a meeting to those present at Fridays commemoration is a welcome first step.

"The Board will have further discussion with the chief constable and deputy chief constable at the Performance Committee meeting on Thursday."
Photo taken on Jan. 20, 2021 shows the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- China hopes the United States will view China and China-U.S. relations in an objective and rational way, implement positive and constructive China policies, meet China halfway, focus on cooperation, and manage differences to promote the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks when asked to comment on U.S. President Joe Biden's recent speech, in which Biden called China his country's "most serious competitor."

Underscoring China's role as a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development and a defender of the international order, Wang said China's development will further strengthen global peace and China is committed to developing friendly and cooperative relations with countries around the globe.

As two major countries, China and the United States share broad common interests and shoulder special and important responsibilities in safeguarding world peace and stability, and in promoting global prosperity and development, he said.

Just like any bilateral relationship between countries, China and the United States are bound to have some differences. However, their common interests far outweigh the differences, Wang added.

By cooperating with each other, China and the United States can accomplish many great things that benefit both countries and the world at large, said Wang.

Facing global challenges including COVID-19 and climate change, China and the United States can and must cooperate with each other, and areas for such cooperation have expanded, not narrowed, he said.

China is committed to developing relations with the United States featuring non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, said Wang.

Meanwhile, China will continue to resolutely safeguard its national security and development interests, he said.

China hopes the U.S. side will follow the common will of the two peoples as well as the trend of the times, and join other countries and the international community to promote world peace and development, Wang said.

Patna, Feb 6 : The nationwide 'Chakka Jam' called by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, and backed by the opposition parties in Bihar, did not have much effect on the common people of the state on Saturday.

The leaders of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) held peaceful protests at Hajipur and Didarganj (Patna), respectively, to express their solidarity with the agitating farmers. However, the demonstartions didn't cause much disrupttion to public life.

The opposition parties in Bihar participated in the 'Chakka Jam' between 2 pm and to 3 pm on Saturday.

A unit of the RJD blocked the at Hajipur-Patna road for half-an-hour, before the district police of Vaishali managed to remove them after brief negotiation.

Slamming the Nitish Kumar government, RJD General Secretary Bhai Arun Kumar said, "The NDA government is shaken by the public agitation. The government and the administration do not want to listen to their concerns." Kumar also termed JDU leader Sanjay Singh's remark on the protestors as 'extremely unfortunate'.

"Earlier in the day, Singh compared the protesters to bad elements. The RJD condemns his remark as the protesters are our farmer brothers and their insult is akin to insulting the nation," Kumar said.

Meanwhile, over 100 members of JAP blocked the Didarganj toll plaza on Saturday to show solidarity with the farmers. They even burnt tyres at some places.

Raghvendra Singh Kushwah, the state President of JAP, said: "The three farm bills were passed in the Parliament without consulting the farmers. The farmers do not want these laws. We will stand by them till our last breath, and our agitation will continue until the Centre repeals the three farm laws." "The three laws allow the corporate companies to create their own private mandis. With that, they will have monopoly over the market. In that case, the farmers cannot get MSP as the rate of crops will be set by the corporates," said Prem Chand Singh, General Secretary of JAP.
The 6th Cavalry Museum continues its recognition of Black History Month with the virtual opening of The 6888th in Fort Oglethorpe, exhibit about the only all-female, all-African American Womens Army Corps unit to serve overseas during World War II. Before shipping out to England in 1945, the unit did their overseas training at Fort Oglethorpe, then an active U.S. Army base.

The museum received a $28,000 African American Civil Rights Historic Preservation Fund grant to commemorate and educate the public about the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion in April, 2020. The grant is a portion of the $14 million African American Civil Rights Historic Preservation Fund. The 6th Cavalry Museum was one of 51 projects across 20 states and the District of Columbia that was funded in 2020. Projects will preserve sites and history related to the African American struggle for equality in the 20th century.

The Zoom virtual opening is Thursday, Feb. 25, from 7-8 p.m. Guest panelists for the virtual opening are Colonel US Army (Retired) Edna Cummings, Producer of Lincoln Penny Films The Six-Triple-Eight documentary. Col. Cummings will be joined by 6th Cavalry Museum Director Chris McKeever and exhibit curator Molly Sampson. Registration is free and available through Eventbrite. The exhibit opens to the public on Friday, Feb. 26, at 10 a.m.

The four education video topics are Origins of the WAC, The Fight for Overseas Service, Training at Fort Oglethorpe and Overseas Service in the 6888th. The videos were produced by Louis Lees production company L2Images with local actress Shonda Bryant portraying Mary, a member of the 6888th as she writes home to tell her parents about her experience at Fort Oglethorpe and England.

The public can learn more about the 6888th in Fort Oglethorpe exhibit and education program by visiting the 6th Cavalry Museum website or calling (706) 861-2860.






As a child, Nigerian-born British author Helen Oyeyemi had a habit of altering the endings of the books she read. I started off changing bits of Little Women, the 36-year-old admits by Zoom from Prague, where shes lived since 2014. I would actually write inside the book and be like, No, thats a lie. 

In Oyeyemis version, Beth lived and Jo and Laurie got together. I improved them! she says, laughing. And then at some point, her writing suddenly became stories that I hadnt read anywhere.

Oyeyemis seventh novel, Peaces, will be released by Riverhead Books in April. It, too, is something entirely new.

As Peaces begins, Otto and Xavier Shin are given a non-honeymoon honeymoon on a train by a beloved, wealthy aunt in honor of their commitment to each other. Off they go from southeast England along the Lakes and Mountain Routejust imprecise enough to stir my interest, notes Ottoaccompanied by their baggage (literal and metaphorical, including the remnants of all their relationships past) and their pet mongoose. But the destination is not the point.

Once aboard the train, which is called the Lucky Day, strange things start to happen, particularly after they meet the trains owner, Ava Kapoor. Does Ava need their help? Does she need them to leave her alone? Does she need something else entirely?

Add to the mix three people who are both there and not there, and you have all the makings of an Oyeyemi novel: disconcerting, captivating, disorienting, yet somehow grounded by universal questions about what makes us human. For instance, how do relationships change us and continue on, whether were aware of it or not? Who is seen and who is not seen, and who gets to decide that? What are we after on this odd journey of life and love that may or may not involve train travel?

Throughout Oyeyemis substantial career, her name has become synonymous with a kind of surreal horror, an ability to merge the creepy with the fantastic and magical, layered on top of myth and folklore that feels familiar, even if her versions are anything but. Her first novel, The Icarus Girl, published when she was 20 (she wrote it in high school), was a ghost story about an eight-year-old torn between identities. She followed that with two plays about the pain of life and death (completed while she was studying social and political sciences at Cambridge). She then published a string of novels: The Opposite House, inspired by Cuban mythology; White Is for Witching, which brought out comparisons to Edgar Allan Poe; Mr. Fox, a take on the story of Bluebeard; Boy, Snow, Bird, a loose retelling of Snow White; and Gingerbread, which finds inspiration in the story of Hansel and Gretel, as well as What Is Yours Is Not Yours, a collection of short stories connected by the idea of keys.

Peaces is about, well, love. Thats a slightly terrifying thing to me, says Oyeyemi, who admits that in her spare time, shes a little bit obsessed with Korean TV dramas, or K-drama. The thing about K-drama is that theres a kind of special protected status that lovers have. Its as if theyre in this kind of magic circle, and nothing can come in and harm them. Obviously, there are tests for their love, but as long as they stay steadfast, theyre going to be okay. And I think that might just be some underlying principle of the universe.

Oyeyemi was also influenced the work of Barbara Comyns, a British author who combined the grisly with the beautiful in her retellings of fairy tales. (One of Comyns novels, like Oyeyemis, is titled Mr. Fox.) All of her twists are twists of perception that are beneficial, or for the better, she says. Its as if she decides that life is actually horrible enough, and in her fiction, she tries to find another solution. I think that thats kind of translated into my own sense of narrative. At points, it was as if the story wanted to become kind of chilling, but it was almost as if the characters were just refusing that.

Still, Oyeyemi couldnt help wanting to mess with Otto and Xavier a bit, in part to work out some of the tensions in her own personal life. Theyre on this honeymoon, and I had at that point just completely given up on finding anyone, she says. So its like, Oh, you guys have found your one? Well, Im now going to punish you. 

It didnt quite work out that way. Ultimately I just couldnt be as mean to them as I thought that I would be, Oyeyemi notes, though they did get beaten up.

Peaces started with a train and a title. For Oyeyemi, train stories, like Murder on the Orient Express, are connected to mysteries, as well as to some kind of crime thats been committed and the need for retribution. With this particular one, it felt like everyone on board was a criminal, but they werent sure whom exactly they had committed a crime against, or whom they had sinned against, she explains.

And heres where the story gets the Oyeyemi twist: I was thinking a lot about, what if the person you broke up with hadnt actually broken up with you? What if they didnt accept your breakup, throughout this duration that you thought youd left them long behind and found your worth? What is the existence of that relationship, and to some degree, that person? So, theres a mystery to that.

Peaces as a title also evokes the idea of peace as a sort of lull between battles: thats why theyre all pieces, because theres no continuous peace, Oyeyemi says. And that was specifically in a relationship context, because you have this couple who were like, This is the one. All my past relationships didnt count. They were just part of the journey towards the one. 

It takes Oyeyemi about as long as it takes to have a baby to produce one of her novels. I do maybe four months full on, then take a month off, and then do another four months. Before she begins, she has to prepare herself for what she calls going to the cave. She alerts everyone to whats happening, then shuts off her phone. No one but family can reach her, and, even then, at a delay.

Its sort of like being dead for like a month, because nobody sees or hears from me, Oyeyemi explains. Its very hard to write that intensely with having no life. I think its good, but its also scary, because you feel very alone when youre doing that.

So have Oyeyemis feelings about being alone versus being coupled changed since shes finished Peaces? Probably enough to not write another relationship book, for a long time, anyway, she says. Im quite dismayed, because I was going to smash all of these people. But no, it was... I guess I just believe that you can make it through anything together. I have that kind of sense.

Jen Doll is the author of the YA novel 'Unclaimed Baggage' (FSG) and the memoir 'Save the Date: The Occasional Mortifications of a Serial Wedding Guest' (Riverhead).

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(Natural News) One of the most repugnant, depraved aspects of vaccination is that many vaccines were developed using strategically harvested organs from aborted babies. The original scientist, who helped develop the first human diploid cell line for vaccine development, admits that dozens of babies were strategically aborted to find a suitable cell line for virus replication. The act of multiplying viruses in cell cultures is fundamental to the science of vaccination because the viruses must be attenuated (weakened) before they are cultured and introduced via needle into the persons body.

Inventor of rubella vaccine spearheaded the use of aborted fetal cells in vaccines

Dr. Stanley Plotkin is credited as the inventor of the rubella vaccine in the 1960s. At the time, most of his colleagues did not agree with the unethical practice of using aborted fetuses to test out and manufacture attenuated, live virus vaccines. At the time, one of the leading voices of dissent was oral polio vaccine developer, Albert Sabin. However, no matter how morally-sound Sabins arguments were, he couldnt prove that the fetal cell lines were unsafe to use. The burden of proof was saddled on those dissented; therefore, the unethical practice of harvesting aborted fetal organs was ultimately accepted as safe for use in vaccine development. The regulatory agencies eventually acquiesced to the unethical practice and allowed vaccine developers to take advantage of organ harvesting operations.

During the 1960s, women were coerced to abort their babies out of fear of getting rubella during pregnancy. Instead of encouraging healthy prenatal development and strengthening the natural immune function of pregnant women, the medical establishment scared women into aborting their babies if they didnt get the abortion-tainted rubella vaccine.

Today, the official story about fetal cells in vaccines is embellished, to make the sacrifice of human life seem justified. Facebooks biased fact checkers and Googles top search engine results condone the use of aborted fetal cell lines in vaccines. The official story concludes that only two babies were aborted to develop the WI-38 WI-26, and WI-44 cell lines. This couldnt be further from the truth. While these cell lines have been used for decades to replicate viruses for vaccine development, their original development required the death of dozens of babies.

Dozens of babies were sacrificed, their organs strategically harvested, to create todays vaccines

On January 11, 2018, Dr. Stanley Plotkin gave a deposition, admitting that seventy-six babies were aborted to establish the WI-38 cell line. Dr. Plotkin gave his deposition in front of a lawyer who was defending the rights of a mother who refused to vaccinate her child due to concerns about the ingredients in the vaccines.

These dead babies were not the product of miscarriages or medical emergencies. Plotkin confessed that the babies were strategically selected for termination after the third month of gestation. In order to obtain viable organs, vaccine researchers strategically harvested pituitary glands, lungs, skin, kidneys, spleen, hearts and tongues from the babies. Dozens of fetal organs were harvested and used up to study the best cell lines for virus replication. In the end, this macabre research was used to establish the WI-38 cell line, developed at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, PA. The cell line is derived from the severed body parts of an aborted baby taken from a specific family that had no familial diseases in the history of either parent and no history of cancer specifically in the families.

This cell line has been preserved for decades and is continually put through cellular division to create more substrate for continued vaccine development. Today, the WI-38 cell line is used in the development of vaccines targeting varicella (chickenpox) rubella (in the MMR vaccine), hepatitis A, shingles (Zoster) vaccine, and rabies vaccines.

Dr. Plotkins use of WI-38 has inspired the development of other fetal cell lines, that also require multiple dead babies to understand which fetal organs best procure viral replication. British researchers developed the MCR-5 cell line in 1966, ultimately settling on healthy lung tissue taken from a 4-month-old fetus. These aborted fetal cells are used to make todays diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTP) vaccines, hepatitis A and B vaccines, polio and adenovirus vaccines. In 1985, US researchers developed cell line PER C6, which was taken from the retina of a carefully selected, aborted baby. It was used in the development of vaccines for Ebola and HIV.

To learn more about whats in your vaccines, check out Vaccines.News.

Sources include:

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File image: Future Group Chairman Kishore Biyani

Future Group founder and CEO Kishore Biyani, brother Anil Biyani and promoter entity Future Corporate Resources have approached the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) to challenge a SEBI order that barred all three parties and other related entities from accessing the securities market for a year, people with knowledge of the matter told Moneycontrol.

The e-filing of the pleas has been done at SAT and the matter is likely to come up for hearing shortly, one of the individuals cited above told Moneycontrol on the condition of anonymity.

Also Read: SEBI bans Future CEO Kishore Biyani from securities market in insider trading case

SAT is a three-member tribunal based in Mumbai and is headed by a Presiding Officer and hears appeals against SEBI orders.

A Future Group spokesperson was unavailable for immediate comment.

The case pertains to alleged insider trading between March and April 2017 and the regulators order says the two brothers traded in shares of Future Retail through Future Corporate Resources on the basis of unpublished price sensitive information before a demerger of certain businesses of Future Retail was made public.

On February 3, following the SEBI order, Future Group issued a statement saying the order would not impact its deal with Reliance Industries.

The SEBI Order issued today 3rd February 2021, in connection with a bar on dealing in securities has taken care to exclude dealings in securities under any impending Scheme of Arrangement. Therefore, the SEBI would not pose a hurdle to the ongoing Scheme of Arrangement with the Reliance Group. Further, on merits, the SEBI Order is untenable since it treats a well-anticipated and publicly well-known impending reorganisation of the home furnishing businesses that the Future Group effected in 2017 to be unpublished information. The Order will be challenged in the exercise of the statutory right to appeal, it said.

The Delhi High Court is hearing a plea by Amazon seeking directions to order enforcement of the award by Singapores Emergency Arbitrator (EA) restraining Future Retail from going ahead with its Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Retail.

Reliance Industries Ltd, which owns Jio, is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.

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Dehradun: Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat has launched an interest-free loan disbursement program of three lakhs for farmers. After launching the program at the program organized in Dehradun, CM Rawat has reacted strongly to the peasant movement happening in the country. He has said that the peasant movement is being dragged forcefully while the agricultural law is made for the benefit of the farmers.

CM Rawat alleged that people sitting in many countries including America are conspiring to give impetus to the peasant movement. He further said that more than three hundred Twitter accounts are being handled from Pakistan for the farmer movement. CM Trivendra Singh Rawat challenged the agitating farmers and said that the government should tell what is wrong in the agricultural law?

He further said that no solution will be found to any problem from protest. CM Rawat stressed that the agricultural union has been made for the benefit of the farmers of the whole country and this law is sure to increase the income of the farmers. He urged the agitating farmers to read the agricultural law properly and understand the aspects of the law.

Also Read-

CPI-M trying to split Kerala on communal lines: Says Chennithala

Chhattisgarh constable arrested in Ghazipur with hand grenade and restricted pistol

Digvijay lashed out at Agriculture Minister, says 'doesn't know anything about farming'
Here what to do in Ocean City on rainy days

Even on rainy days Ocean City has a host of indoor activities  like shopping, movie theaters, wineries and breweries  to entertain.
Australians will be able to tap and display COVID-19 proof of vaccination certificates on their phones or carry hard copies with them under plans being finalised by the Morrison government ahead of the rollout of vaccines later this month.

The Express Plus Medicare app and Australians MyGov accounts will both hold digital proof of vaccination certificates, while vaccine providers and Services Australia offices will be able to print out certificates too.

Down the track, retrieving your vaccination certificate could be as simple as double-tapping a smartphone to access the certificate in a digital wallet.

Health workers in Belgium inspect vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus COVID-19 vaccine, which is one of the candidates expected to receive approval in Australia by the end of January. Credit:AP

The rollout of the certificates program has gone to the federal cabinet and The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age can reveal detailed discussions were held in the cabinet about the project 10 days ago.
At least two people were killed and 28 others injured as two bomb blasts rocked the cities of Quetta and Sibi in the restive Balochistan province of Pakistan, police said on Friday.

The first blast took place in Sibi in which 24 people were injured while hours later the second explosion took place in Quetta and was apparently aimed at a Kashmir Day rally, killing two people and leaving four others injured.

Police officials said that two bodies were shifted to Quetta civil hospital after the incident.

Aurangzeb Badini, Deputy Commissioner of Quetta and a retired major, confirmed that the initial investigations hinted the blast was targeted at a Kashmir Solidarity Day rally that was passing from the area.

He added that the nature of the blast couldn't be ascertained as yet.

Earlier 24 people were injured when a bomb was hurled at a similar rally in Sibi, according to police officer Zaman Khan.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Pakistan observed Kashmir Solidarity Day on Friday by holding public rallies.

India has told Pakistan that it has no locus standi to comment on internal affairs of India, asserting that the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have been and will remain an integral part of the country.

On Thursday, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava said that India desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence.
Lashing out at BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday said that the former West Bengal minister will lose by over 50,000 votes in any seat he contests in his home turf Medinipur. Addressing a public meeting around 5 km from Adhikari family residence 'Shantikunj' here, the TMC youth wing chief contested claims that Purba Medinipur district is the Adhikaris' fortress and asserted that the BJP will lose the upcoming assembly elections due in April-May.

"West Bengal will re-elect Mamata Banerjee as the chief minister for the third time with the TMC winning more than 250 seats and trouncing the BJP," he said. On the BJP's claims that the chief minister hasn't visited Nandigram in five years, Banerjee questioned how many times did Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Union Home Minister Amit Shah come to Medinipur during that period.

"He (Modi) is coming to Haldia tomorrow due to the upcoming elections," Banerjee said. The prime minister will visit Haldia in Purba Medinipur district on Sunday to inaugurate several infrastructure projects in the oil and gas sector.

"This year's assembly elections are more important for the people of Purba Medinipur because the chief minister of the state will be elected from this district. Mamata Banerjee will fight the elections from Nandigram," he said. "He (Adhikari) is claiming that Mamata Banerjee will be defeated by over half lakh votes but why are you not asking your party to make you, Suvendu Adhikari, a candidate from here on a BJP ticket to fight against her," Banerjee said, asserting that he will be vanquished.

The Diamond Harbour MP said that he will come to Purba and Paschim Medinipur districts over 50 times in the next two months and ensure that the deposits of BJP candidates are forfeited in the assembly elections. "After three months of forming the government, I take the responsibility to make them (BJP) politically bankrupt," Banerjee, nephew of the chief minister, said.

He claimed that those who have insulted the land of Matangini Hazra, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Sushil Dhara by deserting the TMC will get the reply from the people in the elections. Following the footsteps of Suvendu Adhikari, his younger brother Soumendu, a former chairman of Kanthi Municipality, has left the TMC to join the saffron party.

His father Sisir Adhikari and another brother Dibyendu are TMC's Lok Sabha MPs. Taking a swipe at Suvendu Adhikari, a former minister in the Mamata Banerjee cabinet, for joining the BJP in the presence of Shah, Banerjee said that he has touched the feet of the man during whose rally Vidyasagar's statue was vandalised.

The statue of the social reformer and educationist, an icon of Bengal, was vandalised during Shah's rally in Kolkata in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, with the TMC and BJP pointing fingers at each other for the desecration. Banerjee claimed that Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mukerjee had opposed the Quit India movement and that he had sided with the British imperialists.

He alleged that the CBI and ED are the two engines of the BJP's double-engine government. One of the election planks of the BJP is that the governments of the same party at the Centre and in the state will ensure better development of West Bengal.

HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the officers of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, President Rick Bloomingdale, and Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder issued the following statement of support for the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers as they fight for safe schools:

"The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers has been sounding the alarm for years about safety and health conditions in the school buildings. The School District has refused to act transparently and in good faith. There has been no improvement. It is unacceptable to send people into buildings that are unsafe for occupancy. And that is what the Philadelphia School District is trying to do," stated President Rick Bloomingdale.

"Even more critical than the seriously inadequate condition of the school buildings is the rate of community spread in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties. The substantial spread of the virus and the addition of new, more transmissible variants is of great concern. Reopening schools is about the communities they serve, and these school buildings are a risk to the community," remarked Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder.

SOURCE PA AFL-CIO
President Uhuru Kenyatta (centre) in a show of unity with Deputy President William Ruto (left) and ODM leader Raila Odinga, during the launch of the BBI report at Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi on November 27, 2019.

The war of words between Deputy President William Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga escalated yesterday, with the DP dismissing the ODM boss as visionless and Mr Odinga accusing the second-in-command of politicking instead of building the nation.

Dr Ruto, who is on a three-day tour of the coastal region, also mocked other party leaders who are eyeing the presidency, noting that they are waiting for an endorsement from President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Mr Odinga, speaking in Lodwar, Turkana County, where he went to drum up support for the Building Bridges Initiative, blamed the DP for the unfulfilled pledges of the Jubilee administration, and even accused him of deserting President Uhuru Kenyatta then criss-crossing the country to blame the Handshake for the failures of his own government.

But in Mombasa and Kilifi, where he was accompanied by MPs Owen Baya (Kilifi North), Khatib Mwashetani (Lunga Lunga), Aisha Jumwa (Malindi), Mohamed Ali (Nyali), Lydia Haika (Taita-Taveta Woman Representative), Benjamin Tayari (Kinango) and Lamu Senator Anwar Loitiptip, Dr Ruto said: "The problem is that they are rudderless. They are now called the Demolition Squad because they demolished their Nasa and came to Jubilee, which they also dismantled and now they have been left with no plan. I told them before and I am telling them now: it is clear that you do not have a candidate yet."

He was referring to the now defunct Nasa coalition of Mr Odinga, Mr Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper), Mr Musalia Mudavadi (Amani National Congress), Mr Moses Wetang'ula (Ford-Kenya), and Mr Isaac Ruto (Chama cha Mashinani), formed in the run-up to the last General Elections to oppose the Uhuru-Ruto candidature.

Development scorecard

Dr Ruto said the Jubilee government has among other things constructed 7,000 kilometres of roads across the country, connected over five million people to the national electricity grid, and built more than 140 technical training institutes. Some of these claims have not been substantiated independently.

Turning his attention to the BBI, the DP said instead of changing the Constitution to "create positions for leaders", the focus should be on empowering wananchi.

"They are telling us to change the Constitution to have positions. But we are telling them that is not the way. It should be about the people," he said.

"I am the DP and I know what am saying. I am not insane or drunk, so I mean what I say. We will change this country," he added.

He took issue with those who have been on his case because of issuing wheelbarrows to the youth, saying it is a serious and complex economic programme that has been deliberately distorted by his detractors.

But in Turkana, Mr Odinga asked Dr Ruto to stop hoodwinking the youth with the 'Hustler Nation' narrative, symbolised in rallies by wheelbarrows.

"Instead of giving youth capital for start-ups, he is telling the youth that he will give them wheelbarrows," said Mr Odinga, accusing the DP of making grand but false promises in 2013 and 2017, including providing laptop computers to primary school learners and transforming the country's economy into a digital one.

While drumming up support for the BBI, the former Prime Minister asked residents of Turkana to back the constitutional amendment proposals, arguing that they would increase resource allocations to counties and warning them against listening to leaders who are "pushing for selfish interests at the expense of development".

Mr Odinga defended his Handshake with President Kenyatta, saying that it is the path to the proverbial Canaan. His meeting was skipped by Governor Josphat Nanok, who is serving his second term on an ODM ticket but has in recent times been leaning towards Dr Ruto's Tangatanga movement.

Charm offensive

Dr Ruto has been on a charm offensive in Kenya's pastoralist counties, targeting Narok, Kajiado, Samburu, Turkana, West Pokot and Laikipia in his 2022 State House race that requires his consolidation of his Rift Valley backyard if he is to have any chance.

President Kenyatta won Narok and Samburu counties and retained Kajiado in 2017, but the margins were small. Now both Mr Odinga and Dr Ruto are pushing to get a pie of the region that was split down the middle between the two camps, but with the stronger foot in Mr Odinga's camp.

Mr Odinga bagged Turkana County in 2017 with 71,063 votes against President Kenyatta's 58,744, but the former Prime Minister has since lost ODM vice-chairman and Governor Nanok to Dr Ruto's camp, which now has the support of the majority of the MPs in the county.

In Turkana yesterday, Mr Odinga's ODM ally, Minority Whip and Suna East MP Junet Mohammed, defended President Kenyatta over the development promises of the Jubilee government but accused the DP and his Tangatanga brigade of trying to push the country into campaign mode too early instead of supporting his boss.

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Nominated MP Maina Kamanda, an ally of the President and a firebrand critic of the Deputy President, said the country should adopt a rotational presidency formula if all tribes were to have a chance to lead the nation.

He accused Dr Ruto of engaging in divisive politics at the expense of development and national unity.

Loima MP Jeremiah Lomorukai and Mining Cabinet Secretary John Munyes said the BBI provisions are good for marginalised counties as they will send more resources to the devolved units.

Likoni MP Mishi Mboko accused the DP of insincerity in his opposition to the BBI, noting that the second-in-command should be ignored.

"Ruto is against the BBI because he knows that if it passes, it will ensure equitable distribution of resources. You cannot give our children wheelbarrows when your daughter is an ambassador in Poland. Our people need to get factories closer to them so that they can better their lives," she claimed.

Other leaders at the Raila rally were Ganze MP Teddy Mwambire, Babu Owino (Embakasi East), Gladys Wanga (Homa Bay), and Geofrey Osostsi (Nominated).


A few days ago, a student at the University of Minnesota created a sensation with an Instagram story in which he described being terrified by an encounter with racist police officers, from which he narrowly escaped with his life:

Tw: police violence and brutality/racial profiling Last night, after finishing up my homework and honestly wrapping up a pretty long week, I wanted to go take a walk outside.

It was a little past 1:30 in the morning, and there had just been an armed robbery nearby.

I was returning back home when I saw that there was a police car. Instinctively, a couple thoughts rushed to my mind: breathe, head up, dont walk too fast  not too slow, be normal. I took my mask off, I took my cap off, and I made sure that if anything happened that they were able to see my face. Next to me, there was a white man with his mask off, walking his dog, wearing a black coat as well. I felt safe that there was another presence there and could see the cop cars at the corner of my eyes. I turned the corner around 5th and 12th and saw sirens going off. Immediately, squad cars pulled on all the sides and cornered me where I couldnt escape or speak. The cop got out of his car and asked me all sorts of information, but the only thing I could think of was: what did I do wrong other than the fact I was a brown man. There were two cops behind me  hands on their guns. I had my hands up and was struggling to find the words I always had thought Id say if I was EVER in that situation but all I could think of: one sudden move and I would be shot. I was able to show the officer my University ID saying that I was a university student just trying to clear my mind by taking a late night stroll but they wouldnt believe me. After multiple questions, they turned off their lights and left me alone: no apology, no explanation, nothing. Just me: mentally and emotionally tormented with an experience that will last a lifetime. Now, after having some time to think about this, to process, and to come to the senses that the thing/the situation that I hoped would never happen to me  happened. It was brutal. What if that was another black or brown man not able to prove their identity or maybe they were in the wrong place at the wrong time  what then? We cant keep sending armed police as a solution for student safety or community safety. If anything, that was the most traumatic thing I have ever experienced from the people who are supposed to be there for me. No. Defund these bastards.

The student added this call to action:

Call to action: My story wont be the first and my story will certainly not be the last, but this story can be the change and catalyst to show that enough is enough. Our community is strong to enact the changes that we want to see. We have the ability to ensure our BIPOC community members never have to fear going out, even for a walk at night. So many of you have reached out to me showing your love and asking how you can help. Now, here is your call to action: send an email to UMN admin and use your voice to show that this is not acceptable. That the UMPD needs to be held accountable.

The students story elicited so many responses that the Universitys Department of Public Safety felt compelled to respond by releasing the video of the encounter, along with a transcript that you can read at the link above. This is what actually happened:

Three points: First, when they stopped the guy to talk to him, the officers thought he was white. Second, the officers couldnt possibly have been more mellow and polite. Third, the student was so traumatized that he asked the officers to give him a ride. They politely declined, since they were still looking for an armed robbery suspect. If this is police brutality, we should have more of it.

I think this kind of thing happens a lot. The demand for racism, and police brutality in particular, vastly exceeds the supplyhence the need to make stuff up. You can see the yearning to believe tales of police brutality (even though, in the students original telling, the brutality exists entirely in his own mind) in the outpouring of sympathy for this guy from other students. Moreover, there is a payoff to inventing stories of the right sort. This student, as he says, was showered with love, and he got to enjoy a rare bout of self-righteousness while feeling that he was part of a movement.

He was, I think, part of a movement that has swept across America, but not of the sort he had in mind.
She gleefully showed off her massive eight-carat engagement ring after her fiance Tarek El Moussa proposed in July 2020.

And now Heather Rae Young, 33, has an even more opulent ring after the happy couple upgraded it.

Heather shared the new look, which features additional smaller diamonds, in a short clip from her Instagram Stories on Thursday.

Supersized: Heather Rae Young, 33, showed off a stunning new update to her eight-carat emerald cut engagement ring from fiance Tarek El Moussa, 39, on Thursday

The Selling Sunset star highlighted the redone bling with a closeup of her hands.

In addition to the stunning emerald-cut diamond, the simple gold band was now replaced with a thicker string of smaller diamonds wrapping around her finger.

'I never planned my "dream wedding" but I saved rings I loved for the past 10 years,' Heather captioned her clip.

'Gold with Emerald cut was always my dream ring. My love, future hubby, you have my whole heart,' she continued, adding that the ring was 'Breathtaking.'

Sparkler: In addition to the centerpiece diamond, the simple gold band was now replaced with a thicker string of smaller diamonds wrapping around her finger

Ring of her dreams: 'I never planned my "dream wedding" but I saved rings I loved for the past 10 years,' Heather captioned her clip

Heather tagged Tarek in the video, along with the Newport Beach jeweler Benny and the Gems, which created the original ring and added the new diamond band.

'We designed it together,' she wrote of her 39-year-old fiance in an earlier post.

Heather and the Flip Or Flop star were still feeling festive about their engagement seven months afterward, so they held an opulent photoshoot in honor of their upcoming nuptials at the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa in Riverside, California.

The Selling Sunset star posted a cute video of the two dancing in the hotel's courtyard during the shoot on Thursday.

Woman in white: Tarek twirled heather in a sweet video from their engagement photoshoot on Thursday. She wore a white lace dress with an ultra high slit

Tarek opted for a black tuxedo with a matching black suit, while Heather went lighter with a gorgeous white lace dress featuring an ultra high slit to showcase her legs.

'Forever and ever and ever ,' she captioned a video of her fiance twirling her.

'What an incredible engagement shoot!! It was a very long day but my fiance was such a trooper. My sweet love @therealtarekelmoussa I cant wait to make it official!! Its getting closer and closer!!'

She added: 'Let the countdown begin!!! 2021 wedding!!

So far, the couple have been coy about a wedding date. They previously indicated they wanted a summer wedding, and Heather claimed to have locked in a date back in October.

However, Tarek speculated that they might have a September wedding during an appearance on HGTV House Party in January, as neither person wanted the weather to be too hot.

Contrasts: The couple had three costume changes, and Heather gleamed in a silver-sequined halter dress while Tarek looked stylish in a blue velvet tux

Over on Tarek's Instagram, he shared a cute video of the two in a ballroom as they changed into new outfits for their engagement shoot.

Heather switched to a sparkling halter dress covered in silver sequins, while wearing her blond locks over her shoulders in delicate waves.

Tarek wore a stylish dark blue velvet tuxedo with black peaked lapels and a bow tie.

'We had our engagement shoot today!!' he gushed in the caption. '@heatherraeyoung looked stunning as you can see in the video!!'

He added that the lovebirds 'changed outfits 3 times and had the best day shooting...'

On fire: The Selling Sunset added some fire to her look with a floral-patterned crimson jumpsuit

In addition to her two dresses, Heather turned up the heat with an elegant crimson jumpsuit that was covered in floral patterns, while she styled her hair into a ponytail.

She and Tarek got engaged in July 2020, when he surprised her on an anniversary trip to Santa Catalina Island, off the coast of Southern California.

The longtime HGTV star was previously married to his Flip Or Flop cohost Christina Anstead, 37, with whom he shares 10-year-old daughter Taylor and five-year-old son Brayden.

The couple from 20092018, and she subsequently married the English TV presenter Ant Anstead in 2018.

Getting serious: Tarek proposed to Heather during an anniversary trip in July to Catalina Island, just off the coast of Southern California
Huntington, WV (25701)

Today

Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low around 50F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low around 50F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
 Flash

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday called on COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers to scale up production significantly and urged countries to share vaccine doses once they finish vaccinating their priority populations.

Reiterating the negative impact of inequitable access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide at a press briefing, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that although globally the number of vaccine doses administered already exceeds the number of reported infections, more than three-quarters of those vaccines have been administered in just ten countries that account for almost 60 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP). Meanwhile, 2.5 billion people in almost 130 countries have yet to receive a single dose.

"All governments have an obligation to protect their own people," Tedros said. "But once countries with vaccines have vaccinated their own health workers and older people, the best way to protect the rest of their own population is to share vaccines so other countries can do the same.

"The longer it takes to vaccinate those most at risk everywhere, the more opportunity we give to the virus to mutate and evade vaccines," he warned. "Unless we suppress the virus everywhere, we could end up back at square one."

The WHO chief also urged vaccine manufacturers to ramp up production, calling on them to issue non-exclusive licenses to allow other producers to manufacture their vaccines, just as they did in the past to expand access to treatments for HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and hepatitis C.

"Expanding production globally would also make poor countries less dependent on donations from rich ones," Tedros said. "These are unprecedented times and we applaud those manufacturers that have pledged, for example, to sell their vaccines at cost."

He encouraged the world's vaccine manufacturers to share their dossiers with the WHO faster and more fully so that the latter can review them for emergency use listing.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in some countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, 238 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 63 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by the WHO on Feb. 2.
The much-awaited Budget 2021 has gone big on spending in a bid to boost economic revival and growth but what does it mean for one's personal finances?

Any talk of personal finances needs to focus on three broad areas: investments, taxation and consumption (buying and spending).

Investments

Bank deposits: If you are worried that your bank deposits may get stuck in case the bank hits roadblocks and turns bankrupt, there's good news. Thus far, the claim on deposit insurance, which was raised to Rs 5 lakh per individual from the earlier Rs 1 lakh last year, could be made only after teh bank's licence was cancelled. Now, customers whose accounts have been frozen can also expect to make such claims, even before banks have declared bankruptcy.

ULIPs: There will be no tax exemption on the maturity of fresh unit-linked insurance plans (ULIPs) if the annual premium crosses Rs 2.5 lakh. This is applicable to ULIPs bought on after February 1, 2021. This means that if you plan to invest in ULIPs only for tax-free maturity proceeds, you may no longer do that. With the roll-back of the tax-free maturity, the ULIPs achieve tax parity with mutual funds.

Provident funds: The returns on investment of over Rs 2.5 lakh in provident funds will henceforth be taxed, according to the Budgetary announcement. Till now, returns on investment of any size in voluntary PF or EPF were tax-free upon maturity.

Investment charter: The finance minister's proposal to set up an investment charter to curb misselling of financial products will be a move to watch out for, as it can help protect your investments and address grievances effectively.

Also read: Budget 2021: 10 changes that impact your personal finances

Gold and silver: Planning to invest in gold or silver? They have become cheaper as custom duties have been reduced from 12.5 percent to 7.5 percent. However, the government will impose an Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) of 2.5 percent on gold, silver and dore bars. On a net basis, total duties on gold and silver imports will come down by 2.5 percent.

Zero coupon bonds: Retail investors may have one more investment instrument in the form of zero-coupon bonds that are also tax-efficient. The details of the tax efficiency of these bonds is yet to be made clear but this is one option investors may have in the future. Zero-coupon bonds are those that dont pay interest to bondholders instead the bondholder gets a discount on the face value of the bond.

Taxation

This Budget has not made any changes to your income tax slabs or rates. So, you can go ahead with either the old tax regime or the new and optional one announced last year. Senior citizens who are over 75 no longer have to file their IT returns if their income comes from pension or interest.

Also, you would have to stick to the deadlines while filing your IT returns for the assessment year 2021-22 (FY2020-21). The revised or delayed returns can now be filed only until December 31, 2021, and cannot complete this process by March 31, 2022. Currently, belated or revised returns for FY 2019-2020 can be filed on or before March 31, 2021 or completion of the assessment, depending on which is earlier.

Any dividends you may receive from real estate investment trusts and infrastructure investment trusts are exempt from tax deduction at source (TDS). Also, advance tax payments for dividend income can be payable only when the dividend is paid or declared by the company. This will help you save interest payments.

If you were one of the tax-payers who lost their job because of the COVID-19 related distress and had to take up gigs or freelancing, there is good news in the form of social security benefits. These benefits will now be extended to platform or gig workers, who will now be covered under ESI and EPF schemes and minimum wages rules.

More time to avail extra tax benefits on affordable home loans

If you plan to buy an affordable home, you will be able to avail an additional tax benefit of up to Rs 1.5 lakh on interest paid under Section 80EEA of the IT Act, apart from the tax benefit you can seek of Rs 2 lakh on interest on housing loans. The timeframe for availing the deduction has been extended to March 31, 2022. An affordable home is defined as a residential property whose carpet area does not exceed 645 sq. ft in metro cities of Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai (MMR). For other towns or cities, the carpet area should not exceed 968 square feet.

What's costlier, what's cheaper

Apart from investments and taxation, making allocations for certain purchases forms a key aspect of your personal finance and budget. This years Budget has meant that mobile phones, consumer durables such as refrigerators, ACs and imported toys get expensive while metals and stainless steel products may get cheaper.

The Budget has ensured a balancing act of protecting average investor and taxpayer needs while ensuring that high premium ULIP investors and high PF contributors are taxed.

(Jyoti Roy is the DVP - Equity Strategist at Angel Broking.)

: The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert on Moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

But as some of the first people who purchased the Galaxy S21 figured out the hard way, the experience with Android Auto on this new Samsung smartphone isnt as refined as youd expect it to be.And its all because Android Auto just doesnt fire up when connecting a Galaxy S21 to the head unit in the car, thus making it impossible to use the app even when a genuine cable is being used.As we told you not a long time ago, Google was already investigating the problem, but now the search giant is back to confirm the Android Auto team is working on the whole thing, yet it needs more information on the glitch in order to develop a fix.Thanks for all the reports. Our team is working to resolve this issue. Weve reached out to a few of you via e-mail with the instructions on how to capture a bug report. It would be great if you could send us a bug report from your phone to diagnose the root cause of the issue. Please reply directly to the email with your information, a member of the Android Auto team said At this point, however, a workaround that brings things back to normal and allows Android Auto to run properly with a Galaxy S21 isnt known to exist. Some say they managed to launch the app using an older USB-C cable from a previous Samsung device, such as a Galaxy S9, but others claim this workaround failed in their case.So, unfortunately, what works for some doesnt for others, so your only option right now is to give a try to the typical generic solutions to see if something gets Android Auto up and running in your car too.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands speaks with Lily D'Ambrosio, Minister for Energy, during the Forum on Circular Economy at the Investment Centre Victoria on October 11, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

Victorian Govt Backs in Hydrogen Hub Based at Swinburne University

The Victorian government has tipped $10 million into a hub in Melbournes southeast that will test and improve hydrogen technologies.

The Victorian Hydrogen Hub will be based at Swinburne University of Technology and study both clean energy vehicles and hydrogen storage.

About 300 jobs will be created through the initiative, with construction expected to take about 18 months after it commences in 2022.

Swinburne will partner with the CSIRO for the hubs establishment.

This hub will help give Victorians the skills and experience we need to unlock the hydrogen industry  driving down emissions while creating green jobs in a growing industry, Energy Minister Lily DAmbrosio said in a statement on February 6.

The CSIRO said it would, as part of the arrangement, receive $1 million to help develop a refuelling station for hydrogen vehicles.

As Australia considers energy alternatives, we know hydrogen is clean and will be cost-competitive  but a major barrier to it becoming a fuel source for cars and trucks is how to refuel, and the lack of refuelling infrastructure, CSIRO executive director Nigel Warren said in a statement.

The refueller is a significant step towards removing that barrier.

Swinburne vice-chancellor Pascale Quester thanked the government for its support and said the hydrogen hub would demonstrate the ways in which technology can create a better world.

A sister site will also be built in Stuttgart, Germany.

The Victorian government is also slated to release a hydrogen industry development plan in the coming weeks.

Melbourne
Over the past four-five months, Patton International, a Kolkata-based electrical conduit fittings manufacturer, has been sending, on average, two container loads of goods every day by road to Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai. The decision to skip Kolkata port next door and get consignments transported 2,000 kilometres by road to Mumbai shows desperation arising out of acute shortage of containers at Kolkata port and prevailing uncertainty over the transit time to the final destination, the US.

"Our containers used to get loaded at Kolkata and go to Colombo for transhipment to Europe and the US. Post the pandemic, our goods began to take 90-100 days to reach the US through this route. Shortage of containers, and congestion at Colombo port, are leading to delays in transhipment. We had no choice but to ship through Mumbai where container availability is better; the shipment will reach the US within 45-50 days, including the time taken for road transportation," says Sumit Goyal, President, Operations, Patton. The company is sending almost 50 per cent of its supplies - 70-80 containers a month - through Mumbai now. If containers are not available in Kolkata, goods are transferred from trucks to empty containers available in Mumbai. "Road transport is expensive. You are taking a hit of 6-7 per cent. It is a huge cost. But there is no choice. There is so much delay and customers are not willing to wait," he says.

Patton is no exception. Ever since Covid-19 disrupted global supply chains and trade, exporters who send goods via ports, especially on the east coast, have been facing severe container shortage and congestion at transhipment ports such as Colombo, Singapore, Hong Kong and Klang. East coast ports handle around 30 per cent of India's container throughput. As more and more companies work to fulfil orders for the current financial year in the next two months, the shortage of containers is bound to rise. Industry experts say rebound of Indias external trade would have been quicker but for the shortage of containers.

The mismatch between container availability and volume of goods reaching various Indian ports is glaring. Indian Ports Association statistics show an 11 per cent year-on-year decline in container traffic across major Indian ports in April-December 2020; in tonnage terms, though, the decline is 8.8 per cent. In absolute terms, container traffic in April-December 2020 was 6.7 million TEUs (Twenty Foot Equivalent Units) as against 7.5 million TEUs during the April-December 2019 period. A TEU is a shipping container about 20 feet in length, eight feet in width and eight feet in height. The containers Patton International talked about are double this length, 40 feet, the most commonly used size. In FY20, container traffic at major ports was 9.99 million TEUs (5.2 million TEUs in imports and 4.8 million TEUs in exports).

Why It Pinches

India has never faced a shortage of containers before as its imports were higher than exports during most periods. This means more containers were coming in than going out. In FY18, while 4.7 million TEUs came in, 4.4 million went out. This continued in FY19 when 5.1 million containers came in and 4.7 million went out. In 2020, the pandemic disrupted this pattern. "From mid-June 2020 onwards, US and European countries, after months of suspension, started importing big time from countries such as India and China. At the same time, imports into India dropped significantly. In fact, during July-October 2020, exports rose 24 per cent in volume terms while imports dropped 28 per cent compared to same period previous year. This created an imbalance which resulted in shortage of containers for exports," says Sunil Vaswani, Executive Director, Container Shipping Lines Association (India).

However, there are global reasons also behind shortage of containers. Ajay Sahai, Director General, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), says the root cause of the crisis is reduction in number of operational large cargo ships. "During the pandemic (when goods movement got stuck due to lockdowns globally), shipping lines released all large ships which they had contracted. So, even if you are sending goods through small ships from here to transhipment hubs such as Colombo, Singapore or Hong Kong, there are no (sufficient number of) large ships calling on those ports to take those containers. This has resulted in acute pile-up of containers at these transhipment ports," says Sahai.

To make matters worse, more than 50,000 containers which have been seized by various authorities such as Customs, DRI (Directorate of Revenue Intelligence) and other enforcement agencies are lying idle at various ports. Exporters have been requesting these agencies to offload cargo in these containers in warehouses and release them into the cycle.

The Damage

There aren't many instances of companies losing export orders because of delayed execution. Overseas buyers usually understand disruptions in global container flow. But the shortage has made exports (and imports) more expensive and affected margins.

Mahesh Keyal, Director (exports) of Kolkata-based ferro-alloys firm Mortex, says due to reduced capacity in cargo ships, demand is up and, as a result, freight charges have risen three-five times. "Earlier, we were paying $800 to ship one container load from Kolkata to Rotterdam. This has now risen to $2,000-2,500 per container. The roll-over (movement from port of boarding to destination) time has increased by at least 25 to 30 days. There have been many instances in Eastern India where people are loading 40 feet containers and sending to JNPT for shipment because there is no vessel space available in Kolkata or the transit time is very long. Imagine, it costs Rs 80,000 extra per container," he says.

The Solution

The shipping ministry and the logistics department of the commerce ministry have been trying to defuse the crisis from the beginning. Heeding to their requests, shipping lines have been bringing empty containers into India. Ajay Sahai says around 1,00,000 empty containers are being brought from other countries to Western Indian ports to ease the situation. The railway ministry has also started running trains to carry empty containers from ports to container freight stations or inland container depots. Port authorities have also done their bit. Several of them, including Kolkata Port, have put restrictions on number of empty containers that can be taken out by the ships. Container Shipping Lines Association's Vaswani claims that some shipping lines have bypassed congested transhipment ports and made direct calls to Indian ports like Mundra, Vallarpadam and Ennore. The situation is expected to ease on its own as global trade flow normalises by the end of the current fiscal, he adds.

It could be true, but India needs to look for long-term solutions. First, the decline in India's imports may not be just due to the pandemic. If the Atmanirbhar (self-reliance) plans of the Narendra Modi government succeed, India may see substantial decline in imports over the next three-four years. This could take away the country's 'container surplus' advantage.

FIEO's Sahai says India should start manufacturing containers - 95 per cent are manufactured in China. "Even if you buy those containers and bring them to the country, the cost goes up 45-50 per cent. India has many shipyards that don't have much work. Let these shipyards manufacture containers. If you manufacture in the country, the cost comes down, and since you are short of containers, you will have a readymade market too," he says.

The idea is catching on with the government too. Bhavnagar in Gujarat is being looked at as a potential container manufacturing hub. It will solve Indias container problems for all times to come. It will make India a viable alternative to China for container procurement too.

@joecmathew

By Kim Bo-eun





All eyes are on whether Kia will comment on a deal to partner with Apple in producing self-driving electric vehicles, after a foreign media report stated the parties are nearing a deal.







CNBC reported earlier this week that Apple is close to finalizing a contract with Hyundai Motor and Kia to manufacture an Apple-branded autonomous EV at Kia's plant in Georgia.







Kia has maintained that nothing has been decided on yet. But the carmaker is set to hold an event for investors Feb. 9 and attention is being drawn to whether the company will unveil the specifics of the plan at that time.







The CNBC report said the "Apple Car" under development at the tech giant aims to be put into production in 2024, although the official launch could be delayed.







Kuo Ming-chi, an analyst at Taiwan-based TF International Securities, said in an investor note that Apple's first vehicle is expected to be built around Hyundai's E-GMP electric vehicle platform. Kuo projected that Hyundai Mobis will be in charge of designing and producing some of the components.







Industry watchers believe Hyundai-Kia's EV supply chain makes the company a favorable partner for Apple. Hyundai Motor has a production capacity of 7 million vehicles a year. Apple could request Hyundai to designate manufacturing lines to produce only Apple vehicles strictly based on designs it provides, according to industry sources.







Hyundai's E-GMP platform is also seen as an enticing factor for Apple, as not many carmakers have original EV platforms.


Dr. Rochelle Walensky, later confirmed as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks at a press conference in Wilmington, Del., on Dec. 8, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

CDC Director Says Official Guidance on School Reopenings to Be Released Soon

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plans to release official guidance on school reopenings soon, the agencys director said Friday after previously saying teachers could return to in-person classes without being vaccinated against COVID-19.

We are actively working on the guidancethe official guidancewhich will be released in the week ahead, Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters in an online news conference.

Walensky made waves on Wednesday when she said there is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen and that safe reopening does not suggest that teachers need to be vaccinated in order to reopen safely.

President Joe Bidens administration has taken a hands-off approach to school reopenings after the Democrat vowed while campaigning that hed see schools resume in-person classes if he won.

Officials have recently said Congress must pass Bidens $1.9 trillion relief plan, which includes $130 billion to support schools in safely reopening, in order for more schools to reopen.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters this week that Walensky was speaking Wednesday about school reopenings in her personal capacity. Walensky was speaking during an official White House COVID-19 response team press conference.

Psaki said Biden wants schools to open but that he would wait for the CDCs official guidance to come out.

Obviously, shes the head of the CDC, but were going to wait for the final guidance to come out so we can use that as a guide for schools around the country, she said.

Walenskys comments were promoted widely by Republicans, who have been pushing for schools to reopen for months.

Bidens own CDC Director just said vaccination of teachers is not a prerequisite for safe reopening of schools,' House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) said in a tweet. Thats it. Open schools now.

A sign outside of Pritzker Elementary School delivers messages to students and parents in Chicago, Ill., on Jan. 25, 2021. Chicago Public School teachers were scheduled to return to the classroom for in-person learning but the union objected and voted to continue remote learning. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The confusion came about a week after CDC officials released a summary of recent studies that looked at the effect of reopenings on transmission of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

Research both inside and outside the United States shows little evidence that schools have contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission, the officials said.

Biden has faced pressure from fellow Democrats to take a hardline stance against teachers unions, which are blocking reopenings in Chicago and elsewhere.

Its time for Joe Biden to stand up and to say the kids are the most important things, important players here, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said this week. And the teachers just are going to have to suck it up and stand up and provide an education, otherwise these kids have no chance whatsoever.

Walensky told reporters Friday that the goal is to get children back in school.

School should be the last places closed and the first places open. Our goal is to make sure, in getting children back to school, that we do so both with the safety of the children and the safety of the teachers as utmost and critical in making sure that that happens, she said.

Among the things that we need to do to make sure that schools are safe is to make sure that the community spread of this disease is down, and that means its all of our responsibility to work to get our children back to school safely and our teachers back to school safely.

Colorado Springs, CO (80903)

Today

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
2020 will go down in the history of energy as one of the worst examples of the global economy swiftly tanking in almost complete unison, virtually every region has suffered dreadfully from the manifold impacts of coronavirus. If one is to assess the global energy impacts of 2020 it becomes evident that every single type of fuel has declined last year except for renewables and biomass. Almost every single sector of economy  agriculture, industrial, commercial and residential  has seen its aggregate consumption drop, only the petrochemicals industry was able to pull off a meagre 1% year-on-year increase. Yet of all types of energy nuclear power has arguably suffered the most, virtually lacking any success story that could mitigate the overall decadence of 2020. Oil or gas had likewise experienced all sorts of hardships throughout 2020, however, in some regions or industry segments theyve managed to increase their footing. Finding stories of growth, generally speaking, is quite difficult considering that consumption of primary energy has dropped on every single continent last year, no major region was spared of the devastating effects of COVID-19. Perhaps surprisingly, despite having the most COVID cases in absolute terms North America was not the worst-hit continent, seeing its overall intake drop 9% year-on-year, Europe (and particularly Western Europe) witnessed an even more severe decline of 12% from its 2019 numbers. In nominal terms, European energy consumption stood at 1.77Btoe in 2019 and it had dropped to 1.56Btoe last year.

The general horror story notwithstanding, there are some positive stories to tell. For instance, looking at the statistics of power generation of different regions, one can notice that the utilization of natural gas has gone up in North America, Central Europe and Northeast Asia, reflecting the cheap price thereof during 2020. On the flipside of gas power generation ascent, the usage of crude oil in power generation has further subsided across all regions except for Africa, the collective effort being spearheaded by Europe including Russia and North America. For the second time in the 21st century and the first time since 2008 global oil demand has dropped on an annual basis  in absolute numbers (8.8mbpd) the decline was the worst in history. Interestingly, oils demand slump was much more marked than that of natural gas or coal, the demand for which has decreased by 7% year-on-year.

Related: U.S. Rig Count Jumps Amid Rising Oil Prices

Graph 1. World Nuclear Power Generation in 2010-2021 (in Terawatt-hours).





Source: data compiled by author, authors estimate for 2021. Coal has also had a horrible time lately. It continued its downfall in North America (NA) where coal-fired generation plummeted by another 250 TWh to 900 TWh, meaning that for the first time in the 21st century coal in NA has dropped below nuclear. The last bastion of coal is in Southeast Asia which remains both a massive producer and an avid consumer, though coal demand in that region has largely stagnated in 2020 as there was barely any space to edge higher. The only major region which did see an uptick in coal consumption is the Middle East where cheap and abundant coal have provided a much welcome source for power generation. To provide just one example, in April 2020 a total of 0.85 million tons of coal was imported to Middle Eastern nations (predominantly UAE), roughly equivalent to 3 months aggregate in 2019 terms.

Related: Trading Giant Gunvor: $60 Could Be The Ceiling For Oil Prices



If one is to consider the 2010-2020 timeframe, nuclear energy seems to be the largest loser from all fuel types, its decline (-0.4% annually) surpassing even that of coal. In 2020 alone, nuclear energy production fell a precipitous 400 TWh year-on-year, moving from stagnation to outright decline in Europe and the Americas and bringing Asias capacity ramp-up to a sudden halt. The 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster has both directly and indirectly impacted this downfall  it has scrapped the totality of Japans nuclear output from the global map and has damaged nuclear energys reputation to the extent that most advanced economies consider quitting it altogether, despite being a completely non-polluting technology (and thus nuclear could have been greatly conducive to them reaching their respective emission-curbing targets).

Europe has seen the largest decline in both absolute and relative terms (Western Europe dropped a whopping 15% from 2019, by some 300 Terawatt-hours) when it comes to the usage of nuclear energy. This was largely boosted by Europes decarbonization efforts, aimed at rendering the EUs economy climate-neutral by 2050. Europe already makes up 61% of the worlds decommissioned reactors and with Germany, Spain and Belgium phasing out their plants by 2023, 2025 and 2035, respectively, that share is likely to increase even further. This need not be a wise strategy  in fact Germany is starting to feel the consequences of a rushed phase-out, seeing its power exports halve in 2020. Concurrently, imports into Germany (mostly nuclear from France) have grown by almost 40% year-on-year to 33.6 TWh.

The upcoming decade, however, would most probably augur in a mini-renaissance for nuclear energy for several reasons. First, two nations have commissioned newly-built nuclear plants (Belarus and United Arab Emirates) late 2020 and once the global economy bounces back from the COVID-induced slump will see their nuclear output gradually increase over the 2021/2022 timeframe.



Second, Japan is expected to bring back some nuclear capacities, with at least 5 safety-upgraded reactors slated for recommissioning by 2025. Third, the mid-2020s will see another inflow of nuclear capacities in the Middle Eastern region and Southern Asia  Turkeys Akkuyu and Egypts El Dabaa will both add 4.5GW of capacity to the global aggregate, Bangladeshs Rooppur another 2.2 GW. Fourth, China and India will commission at least 20 new reactors over the course of the next 9 years, holding true to their reputation of main nuclear energy enthusiasts.

By Viktor Katona for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads from Oilprice.com:
South Carolina played its role in the failed effort to overturn the 2020 presidential results and give Republican Donald Trump a second term; the rallies that led to the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riots; and the presidential impeachment in the wake of the deadly protests.

Keeping up with the characters is not always easy. There have been quite a few.

Here's a quick look at those with Palmetto State ties who have been involved in the political crisis that re-starts Feb. 9 when the impeachment trial begins in the Senate.

Lindsey Graham: South Carolina's senior senator and Trump ally railed against the president's role in the riot, saying he "needs to understand that his actions were the problem not the solution." Then he helped Trump find an impeachment lawyer when other attorneys and major firms did not want to be involved in the controversial case.

Butch Bowers: The Columbia attorney known for representing some of the state's highest-profile GOP politicians agreed to lead Trump's impeachment team at Graham's urging. Bowers added three more Columbia attorneys  Deborah Barbier, Greg Harris and Johnny Gasser. The team lasted about a week before splitting ways with the president. Reports say they differed over Trump's desire to use his claims of fraud in the 2020 election for his defense.

Nancy Mace: South Carolina's newest member of Congress did not vote to overturn the election results like her fellow Palmetto State GOP colleagues in the House, which got her national attention. After the riot, Mace, who worked for Trump's 2016 campaign, continued to raise concerns. "Every accomplishment that Republicans have made over the last four years, including President Trump had (made) were wiped out in just a few short hours."

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Alan Wilson: The Republican state attorney general (and son of congressman Joe Wilson) joined a Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn the presidential election results in other states. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the complaint.

Adam Piper: The former Alan Wilson aide ran the Republican Attorneys General Association when the group sent out a robocall encouraging people to attend the Jan. 6 Capitol rally. Piper resigned after the call became public. Wilson, who sits on the RAGAs leadership board and helped get Piper that job, denied knowing anything about the robocall.

Caroline Wren: A former fundraiser for Graham, Wilson and Gov. Henry McMaster, Wren is well-known in South Carolina political circles. According to multiple reports, she helped organize the rally in the Ellipse next to the White House where Trump urged the crowd to march to the Capitol on Jan. 6. Maggie Mulvaney, the niece of former S.C. congressman and White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, also was listed as an organizer of the "Save America Rally" on a federal permit, the Associated Press reported.

Andrew Hatley: The only South Carolinian charged with storming the Capitol. A tipster provided the agency with a selfie that Hatley allegedly took in front of the Capitol buildings statue of former Vice President John C. Calhoun, a pro-slavery South Carolinian who advocated for states rights ahead of the Civil War, a FBI complaint stated.

Tom Rice: South Carolina congressman who was one of 10 Republicans to vote to impeach Trump over the riot. "I have backed this President through thick and thin for four years. I campaigned for him and voted for him twice. But, this utter failure is inexcusable."

S.C. GOP: The S.C. Republican Party's executive committee voted to censure Rice for his impeachment vote. Rice sided with "the unprincipled Leftists by voting to impeach the President, betraying the Republican voters that supported Mr. Rice enthusiastically," the censure read. Rice, who is already facing primary challengers, shot back that S.C. GOP leaders were "cowering before Donald Trump" in their refusal to blame the president for his role in the riot.

Jim Clyburn: The South Carolina congressman is the House's No. 3 ranking member and was the first Democrat to suggest that Trump's impeachment hearing should take place after he left office to avoid becoming an issue that consumed President Joe Biden's first 100 days in the White House.
In late 2019, as various candidates jockeyed to win the Democratic nomination for president, Elizabeth Warren made the statement that she would ban fracking everywhere. It was just the kind of hollow campaign promise that I loathe, and I explained why that was an unrealistic promise. Then Joe Biden came along and pandered to the same crowd Warren was trying to impress. He promised no new fracking, but once again I explained why that promise wouldnt be fulfilled.

Now that President Biden has issued a pair of executive orders that are viewed as hostile toward the oil and gas industry, many people have asked me whether Biden has in fact banned fracking.

On his second day in office, President Biden signed Executive Order on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis. The biggest takeaway from the Executive Order was the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline permit. The project had been rejected by President Obama in late 2015, fast-tracked by President Trump in 2017, and now once more rejected by President Biden in 2021.

But there is no mention of fracking in this executive order.

Last week the administration also issued Secretarial Order No. 3395, which implemented a 60-day suspension of new oil and gas leasing and drilling permits for federal land and water.

This week President Biden followed that action up with Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad. The biggest takeaway from this order was an indefinite pause on new oil and natural gas leases on public lands until a comprehensive review on the climate change impacts can be completed.

Related: U.S. Rig Count Jumps Amid Rising Oil Prices



The sound bite for many from this executive order was that President Biden had banned fracking as a consequence of this action. But as with the previous order, fracking isnt mentioned in this executive order. Further, if an operator has an existing lease and permit but havent drilled yet, they can still drill the well and frack it.

The order does potentially impact some future fracking operations, but Biden did reiterate before he signed it Let me be clear, and I know this always comes up, were not going to ban fracking.

But what Biden cant do by executive order is an overall ban on fracking, because most fracking takes place on private land. A complete ban would have to be passed by Congress, and that looks like a longshot.

For a more in-depth interpretation of Bidens recent executive orders, I spoke with Stacey Morris, who is Director of Research for midstream index and data provider Alerian. She explained that the orders were certainly not as bad as they seemed:

These executive orders were pretty well-telegraphed. They were even a little bit softened from what was said during the campaign. The language on the Biden website discussed banning permitting on federal land. The executive order is a pause on new leases. They arent looking at a full out fracking ban.

When I asked how companies might be affected, she explained Companies have been stockpiling permits in anticipation of a move like this. Right now there are 7,700 unused permits. Devon Energy, for example, has over four years of permit backlog and drilling inventory. They expect to be able to execute on their federal lands program based on comments made in November.

She added that some states that could be most impacted longer-term are New Mexico, Wyoming, North Dakota, and Colorado. In the long run, she said that a ban on drilling on federal land could lead to more imports. In that case, we could end up using oil that is produced with more associated carbon emissions than if it had been produced in the U.S.

I remarked that President Biden seemed to be going further left than President Obama on these issues, and she said that is probably because climate change is widely viewed as a more pressing problem now. Hence, Biden feels compelled to pursue more aggressive actions.

She said that the bottom line is the bark was worse than the bite: The headline looks scary, but we dont see any immediate impact from these executive orders.

For those who are worried about your gasoline prices going up, this is definitely not the reason.

By Robert Rapier

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Georgia Gambling Conference Provides New Opportunities in a Vital Emerging Region

Published February 6, 2021 by Lee R

Georgia Gambling Conference will provide the industry with leading insights into a fantastic new market.

The Georgia gaming market is maturing, and it's time to get a proper understanding of the opportunity with an event detailing the development and promotion of the gambling business in the Georgian market.

The Event

The way in to Georgia officially kicks off March 17, when Tbilisi hosts the Smile-Expo promoted Georgia Gambling Conference in Tbilisi.

The Market's Appeal

With taxation, government support, loyalty, and customer engagement rates all confirmed to be favorable, the republic of Georgia's advantageous geopolitical position and low license fees make Georgia an increasingly attractive market for foreign operators.

Conference Layout

Experts will be on hand to share insights through a full range of presentations and panel discussions which will be complemented with a demo zone, a private party and various networking formats.

Beneficiaries

Stakeholders who stand to benefit the most from Georgia Gambling Conference include

casino and slot machines hall owners; online operators; bookmakers; investors; lawyers; webmasters; affiliates; advertisers; marketers; and SEO specialistsalong with anyone interested in learning the Georgia market landscape.

Topic Blocks

There will be four topic blocks addressed at Georgia Gambling Conference.

Cybercrime and security experts will discuss challenges in Georgia's land-based gambling market and effective ways to attract customers to gambling establishments; a regulation block providing revealing unique marketing and risk tools; a modernization of lotteries block discussing local trends including automation and AI features in casinos; and an advertising and marketing block revealing proactive cutting edge marketing techniques for land-based revenue growth.

Local Expert Speakers

Some speakers providing evidence-based expertise include PR marketing expert and Ukrainian Gaming Week 2021 Brand Ambassador Lavrentiy Gubin and legal expert Ilya Machavariani, the CEO of 4H Agency.

Outlook

With expert promotion from Smile-Expo and tickets already available at the event website,, Georgia Gaming Conference looks like an exciting moment for establishing a new dynamic market in a key iGaming region with tons of upside, and should not be missed.
An Oregon man serving two terms of life in prison without parole for the shooting deaths of his two roommates died in custody on Friday, authorities say.

The Oregon Department of Corrections said 25-year-old Mitchell Julio Morris, who had been incarcerated at Snake River Correctional Institution near Ontario, died in an infirmary.

The corrections agency does not release the cause or manner of inmate deaths. But it is unlikely Morris died from COVID-19 because the state released his name and typically does not identify inmates who succumb to the coronavirus.

Morris was convicted in 2017 of two counts of aggravated murder in the February 2016 deaths of 18-year-old Bailee Ray Southwick and 21-year-old Mackenzie Lyman in Crooked River Ranch.

The Oregon State Police has been notified of his death, as is standard procedure.

 Staff and wire reports
EMILY ST. LAWRENCE, Chariho girls lacrosse, senior: St. Lawrence tied a school record for goals in a game with nine in a win over Smithfield. St. Lawrence scored 17 goals for the week and has 32 for the season.

CARLY CONSTANTINE, Stonington softball, sophomore: Constantine singled home Shea OConnor with the winning run to hand Waterford, the states No. 2 ranked team at the time, its first loss of the season. For the week, Constantine was 5 for 15.

GREG GORMAN, Westerly baseball, junior: Gorman, a junior, hit a massive home run in a win against Barrington. The homer went over the fence in center field and landed in a nearby road. Gorman was 3 for 3 with four RBIs in the game. He is hitting .571 with 10 RBIs for the season.

BRADIN ANDERSON, Wheeler baseball, freshman: Anderson, a freshman, pitched a complete-game shutout to beat Grasso Tech. Anderson struck out three to earn the first win of his varsity career.

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It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness

 Chinese proverb

In these angry and polarized times, San Francisco's school board, presumably consisting of seriously misguided people, banished 44 names from the public schools, including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Webster, Paul Revere and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Apparently, each of the 44 had once done something that today is considered politically incorrect . This rage for erasing history has even reared its ugly head in Charleston, the home of historic preservation, where the College of Charleston, unaccountably, decided to erase its own founders name from a student award. And the City Council now has a committee working to offer us more erasures.

But in the midst of this silly season, one Charlestonian came forward to offer a better way. As reported on the front page of the Jan. 30 Post and Courier, Margaret Seidler, a native Charlestonian, discovered while researching her family history that she was descended from two slave traders, John Torrans and William Payne, her fourth great-grandfather.

Paynes slave auction business was located at 34 Broad St. as the local slave trade centered on Broad, State and East Bay streets. (Ryans Slave Mart the slave museum is around the corner on Chalmers Street.)

Seidler decided to share the whole truth about her long-gone ancestors from the 18th and 19th centuries. Doing her own research and enlisting the aid of local researchers, including historians Peg Eastman, Nic Butler of the Charleston County Library and Bernard Powers, director of the College of Charlestons Center for the Study of Slavery, she set in motion the creation of a handsome historical marker that describes the many buildings on Broad Street between Church and East Bay Streets used as private venues for the sale of human property.

The new marker informs us that the firm of William and Payne & Sons was likely the busiest auction house in the Lowcountry between 1803 and 1834, telling the tragic facts of one local slave trading business in a straightforward and honest way.

Payne likely sold more than 10,000 human beings at 34 Broad St. While many were enslaved in town, many more worked in the surrounding countryside.

Seidler and those who helped her, especially the College of Charlestons Center for the Study of Slavery, which sponsored the project, have done something critically important for our community.

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First, they have made public and available, in a factual and useful way, a part of our shared history that we need to know and acknowledge. I am sure the colleges Center for the Study of Slavery has more markers in the works.

We, as a community, need to reckon with slavery, not look away.

Second, they have demonstrated how the public square can be used in a positive way to change the narrative, as Joseph McGill of the Slave Dwelling Project always says. The narrative is changed by adding important, if unpleasant, information in a public way.

Monuments, plaques, signs and historic names carry meaning and educate, and the role of slavery in the history of Charleston cannot be over-estimated.

In "A Short History of Charleston," Chapter 4 is titled The Capital of Southern Slavery (16701865) and says: The institution of slavery shaped and defined Charleston as much as, if not more than, any other force in its history. ... Charleston was more committed to the institution than any other southern city. Charleston had a higher percentage of slave owners than any other city. In 1820 and 1840, three-fourths of all heads of families owned at least one slave.

Margaret Seidler and The Center for the Study of Slavery have given us a new, intelligent and appropriate approach to history in the public square of Charleston: Add critical historical facts to increase our common knowledge and empathy for tragic aspects of our history. Remember and educate. Don't erase.

Robert Rosen is a local attorney and author of A Short History of Charleston. A revised and expanded edition will be published by USC Press in the spring.
Blinken presses China on Uighurs, HK in first call

The tough tone comes after Blinken in his confirmation hearing said he would continue former president Donald Trump's tougher approach to China. Photo: AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressed Beijing on its treatment of Uighurs, Tibetans and Hong Kong in the first conversation between top officials of the two powers since President Joe Biden took office.



"I made clear the US will defend our national interests, stand up for our democratic values, and hold Beijing accountable for its abuses of the international system," Blinken said on Twitter of his call with senior Chinese official Yang Jiechi.



Blinken told Yang that the United States "will continue to stand up for human rights and democratic values, including in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong," a State Department statement said of the call, which took place on Friday Washington time.



Blinken also "pressed China to join the international community in condemning the military coup in Burma," it said.



The top US diplomat said the United States would hold Beijing "accountable for its efforts to threaten stability in the Indo-Pacific, including across the Taiwan Strait, and its undermining of the rules-based international system."



The tough tone comes after Blinken in his confirmation hearing said he would continue former president Donald Trump's tougher approach to China in a rare point of agreement between the two administrations.



Blinken has said he agrees with a determination by the State Department under Trump that Beijing is carrying out genocide in the western region of Xinjiang, where rights groups say more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim Turkic-speaking people have been rounded up in camps. (AFP)
The comments of John Kierans about Covid-19 are at odds with the views of his Fianna Fail party leader and Taoiseach Micheal Martin (above). Photo: PA

Louth based members of Fianna Fail have moved to distance themselves from comments issued by the PRO of the Fianna Fail Louth/Coastal Meath CDC, John Kierans.

He said that the next meeting of the group would discuss his motion, which claimed that figures 'did not support the contention that Ireland suffered from an abnormal pandemic in the year 2020 and neither did 'anti-lockdown Sweden'.

The motion added, 'The pandemics endured by both countries was similar to the recent bad flu seasons".

He said the motion is just an observation of fact.

His second motion 'encouraged a scientific approach to Covid 19 that includes input from epidemiologists and virologists that support and oppose lockdowns measures.'

But his own grouping immediately blasted his comments, saying he had been suspended from his PR post.

'The Fianna Fail Comhairle Dail Ceantair, the party's governing body for Louth and East Meath, wishes to disassociate itself from the statement purportedly issued on its behalf today by John Kierans: "FF spokesperson says Covid 19 no different to a bad flu season,' they stated.

'Mr. Kierans' statement was not issued with the approval of the Fianna Fail CDC and the motions referred to in it are not on the Fianna Fail CDC agenda. They are not representative of the views of the CDC or Fianna Fail party policy generally. The Fianna Fail CDC does not share and, moreover, rejects any assertion that the Covid-19 pandemic is no worse than a bad flu season.

'We fully support the government's approach to combating the spread of the virus and pay tribute to the brave sacrifices being made by our health care professionals and express condolences to the over 3,000 families who have lost a loved one.

'The Fianna Fail CDC encourages the public to continue to observe all the measures necessary to eliminate the spread of the Covid 19 virus.'

They confirmed that Mr Kierans was 'suspended' from his role as PRO.

The local FF councillors group also made a statement, adding, 'All Fianna Fail Louth County Councillors disassociate themselves with the press release of Mr. John Kierans. We fully support the current national government policy on controlling, curbing and tackling the Covid 19 virus. We as a party always welcome internal debates on many aspects of our society and political issues however we are aware this press release was made in Mr. Kieran's personal capacity without the authorisation or knowledge of the parties local organisation's board. We understand that Fianna Fail Party headquarters are aware of this matter and will be following the matter up internally.'

Mr Kierans responded to the furore by saying he was not leaving his role as PRO.

'The CDC officer board do not have the power to 'un-elect' fellow CDC board members. The Press Release issued on Friday was accurate. It informed the public of two motions for the forthcoming CDC meeting. It expressed the supporting arguments for the motions and reminded the public of Fianna Fail's commitment to open debate. The CDC meeting held on Friday passed a motion to remove the two motions relating to Covid 19.

'I am naturally disappointed that the motions calling for the party to listen to experts on both sides of the lockdown debate have been removed. I am disappointed for party members in our area who wanted to see inclusive debate. CDC officer board members opposing the motions should find a more constructive way of expressing themselves,' he said. 'However, I will continue to serve our party in the role that I was duly elected to perform.'

His full motion was: 'That the Fianna Fail Louth Coastal Meath CDC acknowledges that data from the Central Statistics Office of Ireland pertaining to excess mortality does not support the contention that Ireland suffered from an abnormal pandemic in the year 2020. Furthermore, we acknowledge that excess mortality data from 'anti-lockdown Sweden' indicates that Sweden did not have an abnormal pandemic in 2020. The pandemics endured by both countries was similar to the recent bad flu seasons".

He claimed the most recent analysis from the Central Statistics Office of Ireland compares six 12-month periods from 2014 to 2020 (Oct to Sept). The large number of deaths that occurred in April 2020 equalled the number of deaths in the January 2017 and the January 2018 flu seasons.

'Covid 19 is not different to a bad flu season. It ended in May 2020 in the same way that the previous 2 bad flu seasons ended,' he continued.

'The proposed motion does not offer an opinion on the severity of Covid 19 or the effectiveness of lockdowns in saving lives. It asks party members to acknowledge pertinent facts. Under Micheal Martin's leadership Fianna Fail remains undaunted in its commitment to open discussions and policy formation from its membership.

'Covid hysteria is crushing medical services for many seriously sick people, destroying family businesses, and tearing at the very fabric of our society. We in Fianna Fail can lead our country out of this morass. Cheerleading the latest lockdown measures and fretting over statistics, (that are literally meaningless), is not good enough. Fianna Fail and Ireland is smarter than that,' he said.

His second motion was: 'That the Fianna Fail Louth Coastal Meath CDC would encourage a scientific approach to Covid 19 that includes input from epidemiologists and virologists that support and oppose lockdowns measures.'
Faculty Spotlight: Daniel Bradley

By Jamie Boyle

TAMPA (January 8, 2021) -- Daniel Bradley has been teaching at USF since 2008. Bradley teaches in the MBA, Executive MBA, and PhD programs. He has always had an interest in financial analysts, their behavior, and potential conflict of interests in the industry.



Bradley just recently had two papers published in top journals. The first titled, Does Analyst Coverage Affect Workplace Safety? was published by AFA 2019 Atlanta Meeting Paper and can be downloaded here. The other paper he worked on with USF colleague Jared Williams titled, "Non-Deal Roadshows, Informed Trading, and Analyst Conflicts of Interest," was published by 2020 AFA San Deigo Meetings Paper, looking at non-deal roadshows and how these private meetings with investors seemingly violate the spirit of major regulations that have been put in place in the past two decades to protect retail investors. That paper can be downloaded here.

A champion of research, Bradley earned his PhD from the University of Kentucky, he received the Muma College of Business Research Award in 2013, 2017-19, the USF Outstanding Research Faculty Award in 2018, and was named a Fulbright Core recipient in 2018 where he did research at ISCTE in Lisbon.

Bradley talked about the benefit of teaching at a university with a PhD program and how working with his students and learning about their interests has really expanded his own as well. In his PhD seminar, the topics covered are based on his students research interests, for example, he has a student interested in fintech and another in political finance. By learning and talking with the students, I develop research ideas of my own.

When Bradley is not working on research or in the classroom he enjoys surfing! Although he doesnt get to do it as often as we would like, he loves the chance to get out there when the weather cooperates.
SPRINGFIELD  Making the most of the wintertime and the mostly frozen duck pond at Forest Park, Springfield firefighters on Friday took turns jumping in the water and being rescued.

The drill, involving firefighters in protective suits, was planned as part of the departments ongoing training with ice rescues and the use of a rescue sled designed to carry firefighters across the thinnest of ice and then to carry a victim back to shore.

Every fire truck in service in the city is equipped with a Rescue Alive ice sled, and every firefighter is trained in its use, said fire department spokesman Drew Piemonte.

Every firefighter, new and old, has to undergo ice sled training and then periodic retraining, he said.

The sled has two platforms fastened together by two handles. It is light enough for a firefighter to carry while walking across the ice, and designed to float in case the ice gives way.

It is also designed to allow the rescuer to hoist someone out of the water and then be pulled back in by firefighters on the shore. The sled is equipped with a paddle and a velcro harness that secures the person being rescued.

Before the water drill began, Lt. Dan Keenan instructed firefighters on dry land how to properly use the sled. He showed how to assemble the different ropes and their purposes, and demonstrated the proper way to haul someone onboard.

Without training, Keenan said, a lot can go wrong. Take, for example, a firefighter putting all their weight on one of the two platforms.

If you step outside the guardrails, it will flip over, he said.

Operating the sled out through the ice, and then hauling someone out of the water, is physically demanding, he said.

As part of the drill, one firefighter would walk across the ice and sink into the water, while another would come out in the sled for a rescue. This went on for more than an hour.

Many Forest Park walkers and joggers stopped by the duck pond to see what all the commotion was. Some hung around to watch even after being told it was only a drill.

The ice rescue sleds have been in service since a 1996 tragedy where one boy died and another was critically injured falling through the ice at the pond behind Kennedy Middle School.

Five police and firefighters suffered hypothermia and exposure during the rescue, which was slowed because the fire departments rescue boats had difficulty making it through the ice.

Piemonte said he remembers the Kennedy Middle School rescue, and so does everyone else who was with the department at that time. The department invested in the rescue sleds shortly after and mandated regular training in their use.

The drills are important because time is critical in an emergency, he said.

While firefighters practice with the sled, Piemonte said, they hope never to have to use the training.

People could help out with that by staying off the ice when it is too thin, he said.

The safest way to avoid falling through the ice is to stay off the ice, he said. And if you do come across someone who has fallen through the ice, dont become the next victim trying to get to them. Call 911.
A man convicted for racially abusing a General Election candidate in an anonymous phone call left 'a profound effect' on the victim and his family, a court has heard.

Edward Smith (61) anonymously phoned Dublin Fingal People Before Profit candidate John Uwhumiakpor and told him 'Don't get involved in Irish politics. Irish politics is for Irish people.'

Smith claimed he consumed alcohol on the day he made the anonymous phone call and 'lost the run of himself,' Balbriggan District Court heard.

The court heard Mr Uwhumiakpor - who ran in the Dublin Fingal constituency in last year's General Election - received a phone call to his home at 12.26pm on January 29 last year.

The defendant, who was not known to Mr Uwhumiakpor, asked if he was John and then proceeded to say 'Don't get involved in Irish politics. Irish politics is for Irish people.'

The court heard Mr Uwhumiakpor is originally from Nigeria and is an Irish citizen.

'He was a candidate for the People Before Profits political party,' Sergeant Patricia McGarrity told the court.

After Mr Uwhumiakpor reported the menacing phone call to gardai, an investigation was launched and Detective Garda Ross Rowan discovered the mobile phone number was registered to the accused on June 1, 2020.

Det Rowan called to the defendant's home and seized the mobile phone and sim card which had the same number as was used to call Mr Uwhumiakpor.

The defendant made a voluntary caution statement and made full admissions, the court heard.

The 61-year-old, of Carrocot, Mount Talbot in Co Roscommon pleaded guilty to sending a message by telephone which is grossly offensive or menacing to Mr Uwhumiakpor at his home address in Balbriggan, Co Dublin on January 29, 2020.

'He fully apologised to gardai and the injured party,' said Sgt McGarrity.

Defence solicitor Fiona Kelly said the defendant apologised to Mr Uwhumiakpor through gardai as he was told not to make contact with him.

Ms Kelly said the defendant 'consumed alcohol and lost the run of himself.'

'He was out of order and out of line,' said Ms Kelly.

'He accepts what he did was unacceptable and shouldn't have said what he said,' said Ms Kelly.

'He is generally a reserved, quiet man but he got worked up on alcohol,' Ms Kelly continued.

'And he understands the effects his words had on the injured party,' Ms Kelly said, adding the defendant has 800 for Mr Uwhumiakpor and is hoping he won't get a conviction.

'He undertakes not to behave in this fashion again,' said Ms Kelly.

However, Judge Dermot Dempsey said it would be 'a step too far not to convict him.'

'It is a very serious matter and had a very serious and profound effect on the injured party and his family,' the judge said, referring to the Victim Impact Report handed into court.

Judge Dempsey convicted and fined Smith 200 and ordered he pay Mr Uwhumiakpor 600 in compensation.
WASHINGTON - Metro's general manager said Friday he pitched the idea of using the transit agency's facilities to carry out coronavirus vaccinations during a meeting with newly confirmed Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

"We told him we would offer him any assistance we could," Paul Wiedefeld said in an interview after the meeting. "We would be glad to offer our facilities as vaccination sites, for instance. We have very large facilities that can move a lot of vehicles very quickly."

In his first public appearance since being sworn in Wednesday, Buttigieg met Friday with Washington-area transportation officials and Amtrak leaders at Union Station. They discussed the Biden administration's support for about$20 billion to help transit agencies recover from the financial blow inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic, as well as a new federal mandate that transit employees and passengers wear masks.

"I wanted to make sure we were getting out and about right away because there are so many essential workers in America's transportation system - like the workers you see behind me who we've been speaking with - who we depend on for our economy, for our way of life," Buttigieg told reporters while standing on a Union Station platform in front of a trio of trains.

He spoke one-on-one with about a dozen transit employees but did not take questions from the news media.

Metro officials said discussions about using its facilities for virus vaccinations are in the early stages, and that any plan likely would involve large parking garages, such as those at the Greenbelt and Shady Grove stations. Metro made the offer to local health agencies in the Washington region, as well as to Buttigieg.

A spokesman for Buttigieg did not respond to a request for comment on the idea. Local officials in the District of Columbia region indicated Friday they had no immediate plans to launch sites at Metro facilities.

Washington Post photo by John McDonnell

Drive-through vaccination clinics previously have been used to administer flu shots and are being used again to inoculate people against the coronavirus. Using Metro's garages could put them back to use at a time when many commuters are working from home or eschewing trains because of concerns about virus exposure.

The decline in ridership has wreaked havoc on the budgets of Metro and other transportation agencies. Metro last year proposed steep cuts in service, but ultimately received $610 million in a second round of federal coronavirus relief and withdrew the proposed cuts.

Despite that infusion of money, transit agencies are expected to need billions more in aid in the coming years. A study for the American Public Transportation Association concluded that agencies will face a $39 billion shortfall through 2023. The Biden administration has proposed $20 billion in aid in its new relief proposal.

Buttigieg said Friday it was important that the nation's transportation network emerge strengthened from the pandemic.

"We are in a moment of need to act and ensure that we are sustaining the basics, but also to go beyond the basics, because this would be a missed opportunity if we simply go back exactly the way we were before," Buttigieg said.

Buttigieg, who delivered his comments in front of a new high-speed Acela train that Amtrak plans to deploy in October, has spoken with enthusiasm about intercity rail. He has floated whether the nation's rail system can match those in Europe and Asia.

William Flynn, Amtrak's chief executive, said while much of his conversation with Buttigieg on Friday was focused on recovering in the short term, there also was a chance to look further ahead.

"We talked a little bit about the future and where growth opportunities lie," Flynn said. "For me, it's clear the secretary has a broad vision and the department has a vision of the future of intercity passenger rail."

The Biden administration this week imposed a mandate that public transportation passengers wear masks, adopting a measure the Trump administration had resisted. At Union Station, Amtrak ticket kiosks displayed the message, "Federal law requires masks." A similar message was posted at the Greyhound terminal attached to the station.

"The mask requirement will save lives by helping control the transmission of covid-19," Buttigieg said.

Many transportation networks already required masks - airlines in particular had been enforcing their policies by banning hundreds of passengers who wouldn't comply - but a federal requirement was supported by unions who argued it would enhance private and local efforts.

Transportation Security Administration officials said Friday they had the authority to issue fines starting at $250, escalating to $1,500 for repeat offenders.
DP World, the Dubai-based provider of smart end-to-end supply chain logistics, said its kdey platform, NAU by DP World, has achieved a shipping volume of more than 255,000 tonnes in 2020, with 1,762 dhows registered in the application.

NAU by DP World is a digital marketplace and an aggregator of cargo 'dhows', traditional wooden vessels. Launched officially in February, NAU connects Dhow owners with traders allowing them to search, negotiate and book shipments.

The platform represents a digital transformation of the traditional industry, effectively ushering in a new era of smart trade that DP World enables and promotes.

The app uses the latest AI technologies to connect traders with the boat captains.

This has increased the number of cargo operations through the application from 295 operations in October 2020 to 394 in November and 477 in December.

NAU has been a very useful tool in supporting cargo movement activity for traditional dhows on Dubai creek.

From 2009 to 2018, Dubai's external trade through Dubai Creek made AED122 billion, and the volume of shipments reached 10.564 million tonnes. Goods included textiles, phones, air conditioners, electric appliances and foodstuff.

Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, DP World group chairman and CEO and Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, said: "Our strategy to develop Dubai's capabilities as a main regional and global hub for trade includes the advancement of the emirate's trade through traditional wooden vessels."

"This trade has been playing a main role in the development of Dubai, and our efforts are directed at giving these dhows an enhanced role in the continuous expansion of Dubai's trade to include all sectors and markets; small and medium-seized regional and international ports, as well as large ports with which our trade has been prospering," he added.

According to him, Dhow Captains (locally called 'Naukhda') now have the facility to view business requests from traders that match their planned trade routes and available Dhow space.

Accordingly, the app helps Naukhdas to effectively plan their trips, optimise efficiency in Dhow space utilisation and ultimately generate higher revenues. Traders, on the other hand, can search for availability of cargo dhows in Dubai, based on their requirements. If dhows are not readily available at the time of their search, traders can post a request.

Mohammed Al Muallem, CEO & Managing Director, DP World - UAE Region, said: "The continuous development of the NAU application comes as part of our comprehensive strategy at DP World - UAE Region in the adoption of the latest technologies that support our pioneering position in terms of port capabilities and in the service of world trade."

"We will continue our development and support of dhow trade, and that will also attract more dhows to Dubai in coming years," he stated.

Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director General of Dubai Customs, said: "Our efforts integrate with the DP World's efforts and all the entities under the umbrella of the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCFC) to help develop this important sector. We provide outstanding services and facilities to ensure quicker and more streamlined dhow trade."

Musabih added that Creek Customs and Deira Wharfage Centers dealt with around 18,000 vessels in 2019, compared to 15,603 in 2018, marking a 15.3% growth.
Lisa Haba in an interview with The Epoch Times' American Thought Leaders premiered on Feb. 4, 2021. (Screenshot/The Epoch Times)

Twitter Refused to Take Down Child Sex Abuse Content and Profited Off It: Lawyer

Lisa Haba, a partner of Haba Law Firm based in Florida, told The Epoch Times that Twitter refused to take down sexual exploitation videos of her client even after her client showed Twitter the proof that hes a minor, and that Twitter certainly was profiting off the exploitation of [her client].

The Haba Law Firm, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation Law Center, and the Matiasic Firm jointly filed a federal lawsuit against Twitter on Jan. 20, 2021.

Haba told the story of her client during an interview with Jan Jekielek, host of The Epoch Times American Thought Leaders program.

John Doe, Habas client, is currently a 17-year-old high school student. When he was 13 years old, he was targeted on Snapchat by online sex traffickers who impersonated a 16-year-old girl. He was manipulated into sending over his nude photos. After receiving them, the traffickers started to blackmail him. They threatened to send his nude photos to his parents, his pastor, and school leaders, and others.

The child attempted for a long time to appease the traffickers, acquiescing to their demands in an effort to save his family and save himself from their demands, Haba said. Ultimately [he] was able to break free when they demanded to meet with him, and he, thankfully, declined to do so.

However, when he was 16 years old, the abusive material surfaced on Twitter.

John Doe became aware of the posts from his classmates in January 2020. Many students in his school watched the videos, and John Doe became a victim of vicious bullying and became suicidal.

Fortunately, his mother found out and supported him in contacting Twitter to demand the abusive material be taken down off the platform.

However, after receiving a copy of John Does drivers license and two more requests from his mother, Twitter failed to act.

Twitter waited several more days before finally saying a devastating comment to this child, Haba said. We dont find this to be a violation of our policies, and were going to take no further action.

The material wasnt taken down until the Department of Homeland Security stepped in. It had accrued over 167,000 views and 2,223 retweets, the complaint noted.

The words say that they have a zero-tolerance policy, but their actions speak differently. When our client asked them to take down the exact material that they say that they proclaim to preclude, they refuse to act, Haba said.

Thats basically the essence of this lawsuit.

Twitter Profited From the Abusive Content

Haba went on to claim that Twitter profited from not removing her clients abuse videos.

When you look at the profit structure that Twitter has, they profit from every single time that these ads are disseminated, retweeted, viewed. Theres a huge advertising incentive and data licensing incentive for these ads to stay, these material to stay up. So Twitter certainly was profiting off the exploitation of John Doe.

Haba explained that from their research, Twitter profits primarily in two main ways. One is their advertising service: every time the ads on Twitter are clicked on or viewed, Twitter makes profit. The other way is data licensing. That, of course, comes through people being on the platform, tweeting things, retweeting things, and viewing them.

That is what has helped Twitter become a billion-dollar business, allowing them to profit from each of the tweets thats put up, Haba claimed.

Twitters market value was $43 billion as of Feb. 4, 2021.

In its third-quarter report (pdf) of 2020, Twitter received an estimated $936 million in revenue, of which $808 million was from advertising services and $127 million of which was from data licensing and other.

Haba said that they have verified every fact before alleging it.

Twitter didnt respond to The Epoch Times request for comment.

Section 230 Does Not Apply

Haba also pointed out that Twitter cant use Section 230 to shed its liability in this case.

Section 230 is part of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) of 1996 that largely provides protection to big tech companies from being sued for content on their websites.

If you are directly profiting or benefiting from human trafficking, that is not necessarily a guaranteed immunity for the big tech platforms, said Haba, referring to a new law called FOSTA/SESTA.

In 2018, Congress passed a bill known as Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) and Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA). The bill makes it illegal to knowingly assist, facilitate, or support sex trafficking and amends Section 230.

Former President Donald Trump signed the bill into law in April 2018.

Twitter is not a passive, inactive, intermediary in the distribution of this harmful material; rather, Twitter has adopted an active role in the dissemination and knowing promotion and distribution of this harmful material, the court filing alleged. Twitters own policies, practices, business model, and technology architecture encourage and profit from the distribution of sexual exploitation material.

For example, there are known hashtags out there that are directly linked to child pornography and the distribution of it, Haba told The Epoch Times. Those hashtags not only are operational on Twitter, but if you type them into the search bar, it offers suggested phrases to help you find it more efficiently.

When you look at the incredible quantity of material of that nature and how easy it is to find on the platform if you know the right hashtags. Its horrifying, Haba continued.

I Wanted to Be Part of That fight.

When I was in law school, I knew that I wanted to work with survivors of sexual abuse, Haba told The Epoch Times. I knew that I wanted to help them find a way through the darkness into the light and be on a path of healing.

Haba recalled after she heard a speech of a survivor of sex trafficking, she realized this was an offense against human dignity and against human life that nobody was seeming to really do much about.

And I wanted to be a part of that fight to change that, in this country and in this world.

Haba was a criminal prosecutor in Florida for 8 years before she started a private practice.

Speaking of her client John Doe, Haba suggested that all parents be cautious with their childrens online activity. She pointed out that John Doe had a very stable home, in very good grades, and was a very good student.

She said she saw some traffickers spend years building relationships with potential victims online.

It really illustrates that every child who is exposed to the internet is potentially exposed to traffickers, and I would encourage every parent out there to heavily monitor who their children are talking to online.

In April 2020, partnered with DiCello Levitt Gutzler, Haba filed a class-action lawsuit against fashion mogul Peter Nygard in the Southern District of New York.

Haba claimed that Peter Nygard had used his fashion business as a mechanism to run an international sex trafficking ring for about 50 years.

Nygard is now detained in Winnipeg, Canada. The U.S. government is seeking his extradition.
A Swords businessman has started a campaign to have traffic signals installed at Blakes Cross, Lusk, following the tragic death of a motorist who was involved in a fatal collision on the R127 on January 23.

The collision, which involved two cars, occurred just after 6pm on January 23.

The deceased was a woman in her 60s.

The driver of a second car, a woman in her 50s, was taken to Beaumont Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Local businessman Alan Spain, who is campaigning for traffic signals to be installed at Blakes Cross, said the location needs a full traffic management system, and that it is 'an accident waiting to happen':

'I drive that road every single day and there's a crash every two weeks there. Basically you've got people coming out of the petrol station trying to go across two lanes of traffic, so going back to the Turvey exit it's one lane of traffic, however people make it into two lanes of traffic.

'What happens is back from the Turvey roundabout it basically turns from one lane but then a false lane is made by people running along the hard shoulder, so there's accidents that have happened coming out of the petrol station.'

He said: 'I've seen quite a few of them where cars have been turned 180 degrees because the people on the hard shoulder would be doing 60, 70, maybe up to 80kph.'

Mr Spain said the campaign has the support of Alan Farrell TD, and that he is presently in talks with Fingal County Council around having traffic signalling installed at Blakes Cross.

'I've been trying to get in contact with Fingal County Council planning and I wrote in the past few days so I have a contact there who looks after planning. I'm going to talk to him to see who the best person is to talk to about this. It's just to try and get some notice about it because it's just a horrendous junction and that's one accident of so many that could have been fatal.

'I'm going to fly the flag for this and see what support I can get, I'm not political so I'm not a local politician looking for votes, so I'm purely putting this on a humanitarian point of view that there's going to be more deaths on that section of the road if it's not looked at.'

Meanwhile, a motion is set to go before a Local Area Committee meeting this month seeking an update on proposals to redesign and upgrade Blakes Cross junction, Lusk.

The motion, to be raised by Local Labour Party councillor and Deputy Mayor, Cllr Robert O'Donoghue, will seek a permanent traffic solution to the accident 'black spot.'

Cllr O'Donoghue said: 'I had a motion down last month at the Operations Committee and I've another one this month. We got money put in the Capital Budget for 2021-2023 to have an engineering solution at the junction, whether that be traffic lights or a roundabout. I got an update, a timeline last month and we'll be talking about it on Thursday week at the Operations Committee, trying to get that to be prioritised in the capital spend.'

He said: 'As far as I'm aware the engineers are looking at it to try and find a long-term permanent solution. The first thing is to get the funding in place for the capital spend to maybe put in a roundabout, and if it was a roundabout you'd have to do a CPO on some land. But the funding as far as I'm aware now is there to do it. It's with the engineers now what they're going to do but my motion will be in front of the council Thursday week and I'm going to look for a timeline as to when a solution is going to be provided.'

A report on Cllr O'Donoghue's motion at the January Local Area Committee meeting noted that 'it is expected that design and planning (at Blakes Cross) will take place through 2021 and 2022 with a target to enter the construction phase in 2023.'
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Bayh, who grew up in California and was chosen Miss Southern California in 1978, met Evan Bayh while both were working in Washington in the early 1980s. They married in 1985 as he was following his father, former U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh, into Indiana politics, leading to his election in 1988 at age 32 to become the nations youngest governor. Birch Bayh died in 2019.

Source: Reuters

Less than three weeks before Myanmars military overthrew its elected government, Chinas foreign minister, Wang Yi, made a hastily scheduled visit to the country and heaped praise on its generals.

During a meeting with Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the army chief now in charge, the Chinese official expressed support for the militarys deserved role in the course of national transformation and development.

The coup detat this week has thrust China back into the uncomfortable position it held for years with Myanmar: as the principal defender of a military dictatorship facing an international firestorm of criticism.

The coup has complicated a geopolitical struggle over a country that had only recently emerged from diplomatic isolation. China has sought to make it a pliant neighbor, while the United States has searched for the right mixture of pressure and encouragement to nurture a transition to democratic rule. It is also unclear how much any outside influence, from east or west, will sway the generals, whose bunkered mentality cut Myanmar off from the world for half a century.

The United States and others have called on the generals to reverse course, respect the result of falls elections and release the leaders they have detained, including Aung San Suu Kyi. We will work with our partners to support restoration of democracy and the rule of law, and impose consequences on those responsible, President Joe Biden vowed Thursday.

The United States, however, is not the dominant moral arbiter in world affairs that it once saw itself to be, and other forces in Myanmar could test Bidens ability to forge coalitions to tackle foreign policy challenges, as he has promised to do.

While China remains Myanmars largest trading partner, its biggest foreign investor last year was Singapore. Japan, South Korea and Thailand have also poured money into the country, making it much less isolated than it was during the decades of military rule.

Japan joined the United States and other Group of 7 nations in condemning the coup, but it appears unlikely to support new sanctions against Myanmars military rulers, which the Biden administration is considering.

Its not just China and the West, said Richard Horsey, a political analyst based in Yangon, Myanmars commercial capital. Theres another world out there, and that makes it much more complicated to figure out how to move forward.

China, for now, has more leverage to shape events than the United States and other nations do.

The Chinese, along with the Russians, have so far blocked significant action on Myanmar by the United Nations Security Council, and Wednesday they complained about leaks detailing the deliberations there. A day later, the Security Council issued a statement that expressed deep concern at the declaration of the state of emergency in Myanmar and called for the release of those arrested.

In their public statements, the Chinese have gone to extraordinary rhetorical lengths to avoid even a hint of criticism, with the state news agency, Xinhua, referring to the coup as a major cabinet reshuffle. Chinas refusal to denounce the generals could shore up their grip on power by deflecting some of the global condemnation.

They consider it their sphere of influence, no doubt about it, said Derek Mitchell, a former US ambassador to Myanmar who is now president of the National Democratic Institute, an organization that promotes democracy. Theyre very wary of American influence in the country.

The Chinese government, he added, sees the coup as a moment of opportunity to undercut the inroads the United States and other Asian nations made during Myanmars halting democratic opening.

The coup poses challenges of its own for China. The countrys leader, Xi Jinping, had cultivated closer political ties with Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy. As Myanmars civilian leader, Suu Kyi visited China more than any other foreign country.

Xi went to Myanmar in January of last year  his last foreign trip before the coronavirus pandemic froze most travel  and signed a flurry of agreements, including railroad and port projects that are part of Chinas Belt and Road program to expand its economic corridors to the Indian Ocean.

The fates of such projects are now shrouded in uncertainty, and the Chinese loathe uncertainty, said Bilahari Kausikan, a former Singapore diplomat who is the chairman of the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore.

They spent considerable energy, time cultivating Aung San Suu Kyi  with some success, he said. Now they have to start again with a new bunch of generals, and these generals are not just difficult for the West. Theyre difficult for everyone.

Although China defended Myanmars junta for decades, the relationship has been far from cordial.

Many of the generals spent their formative years battling communist rebels, who received generous, if covert, funding from Beijing. While ethnic insurgents are no longer part of the socialist brotherhood of that era, they still receive weapons and tactical support from China, according to senior members of ethnic armed groups.

When Xi visited Myanmar last year, the military complained to him about Chinas financing of those rebel armies. The military justified its first coup, amid ethnic insurrections in 1962, as necessary to hold the country together, and ethnic strife in Myanmars borderlands has flared in recent months.

As Western sanctions hurt Myanmars economy in the 1990s, the military began to plan economic liberalizations that would free it from dependence on Chinas largess, and it has defied its powerful neighbor in recent years.

In 2011, Thein Sein, a former junta member who headed a transitional government, suspended construction of a Chinese-backed dam that would have flooded a holy site while sending almost all the electricity it generated to China. The project remains suspended.

By contrast, Suu Kyi defended a Chinese-invested copper mine project that had been tainted by human rights abuses.

If the military would make China the economic partner China wants to be, it would have done that before 2011, said Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Stimson Center in Washington. But under international isolation, the junta always felt China was exploiting them because they had no other options. Thats why they chose reform over China.

When those reforms began, the United States saw an opportunity to show that democracy could flourish even in authoritarian soil. That led to high-profile diplomacy, including visits by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2011 and by President Barack Obama in 2012 and 2014.

Those headlines soon faded. Suu Kyi, once an international human rights icon, generated outrage by refusing to condemn the militarys ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims.

Veterans of that starry-eyed US outreach now hold prominent positions in the Biden administration, including Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Kurt M. Campbell, a former assistant secretary of state who now leads China policy at the National Security Council.

Myanmar, meanwhile, has changed significantly. China is no longer the only economic alternative to the West for the generals, as it was during the years of diplomatic isolation. Myanmars reforms led to economic  and, increasingly, political  links with other countries in Asia, especially Japan.

They have a very good relationship with all sides in Burma, Mitchell, using Myanmars former name, said of the Japanese.

A Japanese special envoy has been mediating between the military and an ethnic armed group in the western state of Rakhine, raising hopes that Tokyos delicate approach with the generals might get more results than sharp criticism from the West. Japan could also bring its economic influence to bear. Kirin, the Japanese beer maker, announced Friday that it would end its joint ventures with two companies in Myanmar over the coup.

China, for its part, has called for calm and stability in recent days, emphasizing that other countries should not interfere in Myanmars internal affairs.

By Steven Lee Myers and Hannah Beech

c.2021 The New York Times Company
China in Focus (Feb. 5): Biden Reverses Trump-Era Foreign Policies

President Biden says hell confront Chinas abuses. But says hes also willing to work with the regime. Thats as a former Trump administration official warns of a negotiation trap.

A pandemic control volunteer in China is fatally stabbed. He was attacked after trying to block a resident from leaving his locked-down neighborhood.

$400 billion in foreign exchange reserves are missing from Chinas official data. We look into where that money ended up.

And a failed rocket launch in China. Some say it could be related to a shortage of high-end microchips.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more first-hand news from China.

For more news and videos, please visit our website and Twitter.
Democrats are busily trying to portray Republicans as crazy extremists and conspiracy theorists. Marjorie Greene is the latest target of this campaign, and of course the Dems continue to milk the January 6 D.C. mini-riot for all it is worth, and more. (Meanwhile, they have no interest in what would seem to be the real story, the inexplicable breakdown of security at the Capitol. And, contrary to the Democrats usual practice, the identity of the officer who shot and killed an unarmed woman, Ashli Babbitt, is a closely guarded secret.)

But where do we look for maximum craziness? How about Maxine Waters, who says that President Trump should be charged with premeditated murder (of whom?) because he was involved in advance planning about the invasion at the Capitol. Talk about a conspiracy theory! But Waters claims arent much crazier than those of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who asserted that Ted Cruz was trying to get her killed.

There was a time when making such reckless, extreme, andto say the least!unsupported claims about ones political opponents would have been considered far out of bounds by pretty much everyone. No longer. When is the last time you have seen a Democratic politicianany politiciandenounce even the most hateful and potentially violence-producing rhetoric from a fellow Democrat? I cant think of a single instance. There is a spirit of insanity abroad in the land, but if the Democrats want to see its principal manifestations, they need to look in the mirror.
US President Joe Bidens administration is maintaining tough stance against Turkey over its purchase of Russian S-400 missile defence system. The United States has maintained its tough position since previous Donald Trumps administration. Turkey had bought the S-400 system from Russia back in 2019 after failing to agree terms with the US on the purchase of US Patriots, the air-defence system of choice for most NATO member states.

Pentagon spokesperson, John Kirby, at a briefing on February 5 said, Our position has not changed. We urge Turkey not to retain the S-400 system.

Turkey is a long-standing and valued NATO ally, but their decision to purchase the S-400 is inconsistent with Turkey's commitments as a US and NATO ally," Kirby said.

READ: Turkey Uighurs Fear Sellout To China In Exchange For Vaccine

US-Turkey rift

According to AP, the purchase of the S-400 system had strained ties between Washington and Ankara and had prompted a warning that such military cooperation with Moscow was incompatible with NATO. The US had warned that it would endanger the security of the American military technology and personnel as well as that of Turkey. After Turkey moved ahead with the purchase, the US also suspended its participation in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program while it continued to negotiate with Ankara.

READ: Turkey: 1,500-year-old House With Puppy Paw Prints And Wall Illusion Discovered

Turkey then also angered the US in October 2020 by testing the Russian-made system. That time, Pentagon said that the test risked serious consequences for the US-Turkish relationship. Back in December, the United States then sanctioned four Turkish officials under a US law known as CAATSA, which is aimed at pushing back on Russian influence. The sanctions, which also included a ban on export licenses to Turkey's Presidency of Defense Industries, were the first time the law was used to punish a NATO ally.

The sanctions deepened a rift between Washington and Ankara which have been at odds over a variety of issues, including Turkish military actions in Syria and elsewhere. The US officials have ruled out the possibility of discussions with Ankara over the S-400s risks to the F-35s. They have also said that the sanctions on Turkey cannot be lifted as long as the Russian-air defence system remains on Turkish soil. Kirby on Friday even said that Turkey has had multiple opportunities over the last decade to purchase the U.S. Patriot system and instead chose to purchase the S-400, which provides Russia revenue, access, and influence.

READ: Germany Welcomes Talks Between Greece & Turkey, Eyes Mediation Role

READ: Turkey's Aegean Province Of Izmir Hit By Flooding
Another year, another new job for Connor Phillips.

And this latest one came about despite him not having any previous experience in the role.

Yes, bleary-eyed Connor now knows that presenting a mid-morning show on BBC Radio Ulster is a doddle compared with being a new dad.

At least he has already learned one of the first truisms of parenthood.

"I'm not in charge; I don't make the decisions any more," he admitted.

Little Fionn Connor Phillips was born on January 21, 2020, at the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald.

His mum Holly Hamilton is "doing brilliantly" and her husband of over two years is clearly the most doting of dads.

"I've got him in my arms now and he's sound asleep," the 38-year-old said.

"He's got dark hair like daddy, big hands like granda Hamilton, he's got his granda Phillips' eyes and ears... and he's got Holly's nose and her little button chin, which I call 'Hamilchin'.

The name Fionn was inspired by the mythical Irish hunter-warrior.

"He's named after Fionn mac Cunhaill (Finn McCool), who has links with Slieve Gullion, which is where I was brought up," said Connor, who is originally from Jonesborough, south Armagh.

"Plus, I've always loved the alliteration of my wife's name, and Fionn Phillips works well too."

He is "so proud" of BBC TV and radio presenter Holly (34) and her "phenomenal maternal instincts" since the little one came along.

"She's kept me calm," the Abbey Grammar School past pupil revealed.

"Like most first-time parents, we don't know what we're doing... but she's been fantastic.

"We can deal with most things that come with early parenting and I'm quite impressed with some of the stuff that we've been able to do. Mind you, sleep is a thing of the past..."

With hectic work schedules that saw Holly in England and Connor in Northern Ireland, the new parents are both finally in the same house, in the same country, at the same time.

"We missed each other a lot when she was in Manchester and I was in my Newry apartment broadcasting across the UK," he said.

"Then sometimes I had to go to Manchester and Holly was in Northern Ireland; we were like ships in the night.

"She came home for maternity in the second week in December and we've been setting ourselves up since then; now it genuinely feels like we've got there."

They are now settled in their new house in Holywood, Co Down, during lockdown three of this pandemic, "just an hour away" from their supportive family network.

The couple, who met when they were both working on the breakfast programme on Cool FM and got married in Portugal in 2018, didn't know in advance what gender the newborn would be.

Connor confided that they actually thought it was going to be a girl.

"My best friend had a wee boy at the start of the first lockdown, my sister had a boy 10 weeks ago and one of our best friends, an Irish couple living in England, had a boy as well," he explained.

"We just thought the law of averages would suggest it was going to be a wee girl but no... out he popped with his big shovel hands!"

Being there for the birth was a "special experience", although Covid-19 restrictions meant that Connor couldn't visit Greyabbey native Holly went she was first admitted.

"I was literally sitting in the car park of the Ulster Hospital for two days," he said.

"We were actually communicating on FaceTime when Holly was told it was time...so I dashed inside to meet her around 6pm, and the wee man joined us at 6.52pm.

"About 45 minutes later I had to leave, and I was told that my wife would see me in two days. That was hard... I was sitting alone on the couch, missing my wife and not getting to know my newborn."

He has nothing but praise for the "amazing" staff at the Ulster whom he "can't thank enough".

It is early days, but already Fionn has changed Connor's perspective on life.

"The other day when I was out running and all I could think about was getting home to see if they were okay," he said, adding: "That run was much faster than normal."

He will soon be back at Broadcasting House in Belfast and is "buzzing about touching base with the listeners" on The Connor Phillips Show, which resumes this Monday following his spell on paternity leave.

"I'm lucky that I've never had that Monday feeling that a lot of people have with their jobs," he said.

"Then again, come Wednesday, I might be saying something different when I'm missing the wee man."

Connor has made the prestigious mid-morning radio slot his own since last May, having become the long-term replacement of close friend Stephen Clements who died suddenly on January 6, 2020.

The pair had known each other since their Cool FM days, and stepping into Stephen's shoes was a surreal, bittersweet experience.

He had realised a dream by getting his own BBC show, but both he and Holly - who had worked with the 47-year-old father-of-two on Children in Need just weeks before his death - had lost a dear friend in tragic circumstances.

"That was a horrendous time," Connor said.

"It's been just over a year since he died, but talking about it doesn't get any easier.

"I'd known Stephen since 2006. Holly had worked with him too and he was a good friend to both of us.

"The day he died... I'll never forget how much it hit Holly. And me. It was awful. I can't even imagine what his family went through."

Perhaps part of Connor's charm - and one of the reasons for his show's success - is that he strives to keep his friend's memory alive.

"I regularly pay tribute to Stephen," he said.

"We dedicated our 100th show in September to him and, on his anniversary we dedicated that show to Stephen as well.

"We'll continue to do that, because it's important that people don't forget how brilliant a broadcaster he was, how wonderful a human being he was.

"There's some great work being done in his name by the Stephen Clements Foundation".

He added: "It's still tough to talk about it, but it's important that we talk about any of the issues people may have. It's important that if anyone is struggling, they know they can reach out and talk to people."

Connor believes another reason for his show's popularity is that he shares a lot of his predecessor's style.

"When we worked on commercial radio, they used to be afraid to put us on at the same time because they'd be scared that we might say something a little risque," he said.

"Stephen had the same comic timing as (the late BBC broadcaster) Gerry Anderson; you never knew what he was going to say next."

With little Hamilton-Phillips calling the shots right now, Connor doesn't know when his wife will return to work but the unflappable duo will have plenty of volunteers when it comes to looking after the little one.

"We've got a great network of support," Connor said.

"My parents [Maureen and Terry] and Holly's parents [Kim and David] and our families all live within an hour of us."

They will need a little more childcare if Connor realises his next ambition: to work with Holly on TV. He hopes that may happen this year.

"Neither of us were ever handed anything in our careers; we've worked our backsides off," he said.

"We have a strong work ethic. We love what we do. We met doing the jobs that we do.

"We love each other because we have very similar personalities, and we always support each other."

When asked about a little brother or sister for Fionn, Connor said he will be "happy whatever happens".

And, as the two-week-old bundle of joy continued to sleep blissfully in the background, the new father added: "We just feel incredibly lucky to have this wee man with us."
In a massive recruitment drive ahead of the upcoming assembly polls in Assam, the government on Friday handed over appointment letters to 29,701 teachers to address the shortage of human resource at educational institutes in the state.

On the occasion, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the recruitment of thousands of teachers in a day proved that the state government is keen to bring about qualitative improvement in the education sector.

Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said another 5,000 teachers would be appointed by the government in the next 10-15 days.

Sonowal hailed the department to bring transparency in the recruitment process.

He hoped the shortage of teachers in the educational institutes would be addressed to a large extent with these recruitments.

This step of appointing thousands of teachers is a huge stride towards fulfilling the promises made by the state government, the chief minister said at the programme.

He also called for united efforts of teachers, parents and students for creating a positive academic environment and urged them to work with dedication and sincerity.

The newly appointed teachers must take the responsibility of developing quality human resource so that youths can compete in the global job markets, he said.

Sonowal said a large number of students from Assam had earlier gone to other parts of the country to pursue higher education as there was a dearth of such institutes in the state.

The government's steps to increase the number of higher educational institutes, including medical and engineering colleges, universities, have significantly helped the students, he said.

Moreover, the Centre's Act East Policy has created opportunities for youths, he said.

Sonowal said the Ambassador of Japan would soon visit Assam, which would boost skill development and job creation in the state.

Sarma said the government has brought qualitative changes in the education sector and also in the recruitment process.

Since 2016, the state government has appointed 71,765 teachers in schools, he added.

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Scott Disick has reached an 'amicable resolution' with the Colorado-based rehab center he accused of leaking the news of his stay last spring.

In early May 2020, DailyMail.com reported that the 37-year-old reality star checked into All Points North Lodge in Edwards, Colorado to work on 'past traumas,' and sought treatment for cocaine and alcohol abuse.

However, Disick left just a week later, when pictures of him were leaked online alongside audio recordings of his conversations with his therapist.

Resolution: Scott Disick has reached an 'amicable resolution' with the Colorado-based rehab center he accused of leaking the news of his stay last spring; seen here in April 2019

At the time, Scott sought legal action against the treatment facility, with his lawyer stating that he was 'alarmed by the extreme invasion of privacy.'

But on Friday, All Points North Lodge announced it had 'amicably resolved its disagreements' with Scott.

And in a subsequent statement, the television personality himself said he no longer believes the staff of the center were to blame for the publicity leak.

'Behavioral health in this country still carries a stigma. That stigma is often the greatest barrier for people who want help,' Scott said in his statement.

Seen here in LA in April 2020: DailyMail.com reported last May that the star checked into All Points North Lodge in Edwards, Colorado to seek treatment for cocaine and alcohol abuse

However: Disick left just a week later, when pictures of him at the APN center were leaked online alongside audio recordings of his conversations with his therapist

'Both APN Lodge and I believe that everyone seeking help deserves that help free of disclosure or publicity.

'To that end, l have resolved all of my issues with APN Lodge and after an investigation do not believe that the facility was responsible for the leak of my personal information,' the Talentless founder added. 'I hope this experience encourages, rather than discourages, others from seeking the help they need.'

Scotts ordeal was previously addressed in an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, when his ex-partner Kourtney Kardashian  with whom he shares children Mason, 11, Penelope, eight, and Reign, six  said he had 'never felt more betrayed in his life' following the leak.

In the clip, Kourtneys sister Kim Kardashian West said: 'I heard that Scott went to rehab by seeing it online. And it looks like someone at the facility leaked a photo of him. And I feel really bad for him.'

On Friday: Disick said in a statement that he had 'resolved all of my issues with APN Lodge and after an investigation do not believe that the facility was responsible for the leak of my personal information'; seen on Instagram

To which Kourtney revealed: 'They leaked his actual conversations, like, with the therapist.

'He's only been just him and the therapist. He said he's never been more betrayed in his life. And he is packing and he's definitely coming home but he's really upset, especially [because] he was going to work on himself and like, his traumas.'

And in a confessional, 41-year-old Kourtney slammed those responsible for the leak.

She said: 'I feel like whoever did leak this information should be really ashamed of themselves. Everyone deserves to deal with their past traumas in privacy. He was completely violated.'

Scotts ordeal was previously addressed in an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, when his ex-partner Kourtney Kardashian  with whom he shares three children  said he had 'never felt more betrayed in his life' following the leak; the couple seen here in 2009

At the time, sources said Disick  known for his previous hard partying and multiple stints in rehab  had been drinking heavily and taking cocaine after the onset of the coronavirus lockdown.

It's understood the star had struggled with family life during lockdown and was still having a hard time coping with the loss of both his parents within a two-year period from 2013 to 2014.

A source told DailyMailTV last May: 'Scott flew in on Tuesday and had to Zoom in to a group meeting from his room to introduce himself.

At the time: Sources said Disick had been drinking heavily and taking cocaine after the onset of the coronavirus lockdown; seen here three weeks ago on his Instagram

'He said he's having trauma from his past, he mentioned trouble with his ex and said he's also having trouble with his children and he's been taking cocaine and drinking a lot.

'He looked pretty skinny and told the group he was coming to rehab to work on his issues and said he was having withdrawal symptoms and was tired and lethargic.

'He told staff he didn't want any special treatment during his stay, in terms of meals and therapy.'


[February 05, 2021] Cubic Awarded $39 Million Contract to Provide Equipment for New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority's New Fare Payment System

Cubic Corporation (NYSE:CUB) today announced its Cubic Transportation Systems ( CTS (News - Alert) ) business division was awarded a contract option worth $39 million by the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to upgrade the fare payment system for Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad. This contract expands phase four of the OMNY contract with MTA to upgrade legacy systems to a new account-based contactless fare payment system for New York City transit, MTA bus and railroads. "We are excited to continue our partnership with MTA and begin the work to deliver a contactless fare payment system for all riders on Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad," said Steve Brunner, senor vice president and general manager of North America, East for Cubic Transportation Systems.



For phase four, Cubic will install vending machines and ticket office machines for the sale of fare media to travel on Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad. Once deployed, riders on Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad will have access to an account-based, fare payment system allowing customers to leverage the diverse payment options associated with OMNY, such as a mobile app, digital wallets (e.g., Apple Pay, Google (News - Alert) Pay, and Samsung Pay), contactless bank cards and MTA-issued contactless transit cards. When completed, OMNY will provide customers with multiple 24/7 self-service options for managing their accounts and options to purchase and reload fare media online, at local retailers and at the railroads and NYC transit stations. Cubic was selected in 2017 to design and build the OMNY system for MTA.

About Cubic Corporation Cubic is a technology-driven, market-leading provider of integrated solutions that increase situational understanding for transportation, defense C4ISR and training customers worldwide to decrease urban congestion and improve the militaries' effectiveness and operational readiness. Our teams innovate to make a positive difference in people's lives. We simplify their daily journeys. We promote mission success and safety for those who serve their nation. For more information about Cubic, please visit www.cubic.com or on Twitter (News - Alert) @CubicCorp. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210205005541/en/

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The UK government has been urged to start sharing its vaccine supplies with the worlds poorest countries after new analysis revealed that these nations have so far administered just 0.1 per cent of all doses globally.

More than 120 million jabs have been rolled out to date, yet 70 per cent of these have been administered in the 50 richest countries in the world, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

In contrast, only 0.1 per cent of vaccine doses have been administered in the worlds 50 poorest countries, the IFRC said.

The IFRCs analysis yielded a similar picture of disparity when it compared the number of doses distributed within a country against its rating on the Human Development Index (HDI), which measures life expectancy, education and capita income indicators within a nation.

Roughly 95 per cent of all vaccine doses administered to date have been in countries classified as very high or high on the HDI. The IFRC said it has seen no evidence of any doses being administered in countries classified as either very low or low on the HDI.

When looking at indicators of a countrys wellbeing, such as its maternal mortality ratio, the IFRC found that those nations with a poor health system were struggling to deliver doses to their population.

In countries that have administered less than 1 dose per 100 people, the average maternal mortality rate stands at 200 deaths per 100,000, according to the IFRCs analysis.

Global health groups have described the analysis as deeply alarming and said it was indicative of the huge inequalities that have been further entrenched throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. A report published on Saturday by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism documents growing fears of a vaccine apartheid.

These figures are a shameful indictment of wealthy countries who have been hoarding vaccines, said Global Justice Now, which campaigns on issues of trade, health care and justice in the developing world.

Research commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation shows that the equitable distribution of the Covid-19 vaccines globally would prevent 61 per cent of future deaths, compared to 33 per cent if doses are monopolised by 47 of the worlds richest nations.

Britain itself has amassed one of the largest vaccine stockpiles in the world, having ordered more than 400 million shots  enough to inoculate its entire population three times over.

On Thursday, health secretary Matt Hancock said the film Contagion partly influenced his approach to placing huge orders with vaccine manufacturers as early as possible.

The government has suggested the UK could share excess vaccine doses with neighbouring and developing countries but has not indicated when. In future months we hope to be in a position to help other countries with vaccine supply," trade secretary Liz Truss said last week.

However, campaigners have called on Britain to act sooner rather than later in sharing its doses to avoid prolonging the acute phase of the pandemic and minimise the risk of more dangerous variants emerging.

We need to ensure that the supplies that we have right now are distributed equitably, Roz Scourse, a research and policy officer at Medecins Sans Frontieres, told The Independent. Healthcare workers and vulnerable people should get priority access wherever they live.

For high income countries, such as the UK, this means sharing what they have with other countries so that priority groups can be vaccinated in other countries.

There is currently not enough to go around, we have to make sure that what we have is distributed according to needs globally. This is the only way to protect the worlds most vulnerable and will also be the quickest route to ending this pandemic for all of us.

She pointed out that of the 119 million doses that had been administered globally up to 5 February, only 55 of these were in one country in sub-Saharan Africa, in Guinea.

These figures are a shameful indictment of wealthy countries who have been hoarding vaccines Global Justice Now

Right now, healthcare workers and vulnerable people living in the majority of low- and middle-income countries including places that MSF works such as Mozambique, Malawi and Eswatini, have little or no access to Covid-19 vaccines, she added.

Gwen Eamer, a public health emergencies officer at IFRC, admitted it was human nature to look after our own first in a crisis, but said that sometimes we need help to recognise the importance of humanity for everyone.

Viruses are agnostic about borders," she told The Independent. The more transmission there is in other countries, whether on other side of planet or next door, the more opportunities there are for mutations in the virus. Every once in a while one of those mutations will cause increases in transmission or mortality.

She said it was a matter of equity, of humanity, of fundamentally doing the right thing to ensure access for all, and particularly those on the frontline in the fight against Covid-19.

If youve got nurses in a low-income country providing direct care to Covid patients without the protection of a vaccine that does exist, and youre starting to roll out vaccination for someone who is a low risk category elsewhere, then something has fundamentally gone wrong, Ms Eamer added.

It is a failure if were vaccinating people who are not high exposure to Covid in rich countries while those on the front lines in other countries are not protected.

Earlier this week, the global vaccine alliance spearheaded by the World Health Organisation announced its plan to distribute more than 330 million doses to developing nations in the first half of 2021.

The Covax Facility was first established in April to secure access to safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines through a portfolio of candidates.

It aims to deliver at least two billion doses by the end of 2021  the majority of which will cover 20 per cent of people in 92 low- and middle-income countries, mostly in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

In an interim plan published on Wednesday, the Covax Facility said its doses will cover more than 3 per cent of the worlds poorest populations by the middle of the year, with the first deliveries expected towards the end of the month.

To help scale up the global production of vaccines, global health charity STOPAIDS argued we need big pharma to give up their monopolies and to share the knowledge of how these vaccines can be produced.

This will not only speed up and maximise manufacturing capacity; it will also make products more affordable by enabling generic competition to help drive down prices, James Cole, an advocacy officer at the charity, told The Independent.

A landmark proposal is currently being debated at the World Trade Organisation that would see the temporary removal of big pharma monopolies on all Covid-19 health technology. This would allow more countries to manufacture and access these vital tools.

But shamefully, the same rich countries that have secured a majority of the worlds Covid-19 vaccine doses are the same ones opposing it.
Local TD and Labour transport spokesperson, Duncan Smith says the Government could be 'sleepwalking' to the ruin of the aviation industry.

Deputy Smith reiterated his call for bespoke supports to protect the aviation industry. With the vaccine roll-out taking longer than expected, and as new, more transmissible variants continue to emerge, the aviation industry will remain grounded throughout most of 2021 impacting a massive workforce throughout the country.

Deputy Smith said: 'COVID-19 continues to present unique consequences for the aviation sector, with international travel prohibited and no clear end in sight. The aviation sector continues to express concerns about the future of air travel - even after mass vaccination.

'Despite this reality, Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Greens continue to sleepwalk the aviation industry toward ruin, putting the jobs hundreds of workers into jeopardy. This is not just a Dublin problem, aviation workers throughout the country from Cork to Kerry, Shannon to Knock are crying out for engagement from Government about the future of their livelihoods.

'The aviation sector needs to be supported and supported properly by the Government. These companies have fixed costs that they are chasing for 2020, 2021 and potentially longer.

'We only need to look at the German Government's intervention into helping their own aviation sector with their comprehensive bailout for Lufthansa. Government must bring stakeholders together in a similar fashion and devise a scheme that supports and sustains our Irish aviation sector long into the future.

'We are an island nation. We need urgent and decisive action from Government to save the incomes of the many thousands employed in aviation and ancillary industries in the regions. I am once again calling on the Ministers for Transport and Finance and Public Expenditure to publish a plan in consultation with trade unions and other stakeholders in the coming weeks on how to engage with the aviation sector and ensure it has a viable future.

'There will be better days ahead, global travel will return, but only if there is an aviation industry.'
According to a Tweet published on February 2, 2021, the Normandie (D651), an Aquitaine-class frigate of the French Navy successfully test-fired Aster 30 surface-to-air missile in collaboration with the French defense procurement agency DGA.

According to a Tweet published on February 2, 2021, the Normandie (D651), an Aquitaine-class frigate of the French Navy successfully test-fired Aster 30 surface-to-air missile in collaboration with the French defense procurement agency DGA.

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Test fire of Aster 30 surface-to-air missile from Normandie D651, an Aquitaine-class frigate of the French Navy. (Picture source French Navy)

The Normandie is a frigate in service with the French that was developed as part of a joint Italian-French program known as FREMM. The management of the development, production and initial In-Service Support phases of this important naval Program was assigned to OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe de Cooperation en matiere d'Armement / Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation) in 2005.

The FREMM program consists of the construction of 18 ships including 8 for France and 10 for Italy. In France, the class is known as the Aquitaine class, while in Italy they are known as the Bergamini class. The FREMM are designed to be used as Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASM/ASW), Anti-Air Warfare (FREDA) and General Purpose (GP) ships.

The Normandie Aquitaine-class frigate is armed with two Sylver A50 vertical launch systems for a total of 16 MBDA Aster 15 or 30 surface-to-air missiles, one Leonardo OTO Melara 76 mm SR naval gun, three Nexter 20 mm Narwhal remote weapon systems, eight MBDA MM-40 Exocet block 3 anti-ship missiles, 16-cell MBDA SYLVER A70 VLS for 16 MBDA MdCN naval land-attack cruise missiles and two double Leonardo (WASS) B-515 launcher for MU 90 torpedoes.

The Aster is a family of surface-to-air missile that includes the Aster 15 for short-to-medium range and the Aster 30 for short-to-long range air defense. ASTER 30 also provides long range interception capability for area defense. For extended air defense with ATBM protection, the family also includes ASTER 30 B1 and ASTER Block 1 NT.

Both the ASTER 15 and the ASTER 30 missiles are vertically launched and use inertial mid-course guidance, with guidance correction update data being transmitted from the fire control center. The Aster 30 missile has as a tandem first stage solid propellant booster motor and a weight of 450 kg. It has an operational range from 3 to 120 km and can fly at an altitude from 0 to 20 km with a maximum speed of Mach 4.5 (5,600 km/h).



French Navy Normandie Aquitaine-class frigate (Picture source Military Leak website)
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BANGALORE : During the three-day Aero India air show held this week, the elite Garud Special Forces operatives provided counter-terrorism cover to the prestigious event.

The Garuds could be seen deployed on the ground at the venue and were manning all the high rise buildings in sniper role in the show attended by President Ramnath Kovind, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and the three services chiefs along with defence ministers and other global Air Force heads and delegations.

"The Garuds created a sniper grid interposed with mobile assault elements both on the ground and in the air during the show," Aero India officials said.

India's youngest Special Force 'Garud' has acted as a force multiplier in the Air Force and is presently deployed on China border in substantial numbers where they were deployed soon after the Chinese transgressions in March-April time frame last year.

The Garuds have proved their mettle in counter-terrorism operations with the Indian Army as they eliminated around 10 terrorists, including the nephew of international terrorist Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi in 2017, in a prolonged operation spread over months.

The force was awarded one Ashok Chakra and several other gallantry medals for those operations.

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As weve told you before, the whole thing seems to only affect 2021 models , with the problem first reported in January after a recent phone update.Android 11 was believed to be the culprit, as 2021 F-150 owners said the connectivity struggles appeared only after updating their mobile devices to the latest operating system version.And now it looks like a fix is already available, as Ford has worked around the clock to develop a patch, though for now, its not exactly clear when this is supposed to launch. The Google team says you should reach out to Ford for additional information on the fix, but in the meantime, the good news is Android Auto 6.1 too will include a workaround to bring things back to normal.Android Auto 6.1 is the next version of the app, and according to Googles typical release calendar, it should launch in the coming weeks.Thanks for reporting this issue. The Ford team has prepared a fix to address this issue, please contact Ford customer care for more details. In the meantime, our team has also prepared a workaround to fix this issue in an upcoming release of Android Auto app version 6.1. Thanks! a member of the Android Auto said Furthermore, we also have a confirmation that Android 11 is indeed the one to blame for the broken wireless mode in the 2021 F-150, so users are being told to delay the update to the new OS version until a fix lands. In other words, if youre still running Android 10 or another version of the operating system, youd better not install Android 11 on your device if you want to use Android Auto wirelessly in a 2021 Ford F-150.
Twitter Inc's refusal to comply with an Indian government directive to block more than 250 accounts and posts has put the social media giant at the centre of a political firestorm in one of its key markets. Government officials, business people and ordinary netizens are split over free speech and the U.S. company's compliance practices, in a controversy that comes soon after Twitter's top lobbyist in India resigned. The showdown, after the firm this week "declined to abide (by) and obey" the order to remove posts and accounts that the government said risked ...
Berlin will continue to try to guarantee Ukraine a transit role for Russian gas supplies.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said this at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron following a meeting of the Franco-German Defense and Security Council on February 5, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Merkel stressed that Berlin has constantly made efforts to ensure that Ukraine continues to act as a transit state for Russian gas. We will continue to do this, including within the framework of work with Ukraine and Russia in the Minsk format, she assured.

During the meeting, the Nord Stream 2 issue was intensively and frankly discussed. Merkel reiterated her position that Germany considers the project to be entrepreneurial, "but with political complications", which "plays a large role in transatlantic relations." She condemned the extraterritorial sanctions.

The German chancellor noted that it is strategically important to maintain a dialogue with Russia on many issues, including geostrategic ones, despite "very deep divisions." In this context, she added that in recent months the Russian Federation has taken a few steps with regard to the situation in Ukraine. This issue must be kept on the agenda, for which it is also necessary to keep in touch with Putin.

As reported, in December 2019, the United States of America passed legislation providing for sanctions on a ship involved in building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Due to the U.S. sanctions, its construction was suspended. However, the Russian side, with the consent of the German side, resumed work on its own, using the Fortuna pipe-laying ship. The 1,200 km long gas pipeline worth almost EUR 9.5 billion is 94% completed. The United States opposes the project, arguing that it will strengthen the Kremlin's grip on the European energy market while undermining Ukraine's security and economy.

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A couple from the Midlands are the inspiration behind a new Valentines Day promotion by Heinz Ireland.

Thanks to an idea by Longford man, Diarmuid Farrell, Heinz has launched an amorous take on one of its most iconic pasta varieties, Alphabetti, to help pasta-loving romantics propose to their partners in style this February 14.

Inspired by an amazing real-life Irish love story the special cans will only feature the pasta letters M, A, R, Y, E, in a juicy tomato sauce.

I had been racking my brains for weeks, but the only idea that kept coming back again and again was Heinz Alphabetti, Diarmuid explained.

Karen really loves having it on toast for dinner, which is why it came to mind. And, I knew it would catch her completely unaware to sit down for dinner, look down at her plate to see the words Marry Me staring back up at her. I only needed the one can to spell KAREN MENTON WILL YOU MARRY ME.

The Mullingar native explained that the couple had recently bought their first home together when Diarmuid popped the question last February.

Its our pride and joy and we love spending time at home together, she said.

He caught me completely unaware with the proposal, Im still surprised to this day that he did, without me copping on to anything.

The funny thing is, I was planning on asking him eight days later on February 29. It just shows, we were both ready for this next stage of our life together.

Emily OKane, Marketing Manager for Heinz Ireland explained that the company was contacted by an Alphabetti fan, Karen Menton from Longford with the unique story.

She told us that her partner Diarmuid had recently proposed using our much-loved pasta letters to spell out will you marry me on a piece of toast, she explained.

We just loved the idea and immediately got to work on creating this limited-edition Marry Me edition of Heinz Alphabetti, just in time for Valentines Day  or should that be ValenHeinz Day?

The new cans land in stores on February 1 and anyone wishing to share their ValenHeinz proposal can do so by using the hashtag #alphabettiproposal.
West End star Jean Bayless, who played Maria in the original Sound Of Music London production, has died.

The actress' family announced Jean passed away on Friday aged 88 after a battle with bone cancer.

Jean was best known for playing the leading role in the West End musical when it premiered at the Palace Theatre on May 18, 1961, and ran for 2,385 performances.

West End star Jean Bayless, who played Maria in the original Sound Of Music London production, has died

The actress is survived by her sons, Daniel and Adam, and her five granddaughters.

Following her death her son Daniel told the BBC: 'She was auditioned for the Sound of Music by [composer] Richard Rodgers himself. He said "You're the girl I want for my new show" and away she went.

'She continued to work and sing her little heart out all her life. She was a very gregarious and hospitable person, a very cool woman.

RIP: The actress' family announced Jean passed away on Friday aged 88 after a battle with bone cancer (pictured as Maria in 1961)

'If there were more people like her it would make the world a happier place.'

Jean's nephew Richard added that she was the 'most gorgeous person' and that it was 'an absolute privilege to have her as a wonderful member of the family'.

Jean married David Johnson in New York in around 1955, while she was playing the Broadway production of The Boyfriend - a role in which she took over from Julie Andrews.

Hollywood star: Jean pictured with Audrey Hepburn at Ciros Club in 1950

Mother-of-two: The actress is survived by her sons, Daniel and Adam, and her five granddaughters (pictured with Daniel and Adam in 1964)

Jean and David had first met at the Theatre Royal in Birmingham, the publication reports.

The original Broadway production, starring Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel, opened in 1959 and won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, out of nine nominations.

The first London production of the Sound Of Music, starring Jean opened at the Palace Theatre in 1961.

The show has enjoyed numerous productions and revivals since then.

Acting career; Jean pictured with actor Dermot Walsh and Lynn Kennington in 1972

It was adapted as a 1965 film musical starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, which won five Academy Awards.

Christopher, who played the Von Trapp family patriarch in the 1965 musical flick, passed away peacefully at his home aged 91 in Connecticut earlier this week.

The Sound of Music was the last musical written by Rodgers and Hammerstein; Oscar Hammerstein died of stomach cancer nine months after the Broadway premiere.
Trinity professor Linda Hogan is one of the three contenders for the position.

Trinity College Dublin (TCD) will appoint a woman as provost for the first time in its 429-year history.

The university, which was established in 1592, has confirmed the shortlist of applicants to replace Professor Patrick Prendergast are all women.

Meanwhile, the search is also on for a successor to Professor Philip Nolan, who steps down as president of Maynooth University in mid-August, at the end of a 10-year term.

Prof Nolan has become a household name over the past year in his role as chair of the Nphet Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, which is charged with predicting the course of Covid-19.

An international recruitment process has been under way since last October, with an expectation that the name of the successful candidate would be announced in the spring.

A spokesperson for the university confirmed the process was on track.

At Trinity, all three candidates are senior academics at the university: Linda Hogan, Professor of Ecumenics and former vice-provost; Linda Doyle, Professor of Engineering and the Arts and former dean of research; and Historian Professor Jane Ohlmeyer, who was Trinitys first vice-president for global relations.

When Prof Prendergast was elected in 2011, Prof Ohlmeyer was the only female candidate on the shortlist, and, ultimately, the runner-up in that contest.

While technically not the first woman to lead one of Irelands traditional universities, the new provost will be the first female appointed to such a role on a permanent basis.

Last year, the University of Limerick (UL) appointed Professor Kerstin Mey as interim president, after an open competition, when Dr Des Fitzgerald announced his early retirement

UL is now embarking on a recruitment process for its next president, which is expected to take 12 to 18 months.

Last month, Professor Maggie Cusack took on the job of president of the new Munster Technological University (MTU).

The selection process for the Trinity provost is unique in Britain and Ireland when it comes to appointing a university head.

The position was advertised internationally and there are three stages to the process.

After interviews in January, successful candidates had to seek 12 nominations from an electorate of about 850 academic teaching staff.

The third stage, now under way, is a formal campaign period.

The 850 academics will vote for their choice at an event on April 10. The new provost will take up office on August 1.

As well as the all-female panel, the process is marked by another first.

Traditionally, voting takes place in a closed-room meeting, known as the conclave, similar to the way a pope is elected. Covid-related health restrictions make that impossible and the meeting will be held online, with electronic voting.

The lack of gender balance across senior roles in Irish academia has been the subject of criticism. A report to former junior minister for higher education Mary Mitchell OConnor in 2018 found that women made up half of staff at third level, but held only a quarter of the professor jobs.

At the time, no woman had ever held the position of university president, and only two had been appointed to lead an institute of technology.

In a bid to redress the gender imbalance, Ms Mitchell OConnor announced an initiative opening 45 women-only senior academic posts.
The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja has fixed April 22 to deliver judgment in a case accusing herdsmen of killings and destruction of properties of Nigerians.

In the hearing presided on Friday by the President of the court, Justice Edward Amoako Asante and repertoire, Justice Januaria Tavares Silva Moreira Costa, the court adjourned the matter for judgement.

The application was brought by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) against the Federal Government of Nigeria before the regional court.

A human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), who adopted the processes, asked the court to hold the government, which has the constitutional mandate to protect lives and properties, accountable for the killings, raping, maiming of Nigerians and other residents, and destruction of property across the country by herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators.

But counsel to the federal government, Adedayo Ogundele, asked the court to dismiss the application for lack of merit.

In the suit filed on behalf of SERAP in 2016 with reference number: ECW/CCJ/APP/15/16, the CSO is contending that "the mere knowledge of the killings by the military, police, herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators on the part of the authorities have ipso facto given rise to an obligation under Article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights to carry out an effective investigation into the circumstances surrounding the killings and to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice, and to provide reparations to victims."

SERAP also contends that "the Defendant has a positive obligation to take measures to secure the right to life, right to security and dignity of the human person and right to property, and to prevent attacks and killings by the military, police, herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators across Nigeria.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) (C) talks to reporters outside the West Wing in Washington on Feb. 5, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Republicans Demand Pelosi Be Fined $5,000 for Skirting Her Own Metal Detector Rule

Republicans from the Committee on House Administration on Friday requested that the House Sergeant at Arms impose a fine on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for breaking her own rule by allegedly bypassing a metal detector on her way into the House chamber.

Yesterday, at approximately 9:59 a.m., multiple members observed the Speaker of the House entering the House chamber without completing a security screening, Republican Reps. Rodney Davis (Ill.), Barry Loudermilk (Ga.) and Bryan Steil (Wisc.) wrote in a letter to Acting House Sergeant at Arms Timothy Blodgett.

What was observed was a clear violation of House Resolution 73 and you are required by House Rules to impose this fine. Please inform us once the fine has been assessed.

Pelosis office did not respond to a request for comment. The speaker put the rule in place specifically targeting a handful of Republicans who have spoken about legally carrying firearms on the House floor. The fine for the first offense is $5,000.

The Office of the Sergeant at Arms didnt respond to a request for comment. Blodgett told The Hill that he has not received a complaint about the matter from the Capitol Police.

House Sergeant at Arms imposes the fine after receiving an unusual occurrence report from the United States Capitol Police (USCP). An unusual incident report from the Capitol Police is appended to the document sent to the Member providing notice of the fine, Blodgett wrote to The Hill.

Only the USCP can determine whether an individual has failed to complete security screening as only the USCP has sufficient training to determine compliance with USCP screening procedures. I have directed that the USCP produce and provide unusual incident reports on any individual who fails to complete security screening without exception. I have not received any unusual incident report from the USCP concerning the Speaker of the House.

The text of the resolution does not require a report from the USCP for a fine to be imposed but does authorize the sergeant at arms to establish policies and procedures to implement the resolution.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), who was himself fined $5,000 for violating the resolution, wrote on Twitter, Why isnt the Speaker of the House being fined for skirting the metal detector?

Speaker Pelosi made the rules. She must live by her rules like everyone else, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) wrote on Twitter.
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Days after the military in Myanmar, almost 300 lawmakers have signed a declaration rejecting the military junta rule and also promised to continue their fight for democracy.

According to a report by Sputnik, almost 300 lawmakers in have met by video to declare themselves the legitimate sole representatives of the people after the military seized power on Monday.

In the declaration, signed on Friday, the lawmakers rejected the junta and also promised to fight for democracy in their respective constituencies.

The statement was posted on Facebook by the communications chief of the National League for Democracy (NLD).

went into its second nationwide internet shutdown in a week's time on Saturday after the military seized power and arrested the Southeast Asian country's civilian leaders, Sputnik said in its earlier report.

Myanmar's military launched the on Monday morning after days of escalating tensions between the government and the military in the aftermath of last November's general elections.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi-led NLD claimed an overwhelming victory in the polls, securing over 80 per cent of the seats, according to media reports. However, the military and some political parties disputed the results, alleging that the polls were marred by irregularities.

Days after the by military, the police on Wednesday charged San Suu Kyi for "illegally" importing at least 10 walkie-talkies.

The New York Times reported an official from the NLD party as confirming that the leader has been charged with an obscure infraction: having illegally imported at least 10 walkie-talkies.

According to media reports, the detentions started in the early hours of Monday (local time), with political leaders held in Yangon and other cities across Myanmar, and soldiers said to be out on the streets and at prominent landmarks.

(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.)
Supreme Court-Pandemic Restrictions FILE - In this Friday, Nov. 6, 2020 file photo, The Supreme Court is seen at sundown in Washington. The Supreme Court is telling California it can't enforce a ban on indoor church services because of the coronavirus pandemic. The high court issued orders late Friday, Feb. 5, 2021 in two cases where churches had sued over coronavirus-related restrictions in the state. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Supreme Court is telling California it can't enforce a ban on indoor church services because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The high court issued orders late Friday in two cases where churches had sued over coronavirus-related restrictions in the state. The high court said that for now, California can't ban indoor worship in areas where virus cases are surging, but it can cap indoor services at 25% of a building's capacity. The justices also declined to stop the state from barring singing and chanting at services.

The court's three liberal justices dissented.

The court's action follows a decision in a case from New York late last year in which the justices split 5-4 in barring the state from enforcing certain limits on attendance at churches and synagogues. Shortly after, the justices told a federal court to reexamine a similar lawsuit over California's restrictions in light of the ruling.
ALBANY  It was at one of Albany Countys first few vaccination clinics  held at the Times Union Center in downtown Albany last month  where Dr. Jacob Reider noticed the problem.

The majority of people coming in for vaccinations against COVID-19 were white. Indeed, everyone Reider inoculated that day was white. All of them had arrived by car. And all of them had signed up using the Internet. Those who were most at risk for severe illness or death from coronavirus  the poor, the disabled, the elderly, Black and brown people  were few and far between.

New Yorkers with co-morbidities now vaccine eligible

While one might argue that the underserved members of our community had an equal opportunity to sign up for the vaccine  I would offer that they certainly didnt have equity, he wrote in a blog post the next day. "Indeed  a sobering observation one of my volunteer colleagues shared with me was that we saw nobody from the neighborhoods adjacent to the facility we were in  everyone we were vaccinating seemed to be from the suburbs.

Reider, a physician who heads the Alliance for Better Health, a regional network of organizations that provide services in marginalized communities, doesnt fault the county for the disparities he observed that day. County leaders were focused on getting as many people vaccinated as possible, he reasoned. Supply was limited, and state and federal guidance dictating who was eligible and who should be vaccinating whom was changing on a daily, sometimes hourly basis.

It did not surprise me, he told the Times Union in an interview this week. There was this mad rush to get vaccinated and you needed pretty good computer skills so who has computers? And who has the capability to open up seven browser windows and get yourself in line? Well, obviously its the people who have resources.

Such scenes have played out elsewhere in the Capital Region and around the nation, and new data is revealing stark racial and ethnic disparities in who is getting the COVID-19 vaccine and who isn't.

Take these figures released Friday by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomos office: Of the vaccine allotted to the states essential workers thus far, 5 percent have gone to Black workers who make up 17 percent of the eligible pool, 10 percent have gone to Hispanic and/or Latinx workers who make up 14 percent of the pool, and 74 percent have gone to white workers who make up 75 percent of the pool.

Among those 65 years and older, the disparities are again clear: 4 percent of allotted vaccine have gone to Black seniors who make up 13 percent of the eligible pool, 5 percent have gone to Hispanic and/or Latinx seniors who make up 12 percent of the pool, and 78 percent have gone to white seniors who make up 77 percent of the pool.

State and local officials are scrambling to course-correct for these disparities, which experts and community leaders say are fueled by a mix of hesitancy about the vaccine, justified distrust of government and the medical establishment, and the very structural barriers that cause people of color to face poor health outcomes in the first place.

The bigger challenge, from my perspective, is how do we get people who are hesitant and who havent made their minds up, how do we provide them with adequate information and support to help them make up their mind? said Dr. Kallana Manjunath, co-chair of the Capital District Health Equity Task Force, which is advising the regional vaccination network on equity issues with the rollout.

The role that community leaders and trusted messengers will play in bolstering vaccine acceptance in communities of color made itself clear at a vaccination clinic at a public housing site in Troy this week, Manjunath said.

Anecdotally, we heard that there were some individuals who had concerns, but volunteers were able to talk to them and provide assurance and changed their mind, he said. It came from a trusted community memberthey are the ones who are really going to help us.

As early disparities in vaccine allocation became clear, local leaders have sought out state and local partners to develop targeted plans for getting vaccine to the underserved. Proactivity is key, said Reider, whose group has worked on social determinants of health for years.

We cant just let the river flow downstream and expect everything to fall into place, he said. We have to be proactive because of the structural challenges we have in our culture, in our society, in our nation. We cant just let it be because if you let it be the underserved are going to be forgotten. Thats how it always goes.

Limited supply has been the constraining factor in a more equitable rollout early on, officials contend.

Albany County Executive Dan McCoy and Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan announced an initiative with Mohawk Ambulance early last month to reach homebound seniors who may not want to leave the house or who lack transportation, but limited supply and a state Health Department approval process kept it from getting off the ground until this week.

On Thursday, Mohawk Ambulance finally administered its first doses to seniors residing at Albanys South Mall Towers, Townsend Park Homes and Westview Homes  public housing complexes that serve low-income and disabled community members. The pop-up vaccination clinics were announced by Cuomos office the day before and were among 35 scheduled to roll out statewide in the past week. A fourth pop-up clinic in the region  at Troys Kennedy Towers public housing complex  was executed by St. Peters Health Partners on Wednesday and Thursday. And Schenectady County vaccinated over 100 seniors who reside in Schenectady Municipal Housing complexes at the Ten Eyck Apartments on Thursday.

Keith Brown, interim public health director for Schenectady County, noted that the clinic was made possible by a special allocation of vaccine from the state designed specifically for the equity-focused initiative. The state Health Department advised counties last month that they were to vaccinate essential workers only or face possible penalties.

The bottom line is that the farther away the doses get allocated from communities, the less and less equitable the distribution is bound to be, he said. So directing doses to giant state-run (sites) that people have to drive to versus giving them to local health departments and federally qualified health centers  youre already tipping the scale against equity.

Brown said he hopes the state will begin distributing larger allocations to community-level providers, including the county health department, as they have years of vaccination experience and relationships that would enable quick identification of vulnerable groups and practiced coordination at initiatives intended to meet their needs.

On Friday, Cuomo announced two major changes that are expected to increase supply to local health departments. The first was that hospitals have one more week to finish vaccinating staff. The second was that after that week is up the state would begin reallocating the majority of 1a hospital worker vaccine supply to county health departments to start vaccinating people with comorbidities. That cohort can begin receiving vaccines Feb. 15, he said.

Community leaders, along with the Capital District Vaccine Equity Task Force, are working to address a number of other equity and access issues, such as language barriers by providing translation services and bilingual staff support. Brown said Friday that the county provided translation services for Spanish-speaking residents at its most recent clinic.

Rural populations are another cohort being looked at, and counties are aiming to reach them with remote clinics as their supply increases.

Brown said Schenectady County worked to facilitate vaccinations for residents of Schenectadys domestic violence shelter and is currently working with the City Mission to ensure vaccinations for homeless residents. A clinic for clientele of Schenectady ARC and Alternative Living Group, which serve individuals with disabilities, is also in the works for next week, he said.

Theres vulnerable people that are Black and people of color and others in our communities that are not getting vaccinated at the same rate that others are, and those are the people we know have been disproportionately dying, he said. So for me, its tough to tell those folks, Im sorry, we just dont have doses for you.
PHILADELPHIA  Youve seen the Heroes Work Here signs thanking health-care providers for risking their lives to do their jobs during the pandemic. Youve heard about deadly hot spots for workplace exposure to the coronavirus, including meatpacking, food processing, and public transit.

But estimates of the extra risk are iffy. There is no way to know for sure how many COVID-19 infections in the U.S. are directly or indirectly due to jobs, and factors such as testing and masking affect the rates.

Now, researchers at Independence Blue Cross, a major commercial health insurer, and the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School of Business have created a uniquely detailed dataset to sharpen the picture. They analyzed the impact of Pennsylvanias increasingly stringent lockdown last year on infection rates for more than 415,000 Blue Cross policyholders and 387,000 people living with them in the states Southeast region.

Distinguishing essential and nonessential workers and their household members  required cross-referencing medical insurance claims, ZIP code data, demographic information, and job industry codes.

Between mid-February and early June, when Gov. Tom Wolf lifted the stay-at-home order, about 2% of essential workers insured by Blue Cross tested positive for COVID-19, compared to 1% of nonessential workers, the researchers found. Using statistical modeling methods, that translated to a 55% higher risk of COVID-19 infection for workers deemed essential.

The risk of household spread was also greater for essential workers. Their family members were 17% more likely to test positive, and their roommates were 38% more likely, compared to those living with nonessential workers.

Although health care providers were the main driver of the overall 55% increased risk, as a separate group their risk was 41% higher, perhaps because of greater use of precautions such as masks. Gov. Wolf mandated mask-wearing in all stores and businesses in April, and expanded the order to all public places in July.

The new study did not attempt to tell how many infected workers developed severe disease or died. But the authors acknowledged that policymakers faced a horrible dilemma. Shutting down much of the economy reduced the public health crisis, but the financial impact was devastating.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented level of unemployment in the United States rivaling only the Great Depression, they wrote.

Study co-author Aaron Smith-McLallen, director of health informatics for IBC, said the findings could help officials calculate the economic and health tradeoffs of shutdowns, worker classifications, and mitigation measures such as mask mandates.

It does give us a way to quantify how effective these policies are, Smith-McLallen said.
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Only a month into her congressional career, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., continues to make national headlines for her remarks, past and present, promoting QAnon falsehoods that the 9/11 terrorist attacks and school shootings were staged and suggesting support for violence against political opponents. Her affinity for dangerous rhetoric and outlandish theories was public knowledge throughout her campaign, as was her disdain for recommended covid-19 public health measures such as mask-wearing. On Friday, standing outside the Capitol, she declared the U.S. government to be "tyrannically controlled" and warned of policies "you could call communism."

The remarks came in response to the House voting to strip Greene of her committee assignments. But while this was an unprecedented act of discipline against a member, only 11 Republicans supported it. By contrast, 199 of them voted against the move, with many ignoring Greene's rhetoric and focusing instead on the dangers of the precedent being set by the majority party dictating the committee assignments of a member of the minority party. This reveals that Greene is far from a pariah and that procedural concerns trouble her peers more than her rhetoric. Some of her fellow Republicans supported her candidacy, and she won Georgia's 14th Congressional District with 75 percent of the vote.

While commentators have painted Greene's radicalism as shocking and unprecedented in the hallowed halls of Congress, history provides at least one clear antecedent for Greene - and a warning to her Republican colleagues on the dangers of excusing her rhetoric or treating it lightly.

A century ago in 1920, another unabashed conspiracist was elected to the House from the Deep South - John E. Rankin of Mississippi's 1st Congressional District. Taking office at the apex of Jim Crow disfranchisement, Rankin was far from the only dedicated White supremacist in Congress. But his outspoken extremism on a range of issues was unmatched. Casting himself as a "real, red-blooded American" and a lonely defender of "American institutions," Rankin combined his hatred for Black Americans, Japanese Americans and Jews into an explosive cocktail of bigotry. His worldview was defined by vast international conspiracies and suspicion of pervasive internal subversion, and he often connected his various targets to the perceived threats of socialism or communism.

During the 1930s, Rankin focused on keeping the United States out of foreign wars and alliances, including opposing efforts to aid Britain in its fight against Nazi Germany. On the floor of the House, Rankin blasted efforts to drag the United States into World War II as the work of an international communist cadre that included munitions makers, Wall Street executives, East Coast journalists and Hollywood elites, all "in collusion with Moscow to overthrow the American republic." He blamed the same group for racial intermarriage, integration efforts and immigration, tying them all to a grand scheme that threatened to "destroy the last vestige of our Christian civilization."

Yet Rankin's impact went beyond his rhetoric. Throughout Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency, Democrats relied on the Southern segregationist wing of their party in Congress to codify key elements of the New Deal. Since the South was one-party territory, the segregationists accrued seniority, which let them chair committees and subcommittees. To protect Roosevelt's agenda and the party's majority, therefore, Democrats accommodated outspoken racists such as Rankin and his fellow Mississippian, Sen. Theodore Bilbo.

Due to mass disfranchisement, Rankin was elected to 16 terms by the votes of a small number of White elites in northeast Mississippi, and he slowly gained the powers that came with seniority in the House. Emboldened by the implicit support of his colleagues, Rankin's racist and anti-Semitic views shaped federal policies and destroyed lives.

For example, after the attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II, Rankin jumped to frame the conflict in racial terms. On the House floor, he declared a "race war" between White civilization and "Japanese barbarism." Citing President Andrew Jackson's policy of Indian removal, he called for the imprisonment and deportation of all Americans of Japanese ancestry, based solely on their ethnic heritage and regardless of their citizenship status.

The very next day, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which laid the foundation for the policy of Japanese internment. While it did not go as far as Rankin wanted, the policy had echoes of his bigotry. Rankin continued his efforts to strip Americans of their constitutional rights, arguing against birthright citizenship for Japanese Americans, demanding harsher treatment of those interned on the West Coast and opposing Hawaiian statehood solely based on the islands' substantial Japanese population.

Rankin was also deeply anti-Semitic. He often fixated on Jews, equating them with Communists, no matter their loyalties. In 1941, Rankin denounced a meeting of "international Jews" in New York's financial district. Infuriated, his Jewish colleague, Rep. Michael Edelstein, D-N.Y., delivered an impassioned rebuttal, then immediately collapsed and died of a heart attack. Rankin was unnerved, and the outrage of his colleagues caused him to lay low for a time, but he never apologized for the speech that had angered Edelstein to death.

Rankin continued gaining power in Congress, despite railing against the Red Cross for refusing to segregate the blood of White, Black and Japanese donors, shouting racial slurs on the House floor, privately entertaining Nazi sympathies and refusing to sit next to a Black colleague from his own party. In 1945, he ensured the establishment of the House Un-American Activities Committee, which paved the way for McCarthyism the following decade. Most notably, his powerful position on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, which he later chaired, allowed him to influence the language of the G.I. Bill to guarantee the denial of education and housing benefits to Black veterans across the South - a policy that helped ensure the rise of the racial wealth gap and vast economic inequality that lingers to today.

Rankin's 32-year career ended only when Mississippi lost a seat in reapportionment, forcing his retirement at age 70. In 1952, his district was consolidated with another, pitting Rankin against fellow Rep. Thomas Abernethy in a tough primary race. Abernethy, who campaigned on his relative youth and his ability to aid Mississippi farmers through his position on the House Agriculture Committee, narrowly prevailed. But even then, the outcome was far from a repudiation of Rankin or his ideas.

Like Rankin, Greene has promoted false conspiracy theories about powerful elites with a master plan to destroy Western civilization - rhetoric that is arguably even more dangerous in the age of social media, when millions can access her words with a click. And like Rankin, Greene represents one of the most partisan districts in the nation and is unlikely to lose reelection to any member of the opposing party.

This is why what House Republicans decide to do about Greene's controversial remarks matters. Will they accommodate their colleague or take sustained and decisive action to limit her influence? If Thursday's vote was any indication, they seem more apt to follow a path that history shows to be dangerous. The case of Rankin reveals that failing to marginalize Greene could have serious policy ramifications, affecting millions of Americans' lives and well-being.

- - -

Nicholson is a Ph.D. candidate in American religious history at the University of Mississippi studying postwar evangelicalism in Texas.
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  For Trish Lopez, navigating a custody dispute in Albuquerques Family Court shined light on some little-known parts of New Mexicos court system.

While Lopez represented herself in the dispute, the law firm for the opposing counsel in the case had made campaign contributions to the judge assigned to the case.

The situation, which is not uncommon, prompted her to launch a petition that has drawn nearly 4,000 signatures and push for changes in state law.

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Its certainly a statewide problem in New Mexico, Lopez told the Journal. Its a for-profit system and we really need to pay more attention.

In part in response to her efforts, a bill that would allow District Court judges to qualify for public campaign financing  and avoid the need for privately-funded campaigns  has been filed at the Roundhouse.

The measure, Senate Bill 160, cleared its first Senate committee via a 7-3 vote on Friday after several sitting judges testified in support.

District Court Judge Bryan Biedscheid, who was unopposed in his election campaign last year, said the change would increase confidence in New Mexicos judicial system and bring more transparency.

Under the states current system, he said judicial candidates have to perform campaign acrobatics by running privately-funded campaigns while, at the same time, trying to follow guidelines that discourage them from knowing their donors identities.

Retired Supreme Court Justice Edward Chavez went even further in written testimony in support of the bill, saying that soliciting campaign funds can harm the judiciarys legitimacy.

This bill helps to remove the appearance that courts are a pay-to-play system of justice  that decisions are made based on which person, business or special interest group contributed to the judges election, Chavez wrote.

However, skeptics of the bill pointed out it would not stop political committees from spending hefty sums of money on New Mexico judicial races.

The truth is the trial attorneys and corporations will still be able to set up their dark money operations, said Sen. Mark Moores, R-Albuquerque, who voted against the legislation.

And Sen. Cliff Pirtle, R-Roswell, questioned whether it would be harder for judicial candidates in rural parts of New Mexico to qualify for the public financing option than it would be for candidates in Albuquerque and other more populated areas.

But supporters of the legislation say it would be a step toward reducing the impact of money in judicial elections.

(Judges) really want to focus on their court docket, and not on fundraising for their campaigns, said Sydney Tellez of Common Cause New Mexico, an open government group that backs the proposal.

While the option is currently not available for lower court judges, New Mexico has allowed statewide judicial candidates  or those running for Supreme Court and Court of Appeals seats  to qualify for public financing since 2008.

Judicial candidates who opt for public financing receive distributions from a public election fund that is financed in part by proceeds from unclaimed property, such as abandoned personal bank accounts and stocks.

How much candidates receive in public financing is based on numbers of registered voters eligible to cast ballots in their races.

The state also has a public financing system for Public Regulation Commission candidates, but voters approved a constitutional amendment in November that will turn the PRC into an appointed  not elected  body and the bill approved Friday would remove them from the states Voter Action Act, the law that governs public financing.

Backers say that would offset much of the cost posed by adding District Court judges to the mix, though they warned its unclear exactly how many candidates would seek public campaign funds.

In order to qualify, candidates would have to obtain a number of small contributions from voters, though the exact figure would depend on which judicial district they were running in.

Frankly, it shouldnt be too easy to get public funds for a campaign, said Sen. Katy Duhigg, a Democrat who is a former Albuquerque city clerk and is co-sponsoring the legislation.

The bill, which is also sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, now advances to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Lopez, who runs a nonprofit organization in Albuquerque, said after Fridays hearing shes optimistic about the bills chances for approval during this years 60-day session.

Public financing is not going to make unethical people ethical, she said. But it addresses one obvious problem  lawyers shouldnt be financing judges who are presiding over their cases.

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His wife made her name as a successful Hollywood actress.

And now it seems like Prince Harry is ready for his own close-up.

The 36-year-old member of the British royal family was seen hanging out with fellow Brit James Corden on the top of a double-decker bus in Hollywood on Friday.

The 42-year-old chat show host was not just giving him a friendly tour around the city as they were also joined by a full crew complete with three cameras. A source told People they were filming a segment of Carpool Karaoke.

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Pals: Prince Harry was seen hanging out with fellow Brit James Corden on the top of a double-decker bus in Hollywood on Friday

In the spirit: The 36-year-old member of the British royal family certainly seemed comfortable in front of the camera as he could be seen with a smile on his face while chatting with his longtime pal

Corden is best known for his recurring Carpool Karaoke segment which has included A-list guests including Adele, Stevie Wonder, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, and Elton John.

The source said: 'They taped a COVID appropriate segment of Carpool Karaoke on the double decker. They have been friends for years and had a great time. A lot of joking around and laughter.

'They toured Hollywood and James showed Harry some special landmarks. They also chatted about Harry's life in the US and his focus now.'

The group were seen leaving the CBS Studios lot around noon and were even joined by a police escort according to TMZ.

Harry certainly seemed comfortable in front of the camera as he could be seen with a smile on his face while chatting with his longtime pal.

It is also a very important time on television as it is currently 'February sweeps' meaning target group data is collected for the Nielsen ratings so many shows make their best attempts at spiking their ratings.

The gang's all here: The 42-year-old chat show host was not just giving him a friendly tour around the city as they were also joined by a full crew complete with three cameras

Interesting: The group were seen leaving the CBS Studios lot around noon and even got a police escort according to TMZ

Corden and Prince Harry have been friends for years as the chat show host and his wife Julia Carey attended the royal wedding to Meghan Markle in May 2018.

The Duke and Duchess, 39, sparked a major royal crisis in January 2020 with a bombshell statement saying they intended to stop being senior royals, earn their own money and still support the Queen.

But the dual role was unworkable. The Queen held a summit at Sandringham to deal with the crisis and the outcome was a hard Megxit.

Dynamic duo: It remains unknown what they were shooting but Corden is best known for his recurring Carpool Karaoke segment which has included A-list guests including Adele in 2016

Star-studded: Corden and Prince Harry have been friends for years as the chat show host and his wife Julia Carey attended the royal wedding to Meghan Markle in May 2018

Fairy tale: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and The Duchess of Sussex seen exiting their wedding ceremony in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle

At the end of March 2020, less than two years after they wed, Harry and Meghan quit as working royals completely and stopped using their HRH styles.

They have since settled into a new life in California, secured lucrative multimillion-pound deals with Netflix and Spotify, volunteered during the Covid-19 crisis and been working on their Archewell foundation.

They recently moved to a celebrity-favorite enclave in Montecito where they live in a $14million mansion with their 21-month-old son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.


Restaurants will no longer be allowed to sell pre-packaged meals through arrangements with supermarkets and other outlets, as Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley definitively closed this loophole yesterday.

Rowley said this would not be allowed to continue, as it defeats the purpose of the public health regulations. Restaurants and street food vendors were among those businesses ordered to close to limit the movement of people and curb the spread of Covid-19.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 6)  The City of Tabuk in Kalinga is extending the implementation of enhanced community quarantine in the area for seven more days.

This is after the Regional Inter-agency Task Force chairperson Araceli San Jose agreed to the recommendation of the local task force to extend the ECQ from Feb. 9 to 15.

Meanwhile, four towns namely Lubuagan, Pinukpuk, Tanudan, and Tinglayan will be placed under modified ECQ, while the towns of Balbalan, Pasil and Rizal will be placed under general community quarantine.

The decision was based on the January 4-29 Health Risk Level Matrix and Containment Zoning Strategy. The guidelines for every town will be provided by the different local government units.

To recall, Tabuk City returned to stricter community quarantine in the last week of January due to rising COVID-19 cases.

According to the Health department, total number of COVID-19 infections in Kalinga has reached 1,366, with 544 active cases, 817 recoveries, and 5 deaths.
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One of the key takeaways from an external review into Maples Long Term Care Home is how dysfunctional the provinces pandemic planning process was in the months leading up to Manitobas most deadly nursing home outbreak.

One of the key takeaways from an external review into Maples Long Term Care Home is how dysfunctional the provinces pandemic planning process was in the months leading up to Manitobas most deadly nursing home outbreak.

In her report released Thursday, Lynn Stevenson, a former associate deputy minister of health in the B.C. Ministry of Health, described a health-care system mired in a state of confusion, where care home operators were given mixed messages on how to respond to COVID-19 outbreaks.

Stevenson said care homes were presented with multiple versions of "confusing" and "unwieldy" pandemic planning documents from separate provincial agencies. Plans overlapped and were often not co-ordinated. In some cases, it was difficult to discern between draft copies and updated final versions, Stevenson found.

"It was unclear how information was meant to flow up, down, and across, who was responsible for decision-making and which guidelines were required to be followed," Stevenson wrote. "It was unclear to the reviewer which document Maples staff would primarily refer to in the overall management of an outbreak."

These are not signs of a well planned, centrally co-ordinated effort to combat a public health emergency like a pandemic. This is evidence of a fractured system that lacked effective planning and a clear chain of command.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Maples Long Term Care Home was forced to hire untrained staff, many of whom had no clear responsibilities, after receiving no help from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority or the province. (John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press files)

Its little wonder the system failed as spectacularly as it did.

As early as Oct. 15, five days before an outbreak was declared at Maples, emails showed the care home requested staffing support from the WRHA, and later from the provincial recruitment and redeployment team. Those requests intensified as a growing number of staff tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced to self-isolate. The higher the absenteeism, the more chaotic the workplace became, the report found.

However, no staffing support was given. Maples was forced to hire untrained agency staff, including general labourers, many of whom had no clear responsibilities.

There were reports of crowding in hallways and breaches of personal protective equipment protocols, which further exacerbated efforts to contain the virus.

"Once the staffing numbers decreased it was virtually impossible to maintain appropriate PPE practices," Stevenson wrote.

By Oct. 31, 113 residents and 20 staff were infected; and still no help from the province.

In a report released Thursday, Lynn Stevenson  seen on livestream with Manitoba Health Minister Heather Stefansonon (right)  described a health-care system mired in a state of confusion. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press files)

"(Personal care homes) were given assistance in relation to how they might obtain additional human resources rather than concrete direct support from the region or province," Stevenson wrote.

Even after an unannounced visit to Maples Nov. 2 by multiple provincial agencies (the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Workplace Safety and Health, a public health inspector, and licensing and compliance staff), there was still no staffing support provided, nor any immediate action taken.

Provincial officials found a number of problems at the care home during the inspection, including significant concerns with staffing and improper adherence to physical distancing requirements in screening entrance areas and staff rooms.

Four days later, paramedics were called to treat and transport multiple residents, eight of whom died over a 48-hour period.

A report by Canadas chief science officer written in April 2020 during the first wave of the pandemic identified a number of immediate steps governments should take to protect nursing homes. They included ensuring care homes had an adequate supply of trained staff and infection prevention training and control to properly manage outbreaks.

"If one accepts these options as articulated in April 2020, then system-wide planning and followup for (care homes) in Winnipeg should have been more robust," wrote Stevenson. "There were many staffing strategy documents, but in many cases these had not been completed, nor had action been taken."

Stevensons report makes a mockery of claims by senior government officials who said, following the Maples outbreak, that they did everything they could to protect residents in care homes from the pandemics second wave.

What the report shows is the system set nursing homes up for failure.

tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca
NEW DELHI: February 14 is celebrated around the world as Valentines Day or the Day of Love. On this day, people, especially youth, give gifts to their lovers. This week-long festival of love is celebrated in different parts of the world in a very beautiful way.

But you would be surprised to know that the male students of Delhis famous Hindu College had been holding a sexist ritual on this very day for several decades despite huge opposition from the female students of the college.

Yes, thats true.

The male students of Delhi's Hindu College had been worshipping the Virgin Tree on February 14 (Valentines Day). The Virgin Tree Puja involved a male student dressing up as a priest to perform religious rituals while others sang hymns in praise of ''Damdami Mai'' or some leading Bollywood actress.

On this day, hundreds of male Hindu College students used to gather around the Virgin Tree and offered prayers for good luck and to increase their chances of finding their true love.

For some, V-Tree Puja was also meant to help students enter relationships and lose their virginity within six months. It was believed that those who participate in V-Tree Puja will enter into a relationship within six months and lose their virginity soon.

As part of this highly controversial sexist ritual, male students used to organise a 'puja' where they worshipped the V-Tree and also decorated it with condoms, posters of Bollywood actresses and balloons.

However, after female students of the college objected to this ''misogynistic'' ritual as it encouraged the objectification of women, the male students started worshipping a male Bollywood actor, calling him a Love Guru.

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A man has stunned fellow shoppers after wearing a Nazi swastika armband when casually picking up some produce at a local market.

The unknown individual was photographed on Friday afternoon wearing the Nazi symbol at the Moorabbin Wholesale Farmers Fresh market, south-east of Melbourne, by a horrified shopper, who then alerted police.

To their amazement, police told the shopper it isn't an illegal act to display the Nazi swastika publicly and by law, their hands were tied.

Anti-Defamation Commission Chairman Dr Dvir Abramovich labelled the brazen public act 'sickening.'

A man was spotted wearing a Nazi-swastika armband (pictured above) in a Melbourne fresh market on Friday

Another shopper alerted police about the man's Nazi armband - who told the shopper they are powerless to do anything about it

'Melbourne is not Nazi Germany, and allowing this sickening and brazen display by individuals who support Hitler and the murder of Jews has to stop,' he said.

'Australian Nazis should not be allowed to intimidate anyone, and it is simply unacceptable to think that in Melbourne neo-Nazi thugs have a license to openly brandish this symbol of extermination and evil, knowing full well that Victoria Police is powerless to stop them.

'This is a spit on the memory of our Diggers who died to defeat the Third Reich and the millions of victims who died at the hands of the Nazis.'

Dr Abamovich also felt such public displays are completely unnecessary and have the potential to incite violence.

'Imagine the terror a Holocaust survivor would have felt seeing this bigot,' he said.

'What's next, marching with Nazi flags in the CBD? 'Enough is enough.'

The National Socialist Network, a white supremacist neo-Nazi organization, is reported to have members in most major Australian cities.

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews recently warned that anti-Semitism was on the rise in Australia.

The Holocaust saw the murder of an estimated six million Jewish men, women and children by the Nazi regime and its collaborators after they came into power in Germany in 1933.

The other shopper was shocked to see the man (pictured) wearing a Nazi-swastika armband in public
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A security source has denied reports claiming that four prisoners had died in Egyptian prisons after contracting the coronavirus, accusing a non-Egyptian TV channel of implausibility.

The security source blamed the TV channel, which he refused to name, for using information from the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group in Egypt.

A number of media outlets cited a report by the American NGO Human Rights Watch in September that claimed the death of four Egyptian inmates in three days, but failed to provide solid evidence.

In January, the Egyptian Ministry of Interior said authorities have developed prison hospitals in light of the ministrys adherence to all human rights standards.

The ministry published a video of a delegation of civil society organisations, human rights groups, and international media last month during a visit to the hospital of the Tora prison in Cairo.

The ministry said the hospital is equipped with the latest medical equipment and skilled human cadres.

The country has taken strict measures to curb the spread of the pandemic since the outbreak in Egypt in mid-February.

The measures included suspending prison visits for months, before it was resumed in August, in a bid to prevent the pandemic from spending in prisons.

Authorities, however, have not responded to calls to release some prisoners due to the coronavirus outbreak nationwide.

The interior ministry has published photos of medical teams sterilising prisons.

In addition, many prisoners were granted presidential pardons and conditional release over the past few years.

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New Delhi:

Rajya Sabha MP and daughter of RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadavs daughter Misa Bharti was on Monday summoned by the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The development comes two days after three premises in Delhi belonging to Misa and her husband were raided by the ED.

On Saturday, three farmhouses located in high-class localities of Ghitorni, Bijwasan and Sainik Farms were raided. The agency said incriminating documents, electronic devices, including phones, were seized during the raids.



The raids were conducted in as part of EDs probe into alleged laundering of over Rs 8,000 crore by two market entry operators, identified as Surendra Jain and Virendra Jain, through a maze of shell companies. The duo was arrested in March.

ALSO READ | ED raids 3 premises of Lalu Yadav's daughter Misa Bharti, her husband in Delhi

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A former private equity executive will plead guilty to federal charges in the college admissions scandal and is expected to be sentenced to three months in prison, prosecutors said Friday.

William E. McGlashan, Jr., 57, a former senior executive at TPG Capital, paid $50,000 to have his son's ACT exam scores secretly corrected, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a statement.

McGlashan was among dozens of parents charged in March 2019 following the FBI's "Operation Varsity Blues" investigation.

The scheme involved wealthy parents who paid to have their children's college exam scores boosted or to have them fraudulently admitted as student-athletes, or both in some cases.

McGlashan, of Mill Valley, Calif., paid the scheme's mastermind, William "Rick" Singer, who then bribed a test administrator to have a proctor secretly change the student's ACT exam answers, prosecutors said.

He has agreed to plead guilty to a single count of wire fraud and honest services wire fraud; aiding and abetting, according to court documents.

A plea deal calls for a three-month prison term and a $250,000 fine. It must still be accepted by a court. Attorneys for McGlashan declined to comment.

A criminal complaint contains statements that the son had no idea about the scheme. The proctor, Mark Riddell, corrected the answers after the student took the exam in late 2017, the complaint says. The son re-took the exam after the indictments were announced, according to court documents filed by McGlashan's attorneys.

Singer, Riddell and the test administrator, Igor Dvorskiy, have all pleaded guilty.

A date for the plea has not been set. McGlashan will be the 30th parent to plead guilty to charges stemming from the overall scheme, the U.S. attorney's office said.

Among those who have pleaded guilty and been sentenced are actor Felicity Huffman, known for "Desperate Housewives" and other roles; "Full House" actor Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli; and Michelle Janavs, heiress to the Hot Pockets fortune.
In the series Big Sky, a lot has happened recently. Two missing sisters, Danielle (Natalie Alyn Lind) and Grace (Jade Pettyjohn), along with Jerrie (Jesse James Keitel) are held captive by a corrupt state trooper named Rick Legarski (John Carroll Lynch) and a long-haul trucker named Ronald Pergman (Brian Geraghty). But does Rick even remember his part in the abductions after what happens to him?

[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers from Big Sky]

Valerie Mahaffey, Katheryn Winnick, Brian Geraghty, John Carroll Lynch, Ryan Phillippe, Dedee Pfeiffer, Jesse James Keitel, Kylie Bunbury, Jade Pettyjohn, and Natalie Alyn Lind in Big Sky | Kharen Hill via Getty Images

Cassie shoots Rick Legarski in Big Sky

Danielles boyfriend gets his parents involved in the quest for the missing girls who are abducted by Ronald. His parents, Jenny Hoyt (Katheryn Winnick) and Cody Hoyt (Ryan Phillippe), an ex-cop and a private detective, along with Codys partner, Cassie Dewell (Kylie Bunbury), track down every lead to find them. But Cody is murdered when he gets too close and Rick shoots him.

Now on the hunt for the missing girls and Codys whereabouts, Jenny and Cassie eventually narrow it down to Rick. Despite him being one step ahead of them, Cassie manages to track him down while looking for Danielle, Grace, and Jerry at a bar/store he frequents. When she finds him in the basement, the missing girls are down there too. Cassie has her firearm drawn, and Rick claims he just showed up to rescue the missing girls. Rick tries to manipulate the situation in his favor, pulling out his firearm.

Im going to count to five, Rick says to her. If you dont put your weapon down by the count of five, one of three things will happen. A, Ill put my weapon down, B, raise it in the air like Alexander Hamilton, C, shoot you. My moneys on C. He gets to four when Cassie shoots him in the head, but miraculously hes still alive.

Does Rick remember his part in the abductions?

John Carroll Lynch in Big Sky | Darko Sikman via Getty Images

RELATED: Big Sky: Ronald Just Did Something Horrific That He Can Never Undo

The doctors at the hospital perform surgery on Rick, and his wife, Merilee (Brooke Smith), is under the impression that its up in the air if he wakes up, and if he does, he wont be the same. They play music in an attempt to help wake him up, And at the end of episode 6, his eye opens up. In the latest episode, Ricks fully awake and conscious after being shot in the head. But does he remember his part in the abductions?

He speaks to his wife, who relays the situation to Rick. I did what? he asks her.

You and an accomplice kidnapped three women, girls, and held them underground in what appears to be a torture dungeon connected to a sex trafficking ring, Merilee explains.

Rick doesnt seem to be buying it. Thats not funny, he says.

I am not being funny, she tells him. When a man tried to save one of them, you killed him. Theres a pile of police out in the corridor waiting to arrest you for all of this.

I kidnapped a young woman? Rick says in disbelief.

Three of them, his wife clarifies. And there have been others.

I killed a person? he asks again.

It appears to be the case, Merilee says matter of factly.

Rick doesnt believe whats going on. He doesnt think hes capable of committing acts such as the ones his wife describes. Im a Montana State Trooper, Rick tells her.

It did happen! his wife says, but Rick just keeps insisting, Im a Montana State Trooper, looking dumbfounded.

Based on this conversation, it appears Rick has no idea whats going on or that he was involved in such heinous crimes. Although he could be faking it, he sustained a brain injury and seems to have amnesia. Will he remember his terrible crimes? Its too soon to tell, but as of right now, it doesnt seem like he remembers events from his past, let alone the crimes he committed.

Rick even mentions that he should call his father, who has been dead for years, which adds to the fact that Rick probably doesnt remember any of it. He also has a strange conversation with his lawyer, and he isnt able to remember who she is after she tells him that shes his lawyer.

Rick appears to not remember his part in the abductions, and its unclear where things go from here.
NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bernstein Liebhard, a nationally acclaimed investor rights law firm, announces that a securities class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of investors who purchased or acquired the securities of iRhythm Technologies, Inc. ("iRhythm" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: IRTC) from August 4, 2020 and January 28, 2021 (the "Class Period"). The lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California alleges violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Bernstein Liebhard LLP. (PRNewsFoto/Bernstein Liebhard LLP) (PRNewsfoto/Bernstein Liebhard LLP)

If you purchased iRhythm securities, and/or would like to discuss your legal rights and options please visit iRhythm Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit or contact Matthew E. Guarnero toll free at (877) 779-1414 or MGuarnero@bernlieb.com

The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose to investors that: (1) iRhythm's business would suffer as a result of the CMS' rulemaking; (2) reimbursement rates would in fact plummet; (3) a lack of national pricing in the CMS rule and fee schedule would cause uncertainty and weakness in the Company's business; and (4) as a result of the foregoing, Defendants' public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

The truth began to be revealed on December 1, 2020, when the CMS issued its final rule, which finalized the codes as anticipated, but did not finalize national pricing for certain products and services offered by iRhythm. Shares opened on December 2, 2020 at $183.00 each, down from the December 1, 2020, close of $240.64 per share.

Then on January 29, 2021, Medicare Administrative Contractor Novitas Solutions published actual reimbursement rates under the CMS' 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. A Baird analyst commented that these rates were "way lower than" the former codes, citing one example where iRhythm was previously reimbursed around $311, but was now receiving just $42.68.

Story continues

On this news, the price of iRhythm common stock closed at $168.42, down approximately 33% from its January 28, 2021 close of $251.00.

If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than April 2, 2021. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as lead plaintiff. If you choose to take no action, you may remain an absent class member.

If you purchased iRhythm securities, and/or would like to discuss your legal rights and options please visit https://www.bernlieb.com/cases/irhythmtechnologiesinc-irtc-shareholder-class-action-lawsuit-stock-fraud-359/apply/ or contact Matthew E. Guarnero toll free at (877) 779-1414 or MGuarnero@bernlieb.com

Since 1993, Bernstein Liebhard LLP has recovered over $3.5 billion for its clients. In addition to representing individual investors, the Firm has been retained by some of the largest public and private pension funds in the country to monitor their assets and pursue litigation on their behalf. As a result of its success litigating hundreds of lawsuits and class actions, the Firm has been named to The National Law Journal's "Plaintiffs' Hot List" thirteen times and listed in The Legal 500 for ten consecutive years.

ATTORNEY ADVERTISING.  2020 Bernstein Liebhard LLP. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Bernstein Liebhard LLP, 10 East 40th Street, New York, New York 10016, (212) 779-1414. The lawyer responsible for this advertisement in the State of Connecticut is Michael S. Bigin. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.

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SOURCE Bernstein Liebhard LLP
DALLAS (AP)  A federal judge on Friday granted permission to Jenny Cudd, who was charged in last month's riot at the U.S. Capitol, to take a work-related four-day trip to Mexico.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden said in the order granting Cudd's request for travel later this month that neither her pretrial services officer nor prosecutors opposed the request. He also noted that she had no criminal history and said there was no evidence she was a flight risk or posed a danger to others.
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In the hours following the fatal shooting of George Nkencho by gardai in west Dublin last December, an image began to circulate on social media.

Among many tributes to the 27-year-old, one striking image was shared. It contained a picture of Mr Nkencho along with a number of crimes he had, according to the image, committed.

It stated he had 32 convictions. The image did not explicitly say what its purpose was, but the implicit reason was clear  that Mr Nkencho was violent and unpredictable and that made his shooting justified.

The image is a favourite of right-wing discussion groups on social media platforms like Facebook, Telegram, and Gab.

It is also completely untrue.

Mr Nkencho had no criminal convictions and gardai have, while not commenting directly, warned about lies swirling around the case which is subject to a Gsoc and criminal investigation.

In the hours after Mr Nkenchos shooting, Dublin Lord Mayor Hazel Chu sent a pair of tweets.

First, she tweeted: Thoughts are with George Nkenchos family and friends. May he rest in peace.

She followed this up: Regardless of circumstances, a family is grieving & thoughts are with them. It doesnt mean thoughts arent with all those involved, especially for those harmed mentally or physically during this incident by virtue of doing their jobs. But there is a life lost & a family grieving.

The tweets sparked faux outrage among those on the right, with some of the more hysterical reactions accusing the Green Party councillor of inciting a race war.

Lord Mayor of Dublin Hazel Chu: "If it comes down to one thing  you dont like a woman of colour in this office  then we have a huge problem." Photo: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie

This is the playbook of the far-right, says Stephen* who actively tracks misinformation from far-right figures.

They will latch onto a seemingly reasonable or justifiable concern and turn it into a crusade. So they will pretend that Hazel Chu has said something unbecoming of the office when the tweets were perfectly reasonable.

The tweets prompted two now-deleted petitions to have Ms Chu resign from her position, but Stephen says the success of these was never the point.

Its about a gateway drug, something to trip you down the rabbit hole. The pattern that weve seen time and again is that people will take a position that theyre against one thing  and that can be a very reasonable thing  but once theyre in these groups and on these pages, theyre bombarded with so much awakening propaganda that they can be become ensnared. Others will take criticism at home or online about one issue and dig in on every issue."

With Hazel Chu, it was never about getting her to resign. It was about her being an outspoken woman of colour. It always has been.

Last month, Ms Chu was physically accosted outside the Mansion House by a small group of protesters calling for her resignation over the tweets.

I didnt think my life was in danger but it was deeply uncomfortable, Ms Chu told the Irish Examiner.

Theyve been calling for my resignation since I spoke about the shooting of George Nkencho.

Its not about my policies because no other Green Party rep is being protested. If it comes down to one thing  you dont like a woman of colour in this office  then we have a huge problem. We have a vocal minority in this country we have to tackle.

That vocal minority has grown in number over the last year, using public scepticism about public health restrictions, masks and lockdowns to amplify their messages.

Supporters of the family of George Nkencho, who was shot dead by gardai in west Dublin last December, hold a candlelight procession in his honour last month. In the hours following the fatal shooting, an image began to circulate on social media that was completely untrue.

Led by a group of right to far-right figures, anti-lockdown protests have been seen in cities nationwide, with violent clashes between anti-lockdown, far-right protesters and counter-protesters in October.

Just 11 days later, the violence spread to Dublins Grafton St as gardai arrested 11 anti-lockdown protesters. Garda sources say this protest was worrying as it contained much nastier language and elements and had dispensed with any real political covering.

Read More Irish Examiner view: Racism will not be tolerated

Previous lockdowns had been led by politicians from the Irish Freedom Party or a coalition group called Health Freedom Ireland, but the one which found itself marching up Grafton St had no such pretence and garda sources say that many involved were actively looking for hassle.

They say that gardai now fear that these splinter groups are more violent and less politically focused than the movements from which they originate.

Some of these fellas dont even pretend to be respectable, said one source.

The case of Minister for Children Roderic OGorman

The first elected official to feel the brunt of the far-right during Covid-19 was Minister for Children Roderic OGorman.

Mr OGorman, who is gay, was accused without evidence of promoting paedophilia after a picture from 2018 of Mr OGorman with LGBT rights and Aids campaigner and former UK election candidate Peter Tatchell appeared online.

In 1997, Mr Tatchell was forced to defend parts of a letter he wrote to The Guardian newspaper in which he spoke about sex between adults and children, in which he said his comments were taken out of context, adding that the letter said paedophilia was impossible to condone.

After the photograph appeared, an online campaign was launched to have the Green Party minister resign.

Minister for Children Roderic O'Gorman says that heading into post-Covid Ireland, everyone must stay vigilant to the prevalence of the far right. File Photo: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

Later, a demonstration was held at Leinster House, attended by Renua, the Irish Freedom Party, and the far-right National Party, where banners, adorned with pictures of nooses, were paraded as people shouted: hands off our kids.

Mr O'Gorman was threatened and defamed repeatedly. He admits it got intense very quickly.

It was very quick after being appointed as minister however I dont think I ever felt unsafe.

However, waking up in the morning and seeing notifications on all your social media feeds, with all kinds of really vile abuse was really disconcerting.

Seeing who it was from, the kind of anonymous bot accounts with fake names, and numbers and Irish flags instead of a picture, something like that, I kind of had a sense it was from the far-right and it was masquerading as concern for children but really it was just used to attack me.

"So, even if I was never afraid for my safety, it was an experience like Ive ever had before."

The minister says that heading into post-Covid Ireland, everyone must stay vigilant to the prevalence of the far right.

I think its education, and we think its responding appropriately to the small stuff and fighting lies with facts, rather than maybe direct attacks on individuals, because I think, a lot of the far-right, they generate a persecution complex around themselves.

When youre engaging, I think we should be contradicting them with facts and I think thats really relevant to their use of Covid, rather than attacking them individually, saying: Youre wrong for the following 17 reasons and listing those reasons.

The case of Sinn Fein Senator Fintan Warfield

One of the most trolled politicians in Ireland is Sinn Fein Senator Fintan Warfield.

Mr Warfield is the partys LGBT+ spokesperson and was forced to go to gardai after far-right trolls targeted him online and he was abused in the street.

Although Ive always been trolled, this particular instance started because I was wearing a gorgeous, very colourful shirt in the Dail, he said.

I spoke about what the Government was doing to progress gender recognition for transgender kids and the legal recognition to change birth certs.

Read More How Ireland can stop the rise of the far-right

Over the next few days, Im told that the screenshot of me in the Dail was moving around online, debate about what to wear in the chamber was kind of raging, and then it tipped over into the content of my speech about transgender rights.

Then it started to get quite sinister, at this point Im off Twitter and not checking it, and then being told by people other photos were being pulled from my Instagram from 2017 when I was wearing a T-shirt of Pope Francis on it.

People took it as offensive, some other photos that had previously been used to mock me online from Pride with my partner.

One comment on an Instagram picture of my partner and I said: All of you will be removed, mark my words.

It was highly intense over a weekend, everything else before that felt small. That week, I was walking home from the Dail one evening after work and a group of young men called me a pervert as I passed them.

After speaking with his party leader, Mr Warfield went to the gardai.

A dossier handed over to gardai details some of the most disturbing tweets.

Sinn Fein Senator Fintan Warfield faced abuse for his views. Picture:RollingNews.ie

Mr Warfield is repeatedly called a paedophile, a danger to children, a pervert who needs the rope and is a danger to children.

After that, the people who oppose you start to try and piece apart what youre saying that you created this fake narrative or lying about what happened, which feels weird, he said.

Most of the accounts had no followers with names like: Irish patriot, it was clear it was far-right. It was intense but it wasnt new.

The case of Fiona Ryan and Jonathan Mathis

The issue of far-right movements goes far beyond politicians and into day-to-day life.

In 2019, a Meath couple left Ireland after receiving racist abuse and death threats. Their offence? Appearing together in a supermarket ad.

Fiona Ryan, her Brazilian-born fiance Jonathan Mathis, and their 22-month old son featured in an advertising campaign for retailer Lidl.

The ad was tweeted by former journalist and head of the Anti-Corruption Ireland party Gemma ODoherty with the comment: German dump @lidl_ireland gaslighting the Irish people with their multicultural version of The Ryans. Kidding no-one! Resist the Great Replacement wherever you can by giving this kip a wide berth. #ShopIrish #BuyIrish.

Ms Ryan and Mr Mathis were subject to torrents of racist abuse, subsequently leaving the country.

Fiona Ryan, partner Jonathan Mathis, and their son were forced to flee the country after appearing in an advert for a supermarket.

Ms ODoherty had earlier that year tweeted a photo of a junior infants class at a school in Longford with the caption The changing face of county Longford in rural Ireland and said it illustrates how Irish people are quickly becoming an ethnic minority in many towns of Ireland.

The Great Replacement to which Ms ODoherty refers is a far-right conspiracy theory which claims that white people are being intentionally eradicated in Western countries. It was pinpointed by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris as one of the common threads found in anti-lockdown movements who try to disrupt State infrastructure.

He said in October: Their intention is as stated through intelligence, we know they are there for an unlawful purpose.

The disruption of legitimate business, the disruption of government business or indeed the functioning of government departments.

The far-right and direct provision

A frequent target of the far-right in Ireland is direct provision. Because the system institutionally detains asylum seekers, it is a lightning rod for anti-migrant sentiment.

When Rooskey in Roscommon was earmarked for a centre in 2019, the proposed hotel was set on fire twice. Gardai said they were concerned at the level of determination shown by those behind the fires, saying they were well planned and coordinated.

In Oughterard in Galway, far-right activists produced videos to urge the locals to identify moles lurking among you.

Bulelani Mfaco, a South African direct provision resident and activist, said that the rhetoric surrounding asylum seekers is imported directly from America in a lot of cases, but has the same aim.

People on the far-right create their own myths about the imagined horror of migrants.

He says that genuine anxieties such as lockdowns or uncertainty about a persons future are often exploited.

People have anxiety over housing and homelessness. And far-right groups pretend to care about that, but then the message becomes House the Irish First.

"Peoples fears are being exploited and they find fertile ground when there is a political class which is happy to point to migrants as a problem.

He says politicians are either not interested in learning or dont care about the impact their language can have and said that they are often disconnected from the realities of the rising far-right movement.

This point was highlighted this week in an Oireachtas housing committee discussion on electoral reform.

Jane Suiter of DCU told the committee that there was a very clear pattern that shows that some of the discourse that is starting in QAnon groups in the US is arriving in Ireland.

QAnon is a debunked and outlandish right-wing conspiracy that claimed, among other things, that former US President Donald Trump was fighting a secret battle against deep-state enemies and a cabal of child sex traffickers.

A spokesperson for the Far Right Observatory, which monitors far-right groups in Ireland, said that the pandemic has seen numbers grow.

A spokesperson for the Far Right Observatory, which monitors far-right groups in Ireland, said: What were seeing is the digital architecture which can be rolled out at election time. File photo

Theres an overlap between the National Party, Telegram groups, and YouTube personalities who espouse right-wing ideology. And what we can see happening is the building of a digital infrastructure.

So around the lockdown, the Great Reopening (a call for businesses to open against public health advice) has a closed Facebook group with 4,000 members. But I would see these as digital marketing test groups.

What were seeing is the digital architecture which can be rolled out at election time.

The spokesperson said many people are attracted to the far-right under seemingly reasonable guises.

The alt-right has a well-honed language around what they call redpilling  you take a talking point around housing, immigration, or lockdown and you drip, drip, drip the message.

When theres a real issue on the ground they show up in solidarity, they represent the community and they never say the quiet part loud at the beginning.

Sewing division in Irish communities

Last November and December, leaflets were posted through letterboxes in north and west county Dublin, Longford, and other counties by the National Party.

Both Longford and parts of north and west Dublin have been lightning rods for the far-right to stir up tensions in the community in the last year.

These communities often have considerable ethnic minority populations due to new housing developments, nearby direct provision centres or an influx of immigrants who have chosen certain areas to settle.

Local issues around transport, infrastructure and inability to access services are easily stoked by those who wish to sew division in communities, many of whom do not live in the communities themselves.

One leaflet distributed in the north Dublin area in November warned of the Governments plan to create a totalitarian new normal.

It included the baseless claims that it was:

mandating masks to promote fear;

that masks contributed to long-term health issues;

the Government was involved in a roll-out of remote-controlled Radio Frequency Identity nano-chip implants to allow constant 24-7 monitoring of your movements, contacts, health status and digitial payments. These implants will remove all human privacy.

Communities with ongoing local issues are targeted by such groups in order to plant seeds of distrust in government and democracy, which is further compounded by Covid regulations, loss of income and recession.

Balbriggan in north Co. Dublin hit the headlines last August when an electrical fire in a home of a black family was pounced upon by far-right agitators.

The fire was portrayed on social media by far-right accounts as a deliberate arson attack as a result of a racially motivated gang and drug violence, using doctored videos sent around Whatsapp to further promote the theory.

Housing Minister Darragh OBrien, who is one of the TDs for the area, posted on social media at the time that the fire: Follows very serious anti-social & criminal behaviour earlier in the town. My information is that they may be related.

While Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell appeared on the Niall Boylan radio show on August 12, and also appeared to link the fire to anti-social behaviour, adding: Im no expert but it looks like there was an accelerant used.

Read More Warning of right-wing misinformation and conspiracy theories in Irish social media groups

Mr OBrien later deleted his tweet and Fingal Communities Against Racism said at the time it was a very easy mistake to make given we havent had a long history of far-right in this country, public reps are only learning now that repeating this information is irresponsible.

The group said the far-right was using fears over crime in Balbriggan to push a racist agenda.

The far-right use every opportunity to exploit peoples fears, including fear of crime and anti-social behaviour, to stir up hatred and division and turn neighbours against each other. Unfortunately, this is part of a pattern of far-right groups targeting Balbriggan by linking crime with diversity through a narrative of racially motivated gang violence.

"By the time the real facts (of the fire) had been established in the media, great damage had already been done.
Before and after of Joel Marrable who was Family Handout

Joel Marrable was a resident of Eagles Nest Community Living Center in Decatur, Georgia.

He served in the Air Force from 1962 to 1968 and died aged 72.

The family is seeking compensation of $20 million from the government and pest control company, Orkin.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

The family of an Air Force veteran is suing the government after he was attacked by hundreds of fire ants on two occasions at a residential care facility shortly before his death.

Joel Marrable had been a resident of Eagles Nest Community Living Center, a long-term veterans care facility in Decatur, Georgia, when he died on September 7, 2019, aged 72, the Military Times reported.

However, the lawsuit filed in Atlanta's Federal District Court by his children, Laquna Ross, Jamal Ratchford, and Raquel Reed, suggests he died from the fire ant bites, according to The New York Times.

Marrable was first bitten on September 2, 2019, before being washed and temporarily moved to another room. After returning, he was attacked by them again on September 5, the Daily Mail noted.

The family is seeking compensation of $20 million from the government and pest control company, Orkin, and an unspecified amount of punitive damages from both, the Military Times added.

Read More: Biden's inauguration was held in a sad, military-occupied DC. Never forget how Trump got us here.

The autopsy conducted by the DeKalb County Medical Examiner's Office at the Department of Veterans Affairs request found that the fire ant bites did not contribute to Marrable's death.

However, the lawsuit says that this information is "incomplete" because blood tests were not conducted, according to The New York Times, and cites several medical experts who agree with this.

The lawsuit added that before the ant bites, Marrable was "lucid and alert," but that soon changed, the Military Times reported. It said the "ant bite attack significantly weakened Mr. Marrable's resolve and caused extreme pain, suffering, discomfort, and anxiety.

Story continues

"The second wave of fire ants that bit Mr. Marrable again over his arms, legs, trunk, and groin proved too much for his weakened body and spirit to bear."

The plaintiffs also said that the Eagles Nest Community Living Center's staff failed to prevent the fire ant infestation, remove insect-attracting food from patients' rooms and keep the rooms clean while Orkin officials failed to provide "appropriate and adequate pest control services," the Military Times added.

The VA's regional director was placed on immediate administrative leave, and in December 2020, officials announced that the Eagles Nest Community Living Center would permanently close.

Marrable served in the Air Force from December 1962 until his honorable discharge in July 1968.

Read the original article on Insider
Officials with the Truro Harness Horse Owners Association have announced the date and format for its upcoming members meeting.

Truro Raceway Limited will be holding a Microsoft Teams Meeting for its members on Monday, February 15 at 7:00 p.m.

This meeting is to update members about the ongoing renovations to the grandstand. Members can join this meeting, by clicking on the following link.

(THHOA)
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Berlin is increasingly optimistic that the new U.S. administration will be less confrontational on Nord Stream than Donald Trump.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron sought to iron out differences over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline ahead of talks with U.S. President Joe Biden on the controversial Russian project.

The two leaders spoke "very openly" about the disputed gas pipeline, Merkel said on Friday after a video conference with her French counterpart, Bloomberg reported.

"On this project, which is almost finished, nothing will be announced without close Franco-German coordination," Macron said. "What we want is to continue to work together on a more sovereign European energy strategy."

Nord Stream, led by Russia's Gazprom PJSC, has been sanctioned by the U.S. and has sparked concerns that the direct gas link poses geopolitical risks by increasing German dependence on Russian energy and bypassing Ukraine.

Read alsoFrench government calls on Germany to halt Nord Stream 2The Kremlin stoked further tension on Friday by ordering diplomats from Germany, Poland and Sweden to leave the country over their "recorded participation" in protests against the jailing of opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Both leaders strongly condemned the action, but vowed to maintain diplomatic ties with Moscow.

Germany and France want "to be able to have a strategic discussion with Russia which is demanding especially in the area of energy," Macron said.

The French president has been critical of Nord Stream in the past. Earlier this week, the rift appeared to deepen, when his Junior European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune said his country has the "greatest doubts" about the project.

Despite the latest incident, Merkel on Friday stuck to her stance that Nord Stream should be completed, because it's an energy issue and unrelated to the current political turbulence.

"We talked about the different roles of different energy sources," the German chancellor said. "France has more nuclear energy, so that the role of gas is not as important as for Germany."

Under Merkel, Europe's largest economy is phasing out coal and nuclear energy at the same time, increasing demand for gas until the country can ramp up renewable sources.

She said France and Germany were united in opposing U.S. sanctions on the project and that they intended to raise the issue with the Biden administration.

"What concerns both governments  of course we'll enter into talks with this administration  but solving political differences over extraterritorial sanctions. I also don't consider this a good approach," she said.

Germany doesn't expect new U.S. sanctions to come into effect on Feb. 14 as initially planned, according to a German officials, who asked not to be identified because the talks are confidential. Berlin is increasingly optimistic that the new U.S. administration will be less confrontational on Nord Stream than Donald Trump, the people said.

"So maybe the differences aren't as big as they may appear," Merkel said. "But the fact that this is a controversial project being discussed in Europe is clear."

Other related news reports

Reporting by UNIAN

Africas most populous country, Nigeria, will not be receiving the Pfizer and BioNTech approved COVID-19 vaccines due to its inability to meet the standard requirement of storing the vaccines.

Nigeria had said it would receive about 100,000 of the vaccines before the end of February.

The Regional Director of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Matshidiso Moeti, while speaking at a press briefing on COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Africa, on Thursday, said only four out of 13 interested African countries were shortlisted to receive the vaccines through COVAX, a co-financing public-private facility.

Ms Moeti said the countries are Cabo Verde, Rwanda, South Africa & Tunisia. They were picked following evaluations by a multi-agency committee based on current mortality rates, new cases and trends, and the capacity to handle the ultra-cold chain needs of the vaccine.

In addition, around 320,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been allocated to four African countries: Cabo Verde, Rwanda, South Africa & Tunisia, Ms Moeti said.

Deliveries are also expected later in February.

She, however, said countries that failed to make the Pfizer list could get the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine later in the month.

Nearly 90 million of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine could start arriving on the continent later this month. This is subject to the WHO listing the vaccine for emergency use, Ms Moeti said.

COVAX

Most African countries, including Nigeria, are banking on benefitting from the COVAX programme, which was set up to divide over a billion doses of vaccines across 92 low-and middle-income countries.

The facility promised access to vaccines for up to 20 per cent of participating countries population with an initial supply beginning in the first quarter of the year to immunise three per cent of their populations.

The #COVAX Facility is aiming to reach at least 20 per cent of Africans, which will require delivery of up to 600 million doses this year, Ms Moeti said.

Through the COVAX initiative, the Nigerian government had in December announced that it would receive an initial 100,000 doses of the Pfizer and bioNtech vaccines by January. It later announced that the vaccines will no longer arrive until February.

Barely five days ago, a government official said Nigeria will no longer receive the Pfizer vaccines but will receive 16 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines before the end of February.

This will replace the earlier communicated 100,000 doses of Pfizer mRNA vaccine, which was grossly inadequate, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, said at a briefing.

With over 137,000 cases of COVID-19, Nigeria has the sixth highest cases in the African continent. Only South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Ethiopia have higher cases than Nigeria.

While South Africa which has the highest rates in the continent has already received one million doses of the Oxford- AstraZeneca vaccines, Nigeria is yet to receive any of the approved vaccines.

Nigerias health minister, Osagie Ehanire, said the country is experiencing a delay in receiving the first batch of vaccines because the manufacturers are yet to decide on when to deploy the vaccines.

He, however, said the roll-out of the vaccines will begin this February.

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Adequate Storage facility

Several global health experts and bodies told PREMIUM TIMES late December, 2020 that it is almost impossible for Nigeria to start receiving vaccines in January.

A check by this newspaper in December 2020 also showed that the countrys National Strategic Cold Store does not have the capacity to effectively store the vaccines.

The facility houses 11 walk-in cold room refrigerators and four walk-in freezer rooms.

But there were no ultra-cold freezers much needed to store some of the frontrunners such as the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, according to Iyabo Daradara, Director, Logistics and Health Commodities at NPHCDA.

Nigeria recently acquired three ultra-cold freezers which Mr Shuaib described as enough capacity needed to store doses of the Pfizer vaccines earlier expected.

Each of this ultra-cold freezer has 700 litres capacity, that is a total of 2,100 capacity. The requirement for the 100,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines that will be available by the end of January/February is 500 litres, so we have enough capacity for the 100,000 doses, Mr Shuaib, said while addressing PREMIUM TIMES and other journalists at the facility.

Mr Shuaib also said the plan is not to over-invest in the expensive ultra cold chain equipment given that other vaccines can be kept between + 2 and + 8 degree Celsius.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which has 70 per cent efficacy, offers the best possibility for distribution in Nigeria because the temperature required is not as low as the Pfizer vaccine and manufacturers can produce it at a lower price.

However, both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines induce immunity but in different ways, an analysis by The Conversation Africa, an online news site, shows.

They both deliver the instructions for how to make a target on the virus for our immune system to recognise the spike protein.

The Pfizer vaccine packages the instructions up in a droplet of fat, while the AstraZeneca vaccine packages the instructions up in the shell of a virus, the adenovirus.
ABO Wind Ireland are seeking planning permission to develop a wind farm consisting of five wind turbines at Kilranelagh Hill north of Baltinglass. Stock image

An application to develop a wind farm at Kilranelagh Hill has been lodged with Wicklow County Council.

ABO Wind Ireland Ltd have applied for permission to construct five 165m wind turbines at Kilranelagh Hill, outside Baltinglass. Their application was re-submitted and validated by Wicklow County Council's planning section. An application submitted last month was deemed incomplete by the local authority.

The application covers a site in the townlands of Kilranelagh, Colvinstown Upper, Ballinaroan Upper, Bolleycarrigeen, Cloghnagaune, Downings, Spinans West, Kill, Eadenstown South, Eadestown Middle, Ballintruer More, Castleruddery Lower and Castleruddery Upper. Permission for a period of ten years is being sought by the developer.

The project includes the construction of five wind turbines with a maximum blade tip height of 165m, a transformer at each turbine, an electrical substation, underground cabling along the public roads to facilitate the connection of the wind farm substation to the existing Stratford substation and other associated site works.

Permission is also to be sought for a 1km heritage trail, car parking, replacement of the existing grass verge with a footway at several bridge crossings and other associated site works.

The proposal has been the focus of sustained local opposition since the wind farm developer announced proposals last year to develop a wind farm in the area. Many of those opposed to the development have focused on the archaeological features on the site, with some arguing these make the area unsuitable as a possible location for a wind farm.

Councillors unanimously agreed at the January meeting of the Baltinglass Municipal District to make a joint submission about the proposed development. During the discussion, some raised concerns about how a public consultation with the local community could be carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In response to queries from this paper, a spokeperson for ABO Wind Ireland Ltd said consultations with the local community had started in January 2020 when the project team went door to door at neighours of the site who were given a newsletter, They were invited to attend a forest walk in February 2020, in which 20 local residents took part.

The spokeperson said emails were also sent to key community groups and clubs, primarily in the Kiltegan and Baltinglass areas, which had been identified through a 'stakeholder mapping exercise'. Members of the Baltinglass Municipal District were also contacted and invited to discuss the proposals or to attend the forest walk.

'We did not receive a response from the councillors on either of these occasions. The councillors were further made aware of ABO Wind Ireland intentions to submit the planning application in January 2021,' the spokespoerson added.

They added that plans to hold drop-in consultation events in Baltinglass and Kiltegan last April could not go ahead due to Covid-19. Instead, a newsletter was delivered to around 1,400 household within 5km of the project in May and emailed to a mailing list including councillors, local residents and community groups.

'People were encouraged to get in contact via letter, phone, email or to have a virtual meeting. Another project update newsletter was published in late September 2020 which gave an update on the progress of the planning application,' the spokesperson said.

They added the project website was updated last month to stated that the planning application would be submitted and notification was emailed to those on the mailing list.

The ABO Wind Ireland spokeperson pointed out that the planning application had now been submitted and validated by the local authority and was available to view using Wicklow County Council's planning portal. They added that the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage had deemed the planning system to be an essential service.

Wicklow County Council is expected to make a decision on the application by March 23.




Barack and Michelle Obama's production company announced six new projects in development for Netflix, Friday, including a love story with a supernatural twist and a young adult thriller.







The former president and first lady's Higher Ground Productions will adapt British-Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid's novel "Exit West" into a film, according to a statement from Netflix. The book tells the story of a young couple who find magical doors to transport them to other places and land in the middle of a global refugee crisis.







Other film projects include a science-fiction movie, "Satellite," which will be produced with T Street, a production company run by "Star Wars" director Rian Johnson and producer Ram Bergman. Another is "Tenzing," the story of the Nepalese-Indian man who first reached the summit of Mount Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand.







"The Young Wife" is a feature film that follows a woman on the day of her wedding who feels out of sync as a storm approaches.







The company is also developing two TV series. "Firekeeper'sDaughter" is a thriller based on a young adult novel by Angeline Boulley about an 18-year-old Ojibwe tribe member who reluctantly goes undercover in a police investigation on her reservation.







The other series is a nature documentary about national parks.







Netflix said the projects will be released over the next few years but did not give exact dates.







The Obamas signed a multiyear production deal with Netflix in 2018. Their earlier Netflix projects include "American Factory," which won an Oscar in 2020 for best documentary. (Reuters)


There is an urgent need for guidelines on how schools can use ventilation to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in the classroom, according to doctors at Imperial College London and the headteacher of a secondary school in Pinner, Middlesex. In a commentary published by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, the authors say that improving air quality in classroom spaces should be as important as following government advice regarding social distancing, mask-wearing and hand washing.

The authors point to lessons from the airline industry, where the risk of contracting COVID-19 on a flight is currently lower than from an office building or a classroom. Lead author Dr Kaveh Asanati, Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer in occupational lung disease at the National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, said: "The multi-layer risk reduction strategy used in the aviation industry seems to have been working efficiently. The strategy includes testing passengers, the use of face coverings or masks, hygiene measures and, more importantly, maintaining clean air by circulating a mix of fresh air and recycled air through High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters."

Few school buildings have HEPA filtration but a potential practical option for schools would, according to the authors, be the use of portable HEPA filtration units. They say that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends for healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic to consider the addition of these units to augment air quality in areas when permanent air-handling systems are not a feasible option. The authors go on to describe a study in a hospital room of COVID-19 patients, where the researchers were able to detect SARS-CoV-2 in aerosols, only when they used the air samplers without a HEPA filter on the inlet tube.

Dr Asanati said: "To keep schools open, there is an urgent need to implement more effective on-site mitigation strategies, with particular attention to ventilation and testing. In addition, it is essential that teachers and other school staff should be added to the priority list for vaccination."

The authors say a feasibility study of implementing better ventilation and filtration systems in schools is needed, as well as some pilot work and research involving indoor air quality and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) experts. Until then, they write, keeping doors and windows open - for as much as is reasonably practicable - seems to be the best way forward.

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The Victorian state government says it is now in conversations with the World Surfing League to ensure Bells Beach receives the coveted Easter long weekend spot next year at the Rip Curl Pro surfing tournament.

It comes after the opening event of the series was shifted to Newcastles Merewether Beach for the first time in 60 years, due to what organisers claim was issues with quarantining international competitors in Victoria.

Stephanie Gilmore at the Rip Curl Womens Pro at Bells Beach in 2018. Credit:WSL

General manager of the World Surfing League Andrew Stark that the only way to get the international surfers into the country was through NSW.

We obviously love Bells Beach, we love that event. But the first event this year, due to the pandemic and the challenging circumstances, has to happen in NSW because thats where the charters landing, he told The Today Show on Sunday.

Its a tough decision happening in global sport right now but weve just got stay alive and keep the tour alive.

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Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said he wasnt aware of the details of what difference the NSW government offered organisers compared to Victoria, but said Sport and Major Events Minister Martin Pakula is currently in talks to have the first instalment of the series return to Bells Beach next year.

As I understand it Mr Pakula and his team are working through those issues to make sure that in 2022, the Rip Curl Pro returns to its traditional home, he told reporters on Sunday morning.

But Victorian opposition leader Michael OBrien said the state governments dithering has let NSW swoop and grab the coveted Easter slot for the tournament, due to take place on April 1-11.

Major events are vital to Victorias economy and our confidence, he said in a post on Facebook.

This isnt just a blow to jobs on the Surf Coast, its a blow to our claim as the major events capital of Australia.

By Tony Perman

Hope is a powerful thing; but, like all powerful things, it has a dark side. It can be misunderstood, exploited and weaponized. I tried to teach this basic truth to my students during my class this fall called Songs of Hope, but I dont think I really understood it until the end. That is when I realized how much Id gotten to experience one of the secret joys of teaching: learning more from my students than the texts I assign them. Theyve helped me embrace the reality that hope is about the future; more specifically, its about using ones fear instead of ignoring it, accepting the traumas of the past to shape a less traumatic future. My students also taught me that its not enough to realize hopes own aspirations and escape the dangers of mere wishful thinking. Hope is a call to action. Rather than accepting a status quo that has exposed its own reliance on entrenched social and racial inequality, hope generates courage.

A frustrated first-year college student is an unexpected source for lessons in courage.

Often marked as carriers of disease and social irresponsibility, college students have become a maligned bunch in many COVID contexts these days, so often blamed for spikes in cases and the spread from campuses to communities, described as getting townies sick. Until vaccines arrived, The New York Times coronavirus tracker had three maps on their homepage: U.S. hot spots on the left, worldwide cases on the right and, tucked in between, college cases. Campuses throughout the country have wrestled all fall with whether to allow students to come or to keep them at home, and how to survive both medically and financially. In many situations, such as those in Michigan State, Texas Tech, Iowa State and elsewhere, outbreaks of the virus were pinned on the students.

There have been numerous pieces pointing to college students for viral outbreaks. Im not interested in piling on to that narrative. Instead, I want to celebrate those students who not only rose to the challenge of pandemic pedagogy and gave me hope for the future but taught me the necessity of hope.

Hope is a call to action. Rather than accepting a status quo that has exposed its own reliance on entrenched social and racial inequality, hope generates courage. -Tony Perman

The deck seemed stacked against my students success as we began classes in the fall in our own inspirational hall of learning  not some Victorian-era stone hall or a cutting-edge classroom, but alone in our respective bedrooms and kitchens tethered via WebEx. Most of these students were denied the transformative rite of passage that is high school graduation, many watched as their friends went off to reside on campuses risking in-person instruction and some ended up on campus for circumstances beyond their control only to live alone in a town with no connections and a dorm with virtually no residents. They all seemed either stifled by a home life they thought theyd earned the right to flee or the solitude of isolation that is anathema to the thriving of the teenage brain. When I think back to my own first college semester, during the final throes of the first Bush administration, I remember awkward ice-breakers, collective music-making, learning to navigate the social waters of hundreds of eighteen-year-olds drinking, flirting and conversing and, eventually, my classes. By the time I graduated, those initial classes seemed like interruptions on my collegiate social education. Many of my students had taken to the streets over the summer in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and in support of George Floyd before their anticipated campus arrival. But they were suddenly stuck at home, and class on a computer with disembodied strangers was all they had.

And yet, they thrived. It was the first class Ive ever offered with perfect attendance. The most a student was late all term was five minutes. After cutting back on readings and assignments for fear of overwhelming students in a time of such uncertainty, some of them asked for more! They wanted more online fora where they could communicate about class material with one another outside of class. When I made space for the students to choose the topics of the class and the readings for discussion, they embraced the opportunity to talk about race, social justice and the psychological implications of their own unexpected solitude.

After succumbing to the anxieties and realities of the burgeoning pandemic in its early days, I needed hope. Watching neighbors ignore health guidelines and politicians twist a health crisis into an opportunity for partisan grand-standing, hope was in short supply. I assigned students what I needed to hear. We read Ernst Bloch to absorb the lesson that hope is the key to finding a sense of purpose. We listened to Cornel West tell us that hope is about doing and acting in a quest for honesty, courage and magnanimity. We read psychologists like Barbara Fredrickson explain how unique hope is, a positive emotion that primarily emerges from struggle, trauma and fear. Those certainly werent in short supply.

By the end of the class, Id stopped talking as much as possible. Instead of sharing the lessons of philosophy and anthropology, I took in the lessons of youth. Whenever dreams of racial justice became too aspirational and naive, a student would remind us of the violence of oppression and the emotional burdens it leaves behind in her own community. Whenever COVID exhaustion led us to wax nostalgic about the old status quo, another student would offer his own hope that we could use this opportunity to shape a new social order built on the lessons of 2020. I may have entered our class with the professorial hubris of shaping young minds but exited it with the civic humility to open my ears to the experiences around me and put my own emerging hope into action.

I dont know yet what form this embodied hope Ive learned from my students will take, but I know that now is not simply the time to hope for the best when it comes to their lives as new college students. As committed as they were to their education, they need all the other aspects of life that provide a healthy, social sense of humanity. Now, what can I as an educator do, not to prevent them from doing harm, but to enable them to take the lead? Rather than being mere burdens on over-taxed healthcare systems, or resources in an increasingly dire financial shell game in higher education desperate for tuition and housing dollars, students are the surest thing we have to shape a humane future.

By the end of the class, Id stopped talking as much as possible. Instead of sharing the lessons of philosophy and anthropology, I took in the lessons of youth. -Tony Perman

James Baldwin points out that hope is invented every day. Our class is over now and has already slipped into the rearview mirror as new challenges and expectations vie for our attention. Complacency is so comfortable but crafting a just and joyous future is a project of hope. Rather than the aspirational passivity of wishful thinking, hope is the active choice to be courageous in the face of long odds without sugarcoating the past or neglecting the present.

2020 provided a seemingly endless barrage of crises in which cynicism and despair flourished without the expectations to overcome them. I find myself clutching at hopeful possibilities that provide the nourishment of a desert mirage. To have found the kind of hope that encourages personal responsibility, courage and sacrifice as much as it does optimism for whats to come through my students is an unexpected surprise. Its up to me now to take their example and rise to the challenge of 2021 with ears wide open.

Tony Perman is an associate professor of music at Grinnell College.
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said that everyone, who sought a dialogue with Russia, was in favor of the defeat of Ukraine, according to the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

"You are not for dialogue, you are for defeat, for surrendering the interests of Ukraine. Go as slaves, we will not go with you," the press service citing Avakov on the air of the Freedom of Speech program on ICTV on Friday evening.

He is convinced that by banning pro-Russian channels, Ukraine has begun liberating its territories, including Crimea.

In turn, member of the parliamentary faction Opposition Platform - For Life Oleh Voloshyn said that the military conflict with Russia should be ended through dialogue.

"Our party stands for the end of the war through dialogue with Russia. We have such a position. In a democratic country, all positions have the right to exist and to be voiced on the air. We stand for dialogue with Russia in order to negotiate on Ukrainian terms," Voloshyn said.
Kirkwood, N.Y.  Two people were killed Friday night when two vehicles, one of which was heading the wrong way, crashed head-on on State Route 17 near Binghamton.

State police were called to the crash in the town of Kirkwood around 11:20 p.m.

Police say a 50-year-old man from Halstead, Pennsylvania was driving a 2011 Kia Sorento west in the eastbound lanes of the highway. He then struck a 2005 GMC Yukon head-on.

A 27-year-old Windsor woman was driving the Yukon. A 29-year-old man, also of Windsor, was in the front passengers seat, while three childrenages 1, 3 and 4were in the backseat.

Police said the driver of the Yukon tried avoiding the oncoming SUV, but was unable to and the two vehicles crashed. The crash caused the Sorento to roll over, throwing the driver from the vehicle.

The Yukon spun and struck a guardrail. While the front-seat passenger of the Yukon was able to get himself and the three children out of the vehicle, firefighters had to extricate the driver.

An off-duty healthcare worker tended to the ejected Sorento driver until ambulance crews arrived, police said.

Both drivers were both rushed to UHS Wilson Medical Center in Johnson City, where they later died.

The 3- and 4-year-old children suffered bleeding to the head and face, while the adult passenger and 1-year-old child were not injured, police said.

Debris from the crash struck a third vehicle, a 2017 Hyundai Elantra. The driver of the Elantra was not injured, police said.

Police have not yet released the names of those involved in the crash, pending family notification.

The crash remains under investigation.

Contact Jacob Pucci at jpucci@syracuse.com or find him on Twitter at @JacobPucci.


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Samsung said it was considering multiple locations for the new chip plant, Austin among them

Electronics giant Samsung is considering the US state of Texas as a possible location for a new $17 billion chip-making plant, according to filings with state officials.

The project would involve building a huge new semiconductor factory on a 640-acre site in the city of Austin already owned by Samsung, and result in the creation of at least 1,800 high-paying jobs, documents available on Friday indicated.

A Samsung subsidiary cautioned in the filings that the project is "highly competitive" and that the company is also considering sites in Arizona, New York, and in South Korea, where its parent company is based.

If Austin is selected, construction would likely begin by the middle of this year and be operating by the end of 2023, according to Samsung.

"Because of its strong ties to the local community and the successful past 25 years of manufacturing in Texas, Samsung Austin Semiconductor would like to continue to invest in the city and the state," the company said in filings.

Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest smartphone and memory chip maker, recently reported fourth-quarter net profits were up by more than a quarter year-on-year with coronavirus-driven working from home boosting demand for devices powered by its chips.

It said profits were lifted by its display and memory chip businesses.

The global chip-manufacturing industry is expected to see record revenue this year, with the stay-at-home economy persisting because of the pandemic, according to Taipei-based market tracker TrendForce.

Samsung has aggressively stepped up its investments in semiconductors in recent years.

While US-based Intel remains one of the world's leading chip companies, it has lagged behind rivals in the fast-growing segment of mobile devices, and its chips are being phased out by Apple, which is developing its own microprocessors for its Mac computers.

Explore further Samsung Electronics profit spikes on pandemic-driven demand

 2021 AFP

Like other prominent liberals in her profession, Ms. Kaplan had long considered defamation suits a way for the wealthy and powerful to try to silence their critics. Last year, Mr. Trumps campaign sued multiple news organizations for coverage that the president deemed unfavorable or unfair. The technology billionaire Peter Thiel bankrolled Hulk Hogans suit against the gossip blog Gawker that ultimately bankrupted the business.

Whats changed, Ms. Kaplan said, and weve all seen it happen before our eyes, is the fact that so many people out there, including people in positions of authority, are just willing to say anything, regardless of whether it has any relationship to the truth or not.

Some First Amendment lawyers say that an axiom  the best antidote to bad speech is more speech  may no longer apply in a media landscape where misinformation can flood public discourse via countless channels, from cable news to the Facebook pages of family and friends.

This shouldnt be the way to govern speech in our country, Ms. Kaplan said. Its not an efficient or productive way to promote truth-telling or quality journalistic standards through litigating in court. But I think its gotten to the point where the problem is so bad right now theres virtually no other way to do it.

Mr. Trumps rise was an inextricable part of this shift. His popularity boosted the profits and power of the right-wing commentators and media outlets that defended him. In November, when Mr. Trump cast doubt on the outcome of the presidential election despite no credible evidence, it made commercial and editorial sense for his media allies to follow his lead.

The Newsmax anchor Greg Kelly refused to accept Joseph R. Biden Jr. as president-elect and was rewarded with a surge in ratings. Fox News was more cautious  the network declared Mr. Biden the next president on Nov. 7  but some Fox stars, including Mr. Dobbs, Ms. Bartiromo and Ms. Pirro, offered significant airtime to his lawyers, Mr. Giuliani and Ms. Powell, and others who pushed the outlandish election-fraud narrative.
VANCOUVER - A Dutch man accused of extorting and harassing British Columbia teenager Amanda Todd has been extradited to Canada, more than eight years after her suicide drew global headlines.

Candles are seen in front of a picture of Amanda Todd during a memorial for her in Surrey, B.C., Friday, Oct. 19, 2012. A Dutch man accused of extorting and harassing Todd, who ultimately killed herself, has been extradited to Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

VANCOUVER - A Dutch man accused of extorting and harassing British Columbia teenager Amanda Todd has been extradited to Canada, more than eight years after her suicide drew global headlines.

The B.C. Prosecution Service said Friday that Aydin Coban is in custody and made his first appearance in a courtroom in the province on Dec. 8.

Coban is charged with extortion, criminal harassment, communication with a young person to commit a sexual offence and two counts of possession of child pornography.

Todd's mother, Carol Todd, said she felt a "shock" to her system when she learned on Dec. 7 that Coban's plane was landing in Canada.

"I was fearful that it would never happen, because of what the pandemic did to the world," she said. "It actually brought me back emotionally to October of 2012."

That was the month when Todd, 15, killed herself. Shortly before her death, she posted a YouTube video in which she silently used handwritten notes to describe the online torment she had faced.

In the video, she said she was in Grade 7 when she was asked to expose her breasts during an online chat. She said she received a Facebook message from a man a year later threatening that if she didn't "put on a show" for him, he would send the webcam picture to her friends and family.

Her story spurred a national conversation about online harassment and sexual exploitation. Todd's case and others prompted the Canadian government to introduce legislation that criminalized the distribution of intimate images without the person's consent.

Coban has not entered any pleas to the charges and his next appearance is Feb. 12 in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster for a pre-trial conference, the prosecution service said.

His Amsterdam-based lawyer, Robert Malewicz, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Coban has previously denied the allegations against him.

In 2015, one year after RCMP initially announced charges against him while he was awaiting trial in the Netherlands on a separate matter, Coban penned an open letter professing his innocence.

"I'm not the so-called tormentor of Miss Amanda Todd or of anyone else for that matter. I've been in jail exactly a year now for things I haven't done," he wrote.

In 2017, Coban was convicted by a Dutch court and sentenced to nearly 11 years in prison for online fraud and blackmail of 34 young women and five men.

A Dutch court approved his extradition to Canada shortly afterward.

Carol Todd went to Amsterdam in February 2017 so that she could see Coban face-to-face at his trial there. She described it as a "surreal" moment, and said it prepared her somewhat for seeing him at his trial here.

The mother has become an advocate against online exploitation and she said her daughter's story lives on through social media in order to help others.

"I am just blessed that (the extradition) has happened and that Amanda's voice can still be heard, and it'll bring another chapter to her story."

 With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2021.
Beneficiaries of the Resettlement City Project of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), have commended President Muhammadu Buhari and the Commission for lifting their lives, through the initiative.

Some of the beneficiaries, who spoke during the ground-breaking ceremony of the project at Amarwa Village in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State recently, said they have lived in displaced persons' camps for almost a decade.

Ramatu Abu, one of the displaced widows said, her husband was killed in an attack by insurgents in 2012 and she has been at the displaced persons' camp since then with her four children.

"My husband was killed in an attack many years ago and he left me with four children, the eldest is 17 years now and I have been the one catering for them in this camp since then. I have totally forgotten what a proper shelter feels like, it will be a dream come true to settle in one of these houses. May Allah blesses the President and the commission for help", Ramatu added.

Also read: Boko Haram attacks Borno community with hundreds of newly relocated IDPs

Another displaced person, Madu Ibrahim, 45, said, he has been jumping from one camp to another for seven years after the insurgents attacked his village and left with his wife.

"My village was attacked 7 years ago and they kidnapped my wife, I have been jumping from one camp to another with my children; all five boys. I am now their father and their mother. Most times, I sleep outside in the cold, so the tent will be enough for them", he lamented.

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"I can't thank the President and the commission enough for this wonderful project, it will be the happiest moments for us all, to go back to our homes and earn a living for ourselves", he concluded.

On her part, Fatimata Muhammad said, it will be a dream come true for her and her family to go back to their lives of dignity, staying in a house and catering for themselves.

"I have lived in one of these camps for 6 years with my husband and eight children, I am happy the govt has come to our aid now. It is my prayers that we all live to see the day these houses will be completed", she added.

The Chairman of Kawar Maila camp, Inusa Buba, who spoke on behalf of the displaced persons of the camp, also commended the commission for the project and added that giving them shelter will be the biggest contribution to their lives as displaced persons.

He then thanked the president for showing continuous care and concern to the displaced persons in Borno state and Nigeria as a whole.
TWO men have been shot in a paramilitary style attack in Derry.

The double shooting happened in the Rinmore area of Creggan at around 7pm.

Emergency services were called to an alleyway where the men are understood to have suffered gunshot wounds to their legs.

The victims - who local sources say are related - were taken to hospital for treatment to their injuries. Their conditions are unknown.

It's believed one of the injured had attempted to crawl some distance to raise the alarm.

Politicians and community representatives have condemned those responsible.

Derry and Strabane District councillor Emmet Doyle said: "If this is revealed to be a punishment type shooting, the people behind it ought to be ashamed.

"Apart from being wholly unacceptable, we know our health service is dealing with a pandemic and don't need this extra pressure."

Writing on Twitter, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said: "Utterly depressing that we've had a double shooting in Derry tonight.

"Our hospital has enough to deal with at this time.

"We don't want the law of the jungle in our city. Get off our backs."
Then-Assemblywoman Claudia Tenney speaks during a news conference at the Capitol, in Albany, N.Y., on June 10, 2015. (Mike Groll/AP Photo)

Claudia Tenney Will Be Certified Winner of Last Open House Race: Judge

Republican Claudia Tenney will be declared the winner of the last undecided House of Representatives race this election cycle, a judge ruled Friday.

Tenney ran against incumbent Democrat Anthony Brindisi to represent New Yorks 22nd Congressional District.

New York Supreme Court Justice Scott DelConte said that all local boards of elections have certified their results, apart from the Oneida County Board of Elections, and granted a motion by Tenney to order final certification of the election results by the county and the state boards of elections.

Tenney will be certified the winner by 109 votes.

Im honored to have won this race. It was a hard-fought campaign and I thank Anthony Brindisi for his service. Now that every legal vote has been counted, its time for the results to be certified, Tenney said in a statement.

Brindisi said he was shocked and surprised and called for a full audit and hand recount.

With the margin so thin, the ever-changing tally, and the countless errors that have occurred arriving at todays final number we cant afford to wonder here. We have to get it right. Because this is not a raffle, this is a congressional election, he said.

The race was fraught with legal challenges, as both candidates asked the court to intervene shortly after polls closed on Election Day. The court heard testimony from 19 witnesses, received over 1,800 exhibits, and resolved nearly 1,200 ballot challenges. The judge found that 1,093 valid ballots were improperly rejected by Oneida County officials and that another 46 valid ballots were misplaced in Broome and Chenango counties.

Former Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D-N.Y.) and Claudia Tenney in file photographs. (U.S. House of Representatives; Claudia Tenneys campaign)

The judge took aim at local election boards, criticizing them for what he described as systemic violations of state and federal election law. In an egregious example, he said Oneida County prevented more than 2,400 voters from voting because officials failed to process applications through the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The only claim of voter fraud was rejected.

As a result of this special proceeding, every single valid vote that was cast  has been accounted for, and counted, DelConte said in his ruling.

He said that a stay would be entirely ineffective and asserted Brindisi didnt establish the prospect of irreparable harm.

The certification doesnt preclude Brindisis planned appeal and he could eventually be seated, the judge said. Tenney, once certified the winner, will need to be seated by the House, which is controlled by Democrats.

House Democrats were mulling convening a panel to decide on seating Tenney and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, an Iowa Republican who won a House race by six votes. Miller-Meeks was provisionally seated last month as lawmakers continue weighing whether to intervene.

If Tenney is seated, the Democrats majority would dwindle to 221-212.

It only took 94 days, but Claudia Tenney has finally been declared the winner in #NY22. Its about time, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said in a tweet. Thats the 15th House seat that Republicans flipped, and she joins 18 other women to set the record for our largest female freshman class ever.
Posted Friday, February 5, 2021 5:24 pm

Homeless shelters would be located in many cities and counties and supplied with mental health, employment and police resources if a bill under consideration in the state Legislature is adopted.

Sen. Phil Fortunato, R-Auburn, sponsored Senate Bill 5107 to incentivize local governments to provide both emergency housing and social services for vulnerable unhoused populations.

The bill would mandate counties and cities with more than 50,000 residents to establish at least one emergency overnight shelter and ensure enough beds for the sheltered and unsheltered homeless population. The law would also force these shelters to ban possession or use of alcohol and unprescribed drugs on the premises and to have a police presence during operating hours.

At the hearing, more than 400 people signed in as opposed to the bill. Opponents told the Senate Housing & Local Government Committee Feb. 3 the law would cost too much and place unnecessary burdens on people who experience homelessness.

Fortunato said the bill would not criminalize homelessness, but provide opportunities for people to move their way out of it.

To me it is not compassionate to have people sleeping in cardboard boxes and on sides of roads, in campgrounds and public parks, disrupting the use of that public facility for other members of the community, Fortunato said. So, that's the intent of the bill.

The Washington Housing Trust Fund program would likely serve as these shelters main source of funding, according to the bills text. Tedd Kelleher, senior managing director at the Washington State Department of Commerce, said reliance on the HTF would not cover the costs of these new standards.

When we look at local government finances, they don't have the current resources or taxing authority to fund shelter at the scale of this proposal, even if they aggressively reallocated resources, Kelleher said.

Others testified against parts of the bill that would ban the use or possession of drugs and alcohol in the shelter. David Moser, a professor of social work at Seattle University and frontline shelter worker, said substance misuse is a complicated issue and a ban would only deter people from seeking shelter.

For a shelter to work as an alternative to the streets, it needs to be low-barrier and accessible and welcoming to everyone, not just those who are deemed worthy, Moser said.

The police presence at emergency shelters was also contested by many commenters, who told the committee distrust in the police would also keep people from spending the night in these shelters.

Dan Wise, director of homeless services at Catholic Community Services of King County, said police presence would put people in poverty under the direct scrutiny of law enforcement, which would further hurt communities disproportionately affected by homelessness, substance use disorders and police violence.

An uneven number of people of color are homeless, and those communities also experience systemic racism, Wise said.

We cannot say that you can disconnect one from the other and dictate a police presence in a shelter and expect that people will access that resource, Wise added.

Fortunato clarified that police would serve to increase security, not to grill anybody or charge them with some criminal charge. However, he said he would reevaluate the police presence in the bill.

Yael-Sophia Spinoza of Chop Shop Economics told the committee the bill would stigmatize poor and homeless people without helping them find permanent housing.

All in all, this is not a solution to housing, she said. If you want a solution to housing, you must impose a rent moratorium, forgive rent for all renters in Washington, and have a housing-first policy.
The Orange Order has said the Northern Ireland protocol must be scrapped immediately and it won't allow the local economy "to be reorientated towards Dublin in order to facilitate a united Ireland by stealth".

Its statement came as the DUP's online petition secured the 100,000 signatures needed to secure a parliamentary debate on triggering Article 16.

"Yes, we did it," said Arlene Foster. "That's people power and politics in action together."

The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland said it had met with all the unionist parties and was encouraged by the "unanimity of purpose shown" in recent days.

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It said the protocol must be binned immediately.

"There can be no tweaking around the edges, or kicking this issue down the road in the hope that we learn to live with it - the protocol is fundamentally flawed and must go now," it said.

"Any border in the Irish Sea which requires paperwork or checks of any kind on products destined for use in Northern Ireland is totally unacceptable.

"We will not allow the economy of Northern Ireland to be reorientated towards Dublin in order to facilitate a united Ireland by stealth."

The Grand Lodge said the Protocol must be challenged "through peaceful and sustained political pressure".

It added: "We support the first steps that all unionists parties are taking in applying political pressure and await further sanctions and actions as required.

"We understand that each political party has a different role to play and that they will advocate different tactics on how best to remove the protocol.

"However, each assured Grand Lodge officers that they recognise that this issue is too important to play party politics with."

The Orange Order called on London to vigorously challenge Dublin. "The Republic of Ireland's Foreign Affairs Minister, Simon Coveney has declared, 'The protocol is not going to be scrapped.'

"We call on our Prime Minister Boris Johnson - who has repeatedly reassured us that he is a unionist - to exercise the UK's newly recovered sovereignty by robustly responding on behalf of his fellow unionists in Northern Ireland by evoking Article 16 immediately."

Arlene Foster hailed the success of the online petition.

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"Whilst we have reached the 100,000 trigger, I encourage people throughout Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK to keep signing and keep registering support for our campaign to free us from the protocol," she said.

"The people have made a very public appeal to the government of their country to act.

"This is not the time for more words and drawn-out processes. This time for affirmative action to ensure that there is an unfettered flow of goods within the UK single market."

TUV leader Jim Allister said: "There must be no weakening in resolve or straying into the bypath meadow of easements and extended grace periods.

"TUV has no interest in salvaging or patching up a protocol which is so fundamentally incompatible with British sovereignty and our constitutional position.

"Of course, there are huge adverse economic consequences with the protocol but for me the overriding issue is constitutional. Thus grace periods to help bed it in is nothing more than palliative care for the demise of the Union."

The European Commission has said it is exploring all "flexibilities" available within the protocol.
TORONTO - Ontario will begin to gradually reopen its economy next week, starting with regions that have fewer COVID-19 cases, The Canadian Press has learned.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford leaves a media availability at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. Ontario will begin to gradually reopen its economy next week, starting with regions that have lower rates of COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

TORONTO - Ontario will begin to gradually reopen its economy next week, starting with regions that have fewer COVID-19 cases, The Canadian Press has learned.

Premier Doug Ford is expected to announce Monday that the state of emergency declared last month will be allowed to expire as scheduled on Feb. 9, said a senior government source with knowledge of the decision.

According to the plan, the province will have an emergency brake in place to allow the government to quickly move a region into lockdown if it "experiences a rapid acceleration in COVID-19 transmission or if the health-care system becomes overwhelmed."

The measure is meant to help deal with the risk posed by new variants of COVID-19, said the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

The current stay-at-home order will remain in place in much of the province until each region transitions back into a colour-coded framework that allows the province to rank health units based on case numbers and trends.

The phased reopening of the economy will start in four regions where transmission of the virus is low.

Health units in Hastings Prince Edward, Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington, Renfrew County, and Timiskaming are expected to move into the least-restrictive green zone on Wednesday, which means restaurants and non-essential businesses can reopen.

On the week of Feb. 15, all remaining regions except three hot spots in the Greater Toronto Area are set to move to the framework based on their local case rates.

Toronto, Peel Region and York Region are expected to be the last to make that transition on the week of Feb. 22, but the source said any sudden increase in cases could delay that plan.

A provincial lockdown was imposed in late December and was followed by the state of emergency and a stay-at-home order that took effect Jan. 14 as COVID-19 rates surged.

While cases have since declined, public health officials have said the spread of more contagious variants of COVID-19 are a concern.

Ontario's chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, has said he would like to see daily cases drop below 1,000 and the number of patients with COVID-19 in hospital intensive care units below 150 before lifting restrictions.

Ontario reported 1,670 cases of COVID-19 on Friday, although 125 of them were older infections from Toronto that weren't previously recorded by the province.

Public health officials noted that updates to the provincial case database were causing fluctuations in this week's tallies.

The province also said there were 325 patients with COVID-19 in hospital intensive care units, with 225 on ventilators.

Forty-five new deaths related to the virus were reported Friday, bringing the total number of deaths from the novel coronavirus in the province to 6,438 .

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2021.
Since opening our doors in 1989, we have always strived to offer a first-rate experience to our guests and our fellow island businesses.

Larry Starr, President and Owner of RVA Vacation Rentals, has been awarded one of the 2020 Longboat Key Chamber of Commerces Small Business Person of the Year Awards. Members of the community nominate each other for consideration, and criteria for the award includes exemplary local service plus a thorough interview process with the Chambers Small Business Council. Starr was honored to receive such a local prestigious award, standing in the spotlight next to many of our great local businesses and their leaders.

My team and I are delighted to receive this award, which recognizes the voice of our local community, said Starr. Since opening our doors in 1989, we have always strived to offer a first-rate experience to our guests and our fellow island businesses. To even be considered for this award among so many validates that our hard work has been noticed by our colleagues.

The Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce hosts their Small Business Awards Luncheon annually. It includes awards for Small Business Person of the Year, Good as Green and Rookie Person of the Year. The awards luncheon was originally scheduled for November of 2020; however Tropical Storm Eta forced the Council and Chamber to postpone the highly anticipated event. Despite the delay, the recipients were delighted to be considered among the best of the island.

To inquire about RVA Vacation Rentals, 4030 Gulf of Mexico Drive Longboat Key FL 34228, call 800-237-9505. Visit our website at http://www.RVAFL.com.

##

About RVA

RVA, Resort Vacation Accommodations, is one of the areas leading vacation rental companies in Southwest Florida. RVA is the largest management company of vacation condominiums, homes and resort-style properties on Floridas west coast, based on a portfolio of over 400 units. Our Southwest Florida inventory includes premier beach destinations such as: Anna Maria Island, Bradenton, Longboat Key, Lido Key, Sarasota, Siesta Key and Casey Key.
After the recriminations, the remorse.

The EUs botched attempt last week to suspend vaccine exports to Northern Ireland has lost the bloc the moral high ground on the pandemic and Brexit.

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said it triggered the Democratic Unionist Partys political backlash, while Boris Johnson said it undermined the Brexit deal.

In private meetings with MEPs this week, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen took full responsibility for the episode.

Her spokesman had previously tried to shift the blame to her trade chief, Valdis Dombrovskis, who, according to several officials, was unaware of last-minute changes to the vaccine legislation that now threaten to unravel the Brexit deal.

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To her critics, Von der Leyens response is typical of a woman they say has shirked responsibility throughout her career.

I cannot imagine how President von der Leyen was not aware of what was being introduced, said MEP Tiemo Wolken, a member of Germanys Social Democratic Party (SPD), Angela Merkels junior coalition partner. However, as soon as the backlash came, she shifted the blame to others.

What is clear is that Irish and Brexit officials in the commission were sidelined. Blinded by fury at Big Pharma, nobody thought to contact the Irish, British or Northern Irish governments before triggering an emergency clause  the controversial article 16  in a protocol to the UKs 2019 exit deal.

They just didnt have the reflex to understand the political significance of what they were doing, said an EU official. Alarm bells didnt go off.

The legislation  drafted in a rush by trade officials, with help from Von der Leyens advisors and colleagues in the tax and health departments  bypassed Irelands commissioner, Mairead McGuinness, and Michel Barniers UK task force.

A senior Irish source said officials involved acted like a bunch of born-again political virgins and accused them of handing the British a stick with which to beat them.

It is difficult to believe that two of the commissions seasoned Brexit negotiators  Sabine Weyand, now head of the commissions trade directorate, and Stephanie Riso, now a senior adviser in Von der Leyens cabinet  were unaware of the significance of the move.

Where was their boss in all of this?

President von der Leyen only recently reappeared in public in regard to the whole vaccination plan, Wolken said. I sincerely hope that she takes this seriously now and starts doing her job properly.

The backdrop to last Fridays debacle was the escalating row between the EU and the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca, which is to deliver only a quarter of the vaccines it said it would aim to give the bloc by the end of March.

The EU is livid about the fact that vaccines produced on European soil are still being sent abroad, while AstraZenecas plants in the UK are not exporting to the bloc.

Countries including Germany, Belgium and France ratcheted up the pressure last week, threatening national export bans and casting doubt on the efficacy of the vaccine.

[Von der Leyen] was really under fire to act and show teeth towards the company, said German Green MEP Anna Cavazzini.

In office, Von der Leyen has become known as a polished if reticent communicator, carefully controlling her message and trusting only a small coterie of advisers.

There is a gender bias here, Belgian MEP Philippe Lamberts said. I hear well, shes centralised, shes a control freak. When a man does that, [we say] Strong leadership; the guy knows where he wants to go. When a lady does that, shes unable to delegate, inept as a leader.

Her working and living arrangements are a little unusual, putting her at a remove from the real world. She has a private apartment on the 13th floor of the commissions Berlaymont headquarters, the behemoth that looms over Brussels EU quarter.

Its a bubble within a bubble as German reporter Daniela Weingartner remarked, or as German newspaper Der Spiegel put it in a scathing article last week, she is like the phantom of Brussels.

Her track record as a national politician has not covered her in glory.

A licensed physician, she served as social affairs minister in Gerhard Schroders government, and went on to hold the family affairs, labour and defence portfolios under Angela Merkel, his successor.

While she won plaudits for championing paid parental leave, daycare and free school meals, her stint in defence was marred by spiralling procurement costs and a national scandal over unfairly awarded consultancy contracts.

A cross-party German parliamentary committee cleared her of wrongdoing on the consultancy contracts after she blamed her overworked officials.

She was plucked from the defence post in 2019 as the compromise candidate for commission chief, with strong backing from the French for her record on social issues. It was a move that may have saved her career.

German ministers have been criticising her, with vice-chancellor Olaf Scholz telling a cabinet meeting this week she really screwed up, according to the newspaper Bild.

But the vaccines farrago does not appear to have put her job in jeopardy  yet. She has the backing of influential MEP Manfred Weber, head of the centre-right European Peoples Party, the CDUs umbrella group.

MEPs, who are the only ones that could topple her, have no intention of doing so, and still back her overall vaccines strategy.

But at a meeting of EU ambassadors on Wednesday, frustrations about vaccine delivery and the Northern Ireland mess boiled over, sources said.

EU officials hope they can move on from the mess, but it will not be easy.

The commission made a huge mistake, and of course they corrected it fast but I think the damage was done, Ms Cavazzini, head of the parliaments internal market committee said.
The worst time to propose tax increases  especially on businesses  is during the COVID-19 pandemic, local legislators said Friday morning.

The Manufacturers and Employers Association had its semiannual legislative forum virtually Friday on Zoom, and said after the struggles small businesses have suffered during the pandemic, this is the worst time to raise their taxes.

The governor is living in an alternate universe where he thinks this is a good idea, raising taxes, especially after the year he has put Pennsylvania through, said freshman State Rep. Joe Kerwin, R-125, Lykens.

State Sen. John Gordner, R-27, Berwick, said $150 million in excess workers compensation funds are going to the hospitality industry hardest hit by the pandemic  restaurants, theaters and local breweries.

Gordner said Wolfs whole budget document is worthless because of the multiple tax increases baked into it. A 46% increase in personal income tax will hit large manufacturers and small businesses. Every line item is unrealistic. Thats $3 billion in new spending. It will be thrown out. The Senate and House appropriations committee will have a lot of work.

State Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-122, Lower Towamensing Twp., said language was put into Senate Bill 109 that will not tax Paycheck Protection Program funds.

The areas other freshman legislator, State Rep. Tim Twardzik, R-125, Butler Twp. (Schuylkill County), said taking money out of the unemployment compensation fund to help restaurants beleaguered by the pandemic is a necessary evil.

It teaches one how difficult some of these choices are, said Twardzik, participating in his first forum. Its wrong to take the money out of an insurance fund, but if we dont fix the problem as soon as we can, we are going to lose 42% of our restaurants that will never open again, and those jobs will disappear.

Twardzik said restaurants had prepared to serve customers over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays by purchasing food and liquor, only to be shut down and having to discard all they bought.

They called the Governors Office to ask if they would be open for holidays, and they (state officials) said absolutely, Twardzik said. Then, eight hours later they closed them. Some took loans so employees didnt go home for the holidays without a paycheck.

State Sen. David Argall, R-29, Rush Twp., said a significant element missing from the budget is transportation.

We have highway improvements promised by this and previous administrations now being take off the table, Argall said. There was one sentence in budget address about transportation, with no solutions at all.

Hes not just failing us on health, hes not just failing us on transportation. On health, hes eliminating good programs in the budget that have been there for years, like school safety.

State Rep. Jerry Knowles, R-124, Rush Twp., said he found it fascinating that in his (Wolfs) budget address he did not mention vaccines or vaccinations one time.

Argall said there is disconnect between state and city programs in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

If the Legislature has to change a law to help them do their job better, we stand ready, willing and able to do that, Argall said.

Heffley said its not just in the states two biggest cities.

Pennsylvania is currently ranked 44th out of 50 states when it comes to vaccine distribution, Heffley said. Our local health care networks and pharmacies are doing a great job getting the vaccines out. However, uncertain guidance and direction from the state Department of Health have caused some initial confusion.

The supply is there, but the distribution is not.

Kerwin  a lieutenant in the Pennsylvania National Guard  said the Guard has been called out to logistically and medically help get vaccine out.

Gordner said only 32 of 1,200 long-term care facilities  assisted living or personal care homes  have been scheduled or received vaccine, and 150 of 700 nursing homes have not completed their first vaccinations.
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SANTA FE  Managers of New Mexicos health insurance exchange have scheduled a special open enrollment period from Feb. 15 through May 15 in response to a federal mandate from President Joe Biden.

Nearly 43,000 residents of New Mexico rely on the marketplace for health insurance, with the promise of federal subsidies for consumers with low and moderate incomes who make too much to qualify for Medicaid.

State health exchange CEO Jeffery Bustamante said Thursday that the new open enrollment period provides a unique and streamlined opportunity for people to purchase health insurance amid the pandemic. Coverage is available to people who dont have job-based health insurance.

Open enrollment typically takes place only in November and December at the insurance exchange known as beWellnm. There are five insurance carriers that offer coverage in every county in the state.

State legislators are considering a proposal to expand subsidies to the states health insurance exchange through a state surtax on insurance premiums. Those proposed subsidies would not take effect until 2023.

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New Mexico residents have flocked to Medicaid health care, with 43% enrollment statewide as of November as the coronavirus wreaks economic havoc. Newcomers can stay on Medicaid for an extended period even as they regain employment under temporary provisions related to the pandemic.
China on Friday announced its first major revision in 32 years of its list of endangered wild animals as a further step toward wildlife conservation and increasing biodiversity.

Based on changes in wildlife resources and the latest research results, China added another 517 species and classes of animals to the list of state-protected wildlife. The new list now includes 980 species and eight categories of wild animals, said a statement jointly released by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Under its two-tier protection system for wildlife under state protection, the country will elevate the conservation of 65 types of wild animals to the highest level, the statement said.

The move indicates that these endangered species, such as jackal and the Yangtze finless porpoise, will be under the strictest level-one protection.

China will also reduce the protection level for three species of wild animals due to their stable populations and relatively wide distribution.

With the revision as guidance, the country will impose stricter measures on wildlife conservation. It will urge local governments to protect the habitats where listed endangered animals live, the statement said.

China will also toughen crackdowns on illegal wildlife trade and the consumption of wild animals, it added.

The revision came after China rolled out protection measures for various types of natural habitats in recent years. It demonstrates the country's determination to prioritize ecological protection in its policymaking.

The latest progress is implementing a "forest chief" scheme to restore forests and grasslands. Under this scheme, to be launched nationwide by June 2022, the country will appoint forest chiefs in all provincial-level regions whose responsibilities are protecting forest and grassland resources.

The country is setting up a national park system to protect ecosystems and endangered animals. Accordingly, it has piloted 10 national parks, including national parks for giant pandas, with the total pilot area topping 220,000 square km.

Aiming at protecting aquatic wildlife, a 10-year fishing ban that covers all key waters of the Yangtze River came into effect on Jan. 1. The move will help the country's longest waterway recover from shrinking aquatic resources and biodiversity.

With a new development philosophy that emphasizes high-quality development, the country has also embarked on a shift to green development, constituted by the coordination between economic growth and ecological protection.

Having learned lessons from its past that economic growth should not come at the cost of the environment and ecology, the country is unfolding a landscape where "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets."

Looking ahead, China is forging cooperation with other nations in mapping out a blueprint for a greener future shared by all species. Later this year, China will host the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. The event will review the post-2020 biodiversity framework and set new global biodiversity targets for 2030.

1. Yes. The public must have assurances that ethical standards are met by everyone.

2. Yes. As long as an independent board hears the grievances, its a worthwhile idea.

3. No. The concept is too broad. It should be limited to the citys elected officials.

4. No. There are plenty of stipulations in place already. An ordinance is a waste of time.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say without seeing how it would be structured and applied.

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Following a Feb. 4 Senate confirmation hearing, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh moved one step closer to confirmation as the Biden administration's secretary of labor. Walsh emphasized his collaborative approach and promised increased diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I); ramped-up employee safety enforcement; and more job training.

DE&I Concerns Addressed

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), called for Walsh's swift confirmation. She noted that unemployment is high, particularly among women, people with disabilities and people of color. Pay inequity has worsened during the pandemic, she added. It's "never been more important to have a DOL [Department of Labor] that fights for workers," she said.

Murray said she was pleased that the first former union leader in decades had been nominated to head the DOL and added that she would reintroduce the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act on Feb. 4.

Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., ranking member of the HELP committee, said he believed that Walsh, as a mayor and former state representative and union leader, was qualified to be secretary of labor and congratulated him on his nomination. Burr cautioned that the country couldn't afford to have a secretary who was "in cahoots with labor or management." Instead, the secretary of labor must be able to confront both, he noted. And Burr cautioned Walsh "not to open the door to make enemies of job creators."

Burr noted that the nation needs a more skilled workforce, including more women and minorities in science, technology, education and math.

In his opening statement, Walsh testified, "I am committed to making sure that everyoneincluding veterans, LGBTQ Americans, immigrants and people with disabilitiesgets full access to economic opportunity and fair treatment in the workplace."

When Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., asked how Walsh planned to fight systemic racism, Walsh noted that he created an Office of Equity in Boston and said there needed to be more conversations about the problem. Walsh suggested that a task force be formed with the NAACP, the National Urban League and employers to address systemic racism. He added that there was little disagreement about the need to combat systemic racism and achieve pay equity, and emphasized that he takes a collaborative approach to decision-making.

Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., sought a commitment from Walsh to implement mental health parity laws and ensure that the laws are working.

Walsh replied that he would and that everyone was affected by mental health issues. The country needs to do a lot more to promote mental health wellness, Walsh added. He said it could be "a game changer for people."

Safety Concerns

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., stated that she trusted Walsh to look out for workers, noting that he had as mayor ensured the provision of personal protective equipment to front-line workers during the coronavirus pandemic.



Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., called on Walsh to commit to the issuance of emergency temporary standards during the pandemic.

Walsh committed to do everything he could to protect essential workers and front-line workers if confirmed as secretary of labor.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., also urged Walsh to adopt emergency temporary standards if confirmed.

Walsh said he would "do everything I can, if confirmed, to advance worker rights." Walsh also noted that President Joe Biden wants to increase the number of Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors.



Job Training

In response to questioning from Burr on the importance of job training, Walsh said he would focus on job-training programs, saying that they were a pathway into the middle class.

Responding to questions from Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., on helping workers find work, Walsh said that with job training there would need to be collaboration among the departments of Commerce and Education, as well as members of the higher education community.

In Boston, he worked with community colleges on job training and internships in high school. "Job training is not a Republican or Democrat issue," Walsh said, adding that people in the disability community and people recovering from substance abuse should not be overlooked.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., emphasized the value of starting vocational training in high school for those who don't go to college.

Concerns with Biden Administration Actions

Although senators across the aisle gave Walsh a mostly warm reception, some highlighted concerns with Biden administration actions thus far impacting labor. These actions include the cancellation of the Keystone Pipeline, support for the PRO Act and a call for raising the federal minimum wage.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said the Teamsters strongly opposed the cancellation of the Keystone Pipeline and asked Walsh if he agreed with Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa.

Walsh responded that the Biden administration was planning for the nation to build back better with green jobs.

Cassidy asked if those jobs would be available tomorrow and noted that those who lost their jobs can't pay into their retirement or health care.

Walsh said the jobs that would be created under Biden's plan would more than make up for the jobs lost.

But Cassidy said it would "be quite some time until there were new jobs" and that those who lost their positions had mortgage payments due now.



Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, urged Walsh not to adopt policies that "send jobs overseas, where environmental and labor practices are less responsible."

And Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., opposed the Biden administration's support for the PRO Act. He noted that it would undermine right-to-work laws in 27 states by permitting unions to require workers at unionized companies to pay dues. Currently, employees in right-to-work states may choose not to pay union dues.

Scott also criticized the proposed increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, saying that it was "bad policy with good intentions." He said an increase in the minimum wage would lead to the loss of nearly 4 million jobs.



But Warren supported a raised minimum wage and said Walsh would "serve the people."

Nonetheless, the Senate passed a nonbinding measure on Feb. 5 delaying an increase in the minimum wage during the pandemic.


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TOKYO - When Japan's incoming prime minister was looking for an image makeover, he probably figured you couldn't go wrong with pancakes.

So out went the grim-faced bureaucrat with a reputation as a ruthless behind-the-scenes fixer. In came the humble son of a strawberry farmer, an avuncular man who was disciplined about his sit-ups routine and devoted to his wife's homemade curry soup, but had one special weakness - his love of pancakes.

After being catapulted to Japan's top job in September following the resignation of Shinzo Abe on health grounds, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga even began his news conferences with an uncharacteristic, if somewhat uncertain, smile.

Japan's compliant media outlets lapped it up. Suga's approval rating soared into the 70s.

Here was a man, the political honeymoon stories implied, that the Japanese people could trust to lead them out of the pandemic and toward the country's long-awaited renaissance.

It was not long before the bubble burst.

Still only around 100 days since he took office, Suga's approval ratings have cratered into the low 30s.

Ironically, for a man who spent eight years as the government's chief spokesman, Suga has stumbled in communicating a clear message or showing empathy for a country still struggling to climb out of the pandemic.

The first crack in Suga's softer image came when he blocked the appointment of six academics to Japan's supposedly autonomous Science Council in October and failed to convincingly explain to parliament why he had done so. All six academics had been critical of the government's national security policy in the past.

The Asahi newspaper complained that the Suga administration, like Abe's before it, was already showing "a tendency to try to silence people and organizations it disfavors, fudge the facts and ignore dissenting voices."

But the public's faith in Suga's reputation for efficient decision-making was badly dented as he persisted with a travel subsidy program meant to boost domestic tourism in the teeth of an ever-worsening virus outbreak. The Mainichi newspaper, usually fairly reserved in its criticism, lambasted the "utter failure" of Japan's coronavirus policy as a result of Suga's failure to heed expert advice.

As chief government spokesman, Suga had perfected the art of responding to journalist's questions with stock answers and treating difficult questions with apparent disdain.

That might be a good skill for a spokesman, especially in a country that tends to value the self-effacing over the self-aggrandizing. But it hasn't served Suga well in the top job.

To connect with ordinary people, Suga needed to "stop his practice of monotonously reading aloud written answers that were prepared by bureaucrats and halt his signature 'I will refrain from replying to that' responses" to questions in parliament, Asahi said in another scathing editorial.

The attempts to inject a touch of humanity, even humor, have backfired, too.

In an online program, he jokingly introduced himself as "Gasu," playfully switching the syllables of his name. It went down like a lead balloon.

By January, Mainichi reported, the "Gasu" nickname had been replaced by another: "Sugalin," a reference to Russian dictator Joseph Stalin and to Suga's ruthlessness in firing a series of officials.

It didn't help when he was caught having dinner in an upscale steak restaurant with a group of celebrities and politicians in apparent disregard of the government's own coronavirus rules.

Part of the problem lies with Japan's political system, the dominance of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and the way it effectively decides on its leader through back-room negotiations between the party's various factions.

Suga's skills in that bruising arena did not necessarily equip him for the role of national leader, said Rochelle Kopp, a management, communications and public relations consultant in Japan.

"In the United States, right from the beginning, candidates have to package themselves, they have to communicate directly to the people because they need their direct support," she said.

"In Japan, the prime minister is not directly chosen by the people, so politicians need to optimize internal political processes. The person who is optimized for internal political processes may not be the one who has most ability to appeal to the general public."

Suga is aware he isn't connecting, and last week sought advice from the LDP's online media expert, the Mainichi newspaper reported. Taro Yamada reportedly told the prime minister his tweets were too matter-of-fact, and unless they "come with a passion, they won't spread."

But Kopp, who teaches leadership communication, says it's more than passion that Suga needs: It's a clear message.

"Even if he were able to communicate more passionately, what is it that you're going to communicate to people?" she asked. "And if there's no content to it, then all the passion in the world doesn't do any good."

Tobias Harris, an expert on Japanese politics at Teneo Intelligence, said Suga is "trapped between a public that wants the government to be more proactive" in containing the virus and a business community that is "anxious about the impact even of soft shutdowns," he said.

"The pandemic is just a hard problem, and it's hard to think of many leaders - outside of the countries that have all but contained it - that have successfully managed the balance between business interests and public health with their reputations intact," he said.

Still, with an LDP leadership election scheduled for September and a general election due by the fall, the opinion polls don't make comfortable reading for the party.

"Suga has demonstrated poor political skills, zero empathy and is a woeful communicator," said Jeff Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University Japan. "His chances of remaining PM are fading fast."
Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Tony Holohan has said "old habits" need to be broken in order to reduce the spread of the virus further.

"We know that people who feel unwell typically avoid calling their GP over the weekend, and wait to see if they improve.

"You should no longer do that  you must phone your GP at the first sign of anything like Covid-19 symptoms. Do not adopt a wait and see approach'," said the CMO.

A further 55 Covid-related deaths were reported on Saturday by the Department of Health.

Of these deaths, 36 occurred in February, 18 of these occurred in January, and the date of one death remains under investigation.

The median age of those who died is 86, with the youngest fatality aged 49 and the oldest aged 100.

This brings the total number of fatalities from the virus to 3,674.

In addition, 827 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed by health officials.

Since the outbreak began in Ireland, 202,548 cases of the virus have been recorded.

Health officials confirmed the latest case data this evening. Picture: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin

Dr Holohan also urged the public not to leave their home or attend work if they have any flu-like symptoms.

Similarly, do not leave your house or go to work if you have any cold or flu-like symptoms at all.

"Breaking these habits will limit Covid-19s opportunity to spread from person to person," he said.

Case data released by the Department of Health shows:

409 cases are men and 416 cases are women

63% of cases are under 45 years of age

The median age of confirmed cases is 38 years old

Dublin reported the most cases at 297 while 76 cases were confirmed in Cork. Galway reported 56 cases and 46 cases were identified in Wexford.

In Kildare, 37 cases of the virus were recorded while the remaining 315 cases are spread across all other counties.

From 2pm today, 1,177 patients have been hospitalised with Covid-19 with 177 people in intensive care.

55 people have been admitted to hospital for treatment for the virus in the last 24 hours while 96 patients have been discharged.

The national 14-day incidence rate stands at 345.6.

Vaccine supplies

The latest case data released from the Department of Health comes as the Minister of Health, Stephen Donnelly, has played down recent setbacks of vaccine rollout due to supply changes.

Mr Donnelly said the Covid-19 vaccination programme will proceed largely as planned despite the restricted use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to people under 70.

The Health Minister welcomed the arrival this afternoon of the first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Ireland.

 Big day. The @HSELive has just sent me this video of the first 21600 doses of AstraZeneca arriving this afternoon from Belgium to the national cold chain store in Dublin. First doses to be given to healthcare workers on Monday.  well done to all pic.twitter.com/b6KsgljCFG  Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) February 6, 2021

Data from the Department of Health, valid until February 3, shows 152,200 people have received the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, with 67,000 people receiving two doses.

The Government has decided to only vaccinate those in the vulnerable over-70s group with Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines after being advised that AstraZeneca could be less effective in older people, due to lack of data on the effectiveness for that age cohort.

The decision comes as Johnson & Johnson filed an application with the US Food and Drug Administration this week for approval of its Janssen single-dose vaccine, with an expectation that the pharma giant will also seek approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) soon after.

Meanwhile, a new vaccine roll-out deal agreed on Friday for almost half a million elderly patients will see most get their shots in a local GP practice, but some rural patients will face longer journeys.

Elderly patients attending small practices with fewer than 200 over-70s will need to travel to the closest larger practice, or attend a vaccination centre in an agreed city.

This affects patients at about 400 practices, and the deal suggests Cork, Galway and Dublin for vaccination centres.
Promising areas of Ukrainian-Israeli cooperation in various fields were the subject of a meeting between the Ambassador of Ukraine in the State of Israel Yevhen Korniychuk and Kropyvnytskyi Mayor Andriy Raykovych. The Embassy of Ukraine reported this at Facebook.

The mayor presented the economic and investment potential of the city. The city authorities of Kropyvnytskyi expressed interest in expanding bilateral cooperation in the field of agriculture, processing and food industry, municipal administration, modernization of energy infrastructure, - the statement says.

The parties also agreed to work out the idea of establishing twinning relations between Kropyvnytskyi and one of the Israeli cities.
Sir Richard Branson's beloved Caribbean island home has so far escaped a drastic financial overhaul of his empire  despite warnings by the billionaire that it was in the firing line.

Necker Island was put on the block by Branson in a public address to Virgin Group employees last April in what was widely interpreted as a signal he was prepared to make personal sacrifices as the crisis hit and his employees accepted pay cuts.

He said in response to 'comments about my home' and net worth that he had moved to 74-acre Necker Island not for tax reasons but 'for our love of the beautiful British Virgin Islands'.

Paradise: Richard Branson frolicking on his private island Necker, which he suggested he would mortgage to secure a loan to help prop up his Virgin Group

He added: 'As with other Virgin assets, our team will raise as much money against the island as possible to save as many jobs as possible around the group.'

However, documents from the British Virgin Islands obtained by The Mail on Sunday show the billionaire Virgin Group founder has not yet taken out a loan against the island during the pandemic.

The 70-year-old tycoon has instead injected more than $350million into his devastated travel and leisure businesses after selling shares in his Virgin Galactic space tourism business.

This included a 200million cash injection for Virgin Atlantic as part of a 1.2billion rescue plan with investors completed last September.

Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic  where staff faced pay cuts early on  has cut 4,300 jobs, or 45 per cent of its workforce, and gym chain Virgin Active, which employs 2,400 in the UK, is in talks with its lenders and landlords over a possible restructuring.

This could involve Branson, who owns 20 per cent, putting in more money alongside co-owner Brait, a South African investment firm controlled by one-time billionaire Christo Wiese.

Sources suggested Branson could have to pledge more of his estimated $7.9billion fortune to Virgin Atlantic as extended travel bans raise fears for the airline's long-term survival.

Necker Island, Sir Richard Branson's private island in the British Virgin Islands

Under crisis plans drawn up last summer, Virgin Atlantic's directors warned that if passenger flying remained 'limited' until August 1 this year, the airline could have to raise more cash and undergo further 'significant restructuring'.

Last week, restructuring firm Alvarez & Marsal warned that hopes of a summer recovery for air travel had been 'dashed' by new travel restrictions.

It added: 'Without decisive actions by the key sector stakeholders, bankruptcy of the weakest airlines will accelerate.'

One aviation insider said Virgin Atlantic is the UK airline 'most at risk of failure', as its revenues rely heavily on long-haul and business travel, which will be the slowest sectors to recover once vaccines have been rolled out.

The source said: 'There is no light at the end of the tunnel for long-haul flying, which is not expected to pick up until autumn, which means Virgin's summer season is wiped out.'

Virgin Atlantic, which is 51 per cent owned by Branson through his investment firm based in the British Virgin Islands, faced turbulence even before the pandemic after parent company Virgin Atlantic Limited  which also includes Virgin Holidays and freight business Virgin Cargo  made a 29.5million loss in 2019.

One aviation insider said Virgin Atlantic is the UK airline 'most at risk of failure'

The airline, led by chief executive Shai Weiss, drew up a three-year turnaround plan, called 'Velocity', to stabilise the airline and return it to profit.

But Covid-19 derailed that recovery and in April last year Branson asked the Government for a 500million taxpayer-backed loan, which was rejected.

In his letter to staff, he said: 'I've seen lots of comments about my net worth but that is calculated on the value of Virgin businesses around the world before this crisis not sitting as cash in a bank account ready to withdraw.'

Profits had often been reinvested in the group, he added.

Branson's wealth has soared since the start of the year after US-listed Virgin Galactic, in which he holds a 27 per cent stake, more than doubled its value to $12.7billion.

Last week, it announced a test flight for its SpaceShipTwo craft VSS Unity and traders from sites such as Reddit piled into the stock.

Meanwhile, Branson on Thursday announced he will invest $25million in genetics testing firm 23andMe, as part of its reverse merger with his New York-listed investment firm VG Acquisition.

Branson bought Necker Island for $180,000 from aristocrat Viscount Cobham in 1979. He has previously taken out loans against the island to support businesses in the Virgin Group  most recently in 2001, when he raised $10million from Liechtenstein-based lender VP Bank, according to Land Registry documents filed in the Caribbean and seen by The Mail on Sunday.

Branson's wealth has soared since the start of the year after US-listed Virgin Galactic, in which he holds a 27 per cent stake, more than doubled its value to $12.7billion

It is understood Virgin businesses he has supported through mortgaging Necker include developments in the British Virgin Islands, where Branson has built a luxury eco-resort that employs 175 people. He also owns neighbouring Moskito Island, bought in 2007.

Last month, Virgin Atlantic raised a further $230million by selling and leasing back two 787 Dreamliners, which was used to reduce debt and boost cash.

Further possible financing routes for the airline include mortgaging or selling its 2,000-plus take-off and landing slots at Gatwick, raising money from loyalty card programmes or leveraging its intellectual property.

Branson founded Virgin Atlantic 37 years ago with one plane and said last year that its competition with bitter rival British Airways 'must remain fierce for the benefit of our wonderful customers'.

In 2012, Branson famously bet then BA boss Willie Walsh 1million that Virgin Atlantic would still be around in five years' time.

Walsh accepted, but changed the wager to 'a knee in the groin'  arguing that 1million wouldn't be a painful loss for the billionaire Virgin boss.

Virgin Atlantic owned 30 per cent of regional airline Flybe, which went bust in March last year.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesman said freight business Virgin Cargo had a 'record year' in 2020 and that passengers are 'continuing to book for travel in 2021 and beyond' as the mass roll-out of vaccines and pre-departure testing regimes boost confidence in overseas trips.

The spokesman added: 'With the ongoing support of our partners and shareholders, we are confident that Virgin Atlantic will emerge from the Covid-19 crisis a sustainably profitable airline.'
A polar vortex is southbound, and it seems like it's not stopping any time soon. The weather pattern that's most at home over Earth's polar regions has started pushing south and is bringing plenty of frigid Arctic temperatures and snow along with it.

The polar vortex and its occasional southward migrations aren't a new thing, but some are wondering if the wintry impacts barreling down on the United States right now might become more frequent thanks to climate change.

Watching the winds around the edge of the polar vortex is one way to measure and monitor a meteorological event known as "sudden stratospheric warming" that can trigger extreme weather like what we're experiencing in North America now.

This has been difficult to research, partially since all the variables underlying the polar vortex's action are entirely understood. Because of this, physicists created a new instrument to study arch the phenomena. The European Space Agency's Aeolus wind monitoring satellite has been up and running for over a year.

"Changes in the wind structure in a sudden stratospheric warming event have never been observed directly at a global scale before," said Corwin Wright, Royal Society research fellow at the University of Bath in the UK. "So far, our understanding of these changes has been developed using point measurements, measurements along localized aircraft flight tracks, through the use of temperature observations, and, primarily, computer models."

As of this writing Friday afternoon, storm and wind chill advisories affect at least part of over half the states in the US. Temperatures up to forty degrees below normal Fahrenheit can be expected, with the impacts centered on the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions. Bundle up, Minneapolis and Chicago.

"We are currently observing a polar vortex event where we see it split into two, with one spinning mass of air over the North Atlantic and one over the North Pacific," explained Anne Grete Straume, Aeolus mission scientist.

"The split leads to changes in the tropospheric circulation allowing cold air masses from the poles to more easily escape down to lower latitudes. At the moment, parts of North America seem to be experiencing colder weather than Europe. However, we have seen events of cold air reaching quite far south in Europe over the past few weeks causing, for example, heavy snowfall in Spain."

Related Article: Snowmageddon: Polar Vortex Split May Result to Weeks of Intense Winter

Polar Vortex



A polar vortex is a pattern of winds rising in the Arctic that resembles cyclones that spins around the northern hemisphere. It is formed during the polar winter, the moment that the stratospheric airs move in circular motions. The effect of a polar vortex may depend on the distance between the area and the Arctic regions.

There is a considerable chance that the cold air will remain bottled up over the Arctic region if the polar vortex remains strong and stable in one piece. However, snow cyclone may weaken and wobble. If that happens, it splits off and hurls southward.

"We are currently observing a polar vortex event where we see it split into two, with one spinning mass of air over the North Atlantic and one over the North Pacific," explained Anne Grete Straume, Aeolus mission scientist.

In addition to watching and analyzing the polar vortex in something closer to real time, the satellite will also help scientists understand if and what the relationship is between the phenomenon and our changing climate.

ALSO READ: Arctic's in Danger! 5 Infographics Showing the Alarming State of the Arctic

For more Arctic News, don't forget to follow Nature World News!

ANN ARBOR, MI  Late University of Michigan doctor Robert Anderson is accused of sexually abusing hundreds of UM students and student-athletes during medical examinations, and now some pilots are saying they were also abused by Anderson, according to The Associated Press.

Anderson was designated by the Federal Aviation Administration as a medical examiner in the southeast Michigan region for 40 years, visited frequently by pilots, air traffic controllers and others who were required to have regular health exams to keep their licenses.

FAA records obtained by MLive/The Ann Arbor News via the Freedom of Information Act show that between 1960 and 2003, Anderson performed a total of 4,065 medical exams on 2,595 distinct airmen.

Anderson set his own rates and had no financial relationship with the FAA, according to the AP. He proudly defended his skills when another doctor complained that he was performing too many exams and not grounding many pilots.

I schedule two exams a day and two extra on Thursday evenings and three on Saturday, he told the FAA in 1973. This quite comfortably handles over 750 a year, if desired. ... I have not approached this number, as your records will show.

Anderson said he believed in conducting a complete examination.

A few have left me because they have desired less of a physical exam than I am willing to give, he said.

An unnamed cargo pilot told the Associated Press the doctor had him undress, put on a medical gown and get on a table, instead of simply checking the mans vision, hearing and heart. He said the doctor touched his genitals and gave him a prostate exam.

I was only 33; I probably didnt need a prostate exam but I was naive, the 53-year-old Ann Arbor-area man told the AP. He examined my whole body like a dermatologist might. It was very creepy. It was too much. I didnt go back. ... Youre not touching me again.

Hundreds of former UM students and athletes have accused Anderson of sexual abuse, which included unwarranted hernia and prostate checks during routine medical exams. A number of lawsuits have been filed against the university alleging negligence and civil rights violations in connection with the abuse.

According to a Jan. 28 court filing, over 40 attorneys are representing just over 850 plaintiffs and potential plaintiffs who have not yet filed suit.

Anderson worked at the university from 1968 to 2003. He died in 2008.

Read more about the Robert Anderson case here.

During a March 2020 press conference, JP DesCamp, among the first to publicly make allegations against Anderson, said he was sent to the doctor by his employer, General Motors, in 1973 for a standard physical exam to continue his flight duties out of a Detroit airport.

Things got weird with Dr. Anderson as he had me lay on his examination table face-up while he removed my undershorts, DesCamp said. He donned his examination gloves and began an intense rectal examination with one hand, while he used his other hand to stimulate my penis.

He said he felt highly vulnerable and never returned to Andersons office, even after Anderson offered to help schedule further appointments.

Anderson, Nassar victims tell UM to do the opposite of what MSU did

However, during one of DesCamps flights at GM, a coworker spoke of Anderson with an extremely derogatory tone, saying none of the line pilots should go to Anderson for their flight physicals.

Instead, they went to a good guy in Plymouth and paid for these flight physicals out of their own pocket, DesCamp said. My word about Drop your drawers Anderson was out, but seldom discussed within the pilot group.

Lawyers and the university are currently in mediation, which could take several months, attorney Mike Cox previously told MLive. Cox, a former Michigan attorney general, represents a number of plaintiffs alleging abuse by Anderson. He noted that mediation in the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal at Michigan State University took anywhere from six to 18 months.

And thats if its successful, Cox said. It may not be successful, and well go back to litigation, but Im hopeful.

Mediation set to begin in late University of Michigan athletic doctor sexual abuse case

UM has apologized several times for any harm caused by Anderson, and hired Washington, D.C.-based law firm WilmerHale to conduct an independent investigation.

As of December 2020, UM has spent $4.3 million in legal fees connected to the Anderson case.

READ MORE:

University of Michigan spent more than $20M in sexual misconduct, abuse investigations in 2020

What we know so far in late University of Michigan athletic doctor sex abuse case

Legislators plan to reintroduce bills to make it easier for victims of late doctor to sue University of Michigan

Super Bowl champion, former Olympic wrestler say late UM athletic doctor preyed on young Black men
Maharashtra COVID-19 tally more than 5 lakhs; Daily cases still under 30,000

Toolkit used by BJP to target opponents, says Sanjay Raut

Maharashtra Lockdown-like Covid curbs to continue beyond June 1, unlocking to be in phased manner

Maharashtra: Future student hostels in universities to be named 'Matoshree'

India

oi-Briti Roy Barman

Mumbai, Feb 06: Maharashtra Minister of Higher and Technical Education Uday Samant said on Friday that all upcoming student hostels in state-run universities will be named 'Matoshree' and the existing ones will be renamed.

He added that 'Matoshree' was selected as the name because the hostels offer students shelter like their own mothers.

Notably, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray's residence is named 'Matoshree'.

"All the upcoming hostels on campuses of state-run universities will be named 'Matoshree'. I will also explore the possibility of giving the same name to the existing facilities," Samant said.

Delhi metro stations to avoid amid farmers Chakka jam | Oneindia News

The minister on Friday inaugurated the hostel of Kavi Kulguru Sanskrit University in Ramtek, which was named as 'Matoshree' by the chancellor of the university.
The Indian diaspora which celebrates its 176th Indian Arrival Day in Trinidad and Tobago is not an abstract entity, but one that flowers the socio-economic and cultural growth and development of our peoples.

It remains a proud moment for all of uspoliticians, sociologists, economists, civic, religious and cultural leadersin world history.
Children in Amber Alert found safe near Mitchell

The missing children were recovered and are safe, according to the Davison County Sheriff's Office.

When the unrecognizable body of Jeannette DePalma, 16, was found atop a steep, wooded hill that the locals called the Devils Teeth in 1972, rumors spread quickly that the Springfield girl was killed in some sort of satanic rite or witchcraft.

Police sources leaked to the press that they had found signs they thought might be related to the occult, including crosses made of sticks and branches arranged in a coffin-like outline around her body. The coroners report mentions a rock formation surrounding the body.

The Star-Ledger reported that police even brought a witch to the site to inspect for signs of the occult.

But crime scene photographs released for the first time this week seem to debunk those claims, showing that DePalmas body was simply lying in a dense, brushy area in Houdaille Quarry, facedown with an arm draped over a downed tree branch. There are branches lying across one another by her head, but they do not appear to be arranged in a purposeful way.

Jeannette Depalma, whose suspicious death remains a mystery, was found dead with one arm over the branch that is being moved in this crime scene photograph.Provided by UCPO

Jason Coy, a history professor at the College of Charleston who researches witchcraft and superstition, said he cant find any sign of the occult or any other symbolism in the jumble of brush and branches. It suggests that investigators, looking for something sinister, saw patterns that werent there, or perhaps their initial descriptions of the branches near her body became exaggerated or misconstrued in the retellings of the scene.

Coy was one of several experts featured in Death on the Devils Teeth, a 2015 book by Mark Moran and Jesse Pollack, who had written about the case for Weird N.J. magazine. Coy recalled being shown a sketch of the crime scene then, drawn based on the memories of people who were there, depicting many crosses around the body.

Everything in that sketch that was marked out as a cross, in these crime scene photos just looks like a pile of underbrush that happened to be in a kind of pattern, he said. I think its a perfect example of how sometimes in someones memory, if they are influenced by the idea that something could be occult, they remember things that way.

Authorities called it a suspicious death from day one, but the cause of death was never determined  due partly to the decomposed state of the body when she was found. The cold case was never ruled a homicide and has never been solved.

On Monday, 18 months after a public records request by NJ Advance Media, the Union County Prosecutors Office released a trove of documents from the case file that have never been publicized.

Among them are photographs of the crime scene and the remaining evidence  including Jeannettes sandals and the contents of her purse found nearby  as well as a report of a driver who said she picked up a hitchhiking girl who matched her description the night she went missing.

DePalmas parents reported her missing Aug. 7, 1972, after she left home to catch a train to visit a friend in Summit, according to newspaper reports at the time. Her body was found Sept. 19, 1972 after a dog came home with a human arm in his mouth, police said.

This police diagram obtained through a records request shows how Jeannette Depalma's body was found amid several downed branches in the woods, as well as the location of personal items that may have been dumped from her purse roughly eight feet away.Provided by UCPO

Long after the media coverage died down, the cold case remained an open wound for Jeannettes family, friends and the tight-knit community where many people started locking their doors. Details were scarce and speculation was rampant.

I mean, the biggest thing that we now know from this conclusively is this is 100% not an occult killing, Pollack, one of the authors, said of the released documents, which he also requested and received Monday from the prosecutor. He said he had previously interviewed several police officers who dismissed the claims of satanic symbolism, and the photos support that.

So why were some people so willing to believe a girl was sacrificed in some kind of witch or satanic rite?

Depalmas death was about eight years before the period starting in the 1980s known as the Satanic Panic  when now-debunked stories of ritual child abuse dominated the media and some in law enforcement were looking for signs of the occult everywhere.

But fears of satanism and witchcraft were on the rise already in the 1970s, Coy said, in the wake of pop culture influences like Rosemarys Baby and coverage of the Manson Family killings and Anton Laveys Satanic Bible in 1969. Even rock bands like Black Sabbath frightened older generations and spurred Evangelical leaders to warn of the rise of satanism, he said.

You start to see it becoming more of a concern of law enforcement and religious leaders and that kind of thing. Youth culture in the early 1970s fostered a fear of dangerous, drug-crazed hippies, Coy said. I think this is a good example of how the police, the media or whoever might have been quick to suggest an occult connection that may not have been there, or probably wasnt there.

There were also local murmurings that teens in the area were practicing witchcraft and animal sacrifices had been found in the nearby Watchung Reservation. A year earlier, across the state in Millville, a 20-year-old had asked his friends to drown him in a kind of satanic ritual, according to police.

The friend, one of two convicted of killing Patrick Michael Newell, told police Newell asked them to tie him up and throw him in a pond because he belonged to a Satan Worshippers Sect and said he had to die violently so that he would be put in charge of 40 leagues of demons, according to the Vineland Times Journal.

No drug tests

The photos also call into question one officers theory that Depalmas body was found at a teen party spot, Pollack said. In addition to being extremely hard to get to, the area appears to be dense brush with no signs people had been there, such as a firepit.

The officer had theorized that Jeannette had overdosed on drugs with friends at the spot and been left for dead, Pollack said. Documents released Monday show that in 2004, an investigator for the prosecutors office posited in a memo that it would appear that the most logical cause of death is drug overdose, though he listed no evidence that suggested it.

While that may have been their most recent theory, police at the time did not have Depalmas remains tested for drugs, the documents reveal.

Then-medical examiner Dr. Bernard Ehrenberg sent a scalp sample to a forensic laboratory, initially asking on the request form for tests for alcohol, heavy metals, barbiturates and narcotics. But he or someone else crossed out the latter two drug tests on the form and they were apparently never performed.

The specimen was not suitable for alcohol testing but tests did find an elevated level of lead, reports show. A doctor told police it was not near lethal levels and could have come from dirt contamination of the body, according to the documents.

Police described this item found with other personal possessions near Depalma's body as a "vial of unknown substance" but it's not clear if it was ever tested.Provided by UCPO

Police noted in evidence inventories that they recovered a vial of unknown substance among her possessions, but it does not say whether they suspected it contained drugs or ever tested it.

DePalmas family has rejected the overdose theory, maintaining that she was a good girl who didnt use hard drugs and was very involved in her church.

The police narratives and evidence inventory also support the idea that someone was with Jeanette on the top of the Devils Teeth, or possibly carried her there. They show that her personal items, including makeup, an inhaler and the vial, were found about 8 1/2 feet away from her body. Her purse and a cross necklace she wore were never found, despite a search of the woods, according to the police records.

I used to never think anyone carried a body up there. But the amount of overgrowth and how secluded that spot looked, it seems like the body was hidden. Especially when you take into account that the purse seems to have been dumped out next to the body, Pollack said.

But the spot is so remote  so difficult to reach that a fire truck with an aerial ladder was used to retrieve the body. Its not the easiest hiding spot to get to. Its one of those cases where every question you answer opens up three new questions, Pollack said.

Police found Jeannettes badly decomposed body in Houdaille Quarry on a remote, rocky bluff known by locals as the Devils Teeth.Courtesy of Jesse P. Pollack

Witness describes possible sighting

Adding to the mystery is a memo detailing a police interview with a then 19-year-old woman who told police she picked up a hitchhiker whom she believed to be DePalma on the night she disappeared.

Reached by phone Monday, Robin, who asked that her last name not be used, recalled the night in question. She said she was driving from Kenilworth to her apartment in Berkeley Heights around 10:30 or 11 p.m. on Aug. 7, 1972, when she saw a very small, young, dark-haired girl hitchhiking on the corner of Morris and Springfield avenues in Summit.

I pulled over and I said, why are you hitchhiking so late and where are you going, she recalled. She said, Im going to Berkeley Heights to meet some friends.

Robin told the girl she could only take her as far as her own apartment on Kuntz Avenue off of Springfield Avenue and the girl replied that was fine because she was meeting friends just a block away at the intersection of Springfield and Snyder avenues.

The girl was very quiet in the car, fidgeting with a necklace and her pocketbook strap, Robin said. The girl got out of the car on Springfield Avenue and Robin recalled seeing her walking toward a small group of young people near the traffic light on Snyder Avenue.

When she heard about DePalmas body being found, Robin said she realized she matched the description of the girl she had picked up. Robin had marked it in her calendar  a habit of hers to keep track of when things happened  and showed that to police when they interviewed her.

While Robin on Monday couldnt recall details about the girls appearance beyond her small stature and hair color, police wrote that she said the girl was wearing dungarees, a light-colored top and sandals. Police said DePalmas body was discovered wearing tan dungarees, a blue shirt and sandals.

Police also wrote that the encounter happened around 8:30 p.m., but Robin said she was sure it was later because it was fully dark and she was surprised to see the girl hitchhiking at that hour.

Ed Salzano, a former Springfield resident who has investigated the case on his own and runs the Facebook page Justice for Jeannette, said that if the girl was Depalma, it raises the question of where she was all day and suggests that the people she met might have valuable information. She had told her family when she left earlier in the day that she was going to a friends house in Berkeley Heights, but the friend told authorities she never arrived.

Salzano  who said he still believes there could be a satanic connection  unsuccessfully sued the prosecutors office in 2019 to perform DNA testing on DePalmas clothes or confirm rumors that the evidence had been lost previously. He said he hopes the office will check for DNA on the sandals since they at least remain.

The Springfield Police Department evidence room was flooded by Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and some evidence was destroyed. According to correspondence between police and the prosecutors office after the flood, DePalmas clothes were not among the items that were inventoried after the flood.

The Union County Prosecutors Office declined to discuss the documents on the record, but has said that there are additional records it plans to release in the future.

The case remains open and anyone with information is urged to contact the Union County Prosecutors Office at 908-527-4500.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
The arrival of sexual health charity Brook in Northern Ireland in the early 1990s was controversial to say the least. The proposal to open up a Brook clinic in Belfast city centre was even debated in Parliament, with a range of Northern Ireland MPs expressing concern that it would lead to young people engaging in sex outside of marriage.

But while the politicians were discussing the proposed clinic at Westminster, the response in Northern Ireland became increasingly hostile.

The idea to invite Brook to Northern Ireland came from Professor Gabriel Scally, who, at the time, was Director of Public Health at the now-defunct Eastern Health and Social Services Board.

Passionate about improving health outcomes, Professor Scally was of the opinion that providing a sexual health service targeting young people from both sides of the community would help to address Northern Ireland's teenage pregnancy rates.

He never imagined the furore that would follow.

"It came about as a result of me doing my public health annual reports and data from the birth registrations, which showed that the rate of unmarried teenagers giving birth had increased," he explains.

"I was very concerned, not that they were unmarried, but that many of these pregnancies were unwanted, and I decided that we needed to do something about it.

"I knew because of the terribly barbaric legislation around abortion in Northern Ireland that a lot of women were travelling elsewhere to have terminations. I'm very much of the opinion that, when it comes to public health, prevention is better than cure, so we needed to do something to avoid young women from getting pregnant."

He adds: "Family planning services at the time were orientated towards more mature women and doctors weren't necessarily sympathetic towards younger people. Sexual health in young people requires a lot of counselling, it takes a lot of time, so I invited Brook Advisory to come and open up a clinic.

"But as soon it became known that Brook was setting up, that's when all the problems started. Basically, all hell broke loose."

Protests were organised and a group of GPs took a judicial review against the decision to open the clinic.

"It didn't go anywhere," says Scally.

He was, however, summoned to attend a series of council meetings and briefings to argue the case for the service.

"I was at a very difficult meeting one evening, there were lots of people there and one of them took me aside and accused me of some terrible things and told me I was going to end up with a bullet in my head. I was told afterwards that this was someone who was perfectly capable of making that happen.

"I did get other death threats and I checked under my car for a while, things like that."

Undeterred, however, Scally pressed ahead with his plans and Brook - now known as Common Youth - has provided sexual health advice to young people in Northern Ireland ever since.

Mary Crawford, who was manager of Brook after it opened, says Scally was never swayed from his goal: "There was a lot of pressure on Professor Scally at the time, it was very controversial for quite a few years and the media was in a frenzy, but he knew there was a need for the service.

"There were young people going to family planning in their school uniform and people were looking down on them, so Professor Scally was looking for a solution to the problem. He was ahead of his time. Even after he left the Eastern Board, he still kept in touch with us and would come back to speak at events and I think he would describe his role in setting up Brook as one of the highlights of his career."

For his part, Scally says: "Once I have decided I need to do something from a public health perspective, I get on and do it."

It is this same, determined attitude that has led him to clash with authorities over the pandemic response and he has become prominent for his criticism of everything from the test, trace and isolate scheme to the Government's refusal to implement managed mandatory quarantine.

But then, Scally is no stranger to holding those in power to account.

"The first time I was told off by a chief medical officer (CMO) was when I said on a television programme that there was no Northern Ireland strategy to tackle coronary heart disease. I was at home and I got a phone call from the CMO saying how dare I criticise the Department of Health. Some things have never changed.

"Another time, I was helping the BBC to make a documentary and I went with them to Stormont, because they were interviewing the minister for health at the time. The producer was pulled aside and told I wasn't allowed in as I was a dangerous subversive. I was finally allowed in on the condition that I didn't speak to the minister."

Scally's outspoken views have put him front and centre throughout the pandemic and he has attracted the attention of trolls and Covid deniers as a result.

He is pragmatic in his response: "I may be wrong, so it's important that people do question me, because it actually helps me in a strange way. It means I have to think - when people criticise me, or say I have got it wrong, it's good for me as I have to go back and think everything through again.

"If I'm wrong, I'm the first to admit that I'm wrong."

Born and raised on the Falls Road in Belfast, Scally's grandfather was a founding member of the NHS in Northern Ireland and his father was the lead consultant psychiatrist at Muckamore Abbey Hospital. So, there was never any question that he would not follow their lead.

He studied medicine at Queen's University and it was when he was a second-year medical student and watching a film on the Gorbals in Glasgow that he made the decision to specialise in public health.

"That's when I decided I wanted to try and improve people's health on a big scale and make changes to stop people from getting ill," he says.

Keen to learn as much as possible during his time as a student, Scally volunteered in the casualty unit at the Royal Victoria Hospital. It was a sobering and sometimes surreal experience.

"It was the mid-70s and I saw everything there," he says. "People you knew were brought in with bullet wounds, it was just awful. I remember two men brought in after a shooting; one was very ill and the other wasn't ill at all, he just had a cut on his head. I was asked to look after him, he was brought in on a stretcher, but he seemed to be all right.

"I was told to take him down to the X-ray department, which I did, and I was sitting chatting to the radiographer, and when the X-ray came back, you could see a bullet in his head.

"It was just sitting inside his sinus. The bullet must have ricocheted and it penetrated his skull, but it didn't cause any significant damage. He had the bullet removed and he was fine.

"I learnt so, so much during my time there, but it made me hate the violence even more. When people came in, it didn't matter whether they were police or Army, Protestant or Catholic; they were all the same when their clothes were stripped off, and they were fighting for their lives."

It was during his time at university that Scally was also presented with an opportunity to help raise awareness of the plight of people living in Chile following the 1973 coup d'etat.

Thanks to his involvement in the student union movement - "I spent as much time in the Students' Union as I did in the medical school" - he was selected to travel there to establish links with student organisations.

"My trip to Chile is the most dangerous thing I've ever done. I had to smuggle in currency to give financial support to people there. I was there for about eight days and although it was a few years after the coup, the military was still everywhere and it was very difficult. There was a very definite atmosphere of fear on the streets. It was very, very strange.

"Coming home, I brought testimonies from people with me to share with the International Union of Students so they could tell the world about what had happened, so I have to say I was never as relieved at an aeroplane taking off. However, I went back 42 years later and it was a wonderful experience."

Once he graduated, Scally turned his attention to his career in public health medicine. He opted to work at Daisy Hill Hospital, hoping he would gain more experience than by taking up a post in a Belfast hospital, and it was here that he worked alongside renowned obstetrician and gynaecologist Professor Jim Dornan.

"I had great fun when I was there. I learnt so much from people like Jim and I have great memories of the people there," says Scally.

Dr Dornan remembers Scally as "intelligent, earnest, committed, but fun with a strong social conscience - motivated strongly, and correctly, about apartheid".

"Then our paths crossed again when I was a consultant in the Royal Maternity Hospital and he was a big noise in the Eastern Board," says Dornan. "He was very helpful in getting us a state-of-the-art scanner at the end of the financial year. Indeed, he called me and said, 'I think I can help you access that piece of equipment you need in the foetal medicine department.'"

Despite the controversy that Scally attracted during his time at the Eastern Health Board, he said he was torn when he was approached and offered a job at South East Thames Regional Health Authority in England.

However, he said the ongoing violence and political intransigence played a key role in his decision to leave Northern Ireland in 1993.

Since the move, he has been involved in a series of high-profile reviews into serious health service failings.

Among them was the Bristol Children's heart scandal, which saw Scally take the brave step of stopping senior surgeons from carrying out cardiac operations pending the outcome of an investigation into their work.

"That was one of the toughest decisions I have ever had to make," he says.

He chaired a review panel examining harrowing abuse of vulnerable people at a private hospital near Bristol and was an expert advisor in the Hyponatraemia Inquiry, which examined the deaths of five children after treatment at hospitals in Northern Ireland.

He also led a review of the cervical cancer scandal in the Republic of Ireland, which found "a whole system failure".

Medical negligence lawyer Cian O'Carroll, who represented Ruth Morrissey, who died from cervical cancer last July, described Scally as "an important ally" of the women affected by the failings.

"This is best exemplified by his ongoing friendship with Vicky Phelan, who is the most trusted advocate by all associated with the victims of the CervicalCheck programme," he says.

It is clear that, over the years, Scally has become an advocate for people who have been failed by the health service and he has spent his adult life working to improve clinical governance and outcomes for the most vulnerable in society.

"I was a senior Whitehall civil servant for 16 years," he says. "I think people forget that, when I criticise the pandemic response, I have seen it from both sides, but when you're a civil servant, you are a public servant and you are there to do exactly that - to serve the public to the best of your ability."

Lisa Smyth is the Belfast Telegraph's health correspondent
Ex-Ugandan rebel commander Dominic Ongwen has been convicted of war crimes at the International Criminal Court (ICC).



Thursdays historic ruling also saw him convicted of forced pregnancy  a legal first in an international court.



Ongwen, a feared commander of the notorious Lords Resistance Army (LRA), is the first member of the LRA to appear before the court.



He was convicted on 61 of the 70 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes he faced.



The charges relate to attacks on four camps for internally displaced people in Uganda in 2004. More than 4,000 victims provided testimony in the ICC case.





Ongwens sentence is to be handed down at a later date. He could face life imprisonment.



This case presented a dilemma to the court as Ongwen appeared to be both the victim and the alleged perpetrator.



He said he was abducted by the LRA and forced to be a child soldier, before going on to rise up the ranks to become the deputy to LRA commander Joseph Kony.



Straight away we can say without mincing words that we are definitely going to appeal.



On all the charges, Ongwens lawyer Krispus Ayena Odongo told the BBC.



He said the verdict landed like a bombshell.



But it was welcomed by Elise Keppler, associate director of the International Justice Program at campaign group Human Rights Watch.



This case is a milestone as the first and only LRA case to reach a verdict anywhere in the world, she told the AFP news agency.



Ongwen was convicted of counts including war crimes, crimes against humanity, murder, rape torture, sexual enslavement and pillaging.



The ICC issued a warrant for his arrest in 2005 and US and African forces had been searching for him since 2011.



In 2015 he gave himself up in the Central African Republic (CAR) and his three-and-a-half year trial in the Hague ended in March.



At the start of the trial, according to AFP news agency, prosecutors showed gruesome footage of the scene after an LRA attack on Lukodi refugee camp in northern Uganda, where children were disemboweled and the charred bodies of babies left in shallow graves.



Presiding Judge Schmitt read out the names of civilians who were murdered on the orders of Ongwen at that same refugee camp and three others in the areas of Pajule, Odek, and Abok.

Source: AFP/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.

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Unfortunately we had more one more fatality than we did from the prior year, said Russ Matson, the departments director of administrative services. There were four in Naperville in 2019 to five in 2020.

Egypts Court of Cassation upheld a 15-year prison sentence for a train driver over the 2019 train crash at central Cairo station that killed and injured dozens.

The driver was one of several defendants accused of negligence in the crash that resulted in the death of 31 people and the injury of 17.

The top appeals court also upheld a fine of EGP 8.8 million against the driver, 10-year jail terms against four defendants, and seven-year sentences for five.

The court upheld prison terms ranging from two to five years against three other defendants.

The prosecution had accused the locomotive driver of tampering with the train's equipment and devices, allowing their movement on the railway by disabling one of the tractor's safety devices.

The prosecution charged the other defendants with forging signatures in attendance books.

In February 2019, a blaze broke out at Cairo's Ramses Railway Station following the fatal train crash. CCTV video circulated online showed a locomotive was left unattended at a train yard after its driver had jumped out to speak with the conductor of another train that crashed into the first locomotive.

When the two locomotives disengaged, the unmanned locomotive moved at maximum speed towards the railway station to crash into a concrete barrier at the end of the train line, bursting into flames.

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Hyderabad, Feb 6 : Farmers protesting against the Centre's new agricultural legislations took out a bullock cart rally here on Saturday on the call given by the farmers' unions for a nationwide "chakka jam".

The rally on the Hayathnagar national highway saw the participation of the Congress, CPI and CPI(M) workers and several other activists, carrying the Tricolour and blaring out revolutionary songs.

Congress supporters led by Malreddy Ramreddy and Anil Kumar Yadav joined the protest under the Pradesh Congress Committee.

The Left parties members were seen carrying placards and party flags on the Vijayawada-Hyderabad highway as part of the protest against the Centre's farm laws.

The protesters were later dispersed due to massive traffic jams at several points in the city.
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Thousands of Chinese social media users paid tribute to Li Wenliang on Saturday, marking the one year anniversary of the death of the doctor who first blew the whistle on the coronavirus outbreak.

Li, one of a group of doctors in Wuhan who shared posts on social media warning of a SARS-like virus spreading in the central city in December 2019, was reprimanded by police for spreading "rumours".

His death in February last year after catching the virus from a patient prompted a national outpouring of grief, as well as anger at the government's handling of the crisis and bold demands for political reforms.

The Chinese government has since promoted an official narrative centred on its efficient handling of the outbreak as local transmissions have largely been brought under control and censors swiftly scrub the more critical comments from the internet.

But Li's personal page on the Twitter-like Weibo platform remains a rare space for users to commemorate the trauma of the early outbreak after the country imposed a strict lockdown on millions of people in Wuhan and surrounding Hubei province.

Commenters marked the anniversary of his death with thousands of messages, ranging from candle emoticons to updates on their own lives addressed to the late doctor.

"Dr. Li, the weather is great today where I live ... everyone around me is trying their best in life, all is good, happy lunar new year" one Weibo user wrote Saturday in a comment on Li's last post, which has attracted more than a million comments, mostly after his death.

"I thought everyone would have forgotten you after a year," wrote another commenter.

"I was wrong, you live forever in the hearts of the Chinese people."

Wuhan city itself, however, showed few outward indications of mourning.

There was little sign of tributes outside Wuhan Central Hospital where the 24-year-old ophthalmologist first warned colleagues of the mysterious new virus, in stark contrast with the photos and bouquets left by mourners a year ago.

Story continues

The city where the virus was first detected is now playing host to a delegation of World Health Organization inspectors searching for clues to the source of the pandemic.

The sensitive mission, which China had delayed throughout the first year of the international health crisis, has already visited the Huanan Seafood Market where many of the first known patients worked.

The experts have also toured a controversial Wuhan virology institute at the heart of conspiracy theories about the disease's origins.

Life in Wuhan, a city of 11 million, has largely returned to normal, with bustling shopping malls and lively night markets months after the world's first Covid lockdown was lifted in April.

"Last year, there were no people or cars on the street, and the only vehicle on the road was an ambulance, so I felt very empty inside" Wuhan resident Hou Mingli told AFP.

A year later, Hou said, "I feel much warmth and comfort."

burs-tjx/mtp/oho

The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has lifted the suspension on the embattled former General Secretary of the party.



The committees ruling last Monday, January 25, 2021, after a hurriedly organized meeting in Accra to deliberate on the lifting of the suspension of Mr. Kwabena Agyepong and matters arising.



The report says the decision to lift the suspension on the former Chief Executive Officer of the party stem from the role he played in campaigning for the party and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to ensure a second term victory for the party in the December 7, general elections.



Per the decision of the NEC to quash the earlier suspension, Mr. Agyepong is free to seek or contest any position in the party as a bonafide member of NPP.



The highest decision-making body of the party has further quashed the earlier suspension of Mr Kwabena Agyepong leading to his removal from office but stated that Mr. Agyepong would not be reinstated as there is a substantive General Secretary in the person of John Boadu.



Mr. Agyepong in 2015 was suspended by NEC of the party together with the then former National Chairman, Paul Afoko and the First Vice National Chairman, Sammy Crabbe over some disciplinary issues.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Susie Bradley has dethroned Ines Basic as Britain's most hated bride as her season of Married At First Sight airs in the UK for the first time.

Much like Australians were in 2019, British viewers have been left reeling after watching Susie's toxic relationship with on-screen husband Billy Vincent.

Countless people have flocked to social media to express their shock over Susie's antics after she repeatedly berated Billy.

Backlash: Susie Bradley has dethroned Ines Basic as Britain's most hated bride as her season of Married At First Sight airs in the UK for the first time

In one memorable scene, Susie attacked Billy at the beach after he told a white lie about being able to surf, which ended with him in tears.

Another iconic scene was the couple's first commitment ceremony, in which Susie said Billy wasn't 'manly' enough for her.

'Billy stares, he's very awkward and makes me very uncomfortable,' she seethed.

Shocked: Much like Australians were in 2019, British viewers have been left reeling after watching Susie's toxic relationship with on-screen husband Billy Vincent

Heartbroken: In one memorable scene, Susie attacked Billy at the beach after he told a white lie about being able to surf, which ended with him in tears

'The silly odd things that come out of his mouth freak me out. He is a lot to take in,' she added.

Fighting back more tears, Billy responded: 'I am trying so hard. I am just trying to be a nice person.'

British viewers didn't hold back on social media, with one writing: 'Just when we thought the show couldn't find anyone worse than Davina or Ines... they introduce the delightful Susie.'

'Billy stares, he's very awkward and makes me very uncomfortable!' Another iconic scene was the couple's first commitment ceremony, in which Susie said Billy wasn't 'manly' enough

Another tweeted: 'Billy's only mistake was putting Susie on a pedestal at the start. She's used that to try and control and belittle him.

'Really can't understand why she's so mean to him. What has he done that's so bad.'

Since filming Married At First Sight, Susie has gone on to find love with former NRL star Todd Carney.

'Devoid of empathy and so entitled': Countless people have flocked to social media to express their shock over Susie's antics after she repeatedly berated Billy

'Even worse!' Viewers believe Susie is even more outrageous than previous villain Ines Basic

Oh no! Countless viewers have branded Susie worse than both Ines and Davina Rankin

The couple have since got engaged and are now expecting a child together.

Billy has also found his own happy ending with professional snowboarder and model Rani Siregar.

Married At First Sight Australia is currently the highest rated show on the UK's E4 channel, regularly pulling in more than 1.1 million viewers and upwards per episode.
New drug targets for childhood cancer neuroblastoma identified

The largest single cell study to date of the childhood cancer, neuroblastoma, has answered important questions about the genesis of the disease. The researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and the Princess Maxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, discovered that all neuroblastomas arise from a single type of embryonic cell called sympathoblasts.

The study, published today (5 February 2021) in Science Advances, sought to understand why neuroblastomas range in severity, with some easy to treat and others having relatively low five-year survival rates. The fact that all neuroblastomas arise from sympathoblasts makes them an attractive drug target, because these cells exist only in the tumour after the child is born.

Neuroblastoma is a rare cancer that generally affects children under five years old. It begins in the abdomen, usually in the adrenal glands - hormone-producing glands above the kidneys. Neuroblastoma is remarkable in that its severity can vary greatly between individuals. In some children the cancer will disappear without treatment, whereas in others the cancer is relentless. The five-year survival rate for neuroblastoma is one of the lowest of all childhood cancers*.

This varied outlook prompted the researchers to ask whether the range of severity could be caused by neuroblastomas arising from different cell types at different stages of the child's development in the womb. This was made possible by the advent of single cell mRNA sequencing, a high-resolution technology that can identify different cell types present in a tissue according to the genes expressed by individual cells.

In this study, gene expression of 19,723 cancer cells was analysed and compared to a reference of 57,972 developmental adrenal cells in the hope of identifying the cell types from which neuroblastomas arise and to find novel treatment targets.

Dr Jan Molenaar, a senior author of the study from the Princess Maxima Center for Pediatric Oncology in the Netherlands, said: "What is most striking about our findings is that despite the great diversity of clinical behaviour of neuroblastoma, there is an overarching neuroblastoma cell type that is found in all patients. The identification of sympathoblasts as the root of all neuroblastoma is an important step towards understanding how the disease develops and, hopefully, how we can treat it."

Currently, many cancer treatments cause serious side effects for the patient. But in recent years, technological advances have sped up drug development by allowing researchers to identify differences between the biological processes, such as the expression of a particular gene, within healthy human cells and those within cancerous ones. These differences can be exploited to attack cancer cells without affecting the patient's healthy cells.

The presence of sympathoblasts, a developmental cell type not normally found in children after they are born, makes it a promising drug target for the treatment of neuroblastoma.

Dr Karin Straathof, a senior author of the study from Great Ormond Street Hospital, said: "Neuroblastoma is an unusual cancer in that some tumours resolve without intervention, yet the disease still has one of the lowest five-year survival rates of any childhood cancer. This study fills important gaps in our knowledge of what neuroblastoma cells are and revealed novel treatment targets. My hope is that new, less intrusive therapies can be developed by targeting sympathoblasts, a developmental cell type that exists only in neuroblastoma tumours after a child is born."

As well as facilitating the discovery of sympathoblasts as the root of neuroblastoma, the single-cell reference map of the developmental adrenal gland will also contribute to the Human Cell Atlas project**. The project aims to create comprehensive reference maps of all types of human cells - the fundamental units of life - as a basis for understanding human health and diagnosing, monitoring, and treating disease.

Dr Sam Behjati, a senior author of the study from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Cambridge University Hospitals, said: "Our study shows the power of looking at individual childhood cancer cells in revealing not just one, but a plethora of novel treatment ideas. This raises the exciting prospect that a single cell atlas of all types of paediatric tumours may transform our understanding of childhood cancer."

###

Contact details:

Dr Matthew Midgley

Press Office

Wellcome Sanger Institute

Cambridge, CB10 1SA

Phone: 01223 494856

Email: press.office@sanger.ac.uk

Notes to Editors:

*More information on neuroblastoma is available from Cancer Research UK:

https:/ / www. cancerresearchuk. org/ about-cancer/ childrens-cancer/ neuroblastoma/ about

**More information about the Human Cell Atlas (HCA) project is available here:

https:/ / www. humancellatlas. org/

Publication:

Gerda Kildisiute, Waleed M. Kholosy, Matthew D. Young et al. (2021). Tumor to normal single-cell mRNA comparisons reveal a pan-neuroblastoma cancer cell. Science Advances. DOI: https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1126/ sciadv. abd3311

Funding:

This study was funded by Wellcome. Additional funding was received from the St Baldrick's Foundation and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

Selected websites:

About the Princess Maxima Center

Every year some 600 children in the Netherlands are diagnosed with cancer. One in four children with cancer still dies from the disease.

In order to cure children from cancer, all care and research in the Netherlands is concentrated in the Princess Maxima Center for pediatric oncology in Utrecht. More than ten years ago, parents and healthcare professionals took the initiative. The new pediatric oncology center was opened by Queen Maxima of the Netherlands on 5 June 2018.

The mission of the Princess Maxima Center is to cure every child with cancer, with optimal quality of life. The Princess Maxima Center is the largest pediatric oncology center in Europe where care and research are closely intertwined. Approximately 400 scientists and more than 800 healthcare professionals work closely together.

About Research at Great Ormond Street Hospital

Great Ormond Street Hospital is one of the world's leading children's hospitals with the broadest range of dedicated, children's healthcare specialists under one roof in the UK. The hospital's pioneering research and treatment gives hope to children from across the UK with the rarest, most complex and often life-threatening conditions. All research at Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health is made possible by the NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre.

The Wellcome Sanger Institute

The Wellcome Sanger Institute is a world leading genomics research centre. We undertake large-scale research that forms the foundations of knowledge in biology and medicine. We are open and collaborative; our data, results, tools and technologies are shared across the globe to advance science. Our ambition is vast - we take on projects that are not possible anywhere else. We use the power of genome sequencing to understand and harness the information in DNA. Funded by Wellcome, we have the freedom and support to push the boundaries of genomics. Our findings are used to improve health and to understand life on Earth. Find out more at http://www. sanger. ac. uk or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and on our Blog.

About Wellcome

Wellcome exists to improve health by helping great ideas to thrive. We support researchers, we take on big health challenges, we campaign for better science, and we help everyone get involved with science and health research. We are a politically and financially independent foundation.

https:/ / wellcome. org/

This story has been published on: 2021-02-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Sarah Ferguson was so nervous about meeting her future in-laws that she tripped over one of the Queen's beloved Corgis and spilled her drink, a royal biographer claims in a new documentary.

Ingrid Seward, editor of Majesty magazine, reveals the Duchess' series of awkward faux-pas in tonight's When Fergie Met The Monarchy on Channel 5.

She told how Fergie, then aged around 24, travelled to the Sandringham estate to meet the family of her boyfriend Prince Andrew - a meeting which could make or break their union.

Unsure to whom she should curtsey, Seward told how Fergie knelt before everyone in order to avoid offence.

A documentary airing tonight on Channel 5 looks back at Sarah Ferguson's relationship with the royal family before and after her wedding to Prince Andrew on 23 July 1986 (pictured at Westminster Abbey on the day)

In the documentary, royal commentator and editor of Majesty magazine Ingrid Seward reveals a 'nervous' Fergie committed several blunders upon meeting the Queen at the Sandringham Estate (pictured with The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Andrew on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on the Queen's 60 birthday in April 1980)

Fergie's parents, Major Ronald Ferguson and Susan Ferguson, had previously been invited for a shoot on the royal estate and it's thought they briefed their daughter on the dos and don't of staying with the Firm.

However, Seward said the young redhead fell victim to nerves while trying to impress her boyfriend's parents - the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh - along with other senior royals.

'Her own mother and father had been to Sandringham for shooting weekends and obviously, they had told her what to do, so she was not completely ignorant of how it was going to work, but she was nervous,' Seward explains.

'When she walked into the sitting room in Sandringham she tripped over one of the Queen's Corgis, and she spilled her drink.

'And in her fluster she thought, "Who are all these people?" so she just curtsied to everyone - but in that way, she knew she was not making a faux-pas.'

Sarah Ferguson still lives with Prince Andrew at Royal Lodge in Windsor (pictured recently)

Relationship psychologist Anjula Mutanda tells how meeting the parents and wanting to make a good impression under pressure could lead some people to commit mistakes due to nerves.

'You know that everybody's gaze is on you,' she says.

'So I think she found herself in that situation of feeling, "I don't know if they're going to like me, I also want them to absolutely adore me". And all that at once can be a pressure cooker for things to monumentally wrong and I think in Sarah's case it kinda did.'

However, after this awkward introduction, Fergie worked on winning over all the senior members of the Firm, learning to drive carriages with Philip and riding with Her Majesty.

'She had learned to ride at a very young age and the Queen loves horses and the fact Fergie could accompany her on rides was a huge plus,' Daily Mail's Editor at Large Richard Kay observes.

Prince Andrew and Fergie, who had grown up in the same circles but reconnected in 1985, got married on July 23, 1986.

Fergie, pictured right in green, on the occasion of Princess Eugenie's wedding to Jack Brooksbank in 2018

Unfortunately the couple, who share two daughters, Princess Beatrice, 32, and Princess Eugenie, 30, grew apart, with their relationship starting to unravel in the 1990s, leading to their separation in 1992 and subsequent divorce in 1996.

The Duke and Duchess have stayed 'best friends' for their two daughters; they still live together at Royal Lodge in Windsor, where they have both spent lockdown.

However, their estrangement led to a series of indiscretions which caused Fergie to fall out of favour with the royals, especially the Queen.

The documentary also looks back on an incident which became known as 'toegate,' where pictures of a topless Fergie having her toes kissed by Texan millionaire John Bryan were published in the press.

Fergie's relationship with the royal family suffered from her 1992 separation from Andrew and subsequent divorce in 1996. Pictured centre (short hair) with Princess Diana, left, Princes William and Harry as children, the Queen, Queen Mother, Princess Margaret and the Duke of Edinburgh on 25 December 1991 in Sandringham

The photos, which were released when Eugenie and Beatrice were with their father at Balmoral visiting the Queen, are believed to be the reason why Fergie was shunned by the Royal Family.

It also touches on the 'cash-for-access scandal' of 2010, where Fergie allegedly promised a businessman to arrange a meeting with Prince Andrew for the sum of 500,000.

Unbeknownst to the Duchess of York at the time, she was being taped by reporters from the now defunct New of the World tabloid. The Duchess later took legal action to clear her name.

When Fergie Met Royalty airs on Saturday [February 6] at 9pm on Channel 5.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 21:35:29|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Jan. 10, 2021 shows Cao Ziyang, a high-speed train conductor, checking body temperature of staff members. (Xinhua/Wang Kai)

"As I have witnessed firsthand, China has set a good example in epidemic prevention and control," Chatterjee said, adding that scientifically proved, robust public health measures are most effective to prevent the spread of viruses. "Continuing to encourage wearing masks, maintaining social etiquette and observing good hygiene habits are still crucial in preventing the spread of the virus."



BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Siddharth Chatterjee, the new UN Resident Coordinator in China, said the country has set a good example in epidemic prevention and control through robust public health measures centered around scientifically proven steps.

"I look forward to joining the UN family in China. We will continue to work in lockstep with the Government of China to fight COVID-19," Chatterjee said on Saturday, as he is about to complete a 21-day quarantine period after arriving in China.

With COVID-19 raging globally, Chatterjee's journey to China was rather strenuous. He was appointed the new resident coordinator in China by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in December last year, tasked with leading the UN Country Team, composed of heads of all UN operating agencies, to carry out relevant development work in China.

In January, Chatterjee flew from Kenya to South China's Guangzhou to take up his new post.

"Upon arrival, I received rigorous and orderly entry screening like other overseas passengers arriving in China," Chatterjee said, jokingly adding that his new role did not bring him any "preferential treatment."

"Officials were wearing appropriate personal protective equipment, checking incoming travelers for signs and symptoms," Chatterjee recalled, adding that all overseas passengers arriving in China were directed to designated hotels to complete a 21-day quarantine period.

During quarantine, Chatterjee communicated with his new UN colleagues in China virtually, kept in touch with family through the internet, caught up on reading, writing and reflecting, and conducted fitness training. Despite experiencing quarantine for the first time, Chatterjee kept his work and life in good order.

Chatterjee said quarantine with a rigorous fitness regimen, including breathing exercises and a bit of yoga, helped keep his mind and body sharp, positively buoyant and in fine fettle. "I even managed to clock an average of 20,000 steps a day," he said.

People take part in a new round of COVID-19 nucleic acid test at a residential community which has been classified as a high-risk area in Daxing District, Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo)

Chatterjee deemed China's epidemic prevention system comprehensive and systematic. Before he flew to China, for example, he was clearly informed that those who take international flights to China must hold proof of negative COVID-19 nucleic acid and IgM antibody test issued no more than two days before travel.

"Later I acknowledged that these tests form just part of a comprehensive testing and tracing system found in China, which is critical to preventing future outbreaks and clusters," Chatterjee noted.

"As I have witnessed firsthand, China has set a good example in epidemic prevention and control," Chatterjee said, adding that scientifically proved, robust public health measures are most effective to prevent the spread of viruses. "Continuing to encourage wearing masks, maintaining social etiquette and observing good hygiene habits are still crucial in preventing the spread of the virus."

Volunteers disinfect the platform of Liupanshui Railway Station in Liupanshui, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 28, 2021. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)

As the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, approaches, the government has called for strict prevention and control measures in view of the complex situation of the epidemic prevention and control. Authorities have issued the stay-put policy to reduce the risk of infections during the usually busy travel season.

"I acknowledge that these responses can place strain on our happiness and well-being, but it is critical that we do not lose sight of our goal to defeat the virus," Chatterjee said.

Through simple public health measures, with adherence to science, as adopted here in China, the world can slow the spread of the virus, save lives and livelihoods and end the pandemic, he noted. 

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Thousands of people took to the streets of Yangon on Saturday to denounce this weeks coup and demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in the first such demonstration since the generals seized power.

Military dictator, fail, fail; Democracy, win, win, protesters chanted, calling for the military to free Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi and other leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) who have been detained since the coup on Monday.

Against military dictatorship, read the banner at the front of the march. Many protesters dressed in the NLDs red colour and some carried red flags.

Myanmars junta has tried to silence dissent by temporarily blocking Facebook and extended the social media crackdown to Twitter and Instagram on Saturday in the face of the growing protest movement.

Authorities ordered internet providers to deny access to Twitter and Instagram until further notice, said Norwegian mobile phone company Telenor Asa.

Demand for VPNs has soared in Myanmar, allowing some people to evade the ban, but users reported more general disruption to mobile data services, which most people in the country of 53 million rely on for news and communications.

We lost freedom, justice and urgently need democracy, wrote one Twitter user. Please hear the voice of Myanmar.

Army chief Min Aung Hlaing seized power alleging fraud in a November 8 election that the NLD won in a landslide. The electoral commission dismissed the armys accusations.

The junta announced a one-year state of emergency and has promised to hand over power after new elections, without giving a timeframe.

The takeover drew international condemnation with a United Nations Security Council call for the release of all detainees and targeted sanctions under consideration by Washington.

Suu Kyi, 75, has not been seen in public since the coup. She spent some 15 years under house arrest during a struggle against previous juntas before the troubled democratic transition began in 2011.

The lawyer for Suu Kyi and ousted President Win Myint said they were being held in their homes and that he was unable to meet them because they were still being questioned. Suu Kyi faces charges of importing six walkie-talkies illegally while Win Myint is accused of flouting coronavirus restrictions.

Of course, we want unconditional release as they have not broken the law, said Khin Maung Zaw, the veteran lawyer who is representing both of them.

Sean Turnell, an Australian economic adviser to Suu Kyi, said in a message to Reuters on Saturday he was being detained.

I guess you will soon hear of it, but I am being detained, he said. Being charged with something, but not sure what. I am fine and strong, and not guilty of anything, he said, with a smile emoji.

It was not subsequently possible to contact him.

Saturdays protest is the first sign of street unrest in a country with a history of bloody crackdowns on protesters. There were also anti-coup protests in Melbourne, Australia, and the Taiwanese capital Taipei on Saturday.

A civil disobedience movement has been building in Myanmar all week, with doctors and teachers among those refusing to work, and every night people bang pots and pans in a show of anger.

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In addition to about 150 arrests in the wake of the coup reported by human rights groups, local media said around 30 people have been detained over the noise protests.

International pressure

The United States is considering targeted sanctions on individuals and on entities controlled by Myanmars military.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressed top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi in a phone call on Friday to condemn the coup, the State Department said.

China, which has close links to Myanmars military, joined the consensus on the Security Council statement but has not condemned the army takeover and has said countries should act in the interests of the stability of its neighbour Myanmar.

UN Myanmar envoy Christine Schraner Burgener strongly condemned the coup in a call with Myanmars deputy military chief Soe Win, and called for the immediate release of all those detained, a U.N. spokesman said.

The generals have few overseas interests that would be vulnerable to international sanctions, but the militarys extensive business investments could suffer if foreign partners leave  as Japanese drinks company Kirin Holdings said it would on Friday.

Telenor, another company attracted to invest by Myanmars decade of opening, said it was legally obliged to follow the order to block some social media, but highlighted the directives contradiction with international human rights law.

U.S. based pressure group Human Rights Watch called for the lifting of internet restrictions, the release of detainees and an end to threats against journalists.

A news and information blackout by the coup leaders cant hide their politically motivated arrests and other abuses, said Asia director Brad Adams.

(REUTERS)

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February was designated in 1970 as Black History Month, but Black residents of Jacksonville say Black history is more than a month, more than just famous people and the Civil Rights Movement.

Instead, they say, its about recognizing everyday people and teaching all aspects of a plentiful history.

Black history  its throughout the year, said the Rev. Johnny Lee Nichols of Mount Emory Baptist Church. I feel its relevant to our youth in the future.

In addition to wanting elements of Black culture recognized year-round, Nichols believes there still is much Black history that has yet to be taught in schools. He would love to see that changed.

White people should learn about Black people and Black people should learn about Black people, Nichols said.

Black history is not only an American effort anymore, said Trevelyn Florence Thomas of Florence Family Ministries, explaining that she has seen it grow over the years and spread out of the United States.

I have seen a progression of awareness through our country and the world, Thomas said.

Born and raised in west-central Illinois and moving away to earn a masters degree in African American studies before returning in 2007, Thomas said she has seen Black history increasingly recognized in the places she has lived.

You can pick up a book and see how Blacks were involved in an event or invention, she said. Its like a veil or a curtain being pulled back.

Loving her Jacksonville community, coming back years ago was a relief, she said.

The community itself embraces Black History Month, she said. I felt like it was my duty to come back.

The death last year of George Floyd sparked a lot of Black Lives Matter activities. For Thomas, a spotlight was on Black history long before Floyds death.

A lot of it was highlighted before Mr. Floyds death, but (the BLM movement) brought (Black history) up to the front, she said. There was definitely an adjustment.

Jimmie Burries, pastor at House of Worship Church of God in Christ, grew up in Chicago and, as student, had semester-long courses on Black history available to him. For his kids, who attended Jacksonville School District 117 schools, it was another story, he said.

Right here in Jacksonville we can do more educating of the importance of history, especially Black history, Burries said. I taught my kids everything they know about Black history.

Burries feels schools simply teach the basics of Black history while missing out on teaching about how Black people helped shape America and remain an active part of the countrys history, not just an early chapter of it.

Theyre doing enough to get by, but, what about the Black inventors? Not just slavery, but contributions, he said. Black people had a part of building America, were all in this together.
Last year brought yet more evidence of how hypercompetitive the ETF marketplace has become: Of the 277 exchange-traded products that shut down in 2020, one-quarter of them had been trading for less than three years, according to CFRA Research. One fund was just four months old when it shut in December: North Shore Dual Share Class ETF (DUAL).

The shortening ETF life cycle has implications not only for fund sponsors, according to a new academic study, but also for investors. The researchers found that, because many newly launched ETFs are risky attempts to capitalize on the latest trend, they end up investing in overvalued stocks. One consequence is that such funds on average can be expected to lag behind the broad markets returns over at least five years after launchif they even live that long.

The study was conducted by Itzhak Ben-David and Byungwook Kim of Ohio State University, Francesco Franzoni of the University of Lugano in Switzerland and Rabih Moussawi of Villanova University. In interviews and emails, these researchers point out that its nearly impossible for a newly launched ETF to compete on price against any of the large, well-known ETFs that are benchmarked to one or more broad market indexes. The ETFs from Vanguard Group and Charles Schwab Corp. that are benchmarked to the total U.S. stock market, for example, each sport an expense ratio of just 0.03%, or $3 per $10,000 invested.

Chasing the trends

So, to attract sufficient assets to give a newly launched ETF any hope of survival, fund sponsors tend to focus on increasingly specialized sectors and investment themes that are currently capturing investors attention. While that may help new funds attract an inflow of cash, another likely consequence is that they will own a large number of overvalued stocks. Thats because, according to Mr. Kim, these stocks will have already been bid up to unsustainable levels by the same fad that tempted the ETF sponsor to launch its new fund."

One theme that is hot now is cybersecurity, for example, and no fewer than five new ETFs that focus on this theme have started trading over the past year. The newest is WisdomTree Cybersecurity Fund (WCBR), launched in late January. According to the funds website, its current average forward-looking price/earnings ratio is 77.2, more than three times the S&P 500s 22.2. This new ETFs price-to-sales ratio is nearly four times that of the S&P 500.

Wind in their faces

Prof. Moussawi stresses that he and his fellow researchers are making no specific predictions about the fate of any individual ETFs, which could do better than the overall market. But there is little doubt that such high valuations create headwinds for these narrowly focused ETFs on average. To document this, the researchers analyzed all U.S. equity ETFs from 1993 through 2020. They found that specialized ETFs lagged behind the broad markets return by an average of 5.4 percentage points a year on a risk-adjusted basis over the first five years of their lives.

None of this is to deny that the ETF model represents a major innovation in the investment arena. ETFs enable individual investors to buy or sell the entire stock market as easily as an individual stock, at extremely low cost and with potential tax advantages over traditional mutual funds. But these features also create the conditions for ETF providers to cater to the latest Wall Street fads and investors worst instincts. Prof. Franzoni refers to the increasingly narrow specialization of ETFs as financial innovation gone awry."

Mr. Hulbert is a columnist whose Hulbert Ratings tracks investment newsletters that pay a flat fee to be audited. He can be reached at reports@wsj.com.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.

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Posted Friday, February 5, 2021 4:42 pm

The Oakville School District gymnasium operated as a COVID-19 vaccination site for about 50 Oakville and Rochester School District employees on Friday.

The Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, provided with doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from the state, was able to vaccinate all of their tribal members who were willing and are now branching out to other organizations in their community.

Denise Walker, health director for the Chehalis Tribe, said she is happy the tribe is able to do their part to help students and teachers feel safer in the classroom. The tribe will be back in 28 days to administer the second dose of the vaccine.

We just have a good working relationship with the schools and we have a lot of tribal kids and tribal teachers in the schools. We just wanted to do our part to get the students back to school and help the teachers feel safe, Walker said. Were all in this together in Washington state.

The Chehalis Tribe had a phased approach to administering the vaccine, much like the state, and they vaccinated their elders, first responders and tribal members first.

We were hearing the schools werent getting vaccinated, and in my opinion, they should have been on the priority list to help get kids back in school, so the chairman said, Hey, can we work with the schools? Walker said. Its a great feeling to be a part of something that you know is going to matter. The teachers are so appreciative and it makes them feel safer.

The Oakville School District employs about 50 people, and 28 of them decided to take advantage of the opportunity to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Oakville School District Superintendent Rich Staley said that about 35% of Oakville students are a part of the Chehalis Tribe.

The perception is pretty positive. It was just kind of a miracle. We were trying to figure out how we were going to get our staff vaccinated, Staley said. I think the biggest thing for me is the morale boost amongst staff.

Staley said that the district employs staff that lives in Thurston, Grays Harbor and Lewis counties, and trying to coordinate with each health department was difficult.

Oakville kindergarten teacher Mary Keating, 61, was sitting down on the bleachers in the gym on Friday morning waiting out the 15 minutes that is recommended to see if there are any side effects after vaccination.

Keating said she feels more safe coming to work now that she has received the first round of the vaccine and will receive the second dose in about a month.

This is a really big gift from the Tribe, she said.

Keatings daughter, who works as a physical therapist and has already been vaccinated, encouraged her to do whatever she could to get the COVID-19 vaccine to help protect herself from the virus. Keating had registered to be vaccinated through the Thurston County Health Department but didnt expect to be inoculated until April.

I have a lot of faith in our medical professionals, Keating said as to why she chose to get vaccinated. Its an interesting time where we learn a lot about people we thought we knew well. These are important decisions and we dont all decide the same thing.
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WWE legend Kelly Kelly and her gal pals hit St. Barthelemy this week, twerking in their bikinis on yachts and enjoying a trip sponsored by a wellness brand that has been controversially flying influencers to the island for getaways.

Kelly, also known as Barbie Blank, was joined by other wrestling greats Danielle Moinet and Tenille Dashwood, along with the WNBA's Liz Cambage and the Loureda MMA fighting sisters Valerie and Natalie.

The extravagant trip appeared to be sponsored by Vital Proteins, as Kelly and the others frequently tagged the wellness group in their posts.

'Choose your fighter,' Moinet - who went by the wrestling name Summer Rae - said to her 1.7 million followers, showing the group exiting the Caribbean Sea.

Scroll down for video

Girl trip! Barbie Blank was joined in St. Barthelemy by other wrestling greats Danielle Moinet and Tenille Dashwood, along with the WNBA's Liz Cambage and the Loureda MMA fighting sisters Valerie and Natalie (from left to right; Valerie and Natalie Loureda, Danielle Moinet, Liz Cambage, Tenille Dashwood and Barbie Blank)

Sponsored: The extravagant trip appeared to be sponsored by Vital Proteins, as Kelly and the others frequently tagged the wellness group in their posts. Moinet poses with a Vital Protein drink on the lavish boat

Strike a pose! Moinet flaunts her toned figure in a snake-skin print Matte Collection bathing suit

'Catch us on a yacht somewhere or in the cage idk,' MMA sensation Valerie Loureda said in a post that showed her and her sister's lounging on a yacht with their derrieres poking out

Another picture posted by Natalie Loureda shows the sister fighters with Liz Campage of the Southside Flyers. The 6'8" bombshell towers over the sisters as they pose for the photo

The WWE icon shared a series of photos of herself on the yacht and also posed for shots on the island with several Vital Protein products. She was even seen spraying her friends with champagne at one point.

'Catch us on a yacht somewhere or in the cage idk,' MMA sensation Valerie Loureda said in a post that showed her and her sister's lounging on a yacht with their derrieres poking out.

Another picture posted by Natalie Loureda shows the sister fighters with Liz Campage of the Southside Flyers. The 6'8" bombshell towers over the sisters as they pose for the photo.

Natalie and Valerie both posted photos of them exiting the Vital Protein jet that has flown influencers to the Caribbean mainstay during the pandemic. They also shared snaps of them at the Vital Protein house, where guests stay in luxurious bungalows.

Fun in the sun: The Loureda sisters posted photos of their time actually at the house that the brand lets their guest stay in

Flying high! Natalie and Valerie posted photos of them exiting the Vital Protein jet that has flown influencers to the Caribbean mainstay during the pandemic

Moinet works out while staying at the wellness house as Vital Protein products sit within view

While Kelly - whose real name is Barbara Blank - was featured in her friends' snaps enjoying some fun out on the water, the wrestling icon shared photos of herself lounging at the house with Vital Protein products so her 1.2million followers could see.

'Staying hydrated here at the #vitalwellnesshouse,' she said in one post, showing her toned body in a skimpy tiger bikini.

Tenille Dashwood, the first Australian WWE champion, took to Twitter to share a photo of the 'squad' - which featured the group all posing on the beach. It appears Dashwood placed the sunglasses emoji over her eyes.

While Kelly - whose real name is Barbara Blank - was featured in her friends' snaps enjoying some fun out on the water, the wrestling icon shared photos of herself lounging at the house with Vital Protein products

Plenty of looks: Kelly sported a number of fierce bikinis while in St. Barts, including a strappy two piece from White Fox Swim. Vital Protein drinks were always nearby

Tenille Dashwood, the first Australian WWE champion, took to Twitter to share a photo of the 'squad' - which featured the group all posing on the beach. It appears Dashwood placed the sunglasses emoji over her eyes

Last month, Vital Protein was slammed on social media after flying several influencers to the island for a lavish trip in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company, a supplement brand that specializes in collagen products, hosted luxurious island getaway for more than half a dozen Instagrammers, models, and musicians.

But while the group was proudly flaunting their opulent trip online, other social media users blasted the 'terrible PR move,' criticizing the 'appalling' way those involved were flouting public health warnings and even threatening to boycott the brand.

A view from St. Barts taken by one of the PR execs who was tagged in pictures on the trip

Last month, Vital Protein was slammed on social media after flying several influencers to the island for a lavish trip in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Valerie in St. Barts

Dashwood in St. Barts. All of the attendees had to show negative PCR test results before embarking on the trip, and they were all tested again at the end of the getaway

In a statement made to DailyMail.com, a spokesperson for Vital Proteins said that the company took every possible precaution to ensure that the trip was handled in the safest possible way - noting that the use of a private jet was intended to keep its guest safe and isolated from others.

All of the attendees also had to show negative PCR test results before embarking on the trip, and they were all tested again at the end of the getaway.

'We also chose Saint Barthelemey because of their handling of COVID, where they have strict entry requirements wherein you must have a negative COVID test within 48 hours before being permitted entry, and again to enter the United States and the UK,' she spokesperson added.

'In addition there have been minimal COVID cases on the island itself.'
Keep Critical Race Theory out of Health Care

Commentary

The Lancetthe worlds oldest medical journaltouts its mission as promoting the best science for better lives. Unfortunately, its current editors have steered the venerable publication into politically progressive ideological waters that have no relationship to science.

Most recently, it published a full-bore battle cry to impose critical race theory into health care.

Critical race theory (CRT) claims that everything in Western society is irredeemably tainted by the bigotry of whiteness. Hence, all our institutions and traditions are irreparably polluted by past and continuing institutional racism. Remediation isnt sufficient. Mitigation only puts a bandage on the cancer. The only true cure is to demolish everything that has come before and rebuild from the ground up along antiracist lines.

CRT is the opposite of diversity and tolerance. Its a bitter movement bent on vengeance against everything branded white. As my Discovery Institute colleague Chris Rufowho has written extensively on CRTputs it, Critical race theory treats whiteness as a moral blight and maligns all members of that racial group as complicit in oppression. That now apparently includes the practice of medicine.

Such blatant bigotry should have no place in health care. Yes, special attention should be focused on ensuring that African Americans and other minorities dont receive short shrift in receiving medical treatments, as they have historically. But doctors should care for each patient as equal individuals, without regard to race, unless it bears on the malady being cured or prevented.

So should public health initiatives. But dont tell that to the authorsnone of whom are medical doctorswho complain in the gobbledygook titled Time to Take Critical Race Theory Seriously: Moving Beyond a Colour-Blind Gender Lens in Global Health that despite the purported racial reckoning of the moment, the global health community has been slow to consciously centre race in the work of public health.

Readers need a translator in the peculiar language of woke to discern what they mean. They urge that race become a primary focus of the concept of intersectionality to describe how multiple social categorizationssuch as race and genderinteract to confer interlocking oppressions and privileges.

More: Like genders problematic binary of male versus female, race is a complex social construct with biological implications.

As in gender ideology, biology is eschewed for entirely conjured sociological constructs. After all, the more victims the better, and the greater number of people who will be given a stake in deconstructing the West by becoming entitled to various methods of redress and reparation.

The world of critical race theory makes a Salvador Dali painting seem like realism. A list of the citations in the paper includes Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: a Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics.

Then theres Intersectionality and Global Gender Inequality. Or how about this one for driving social schism? A Global Critical Race and Racism Framework: Racial Entanglements and Deep and Malleable Whiteness. Good grief.

Heres a typical quote from that last, almost-impenetrable scholarly screed: Deep and malleable whiteness is produced through the extension of white economic, political, and cultural power and the attempt of countries and groups to negotiate their racial structural and discursive positions by deploying forms of racial capital as an avenue to whiten.

Or, as The Lancets authors put it, co-mingling their victimologies: This racial consciousness needs to be part and parcel of our efforts to address gender inequity worldwide.  Only then will we develop an essential sense of humility and self-awareness to be antiracist in our work.

Thats not anti-racist. Its crass bigotry, unvarnished and cruel, and moreover, a blatant call to societal dissolution. Which, of course, is the point of revolutionary jargon.

I wonder if the editors understand the destructive logic of what they are publishing. The Lancet was founded in 1823 by Englishman Thomas Wakley. No matter how progressive Wakley might have been for his own time, he definitely wasnt sufficiently woke for ours. Moreover, he was white and undoubtedly a believer in the gender binaryas have been the great majority of the publications editors over the past nearly 200 years.

Critical race theory thus holds that The Lancet is forever contaminated by past and ongoing bigotry. Publishing a call to impose CRT on the health care sector doesnt change that. If they want to prove they are antiracist, the editors should follow Intersectionality Road by shuttering The Lancet, cleanse all whiteness from its publication like mold, and rebuild a new and critical race theory-edited journal that will, as the article put it, redress racialized and gendered power imbalances.

Basta! Its bad enough that the high academy is steeped in various critical theory toxins. But its particularly alarming that critical race theory is becoming fashionable among the medical establishment. CRT will not heal one sick person, promote wellness, or effectively fight pandemic diseases. Rather, if allowed to take over the governance of the health sector, it will tear our medical systems apart.

Award winning author Wesley J. Smith is chairman of the Discovery Institutes Center on Human Exceptionalism.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.





Controlling COVID-19 is my only focus: Yediyurappa on speculation about attempts to unseat him

Nobody can replace me as far as I have PM Modi, Amit Shah's support: Yediyurappa on leadership change in State

India

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Bengaluru, Feb 06: Amid talks of leadership change in Karnataka, State Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said that no one could replace him as long as he has Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah's support.

Reacting to the motion of thanks for the Governor's address, CM Yediyurappa said some leaders are day-dreaming and making statements almost everyday that he will be replaced with someone in Karnataka.

Farmers' Protest: Ahead of 'Chakka Jam', Gurugram Police on high alert

"I want to use this opportunity to scotch such rumours by asserting that as long people are with me, and PM Modi and Home Minister Shah are backing me, nobody in the state will be able to ever replace me," he said, adding that he will come out of all legal battles with Shah's support.

"I am ready to face 100s of legal cases. I am not worried at all as none other than Modi and Shah have reposed faith in me. That will not be shaken by anyone," he said.

Recently, Senior BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal said that the state will get a new Chief Minister after Ugadi on April 13, the day the state celebrates New Year.

Chakka jam today: Security tightened at border points near protest sites

Yatnal, who has lately been publically criticising Yediyurappa, also indicated that the new Chief Minister will be from the northern part of the state.

Delhi metro stations to avoid amid farmers Chakka jam | Oneindia News

"I will not go with open hands seeking a Minister's post here onwards. I have said one of our own will come in place (of Chief Minister) who can give the Minister's post. I have said that someone from north Karnataka will come.. it will happen...wait and watch," the Bijapur city MLA said.

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Story first published: Saturday, February 6, 2021, 9:29 [IST]
Facebook blocks the second amendment group without any warning. Lately, big tech has been censoring conservatives acting and judging what is right or wrong.

The social media platform has been censoring and not explaining why specific pages are targeted. One can assume or allege FB is removing a venue for communication. Much like what they did to Trump.

Freedom of speech is under siege

Another episode of censorship has occurred, and this time it is a second amendment organization on the platform. The group's head told that FB did not explain why their page was taken down, reported The Epoch Times.

According to the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL), their page was taken down last Tuesday. No warning was given, but they went offline.

The president of the group, Philip Van Cleave, narrated via email. He remarked that they just found out their page was gone. He complained that FB did not give any specific reason why they did it.

When reached for comment, FB did not answer any questions. But the platform's spokesperson said to the Washington Free Beacon it was done fairly, yet nothing was cited in detail. The representative added the page would not be republished.

Attempts to see the scrubbed page was done, but the content was not viewable. One thing is that the page was not forewarned, or an attempt to warn the administrators to polish content was not made.

Facebook made a statement regarding it. It usually occurs on the page as the owner shares it with a small number of people. Another is altering who can see the content, or FB has deleted it.

Also read: Twitter Senior Executive Captured by Undercover Video Talking About Censoring Users

Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) is a victim of left-wing politics

One reason why the page was made is to keep the majority of its gun owner member abreast of any new laws, legislative proposals, and anything that dealt with Virginia gun rights, said Van Cleave. He added they were a peaceful organization that held rallies at the General Assembly for 18 years in the state.

Adding there wasn't any pernicious except the banning of the platform.

Their page and organizers helped arrange a caravan of 1,000 cars that drove to Richmond, with banners about the second amendment. He noted that violence never happened in any of their gatherings and neither any arrests.

Van Cleave said outright pure political reasons struck their organization of conservatives who were law-abiding. Facebook and other media platforms are cracking down on who they want. Even rules were arbitrary for them.

Whatever is said about the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL), they moderated and followed the media platform's rules. But they just ignored free speech and wanted to shut down the page, said the VCDL president.

Facebook is controlling content and banning free speech

The platform has banned many people who dissented, calling the 2020 elections a sham and still kicking out conservative users. About 78,000 were kicked out for their anti-views because of alleged arbitrary policy violations. They even banned Trump as a political measure to limit his reach.

Reportedly pressure from DEMS to limit the information of conservatives who are against them is in place. Only opinions favorable to them are preferred and suspect users of signaling threats via the medium.

Facebook blocks the second amendment group from a simple act, informing that it shortens free speech and gets backlash because of it.

Related article: Twitter Indefinitely Cancels My Pillow's Company Account after CEO Used it

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After nearly a year of online learning, parents in the Washington region were thrilled to hear announcements from public schools, some of them tumbling out rapid-fire last week, that in-person learning will resume next month for students who choose it.

But families quickly discovered that in-person learning will not necessarily mean sitting in a classroom, being taught by a teacher. Instead, school officials in Maryland and Virginia have been hiring "classroom monitors" who will fill out school staffing - in some cases supervising classrooms as students continue to do online lessons.

For some parents, it's the latest disappointment in pandemic-era learning: more virtual learning, no teacher in the room.

"Kids are going to be doing the same thing that doesn't work, only in a new location," said Jenna Hamilton, a mother to two school-aged children in Fairfax County Public Schools. "They're being warehoused in a room to watch their teacher on a screen yet again, with effectively a babysitter sitting there."

On Friday, a parent-led organization in Maryland took their frustrations to Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. In a two-page letter that was also addressed to State Superintendent Karen B. Salmon, the organization Together Again MCPS asked state officials to insert clear definitions of "in-person learning" and "in-person instruction" into Maryland's reopening guidance.

"Staring at a Chromebook while your teacher teaches on a screen is not in-person instruction, and it is frankly unacceptable," the group wrote in the letter. "It is clear [the school system] does not want to embrace a true return to schools."

School officials across the region say the strategy is necessary to reopen in the near future, while accommodating legitimate requests from teachers who must continue working virtually for health reasons - for example, those who qualify for virtual status under the Americans With Disabilities Act.

In Virginia, Fairfax County school officials on Friday said classroom monitors will be called in only to help ADA-eligible teachers. Many will perform basic tasks such as overseeing lunchtime, taking attendance or operating technology including cameras.

But plans vary throughout the Washington D.C. area, and much remains unclear about how classroom monitors are being used. The position's requirements are minimal: a high school degree and a background check. At least some of the slots are paid for through Cares Act funding.

In Montgomery County, parents noticed advertisements for classroom monitors around the same time some received letters from principals describing a classroom model for in-person school that included an adult or staff member supporting students doing online learning.

"To me, it sounds like glorified babysitting," said Beatrice Hoppe, a Montgomery County mother of two. "And not what we believed would be happening."

Hoppe said she loves the principal and teachers at her children's school, but that sending her children to do Zoom inside a school building, rather than just keep Zooming inside her home, is not worth it.

"It's a bare minimum solution and it's not in line with the live, in-person instruction Governor Hogan demanded," she said.

With some schools in Maryland slow to reopen, Hogan directed all 24 school systems to begin making good-faith efforts to start in-person classes no later than March 1, threatening to explore "every legal avenue at our disposal" for those who did not.

Shortly afterward, Montgomery County, the state's largest school district, detailed a plan to bring back small groups of students in some special education and career programs on March 1 and begin phasing in in-person learning March 15.

Elizabeth Haile, a Montgomery mother of two, said the instructional approach involved - called a "support" model - is "just crushing" to think of after a seemingly endless period of remote learning.

"It's mind-boggling that this has been going on a year and this is what they have come up with," she said.

Montgomery County is hiring 700 to 800 classroom monitors, officials said. A job listing says candidates must possess a high school diploma or GED, for work between March 15 and June 16, with a pay rate of $15.72 an hour and no benefits.

Some parents argue the underlying issue is that many teachers do not want to return to classrooms. Vaccinations are moving slowly in Montgomery.

"Teachers can't come back but the low-wage workers can?" asked Betty Ball. "What support can [classroom monitors] possibly give with no experience?"

Some elected officials in the Washington region predict an impending clash, as more parents worry about a lack of teacher-led classrooms.

"Parents don't want to trade virtual learning at home for virtual learning at school," said Patricia O'Neill, a school board member in Montgomery County. "I think there's a firestorm coming."

School system officials in Montgomery said the complexities of in-person schooling - with social distancing, limited building space and varying numbers of students and staff returning - mean it will not look the same as before the pandemic.

The principals' letters that stirred parents' fears only captured part of the picture, said Derek Turner, chief of engagement, innovation and operations for Montgomery County Public Schools. "This is all evolving," he said.

Student experiences will not be limited to online learning, he said. At the same time, some teachers may have students in more than one in-person classroom because of distancing requirements - while also having remote students.

"A child will get some form of direct instruction from a teacher every day, whether it's their teacher or not," he said, adding that another educator may be in the classroom from time to time.

Christopher Lloyd, president of the Montgomery County Education Association, said teachers are expecting to "continue to work with the kids they know in a real-life setting."

Still, he said, the challenge of in-person learning remains: "How do you have direct instruction for children, and also have instruction virtually?"

In other parts of the Washington region, school officials, many of them scrambling to identify and hire classroom monitors as the return to school rapidly approaches, say they are not yet fully sure how the logistics of the program will work.

Nonetheless, administrators are touting the possible benefits. Dean Brooks, recruitment administrator for Fairfax County Public Schools, hailed the rollout of classroom monitor positions as a way to boost employment, given the ongoing, pandemic-driven devastation of the American job market.

"It's an excellent position, and an opportunity," Brooks said of the monitor role. "It's a great way to become acclimated to our school division, and it can lead to additional employment opportunities" - for example, as a substitute teacher or bus driver.

Fairfax has hired roughly 600 monitors so far, and is aiming to hire at least 200 more, a spokeswoman said, at a pay rate of $15.42 an hour. Fairfax - whose 186,000 students make it Virginia's largest school system - has been online-only for most children since March, although Superintendent Scott Brabrand last week debuted a plan that calls for returning all students who choose it to some form of in-person learning in mid-February.

In Prince George's County, Maryland's second-largest district, there are no plans for classroom monitors, a spokeswoman said. Chief executive Monica Goldson is expected to provide details about reopening in an announcement in mid-February.

In Washington, the city reopened its school buildings on Feb. 2, returning about 9,500 students, along with some teachers. Around 3,800 of those students are receiving at least some of their courses virtually in school buildings while a classroom aide or teacher assists.

The logistics are too complicated to avoid this setup, principals and school leaders said in interviews. At the middle school and high school levels, for example, students have different teachers for most subjects. But due to strict safety guidelines, they have to stay with the same one or two teachers throughout the day.

Hence the need for virtual options inside classrooms.

The majority of the school system's 52,000 students are still learning at home, and the city has to balance staffing these classes while staffing the smaller in-person classrooms.

On Friday, students across multiple grade levels at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary in Southeast Washington had their headphones on and their laptops open as an aide wandered the room checking to see whether any student needed help.

"It's based on the staffing that is available," Principal Angel Hunter said. "We also have to staff our virtual classrooms."

All major school systems in Northern Virginia see classroom monitors as part of their reopenings.

Fairfax, Alexandria and Loudoun have promised to send all children who choose it back to school for in-person learning by mid-March. By contrast, Arlington officials have repeatedly delayed setting a firm date for the return to school - but they are under immense pressure from Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, who said Friday that he is demanding all schools statewide begin offering some in-person learning by March 15.

Ahead of the governor's deadline, administrators in Northern Virginia are working quickly to hire monitors. Fairfax posted ads on social media, in local newspapers, with the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center and even on iHeart Radio streaming services.

Loudoun has so far hired 207 monitors - called "proctors" - and is hunting for 80 more. Arlington has hired 30 and is "planning to hire additional," spokesman Frank Bellavia said.

Alexandria, meanwhile, is "actively recruiting" roughly 50 classroom monitors who will earn $15.48 an hour, spokeswoman Julia Burgos said. Officials for the school system of 16,000 said they may hire up to 100 monitors, and they hope this will be enough to cover for teachers who are granted virtual status for medical reasons; although if it isn't, they will hire more.

Alexandria is asking teachers about their ability to return, and Chief of Staff Stephen Wilkins said he expects to get a better sense of the numbers next week. The most recent survey found that nearly half of the staff would prefer to keep teaching virtually, but Wilkins hopes that the advent of vaccination, along with improving community health metrics, will seriously shrink that group.

Asked about some parents' complaint that monitor-led classes fall far short of in-person teacher instruction, Wilkins was circumspect.

"I think each parent will have to make their assessment of whether their student should be in school," he said. "I'll leave it at that."

Burgos said she understands that monitors are not "the ideal situation."

But "it's our way of being able to resolve a staffing constraint that we've been grappling with for some time," she said. "It's our valiant effort to get kids back in classrooms, it's a temporary solution."
1. Yes. The public must have assurances that ethical standards are met by everyone.

2. Yes. As long as an independent board hears the grievances, its a worthwhile idea.

3. No. The concept is too broad. It should be limited to the citys elected officials.

4. No. There are plenty of stipulations in place already. An ordinance is a waste of time.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say without seeing how it would be structured and applied.

Vote

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Paramilitary police officers patrol along a street after the closing session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing on May 27, 2020. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinese Regime Leads the World in Attacking Its Citizens Abroad: Report

The Chinese regime is aggressively targeting exiles and dissident communities abroad, as it extends its ability to persecute its citizens anywhere in the world, a new report warns.

Kidnappings, assaults, and threats are just some of the tactics used by Beijing to repress overseas-based critics, and religious and ethnic minorities, in a campaign described by advocacy group Freedom House as the most sophisticated and comprehensive in the world.

Since 2014, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been involved in at least 214 cases of physical attacks on its nationals abroadthe largest by far compared to other countries, the group said in its report on transnational repression released on Feb. 4.

The sheer breadth and global scale of the campaign is unparalleled, the report said.

In a high-profile case, Chinese agents abducted Gui Minhai, a Hong Kong-based Swedish citizen, in Thailand in 2015, for publishing books critical of the regimes leaders. Later while in custody, Chinese authorities claimed Gui renounced his Swedish citizenship and reinstated his Chinese citizenship. In early 2020, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for illegally providing intelligence overseas.

Though not all targets face such egregious acts, the report said. Others face surveillance, harassment, and intimidation by Chinese agents or their proxies, in person or online.

These efforts leave many overseas Chinese and exile minorities feeling that the CCP is watching them and constraining their ability to exercise basic rights even when living in a foreign democracy, it said.

Targets include Turkic Muslim minorities, Falun Gong practitioners, human rights advocates, and former CCP insiders. All told, millions of Chinese and ethnic minorities in at least 36 countries are affected, the group said.

While this campaign is not new, the CCP has escalated actions in recent years as the regime has added new groups for suppression, particularly the Uyghur community, the report said.

After the regime began detaining Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities en-masse in the far western region of Xinjiang in 2016, the regime ordered Uyghurs with Chinese citizenship around the world to return to China. Many who did not return were detained in countries, including Thailand and Egypt, and unlawfully deported back to China, according to the report.

Chinese police have also forced family members of Uyghur activists overseas to call them on WeChat, a Chinese social media app, to warn against their advocacy.

These threats create an atmosphere of fear for Uighurs abroad, the report said.

Overseas Falun Gong practitioners, a spiritual group persecuted by the CCP, also suffer from reprisals by Chinese authorities or their proxies.

Freedom House said members of the group have been subject to frequent harassment and occasional physical assaults by members of visiting Chinese delegations or pro-Beijing proxies at protests overseas, including in the United States, Taiwan, the Czech Republic, Brazil, and Argentina.

The report also noted the case of Sun Yi, a Falun Gong practitioner who survived a notorious Chinese labor camp Masanjia. While he was detained, he snuck an SOS letter into a Halloween decoration for export. It was later found by an American woman in 2012. He filmed a documentary with undercover footage detailing his experiences, and escaped to Indonesia.

In 2017, Sun died of sudden kidney failure. His family said Sun never had kidney problems, and the hospital did not give concrete details of his death and rushed to have his body cremated. No autopsy was performed. These circumstances have caused Suns supporters to suspect foul play.
Chinese senior diplomat Yang Jiechi spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday during a phone conversation, the first official contact between the two countries after the new U.S. administration under President Joe Biden took office on January 20.

Yang called for "no confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation" when speaking of bilateral ties. "Let's each manage our own business," Yang told Blinken.

The Chinese diplomat, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, also urged Washington to "correct its mistakes."

'Taiwan issue, core of China-U.S. relationship'

Describing Taiwan as "the most important and sensitive problem" in the relationship between China and U.S., Yang told Washington to strictly abide by the one-China policy and the three China-U.S. joint communiques. In the documents, Washington recognizes the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the sole legal government of China and thus, should stop any form of official exchange and military contact with southeast China's Taiwan region.

The Taiwan issue serves as one of the contributing factors to souring China-U.S. relations. During former U.S. President Donald Trump's tenure, Washington has moved closer to Taiwan with a slew of moves, including high-level official visits, arms sales to the island and lifting of "self-imposed" restrictions on interactions.

"China will continue to firmly preserve our sovereignty, safety and interest of development," Yang said according to an official release.

In response, Blinken reiterated the U.S. commitment to the one-China policy. "Our stance on that has not changed," he said.

According to statement from the White House, Blinken also extended his best wishes for the upcoming Chinese New Year. The U.S. is hoping to work out stably developed and constructive bilateral ties with China, he added.
Myanmars junta shut down the internet in the country on Saturday (February 6) as thousands of people took to the streets of Yangon to denounce this weeks coup and demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

In the first such demonstration since the generals seized power on Monday, activists chanted, Military dictator, fail, fail; Democracy, win, win and held banners reading Against military dictatorship. Bystanders offered them food and water.

Many in the crowd wore red, the colour of Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD) which won Nov. 8 elections in a landslide, a result the generals have refused to recognise claiming fraud. As the protest swelled and activists issued calls on social media for people to join the march, the countrys internet crashed.

Monitoring group NetBlocks Internet Observatory reported a national-scale internet blackout, saying on Twitter that connectivity had fallen to 54% of ordinary levels. Witnesses reported a shutdown of mobile data services and wifi.

The junta did not respond to requests for comment. It has tried to silence dissent by temporarily blocking Facebook and extended a social media crackdown to Twitter and Instagram on Saturday.

Norwegian mobile phone company Telenor Asa said authorities had ordered internet providers to deny access to Twitter and Instagram until further notice.

Many had sidestepped the ban on sites such as Facebook by using virtual private networks to conceal their locations, but the more general disruption to mobile data services would severely limit access to independent news and information.

The Internet is already down but we will not stop raising our voice, wrote a Twitter user with the handle Maw Htun Aung. Lets fight peacefully for democracy and freedom. Lets fight until the last minute for our future.

Myanmar civil society organisations appealed to internet providers and mobile networks to challenge the juntas orders blocking internet access.

By complying with their directives, your companies are essentially legitimising the militarys authority, despite international condemnation of this very body, a coalition of groups said in a statement.

Telenor said before the internet shutdown it was legally obliged to follow the order to block some social media, but highlighted the directives contradiction with international human rights law.

Amnesty Internationals deputy regional director for Campaigns, Ming Yu Hah, said shutting down the internet amid a coup and the COVID-19 pandemic was a heinous and reckless decision.

Army chief Min Aung Hlaing seized power alleging fraud although the electoral commission says it has found no evidence of widespread irregularities in the November vote.

The junta announced a one-year state of emergency and has promised to hand over power after new elections, without giving a timeframe.

INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE

The takeover drew international condemnation, with a United Nations Security Council call for the release of all detainees and targeted sanctions under consideration by Washington. Suu Kyi, 75, has not been seen in public since the coup. She spent some 15 years under house arrest during a struggle against previous juntas before the troubled democratic transition began in 2011.

The lawyer for Suu Kyi and ousted President Win Myint said they were being held in their homes and that he was unable to meet them because they were still being questioned. Suu Kyi faces charges of importing six walkietalkies illegally while Win Myint is accused of outing coronavirus restrictions.

Saturdays protest is the first sign of street unrest in a country with a history of bloody military crackdowns on protesters. There were also anti-coup protests in Melbourne, Australia, and the Taiwanese capital Taipei on Saturday.

A civil disobedience movement has been building in Myanmar all week, with doctors and teachers among those refusing to work, and every night people bang pots and pans in a show of anger.

In addition to about 150 arrests in the wake of the coup reported by human rights groups, local media said around 30 people have been detained over the noise protests.

The United States is considering targeted sanctions on individuals and on entities controlled by Myanmars military.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressed top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi in a phone call on Friday to condemn the coup, the State Department said.

China, which has close links to Myanmars military, joined the consensus on the Security Council statement but has not condemned the army takeover and has said countries should act in the interests of the stability of its neighbour Myanmar.

U.N. Myanmar envoy Christine Schraner Burgener condemned the coup in a call with Myanmars deputy military chief Soe Win, and called for the immediate release of all those detained, a U.N. spokesman said.

The generals have few overseas interests that would be vulnerable to international sanctions, but the militarys extensive business investments could suffer if foreign partners leave  as Japanese drinks company Kirin Holdings said it would on Friday.

U.S. based pressure group Human Rights Watch called for the lifting of the internet restrictions, the release of detainees and an end to threats against journalists.

A news and information blackout by the coup leaders cant hide their politically motivated arrests and other abuses, said Asia director Brad Adams.

India's biggest advantage, its demographic dividend -- where its working age population is more than its dependent population -- can become its biggest nightmare without sufficient employment avenues. The year 2020 will be known for business shutdowns, layoffs and joblessness due to the pandemic. In December 2020, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, India's unemployment rate was as high as 9.1 per cent. Many expected Union Budget 2021 to take note of this and create ample growth and employment opportunities. The government has tried to do that by increasing spending. An increase in fiscal deficit to 9.5 per cent of gross domestic product (RE FY21) and 6.8 per cent in FY22 shows intention to increase spending and push growth, which will, in turn, create jobs. There is also a 34.5 per cent increase in allocation for roads and railways to Rs 5.54 lakh crore. This comes on top of 137 per cent increase in investment in health and wellbeing to Rs 2.23 lakh crore. Both sectors are major employers.

Attempts to revive the banking sector also augur well for credit growth and, by extension, job creation. "Recapitalisation of PSBs and introduction of an asset reconstruction company (bad bank) are welcome initiatives because they will inject greater liquidity in the market, leading to job creation. Also, the increase in number of metro trains and city buses will give a push to manufacturing sector as well as EPC companies, creating jobs," says Aditya Narayan Mishra, CEO of staffing firm CIEL HR Services.

The Budget also proposes increase in FDI in the insurance sector from 49 per cent to 74 per cent. Insurance is a big employer. "The government has also thrown a challenge to the private sector to spend and expand their factories and enterprises, which will proliferate employment generation," says Lohit Bhatia, President, Indian Staffing Federation.

Beyond Headlines

While increase in infrastructure and health spending is likely to create jobs, there is more than what meets the eye. "The Budget shows a 70 per cent increase in capital expenditure in the remaining two months of FY21. Whether it is feasible or not remains to be seen. Historically, this kind of growth has never been achieved in two to three months. So, whether it can really create jobs is something that needs to be examined," says D.K. Srivastava Chief Policy Advisor, EY India.

Also, investment announcements are a small part of the story. The country needs broader reforms around skilling, digitisation and formalisation for jobs.

"Many public and private investments in infrastructure have been announced over the last decade but not all of them materialise at the pace and quality that is expected," says Prateek Raj, Assistant Professor in Strategy at IIM Bangalore. There is also need for a national framework on how projects are monitored. He adds a lot of infrastructure projects in India are implemented by states and "some states do a better job at monitoring and implementation than others." Also, the Budget lacks direct measures such as stimulus packages to revive businesses such as in the travel and hospitality sector that were ravaged by the pandemic, but focuses on extending credit and ensuring liquidity, which are less effective, says K.R. Shyam Sundar, Professor, HRM Area at XLRI Jamshedpur.

Some experts were expecting additional employment assurance schemes to create urban jobs given that there is no unemployment insurance/assistance scheme except a narrowly-defined one under the ESI Act, 1948, which has few takers, says Sundar. He adds that while the Budget reiterates legislative measures such as universal minimum wages, night shift in all sectors for women workers, there is no financial allocation to encourage employers to change their systems. "What is the budgetary allocation for central and state governments for aiding the electronic system of labour administration that has been envisaged in all the four Labour Codes?" he asks.

The Budget was a bouquet of many small and fragmented interventions but did not address the vulnerability experienced by the poor due to lack of job opportunities. Raj of IIM-B says it could have focused on boosting the demand side as well. "Earlier schemes such as PMGKY scheme and MGNREGA could have been expanded further to make the Budget more holistic so that the negative impact of the pandemic and increased inequality can be better mitigated."

@sonalkhetarpal7
When Cynthia Saltzman was given access to the Louvre galleries after regular closing hours, the curator was flummoxed that she wasnt interested in the Mona Lisa. She wasnt. The painting she had come to see, Paolo Veroneses Wedding Feast at Cana, is displayed directly opposite Leonardo da Vincis masterwork and is at the center of Saltzmans latest book, Plunder: Napoleons Theft of Veroneses Feast (FSG, May). The story of the painting captures history, art, commerce, politics, and Napoleon, who had Wedding Feast at Cana ripped from the wall of the monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice in 1797, where it had hung for over 200 years.

While fighting the Austrian Empire, Napoleon looted Italian art with abandon to fill the Louvre, a royal palace that Louis XVI had begun to convert to a museum housing the royal art collection. The French Revolution precipitated its opening to the public. As Saltzman notes, Napoleon was in his 20s, an upstart from Corsica, determined to make his reputation.

As a Harvard undergraduate, Saltzman switched her major from architecture to art history after taking over for the graduating art critic at the Harvard Crimson. Her change in majors, she recalls, was part of fulfilling her destiny, as someone who as a child in New York City was frequently dragged to the Met.

Initially Saltzman didnt intend Plunder to be a book about one painting. But I wanted to understand the significance of Venices loss and how important this painting was to France, she says. It influenced the impressionists, the post-impressionists, and van Gogh, who wrote about it. Its arguably one of the most important works of art, always regarded as fabulous, and I particularly loved it.

For Wedding Feast at Cana, Veronese used the most expensive paints to depict a banquet from the Bible set on a terrace in his contemporary 16th-century Venice, with some 130 figures in lavish costumes. I went to Venice many times in the course of writing this book, Saltzman says, and every time I came away more aware of how amazing the Venetians werehow in the 16th century they created these masterpieces with brush, canvas, and paint.

Plunder picks up themes in Saltzmans previous two books, 1998s Portrait of Dr. Gachet: The Story of a van Gogh Masterpiece and 2008s Old Masters, New World: Americas Raid on Europes Great Pictures. I write about art, she explains, but Im particularly interested in writing about the transfer of arthow its part of cultural and financial history.

The contract for Plunder was signed with Jonathan Galassi at FSG for U.S. and Canadian rights in 2012 on the basis of a proposal. Thames & Hudson will publish it simultaneously in the U.K. But Saltzman says she had been thinking about writing it since the late 1990sthinking about how to write it, its such a big storyand had discussed the project early on with Melanie Jackson at the Melanie Jackson Agency, her agent for over 25 years.

I discuss everything with Melanie, Saltzman says. Shes a great reader. I sent her the first draft in summer 2018. There were many drafts. There are always many drafts.

Galassi tells me he has been obsessed with Napoleon since he was a kid. Napoleon used art as part of his politics, his grandiosity, he notes. Also, whats fascinating is, how do you get a painting that size [it measures 22  32, the largest painting in the Louvre] from Italy to France? Its incredibleso difficult not to damage it. And actually, according to Saltzman, though the French were forced to return the art Napoleon had stolen from Italy after he was defeated at Waterloo in 1815, the general secretary of the Louvre, Athanase Lavallee, balked at giving back the Veronese, which he insisted would be destroyed if it were moved.

Cynthias book brings a piece of history very much alive, Galassi says. He has seen Wedding Feast at Cana in the Louvre as well as the digital life-size reproduction of the painting in the refectory of the monastery in Venice. The original location, in the dining room, gave the painting extra meaning, he says, because it depicts a feast. Being in the same room at the Louvre with the Mona Lisa, it gets short shrift.

Since Galassi counts Saltzman as an old friend (as he does Jackson), he asked FSG executive editor Ileene Smith to edit Plunder. Jonathan knew I was drawn to books about art and history with an interesting moral component, Smith says. Also, I had acquired and edited Philip Dwyers multivolume biography of Napoleon for Yale University Press. I read closelyas a lay reader, of course. And Cynthia was quite a scrupulous reader of her own prose in any event. At first she may have been a bit apprehensivewe did not know each other. But she had to have sensed my excitement about her book. Plunder is a feat of research and storytelling on a heroic scale.

The publication date is May 11 for the 336-page hardcover, which includes eight color images as well as 32 in black and white.

Galassi says he expects a good readership, adding, Theres a fascination with art, and the writing is accessible and fun. Theres also the enduring fascination with Napoleon. Was he a genius? Or a monster? This book for me is like candy. Napoleon was not a normal person: hes Trump with talent!
A hacker group has allegedly leaked data of Army personnel using Bharti Airtel network in Jammu and Kashmir, however, the company has denied any breach in its system.

The group, with the name of Red Rabbit Team, hacked some Indian websites and posted the data on the web pages of those portals.

The hackers shared some links of those web pages on Twitter in a comment over a tweet of cyber security researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia and tagged several media organisations.

The query sent to the Indian Army did not elicit any reply but an Army official said "We are not aware of any such information but it appears to be malicious intent of some inimical elements".

When contacted, Bharti Airtel spokesperson denied any breach of its server.

"We can confirm there is no hack or breach of any Airtel system as claimed by this group. Multiple stakeholders outside of Airtel have access to some data as per regulatory requirements. We have apprised all the relevant authorities of the matter to, therefore, investigate this and take appropriate action."

"This group has been in touch with our security team for over 15 months now and has made varying claims in addition to posting inaccurate data from one specific region," the spokesperson said.

The links shared by the hacker were initially accessible with mobile number, name and address of subscribers but stopped working after sometime.

Red Rabbit Team in a message to PTI claimed that it has access to pan-India data of Bharti Airtel through a shell uploaded on the company's server and will leak more data soon.

Rajaharia said that hackers have failed to show any credible evidence of possessing pan-India data of Bharti Airtel and it is also unclear on the way they got subscriber's data.

"The hacker group failed to show evidence that they have a whole India database. Their claim of shell upload may be also fake. The video of SDR portal seems real but only a short portion of data may leak via this. It is still unclear how they got access to whole Jammu and Kashmir subscriber data," he said.

Telecom operators are required to give access to government and law enforcement agencies of subscriber data registration (SDR) portal through which phone numbers and subscribers details can be verified.

Rajaharia said that hackers may be from Pakistan.

"The website which was used to upload alleged Airtel data was hacked on December 4, 2020 by Mr Clay (TeamLeets - a Pakistani Hacker Group). This indicates that a Pakistani hacker group TeamLeets may be behind this data leak," Rajaharia said.

Also read: No plans to shutdown BSNL, MTNL: Union Minister Sanjay Dhotre
A woman was killed early Saturday in a road rage shooting in northwest Houston, police said.

Officers were dispatched to the reported shooting around 4:45 a.m. on the 8500 block of Rannie Road in the Spring Branch area where they found a female driver dead from gunshot wounds, said Sgt. Michael Arrington of the Houston Police Department homicide division.

Investigators learned that the victim was in a physical altercation with the suspect shortly before the shooting, Arrington said. They did not know each other, and it was unclear what the fight stemmed from.

After the fight on Rayson Road, both drivers climbed back into their separate cars and drove off, but encountered each other a few blocks away. That's when the suspect fired three or four rounds into the woman's car, fatally striking her, Arrington said.

A female passenger in the victim's car was not injured. The suspect vehicle was described as a silver Ford pick-up truck. Authorities are seeking tips from the public to help solve the case.

"This is a common occurrence," Arrington said about road rage. "We want to try to put a stop to this."

The shooting follows a Friday night incident in Katy in which a child was shot in a suspected road rage incident.

At least six people were killed last year in shootings that investigators attributed to road rage. Police also tracked roughly 200 non-fatal road rage shootings through October last year. The spike in such incidents prompted Houston police to pledge additional patrol officers to tackle the problem.
Grassley Presses Biden Administration for Information on Court Reform Commission

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) issued a letter to Biden White House Counsel Dana Remus, requesting answers over efforts from the administration to form a bipartisan commission to study the federal court system and Supreme Court and develop recommendations for reform.

Grassley, the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and a Ranking Member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, demanded to know why the so-called court reform commission was formed with the support of the White House Counsels Office, which Grassley says could have the effect of potentially shielding it from transparency laws and public accountability.

President Joe Biden first floated the idea of forming such a commission during his campaign leading up to the 2020 presidential election. In an interview with 60 Minutes, he said, If elected, what I will do is Ill put together a bipartisan commission of scholars, constitutional scholars, Democrats, Republicans, liberal, conservative. And I will ask them to, over 180 days, come back to me with recommendations as to how to reform the court system, because its getting out of whack, the way in which its being handled. And its not about court-packing.

Grassley in his letter (pdf) cited a recent article from Politico which reported, without citing a named source, that the commission will be housed under the purview of the White House Counsels office.

He said that he is concerned about whether the commission will operate in an open and transparent manner.

If the report is correct that the commission will be housed out of the White House Counsels Office, its business would likely be subject to the Presidential Records Act, which will delay any public transparency about the bipartisan commissions activities, Grassley said, adding that he is skeptical of the term bipartisan commission.

He added, The Executive Office of the President is shielded from many important public-transparency laws and I am concerned that any efforts to house this bipartisan commission in the White House will therefore shield its work from the public eye. I hope that is not the case.

Grassley provided a list of questions to Remus, asking for a reply no later than Feb. 15. Chief among the questions was a request to the Biden administration to commit to making all records from the commission publicly available and unredacted in a timely manner.

Questions

In his letter, Grassley asked Remus to confirm whether the commission will be housed under the office of the White House counsel. He also asked whether it will be headed by former White House Counsel Bob Bauer, as reported by Politico, and if so, what Bauers employment status is in the executive office.

Grassley also asked whether the commission is constituted under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which ensures that advice by the various advisory committees is objective and accessible to the public, and if not, whether the White House would agree to have the commission abide by the Acts public disclosure rules.

Similarly, he asked whether the commission is subject to the Presidential Records Act, which allows for public access to presidential records starting five years after the end of the administration, but lets the president invoke up to six specific restrictions to public access for up to 12 years.

If the bipartisan commission will be subject to the Presidential Records Act, will you nevertheless agree to give the public access to all unredacted presidential records generated by the bipartisan commission in a timely manner, notwithstanding the provisions of the Presidential Records Act? Grassley asked in his letter.

Grassley also asked if the White House would agree to provide regular briefings to the Judiciary Committee on the progress of the commission, since the commission is working on matters concerning the federal judiciary. He also asked whether the Biden administration had considered housing the commission in the Department of Justice, where its activities would be subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
The Biden administration has begun the process of ending agreements with El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala as part of its effort to undo Trump-era changes to the U.S. asylum system, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Saturday.

The announcement means the termination of three asylum cooperative agreements that the U.S. signed in 2019 with each of the Central American countries to require migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. to first apply for protections in those countries.

The deals  effectively known as safe third country agreements  were part of former President Donald Trump and his administrations efforts to curb the number of migrants able to seek asylum in the United States. They allowed the U.S. to deport migrants seeking asylum back to those countries, where hundreds of thousands have fled.

"In line with the President's vision, we have notified the Governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras that the United States is taking this action as efforts to establish a cooperative, mutually respectful approach to managing migration across the region begin," Blinken said.

The agreement with Guatemala was already in effect, but transfers under that agreement have been paused since mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic, Blinken said in the statement. The agreements with El Salvador and Honduras were never fully implemented.

"The Biden administration believes there are more suitable ways to work with our partner governments to manage migration across the region," Blinken said.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed three immigration-related executive orders with one focused on revamping the U.S. asylum system and how it handles migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. The others called for policy reviews, planning and recommendations on next steps, so Blinken's announcement is one of the first specific changes to take place.

The executive order set into motion Blinken's move. It specified the Secretary would "promptly consider" whether to notify the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras that the U.S. was planning to end the agreements. It also specified that the DHS secretary and the attorney general would review and determine whether to rescind the rule that implements the asylum cooperative agreements.

The same order directed Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to review the Migrant Protection Protocols program, which has forced asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while they wait for their U.S. court proceedings.
A massive bushfire in the Perth Hills has been downgraded to a watch and act after almost six days of gruelling efforts from firefighters to bring the devastating blaze under control.

Department of Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm shared the news during a press conference on Saturday morning and said crews were in a great place to manage the fire.

DFES Commissioner Darren Klemm. Credit:Nine

Weve just had night after night of strong winds and to get through last night without any major breakouts means we are in a great place to be able to drop those warnings, Mr Klemm said.

He said the blaze was still active in the areas around Clenton and Ewing roads and those in the area should beware, but added the flames were contained inside fire breaks.
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The Governor of Jigawa State, Muhammad Badaru, has assured southerners in the state of the protection of their lives and properties.

The governor gave the assurance on Saturday during a visit by the Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, to Jigawa State.

Mr Badaru had invited the Ebonyi governor to commission a township road project in Babura Local Government Area of Jigawa.

Mr Badaru used the occasion to address southerners who turned out en-masse at the event to welcome Mr Umahi to the state.

We are appreciative that the southerners in Jigawa are living peacefully with us, and we want you to send the message of peace across the country that your people are very safe in Jigawa and in the north, he said to the upbeat crowd.

Tell those detractors, those politicians that want to cause disharmony in the land that they will not succeed because there wont be reprisals in the north. That is their game plan to cause confusion, Mr Badaru added.

The governor said the government would not allow anybody to be harmed in Jigawa or a few few miscreants to ignite trouble in the land. This is the message we want you to take back home and is the message we are preaching here, he said.

In his remarks, Mr Umahi thanked northern state governors for working for peace in Nigeria.

We also commend the northern people and youth for believing in one Nigeria, I am assuring you that we, the governors of South-east and our leaders, are solidly for one indivisible Nigeria, Mr Umahi said.

Across Nigeria there are good and bad people and criminality should not be ascribed to a particular tribe or religion. Those of your people living with us we are making efforts to safeguard them, Mr Umahi said.

The two governors spoke against the backdrop of inter-ethnic tension in the south of Nigeria following efforts by largely non-state actors to expel Fulani residents over rising insecurity in the region.

The rising animosity against the Fulani in the south was caused by the criminal activities of some cattle herders in the region and the failure of security agencies to check the activities.
Jerusalem: Judges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague have decided the court has jurisdiction over war crimes committed in the Palestinian territories, paving the way for a possible a war crimes probe into Israeli military actions.

The decision prompted swift reactions from both Israel, which is not a member of the court and rejects its jurisdiction, and the Palestinian Authority, which welcomed the ruling.

ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said her office was studying the finding and would decide what to do next guided strictly by its independent and impartial mandate to prosecute grave war crimes and atrocities when countries are unable or unwilling to do so themselves.

Palestinian children wait in line while holding pots to receive free meals of green pea stew cooked by Samera Abu Amra, unseen, for distribution to poor residents in Gaza City on Thursday. Credit:AP

The ICC judges said their decision was based on the fact that Palestine has been granted membership to the tribunals founding treaty, and had referred the situation to the court. The judges said the jurisdiction decision does not imply any attempt to determine Palestinian statehood, which is uncertain, or national borders.
A woman who tried dozens of treatments to treat her acne claims a water purifying shower filter has helped to clear up her skin - and has transformed her hair.

Natalia, 30, originally from Australia but now living in London, suffered with painful breakouts from when she was a teenager and claims she's spent thousands over the years trying to find a cure.

It had begun to clear up, but when she moved from Sydney to the UK in 2018, she told how her skin went 'from blemish free to terrible' within a few weeks.

A year ago, she began researching shower filters after hearing they can ease certain skin complaints, and discovered HELLO KLEAN.

Natalia, 30, originally from Australia but now living in London, suffered with painful breakouts from when she was a teenager and claims she's spent thousands over the years trying to find a cure (pictured before)

After attaching it to her shower, Natalia claims she noticed a difference to the water straight away - and, within a few weeks of using it, her acne had almost completely gone, despite making no other changes to her skincare and haircare regime.

Speaking to FEMAIL, she said: 'My skin is now clear - my pores seem smaller and I feel like my cleansers are working more effectively.

'My hair is also smoother and silkier and my hair products seem to wash better.

'This definitely impacts me physically and now mentally I dont feel like Im showering or cleaning properly if I dont have a filter! I hate showering at my boyfriends house now!'

Natalia claims she noticed a difference to the water straight away after attaching the shower filter - and, within a few weeks of using it, her acne had almost completely gone, despite making no other changes to her skincare and haircare regime (pictured after)

Natalia said she initially thought her skin flare-up was down to the pollution in the capital and the fact she was no longer regularly swimming in the sea.

'I first realised the huge difference the shower water was making on my skin about a year after moving to London from Sydney,' she recalled.

'I could also feel the difference in my hair when I visited home compared to how it usually was in London.

'I've spent thousands of pounds on expensive skincare, facials, and been prescribed the contraceptive pill and topical treatments by doctors  but nothing seemed to work.

'I had heard from some facialists and friends that the London water was super hard. A facialist suggested I started washing my face with bottled water, which I did for a while, but it was quite unsustainable - and expensive!

Natalia said she initially thought her skin flare-up (pictured) was down to the pollution in the capital and the fact she was no longer regularly swimming in the sea

As well as improving her skin, Natalia said she's noticed her hair is also smoother and silkier and her products seem to wash better

'I thought there had to be a more straightforward solution, so I started doing some research on shower filters. I looked at so many that didn't appeal, and then I came across HELLO KLEAN. I won't shower without using it now.'

HELLO KLEAN, priced at 60, helps to remove chlorine, heavy metals, chemicals and other impurities from your shower water to improve the quality and make it kinder to your skin and hair.

The refillable filter is encased in aluminium, which screws onto the bottom of your shower tap.

Jordan Cunningham, an actor from London, also credits the filter with helping combat his eczema - something he's suffered with since he was three months old.

Jordan Cunningham, an actor from London, also credits the filter with helping combat his eczema - something he's suffered with since he was three months old. Pictured left before using it and right after

'Eczema has impacted my self confidence mainly,' he explained.

HOW DOES HELLO KLEAN WORK? The filter attaches to your shower tap The filter is proven to remove over 90 per cent of chlorine, as well as heavy metals and chemicals, from shower water. The brand was founded by Karlee Oz, a frequent traveller, who realised that the water she was using when in big cities was impacting her health. Hard water is freshwater that's abundant in minerals. It offers health benefits and is safe for drinking, but minerals like calcium, magnesium, iron, nickel and copper prevent surfactants in your shampoo from lathering, leaving behind buildup known as soap scum which may cause dryness and irritation for the skin. The filter removes water-soluble metals alleviating some of the unpleasant side effects of hard water. It may help reduce limescale residue to a certain extent, but it isn't a softening system. A softener is a large device built into your home which uses salt to remove the non-soluble metals, in return reducing limescale. Advertisement

'I didn't feel secure enough to wear shorts and T-shirts in hot summer months.

'I'd also struggle to get a solid night's sleep because the itching would keep me awake, and then I'd face embarrassment of having a blood stained bed in the morning.

'My mum said it was probably the water in London, and a friend of mine who lives in Manchester had said whenever he came down for a few days his skin always got worse and he doesn't have skin issues usually.

'It impacts the dance aspect of my career as sweat is a huge stimulant for itching and it aggravates it and makes it worse. Wearing lots of stage make-up and scratchy costumes can be difficult as well.

'I'd wake up with terrible dandruff and severe flakiness on my forehead and around my eyebrows, which was embarrassing when next to my boyfriend.

'Every morning I would jump straight up into the shower so he wouldn't see me so I could cleanse and moisturise.'

Jordan told how he has tried all sorts of remedies, including apple cider vinegar baths and body lotions.

He first tried the HELLO KLEAN filter in April last year after spotting an advert on Instagram.

While it's not cured his condition, he claims it's helped as his skin now feels less dry after washing.

'Due to Covid shutting down my industry and me being jobless, stress was aggravating my eczema so I was avidly looking for different solutions,' he said.

'Because it was so affordable, I thought I would give it a go and try it.

'My first impressions were super positive.

'Within two days of installing the filter my heavy dandruff literally vanished and I didn't change any of my hair care products.

'Within about two weeks the texture of my skin improved and I noticed I was no longer itchy when having a shower.

'Long term changes have been no more dandruff at all since using it, and though I still have eczema, the skin texture element has dramatically improved.

Jordan said: 'Within two days of installing the filter my heavy dandruff literally vanished and I didn't change any of my hair care products. Within about two weeks the texture of my skin improved and I noticed I was no longer itchy when having a shower.' Pictured: his neck before (left) and after (right)

'I also no longer come out of the shower with severe dryness, which I definitely used to beforehand.

'Before I found it hard to turn my neck because the skin felt so tight.

'I'm not as embarrassed and insecure as I was whilst my skin was very bad.'

For more information visit https://helloklean.co.uk/ or follow HELLO KLEAN on Instagram.

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A third COVID-19 vaccine could soon be on the market in the U.S.

The FDA is now considering an emergency use authorization request by Johnson & Johnson.

The company claims its single-shot vaccine is 72% effective against moderate and severe disease in the U.S.

However, the vaccines already on the market are about 95% effective overall. UAB Doctor Sarah Nafziger said if approved, to not rule it out based on the lower efficacy rate.

"If that effectiveness is less than what is published for the Pfizer and Moderna products, if it's in the 55% range, that's still a very effective vaccine," Nafziger said.

She said it is important to note its reported ability to prevent severe cases.

"While it would be preferential for people not to catch COVID at all, that would be the end goal, more importantly, is to prevent people from having the severe disease and prevent people from dying from COVID," Nafziger said.

Some people wonder if they can take the J&J shot in addition to the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines. Infectious Disease Specialist Jeanne Marrazzo said to not rule that option out yet.

"There are studies being planned now, being called mixed and matched studies, where we're going to try to look at these things," Marrazzo said. "But I do think it's going to depend a little bit on when people get that second shot."

While this request comes at a time when Alabama is in desperate need of more vaccines, there are still likely weeks of review ahead.

"There's still a lot of review that's going to happen," Nafziger said. "The FDA still has to review it, so we'll have to wait and see after the final announcement."

If it gets approval from the FDA, the vaccine goes to the CDC, which will decide if the vaccine is safe for the general public and who should get it first.

The U.S. has placed an order for 100 million doses. If approved, Johnson & Johnson said it can deliver that amount by June.

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.
The governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, says his dialogue with bandits has significantly reduced killings in the state.

Mr Matawalle thanked Islamic scholar, Ahmad Gummi, for visiting forests in the state to speak with the bandits and urged other clerics to take their messages to the forests.

The governor spoke at the Jumaat service at the Eid Praying Ground, Gusau, the state capital, on Friday.

He promised to sustain the dialogue with the hoodlums as a result of its success.

Mr Matawalle initiated dialogue with bandits who were blamed for rampant violent crimes such as kidnapping for ransom, cow rustling and highway robbery in the state.

Although many Nigerians condemned the policy, saying it encourages criminality, the state government said many kidnapped victims have been released due to the dialogue and some of the bandits have laid down their arms.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported how protesters in the state accused the state government and some traditional rulers of underreporting their ordeals with the gunmen who attack their communities at will.

The protesters had called for the termination of the governments dialogues with the bandits and demanded to be allowed to carry weapons for self-defence.

But Mr Matawalle insisted the policy is working.

The peace process was the only way to address the security situation in the state and a lot of success has been recorded since the commencement of the peace process, the governor said on Friday.

He said Allah instructed the Muslim Ummah to dialogue with one another to resolve crisis, insecurity and injustice in order to foster unity, understanding and love.

Mr Matawalle said that his administration could not fold its arms and watch people being killed by criminals.

My administration inherited the insecurity from the past administration but with peace dialogue initiative, the situation has been reduced to a minimum level, which now makes citizens of the state move freely without any fear of attacks or kidnapping as was the case before, the governor said.

At the event, the governor thanked Mr Gummi, who during the week visited forests in the state met with the bandits to preach peace and ask to know their reasons for taking to crime.

Mr Matawalle charged other Islamic scholars to emulate Mr Gummi in reaching out to the bandits through teachings and preaching the word of God in Islam.

Education can address banditry

Earlier, Mr Gummi attributed the security situation in the state to illiteracy and urged the federal and state governments to initiate programmes that will equip the bandits with Western and Islamic knowledge.

The Islamic scholar said through education, killings and destruction of properties could be stopped in the region.

Mr Gummi also advised Islamic scholars to take their Daawa and preaching to the rural areas, saying most of the people living in the forest lack knowledge of Islam and do not know right or wrong in their deeds.

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Parler and the Trump Organization, negotiating on behalf of Former President Donald Trump, had talks that would have offered Trump's business a significant share in Parler in return for the president, making it his go-to social media site.

Parler offered Trump's company a 40% share

BuzzFeed News confirmed that Parler offered Trump a significant stake in the president's platform to have a go-to social media platform.

Parscale and Alex Cannon, a counsel for the campaign, met with Parler's then-CEO, John Matze, and donors Dan Bongino and Jeffrey Wernick after former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale raised the proposal to Trump last year.

According to Business Insider, Parler has offered a 40 percent stake to Trump's company, doled out over two years. In return, it urged Trump to post on Parler four hours before reposting his content on other sites while still linking back to Parler.

According to the report, after Trump lost the election to Joe Biden, Parler and the Trump Organization's talks, which started last summer, were revisited. However, it eventually failed. It was not clear how interested Trump was in the negotiations.

Trump's massive corporate empire and his inability to detach himself from it as president raised widespread questions about whether he exploited the office to enrich himself.

But the agreement with Parler would break anti-bribery rules because, in return for Parler having a say on where Trump will make his official statements, Trump would have gotten something of value, ethics analysts told BuzzFeed News.

Parler became famous among Trump supporters

Due to its loose approach to moderating content, Parler quickly gained popularity among Trump supporters and far-right leaders in November following the election. Still, Trump never made a verified account there.

The company faced immediate outrage over that approach following the Capitol attacks, which rioters organized in large part on Parler.

Apple and Google banned the app from their app stores, and Amazon cut off Parler's web-hosting services, taking the site offline. Parler has consistently failed to delete violent content or change its moderation approach to be under their policies, the companies said.

Parler as "unbiased social media"

Right-wing commentators, including those who were banned from Twitter and Facebook, drew activity from Parler. The social media platform described itself as "unbiased social media," before it was taken offline, CNET reported.

Trump's presidency put social media in the spotlight. On Facebook and Twitter, he had millions of followers and used the sites to share remarks, official statements, and baseless allegations that the election was stolen from him.

Facebook suspended Trump indefinitely following the January 6 insurrection, where a group of Trump supporters stormed into the Capitol. And, Twitter permanently barred his account.

Parler and the Trump Company, which oversees Trump's corporate activities, have not responded to requests for comment immediately.

Read also: Twitter Shares Drop by 12 Percent After Permanently Suspending Trump

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 10:30:02|Editor: huaxia

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ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia registered 726 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 140,883, the country's Ministry of Health said Friday.

The death toll from COVID-19 in the country has reached 2,136 as of Friday evening, after ten new deaths were reported, the ministry said.

The ministry said 999 more recoveries were logged during the past 24 hours, taking the national count to 125,241.

Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation, is one of the countries hardest hit by COVID-19 in Africa, after South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.

The country has so far reported the highest number of positive COVID-19 cases in the East African region.

The Ethiopian government has been urging the public to implement COVID-19 precautionary measures so as to contain the spread of the virus.

The East African nation has so far conducted 1,991,072 COVID-19 tests, including 5,065 new COVID-19 tests during the past 24 hours, according to the ministry.

Ethiopia is one of the African countries which have conducted the most COVID-19 tests, mainly next to South Africa and Morocco, according to recent figures from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Enditem
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The Chinese government will provide Kyrgyzstan with free COVID-19 vaccines, Chinese Ambassador Du Dewen said on Friday during a meeting with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Ruslan Kazakbaev.

During the meeting, Du noted that China and Kyrgyzstan are good neighbors and all-round strategic partners, the Chinese embassy said in a press release.

"The two countries always provide help and support to each other in the fight against COVID-19. In order to provide further support to the Kyrgyz side in the anti-epidemic fight, the Chinese side decided to provide Kyrgyzstan with Chinese vaccines against COVID-19 free of charge," the ambassador said.

Du expressed the hope and confidence that the vaccines will help the Kyrgyz side in countering the epidemic and play a positive role in ensuring the health and safety of the people of Kyrgyzstan.

Du also conveyed a congratulatory message to Kazakbaev on the occasion of his appointment as the minister of foreign affairs of Kyrgyzstan from Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Kazakbaev thanked his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi for the warm congratulations on the occasion of his appointment, emphasizing that the Kyrgyz side attaches particular importance to the development of relations with China and will make every effort to protect and strengthen Kyrgyz-Chinese friendship, as well as to promote mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries in various fields for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries.

Kazakbaev also expressed gratitude to the Chinese side on behalf of the government of Kyrgyzstan for the intention to provide COVID-19 vaccines. He noted that this friendly decision of the Chinese side testifies the enormous support to Kyrgyzstan, and it proves the strong fraternal friendship between the peoples of the two countries.

The Kyrgyz side is ready to maintain close contacts with the Chinese side on technical issues in the provision of vaccines so that they will benefit the Kyrgyz people early.
There were novel ways to help alert people in the path of catastrophic floods; evidence-based ideas to support those with mental illness and prevent suicide; as well as a solution to making a commute to work smoother, with fewer road projects to heighten traffic.

And those were just a few of the concepts floated by students Thursday night, when they summed up months or years of research into just 180 seconds at the University of Miami Graduate Schools fifth annual Three-Minute Thesis Competition.

In all, 10 graduate students competed for the title in their timed lectures, which were broadcast virtually for the first time. Two students managed to edge above the others in capturing the attention of the nearly 200 audience members, as well as the judges.

First place went to Marybeth Arcodia, a Ph.D. student in atmospheric sciences, who explained how her research on the interaction of two Pacific atmospheric waves can help forecasters determine months in advance when and where to expect flooding events in the United States.

Knowing how Pacific conditions affect U.S. rainfall can give management officials and individuals more time to prepare and evacuate, saving millions of dollars in infrastructure damage and sparing countless lives, said Arcodia, whose adviser is Ben Kirtman, professor of atmospheric sciences at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

Marybeth Arcodia and Cho-Hee Shrader, first and second place winners of Thursday's Three-Minute Thesis Competition.

Second place and the audience choice award went to Cho-Hee Shrader, a Ph.D. student in prevention science and community health, whose work focuses on how the social network theory of homophilyor the fact that friends and significant others often share similar traitscan affect ones communication and knowledge about pre-exposure prophylaxis, a medicine that can be used to prevent HIV transmission. This is particularly important in Miami, which is now considered the epicenter of the HIV epidemic for the United States, Shrader said. The virus is especially prevalent among minorities, with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates showing that 20 percent of Latino gay men and 50 percent of Black gay men will be diagnosed with HIV by age 50, if current trends persist. Shrader wants to disrupt that trend by fostering conversations among Latino and Black gay men to make discussing this medicine, called PrEP, less taboo.

These conversationsif constructivecan actually destigmatize the virus and save lives, said Shrader, whose adviser is Mariano Kanamori, assistant professor in the Division of Prevention Science and Community Health at the Miller School of Medicine.

Arcodia and Shrader will hopefully go on to compete in the Council of Florida Graduate Schools Three-Minute Thesis Competition in April, said Tiffany Plantan, director of education for the Graduate School.

Competitors of the Three-Minute Thesis held Thursday, Feb. 4.

The eight other student competitors also showcased their research in a creative, accessible way and administrators praised them for committing to the nerve-wracking competition.

Particularly in this time, where we know that all of us are experiencing different types of hardship and have additional stress, these students really were very courageous and resilient and did a phenomenal job at presenting their dissertation research, said Willy Prado, dean of the Graduate School and the Universitys vice provost of faculty affairs. These students were able to connect with the audience, and they were able to translate their research to a lay audience very effectively, which is one of the goals of this competition.

Their projects also highlighted the breadth of research happening across the University, Prado said.

For example, civil engineering Ph.D. candidate Nima Hosseinzadeh is working on more eco-friendly forms of concrete that will also last longer in harsh winters and hopefully curtail the nations endless need for road repairs.

School of Architecture masters student Shannon Newberry is studying how humor can be reflected in structures, particularly inflatable ones. And Jennifer Ann Lamy, another graduate student in architecture, is using the history of racism in U.S. housing and building policies as a backdrop to craft a starter home design that would be more equitable and safe for Black living in Miami today.

Miami Herbert Business School doctoral student Rosy Xu explored how fake news that quickly spreads on social media can impact business revenues. She found that 80 percent of companies listed on the S&P 500 are severely affected by fake news, which can mean a 3 percent loss in stock purchases. Yet, businesses can reduce the damage by disclosing the truth.

Firms that respond directly to fake news successfully reduce the chance of future taxes by almost 90 percent, and those firms that take immediate action in dispelling rumors, limit the damage to their reputations, she said. Managers need to address the increasing threats of fake news on social media before they escalate.

If you missed the Graduate Schools 2021 Three-Minute Thesis Competition, you can watch a full recording of the event on YouTube.
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South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee (L) in Geneva on July 16, 2020; and Nigerian former Foreign and Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (R) in Geneva on July 15, 2020, as they give press conferences as part of their application process to head the WTO as Director General. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden Administration Backs Nigerian Candidate to Lead WTO

WASHINGTONThe Biden administration said that it would support the candidacy of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former Nigerian finance minister, to lead the World Trade Organization, ending a months-long standoff at the organization.

The Feb. 5 announcement came after South Korean trade minister Yoo Myung-hee withdrew her candidacy, clearing the way for Okonjo-Iweala to be director-general of the Geneva-based body.

The Biden-Harris Administration is pleased to express its strong support for the candidacy of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the next Director-General of the WTO, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said in a statement.

The global trade watchdog has been without a director-general since Roberto Azevedo of Brazil quit the job in August last year.

Okonjo-Iweala was the consensus choice by the member states, although the Trump administration refused to back her due to her lack of trade experience.

In an interview with the Financial Times on Jan. 19, then-U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer warned it would be a mistake to appoint Okonjo-Iweala to lead the organization.

We need a person who actually knows trade, not somebody from the World Bank who does development, Lighthizer said.

Okonjo-Iweala spent 25 years with the World Bank and two terms as Nigerian finance minister, according to the USTR.

We need a trade person with real trade experience, Lighthizer said. And there are very few areas where you would say, Heres an organization in very bad shape, lets get someone who knows nothing about its core mission.

The Trump administration had supported Yoos candidacy, calling her a bona fide trade expert.

In order to promote the functions of WTO and in consideration of various factors, I have decided to withdraw my candidacy, Yoo said in a statement on Feb. 5.

Yoo, after receiving the backing of the Trump administration, had refused to withdraw from the race despite mounting diplomatic pressure to bow out.

It is particularly important to underscore that two highly qualified women made it to the final round of consideration for the position of WTO Director Generalthe first time that any woman has made it to this stage in the history of the institution, the USTRs statement said.

The United States stands ready to engage in the next phase of the WTO process for reaching a consensus decision on the WTO Director-General. The Biden Administration looks forward to working with a new WTO Director-General to find paths forward to achieve necessary substantive and procedural reform of the WTO.

In a recent interview with The Epoch Times, Clete Willems, former deputy director of the National Economic Council under the Trump administration, said that the Biden administration wants to revive the embattled global trade watchdog.

By allowing the new director-general to be selected as a first step, Biden will signal a high-level shift in policy and a recommitment to the system, he said.

I think on the [WTOs] Appellate Body front, theyre not going to simply rollback Trump administrations position. The concerns about the appellate body are bipartisan, theyre long-standing, he added.

The WTOs downward spiral started long before Trumps presidency, as Washington accused the organization of overstepping its mandate in dispute settlement and creating unjustified rules.

Under the Obama administration, Washington started to block the selection of judges to the appellate body, WTOs seven-member independent court. Since 2016, the United States blocked all new appointments to the court, crippling the WTOs ability to rule on trade disputes.

Washinton has also repeatedly expressed discontent about the trade bodys inability to address Chinas unfair trade practices. According to the latest report (pdf) from the USTR, Chinas record in complying with WTO rules remains poor.

According to the report, the United States has brought about two dozen cases against Beijing at the WTO to dispute its wide range of policies including massive subsidies, significant market access barriers, and inadequate intellectual property rights enforcement.

Biden has promised to take a more multilateral approach in dealing with trade issues; its unclear how his administration will resolve the deep-seated problems with respect to the WTO.

A court on Saturday issued an arrest warrant against Pakistan-based (LeT) chiefand26/11Mumbai attack mastermind inamoney laundering case related to terror funding in Jammu and Kashmir.

Besides issuing thenon-bailable warrant (NBW)against Saeed,Special Judge Praveen Singh also issued warrants against three co-accused Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, separatist Altaf Ahmad Shah alias Funtoosh and businessman from the UAE Naval Kishore Kapoor who are currently lodged in the Tihar central jail here, seeking their production before the court.

The court passed the direction while taking cognisance of a chargesheet filed in the matter by the Enforcement Directorate for alleged money laundering.

The judge also issued summons to the representatives ofWatali's company M/s Trison Farms and Construction Pvt Ltd, which has also been named as accused in the matter.

Special Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana, appearing for the ED, told the court that the accused hatched a criminal conspiracy to carry out subversive and secessionist activities in Jammu and Kashmir.

The accused established a network of cadres who were funded through Pakistani agencies via hawala dealers and local conduits by raising funds through local donations and funds have also been received from abroad, Rana told the court.

The ED had filed a case based on an NIA matter against Saeed, Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin and others for "conspiring to wage war against the government" and fomenting trouble in the Kashmir Valley.

The separatist leaders have been accused of taking a cut before handing over the money to generate trouble.

Saeed has also been accused of using the services of Watali for passing on the money to the separatists and some individuals who were actively indulging in stone-pelting in various areas of the Valley, the ED said in the charge sheet.

In the NIA's case, besides Saeed, Salahuddin and Watali, the agency had also named hardline pro- separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani's son-in-law Altaf Shah alias Altaf Fantoosh, Bashir Ahmad Bhat and Javed Ahmad Bhat as accused.

(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.)

Dozens of Connecticut residents have complained to state officials about so-called COVID fees being tacked onto their bills  charges insurance companies refuse to pay.

From Milford to Danbury to Old Saybrook, patients reported fees ranging from $10 to $20 per patient, a review of complaints filed with the state attorney generals office shows.

In all, state Attorney General William Tong has received at least 28 complaints from patients regarding COVID fees, all involving dentists. The disputed fees add up to just under $500, according to complaints obtained through state Freedom of Information law.

The state Office of Consumer Protection has received three similar complaints.

Tong said COVID fees are not legal if the patient has insurance and pays a co-payment to their health care provider, whether a dentist or another type of doctor.

Its not legal to balance bill, Tong said. That means you cant charge somebody more than their co-pay for a covered service. The PPE provided is part of the covered service and integral to the covered service. Its against the law.

But, Tong added, if a patient is using a dentist who is not in their insurance companys network  or has no insurance at all  a COVID fee can be assessed.

Tam Le, president of the Connecticut State Dental Association, said the associations 2,300 members are aware of complaints and said the association is offering advice over COVID fees.

The CSDA continues to advise Connecticut dental offices to check their insurance provider contracts and review the terms of their participation agreements before charging patients for PPE, Le said.

Lots of complaints

Jan Maria Jagush was not happy when her dentist suddenly began charging $15 for personal protective equipment used to battle COVID-19.

I didnt think it was right, said Jagush, a Danbury resident.

When I go to a clients homes for business, I dont charge for my mask, said Jagush, who works in property management. I understand their PPE is more than a mask, but I dont feel thats right. Its part of the cost of doing business.

Despite complaining to the attorney generals office, Jagush said she had to pay her dentists COVID fee.

The reason: Jagush recently changed insurance companies and her dentist does not participate in her new insurers network.

I think people are surprised by these random charges and for some people its much more difficult, Jagush said, explaining that she likes her dentist and plans to remain as a patient.

For me, its a principal issue, she said, referring to filing a complaint.

Complaints filed with Tongs office show a pattern of dentists charging COVID fees and that the assessments are not being applied uniformly.

An Old Saybrook dental patient reported being charged a $20 PPE fee, which the patient was told had to be paid by check or cash only.

I asked for an itemized receipt of this charge and was told it would be mailed to me, but I did not receive such receipt, the complainant noted. At the second appointment, I was asked to pay this, but referenced having just paid it at the last appointment, and they waived it.

The patient added, I do not believe the recurring PPE fees to be justified. To be clear, PPE was not provided to me during the appointment, but to the staff.

A Milford patient reported being charged $20 per visit for PPE used by the dentist and office staff.

I went earlier this year and they did not even tell me, the patient said. My wife went for her regular check-up and they charged her as well.

A Beacon Falls patient said their dentist posted a sign stating the office is charging a $10 PPE fee.

I called our insurance company (CIGNA) and they told me they do not cover this $10 fee so it will be refused once they receive the claim, the person said.

A Durham patient said their dentist charged an $18 PPE fee. After informing the office that the charge is illegal, the patient said the dentist waived the fee.

But I am concerned that they are inappropriately billing other patients for PPE, the complainant said.

In its own review of COVID fees, The New York Times found an elderly resident at an assisted living facility who was charged a one time, $900 fee for masks, cleaning supplies and food delivery.

Not fair

Tong said the fees are not fair and can become a financial burden for some patients.

It can be a lot of money, particularly to people who go more than periodically, Tong said.

We are investigating every complaint we get, Tong added. In almost all cases, we reach out to the provider and they stop doing it. We are aware of some health insurers who are paying additional reimbursement to doctors.

Still, Tong said he understands the pandemic created a lot of confusion, and doctors for the most part are trying to do the right thing.

Doctors and dentists and health care providers are under a lot of pressure economically, Tong said. But that doesnt mean they can charge more. You cant pass on your suffering to someone else.

One complaint filed with Tongs office alleged that West Hartford Family Dentistry was charging a $10 COVID fee despite the fact that their insurance company was already covering the entire cost of the appointment. It appears this is ILLEGAL in CT.

An office manager at West Hartford Dentistry, who did not identify herself, said they no longer levy the fee. We talked to the state attorney general and are all set with that, she said before ending the conversation.

Le noted the level of PPE now required is a financial burden on small practices.

Connecticut dentists, just like other medical providers, are required to follow stricter PPE requirements as a way to limit exposure and the potential spread of COVID-19, Le said.

The dental association noted that prices for PPE have risen significantly since the onset of the pandemic, in some cases tripling on average.

Surgical masks and gloves have undergone the largest price increases, the association pointed out.

bcummings@ctpost.com
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A little boy killed in a hail of gunfire inside a west Birmingham apartment had a big laugh, a huge personality and a bright future, according to those closest to him.

I told him all the time I thought hed be president,' said the toddlers godmother, Domonique Howard. He did not deserve this. He was just an innocent baby who had so much ahead of him in his future.

Major Turner, 2, was lying on the couch with his mother and another sibling Thursday night after they had finished eating dinner when someone opened fire outside their first-floor Kimbrough Homes unit. Majors other two siblings were upstairs. Only Major and his mother were struck.

Neighbors reported hearing eight to 10 shots. There were at least 10 bullet holes in the window screens plus more in the apartments front door. It appears one or two bullets also struck the neighboring apartment, but no injuries were reported there.

Major Turner, 2, was shot Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021 and died hours later. He was on the couch with his mother when someone unleashed a barrage of gunfire into the family's Birmingham apartment.

Major was rushed to Childrens of Alabama where he was pronounced dead at 2:45 a.m. Friday. Major Turner is a 2-year-old who was struck by a bullet last night and spent a lot of hours fighting for his life. He did not make it Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said Friday. I think its time as a community we fight for justice for him.

The shooting happened shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday in the Wenonah Community. Sgt. Rod Mauldin said police were notified of a double shooting in the 2900 block of John Bryant Road. They arrived to find the mother and Major wounded.

Police radio traffic indicated the child was struck in the neck and taken to Childrens of Alabama with critical injuries. His mother was treated for her injuries and has already been released from the hospital.

Howard said she received the call and rushed toward Majors home but when she passed the ambulance on the way, she, her husband and her two adult children, turned around and headed for the hospital. She was able to spend time with Major, touching him and talking to him, before he died.

I gave him a kiss and I rubbed his hair and I was telling him to open his eyes, Howard said through tears. I said, Come back. Dont leave. But he just laid there.

Major Turner, 2, was shot Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021 and died hours later. He was on the couch with his mother when someone unleashed a barrage of gunfire into the family's Birmingham apartment.

Howard said Major was outgoing and very smart. He loved Baby Shark and he loved to jump. We took him to the jump park, and he loved it, she said. For Christmas I bought him a moonwalk, but he never got a chance to open it because we were waiting until summertime to get it out.

Major, she said, never met a stranger. If you met him, youd think that you already knew him, she said. He was just so joyful. He always had a smile on his face.

Howard took Major for a photo shoot for his second birthday. He thrived in front of the camera.

Most kids you would have to make them do it, but he was ready, she said. He was just the cutest thing.

Major called Howard Nique Nique, and her husband Paw Paw. He always told me how much he loved me, she said. He meant so much to me.

The mayor on Friday had harsh words for the killer or killers, calling them cowards and punks. He said he spoke with Howard and Majors grandmother on Friday morning before he delivered his public comments about the case.

What I can tell you that through their tears, through their pain, the family is grieving, Woodfin said. As a community we should be grieving as well. And as a community, we should not be numb to this.

The mayor said he has seen the Birmingham community rally when innocent children are killed. Weve seen it with Journee, weve seen it with Cupcake, and weve seen it with so many others  the outrage and community support, Woodfin said.

Instead of pointing fingers, everyone rallies around some form of bring justice to the family, he said. Majors family, and in his honor, deserve that same attention.

So, in my conversations with Chief Patrick Smith and (Jefferson County District Attorney) Danny Carr, they have been very clear, he said. The City of Birmingham has one priority and that is to bring the person or the people who shot into this home and killed this little boy to justice. They need to either turn themselves in or as a community anyone who knows or has information need to turn that information and share that info with the Birmingham Police Department and/or Crime Stoppers.

This is not the time to be silent. And for anybody who has information and is harboring the person or people who shot into the house, shame on you, Woodfin said. The person or people who did this are cowards, are punks. This is not a way to solve issues and when an innocent child is killed, do the right thing.

Im asking the entire community, stop what youre doing today, give this all of your attention and any information you have to bring any form of justice to this family, to Major, I ask that you do it,' he said.

David Northern Sr., president and CEO of the Housing Authority of Birmingham, called Majors death a terrible tragedy.

I visited Kimbrough Homes this morning with other HABD team members. During my visit I spoke with the resident council president and clients in the community who are shocked and heartbroken,' Northern said. To help address the impact of this sad moment, weve provided access to grief counseling to Kimbrough Homes to help those neighbors effected by this painful event. The counselors will remain prepared to provide counseling services and resources.

Every resource at our disposal is being used to assist the Birmingham Police Department in bringing these murderers to justice. We have communicated with the mayors office as well to offer any assistance we can to the investigation of this tragedy,' he said. We are confident that justice will be served in this case and that these criminals responsible for taking this childs life will be arrested.

He, too, encouraged anyone with information to come forward. The children of our communities deserve to be safe and secure from such violence,' Northern said. Please speak up. If you saw something, or know something, please say something.

While the police investigation continues, Howard and those who loved Major are trying to come to grips with their loss. She said she, too, wants the killer or killers to come forward. Only then, she said, will they have some peace.

I feel his (Majors) pain and I want them to feel the pain, she said. Its not fair.

A GoFundMe has been launched to help with Majors burial. Donations can be made here. The Carlos Chaverst Foundation is offering a $500 reward for information in the case. Tipsters can call 205-259-8879.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. Crime Stoppers offers up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction. Tipsters to Crime Stoppers can remain anonymous.
The latest figures from the Ministry of Health show that 177 new cases of coronavirus were discovered yesterday.

Two deaths from COVID-19 were reported today, increasing the total death toll in the Grand Duchy to 592.

12,287 tests were carried out in the last 24 hours. The positivity rate was 1.44%.

There are 46 patients in standard hospital care, unchanged from yesterday, while the number in intensive care increased by one to 12.

As a reminder, on weekends the government only releases data on the number of tests, cases, deaths and hospitalisations.

According to Friday's update, there were 2,501 active infections in Luxembourg, while 48,421 patients have recovered from the virus.

The R rate stood at 1.10.

13,256 (+659) people have received their first vaccine dose in Luxembourg, while 3,163 (+353) have received a second dose.

For the latest updates on the coronavirus both in Luxembourg and abroad, see our live ticker.
Canadian Tax Law Makes Student Life More Affordable

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(Photo : Canadian Tax Law Makes Student Life More Affordable)

There are many colleges and universities in Canada; that's a lot of students who may need financial guidance. Student life can be fun, but also expensive. Knowing a little bit about Canadian tax law may come in handy when tax time comes around. Students will discover that there are numerous deductions they can claim.

Some Famous Universities in Canada Are:

The University of Alberta

The University of British Columbia - the largest in Western Canada

The University of New Brunswick

The University of King's College

The University of Toronto - Canada's largest university

Do Students Pay Income Tax in Canada?

Canadians sometimes pay higher taxes than those in the USA, but they are proud of their universal health care and education system. Many colleges tend to be affordable too. Students in Canada do pay taxes, but the government allows students certain deductions to make life more affordable. The government requires you to fill out a T4A Slip to list your taxable income. Both undergraduate and graduate students may benefit from knowing what they need to file.

Some Types of Income Canadian Tax Law Requires Students to File:

Employment income plus tips

Scholarships and Grants, including:

Research grants

The amount you deduct cannot be more than the amount of the grant. You can deduct travelling expenses, equipment, lodging, fees paid to assistants, and meals.

Artists' projects grants

Apprenticeship grants

Grants can be as much as $4,000 and must be filed.

Scholarship Grants

Investment income

Students are not required to report lottery winnings, windfalls, or gifts as income.

Read more about students and income tax in this guide from the CRA

Deductions for Students in Canada

Moving

Relocation for school is no small feat. You can save your receipts and deduct it from your taxes.

Child care

You may have to hire someone to watch your child for some reason while you work and go to school. You can only do this if the child had a physical or mental problem during the time of care.

Non-Refundable Tax Credits

Canadian tax law allows for other deductions for students called non-refundable tax credits. You can only use them to reduce your tax debt to zero. You cannot get a refund by deducting expenses over the grant amount. This is where the meat of student savings resides. Some of the allowable deductions are:

Interest paid on your student loan

The Canada Student Loans Act, the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act, and the Apprentice Loans Act allow students to deduct their interest on their student loans.

Education Tax Credit

Allows a student to claim tuition expenses.

Textbook Tax Credit

EExpenses Not Eligible for Tax Credit:

extracurricular student social activities

transportation and parking

boarding and lodging

medical expenses

cost of books

Canadian Tax Law Conclusion

Canadian tax law is strict in that it does not exempt fellowships from being listed as an income source. Students have to pay taxes, but the government allows deductions and credits that should lower your taxable income. The government allows deductions only for expenses necessary for students' educational welfare. Child care and moving expenses add up and can be deducted. Bottom line, Canada allows students many deductions, and this means more money left in their pockets to enjoy pursuing their educational dreams.

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" " Determining virginity is tough, because you have to first define the term, and then get people to be honest about their sexual histories. Mary Delaney Cooke / Corbis / Getty Images

Lifelong virgins are not uncommon in nature. In some social insect communities  bees, ants and wasps, for example  a small percentage of individuals are "breeders," and almost everybody else works their butts off taking care of their kids (#nojudgment). In other animals, like elephant seals, a few males monopolize the mating scene, which leads to an awful lot of dudes who live in complete celibacy. Around 80 percent of male elephant seals never even get the chance to mate, but those 20 percent who do might inseminate up to 250 females in their lifetime.

So how many humans live their whole lives as virgins?

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That's a tough question to answer. Biologically, losing one's virginity means having potential-baby-making sex for the first time. And though that concept makes sense when you're trying to identify patterns in who reproduces and who doesn't, sexual experience for humans is varied enough to make the social concept of virginity kind of useless past that point. Accordingly, the data's not crystal clear. After all, if all you want to know is who passes on their genes, who cares if a person touches one body part to another person's body part? What's the difference between a woman who's never had a sexual encounter, a woman whose sexual partners have all been women, and a woman who never has children due to polycystic ovary syndrome or some other condition preventing her from conceiving? And then, there are those who don't engage in the act because they've taken vows of celibacy, because they identify as asexual, or because they just never, ever meet someone willing to share an intimate moment. In this way, the human construct of virginity and the human process of reproduction have very little to do with one another.

But in general, the human reproductive strategy is very different from those of both ants and elephant seals. We are equal-opportunity reproducers, and the vast majority of us, at some point in our lives end up trying out this whole sex thing, whether for reproductive or social reasons, which can sometimes take place at the same time.

According to the Center for Disease Control, the average American who ends up having penis-and-vaginal intercourse does so for the first time around the age of 17. This age has something to do with how stable your family life is, peer pressure, personality and, according to a recent study, even your genes. But between 12-14 percent of adults aged 20-24 have never had sex. This number drops to around five percent for adults aged 25-29, and by age 44, only around 0.3 percent of adults report never having had the type of sex that could end in somebody getting pregnant. Keep in mind that these statistics are for Americans. By contrast, in 2010, 25 percent of unmarried Japanese men over the age of 30 reported being virgins. The trend is so prevalent, there is now a term for late-in-life male virgins: yaramiso.

" " Lifelong celibacy is rare in humans, with almost every individual in the species biologically able to reproduce. Uniquely India/Getty Images

When it comes to who is actually doing the work of populating the world with humans, it also depends a lot on where in the world you live. According to the Pew Research Center, childlessness in the United States is near the highest in the world, with 19 percent of women ages 40-44 reporting never having given birth, while for women living in the Congo, that number is probably around two percent. The UK Biobank examined childlessness in the U.K., and found that in men aged 60 and over, about 15 percent reported that they had not fathered any children.

In short, there's a way better chance a human's going to pass on our genes than it is for a male elephant seal.

Now That's Interesting Some of the world's most famous people reportedly never had sex, including Nikola Tesla, Isaac Newton, Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, Lewis Carroll, Antoni Gaudi and Jorge Luis Borges.
Dhaka, Jan 30 (UNI) Bangladesh wants more opportunities from India to use their land, railways and land ports to enhance connectivity with Nepal and Bhutan.

Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Masood bin Momen made the request to India at a meeting of foreign secretaries of the two countries in Delhi on Friday.

In 2016, it was agreed to establish Bangladesh-India-Nepal-Bhutan interstate rail link. This time, Dhaka requested Delhi to allow Bangladesh to use new land, railways and land ports.

The foreign secretary-level meeting, held at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi was mainly to prepare for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka in March.

However, the press release sent by the Dhaka Foreign Ministry shows that other issues were also discussed at the meeting.

According to the press release, the issue of signing the Teesta water sharing agreement was raised again at the meeting of the Bangladeshi delegation led by Masood bin Momen and the Indian delegation led by Harsh Vardhan Shringla.

The Indian side assured that the matter was under consideration and proposed to finalize a framework agreement on the sharing of water from six identical rivers.

The foreign ministry said the talks focused on issues of mutual interest, especially preparations for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka in March to attend Mujib's birth centenary celebrations.

2021 marks the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh's independence as well as the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh-India diplomatic relations, which the two countries will jointly celebrate at several occasions.

Bangladesh thanked the Government of India for inviting the contingent of the Bangladesh Armed Forces to India's Republic Day Parade on January 26, and for conferring the Padma Shri on two Bangladeshis.

The issue of cooperation on Covid-19 also came up in the meeting.

The Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh said that out of the 30 million doses of vaccines purchased by Bangladesh, 50 lakh doses have been received in Bangladesh and the rest will be available in the due course of time.

During the meeting, Dhaka requested to take necessary steps to start speedy motor connectivity between Bangladesh-India-Nepal.

Cooperation between the two countries' border guards has been stepped up to reduce border killings to zero.

After meeting the Indian Foreign Minister, the Foreign Secretary handed over a letter from the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh containing a formal request for Bangladesh's inclusion on the India-Myanmar-Thailand Highway.

UNI MAZ RKM SB 1400
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Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh

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Admin gears up as Hisar farmers get set to protest today

Punjab MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu hoists black flag at his residence in support of protesting farmers

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Chakka jam: Delhi Metro security update

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 06: A high alert has been declared in Delhi ahead o the chakka jam by farmers.

Drones have been deployed a massive security cover is in place to ensure that a January 26 like situation doesn't arise. The farmer unions have however said that the chakka jam will not affect Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The chakka jam will begin at 12 pm and end at 3 pm.

Earlier in the day, Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava also held a meeting with the senior officers of the force and reviewed the security arrangements.'

Farmers' Protest: Delhi braces for 'Chakka Jam' with water cannons, 50,000 personnel

The police will also be monitoring content on the social media to keep a watch on those spreading rumours against the force, officials said.

Delhi Metro: Security update:

Entry/exit gates of Mandi House, ITO and Delhi Gate are closed.

Entry/exit gates of Vishwavidyalaya station are closed.

Entry/exit gates of Lal Quila, Jama Masjid, Janpath and Central Secretariat are closed.

Interchange facility is available.

Delhi metro stations to avoid amid farmers Chakka jam | Oneindia News

Entry/exit gates of Khan Market and Nehru Place are closed.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, February 6, 2021, 11:38 [IST]
Every weekday, David Moisl, a kindergarten teacher at West Portal Elementary, puts on what he calls The Mr. David Show. He smiles, dances, reads in his most animated voice, jokes and hams it up, because thats what it takes to get little kids attention through a computer screen.

But its not working. The morning circles? Gone. The singing together? Gone. Learning how to share and socialize? Gone. The joy? Thats mostly gone, too.

What were left with is the other parts of kindergarten  the ABCs and the 123s, he said. Usually, its a feel-good profession. Now were putting in a lot of time, effort and work, and were not getting the emotional satisfaction.

Thats why Moisl is ready to go back to the classroom once the Department of Public Health says all the necessary safety precautions are in place. And hes not alone among educators in San Franciscos public schools. So far, theyve just been the quiet ones, too afraid to speak out. Until now.

As the fight over reopening San Franciscos public schools after 11 brutal months of distance learning heats up, weve heard plenty of loud voices. Weve heard from City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who sued the school district and school board Wednesday over what he said was their failure to craft a clear plan to reopen. Weve heard from Mayor London Breed, who supports the lawsuit because distance learning is damaging childrens mental health and their mothers careers.

Weve heard from Superintendent Vincent Matthews, who swears he has a plan to open schools  even though that plan includes no dates, timelines or specifics.

Weve heard from Susan Solomon, the president of the United Educators of San Francisco, who on Friday presented for the first time a list of clear demands for what it will take for teachers to go back to school. And weve heard from the school board  about a host of unrelated topics.

Weve also heard from teachers who are understandably wary about returning to campus. Who are older or who have underlying health conditions or who take care of elderly parents. Theyre the ones most likely to comment in articles, post on social media or speak up among their colleagues.

They have fair points. Teachers are underpaid and underappreciated, and many of them dont trust district administrators to deliver on their promises of safe schools.

But the impression all this gives is that teachers are a unified block refusing to return to their classrooms  and thats simply not true. Sadly, the issue has become so fraught, its controversial in San Francisco to say, Im a teacher, and I want to go back to school.

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

Ive been ready for a long time, Moisl said. But its such a touchy subject that I havent brought it up. Talking to the media, I somehow feel more comfortable than talking to my staff, which is strange.

New lineup of columnists in your Sunday Chronicle Today's Bay Area section premieres a new lineup of columnists. Veteran political writer Joe Garofoli brings his unique insights and more than 20 years of journalism experience to a new Sunday column, giving readers an inside glimpse of life in the halls of power in the state and into the forces that vie for influence. Justin Phillips, a food journalist whose focus has shifted to race and equity issues, will write a weekly column telling the stories of people in marginalized communities whose voices are too rarely heard. Joe and Justin will form a formidable trio with columnist Heather Knight, whose incisive writing on San Francisco regularly lays bare the critical issues affecting you. We hope you will be as excited with the new lineup as we are. - Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, editor in chief See More Collapse

He avidly reads news about coronavirus transmission in schools and trusts scientists, doctors and the citys public health leaders who say its safe as long as distancing, masking, hand hygiene and ventilation are in place. He knows in-school virus transmission has been rare at the 113 private and parochial schools operating in San Francisco and the public schools up and running in many parts of the Bay Area.

My position is the Department of Health and health care professionals should be making these calls  not me and not the union, he said.

Jessica Wallack-Cohen, a classroom aide in two fourth-grade classes at Sunnyside Elementary, agrees that the Department of Public Health should decide when public schools are ready to reopen. She also thinks teachers should be able to choose whether to return or continue distance learning, but says even that is controversial.

Its hard to know who you can talk to ... but Ive made a decision recently that Im just going to say what Im feeling, she said.

And how is she feeling? Depleted. Her students have reached their breaking points  not turning on their cameras, not paying attention in class and not turning in their assignments. Her own daughter, a second-grader, cries every day.

Its terrifying as a mom to know she might not recover from this, she said. She might never revert back to that happy, bubbly, charismatic kid that she was.

Kevin Robinson, a substitute teacher in the district, said he would return to the classroom immediately. He doesnt understand why some educators, who are all about studying the facts before forming opinions, are so adamant that the scientists and doctors have it wrong.

It used to be if you were sick, you needed a doctors note to go back to school, he said. We have the doctors note, but were saying we dont believe you, doctor. We know better.

He would also send his son, a first-grader at Yick Wo Elementary, back right away. His boy, he said, is Zoomed out and has regressed academically, asking him how to spell the and of. On a recent outdoor playdate, his sons good friend, usually an outgoing kid, was so anxious he hid behind his mother and wouldnt play.

Stephen Lam / The Chronicle

Callen Taylor, a librarian at Visitacion Valley Middle School, said she fields text messages from parents asking what to do about kids who wont leave their rooms and are despondent.

Thats the heartbreaking part while everybodys playing the blame game, she added.

Shes also livid that the citys community hubs for low-income children to distance-learn in groups are mostly run by young people of color  many of them recent graduates of the citys public schools  for far less money than teachers receive for working from home.

Were being hypocrites, she said. Were allowing our hubs to assume the risk that we dont want to assume.

It seems the lawsuit has already prodded the school unions closer toward reopening. Solomon said at a news conference Friday that they will not require lids on all toilets or kids to be vaccinated before returning  two items that had been talked about before, dismaying many parents who found them unreasonable.

She said the unions will agree to return if the county reaches the states red tier and all school staff have access to vaccinations. Or if the county reaches the orange tier if they are not. They will also require updated ventilation systems, personal protective equipment such as masks, robust contact tracing, small cohorts and cleaning and disinfecting regimens.

We reject the idea this has been a wasted year, she added. Students, their families, educators and support staff have all been working as hard as we can.

Thats largely true, but distance learning just cant work in many cases.

Cicily Ennix is a case manager for students with special needs at Independence High School. She usually works one on one with as many as 25 students. Now, shes tasked with helping only 14. But she hears regularly from just four.

In the past few years, she lost one student to suicide and another to a drug overdose. She doesnt know whether her current students who ignore her inquiries are OK.

When they do engage, they often turn their cameras off and mute themselves, just typing words into the chat box. District policy allows students to keep their cameras off, which means teachers are often talking to blank screens.

Its this constant pulling for a response. Its very exhausting. Theres no substance, Ennix said of distance teaching. It just seems like a placeholder. Just a facade.

Shes ready to see her students face-to-face again. The question is, when can she?

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf Instagram: @heatherknightsf

Pipe-laying work has resumed on Russia's massive Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, the project's consortium said Saturday, following preparatory work in Danish waters.

Nord Stream 2 is a 10-billion-euro ($11-billion) pipeline that will run beneath the Baltic Sea and is set to double Russian natural-gas shipments to Germany, Europe's largest economy.

The United States and several European countries have criticised the project, saying it will increase German and EU dependence on Russia for critical gas supplies.

The Russian pipe-laying vessel Fortuna "has successfully completed sea tests and, today, started laying pipes in the waters of Denmark", the company said in a short statement.

"All works are performed in line with the relevant permits," it added

Work on the massive project had resumed in German waters in December after being suspended for nearly a year because of the threat of US sanctions.

Danish authorities then authorised Nord Stream to carry out works in its waters from January 15.

The project has long been in the crosshairs of the United States, particularly by the former Trump administration which promoted US gas and openly criticised European countries for their reliance on energy from Russia.

Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic states are also fiercely opposed to the pipeline, fearing it will increase Europe's reliance on Russian energy, which Moscow could then use to exert political pressure.

France on Monday urged Germany to scrap the pipeline in protest over the detention in Moscow of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, but the plea fell on deaf ears in Berlin.

On Friday German Chancellor Angela Merkel acknowledged that the pipeline was a "controversial project", but said that "solutions can be found together" on the issue.

The pipeline is almost complete, with most of the remaining pipe-laying work to be done in the waters off Denmark.

Short link:


NAPOLEONVILLE  An Assumption Parish grand jury indicted a man with second-degree murder and other charges in a late September shooting that killed a 21-year-old Baton Rouge man and injured two others, prosecutors said Friday.

Shontun Joseph, 19, shot Cameron Brooks, 7287 Sumrall Drive, on Sept. 24 in the Freetown Lane area of Belle Rose, prosecutors said. Sheriff's deputies said at the time the shooting was the culmination of a feud that had begun earlier in the day for reasons that were unclear.

A 51-year-old man and an 11-year-old were also shot by bullets from Joseph's gun while the man and youth were inside a home during the Sept. 24 shooting, prosecutors said in a statement. They were taken to a local hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

If convicted of the second-degree murder charge, Joseph would face a mandatory life sentence. His attorney could not be immediately reached Friday.

Assumption man wanted in triple shooting captured in Houston NAPOLEONVILLE  An 18-year-old man wanted in a triple shooting in Belle Rose that left a Baton Rouge man dead was captured Tuesday in Houston,

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

In addition to the second-degree murder count, the grand jury also charged Joseph, 160A Freetown Lane, Belle Rose, on Wednesday with attempted second-degree murder, aggravated criminal damage to property, aggravated assault with a firearm, illegal use of weapons or dangerous instrumentalities, and aggravated second-degree battery, prosecutors said.

At the time of the shooting, Joseph was out on bail and awaiting trial in an earlier, June 2019 assault of another man at Dorseyville Park in Assumption. Guns were also fired in that incident, but no one was hit, deputies have said. Joseph has pleaded not guilty to charges tied to that case and is awaiting trial.

Belle Rose teen wanted in fatal shooting returned from Texas, booked in Assumption jail NAPOLEONVILLE - An 18-year-old Belle Rose teen accused of fatally shooting a Baton Rouge man in September has been returned from Texas to face

U.S. Marshals Service agents captured Joseph a week and a half after the Sept. 24 shooting in Houston, Texas. He was returned to Assumption Parish Detention Center in mid-October, where he remained Friday. He is being held without bail, online jail records say.
Long-term care officials say theyre concerned the state has no plan to assist facilities in ensuring residents and staff can get the COVID-19 vaccine once the federal partnership with CVS and Walgreens concludes.

The two pharmacies have contracts to hold three vaccination clinics at all nursing homes nationwide. After that, the facilities will have to fend for themselves to secure vaccinations for newly admitted residents and staff hires, said Zach Shamberg, president of the Pennsylvania Health Care Association, a trade group for the long-term care industry.

We need guidance on where the vaccine is going to come from when the federal pharmacy partnership program ends, Shamberg said. Right now, its really an every provider for themselves mentality.

Locally, Dr. Richard Feifer, chief medical officer for Genesis Health Care, which operates Abington Manor and Linwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, said its crucial the state addresses the concerns.

We continue  to advocate for a plan as we simply do not have access to the vaccine going forward, Feifer said in an email.

The issue is among several concerns Shamberg and other industry officials say remain unresolved. Equally pressing is the lack of a plan to assist elderly citizens who live independently in congregate settings, such as high-rise apartment complexes, said Adam Marles, president of LeadingAge Pa, a trade group for nonprofit agencies that serve the elderly.

That population also is medically fragile and at increased risk for contracting the virus due to the close living quarters. Mass clinics could be easily set up at the buildings, but thats largely not happening, Marles said.

We are talking about people who are in their 80s, 90s or 100, who generally have mobility issues or other health challenges, Marles said. The plan from the state for those people has been and continues to be, go find a retail clinic somewhere.

Friends of the Poor, in conjunction with the Scranton Housing Authority, Scranton Primary Health Care Center and the Wright Center for Community Health, have teamed up to host vaccine clinics at several senior high-rise complexes. Those clinics came after Friends of the Poor sought care providers and reached out to the Department of Health to express their concern about the vulnerable populations in the high-rises.

Feifer said he believes nursing home operators concerns could be resolved by delivering vaccines directly to facilities for their staff to administer. Alternately, he suggested the government extend the pharmacy partnership agreement to allow additional clinics on an ongoing basis.

Maggi Mumma, a spokesperson for the Health Department, said the department is seeking guidance from the federal government on how to best handle the next step for long term care facilities. For now, it plans to continue vaccinations using existing relationships with pharmacists and health care providers.

State Sen. John Yudichak, I-14, Swoyersville, said thats not good enough. Yudichak has criticized the states vaccine rollout, particularly for the elderly. He wants to create an emergency task force to address the issues.

This should not become a competitive environment for our long term care facilities, Yudichak said. The DOH needs to develop a better plan to make sure we have a coordinated response.

Shamberg and Marles said they support forming a task force, but stress the state needs to act quickly as long term care facilities continue to be the epicenter for COVID-19 infections and deaths.

At the end of the day, a lack of a plan will cost peoples lives, Marles said.
As Tehran sought to foster international relations in Europe and Washington, an Iranian diplomat gave them another headache. The Vienna-based diplomat identified as Assadollah Assadi was convicted on Thursday after he was accused of being the person behind the 2018 Paris bomb plot against dissidents.

Assadi, who is facing not only 20 years of imprisonment but also marking a black eye for Iran, denied the charges but found himself convicted along with three other defendants, who were also found guilty.

But the defense team of Assadi stated that he would appeal the conviction.

The said plot orchestrated by Assadi in 2018 targeted the meeting of NCRI or the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which is an annual meeting that was attended by speakers, including the lawyer of Trump, Rudy Guiliani.

The NCRI is the main opposition to Iran's regime and consists of the umbrella group of Iranian resistance groups.

According to Fox News, the prosecutors allegedly stated that the plot was originally from high officials of the Iranian government, but Tehran repeatedly denied and emphasized that they are not responsible for the said plot.

The prosecutors also claimed that Assadi was just an operational commander on the alleged planned attack and served as a recruiter of individuals who would deliver the bomb.

Based on the prosecutors, they believed that Assadi was the one who carried the explosives via a commercial flight to Austria and just handed the bomb to the three individuals in Luxembourg.

Based on the ruling, the said explosives were made and even tested on Iranian soil.

The president-elect of the NCRI, Maryam Rajavi, shared in an interview that the plot was planned and approved by the official, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the New York Times reported.

She also added that the trial shows what, for her, is a policy of appeasement that emboldened the leaders.

Believed to be the target of the bombing plot, Rajavi stated that the message of this trial is for the world to know that no degree of political or economic concessions is enough to change the regime's behavior.

And that terrorism is a part of the regime's DNA, and all of its factions benefitted from it.

Rajavi also emphasized that terrorism is a part of the survival strategy of the regime.

Moreover, Rajavi called the attention of the European countries to respond to the plot after the verdict.

The leader of the People's Mujahedin of Iran, Rajavi, also shared that the time has come for the European Union to take action as silence and inaction under whatever pretext will only embolden the regime of Iran to continue its crimes and terrorism, the Associated Press reported.

The spokesman of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Iran condemned the court's decision. He said that Iran did not recognize the sentence, considering the Belgian proceedings against Assadi as illegal.

But the said claims were rejected by the court.

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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A new Bloomberg report claims that the partnership talks between Hyundai-Kia and Apple over Apple Car have paused. The report says that Apple has been talking to other carmakers as well.

Hyundai first confirmed in early January that it was in talks with Apple over Apple Car production. Since then, plenty of details about the possible partnership between the two companies have leaked out. These leaks have upset Apple which is known to keep all its products under tight wraps before launch. At the moment, it is not clear if and when Apple will resume its talks with Hyundai. If the talks do resume and the deal goes through, Apple will reportedly invest $3.6 billion in Kia for Apple Car production. Another report had claimed that Apple was in talks with other Japanese carmakers over Apple Car production as well.

The problem for Apple is that there are very few carmakers that have the capacity and resources to fulfill its needs. Other major carmakers like Ford and Toyota are unlikely to partner with the company as they are too busy developing their own autonomous electric vehicle. As for Hyundai, executives within the company are divided on who should manufacture the Apple Car  Hyundai or its subsidiary Kia. The latter is likely the most probable candidate as it has the production capacity at its plant in Georgia.

The Apple Car is still in the early stages of development, with the team inside Apple still working on developing the drive system and the design. This gives Apple plenty of time to decide on a manufacturing partner for Apple Car.

[Via Bloomberg


According to news reports, Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot is blaming President Trump for the state of affairs in the local schools. What's new? Isn't everything Trump's fault?

Well, someone please tell Mayor Lightfoot that the teachers' unions own the Democrats, and that's why they don't give a "you know what" what she or any other blue-city mayor thinks.

How much money are we talking about? This is a report via Fox News:

Biden's campaign raked in just over $232,000 from teachers unions during the 2020 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics' "Open Secrets" website. The site says the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) "account for practically all" political spending from teachers unions.

As my mother would say, "eso es muchisimo dinero," or that's a lot of money.

You don't give that kind of money and listen to what the threats of some mayor. The teachers' union has a direct line to the Oval Office, and that's whom its people talk to.

Sorry, Mayor Lightfoot. The teachers' union does not care what you have to say. So far, President Biden is not pushing back.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

Image via Pxhere.

'Rasta rokos' were staged in Karad and Kolhapur cities in Maharashtra on Saturday as part of the 'chakka jam' protest called by farmer bodies agitating at borders of New Delhi against the three new farm laws. At least 40 protesters, including senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan's wife Satvasheela Chavan and farmers, were detained by the police for holding the protest on a busy road at Kolhapur Naka in Karad in western Maharashtra this afternoon, a police official said.

They were detained under sections 68 and 69 of the Mumbai Police Act and released, he said. As per farmer unions, the 'chakka jam' includes blocking national and state highways between 12 noon and 3 pm o protest the internet ban in areas near their agitation sites, harassment allegedly meted out to them by authorities, and other issues.

In Kolhapur city, also in western Maharashtra, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna leader Raju Shetti led a protest against the farm laws. Shetti and some farmers were detained for staging a rasta roko at Dabholkar Chowk in afternoon. They were released later, a local police official said.

Thousands of farmers have been protesting at Delhi's borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh demanding the rollback of the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporations.

However, the government has maintained that the laws will ensure better opportunities for farmers and bring in new technologies in agriculture.
Today, the world marks International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and as the fight to end the vice continues, major questions linger on. Are we cutting the numbers, traditions or minimising the dynamics?

Just how possible is it to have no girl or woman bleeding to death, suffering from indescribable pain when delivering because stitches have to be undone and done, or spending the rest of her life with fistula because her clitoris was partially or totally removed?

At the core of the journey towards zero FGM in Kenya and globally is United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (Unicef), the entity whose statistics are used as a baseline for the prevalence rates.

Presently, it estimates that at least 200 million girls and women alive today and living in 31 countries, have undergone FGM. Together with United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), they run a joint programme on the elimination of FGM.

The two entities and the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices (IAC) are the brains behind this year's theme: No Time for Global Inaction, Unite, Fund, and Act to End Female Genital Mutilation.

Covid-19

Our reporter spoke to Child Protection Specialist at Unicef Mr Haithar Ahmed on the lights and darks in the journey.

Is FGM decreasing in Kenya?

In the context of Covid-19, it is increasing but that is an isolated scenario. In places where Unicef has worked like Wajir, Garissa, Tana River, Marsabit, Samburu, West Pokot, Kajiado, Kisii and Migori, FGM has increased by more than 100 per cent. Generally, however, it is decreasing for adolescent girls, nationally.

Data from Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (2014) shows a decline in numbers from 32 per cent in 2008/9 to 21 per cent in 2014. Further analysis by Unicef and Anti-FGM Board has also shown a decline. Three decades ago, one to 10 girls were cut against one to five at the moment

What anti-FGM strategies have worked?

Reduction of FGM is a collective contribution led by the government. It has the voice, resources, expertise on the ground and they can marshal the community to action. It also has the legitimacy to make laws. What has worked for us is the continuous partnership with Ministry of Public Service and Gender and the Anti-FGM Board.

Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act (2011) and National Policy for the Eradication of FGM (2019) which was endorsed by the President Uhuru Kenyatta, are products of our collaboration. Now, under the joint program with UNFPA, we are developing contextualised county action plans and policies.

To what extent can policies contribute to ending FGM?

For FGM to end, it is just about policies. It takes engagement of a myriad of stakeholders; from the perpetrators to survivors, elders and medical practitioners. It is also important the discussions are held at the community level. For instance, we are doing community exchange programs and engaging youth clubs to create awareness.

The media too, plays a critical role in amplifying these voices from the government and community. This interplay of contribution defines the anti-FGM fight in Kenya.

How do we engage men in this course?

Let's start with why do we need to engage men and boys? Men constitute 48 per cent of our population and they are the majority in leadership including in the church. Remember FGM, is done so that the girl is marriageable. A woman is considered a child because she is not cut and the men are the custodians of this culture.

We, however, need to map out the men who have the power in different sectors including politics, community and religious spectrum for stratified engagement. We also need to change the mind-set of the boys to protect the girls; so that they can reject the tradition that only girls who are cut are marriageable. And when they become husbands and fathers, they will for sure, protect their wives and daughters. This way, we will stop the continuous cycle of FGM.

Men can be engaged through community dialogues, giving the fathers an opportunity to support their daughters and appreciate the showcasing male champions who are firmly speaking against the vice. It is very important that the male champions are given Presidential Awards. A Presidential endorsement of their work as men fighting for rights of women and girls could go a long way in influencing change of attitude among other men in the Kenyan communities.

How does education lower girls' risk to FGM?

The 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, shows educated women have not cut their daughters unlike the uneducated. That is why Kikuyu is the only community among the 35 communities that practice FGM in Kenya, projected to end FGM by 2030. This is based on Unicef's and anti-FGM Board projections. And education is the contributing factor. Illiteracy levels in Mt Kenya region are low compared to other parts of the country. It is through education that they know harmful effects of FGM and that it violates their rights, therefore, they don't do it.

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Create a picture of the long-term effects of FGM on girls

FGM is interconnected to teenage pregnancies that lead to loss of an education and income. Eventually, it reduces the contribution of girls to national development. An education gives a girl the power to be economically empowered and have the voice to defy the tradition. And when they become wives, they are able to stand up for their daughters when their husbands demand of them to be cut because they are economically independent.

Can we end FGM without ending poverty?

We have seen fathers abandon their families because their wives could not allow their daughters to be cut. In these cases, they are the breadwinners. How will a woman say no if she is not empowered, if she cannot feed her children?

Again, girls are seen to be of economic value. In most communities including Maasai, Samburu and Rendille, behind FGM there is a child marriage. For the family to get three or four cows, the girl has to be prepared for the marriage. Then they use the cows to pay for her brother's dowry. So ending poverty is pivotal to ending FGM.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 16:40:55|Editor: huaxia

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KABUL, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- At least 38 Taliban militants and three security forces members were killed during attacks and clashes in Afghanistan since mid-day Friday as fighting rages in the country, authorities confirmed on Saturday.

In northern Badakhshan province, eight militants and three local uprising fighters, government-backed militias, were killed and nine militants and two fighters wounded during fightings at security checkpoints in Arghanjkhwa and Baharak districts on Friday night, Nik Mohammad Nazari from provincial government told Xinhua.

Also on Friday night, 10 Taliban militants were killed and nine others wounded after security forces backed by Afghan Air Force repelled Taliban attacks on security checkpoints in Panjwahee and Arghandab districts of southern Kandahar province, the country's Ministry of Defense confirmed earlier in the day.

In neighboring Uruzgan province, nine Taliban were killed, four wounded and their planning attack was intercepted after ground forces backed by air force targeted a militants' position in Gizab district on Friday evening, the ministry said.

Eleven militants were killed and four others wounded after security forces repelled their attacks in Nad Ali and along a provincial highway in southern Helmand province during the period, the provincial government said in a statement.

Security forces also seized weapons and ammunition besides defusing several rounds of Taliban's landmines and improvised bombs in Helmand.

The fresh clashes have raised question about ongoing peace talks between an Afghan government negotiating team and Taliban's negotiators.

The two sides has been involved in peace negotiations in Doha, Qatar since early September to find a peaceful solution to the prolonged Afghan conflict, but no tangible progress has been reported yet.

The talks followed a peace deal between United States and Taliban in Qatar in February last year, which paved the way for a phased U.S. force withdrawal. Enditem
The Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC) would soon mandate the police to conduct snap checks on commercial vehicles with the view to apprehending those on board without nose masks.



It is an offence to get on board a commercial vehicle without a nose mask, Mr. Simon Osei-Mensah, the Minister-designate for the Region, cautioned.



He advised commercial drivers not to pick passengers who were not wearing their nose masks, adding that acting contrary to the directives could come with punitive measures against offenders.



We must be disciplined and adhere to the safety protocols as instituted by the government, the Minister-designate told the Ghana News Agency (GNA), in Kumasi, on the sidelines of the inauguration of some educational projects.



Additionally, he said, the citizenry also had the responsibility to observe all the other protocols such as the regular hand washing with soap, social distancing and the use of alcohol based hand sanitizers, for their own safety and wellbeing.



A total of 440 deaths and 6,086 active cases relating to COVID-19 had been recorded in the country as of February 5, this year, according to the Ghana Health Services portal on the pandemic.



The country has so far recorded 69,255 confirmed cases since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country on March 12, 2020.



Mr. Osei-Mensah indicated that with Ashanti recording the second highest confirmed cases and trailing Greater Accra, the REGSEC was leaving no stone unturned in getting the people to follow the protocols.



He further stressed the need for educational and civil society institutions to champion the campaign against the pandemic, noting that the new COVID-19 variants as identified in some countries could be deadly.



Beneficiaries of the educational projects, ranging from classroom to dormitory blocks, included T.I Ahmadiyya, Serwaa Nyarko, Kumasi Anglican and Armed Forces Senior High Schools (SHSs).

Source: GNA









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Southwest and American airlines won't yet resume in-flight alcohol service as planned after a flight attendant was recently assaulted by a passenger and other in-flight incidents.What they're saying: Southwest had initially planned to resume the service in June, but Sonya Lacore, the airline's head of in-flight operations, said in a memo obtained by CNN that "based on the rise in passenger disruptions in flight, I've made the decision to re-evaluate the restart of alcohol service on board."Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free"Given the recent uptick in industry-wide incidents of passenger disruptions in-flight, we have made the decision to pause the previously announced restart of alcohol service onboard,'' Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz told USA TODAY. Catch up quick: Last Sunday, a female passenger allegedly struck a flight attendant during a flight from Sacramento to San Diego  Southwest said two of the attendant's teeth had been knocked out. The passenger was then arrested on suspicions of battery causing serious bodily injury. The flight attendant was taken to a hospital once the plane landed, according to a police report. Southwest said Friday it banned the female passenger from flying with the airline again.The big picture: The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it had received approximately 2,500 reports of unruly passenger behavior since Jan. 1, with about 1,900 reports being of passengers refusing to follow federal mask mandates.Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.


Marj Leopardo is 85. Her husband, Sam, is 88. They both have health issues. And their days are now consumed with one thing: the vaccine hunt.

The Crystal Lake couple are, on paper, just the kind of people the government wants at the front of the vaccine line. But they live in a country thats struggled with the rollout, and in a state thats struggled more than others.

So that has meant reaching out daily to doctors offices, pharmacies, hospitals, the local health department. It has meant their daughter stalks websites to hunt for an elusive open appointment. And they watch others, in other suburbs and other states, snap up shots.

Its really taken over our lives, Sam said Tuesday.

Added Marj: After a while, your brain feels like mush.

The Leopardos find themselves in the center of the widespread struggles of Illinois first six weeks of mass COVID-19 vaccination.

The Tribune spoke to more than a dozen health officials, researchers, doctors and families, and analyzed federal, state and local datasets to try to assess a system thats considered key to ending the pandemic but, so far, has attracted widespread frustration.

As of Friday, roughly 960,000 Illinoisans have received at least one shot  and about 270,000 of them have received both shots. But the states pace has ranked in the bottom third of the country for residents vaccinated, when adjusted for population sizes.

Gov. J.B. Pritzkers administration has pointed to different metrics to argue the state is doing relatively well at vaccinating people, particularly recently. And echoing other states complaints, Illinois officials have blamed rollout frustrations on scarce supplies and poor planning by the Trump administration.

To accelerate immunizations, we need our federal partners to align their efforts with ours, to help solve practical operational issues, the states health director, Dr. Ngozi Ezike, testified at a virtual congressional hearing Tuesday.

Still, Illinois lagging vaccination numbers have become political fodder in the national finger-pointing over the slow rollout. At that same congressional hearing, a West Virginia Republican noted Illinois had used up less than 60% of vaccine it had received, compared with his home state, which had used up more than 80% by then.

Story continues

Look, Operation Warp Speed created the vaccine. Its the job of the states to put it in peoples arms. And it seems that (some) states cant even get that right, said U.S. Rep. David B. McKinley.

Logistics researchers told the Tribune that the government hasnt released the level of data needed to figure out more precisely why Illinois is lagging most states. But there are red flags in what has been released.

Illinois officials were late to try to hire outside experts to manage the rollout, then abandoned that effort to assemble their own team just weeks before the first doses showed up.

The state opened up shots to roughly a fourth of all residents, who qualified because of their ages or professions, then let a largely decentralized system figure out whod be targeted and how fast to administer shots. There are no agreed-upon rules for what counts as successful. The state and Chicago each get shots to distribute, and they measure things differently.

Some local health departments have been allowed to build up sizable inventories while others did their best to inject shots in arms as quickly as they arrived. While some medical providers have begun reaching out to patients, many vaccine seekers are often forced to make longshot cold calls to lists of places theyve heard might have shots, or stalk websites that flash openings so briefly that those seeking them compare the hunt to the kill-or-be-killed plot of The Hunger Games books and movies.

Logistics and health experts arent surprised. The state entered the pandemic with an already strained public health bureaucracy and already drained state budget. Researchers said that gave Illinois little wiggle room to adjust to being dumped a massive logistical headache by the federal government. But at the same time, they say, thats no excuse to not fix resulting problems.

Every day that a dose of vaccine is not in somebodys arm is a day that person is exposed to COVID, said Hani Mahmassani, who directs Northwestern Universitys Transportation Center and has been commissioned by the National Science Foundation to help study logistical woes from the rollout.

So at the end of the day, he said, its a matter of life and death, and every day counts in this fight.

How bad is Illinois?

On a tour of a Champaign vaccination site Wednesday, Pritzker praised the states mass vaccination effort.

Were actually doing quite well, he said. Were reaching new heights. I just announced a record today. We had I think three record days or four record days last week.

For sure, the number of daily doses are generally increasing, recently topping 70,000 per day in the state.

But thats only one way to look at the data. States were always expecting to get better as the process moved on. And when comparing Illinois figures with other states, its performance appears far murkier.

As of Friday, out of 50 states and the District of Columbia, Illinois ranked 45th in the rate of shots each state has injected, when adjusted for population.

The Pritzker administration counters that the state so far has gotten less vaccine, per resident, than most others. And thats true. The state ranks 34th, per capita, in doses provided by the federal government. (Illinois congressmen recently asked federal officials why. So did the Tribune. They didnt offer an immediate response.)

That still wouldnt explain another ranking  41st  for the percent of vaccine received thats been injected into residents. In essence, even if Illinois has gotten a smaller share of vaccine than it deserves, its injected a smaller percentage of its share than most states.

Illinois officials say such figures dont reflect an accurate score card for judging bigger states facing more complexities in delivery across urban and rural areas. After all, Illinois is the sixth-most populated state.

Still, even focusing on the six largest states, Illinois ranks second-worst at the rate of getting doses into arms. The difference in rate isnt huge, but If Illinois, at 57%, had kept pace with Texas, at 66%, it would have meant nearly another 180,000 shots delivered into Illinoisans by now.

The lackluster rankings help provide the context of stories of frustrated residents seeking help for themselves or loved ones that qualify for early vaccination. And they compound the concerns of others waiting in the next tier, such as Rachel Dvorkin of Kane County.

The 58-year-old said she has several comorbidities and health problems that put her at a higher risk for contracting COVID-19. Shes watched friends get sick from it and heard of her neighbors dying from it, as she waits her turn.

It seems that its working much better in some other states that also have many more doses than Illinois does, she said.

What happened?

The national problems have been well documented, with the Trump administration pushing much of the distribution challenges to the states without much money or guidance.

Those who study vaccine logistics say that every state was stuck trying to build out its own system, with already overworked staffers using glitchy software to manage a complicated rollout of delicate, frozen vials of vaccines.

And in Illinois, theres one more caveat: Chicago handles its own doses, directly from the federal government. The rest of the state, including the suburbs, is overseen by the state health department. Among other things, it means additional coordination because people living in the suburbs might work in the city, or vice versa, and get doses at either place.

Granted, none of this was a shock. States were warned about logistical challenges well before the first vaccines were shipped out before Christmas.

And some places were predicted to have real problems, like West Virginia, with a far older, more remote population. Yet, that state became a national model in vaccine delivery, which included enlisting its National Guard to game-plan distribution as early as November.

That same month, in Illinois, the state health department hadnt even settled on who would run its operation. The department put out a request for proposals, a process often described by its initials, RFP. In questions accompanying the RFP, the state said it was seeking an outside firm for high level planning, strategy, managing and oversight of the effort.

Illinois wasnt alone in seeking such help, said Julie Swann, an engineering professor at North Carolina State University who researches health care logistics. The surprise? It took Illinois so long to do it.

When I heard there was this RFP out, I thought, Oh my gosh  they should have been doing this in August and September, Swann told the Tribune.

Ultimately, the state abandoned the idea of seeking an outside firm to manage the project, and instead grouped four newly hired staffers with an agency deputy director and consultants already working with the department.

The Pritzker administration declined to make its lead vaccination coordinator available for an interview.

Pritzker spokeswoman Emily Bittner told the Tribune in an emailed statement Tuesday that the late setup hasnt hampered the vaccination effort.

Early woes

When those first doses arrived in mid-December, state and local health officials quickly handed them out to hospitals across the state to begin the process of vaccinating their workers. They were set to be the first ripples in waves that would wash over other health care workers in group 1a, then ultimately the other waves, starting with the 1b group of seniors and front-line essential workers.

But there was early debate about how loosely to define who qualified for shots, mixed with surprise that sizable numbers of hospital workers were hesitant to be among the first to have them injected. Willing doctors and nurses who didnt work for hospitals were often left to scramble for shots, such as Dr. Inbar Kirson, whose Northbrook practice includes COVID testing.

She said five health departments told her shed wait a month or more. Then she caught a Dec. 30 social media post of a friend, a funeral director, whod gotten his shot at an Orland Park Jewel-Osco. He gave her the web link to make an appointment. She trekked 2 1/4 u00bd hours down and back the next day for her first shot. She knows others in health care are still waiting.

It should have been pretty quick for every hospital to get their employees vaccinated and move onto other health care workers, she said. And that just didnt happen.

And records show there were also major delays in the other portion of 1a: long-term care residents.

Unlike with other parts of the vaccination program, the federal government set up a special partnership with pharmacies, mainly Walgreens and CVS, to directly visit long-term facilities in each state. The citys health commissioner, Dr. Allison Arwady, said it was supposed to be plug and play, requiring little effort from local officials.

But then there were notable delays, particularly in Illinois, with the pharmacies and the state blaming each other. State and local officials had to push pharmacies and help coordinate with facilities, while those batches of shots sat unused.

Its a huge amount of our vaccine, and we have not been pleased to not see it fully used, Arwady said.

Still, by Jan. 8, when CDC first published state-by-state data, Illinois rankings appeared in the middle tier of states: 30th in the rate of doses administered, per resident, and 25th in the percent of its shots that had been delivered into arms.

Then other states got better, faster, than Illinois.

Its unclear exactly just why Illinois couldnt keep pace. But officials offer some possibilities.

Bittner, the Pritzker spokeswoman, suggested one reason was because the state waited a week later to expand vaccinations to the 1b group, and states that had done it sooner were able to boost their numbers quicker.

Another suspected reason: the continued troubles in the long-term care vaccination process, which affected Illinois more than most states. West Virginia, the only state to handle its own long-term care program, expected to finish second shots on all residents who want them by Saturday.

Illinois doesnt expect its first shots to get into all willing arms in long-term care until Feb. 15. But the state did announce Wednesday that it will take surplus shots in the federal program and use them for others.

One more possibility: As the city and state roll out vaccinations to more clinics, those clinics are doing shots fast enough but struggling to record them quickly enough in the states dataset.

In some cases, theres an issue of providers not using their vaccines, Arwardy said. But in a lot of cases, they actually are doing a very good job of using their vaccine. But still, in terms of some of that tech reporting, its not fully there.

Health officials said theyve ruled out one possibility: wasted doses. As of Tuesday, the state reported 412 doses wasted for a variety of reasons, such as vials broken or left open too long. Chicago reported one facility had a freezer break down, costing about 150 doses.

While frustrating, the figures are too small to make a dent in rankings.

Supply chain

That leaves one more, obvious possibility: Its simply taking providers longer to put shots into arms in Illinois than elsewhere.

Understanding that requires peering deep into supply chain, experts said, to figure out the holdups. But that supply chain is largely hidden from public view.

The Tribune on Dec. 31 filed open records requests with both Illinois and Chicago health officials for detailed breakdowns on shipments of doses sent to each provider and what theyd done with them. Neither the city nor state has responded with adequate records within the laws required time frame.

Arwady told the Tribune the city was uneasy releasing such information because it may not be accurate if clinics distributed doses but failed to properly record it. The city did, however, release less detailed data to the Tribune. Even when looking at doses not tied to the long-term care program, the data shows varying rates of success.

Logistics experts say the goal should be for providers to use up all their vaccine within the week of receiving it and, in places with built-up surplus, to eat into that too at the same time. Arwady said thats the citys goal, too, but recognizing the challenges of the work, Chicago sets a minimum goal of 85%. Even that can be a struggle.

Taking out long-term care shots not controlled by the Chicago health department, city data shows providers in the city have increasingly struggled to meet that threshold, with average weekly usage rates hovering closer to 80% collectively. Arwady said her department is pushing to improve efforts at struggling providers and, ultimately, redirecting new shipments to places that can deliver them faster.

A state spokeswoman did not respond to a question about why the state wouldnt provide the detailed information. But on Monday the state did release some data that looks at the problem a different way, by snapshots of inventory at the county level. By comparing that with the average number of shots injected in each place in a day, the figures can show how many days supplies are on hand.

Taking out long-term care shots, the data shows a statewide average of about a six-day supply, based on how quickly shots are being injected.

But there are wide variations, particularly with concerns there wont be enough second shots coming to cover those given first doses.

In Will County, for example, state data released Monday suggested the county and its providers were sitting on less than four days supply at that time, based on how much they had and how quickly theyd been injecting it.

Health department spokesman Steve Brandy said county officials were told not to worry about second shots, and to get doses out the door as quickly as possible. So thats what theyve done, surviving some ticklish points where the county had to be careful how it delved out shots to ensure it could cover second doses due in days.

Of course, we need to do better, he said. Of course, Illinois as a state has to do better. And were hoping for a better, more consistent vaccine supply.

Compare that with Sangamon County, where Springfield, the seat of Illinois government, is located. There, state inventory data shows about a two-week supply for the county health department and its providers collectively, based on their daily average of shots given.

The county department put out a statement Tuesday saying its portion of shots was actually a 20-day supply. Why hold back so much? Officials cited unpredictable shipments until just recently. And while its begun to expand its program, the county said it was limiting that expansion until the second dose supply becomes more reliable.

The state told the Tribune that it approved shipments of all second doses on time and warned it may hold back more shipments to the county if the pace isnt picked up.

The state health department has already done that once with doses originally earmarked for Cook County but sent instead to faster-paced Adams and Champaign counties.

Still, the state has yet to impose more precise rules on how quickly doses should be given.

Disparity

In the nations fast-evolving responses to vaccination, there remains a lot of unknowns that could affect whether Illinois slower rollout carries a significant cost to residents or is merely a footnote in the pandemic.

The Biden administration has promised to send even more doses to states, with better federal coordination, while also stepping up direct shipments to pharmacies. The state itself is standing up more mass vaccination sites with the National Guard. And other vaccines are expected to be approved to boost supplies even more.

At the same time, health officials say its a race to vaccinate the most vulnerable before new, more contagious mutations of the virus take hold, which themselves appear to limit some vaccine effectiveness.

For now, Illinois is left with lagging rankings among states and a wide disparity in whos gotten shots where. It can vary from roughly 1 in 5 residents on Illinois western edge to 1 in 35 on its southern tip. In between are the big population centers  Chicago, suburban Cook and DuPage counties  at roughly 1 in 15 residents, and Lake and Will counties, at roughly 1 in 19..

The decentralized process means teachers in and around Deerfield, the corporate home to Walgreens, got access to a special program by the pharmacy, but Chicago Public Schools couldnt get all of its teachers vaccinated for at least a month, a delay thats fueled weeks of bitter contract talks over resuming in-person classes.

One suburban school superintendent told the Tribune its created a world where success is fueled by inside connections, calling it everything wrong about this rollout.

Theres also divide between those comfortable lining up online appointments and those not. One grassroots group of health care workers, Illinois Medical Professionals Action Collaborative Team, called for a statewide sign-up and lottery system to help assign slots for shots while ensuring theyre distributed equitably.

For now, the hunt continues for people like the Leopardos.

Theyve been ultra-quarantining for the pandemic, said their daughter, Liz Driscoll. That means ordering groceries online, attending church and book clubs remotely, and struggling to clean their northwest suburban duplex on their own.

Driscoll said she lives in Ohio, where shes watched an orderly process there that slowly opened first to the oldest ages, then tiered down week by week.

It feels like my parents are in the Hunger Games against 3 million people, many of whom are younger, less at risk and more computer savvy than they are, she said.

jmahr@chicagotribune.com

eleventis@chicagotribune.com
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As we are now three months out from the elections and almost one month removed from the storming of the Capitol, we can step back, catch our breath, and reassess where we stand. Emotions are calming down, the news cycle is less intense, and fanatical voices are being separated from reasonable voices. Yet one thing remains constant: millions of fair-minded Americans still believe there was serious election fraud. This is an issue that simply will not disappear.

These people are not wild-eyed white supremacists (or even non-wild-eyed white supremacists). To the contrary, they are as mortified as anyone over the events of January 6th.

They cannot simply be dismissed as cult-like followers of Trump, people whose reasoning powers have atrophied.

Nor can they be written off as unhinged conspiracy theorists, as many of them (most of them?) have never read a QAnon post in their lives.

Yet they still have serious concerns about the trustworthiness of our electoral process, and the more the mainstream media states that there is zero evidence of voter fraud, the more determined they become.

I stated on December 4 of last year that I am personally agnostic as to the claims of massive voter fraud. But that was not because all the claims of fraud struck me as specious. Instead, it was because I did not have the time or the expertise or the burden to analyze the claims in-depth so as to make a determination of my own.

As for the final outcome of the election, I decided early on to trust our court system and Congress and our fervent prayers, and so I recognize Joe Biden as our president.

At the same time, while I understand that it was the belief that the election was stolen which provoked the storming of the Capitol, its also very clear that plenty of rational, law-abiding, thinking Americans remain convinced that widescale fraud was undeniable.

All this came to a head during Senator Rand Pauls interview with George Stephanopoulos when Paul refused to accept the fact that the election was stolen.

Instead, Paul said, Well, what I would say is that the debate over whether or not there was fraud should occur. We never had any presentation in court. Most of the cases were thrown out for lack of standing, a procedural way of not hearing it.

Others, of course, believe that this is not true and that cases were thrown out by the courts because of lack of evidence or poor evidence. You can do the research and decide for yourself.

What is clear, though, is that Sen. Paul is neither a Trump hack nor a rightwing extremist. Yet he, too, could not agree with the mainstream medias outright dismissal of claims of fraud.

In the same way, Sen. Ted Cruz, even while calling Trumps insistence that he won by a landslide to be reckless and irresponsible, still felt it was right to call for an investigation of claims of fraud.

He explained, What Ive said is, voter fraud is real, and we need to examine the evidence and look at the actual facts. And, in particular, what is the evidence of how much voter fraud occurred, and did it occur in sufficient quantities and in sufficient states to alter the outcome of the election?" That would have been the mandate of the election commission  to assess.

Whether or not you like Cruzs politics, it cannot be denied that he is a sharp legal mind. Yet he, too, felt there were questions that needed to be answered.

More forcefully, Red State columnist Stu Cyrk opined, The election fraud drum needs to be banged until every American is aware of the MASSIVE election fraud during the 2020 elections. The implications are profound for future elections, and indeed, for every future action by federal and state governments, for if elections can be stolen with impunity, then we are no longer living in a constitutional Republic subject to the will of the people. Rather, we are living in a government-corporate oligarchy, as aptly described in a wonderful commentary by Angelo Codevilla. And the only way to resurrect our Republic is to slay the election fraud dragon!

But Cyrks article is more than CAPS and exclamation points. There are other, key links provided (most importantly this one), while Cyrks conclusion is hardly overstated: Our view is that the public needs to be much better educated regarding the election integrity issue  and having a more accurate understanding of the lawsuit component is a key part of that.

These concerns will not be swept under the rug, which is why I suggested in early December that Joe Biden should lead the way in calling for a full-scale investigation of all charges of fraud. Let the whole truth come to light. In the end, how could it hurt to do so?

For some Trump voters, including me, the question of a stolen election does not have our attention. And from my perspective, for better or worse, God has appointed Biden to be our president, whether with or without fraud.

But for millions of other Trump voters, this question will not go away, leaving a cloud over the Biden presidency as well as destroying voter confidence for future elections.

Now that the dust has settled and almost all Americans are not expecting Biden (or Harris) to be removed from office as a result of the election results being overturned, is there a way for these questions to be answered? Or, if it is too late to properly examine the details of the 2020 elections, what can be done to regain voter confidence for 2022 and 2024?

To repeat: these are questions that will not easily go away.
NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., Esq., a partner at the law firm of Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF"), announces that KSF has commenced an investigation into Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU).

On September 28, 2018, a fire erupted at the Company's North Goonyella mine, resulting in operations being suspended indefinitely. Following a series of negative disclosures relating to delays in resuming operations at the mine, on October 29, 2019, the Company disclosed that regulators were placing severe restrictions on restarting operations resulting in drastic adjustments to its reentry plan, ultimately announcing a minimum three year delay.

Thereafter, the Company and certain of its executives were sued in a securities class action lawsuit, charging them with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws, which remains ongoing.

KSF's investigation is focusing on whether Peabody's officers and/or directors breached their fiduciary duties to Peabody's shareholders or otherwise violated state or federal laws.

If you have information that would assist KSF in its investigation, or have been a long-term holder of Peabody shares and would like to discuss your legal rights, you may, without obligation or cost to you, call toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or email KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn ([email protected]), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-btu/ to learn more.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients  including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors  in seeking to recover investment losses due to corporate fraud and malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California and Louisiana.

To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com.

Contact:

Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

Lewis Kahn, Managing Partner

[email protected]

1-877-515-1850

1100 Poydras St., Suite 3200

New Orleans, LA 70163

SOURCE Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

Related Links

http://www.ksfcounsel.com


SANTA FE, N.M. - Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin is headed home to New Mexico after nearly three weeks in a Washington jail, after a judge on Friday said she will trust Griffin to show up for trial in connection with the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol.

FILE - In this March 12, 2019, file photo, Cowboys for Trump leader and Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, center, talks with Republican New Mexico state Rep. Candy Ezzell of Roswell, N.M., at a protest against gun control and pro-abortion rights legislation outside the New Mexico State Capitol, in Santa Fe, N.M. A New Mexico county official who runs a group called "Cowboys for Trump" who had vowed to return to Washington after last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol to place a flag on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's desk was arrested by the FBI on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021. Griffin was arrested on charges of illegally entering the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee, File)

SANTA FE, N.M. - Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin is headed home to New Mexico after nearly three weeks in a Washington jail, after a judge on Friday said she will trust Griffin to show up for trial in connection with the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Beryl Howell on Friday reversed a magistrate judge's prior detention order that described Griffin as a flight risk.

Griffin denies federal charges that he knowingly entering barricaded areas of the Capitol grounds with the intent to disrupt government as Congress considered Electoral College results.

Continued incarceration pending trial might have left Griffin in jail for longer than the one-year maximum sentence amid pandemic-related court delays, Howell said.

Griffin is banned from visiting Washington outside of court proceedings, must surrender his passport and must not possess a firearm.

More than 150 people have been charged in federal court with crimes following the Jan. 6 riot.

In releasing Griffin, the judge said she weighed Griffin's unrepentant appearance among the riotous crowd at the Capitol and vows to return and plant a flag on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's desk against his apparently candid subsequent interactions with the FBI and no obvious disdain toward the judiciary. She noted repeatedly that Griffin on Jan. 6 did not carry weapons, commit violence or enter the U.S. Capitol.

I appreciate that the charge here is that he disregarded signage about restricted areas of the Capitol on Jan. 6. But his subsequent co-operation with law enforcement showed that he is not a person who has a categorical disdain and disregard for any and every government act or authority, Howell said.

Griffin, an elected commissioner in Otero County, has led the Cowboys for Trump group in horseback parades through cities across the country in support of Donald Trump.

Griffin was arrested Jan. 17 in Washington  days after announcing during a public meeting in Alamogordo that he would return to Washington with guns at the ready in opposition to Bidens election and inauguration.

Griffin says the guns were a self-defence precaution against recent death threats  and that he ultimately left them with friends from Pennsylvania.

Prosecutors say Griffin is a flight risk because has advocated the violent overthrow of the U.S. government on multiple occasions. A magistrate judge noted Griffin's history of threatening comments, racial invective, access to firearms and vows that Biden would never be president.

Howell had a different take, saying that Griffin's status as an elected official in New Mexico with child-support obligations weigh against continued incarceration.

There doesnt seem to be any evidence that he poses a risk of danger to the community in New Mexico, she said.

Griffin last year was barred from in-person visits with his son following social media posts that have generated threats and for refusing to abide by COVID-19 mask requirements.

Current custody terms are unclear. Griffin continued to openly flout the states mask requirement at a public meeting in January as a county commissioner.

Colleagues on the Otero County commission have called on Griffin to resign in the aftermath of the Capitol siege.

State election regulators recently sued Griffin over his refusal to register Cowboys for Trump as a political group, as he agreed upon in arbitration. Griffin says the group is a for-profit business and that he worries about contributors being identified and harassed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, February 6, virtually released a commemorative postage stamp on Gujarat High Court as part of the institution's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

"I want to congratulate Gujarat High Court for always working towards securing truth and justice in the country. In the past years, Gujarat High Court and the Bar have carved a distinctive identity with their legal understanding, scholarship and intellectualism," he said.

The prime minister lauded the work of the judiciary, one of the four pillars of India's democracy during the event. PM Modi said the judiciary has always interpreted the Constitution positively and has always performed its duty.

"Our judiciary has always interpreted Constitution positively and creatively to strengthen it further. Be it safeguarding the rights of people of the country or when any situation arose where national interest needed to be prioritised, the judiciary has always performed its duty," PM Modi said during the Diamond Jubilee of Gujarat High Court.

Gujarat High Court completed sixty years of its establishment on May 1, 2020.

"The duty and devotion with which the Gujarat HC has acted for justice, the readiness for its constitutional duties has strengthened both country's judicial system and the democracy," the prime minister added.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Supreme Court Justice MR Shah, Gujarat High Court Chief Justice Vikram Nath, Gujarat cabinet ministers, Gujarat HC judges, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, and Advocate General Kamal Trivedi were present during the ceremony.

Also read: Farmers' stir: UN human rights body urges govt, protestors to show restraint

Also read: Farmers' Chakka Jam today: 10 Delhi Metro stations closed
She starred as Ruby Buckton on Home and Away, before making it in America with roles in Pretty Little Liars and The Vampire Diaries spin-off, The Originals.

And now Rebecca Breeds has landed the role of Clarice Starling in Stan's new series Clarice, Jodie Foster's iconic character from the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph's Stellar magazine this weekend, the 33-year-old revealed whether she's ready for the inevitable comparisons.

Latest gig: Home and Away alum Rebecca Breeds (pictured), 33, revealed whether she's ready for the comparisons as she lands Jodie Foster's famed role of Clarice Starling in a new series

When asked of being compared to the Oscar winner, Rebecca said: 'I'm just so thrilled to be continuing to tell the story of Clarice and to explore who she is.'

The former soap star will not only be following in the footsteps of Jodie, but also Julianne Moore, who starred in the film's 2001 sequel Hannibal.

'Jodie, Julianne and I are so lucky in that Thomas Harris (the author of the novels the film and sequel were inspired by) wrote a modern character - Clarice feels modern, even now. She's one of the best written characters in literature and film history,' Rebecca continued.

Iconic: The Australian actress said she's 'thrilled' to be playing the role - the untold story of FBI agent Clarice, played by Jodie Foster in the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs (pictured)

Before Hollywood: Rebecca played Ruby Buckton on Home and Away for four years (pictured), before making it in America with roles in Pretty Little Liars and The Vampire Diaries spin-off, The Originals

Clarice is set six months after the events of The Silence of the Lambs, and delves into the untold story of Clarice Starling.

FBI Agent Clarice returns to the field to pursue serial murderers and sexual predators while navigating the high stakes political world of Washington, D.C.

Elsewhere in her Stellar interview, Rebecca, who is now based in Los Angeles, said she doesn't feel any nerves in playing such an iconic character.

'I'm not afraid of this. And I don't feel pressure as much as I just feel honoured to be a part of this. I feel like I'm prepared. I feel ready to tell this story,' she said.

Husband and wife: The Sydney-born star is now based in Los Angeles with her actor husband and fellow Home and Away alum Luke Mitchell (pictured)

Rebecca recently celebrated her eight-year wedding anniversary with Australian actor and fellow Home and Away alum Luke Mitchell.

Luke, 35, told BW magazine back in 2019 that children were on the back-burner, as they wanted 'to ride this wave of our career'.

The couple got engaged in 2012, and tied the knot a year later in the New South Wales' Kangaroo Valley.

Clarice premieres on Stan on February 12.
People wear face masks as they wait to be tested for COVID-19 at a clinic in Montreal, Sunday, January 31, 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues in Canada and around the world. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Firefighters on Friday battled a fierce fire that broke out more than a week ago in a wooded area of the Argentine province of Rio Negro, injuring one person and forcing the evacuation of several others.

The blaze has destroyed more than 10,000 hectares near the tourist town of El Bolson, located about 1,700 kilometers (1056 miles) south of Buenos Aires, near Patagonia and close to the border with Chile.

The fire is being fought by more than 150 brigade members of the local firefighter service and volunteers, and its cause has not yet been established, according to Rio Negro authorities.

The affected area is mountainous and has some valleys, making it difficult to extinguish the fire.

A score of Argentine provinces suffered fires in 2020.

Cordoba, in central Argentina, was the most affected, with some 331,000 hectares burned, in a year when more than a million hectares were destroyed.

The Argentine National Meteorological Service indicated that the South American country experienced an extensive and prolonged drought last year that affected more than half of the territory.

The lack of rain made 2020 the driest year since 1995.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 15:10:41|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- More than 1,000 U.S. troops will be deployed to assist with a nationwide vaccination rollout amid fears of a new surge in infections and deaths caused by multiple new COVID-19 strains.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has approved a request for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to "augment and expedite" the vaccination efforts, Andy Slavitt, senior adviser to the White House's coronavirus response team, said at a news conference on Friday.

The move will send 1,110 active-duty service members to support five FEMA COVID-19 vaccination centers, according to Pentagon. Teams of 222 troops will support each one of the sites and will include medical and support personnel.

The first contingent of troops will arrive in vaccination centers opening in California over the next 10 days and begin operations around Feb. 15 with additional vaccination missions soon to follow, Slavitt said.

President Joe Biden has called for setting up 100 mass vaccination centers around the country within a month.

Biden's national vaccination campaign aims to administer 100 million doses of two-stage coronavirus vaccines in his first 100 days in office.

About 58.3 million vaccine doses have been distributed across the United States, but only about 36.8 million have been administered as of Friday morning, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The circulation of multiple new coronavirus strains in the country has increased the urgency for the Biden administration to accelerate the pace of vaccinations.

A total of 618 infections of new variants had been reported in at least 33 U.S. states as of Thursday, according to the CDC.

The United States has recorded more than 26.7 million COVID-19 cases with related deaths exceeding 458,000 as of Friday afternoon, showed a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

A model developed by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington shows that the United States is projected to see 631,000 COVID-19 deaths by June 1.

The result depends on the vaccine rollout and the spread of variants, said the IHME. A worst-case scenario could see the death toll go as high as 703,000.

Increasing mask use from current levels of 77 percent to 95 percent can save 44,000 lives by June 1, according to the model.

The IHME estimated that 17 percent of people in the United States had been infected as of Monday. The daily death rate is greater than 4 per million in 41 states.

"Daily deaths have peaked and are declining. By June 1, 2021, we project that 123,600 lives will be saved by the projected vaccine rollout," the IHME said.

The best strategies to manage this period of the pandemic are rapid scale-up of vaccination, continued and expanded mask-wearing and concerted efforts to avoid rebound mobility in the vaccinated, according to the institute.

Some states are lifting mandates rapidly, which poses a real risk of increased transmission as new variants spread and vaccination rates remain comparatively low, the IHME warned. Enditem


A new treatment for coronavirus, developed at Tel Avivs Ichilov Medical Center has completed the phase 1 trials. As per the reports by the hospital, it has also helped various serious cases of the virus. Terming it as a huge breakthrough, the hospital revealed that the EXO-CD24 substance had been administered to 30 patients whose conditions were moderate or worse. All of these patients recovered. 29 of them recovered within five days.

Israel extends lockdown

The Israeli government, recently, announced the extension of the COVID-19 lockdown in the country until February 7. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet approved the restrictions to be extended until Sunday. The current lockdown measures were imposed in the country on December 27 following a surge in COVID-19 cases. Last month, the Israeli government extended the lockdown until February 5.

Read: Israeli PM Slams ICC 'perversion Of Justice'

Prime Minister Netanyahu urged the members of the public to "strictly" follow the measures put in place to prevent the spread of the virus. He also called on people to get vaccinated as quickly as possible in order to be able to gradually start reopening the economy, claiming "the vaccines work". The country will witness gradual ease in restrictions starting February 7, which includes cancellation of the restrictions on movement, reopening of nature reserves, national parks, heritage sites, etc. Places of work, which do not receive public attention will also be allowed to reopen. Lodging facilities have been allowed to reopen from Sunday onwards, but only for small families, that include a couple and their children.

Read: Israel Extends COVID-19 Lockdown Till Feb 7, Urges Citizens To Get Vaccinated

Israel is running one of the most effective COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in the world with over half the population already inoculated against the deadly disease. Israel has administered 5.3 million doses of vaccines to date, at an impressive rate of 61.7 people per 100 persons. Israel has recorded more than 6,76,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases so far, of which over 5,000 people have lost their lives.

Read: Ruth Dayan, Israeli Fashion Designer, Dies At 103

Also Read: PM Modi Speaks To Israeli Counterpart; Affirms Resolve To Strengthen Security Cooperation

(Image Credits: Unsplash)

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Concern has again been raised over the ongoing delay in the long-awaited refurbishment project at the Patrician Academy in Mallow.

Last December local Labour TD Sean Sherlock questioned why it had been omitted from the Project 2040 projects list- despite it being his understanding that it had been set to go to tender early this year.

"While I welcome the fact that other local projects, including the Mallow Town Regeneration Plan and the 68-unit Hazelbrook social housing scheme are on the list, I find it odd that the Patrician is not. Particularly in light of the fact that it has been on the books since the fire back in 2016," said Deputy Sherlock.

He said he would be seeking urgent clarity on the status of the project, saying that parents and the school community deserved a definitive timeline for the commencement of refurbishment works at the Academy.

"They have been listening to vague promises from the Department of Education on this for too long and including this school build on the Project 2040 list would have at least given them confidence that something was in the pipeline," said Deputy Sherlock.

True to his word, Deputy Sherlock has raised the issue on the floor of Dail Eireann, asking that Education Minister Norma Foley to provide a status update on the tender process for the project.

Minister Foley said her department was currently in the process of setting up a framework of contractors to which projects under the 'Design and Build' programme, such as the Patrician one, can be tendered.

"Until such time as the framework is established, a definitive timeline for tender is not available," she said.

A clearly frustrated Deputy Sherlock said he was concerned to hear the framework for the Patrician has still yet to be signed off.

"It's quite a worry at this stage because time is marching on and I'm just a little bit worried that there is a slippage in time now. I want to be as objective about this as possible, focusing on the project and will keep pressing the Minister and her Department on this project. The school community in Mallow is really disappointed by the fact there is still no progress in this at this stage," he said.

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(Natural News) We all knew it was coming, we just didnt know the full extent of the insanity. The authoritarian socialist lefts opening moves on freedom of speech and the press were just the warm-up act. Now, were seeing the full overreach of one-party authoritarian rule.

(Article by D Parker republished from NoQReport.com)

Theres a reason the authoritarian socialist left took on the enormous moral cost of suppressing free speech. Theyve always wanted to silence their opposition but were unwilling to pay the price in the loss of their moral code and their false facade as defenders of liberty.

Crossing that line means the left can no longer claim to be liberal or the champions of liberty. Taking that step means they have joined the ranks of infamous authoritarian regimes down through history. They join the USSR and Nazi Germany and others who have suppressed free speech and freedom of the press along with trying to deprive the people of their common sense human right of self-defense.

Of course, they have thinly veiled private corporation dodge, but no one seriously considers this to absolve them of their guilt against our basic civil rights. Perhaps they can use that pathetic expedient to let them sleep at night, but the reality is that this is one of the worst forms of fascism.

Free speech suppression provides a tremendous advantage to the authoritarian socialist left

They can now dominate the airwaves and cast their opposition as domestic supremacist racist extreme terrorist radicals. Everyone should note the sudden stridency of the left after their crackdown on free speech. This is because they know they have a narrow window of opportunity to set the narrative before we can respond.

Now that they have taken the unpardonable step of suppressing free speech, they are now trying to cast everyone on the right as a domestic terrorist or insurgents supposedly inciting violence with mere words.

Having framed the debate, they are now breaking out the rhetorical Molotov cocktails for the founding documents. While they abhor the always undefined concept of hate speech, they save their best vitriol for the hardware that forms the backbone of the Bill of Rights.

HR127: Precisely calibrated to shred the common sense human right of self-defense

Authoritarian leftists always love to foster their little freedom fantasies. Not quite setting fire to the Bill of Rights, just dangling it over a dumpster fire by a thread so they can at least feign support for basic human rights, we support the second amendment but. Thats a pretty hard sell with this monstrosity that essentially ties up every gun in a virtual confiscation scheme while forcing gun owners to pay for the privilege.

While we cannot do justice to this abomination to freedom and civil rights, several pro-liberty groups have weighed in on it:

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms issued this statement:

CCRKBA SAYS JACKSON LEES H.R. 127 GUN CONTROL BILL IS INSANITY ON STEROIDS

Friday, January 29th, 2021

BELLEVUE, WA  Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lees H.R. 127, a gun control measure requiring gun owner licensing, psychological evaluations, retroactive gun registration and separate licensing for modern sporting rifles is insanity on steroids, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today. Over the years, said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, weve seen some astonishingly bad legislation originate on Capitol Hill, but this one takes the term abomination to an entirely new level. One look at this bill and you wonder whether Congresswoman Jackson Lee ever heard of the Bill of Rights, which includes the Second Amendment. H.R. 127 would require the owner of any firearm to supply the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with the make, model and serial number of every gun he or she owns, and that includes guns people may have owned for years. They would also have to report the identity of any person to whom, and any period of time during which, the firearm will be loaned to that individual. The licensing requirement mandates that the license applicant undergoes a criminal background check, and then submits to a psychological evaluation to determine whether the person is psychologically unsuited to possess a firearm. Successful licensees must show they have an insurance policy which will cost $800. H.R. 127 is a constitutionally-challenged monstrosity, Gottlieb stated. It ignores the fact that the Second Amendment protects a fundamental right to keep and bear arms, not some strictly-regulated government privilege. Government cannot require a psychological evaluation to exercise a right enumerated in the Constitution. Is it possible Sheila Jackson Lee skipped high school civics, he wondered. This legislation treats firearms owners like second-class citizens for exercising their Second Amendment rights. Its an outrage that a member of Congress could even conceive of such a measure, much less propose that it become law.

The Firearms Policy Coalition also released a statement, FightHR127.com: Stop HR 127  Gun Licensing, Registration & Partial Ammo Ban pointing out that:

The bill text is finally out and HR 127 is worse than we were even speculating. HR 127 establishes a federal firearms registration system that will be accessible by federal, state, and local governments, including the military  even the GENERAL PUBLIC! The system will track the make, model, and serial number of all firearms, their owners, the dates they were acquired, and where they are being stored. You read that right. HR 127 would make public your most private information to anti-gunners who can then dox, harass or even attack you while knowing full well every intimate detail of your self-defense systems.

Gun registration is gun confiscation

Weve detailed this issue before. Gun registration means the government is taking control of your guns. Gun confiscation means the government is taking control and possession of your guns. That level of control means its only a matter of time before the government orders you to turn in your guns. With a registration and location database, it will simply be a matter of ordering people to turn in their guns. The historical examples include NAZI Germany, Soviet Russia, Red China, and Cambodia.

When coupled with so-called red-flag laws, this can be a selective process keyed off of your behavior in other realms, or based on informants. It could even be based on random chance  a reverse lottery. Hey look, youve won a SWAT team battering down your door at 3:00 AM.

The bottom line: Authoritarianism thinly veiled as Democratic

The authoritarian socialist left tries to maintain a false presence of being liberal with private corporations doing their bidding. They are doing the same with this control overreach, with a false front of the people keeping their common sense human rights while they are up to the arbitrary whim of capricious government that can withdraw these rights in an instant.

If history teaches us anything, its that tyranny always ends up on a dark path, getting worse over time. Free-speech suppression expands its reach, and common sense human rights disappear over time. This is what the authoritarian socialist left is cheering for as they see their side gaining power.

History is never kind to the excesses of tyranny, no matter how they are sold as something different. Future generations will curse leftists for what they are doing now. They need to learn this lesson before it goes too far.

Read more at: NoQReport.com and AbolishSocialism.com.
After the killing of George Floyd last year, residents of Maryland's Montgomery County held more than 120 protests against police violence, joining communities across the country in a wave of civil unrest not seen since the 1960s.

Local officials and lawmakers in the wealthy, left-leaning suburb promised change, adding funding for mobile crisis units to de-escalate confrontations with mentally ill residents and passing a "use-of-force" law that, among other things, requires officers to act when they see colleagues using what appears to be excessive force.

More proposals are on the table. But various roadblocks loom ahead.

The all-Democratic county council is split over key proposals, most notably a bid to bar police from working in public schools. Some changes hinge on state legislative action and others face pushback from Montgomery's police department and police union, which call them inappropriate for the suburb of 1 million. Rank-and-file officers on the 1,300-member force say the changes would make the county less safe.

Council member Sidney Katz, who chairs the council's Public Safety Committee, favors more incremental changes and said he sees the county's main challenge as "restoring trust in the police."

"Montgomery has a very fine police department in general, but we have individual examples of when things have not gone the way they should," Katz said in an interview.

But local activists want elected officials to go much further and say a growing number of community groups - including parent teacher associations and church congregations - support dramatic change. They worry that disagreements among county leaders, and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, could take momentum away from their cause.

"Last year, the public was so overwhelmingly angry that our decision-makers and leaders were actually willing to pay attention," said Danielle Blocker, executive director of the local activist group Young People for Progress. "Now, I wonder if they'll continue."

In January, plainclothes Gaithersburg police officers fatally shot Kwamena Ocran, a 24-year-old Black man. In October, prosecutors said they would not charge a White county police sergeant who six months earlier shot and killed a Finan Berhe, 30, who also was Black. The two incidents have "sustained outrage" among activists and served as a sobering realization for members of the public, said Katie Stauss, co-chair of the Silver Spring Justice Coalition.

"People who didn't think about these issues before have started to make the connection that what they see nationally is actually happening right here," Strauss said.

Police leaders say shootings by officers don't necessarily mean reckless policing. Berhe was armed with a knife, body-worn camera footage shows. Ocran was armed with a gun, Gaithersburg police officials said, and the investigation into his case is ongoing.

Some changes recently mandated by lawmakers, such as banning "chokeholds," mimicked existing department policy, said county Police Chief Marcus Jones. He questioned data showing racial disparities in policing, saying such calculations are oversimplified or lacking context.

In neighborhoods hit hardest by crime, many of which are majority Black and Latino, residents often ask for more police, not fewer, Jones said. "Are we going to have more of a reactive police department, or are we going to remain a proactive police department?" he added. "Where is this taking us?"

The council is considering five bills relating to policing, including mandating civilian oversight over police discipline and requiring that officers report demographic information about residents they stop.

Democratic County Executive Marc Elrich has commissioned an external audit of the police department that is scheduled to produce preliminary results in June. And on Thursday, the county's Reimagining Public Safety Task Force released its first report, with 87 recommendations that include reducing police in certain districts and requiring that officers produce incident reports every time they draw their weapons, regardless of whether they fire.

The issue that has arguably captured the most public attention in recent months is whether to eliminate the county's $3 million School Resource Officer program, which places police in public schools. The task force, which Elrich convened in August, recommends getting rid of the program, though co-chair Bernice Mireku-North said the issue generated significant tension during discussions with the police department and the union.

"We're living in an unjust society. Community members were clear in that and wanted the [task force] to be self-aware of the racism and injustice that exists," Mireku-North said. "That wasn't always received warmly."

The council has dueling bills on the issue - one, from at-large members Will Jawando and Hans Riemer, both Democrats, would remove all police from schools; the second, introduced Tuesday by Katz and council member Craig Rice, asks for the program to be reformed but not eliminated or slashed.

Many student leaders and youth activists say they want the program gone, citing disproportionate arrest rates for Black, Latino and disabled students on school grounds. But two dozen high schools principals have said they want to keep it in place.

The county board of education was supposed to set its position in January but voted to extend the deadline to May. The council may wait until then to act, said council President Tom Hucker.

Jones, the police chief, said school-based officers make relatively few physical arrests in schools and have valuable relationships with students.

"Much of the public doesn't see the relationships these SROs have with kids, even kids who are in trouble," the chief said.

Lee Holland, corporate vice president of Montgomery County's police union, called the school officer bills an example of council overreach into a matter that should be decided by Elrich and the school system. "The county shouldn't be creating laws for every single thing that deals with police," he said.

Elrich said he "would rather not" have a permanent police presence in schools and would like to hire more counselors and therapists. He stopped short of saying he would end the program, however, noting that he wants to confirm that doing so is possible under state law.

While members of the task force broadly agreed that policing should be "reimagined," there were heated disagreements on what that meant, said Mireku-North, the co-chair. Some wanted to toss out existing practices. Others said there wasn't sufficient evidence to show that new proposals would be fairer or more effective.

The tensions seem to reflect deeper ideological rifts shaping police reform efforts in liberal communities nationwide

In Minneapolis, some city council members walked back a widely reported pledge to defund the police department, in favor of more incremental reforms. A recent Bloomberg analysis found that most of the 50 biggest cities in the country maintained or increased their police budgets in 2021.

In Montgomery, Katz said he supports a strategy that focuses on additional training for officers, but others want more drastic changes. Riemer would "restructure the police department's core powers with discipline and accountability." Jawando, who supports moving money from police to social services, said he wants officials to challenge the assumption that "more funding for police equals more safety."

"I really think we'll have missed the moment if we don't look at things differently," he said.

Council Vice President Gabe Albornoz, one of two lawmakers still undecided about the school resource officer program, said he hears myriad perspectives from the Latino and immigrant residents who frequently contact his office.

Some plead for more police protection against gang members who stalk their neighborhoods; others beg for fewer officers, fearful of being referred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Nearly all want elected officials to act quickly.

"I feel that urgency," Albornoz said. "But I also feel the weight of wanting to get this right."

Jones said the criticism from Montgomery's elected officials in the past two years has weighed on officer morale. "There's no need to put sugar on it," he said. "That's exactly what has happened."

Even when elected officials agree, they're not always able to act quickly. Both Elrich and the task force support a council proposal to move automated traffic enforcement from the police department to the transportation department, but the state must give its permission. A local bill to overhaul disciplinary practices has been shelved as delegates in Annapolis debate broader changes statewide.

The council voted unanimously in July for a $600,000 expansion of the 24/7 mobile crisis unit, but it took the health department six months to hire five civilian therapists, the first of whom will start in March.

Similarly, six months after the council passed its "use-of-force" law, the police department has yet to start training officers on the new policies. Jones, who has until next week to tell lawmakers how he intends to implement the rules, said he is still trying to reach agreements with the union on how to interpret parts of the law.

"Training will occur after the policy is put into place," he said.

Amaravati: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said senior military commanders of India and China have held nine rounds of talks on the process of disengagement of troops in eastern Ladakh and the parleys will continue in the future also.

Addressing reporters in Vijayawada, he said so far there was no "visible expression" of the talks on the ground. "The disengagement talks, because it is a very complicated issue because it depends on troops, you have to know the geography (like) which position and what is happening, this is being done by the military commanders," he said.

The minister was replying to a query on whether there would be any ministerial-level talks between both the countries on skirmishes between troops of the Asian giants.

China and India are locked in a military standoff in eastern Ladakh since May 5 last. The two countries have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks to resolve the face-off, but no significant headway has been made so far.

"So, military commanders have held nine rounds of meetings so far. We believe some progress has been made, but it is not, in a kind of situation where there is a visible expression of that on the ground," he said.

Referring to the parleys he and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held with their respective Chinese counterparts last year in Moscow, Jaishanakar said it was agreed that there should be disengagement in some points.

"Right now, the military commanders are talking and they will continue to talk," he said. On the recent union budget, he said there has been a significant additional outlay for the Defence, both in the financial year as well as capital expenditure.

The minister said there is an 18 per cent increase in the capital expenditure which, according to him, is the highest during the past 15 years. During the COVID-19 induced lockdown last year, Jaishankar noted that as many as four million Indians stranded abroad were brought back by operating 17,000 flights.

The workers who came back from gulf countries during the COVID-19 pandemic have now started returning, which is a good sign, he added. Explaining the salient features of the budget, he said it indicates the way between the "COVID-19 recovery and Economic recovery".

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AN historic church in Nettlebed could be forced to close.

St Bartholomews has a tiny congregation and no governance and the building needs a huge amount of repairs.

The problems were laid bare at a meeting of Nettlebed Parish Council attended by priest-in-charge, Rev Mark Ainsworth, who has been in the job for 18 months.

The meeting heard that the St Bartholomews congregation averaged just 12 people and that substantial work was needed to the roof and tower of the church within the next two years.

The church also did not pay the parish share for the five years before 2020. This is the money that each parish is asked to contribute to support the mission and ministry of the church in the Diocese of Oxford.

In addition, at the last meeting of the parochial church council, the members did not stand for re-election and the two churchwardens stepped down.

This means that the Bishop of Dorchester can close the church without Rev Ainsworths permission as he is not the incumbent.

Rev Ainsworth told councillors that he was appointed only priest-in charge of the benefice, not the rector to replace the previous incumbent, because of issues concerning the boundary of St Nicholas Church in Rotherfield Greys, which is also in the benefice.

As the priest-in-charge, he was allowed no say in the future of St Bartholomews.

Rev Ainsworth plans to follow the guidance of the diocese and set up a small parochial church council of initially two people and report back to the parish council.

Barbara Lewis, vice-chairwoman of the council, told the Henley Standard that while the day-to-day management of the church was not the remit of her council, she believed the church was a community matter that required its support.

She said the threat of the church closing was a great shock, adding: We never thought that could happen. If the diocese decides to close one of the five churches in his benefice, as a vicar or rector he could say you cant do that but as a priest-in-charge he has no legal defence to stand up for the churches hes responsible for. That seems very strange to us.

Another aspect is the Zoom services have actually attracted more people than physical congregations.

The Church of England is saying, This is quite good, maybe this is the way to go but if you like being part of a church theres something nice about being in the building.

Cllr Lewis and her husband Malcolm have offered to rejoin the parochial church council, having been members some years ago, and Rev Ainsworth has another volunteer who is willing to be treasurer.

An email signed by 30 parishioners in support of Rev Ainsworth was sent to Judy French, Archdeacon of Dorchester, in November.

It said: Unfortunately, Nettlebed has had a chequered past and in fact at one stage quite a number of parishioners left and went to other churches in despair.

Although this was a while ago now, its effects are still felt. The congregation again dwindled considerably during the years before Mark arrived and was demoralised.

A few mainly elderly parishioners had taken on the running of the church and have recently resigned for various reasons, including infirmity.

Since his arrival, Mark has breathed new life into the church. He began to introduce monthly Sunday afternoon family services to bring in the younger generation.

These were proving to be a great success and were growing and we felt that some of the young were on the verge of helping to run the church. Attendance at our weekly services was also growing, slowly but surely. We think this was due to Mark actively engaging with parishioners, which nobody had done here for years. Then covid hit.

Mark has continued to offer comfort and support for everyone, including the sick and dying. This has been greatly appreciated in the village.

He has also offered Zoom services, which have provided spiritual support in these difficult times and have kept us in touch with each other. His regular emails with prayers and writings also help to sustain us through the weeks.

We want to let you know that the rather bleak situation in Nettlebed is through no fault of Marks but rather with our past history.

The loss of PCC members and churchwardens was about to happen anyway and there has been no secretary or treasurer for more than two years.

Mark was, however, starting to turn things around and fill us with enthusiasm and hope when covid struck.

The archdeacon replied, saying the diocese was actively seeking to support Rev Ainsworth in discerning a way forward.

What will be crucial in any possible solution is your continued support as much in practical ways as personally for Mark, she added.

Rev Ainsworth, who oversees five churches in the benefice, wouldnt comment other than to say he was working on a solution very vigorously.

He joined the ministry in June 2019 after spending 26 years in parishes in America.

He succeeded Rev Brendan Bailey, who retired in 2017 after about 18 years, and is also responsible for Highmoor, Bix, Pishill, Rotherfield Greys and Nuffield.

A spokesman for the Diocese of Oxford said: St Bartholomews Nettlebed is one of four churches in the benefice overseen by Rev Mark Ainsworth.

Like many churches, it has had to close its doors during the pandemic but a regular benefice congregation of around 70 people meets online each Sunday and, prior to covid, a new 4pm Sunday service attracted 50 people.

Its clear that the church has a vital role to play at this time when many people asking deep questions of faith.

The Diocese is working closely with Rev Ainsworth and, while there is certainly no move at present to close the church in Nettlebed, support from the local community is vital if the church is to flourish in future.

St Bartholomews, where parts of the tower date back to Norman times, was rebuilt in 1846.

It features two stained glass windows designed by John Piper. The south window is in memory of Peter Fleming, a writer, traveller and soldier.
Colorado Springs, CO (80903)

Today

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
HIV/AIDS has been on the increase among young Uyghur men in the southern part of northwest Chinas Xinjiang region due to an influx of infected prostitutes who have been transmitting the deadly disease since 2009, according to a Uyghur former health official and a professor with knowledge of the situation.

Now HIV/AIDS is a most dangerous disease in the Uyghur autonomous region, especially among local Uyghurs, said Feruk Pidakar (not his real name), a former senior government official at the Office for AIDS Control and Prevention under the Health Department of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the areas formal name.

Its a more dangerous and harmful social phenomenon than the unstable elements which are caused by so-called terrorism and religious extremism, according to the Chinese propaganda, he said.

Pidakar, who is in his mid-30s said left China several weeks ago with his family to seek a better and safer future for his children in the United States.

He insisted on using an assumed name during an interview with RFAs Uyghur Service because he does not want authorities to endanger the safety of his parents and other relatives who are still living in Xinjiang.

Thousands of Han-Chinese immigrants moved to the southern part of Xinjiang with the governments support, he said. Hundreds of prostitution houses opened under the guise of beauty salons, massage parlors or bathrooms in Aksu (in Chinese, Akesu), Kucha (Kuqa), Kashgar (Kashi), Yarkant (Shache) and Hotan (Hetian).

AIDS/HIV-infected Han sex workers from Chinas inner provinces sell [their services] in predominantly Han red-light districts in southern Xinjiang, he said. When we were in the south, some of the Uyghur parents and farmers complained to us that there were black-windowed minibuses loaded with Han sex workers that provided cheep sex to the young Uyghur farmers.

Pidakar, who worked as a government official in the Office for HIV/AIDS Control and Prevention in the regional capital Urumqi for more than 15 years, said his work there was stressful because of political pressure because due to the sensitive nature of his work.

Nearly 35,200 people in Xinjiang had contracted HIV/AIDS, and 8,400 had died from the disease, according to figures issued by the regional Heath and Family Planning Committee at the end of 2014.

Roughly 13,000 cases were in Ili (Yili) Kazakh Autonomous prefecture, 10,000 in Urumqi, 7,000 in Aksu prefecture, 5,000 in Kashgar prefecture and 2,000 in Hotan and Turpan (Tulufan) prefectures.

Local Uyghurs now account for 80 percent of HIV/AIDS victims in Xinjiang, which had the fifth highest number of cases of the disease among Chinas regions and provinces, according to the Office for HV/AIDS Control and Prevention, Pidakar said.

Compared to other ethnic groups, especially the Han Chinese, the number of HIV/AIDS-infected Uyghurs has increased dramatically since 2009, he said.

Before 2008, most HIV-infected people had been concentrated in northern part of Xinjiang, including the cities of Ghulja (Yining) and Urumqi, and contracted the disease from infected needles they used to inject heroin, he said.

But since 2009, the HIV epidemic increased dramatically as a sexually transmitted disease in southern Xinjiang, especially in Aksu, Kashgar and Hotan, where now more than 90 percent of those infected are ethnic Uyghurs.

Sexually transmitted HIV/AIDS accounts for 78 percent of the current cases, he said.

Chinese riot police keep watch on Uyghur residents near a mosque in Urumqi following ethnic violence between Uyghurs and Han Chinese, July 10, 2009. AFP Rapid spread among young men

The diseases rapid spread among young Uyghur men in the south came about after the deadly July 2009 riots which prompted the Chinese government to step up its repopulation strategy and assimilation policy in the area by bringing in more Han Chinese to settle there.

Hundreds of Han-Chinese immigrant prostitutes moved to southern part of Xinjiang recently in the last several years and have opened prostitution houses under the guises of beauty salons, bathrooms, massage parlors and disco halls, he said.

The riots, which began as a protest in Urumqi, escalated into violent attacks mainly targeting Han Chinese. Chinas armed police were called in to quell the unrest, which killed nearly 200 people, and injured more than 1,700 while leaving many vehicles and buildings destroyed.

Pidakar cited other factors that have contributed to the regions explosion in HIV/AIDS among Uyghurs in southern Xinjiang: the governments failure to organize sufficient preventive measures, health organizations spending money on treating AIDS patients rather than preventive measures, lack of HIV prevention workers, doctors and public awareness campaign designers, lack of regulations to ensure the medical privacy of HIV/AIDS patients, lack of classroom education on the disease; and authorities forbidding of the publication of information on the disease and public awareness campaigns in the region.

The first recorded case of an HIV/AIDS-infected person in Xinjiang was in 1995 in Komul (Hami), the most eastern prefecture that bordered Chinas inner provinces and was heavily populated by Han Chinese, he said.

Before 2010, the place where Pidikar worked was previously called the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Fangyizhan, or Center for Epidemic Control and Prevention.

But in 2011, when the number of HIV-infected people was increasing, the government established the Office for HIV/AIDS Control and Prevention under the Center for Epidemic Control and Prevention to deal with the crisis, he said.

Nevertheless, some counties in southern Xinjiang still have only one employee who is responsible for HIV prevention work, and most material on the subject is published in Chinese, not the Uyghur language, he said.

So most of the local Uyghur population, especially Uyghur farmers, have no knowledge and prevention methods regarding HIV/AIDS, Pidikar said.

The transmission of HIV/AIDS in the northern part of Xinjiang has been partly controlled in recent years, but it has spread widely among Uyghurs men age 20-40 in the southern oasis towns, he said.

Our investigation indicates that local Uyghurs make up the overwhelming majority of such infections in southern Xinjiang, he said. Today people refer to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the region as a Uyghur disease.

Uyghurs eat at a food stall in a night market in Hotan, April 15, 2015. AFP Prevention work

Every year, the Office for HIV/AIDS Control and Prevention organizes a team to send to the south to do HIV/AIDS prevention work, but its efficiency and effectiveness depends on how much support it receives from the local Party committee and Han Chinese first Party secretary, he said.

To a large extent, the local authorities are focusing their main work on maintaining stability and fighting the war on terror, and refuse to do any kind of HIV/AIDS education or prevention work, he said.

Uyghurs have complained that although the government has set strict rules banning Muslim praying, fasting and other religious activities to maintain social stability and national security, it has failed to ban the illegal activities of Han sex workers and continued to allow red-light districts, he said.

Previously, the Office for HIV/AIDS Control and Prevention organized two public health education activities annually in every prefecture, but in 2014 and this year, the office could not arrange them for lack of government support, he said, adding that officials instead focused on combating the war on terror.

Memetjan Sadir, a Uyghur sociologist who was an associate professor at a university in Urumqi before immigrating to the United States earlier this year, told RFA that when he used to travel to southern Xinjiang annually for research, he noticed signs of the increasing HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The authorities have left behind the rapidly increasing HIV/AIDS epidemic in the region and instead focused on so-called terrorism and religious extremism, he said.

He noted that security in Hotan had increased when he visited the area in July 2014 following the start of the Chinese governments strike hard campaign to fight separatism, religious extremism and terrorism in Xinjiang. The campaign followed several violent incidents in the region, including a May 22 bombing at a market in Urumqi that killed 43 people, including the four attackers.

But when Sadir and a local Uyghur friend visited a street dominated by Han immigrants in Hotan city, he could not believe his eyes when he saw hundreds of Han prostitutes standing in the doorways of beauty salons, massage rooms, bathrooms and cafes, beckoning in different Chinese dialects and accents to young men who passed by.

I saw dozens of armed police patrolling just at the entrance of this red-light district with armored cars, he said.

His colleague said the red-light district had only appeared there in the last several years, and local authorities turned a blind eye to it.

Educated Uyghur citizens and government employees know that the immigrant Han sex workers are infected with the HIV/AIDS virus, but nobody dares to complain about them, he said. If they speak openly, they know very well that they will be accused of the crime of ethnic separatism or religious extremism.

The sex workers were also loaded onto minibuses with blacked-out windows and driven to the countryside or villages to sell cheap sex services, he said.

So young Uyghur farmers have become infected with HIV/AIDS through sexual transmission, Sadir said. Neither the government nor the local police controls this issue. Their eyes are always blind to this kind of thing. Actually, they give it the green light.

Reported by Eset Sulaiman for RFAs Uyghur Service. Translated by Eset Sulaiman. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
SHASTA COUNTY, Calif. - People working in education and childcare settings are among the next group of people to be vaccinated for COVID, and plans are underway, to begin with K-12, according to Health and Human Services.

Appointment-based clinics and mass clinics will both be available.

Our educators have helped keep Shasta County schools open through one of the most challenging times in our history, and Im thankful that we will soon have the opportunity to be vaccinated, said Shasta County Superintendent of Schools Judy Flores.

COVID-19 Vaccine: Frequently asked questions

First among the educators to get the vaccine will be high-risk educators, including those people 65 and older and people with health conditions, starting on Feb. 13.

All school personnel should have received a flyer from their school or school district, which includes a link to a Shasta County Health

and Human Services survey.

Shasta County Health and Human Services will reach out to those who fill out the survey with the next steps. It will take at least several weeks to get through the schools, according to Health and Human Services.

The supply of vaccine is still limited and unpredictable. Health officials ask to watch ShastaReady.org for more information about vaccine availability.
What kind of business could 10PRL be a name for?

Any kind  and thats the point.

When I saw the address of the space, 10 Pearl, I thought to myself, What a perfect title, April Centrone, co-owner of the events and studio space, said. Because it couldnt be pigeon-holed being one particular thing. It wasnt just a dance studio; it wasnt just a film studio; it wasnt just an events space ... it could be anything.

The term anything perhaps best epitomizes the purpose of 10PRL, which is located on 10 Pearl St. in Long Branch and pronounced like its address. The business was established on Jan. 1, 2020, and is owned by Centrone; her mother, Ilsebet Gianna; and Centrones wife, Kira Sanchez.

Kira Sanchez, left, April Centrone , center, and her mother Ilsebet Gianna, right, are co-owners of 10PRL studio in Long Branch. Photo by Andre Malok | NJ Advanc

At 10PRL, individuals of all backgrounds and orientations can book space for any conceivable event in the arts, spanning from film to photography to dance to poetry readings. The modern, industrial facility also accepts bookings for events not based in the arts, like weddings and catered gatherings.

The myriad of events held at 10PRL illustrates the non-uniformity of the facility, which boasts 6,500-square-feet of space. This includes a 5,000-square-foot pillar-free event space, an additional 1,200-square-foot dance studio, and a dressing room and lounge with coffee and tea bar.

The owners decision to purchase the over 100-year-old facility was in part influenced by their own backgrounds in the arts. One of the leading classical Arabic percussionists in the United States, Centrone has traveled the globe performing in venues including the United Nations, Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center.

From art spaces in New York to Europe, the Middle East, East Asia  the type of place I always, always loved to perform in or teach in or just exist in was that modern industrial rustic chic space, (with) exposed brick, high ceilings, beams, and beautiful old windows, Centrone said. And as soon as I looked for a space to fit this vision, I saw this picture looking for available commercial spaces and I knew it was the one. Because these are few and far between now, and theyre such gems.

Sanchez is a fellow musician as well as a photographer and videographer who shoots for the New York Arabic Orchestra, a nonprofit organization for Arabic music performance and education in New York City co-founded by Centrone.

The two met in 2018 while performing in different rock bands in Brooklyn, and their joint experiences with the city propelled them to bring a taste of it to an unconventional location.

I noticed that there is a big, artistic presence around Asbury, Long Branch, and this area of the Jersey Shore, Sanchez said. I know most (studios) are in New York City and up North ... so I was like, Why dont we offer that also for artists around here?

April Centrone, left, and Kira Sanchez, right, are co-owners of 10PRL studio in Long Branch. Photo by Andre Malok | NJ Advanc

And I think its something that the community has been really happy and excited about, she added. They say that before they used to travel an hour, hour and a half to New York City or to Paterson, and the production costs become more expensive. So they love that this is like a middle point (between) up North and the South.

Beyond Sanchezs personal interest in the area, Centrone, who was raised in Point Pleasant Beach, also felt a desire to return to her roots that was  ironically  motivated by her time abroad.

Long Branch always had a place in my heart. It has such a vibrant community with many cultures  Brazilian, Hispanic, Indian, African American, Haitian  which I love and makes me personally feel at home, Centrone said. Part of the reason I wanted to live in other countries is I really resonate so much with older cultures and other cultures and not just whiteness everywhere. I never felt very comfortable in that way, that kind of atmosphere ... so Long Branch feels very like home to me.

According to Centrone, the majority of clientele at 10PRL are minorities. The diversity of those utilizing the space reflects the diversity of its owners, as Centrone and Sanchez are members of the LGBTQ+ community, and Sanchez was born in Venezuela.

Recognizing that businesses not just run by women but by members of the LGBTQ+ are in the minority, Centrone stressed that 10PRL is normalizing something that, frankly, should be normal.

Its nothing to blink twice about. Were two women, married, and we own a business, Centrone said. And thats the only way to get to normalcy  is to just do it. And to be totally out and proud about it.

If we were secretive, if we didnt say, Yeah, were married, then we wouldnt be making those waves; we wouldnt be perhaps inspiring those communities and those up-and-coming business owners, she added.

Kira Sanchez, left, and April Centrone, right.Photo by Andre Malok | NJ Advanc

Centrone and Sanchez promote 10PRL as a safe space where persons of all races, religions, ethnicities, orientations, genders, ages and abilities are welcomed and embraced.

I think its important to represent people, and offer a place where people feel safe, Sanchez said. We have a lot of artists who are LGBTQ+ who come here, and they shoot and they perform and feel safe and do whatever they want to, and theyre not afraid.

Their methods have proven successful over the past year  despite the coronavirus epidemic breaking out across New Jersey only months after 10PRL officially opened.

The business closed for approximately three months. But, once it was allowed to reopen at 25% capacity, interested clients began pouring in.

When things were getting a little bit stable before the second wave, we were starting to have more production clients, musicians, a lot of music videos, and events here and there, Sanchez said.

People filling the space (over the past year) could be a thousand people or more, Centrone said. By the fall, we were busy, busy, busy. Our weekends were totally full with special events ... birthday parties, showers, weddings even ... and our productions would fall on the week a lot. Amazingly, we were extremely busy even with the pandemic kind of still in the background.

Most businesses I would say in their first year are perhaps lucky to break even, and we sometimes doubled or tripled our sales goals, she added.

The business owners largely credited their success to the immense size of their events space and studio, which can hold 60 or so people even at 25% capacity.

A lot of people didnt feel comfortable or couldnt use the venues they were originally using, and ours is so big, Centrone said. We know how important it is as artists to provide big, uncluttered, free space.

Gianna, a former actress, New York City police officer and New Jersey Transit locomotive engineer, expressed her immense gratitude to Centrone and Sanchez for helping her to create something that both re-immersed her in her past and shaped a new future.

I am beyond proud of my daughter and Kira. I am so grateful to them, because really when I retired after 30 years on the railroad, I saw my life at an end, Gianna said. And I never thought that I would revisit the show business side of my life ... So I am grateful to them, and love them dearly.

April Centrone is co-owner of 10PRL studio in Long Branch. Photo by Andre Malok | NJ Advanc

Although the number of clients using the space has fallen with the resurgence in positive coronavirus cases across the state, Centrone said many are beginning to book events for the late winter and spring.

And 10PRLs clientele arent the only ones making plans for the future.

We want to have a really strong fashion element, (where we) really feature local stylists and local clothing lines and models of all shapes and orientations ... And we hope for a really strong theatrical element, and that includes everything in theater from Black Box style to really experimental work, a taste of New York City off-off-broadway, Centrone said. And making film. Our vision as a production company as well is to make captivating films that highlight important, relevant, inspiring stories and topics.

Centrones vision reflects the very purpose of 10PRL, which is both as simple and as multilayered as its name: to serve as anything.

One person could really want to do something in photo; one person something theatrical; one person wants to have a party; one person wants to do dance, Centrone said. All types of arts and artists can really expand their artistic vision here  where creativity knows no bounds.

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Caroline Fassett may be reached at cfassett@njadvancemedia.com.

University of Miami President Julio Frenk joined a panel of other public health experts on World Cancer Day last week to explore how the battle against the COVID-19 virus in Mexico and fledgling health care reforms have exacerbated an already critical situation for cancer patients.

The event, Attention for Cancer Patients in Mexico during COVID-19, hosted in part by the Universitys Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas, was moderated by Felicia Knaul, institute director, public health expert, and a cancer survivor. The session aimed to inspire action and to raise awareness for the plight of patients in Mexico suffering from cancer.

Knaul launched the session by sharing data from a newly released article in the The Lancet Oncologymedical journal that detailed the shortages of oncological medicines and documented how treatments for cancer patients in Mexico, especially those with breast cancer, have been delayed, eliminated, or modified in the wake of health care reforms and the governments attempt to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

Its likely that we will see a tsunami of deaths in the coming years if things dont change, she said, highlighting indicators and trends from the report.

Frenk lamented the Mexican governments abysmal response to managing the pandemic and contrasted the newly implemented government-managed health program with the universal health care coverage offered for many years through Seguro Popular.

As Mexicos health minister from 2000 to 2006, Frenk was instrumental in fueling the effort to create and implement that policy, which provided coverage and care to more than 50 million Mexicans. Seguro Popular was slowly dismantled and officially ceased to exist on Jan. 1, 2020, replaced by a health program known as INSABI [its Spanish-language acronym] and directed by the National Health Institute for Wellbeing.

Cancer care for children and for women with breast cancer were among the priorities for Seguro Popular and a specific fund provided free care for all cancer treatment for children, according to Frenk. Among the policys many successes, he highlighted the fact that, prior to Seguro Popular, some 30 percent of Mexican women with breast cancer abandoned their treatment and care due to lack of money; after its implementation, that percentage dropped to 3 percent.

What were seeing today are the results of the failure, Frenk said, and its not government officials but cancer patients in Mexico who are bearing the suffering.

Those participating in the two panels included Salomon Chertorivski, a former Mexican health minister and president of the consultancy coalition Thinking About Mexico; Rocio Saenz, dean of the University of Costa Rica School of Public Health and a former Costa Rican health minister; Alfonso Petersen, vice dean of Health Sciences Universidad of Guadalajara; Lizbeth Lopez, a researcher with the Mexican National Institute for Public Health; Hector Valle, executive president of the Mexican Health Foundation; Kenji Lopez, president of Mexican Cancer Warriors; Alejandra De Cima, president of the Cima Foundation and member of the Mexican Breast Cancer Coalition; and Hector Arreola Ornelas, executive director of the Tomatelo a Pecho, an organization founded by Knaul.

Chertorivski echoed Frenks concerns for the new health care reforms and said it was critical to look to the future.

We have to think about the next stage to come, he said. The health care system is changing radically, and we have to think about future needs. In terms of cancer, its critical to detect it. We understand that its a reality that we cant escapeits in our hands to determine that at least those who die from cancer do so without pain and with dignity.

World Cancer Day, marked on Feb. 4, is promoted by the Union for International Cancer Control and geared to encouraging governments around the world to ensure that access to life-saving diagnosis, treatment, and care for cancer should be available for all.
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Fail to prepare and prepare to fail, goes Roy Keanes and Richard Brutons mantra. Although the next general election is supposed to be four years away, the lay of the land is already being set. Fine Gael are riding high in the polls with Sinn Fein, while Fianna Fail is struggling and Labour and the Social Democrats are eyeing up Green Party spoils.

The various parties are starting to put their tickets in place for the key battles. Of course, thats assuming the anticipated big redraw of constituencies, especially in Dublin and Cork, following the delayed census next year doesnt lay waste to the best laid plans.

Ivana goes after Big Jim

Dublin Bay South: 4 seats

All eyes on the female candidates. Labours Ivana Bacik will be running here, Sinn Feins Lynn Boylan wont, Fine Gaels Kate OConnell probably will and Green Hazel Chu should be  even if not for her current party. Sinn Feins Chris Andrews has locked down the old Fianna Fail turf of the inner city. Fianna Fails Jim OCallaghan limped to the final seat so would be vulnerable to a Fine Gael or Labour resurgence, be it from Eoghan Murphy plus OConnell or James Geoghegan. Greens Eamon Ryan has a solid vote in notoriously fickle territory.

Devine intervention

Dublin South-Central: 4 seats

After leaving a seat behind last year, Sinn Fein arent wasting any time. Former senator Maire Devine is back on Dublin City Council so will be the running mate again for veteran Aengus O Snodaigh, who was sitting on almost two quotas. A third Sinn Fein candidate cant be ruled out, perhaps Senator Fintan Warfield, and the lack of left transfers will be bad news for Independents4Changes Joan Collins, in particular, and People Before Profits Brid Smith. A trio of senators, Labours Rebecca Moynihan, Fianna Fails Catherine Ardagh and Fine Gaels Mary Seery-Kearney, along with Social Democrat Tara Deacy, are all eyeing up Green Patrick Costellos seat.

Warding off Barry

Dun Laoghaire: 4 seats

Fine Gael will handily be in contention for two seats based on current trends. New TD Jennifer Carroll-MacNeill looks destined for ministerial office and Barry Ward is a senator up the far end. Fianna Fails Cormac Devlin and Green Ossian Smyth should be worried as a result. Unless they parachute in a genuine star candidate, Sinn Fein will fall short as People Before Profits Richard Boyd-Barrett hoovers up votes in working class areas and still fares remarkably well in the posh areas. All he has to do is stay ahead of Sinn Fein and he gets swept in on their transfers.

New kids on the block

Dublin South-Central: 4 seats

A couple of new challengers to the sitting triumvirate of Green deputy leader Catherine Martin and Fine Gael duo Josepha Madigan and Neale Richmond are popping up. Fianna Fails Kate Feeney is seeking a Seanad seat and a move across from Dun Laoghaire to have a run. Her party colleague Shay Brennan was only 400 votes off a win so hell also be looking at another go. The leafy burbs are not prime Sinn Fein territory, so the party is weighing up targeting the growing younger population in the new apartments and estates at the southern end with Shaun Treacy.





Mary Lou take two

Dublin Central: 4 seats

Mary Lou McDonalds new running mate has yet to be determined but will walk into a seat. Fine Gael finance minister Paschal Donohoe has shored up the old Bertie Ahern middle class stomping ground of Drumcondra so hes fine, unless he goes to Europe, of course. It really leaves just one seat up for grabs. Green rebel Neasa Hourigan continues to teeter on the brink of a fatal falling out with the party hierarchy. Social Democrats Gary Gannon also has to contend with Labour Senator Marie Sherlock, who is replacing Joe and Emer Costello as the flagbearer. Fianna Fails Mary Fitzpatrick is forlornly hoping to make it fifth time lucky.





Micheals squeeze

Dublin Bay North: 5 seats

Sinn Feins Micheal Mac Donncha was the biggest loser from the partys panicked scaling back of candidates last year when he was left off the ticket. Party TD Denise Mitchell then had 10,000 votes to spare. Chalk down two Sinn Fein seats for starters. Fine Gaels Richard Brutons energy shows no sign of waning. His latest running mate up the northern end will likely be councillor Aoibhinn Tormey. However, its often a fruitless task. Labours Aodhan O Riordain, Fianna Fails Sean Haughey and Social Democrat Cian OCallaghan would be left to scrap for the last two seats.





Dessies double

Dublin North-West: 3 seats

Sinn Feins Dessie Ellis had the best part of two quotas, so the party is vying for two seats. But Sinn Fein has to get its act together after the acrimonious fallout from the local elections. A running mate is again being carefully considered and how to divide territory between Ballymun and Finglas. Social Democrats joint leader Roisin Shortall continues to dominate in the eastern end of the constituency. In their latest battle, Fianna Fails Paul McAuliffe got the better of Fine Gaels Noel Rock. Rock would have the upper hand in a rematch, however, both would fall short.





Reginas new territory

Dublin Fingal: 5 seats

Fine Gaels Regina Doherty is moving in from neighbouring Meath East. But the senator and former minister poses a greater threat to sitting party colleague Alan Farrell. The party leadership would not shed a tear at such an outcome. If he became Fianna Fail leader, Housing Minister Darragh OBrien would have to genuinely help Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee. Sinn Feins Louise OReilly will have a running mate up the northern end of the constituency and two seats would require a further surge. Labours Duncan Smith hit the ground running in the Dail but must shore up his base and Green minister Joe OBrien is relatively solid.





Leos plan comes together

Dublin West: 4 seats

Assuming hes Taoiseach again and with a wind behind him, Leo Varadkar would fancy his chances of bringing in senator Emer Currie. Sinn Feins Paul Donnelly finally took a seat and will have a running mate, but a second seat is a stretch. Still its right next door to the party leader so the Mary Lou effect cant be ruled out. Fianna Fails rising star Jack Chambers looks a bit more stable than Green Cabinet colleague Roderic OGorman. A strengthened Sinn Fein ticket does not augur well for a comeback from Solidarity PBPs Ruth Coppinger.





Shane, Ed and Trevor chase

Dublin Mid-West: 4 seats

Fianna Fail has a trio of councillors looking to replace former TD John Curran. Shane Moynihan, Ed OBrien and Trevor Gilligan are all vying to take up the spare Seanad seat going, thereby making them the candidate. Fine Gaels Emer Higgins has a seat locked down handily. Sinn Fein will run a third candidate, over on the west side of the constituency, with sitting TDs Eoin O Broin and Mark Ward, even though a third seat isnt on the cards. PBPs Gino Kenny scraped in by staying on top of the remaining left-wing pile so will never be comfortable.





Lynns homeward bound

Dublin South-West: 5 seats

Another seat Sinn Fein left behind a year ago, so Sean Crowes running mate has a walk-in. Senator and former MEP Lynn Boylan remains the favourite to get the nod on her native patch, although she has plenty of options elsewhere too. Fine Gaels Colm Brophy and Fianna Fails John Lahart will both get handily elected but will have to tolerate some pesky running mates. Rise TD Paul Murphy will be put under pressure from a second Sinn Fein candidate. Green Francis Noel Duffy will have Labours Ciaran Ahern and Social Democrat Carly Bailey snapping at his heels for the sole soft liberal left seat.





NORTH LEINSTER

New generations

Louth: 5 seats

Fianna Fail is banking on new Senator Erin McGreehan winning back its seat in the north of the county, with James Byrne sweeping in the south. Fine Gael is trying to pass the torch from Fergus ODowd to John McGahon, who still has a court case for alleged assault, which he denies, to navigate. A second seat is a big ask as long as Independent Peter Fitzpatrick is on the pitch. Labours Ged Nash is still heavily reliant on his Drogheda base. Sinn Feins duo of Imelda Munster in Drogheda and Ruairi O Murchu in Dundalk will now knock on the door of a third seat.





McEntees new ballgame

Meath East: 3 seats

Fine Gael Justice Minister Helen McEntee won the war outright with party colleague Regina Doherty. Doherty has now moved on to pastures new. McEntee will have a new running mate at the southern commuter belt end and with a small chance of a second seat. Also expected to move into Dublin is Labour Senator Annie Hoey. Sinn Feins Darren ORourke sits on a handy quota and Fianna Fail junior minister Thomas Byrne cant afford a complete collapse in the party vote. Independent Senator Sharon Keogan poses a vote-splitting threat to her former party of Fianna Fail.





Peadars target practice

Meath West: 3 seats

Aontus Peadar Toibin probably benefitted from the absence of a second Sinn Fein candidate. Along with Sinn Feins Johnny Guirke, Fine Gael minister Damien English will have a running mate, but theres not enough action so far to suggest either party will take a second seat. Fianna Fail Senator Shane Cassells will come back for another shot at Toibin in Navan. Social Democrat Ronan Moore is the dark horse if a gap appears on the left, but needs a big swing to his party.





Say it aint so, Joe

Longford-Westmeath: 4 seats

Sinn Fein TD Sorca Clarke was banging on the door even before the surge and will have a running mate in Longford. Fianna Fail pulled off a big win with junior minister Robert Troy in Westmeath and Joe Flaherty on the Longford side. But the margins were narrow enough, with Fine Gael junior minister Peter Burke and Senator Micheal Carrigy on for a rematch. The pivotal issue is whether Carrigy can overcome Flaherty. The Independent vote of former minister Kevin Boxer Moran and his councillor son Jamie will also be a factor in the final seat.





Seeking the Holly effect

Laois-Offaly: 5 seats

Sinn Feins Brian Stanley in Laois will have a running mate over on the Offaly side, most likely in Tullamore. Fianna Fail junior minister Sean Fleming and party colleague Barry Cowen are a perfectly balanced line-up and confident of returning again. Fine Gael have a ready-made replacement for veteran Charlie Flanagan, if he decides to retire, in Thomasina Connell. A second seat on the Offaly side is a big ask. Independent Carol Nolan will again be the target. Social Democrats Clare Claffey is a new one to watch in Offaly and viewed as another potential Holly Cairns. Green minister Pippa Hackett is a bit off the pace.





Durkans departure

Kildare North: 4 seats

Fine Gaels Bernard Durkan came too close to losing and the party wont take that chance again. His son, Tim, and fellow councillor Joe Neville will fight it out to replace him, with Evie Sammon also on the ticket, replacing Anthony Lawlor. Social Democrats joint leader Catherine Murphy and Sinn Feins Reada Cronin are comfortable, if not complacent. Fianna Fails James Lawless is unlucky not to be a minister. Whether his colleague Frank ORourke runs again remains to be seen. Green Vincent P Martin fell short and will try again.





Picking on Berry

Kildare South: 4 seats

The automatic election of Fianna Fail Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail makes the ground awkward as theres only three seats in play. Whether he wants one or not, Fine Gael junior minister Martin Heydon will have a running mate, but theres no second seat. Labour Senator Mark Wall cleaned out Athy and now has to broaden the base. Independent TD Cathal Berry is breaking out from his pocket in Portarlington in Co Laois. Fianna Fail Senator Fiona OLoughlin will challenge again. Sinn Feins Patricia Ryan from her Monasterevin base had under a quota so cant rest.
When former Labor frontbencher Joel Fitzgibbon quit the opposition shadow cabinet last year, he said his party needed to reduce its ambition on climate change to win back blue-collar workers.

Demonising and blaming blue-collar workers will not stabilise our climate, he tweeted at the time.

But its wealthy Victorians, rather than blue-collar workers, who are least likely to support climate action and the transition to renewable energy, according to new polling commissioned by the Victorian Trades Hall Council, which represents 43 trade unions and eight regional trades hall councils.

Construction worker Tom Shiels with Filamena Bruce and their children Charlie (3 years old) and Hattie (1 month). Credit:Joe Armao

The large poll of 3000 Victorian adults found while those who called themselves working class were not as enthusiastic about climate action as those who described themselves as middle or upper middle class, it was wealthy people who were the most unsupportive.
INVESTIGATIONS are underway after the body of a woman was recovered from the river Shannon in Limerick city this morning.

The alarm was raised at around 10am and emergency services were quickly on the scene.

Volunteers from Limerick Marine Search and Rescue were deployed along with members of Limerick Fire and Rescue who deployed their Fireswift rescue boat.

After the body of the woman was located, it was brought ashore by Limerick Fire and Rescue at St Michael's Rowing Club, O'Callaghan Strand.

It is believed the woman was aged in her 30s and a post-mortem will be carried out at University Hospital Limerick.

Gardai say a file will be prepared for the local coroner.
U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended two large groups of illegal aliens within an hour of each other near Mission, Texas, on Feb. 4, 2021. (Courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

253 Illegal Aliens Arrested Within an Hour at Texas Border

Border patrol agents arrested a total of 253 illegal aliens within an hour at the Texas border in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on Friday.

The arrests of two large groups of illegal aliens were made south of Mission, Texas, late on Thursday, the CBP announced in a news release. The groups, which had 166 and 87 people, consisted mainly of families and unaccompanied children. The group of 87 people had turned themselves in.

Other instances of illegal alien arrests were also noted by the CBP in its news release. The agency announced that border agents in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) sector received a tip about a possible stash house. The agents and local law enforcement on Wednesday arrested the 38 illegal aliens in the stash house, some of whom were trying to flee when the agents arrived at the scene.

RGV agents also arrested another eight people on Thursday afternoon. The eight were taken to the Rio Grande City Border Patrol Station to be processed, according to the CBP. Of the eight people, five were arrested after they were observed in a car leaving a suspected illegal alien stash house in Roma. RGV agents and police officers made the three other arrests when the occupants of the car said that there were more illegal aliens at the stash house.

The RGV agents also arrested 10 illegal aliens on Friday morning after they stopped a vehicle on U.S. Highway 281, near Linn, Texas. The vehicle abruptly drove off the highway into a ranch fence and the driver and all of the occupants of the vehicle tried to leave the scene before 10 of the group were arrested. The driver was not found, the CBP announced.

Even with the spread of the COVID-19 virus, human smugglers continue to try these brazen attempts with zero regard for the lives they endanger nor to the health of the citizens of our great nation, The U.S. Border Patrol agents of the Rio Grande Valley Sector will continue to safeguard the nation and community against these criminal elements, the CBP announced.

Texas recently won a lawsuit against the Biden administration over an executive order that Biden issued to halt the deportation of certain immigrants for 100 days. A federal judge temporarily blocked the order on Jan. 26.

The Biden administration has proposed a plan to legalize about 11 million illegal aliens living in the United States, something he had vowed during his campaign. Biden has also issued an order that halts all U.S.Mexico border wall construction.
Pushing its vaccine diplomacy further, India has approved to supply of 1 lakh doses of Covid 19 vaccines to Cambodia.

The Indian embassy in Phnom Penh said on Saturday the decision is a testament to India's appreciation for Cambodia as an important partner and its concern for the health and prosperity of the people of Cambodia.

The Indian government has decided to supply vaccines after Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen's requested Modi for assistance. The vaccine will be supplied by Serum Institute of India.

"The India Embassy in Phnom Penh is pleased to announce that the Government of India has approved the supply of one hundred thousand doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the Kingdom of Cambodia on an urgent basis," the embassy said.

"The supply has been assured through the Serum Institute of India despite innumerable competing requests from partner countries and our commitment to our domestic population. The decision is a testament to India's appreciation for Cambodia as an important partner and its concern for the health and prosperity of the people of Cambodia," it added.

Cambodia has so far registered over 470 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

From January 20 onwards, New Delhi has supplied coronavirus vaccines to several countries including Bhutan, Maldives, Mauritius, Bahrain, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Seychelles and Sri Lanka. (ANI)

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New Delhi, Feb 6 : Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will be visiting Rajasthan next week to participate in the farmers' agitation against the three farm laws and to support their demands to repeal the laws, a party leader said on Saturday.

Rajasthan Congress in-charge Ajay Maken tweeted: "To fight for the interests of farmers and to raise the voice of farmers and to put pressure on the government to repeal the three farm laws Rahul Gandhi will be visiting Rajasthan on February 12 and 13." Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi had extended support to the farmers' three-hour 'chakka jam' (road blockade) across the country against the farm laws.

Rahul has been vocal on the farmers' issue and has criticised the government several times.


BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- China has decided to assist Papua New Guinea (PNG) with a batch of vaccines to help the country completely overcome the pandemic, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday.

Wang made the remarks in a phone conversation with PNG's Acting Foreign Minister and Minister for National Planning and Monitoring Rainbo Paita.

Noting the mutual respect and mutual trust between the two countries since the establishment of diplomatic ties 45 years ago, Wang said China and PNG have always supported each other on issues concerning each other's core interests and that bilateral relations have become a model of friendly exchanges between China and Pacific Island countries.

China and PNG are sincere friends and trustworthy partners, Wang said, adding that since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two sides have worked hand in hand to fight the pandemic, and the friendship between the two countries has been further promoted.

China, Wang said, is ready to enhance the synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Connect PNG Infrastructure Development Program to facilitate PNG's economic recovery.

The Chinese government supports Chinese enterprises to invest and operate in PNG, and hopes that PNG will continue to provide an open, fair and friendly business environment for Chinese enterprises, said Wang.

Wang said that China appreciates that the PNG government has been firmly upholding the one-China policy. China firmly supports PNG in safeguarding its national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and exploring a development path that suits its national conditions.

Wang said China stands ready to continue its mutual understanding and support with PNG on issues concerning each other's core interests. China supports PNG in playing a more important role in international and regional arena, and pays attention to and understands the special concerns and reasonable demands of PNG and other Pacific island countries on climate change issues.

Wang stressed that China is willing to strengthen dialogue and communication with the PNG side on global climate governance.

Wang said that China is taking concrete actions to fulfill its commitment to make vaccines a global public product, and is willing to offer help to PNG within its capacity. China has decided to assist PNG with a batch of vaccines to help PNG completely overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, Wang said.

Paita congratulated China on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, and appreciated China's major achievements in various undertakings.

A friend in need is a friend indeed, said Paita. He said the government and people of PNG sincerely thanked China for its decision to provide COVID-19 vaccines to his country and spoke highly of China's positive contributions to assisting PNG in its pandemic fight and economic recovery.

The relations between PNG and China are mutually beneficial, friendly and sincere, Paita said, noting that his country always pursues the one-China policy and is willing to continue deepening mutually-beneficial practical cooperation within the frame of the Belt and Road Initiative and enhance exchanges and coordination with the Chinese side on international issues such as climate change.
IIT-Bombay GATE 2021: In view of the farmers nationwide blockade on Saturday (February 6) candidates appearing for the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) 2021, have been issued special certificates enabling their travel for the exam.

Farmers protesting against the new agri laws around Delhi-NCR have called for a nationwide chakka jam or road blockade on Saturday. Agitating farmers said they will block national and state highways for three hours (12 PM to 3 PM) to register their dissent against the harassment of protesters.

However, GATE is scheduled to kick off at 9.30 AM on the same day and will be held in two sessionsmorning and afternoon. While the first session of exam is between 9.30 AM and 12.30 PM, the afternoon session is between 3 PM and 6 PM.

In order to facilitate the students and save them from any trouble during their travels to and from the exam centre, IIT Bombay, the organising body of the exam this year, has issued special certificates to the candidates.

"The GATE 2021 office has prepared a special certificate requesting all concerned to allow you to pass through any blockade that you may face on your way. These certificates have been emailed to all those who have the exam on 6th (February). Please take a print out of this document and carry with you while travelling," said Subhasis Chaudhuri, Director, IIT Bombay.

"In view of the possibility of transport blockade on February 6, all GATE candidates are requested to arrive at the exam centre well ahead of time. Please carry sufficient food and water in case you need to arrive much earlier or reach home late," Chaudhuri told aspirants in a social media post.

"Though in the admit card, instructions point number 12 already says that admit card can be used as a movement pass in case of any restrictions, to add to that, this additional support letter is issued to whom so ever it may concern, in both English and Hindi to ease the movement of candidates to their exam locations," said Deepankar Choudhury, organising chairperson and professor at IIT Bombay.

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'Arrest Randeep Hooda' trends on twitter after his 'sexist and casteist' joke video on Mayawati goes viral

Penelope Cruz to star in Pedro Almodovar's 'Madres paralelas'

International

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Los Angeles, Feb 06: Actor Penelope Cruz has joined Oscar-winning filmmaker Pedro Almodovar's upcoming directorial venture "Madres paralelas" ('Parallel Mothers').

Actors Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, Israel Elejalde, Milena Smit Julieta Serrano and Rossy de Palma are also part of the film's cast.

According to Variety, the movie is set to start production by the end of March in Spain.

Hollywood to make movie on Thailand cave rescue ops

The top Spanish Auteur is also producing the project through his El Deseo banner.

With 'Parallel Mothers' I return to the female universe, to motherhood, to family. I speak of the importance of ancestors and descendants. The inevitable presence of memory. There are many mothers in my filmography, the ones that are part of this story are very different," Almodovar said in a statement.

The filmmaker said as a storyteller imperfect mothers "inspire" him the most and he is looking forward to start the work on the film.

Delhi metro stations to avoid amid farmers Chakka jam | Oneindia News

"As a storyteller, imperfect mothers inspire me most at this time. Penelope Cruz, Aitana Sanchez Gijon and the young Milena Smit will play the three mothers in the film, accompanied by Israel Elejalde in the main male character. I also have the collaboration of my beloved Julieta Serrano and Rossy de Palma. 'Parallel Mothers' will be an intense drama. Or so I hope, he said.

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Story first published: Saturday, February 6, 2021, 10:18 [IST]
After unemployment data which came out on Thursday, US data out today includes the Department of Labors monthly employment report and data on the trade balance and consumer credit.

Data already out today showed that Japans leading economic indicators index fell to 94.9% in December, as did German factory orders, by 1.9% month on month, after a rise of 2.7% in November.

Nickels three-month price was up to $17,900 per tonne on Friday at 9am, with dip-buying having emerged below the 40 daily moving average, at $17,600 per tonne, a price level it has held since Tuesday.Signs of a price base forming around $17,500 per tonne is encouraging for nickel prices to work higher from, particularly amid signs the consolidation phase across the broader base metals complex has run its course, Fastmarkets analyst James Moore said in a morning note.The bullish implications created by the electric-vehicle revolution and the decarbonization agenda will continue to support price sentiment in the longer term, he added.Markets have reacted positively to a steadier job market in the United States  the number of people who filed for unemployment benefits in the week to January 29 fell to 779,000, the lowest since November  while hopes for a Covid-19 stimulus package remain, too.Banks are revising their US [gross domestic product] expectations for 2021 ever higher, and if realized, 2021 will be the best year for the US economy since the mid-1980s, Bands Financial founding partner John Browning said in a note this morning.However, that is as nothing as to the expectations for China. I quote [Australian bank] Macquarrie: For 1Q21, one should not be surprised to see Chinas GDP up over 15% [year on year], industrial production up over 30% and the profits for industrial companies up over 60%, he added.The US Dollar Index eased slightly from the 91.60 it reached during early trading on Friday (after coming to its highest since early December, at 91.54, on Thursday), sitting at 91.34 at 9am, also allowing metal prices to move upward.Zincs price advanced to $2,656 per tonne on Friday morning, having picked up by 3.3% since the start of the week  its closing price on Monday at 5pm was of $2,570.50 per tonne.Meanwhile, coppers three-month price was up by 1.1% to $7,912 per tonne from Thursday, while aluminiums forward price crossed the $2,000-per-tonne barrier for the first time since January 26  it was at $2,005 per tonne on Friday at 9am, up from Thursdays closing price of $1,993.50 per tonne.After an 11,325-tonne outflow on Thursday, there was another 10,200-tonne outflow of aluminium from LME warehouses on Friday, largely leaving ports in Southeast Asia: Port Klang, Malaysia (6,000 tonnes), Johor (1,500 tonnes) and Sinagpore (1,000 tonnes).

Hyde follows family tradition, takes home PIAA gold in shot put

"It's awesome," Hyde said. "It really feels like a tradition, now. It will be cool to see our names next to each other in the record books."
Pennsylvanias new Secretary of Health Alison Beam has inherited a mess. Theres no better way to put it. And while she seems to have the drive and organizational skills to tackle the unmitigated disaster of Pennsylvanias response to COVID-19, there an alarming fact we cant ignore:

The Pennsylvania Department of Health has no concrete plan to quickly get more shots in arms to save lives.

In this weeks meeting with the Editorial Board of PennLive and The Patriot-News, Secretary Beam conceded our state is far behind others in protecting its most vulnerable citizens from COVID-19. And its clear she steps into the job without a real plan in place on how to distribute the vaccine most effectively, or how to get more of it for the people of Pennsylvania.

Secretary of Health Alison Beam joins PennLive The Secretary of Health talks about the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Posted by PennLive.com on Friday, February 5, 2021

Beam also steps into the job without a plan in place to enlist trusted community leaders in countering significant skepticism, especially among people of color and of diverse cultures, economic backgrounds and ethnicities.

This is beyond disappointing. It is infuriating. Many of our readers are livid. But more than that, they are terrified they are unprotected due to incompetence in state government.

People over 65 and those with underlying health conditions are getting vaccinated in far greater numbers in other states. And Pennsylvanians are livid that Gov. Tom Wolf and his administration have failed them so dismally in securing testing and vaccines.

Pa. Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine, Gov. Tom Wolf and PEMA officials provide an update on the coronavirus known as COVID-19 and outline steps Pennsylvanians can take to keep themselves healthy. on March 6, 2020. Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.com

PennPIRG, a public interest advocacy group, has rated Pennsylvania at the bottom of the heap, giving the state an F in testing for COVID-19, a key component to reduce death and suffering.

Our editorial board dittos that and goes even further. PennLives Editorial Board unanimously gives the state an F in rolling out the vaccine.

Heres why:

There is no plan. Or if there is one, its not being clearly communicated to either the media or the public:

This is not Secretary Beams fault, but she has to fix it now. She told the Editorial Board shes mission-driven, organized and will not miss a beat in taking over the health department. But its been a week and there is no concrete, easy to understand, well-communicated plan to revive hope and confidence among the thousands of Pennsylvanians who should already have been vaccinated. The plan should have been drafted months ago.

As of Feb. 2, 2021, Pennsylvania's COVID-19 vaccine locator map shows blue dots, indicating it's a place that may provide vaccinations. But many of these places don't answer their phones and aren't offering vaccinations.

The website is inadequate, to say the least:

The PA Department of Health website and its blue dots lead people to dead ends of taped recordings, unanswered phones and pharmacy brushoffs. And while we dont blame Secretary Beam for the dismal situation in our state, she has to take responsibility for solving it.

Communication is sorely lacking between the state and the facilities providing the vaccine.

Secretary Beam says shes trying to convince healthcare facilities to vaccinate more people and not hold back vaccine for the second dose. But pharmacies we contacted couldnt even confirm vaccination appointments made online, most dont answer the phone or flash a red sign on their websites saying they have no vaccine  come back later.

Too few trusted community leaders are engaged with the state in educating people about the vaccine.

The Latino Hispanic American Community Center (LHACC) has reached out to try to get more information to convince its skeptics to take the vaccine. The response has been anemic, at best. Too few faith groups, community-based non-profits and African American community leaders are engaged in education campaigns. And there is no effort to spotlight community leaders taking the vaccine to help allay fears.

A big part of the problem may be the glaring lack of diversity in the governors administration. Minority communities in a time of crises should not be a pandemic afterthought. They should be among those making these life and death decisions. This lack of minority representation inside the governors administration is shameful, especially as the governor, himself, went into the streets this summer to march for Black equality.

March against injustice and gun violence Pa. Governor Tom Wolf and Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse join the March against injustice and gun violence in Harrisburg. June 3, 2020 Sean Simmers | ssimmers@pennlive.com

There are questions about whether Pennsylvania leaders are being aggressive enough in getting more vaccines for our people.

Secretary Beam complained about the 175,000 first doses that have been sent to Pennsylvania, and she rightly said its just not enough. But whos doing what to get more. The Center for Disease Control looks at how efficiently the vaccine is being distributed in states before it sends more. And were doing a poor job of distributing the vaccine we have.

Join Spotlight PA's panel of health experts Thursday, Feb. 11 at 5 p.m. for a free reader Q&A on Pennsylvania's vaccine rollout and the latest variants. (HEATHER KHALIFA / Philadelphia Inquirer)

Beam is right to put some fire under those healthcare providers who are holding on to the vaccine to make sure they have enough for second doses. More vaccine is on the way. Lets get what we have into peoples arms.

Secretary Beam may not be a doctor, but that may not be what we need heading the Department of Health now. She has the power and authority to clean up Pennsylvanias COVID-19 mess. She should waste no time in getting the job done.

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Its been a brain-stretching 12 months. In March, I secured my PhD in epidemiology. By November, I was in the throes of another in immunology.

Despite a week-long diversion into stock-broking during the peoples war on hedge funds, not to mention the emergency diploma in EU contract law dissecting the AstraZeneca row, Im now in the antigen test trenches where people with actual PhDs (unlike mine from the University of Social Media) are tearing each other apart.

Now comes vitamin D and Ive to figure this out. The instant-expert business isnt easy I can tell you.

As many of us try to make sense of the latest research, Ive continually cautioned against hot-takes and I-told-you-sos.

Every government and public health leader is being pulled apart by the imperative to move fast and the fear of doing harm. Mike Ryan, the Irishman at the World Health Organisation (WHO) who is making us all so proud, warned from the start that waiting around for perfect decisions was the worst mistake. The trick to battlefield medicine is speed. If mistakes are made: learn and move on quickly.

Hes right of course, but in a world where armies of hacks stand ready to attack governments who get things wrong or God forbid  change their minds  errors are not learning opportunities but scandals. This atmosphere paralyses decision-makers when there are few binaries; only trade-offs and judgement calls. Its a deeply unhelpful environment for leaders working out what to do next.

For this reason, I have some compassion for caution.

Take masks and antigen testing. Back in Spring, Nphet followed the WHO by holding back on advice to the public to wear masks. In the early days, there was concern masks could do harm. Apart from the global shortage and need to put medical masks into medical hands, officials were afraid people would wear them incorrectly and use them to displace social distancing  the most effective protection against Covid.

These fears were legitimate and for all we know, maybe contributing to infection today.

But in the end authorities endorsed masks as the science settled that the benefits outweighed the risks.

Its the same with antigen tests. These are the cheap, fast tests that could be deployed in mass-settings and used to detect infection quickly rather than swamping the PCR lab-based tests. But theyre not as reliable as PCR tests. The worry here is that people with false negatives will keep spreading disease. Personally, I think antigen tests should be used. But the matter is far from settled.

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I say all this by way of getting to Vitamin D.

Despite my many learned hours on Twitter, I have yet to qualify as a doctor.

But Professor Rose-Ann Kenny is an undisputed genius. Shes Director of the Mercer Institute for Successful Ageing at St Jamess and founder of TILDA, the longitudinal study of thousands of Irish people, tracking every aspect of their life as they age. Im no expert, but she is.

And if Professor Kenny says older people should take Vitamin D to protect them against Covid, what are we hanging around for? Vitamin D is not a medicine and requires no complicated approval process. Start taking it tomorrow. Anthony Fauci takes it daily.

Vitamin D is the sunshine vitamin, which those of us who live on the outskirts of the North Pole desperately need. Fourty three per cent of Irish people over 50 have a Vitamin D deficiency.

Its particularly acute in nursing home patients who have demonstrably lower vitamin D levels than their community-dwelling peers.

Kenny and her colleagues have been monitoring the effects of vitamin D supplements in older populations throughout Europe during the pandemic, both as a way of building up immunity to Covid, and as a treatment. Once you start taking Vitamin D, it takes a few weeks to build up in your system, but if youre deficient you can be treated with an activated form in hospital.

A clinical trial in Spain showed spectacular results in Covid patients treated like this when admitted to hospital. It reduced ICU admissions by 96pc.

I wont list all the other studies and population level observations here but they are compelling. Kenny along with other doctors like Professor Dan McCartney and Declan Byrne say all Irish adults should take a daily vitamin D supplement of 20-25mcg to build protection against the virus.

And what is the Nphet response? Circumstantial, says Tony Holohan referring to the evidence. He wants more proof. Its true the studies on vitamin D could yet amount to correlation not causation.

But hanging around waiting on perfect evidence is exactly what Mike Ryan warned against. The lethargy over masks was understandable due to fear of doing harm. But there is no harm with vitamin D. If it turns out not to work, so what?

The worst side effect is your bones will be stronger.

There is no downside here.

People, especially older people in nursing homes are dying now while they wait on the vaccine. If Nphet waits for clinical trials to provide perfect evidence that vitamin D works, itll all be over by then.

Thankfully, nursing homes arent waiting on perfect evidence and are supplementing patients already. Mike Ryan said if you need to be right before you move, you will never win.

If the greatest error is not to move, then move  now.

Wash your hands. Keep your distance. Hold firm. Take vitamin D. Now.
The truth about the Labour Party and its ferociously radical leader Sir Keir Starmer is so obvious that nobody sees it. This is why the recent revelation that the Blair creature himself was once a Trotskyist came and went without any response at all.

Nobody in the media wants to believe it, so they simply ignore it. Since the days of the Blairites, Labour has been a revolutionary party, crammed with people who long to get rid of the Monarchy but have more sense than to say so in public.

An astonishing number of Blair's Cabinet colleagues had deep past links with revolutionary sects. Now such ideas are embedded in a party that used to be based on working-class trade unionism and Methodist Christianity.

My advice is to take note of this now, rather than waiting to find out that it is true, just as it is true that Labour's present leader, Keir Starmer was  as an adult  connected to a Marxist sect and its deeply radical magazine. But nobody wants to know.

The truth about the Labour Party and its ferociously radical leader Sir Keir Starmer is so obvious that nobody sees it. This is why the recent revelation that the Blair creature himself was once a Trotskyist came and went without any response at all

Film emerged last week of Sir Keir saying he 'often used to propose the abolition of the Monarchy' (above)

This has been the genius of Blairism, to be miles to the Left of Jeremy Corbyn, but to persuade gullible media types that they are actually conservative.

So when film emerged last week of Sir Keir saying he 'often used to propose the abolition of the Monarchy', the main response (if there was any at all) was that it was a long time ago.

So what? Has he really changed his mind, or just his image? In fact, the only way to find out what such people think is often to check what they said before the spin doctors cleaned up their pasts for them.

The truth is that New Labour, crammed as it is with 'ex' Marxists, loathes the Monarchy and yearns to get rid of it. It rightly sees public respect for the Crown as an obstacle to the complete power it seeks. (Above, the Queen and Prince Philip last June)

In 2014, Starmer accepted a knighthood as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) and was invested in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace by Prince Charles

Remember Blair's attempt to deny that he had once been a nuclear disarmer, until documents proved beyond doubt that he had been?

So why did he pretend so hard that the facts were not true? Because it still said something important about his real politics, which he wished to conceal from the voters.

Last week it also emerged that Sir Keir's party had been seeking advice from the hidden persuaders of marketing, who told them to 'make use' of the flag, veterans and dressing smartly, to win back the trust of working-class voters.

I'm sure these cynics will follow this advice. They understand that they will come to power only by pretending to be someone else, and they are not ashamed to do so.

I'll never forget the day in May 1997 when Labour Party workers were shepherded into Downing Street and ordered to wave Union Jacks (a flag which most of them hated) while the Blair creature made his triumphal approach to the door of No 10.

The genius of Blairism has been to be miles to the Left of Jeremy Corbyn, but to persuade gullible media types that they are actually conservative

The thing was an obvious phoney, as normal human beings haven't been allowed into fenced-off Downing Street for decades.

But as phoney tricks so often do, it worked. TV news programmes fell for it, and clips of this falsehood still turn up all the time, without any health warning, in historical documentaries.

The truth is that New Labour, crammed as it is with 'ex' Marxists, loathes the Monarchy and yearns to get rid of it. It rightly sees public respect for the Crown as an obstacle to the complete power it seeks.

It wants the adoring crowds, the grandeur and the ceremony for itself. But it knows it will never win an election if it says so. So it waves the flag, accepts the knighthoods, and waits for its time to come.

How sad to see Northern Ireland sink still further into the miserable swamp that lies between the surrender to the IRA, which we made in 1998, and the eventual handover of the province to Dublin rule, which is the inevitable end of all this.

The trade border in the Irish Sea is one of the most extraordinary shrinkages of British sovereignty I have ever seen, yet we are supposed to admire the agreement that led to it.

How I wish we had done as I urged, and taken the Norway option. This humiliation, at least, would not then have happened.

Where did they Dig up Lily's role?

How I looked forward to watching The Dig, a new British film based on a novel I'd quite enjoyed about one of the most enthralling events of our time.

This was the uncovering in 1939 of an Anglo-Saxon burial site, crammed with thrilling relics of a mysterious past.

If you have not seen the discoveries of Sutton Hoo at the British Museum, try to do so as soon as you can, because they will astonish you and then haunt you.

How I looked forward to watching The Dig, a new British film based on a novel I'd quite enjoyed about one of the most enthralling events of our time. The job of the character played by Lily James (above), a woman archaeologist, was to be the good, liberated modern character, an ambassador from 2021 among the ignorant, crabby relics of long ago. Yet the actual records show that women were prominent and respected in archaeology at the time

How disappointed I was. For a fee of, say, 30 shillings, I could have told the makers that 'lemon drizzle cake' and the Sunday Mirror did not exist in 1939.

I could have told them that English people in 1939 did not say 'Wow!' Nor did they shout 'For Christ's sake!' because they had missed a ferryboat.

As for the character played by Lily James, a woman archaeologist, her job (there's one in almost all such dramas) was to be the good, liberated modern character, an ambassador from 2021 among the ignorant, crabby relics of long ago.

Yet the actual records show that women were prominent and respected in archaeology at the time.

The past was different, to be sure. But it was not a dark age.

Putin is a tyrant, but his rival is no saint...

Why do we seek so often to reform other people's countries, while making such a mess of our own? Is it because we don't think very hard about either?

I watched in despair the applause for the Arab Spring, especially in Cairo, where the 'freedom demonstrators' were often nasty antisemites, and the outcome was bound to be an Islamist regime. This duly followed, as did a savage and gory military coup which it's not polite to mention.

Now the West likes to despise Russia's sinister tyrant Vladimir Putin. But who do they think will replace him? Before him, we had Boris Yeltsin, who (everyone now forgets) called up tanks to shell his own parliament.

The West likes to despise Russia's sinister tyrant Vladimir Putin. But who do they think will replace him?

Yeltsin, having come to power on a pretence of hating corruption, was so corrupt it shocked even Russians, who, shall we say, are no strangers to corruption. While I was living there you could do hardly anything without a bribe.

And now we are supposed to admire 'opposition leader' Alexei Navalny. Yet the very people who promote Navalny would shy away from any Western figure who had his record of militant nationalism and bigotry.

He has appeared at rallies next to skinheads. He once took part in a video where he appeared to compare people from the Caucasian regions, often unpopular with ethnic Russians, to cockroaches.

Now we are supposed to admire 'opposition leader' Alexei Navalny. Yet the very people who promote Navalny would shy away from any Western figure who had his record of militant nationalism and bigotry

While cockroaches can be killed with a slipper, he said, for humans he recommended a pistol. His defenders dismiss this a joke. Well, maybe.

He has also spoken in favour of Russia's repossession of the Crimea, saying 'the reality is that Crimea is now part of Russia Crimea is ours'  a view I think reasonable, but which is hated by the BBC and liberal types who currently laud him.

I have my own view on Russia's miseries, which is that you cannot immediately recover from nearly 75 years of Marxist terror and stupidity, and that the West did little to help when Communism fell.

But I also think that we rage against poor, weak Russia mainly because we are scared to take on rich, strong China. If President Putin is overthrown by Navalny or someone like him, we may come to wish for the devil we knew.

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's vitriolic, conspiracy-laden, violent (anti-Semitic, white supremacist) rhetoric and politics have drawn widespread condemnation. News outlets and Republican colleagues have called her comments "nutty," "kooky" and "loony," while Democrats have been even harsher. On Thursday, in an unprecedented move, the House voted to strip Greene, R-Ga., of her committee assignments as punishment for her rhetoric. Yet Greene remains unrepentant, claiming that the vote "freed" her to spread her message, and to hold the "Republican Party accountable" and push it "to the right."

While fellow Republicans have tried to paint Greene as an aberration - outside of the mainstream of their party, someone for whom they bear no responsibility - the truth is far blurrier than they are willing to admit. The congresswoman is actually part of a long line of radical far-right White women who have animated American politics dating back to the 19th century. By consequence of their conspiracy theories and extreme rhetoric, they have managed to stretch the margins of what is considered politically respectable. Their politics have also stoked the radical wings of their respective parties (Democrats in the early 20th century; Republicans in the late 20th and early 21st centuries). With her advocacy of violence and condemnation of party leaders and American officials, Greene fits squarely in this inglorious tradition in American politics.

One of Greene's most prominent foremothers hailed from the outskirts of her 14th congressional district in Cartersville, Ga. Rebecca Latimer Felton was the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate, albeit only for a day. Felton was a suffragist, proponent of public education, opponent of convict leasing and advocate for working-class White women. But she was also a virulent white supremacist who used rumor and fantasy to support her racist politics.

In 1897, ignoring the structural economic issues plaguing Southern farmers, Felton told a Georgia farm convention that the most significant problem facing farm women was "Black rapists." She faulted White men for not supporting their wives and leaving them at the mercy of Black men. Her solution: lynching Black men, "a thousand times a week."

This rhetoric from a prominent political leader helped fuel the one coup in American history. The following year, as White North Carolina Democrats tried to defeat interracial fusionists, Felton's speech appeared in a White Wilmington newspaper. The editor of a Black newspaper responded by suggesting that interracial relationships actually resulted from White women seeking Black men as romantic partners.

White supremacists used this claim as cause for destroying the newspaper and unleashing the terror that became the Wilmington Massacre. They threatened violence to keep Black Republicans from the polls, elected White Democrats and conducted a successful coup against the democratically elected interracial city government. Killing Black Wilmington residents and running off others, white supremacists took over the city.

The fear Felton had whipped up helped justify this sort of extreme action. And this violent overthrow received the tacit approval of the federal government. Anti-lynching legislation, introduced more than 200 times, failed to pass the Senate for the entire 20th century. The willingness of a political leader like Felton to traffic in such bigoted and false stereotypes also helped produce a culture in which false accusations of rape led to the murder or imprisonment of Black men and boys - a problem that persists to this day. She helped to pull politics in an extreme, racist direction with long-lasting impact.

Felton would not be the last prominent White woman to help inculcate radical ideas on the right. In 1943, Mississippi newspaper publisher Mary Dawson Cain blamed both the wartime resurgence of lynching and the 1943 insurrection in Detroit on first lady Eleanor Roosevelt for raising expectations for social equality. Cain trafficked in other conspiracy theories and bigotry, as well, joining in anti-Semitic charges against the Anti-Defamation League, accusing the Supreme Court and Congress of being communists, the United Nations of being Godless and Americans of being duped by humanitarianism.

Far from ostracizing her, this incendiary and at times delusional rhetoric landed Cain at the center of right-wing politics. As president of the Congress of Freedom, she honored, among others, Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., Republican Gov. George Wallace of Alabama and John Birch Society founder Robert Welch. Her politics served as a forerunner of the rise of the new right, with everyone from Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis., to Goldwater embracing similar rhetoric in the years to come. Within two decades, Goldwater would be the Republican presidential nominee, and future president Ronald Reagan would later receive the award created by Cain.

Fellow Mississippian Florence Sillers Ogden, sister of Mississippi's speaker of the house, trafficked in similar rhetoric as Cain. She charged that the United Nations Genocide Convention, which condemned mass murder by national governments, would permit the rape of White women by Black men and then prevent their punishment. Ogden's arguments won over, among others, the Daughters of the American Revolution. In speeches to DAR chapters, Ogden and other radical White women like her claimed that the U.N. meant "[A] Negro, a Chinese, or a member of any racial minority, could insult you or your daughter. Your husband might shoot him . . .. If so, he could be tried in an international court. It would also make it a crime to prevent racial intermarriage and intermarriage would destroy the White race which has brought Christianity to the world."

This incendiary rhetoric propelled the Vigilant Women for Bricker movement in the early 1950s. This organization accused internationalist senators of being communists and supported amending the U.S. Constitution to move treaty ratification out of the federal government and into state legislatures. Again, instead of the members of the movement being ostracized, the American Bar Association's president saw fit to speak to the group, which included Cain and a young Phyllis Schlafly. While the latter did not profess to fear the U.N. because of interracial rape and marriage, she happily forged political alliances with White women who did, taking advantage of their political capital as part of her rise to becoming maybe the most prominent female political activist on the right.

The conspiracy-mongering among radical White women in this era knew no bounds - even fueling claims that 14-year-old Emmett Till's murder was a hoax created by the NAACP to arouse federal condemnation against Southern segregation.

Such extremism did not damage, let alone doom, the women associated with it. Instead, it helped elevate them to prominence in conservative politics. During the 1960s, radicals like Cain and Ogden shifted to colorblind - yet still white supremacist - rhetoric and formed organizations that pledged to "save the Constitution," in response to school busing to achieve racial equality. In the 1970s, they extended this argument to the Equal Rights Amendment, ultimately gaining traction among other conservatives. This language portrayed the right as conservers of constitutional government and the left as its destroyers, but it was rooted in the conspiracy theories and bigotry of decades past.

History has forgotten much of this extreme activism, in part because it has been whitewashed, and in part because of a gender bias that shifts political seriousness away from "nutty" (read: not dangerous) White women. Antibusing extremists in Boston leveled death threats at elected officials, destroyed cars of "integrationists," called in the Ku Klux Klan and stood outside playgrounds yelling racist epithets at young children. And indeed, they recycled Felton's arguments, expressing fear that their daughters would sit beside Black boys. Yet, history remembers them as antibusing advocates, not white supremacists.

Resurrecting this history and labeling it correctly helps to place Greene in the proper context and exposes the real danger of her ideas. While her colleagues have condemned her rhetoric, history teaches us that they won't cast Greene out of the Republican Party. Instead, they'll welcome her supporters, and perhaps repackage her claims in less incendiary terms, making them the new mainstream of conservative politics.

- - -

McRae is an associate professor of history at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina.
ABC NewsBy DANIEL MANZO, EMILY SHAPIRO and DAN PECK, ABC News



(NEW YORK) -- Another snowstorm is set to hit the Northeast this weekend as the Midwest braces for dangerous wind chills. First, the snow is slamming the Midwest Saturday. Six inches of snow fell so far in parts of Nebraska.



The arctic air rushing across the Great Lakes is also triggering isolated heavy bands of lake effect snow. Over 1 foot of snow has been reported near Buffalo and in parts of western Michigan.



The lake effect snow can bring very heavy snow and gusty winds, leading to whiteout conditions at times.



By early Sunday morning, the snow will push into the Northeast, beginning in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore areas before reaching Philadelphia and New York City by mid-morning.

Here is one model representation of what we are expecting for tomorrow's Nor'easter. There is still a fair amount of uncertainty in where the heaviest snow band(s) set up and thus the highest totals. Either way, we are expecting a snowy day Sunday. #NYwx #CTwx #NJwx pic.twitter.com/ZrtGsM0pTO  NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) February 6, 2021



Bursts of heavy snow are expected with snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour possible.



Due to the storm, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday's vaccination appointments at the Stony Brook and Jones Beach state-run sites will be postponed.

Due to winter weather, appointments scheduled for Sunday at the Stony Brook & Jones Beach NYS-run vaccination sites will be postponed.



If you have an appointment, you will NOT lose your spot & your appt will be rescheduled over following 7 days.https://t.co/gklRWQUlyx  Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) February 6, 2021



Unlike Monday's major snowstorm, this storm will move quickly.



By the afternoon the snow will be focused on New England and by the evening the snow showers will be lingering along the New England coast.



The Interstate-95 corridor could see 3 to 6 inches of snow from Philadelphia through Boston.



Parts of Long Island and southeast New England could end up with over 6 inches.



Meanwhile, a blast of polar air is moving into the Midwest.



On Sunday morning, the wind chill -- what temperature it feels like -- will plunge to minus 28 degrees in Minneapolis, minus 26 degrees in Green Bay, minus 19 degrees in Chicago and minus 5 degrees in Detroit.



The bitter cold will stay in the Midwest for several days before expanding south into the middle of next week.



Copyright  2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
John David Washington's Malcolm talks about how cinema doesnt need to have a message, it needs to have a heart and electricity. Malcolm & Marie has some version of all three, but still leaves you oddly unaffected.

Going back all the way to Addison DeWitt in All About Eve (1950), critics have often been villainised in cinema, portrayed as self-absorbed failed artists harbouring some hidden agenda when they lay down a harsh verdict. They're seldom shown as creatives who feel privileged and thrilled that they get to do what they do for a living. The tradition of critics being turned into targets of criticism continues in Malcolm & Marie. The woes of the film's protagonist, and by proxy its director Sam Levinson, bring to mind Noel Coward's quip: I can take any amount of criticism as long as it is unqualified praise. If unqualified praise is all Levinson wishes, he shouldnt read any further.

Returning home from a rousing reception to the premiere of his latest film, Malcolm (John David Washington) now turns his attention to the reviews from critics. He's bullish though. He puts on some James Brown, fixes himself a drink, and dances around the living room in his slim-cut tux. Cooking mac 'n' cheese for him in her shimmering gown is his girlfriend Marie (Zendaya), who doesn't quite share his celebratory mood. Captured in gin-clear black-and-white, the glassy exteriors and the textured interiors of the luxurious house all lend themselves well to the drama about to unfold. Though the couple are confined to a single location, there is a great distance between them. When he's ranting in the living room, she stands outside in the terrace and smokes. Even when they're in the same room, there's a noticeable distance.

What's troubling Marie is Malcolm forgot to thank her in his speech. This oversight is a bone of contention, but to get to the heart of their crisis will require them to peel off a lot more layers of their relationship. It sets the stage for all the unspoken disagreements and bitterness that have stockpiled over its course. Their bubble swells to bursting in a game of seduction. Both launch into lengthy monologues to make their case to the opposition. With the camera glued to their faces, it's like they're trying to convince us too.

Levinson plays it cleverly, teasing us with scraps of information about their past. When we pick them up, it recontextualises their relationship each time. On occasion, arguments are interrupted by short, tender moments of reconciliation and make-out sessions. The camera is an invasive presence, always there to capture their private reactions as they run through a gamut of emotions. Levinson lets us observe like voyeurs peering through a window. Though it's set like a chamber piece, the agile movement of the tracking shots render it entirely cinematic.

Malcolm's new film is about a 20-year-old woman struggling with drug abuse. Marie insists he drew from her own experiences as an addict, yet never so much as acknowledged he did. Malcolm argues the character is a composite based on all the women from his past. This snowballs into an argument about artistic collaboration, the purpose of filmmaking, and the desire for authenticity.

In a film with a lot of talk about authenticity, it is hard to overlook the artificial eloquence of the dialogue, and the contrivance that is Malcolm and Marie's dispute. Over the course of the night, the inventory builds with arguments over Malcolm's biggest pet peeve: film criticism. He hits out at contemporary film discourse which lets identity politics get in the way of assessment, singling out a white lady critic from the Los Angeles Times. Citing examples of George Cukor empathising with women and Elaine May being fascinated by emotionally stunted men, he shouts an entire op-ed to prove his point.

Malcolms criticism extends to other white critics like her who compare him only to Black filmmakers like Spike Lee and Barry Jenkins, when he believes William Wyler would be a more fitting point of reference. When reviews for his film finally drop, it is interesting to note that Malcolm is in fact just as outraged by a positive review from the aforementioned "white lady critic." Because he doesn't believe she understood his film at all. Though she calls the film a "genuine masterwork," he is as enraged over her misidentification of shots and lenses as he is by her assessment of the film through a political lens. This nameless and faceless presence virtually becomes a third character in this two-hander.

Moreover, you get the feeling Levinson is using a Black filmmaker as a mouthpiece to counteract exactly the kind of criticism he detests. Marie, on the other hand, is a counterpuntal superego to cover all viewpoints. When Marie talks about how Malcolm sexualises the trauma of his female protagonist, and how the film could have benefited from a female gaze, it feels like Levinson trying to protect himself against criticism of his own work.

Indeed, the film is far more perceptive when it focuses on Marie. Through her POV, the night becomes a dissection of a toxic relationship. Tired of being neglected and taken for granted, she calls him out every time he's being an "asshole." She does it when he complains about reviews that haven't yet been written. When he asserts, not everything I do is political because I'm Black, she reminds him his next project is an Angela Davis biopic. When he's called out however, he defaults to his spiteful self. This becomes clear when he uses details from Marie's traumatic past against her. Washington plays a man whose narcissism belies his insecurities. But in a monologue-heavy two-hander, it is Zendaya's silences that speak louder than words. Her Marie can disconcert Malcolm with a mere grimace, a raised eyebrow or a quivering lip.

In one of his endless rants, Malcolm talks about how cinema doesnt need to have a message, it needs to have a heart and electricity. Malcolm & Marie has some version of all three, but still leaves you oddly unaffected. With all its condemnations and protests spelt out and screamed, it lacks that "what-if factor" Marie describes.

So you have to ask: What if Malcolm & Marie was simply a vehicle for Zendaya and John David Washington to show off their acting chops, not a vehicle for Levinson to air his grievances too?

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Malcolm & Marie is now streaming on Netflix
I recently watched a few videos online that purport to predict the near future. Prediction is an understandable desire, especially as the domestic and geopolitical situations have become very critical and complex. It is more important than ever to anticipate the next major event, so as to act accordingly. The problem with most of these videos, however, is that they did not even make correct predictions about 2020. By now, President Trump was supposed to have gotten us into a nuclear war with North Korea. Indeed, according to many, in 2016, Trump would never be elected president.

Say what they will, the master prognosticators are not scientific. That is the main reason why they are so (ahem) predictably wrong. Their predictions are based more on their biases than on data. That is why, in 2015, we were urged to cease all use of fossil fuels, or else the Earth would burn up in 2019. We have far more data concerning climate than we do on illegal aliens, and both of those issues are fraught more with politics than sound policy. I can safely predict that the climate will change. Unlike climate, immigration is something we can actually control. I predict that it will be controlled badly, but I cannot say how badly.

Making predictions all but impossible is something called the Butterfly Effect. It is real, even if a butterfly in China does not, in fact, cause a hurricane in the Caribbean. The effect is well known to computer programmers, who discovered that even a slight change in the initial parameters of a sequence of calculations can dramatically change the final outcome. Kingdoms can indeed fall for want of a horseshoe nail. George Washington was spared death in war because a British soldier could not bear to shoot anyone in the back; the course of history was, thereby, unpredictably altered.

The predictions that are of most concern to us now involve both domestic and international strife.

Domestically, our nation is now more divided than at any time in a century and a half. Moreover, we are less likely to compromise  indeed, less likely even to discuss contentious topics  than in many decades. We are truly at a fork in the road, one way leading to tyranny, another to the uncertainty that comes with freedom.

Internationally, the government of China is making bold threats against Biden that it never dared to make against Trump. China perceives weakness, and nothing so invites warfare as that perception. The tyrants in China have many options, many routes of attack, from limited expansion in the China Sea to full-scale invasions of Taiwan or other Asian nations and, finally, ultimatums delivered to the U.S. that could abruptly go nuclear. Which, if any, will the Chinese choose?

One crisis could influence the other. For example, increasing resistance to government overreach in the U.S. could result in various forms of reaction, from state nullification to military crackdowns by Biden. Where that might go is unpredictable, but surely China would seize any opportunity presented by domestic discord. Indeed, China could help foment discontent.

If it is perceived that the U.S. government is leading us off a cliff, then a number of crises could quickly escalate. A grassroots uprising, or a top-down coup, could result. In either case, the outcome would be either chaos or authoritarian order, neither of which is desirable.

Of one thing we can be certain: the future will be very different from the present, and unpredictably so.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Health policy is always a matter of life and death  and even more so during a pandemic. This week, health economist Vivian Ho grapples with some of our moments big questions:

How is Texas doing with its vaccine rollout? Whats baked into our states unusual choice to prioritize people over 65 or with underlying conditions, rather than teachers and other frontline workers? How fair has it been so far? And what does it mean that even the Centers for Disease Control and Protections data isnt good enough to answer basic questions about reopening safely?

At Rice University, Ho is the James A. Baker III Institute Chair in Health Economics, and she directs the Baker Institutes Center for Health and Biosciences. She is also a professor at Baylor College of Medicine, and was recently elected to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest honors in the field.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Could you start with an overview? Where are we with COVID-19 right now?

In the U.S., the cases do seem to be on the decline, which is a good sign, and in Texas, they are decreasing as well.

However, I look at the Harris County numbers quite a bit. Last I checked, they were stalled at a little over 2,000 cases per day, which I find quite disconcerting. I was hoping that now weve gotten well beyond the holidays, that there would have been less mixing of people who dont normally dont see each other, so that we would start seeing a decline.

One of the metrics I use is an email from METRO. Anyone who has a METRO bus pass gets an email every day telling how many cases Metro has had. If there are no cases you dont get an email.

Starting, I think, around Dec. 21, theres been an email almost every day, Monday through Friday. I think I had a break of one day, but then they popped right back up again in my inbox. And even worse, it used to be one or two cases in each notification. Now its regular to see five new exposures on a day.

What about the vaccine rollout? How is Texas doing, compared to other states?

Texas is relatively OK. Were not at the top of the list. Our percentage of the population thats been vaccinated isnt double-digit yet, but were very close.

Its been quite a slow rollout all over the country. But we are doing somewhat well compared to the other big states. Its harder for big states: They have to come up with a coordination plan, send it out, and then it can run smoothly or it can go badly depending on which county youre in. Compared to Florida, California and New York, I think Texas is doing relatively well.

We seem to have a distinction. Many other states have chosen to prioritize teachers and maybe some other frontline workers, whereas Texas has chosen to prioritize the elderly and people under 65 with a health risk. Theres really not a good way to argue that one solution is consistently better than the other.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Texas COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker

In Texas, we really dont want to overburden our healthcare system. We vaccinate the people who are most likely to get severely ill, and then we can avoid hospitalizations.

Some of the other states are receiving tremendous pushback from teachers. Teachers say, Were not going to go back into the classroom unless were vaccinated. That creates restrictions so that the state has to vaccinate them. Then out of fairness, there are many other frontline workers who suffered terribly under the pandemic, so theyre sometimes vaccinated first, too.

As an economist, how do you see the trade-offs in those approaches?

I think Texass approach is better in terms of economic return. First of all, because you avoid hospitalizations, you avoid the cost of paying for all those hospitalizations. That saves money for the federal and state governments, and it may eventually lower insurance premiums. (Laughs.) Well, those premiums never go down. But maybe they wont rise as quickly.

Unfortunately, with that approach, there is higher burden on frontline workers and their employers. If employers are providing them health insurance, then employers have to pay the costs if they get sick.

Theres also another economic advantage of Texass vaccinating the elderly population. A lot of them have been very, very sensible up until now, and have stayed away from all sorts of economic activity that they would normally do. After being vaccinated, theyre going to feel more comfortable going out and doing some things that they werent doing before.

Im very curious to see what happens on Valentines Day. I think by that time, a fair number of seniors will have gotten both shots and will decide to go out to a restaurant.

Experts still dont know if a vaccinated person could contract the virus and spread it on to someone else without knowing it. Im really hoping that that that doesnt turn out to be the case.

Because if the elderly are going out again, we could see an increase in income for restaurant workers, which would would be a good sign all the way around. They also would feel more comfortable going back to the hairdresser and doing all these these things that all of us have been missing.

The elderly populations income, of course, is extremely unequal. But theres a large proportion of elderly who have significant incomes and havent been spending them. So if theyre out and theyre spending, thats a big boost to a part of the economy that hasnt seen much activity.

And then there are travel agents. Some elderly people have already started booking their trips for 2021, as long as theyre refundable. They are ready to go.

So were unleashing the partying seniors? Ill have to check out restaurant parking lots at 6 p.m. on Valentines Day.

(Laughs.) And then well cross our fingers and hope theres not an increase in cases associated with that. That would be very good news.

You follow statistics as closely as anyone I know. What do you think about the general state of U.S. stats on COVID?

Unfortunately, weve been functioning on an incredibly low amount of data relative to what we could have. At the Baker Institute, the law firm Baker Botts gave us pro-bono assistance in submitting an expedited Freedom of Information Act request to the CDC back in the summer.

Wait: To get data from the CDC, you had to file a Freedom of Information Act request? The CDC wouldnt just release it?

Yes. The data was protected. The CDC case reports are a large data set of supposedly every single case report of COVID in the country. And although other large government data sets are open  you can go to the Census Bureau and click download right away  its more challenging for healthcare data. There are more issues of privacy, so they want to be very careful who theyre making this data available to.

Got a COVID Question?: Ask the Chronicles COVID Help Desk

Of course, we also had some restrictions under the previous administration. It wasnt so friendly about sharing data. But I have to say, the week we submitted that Freedom of Information Act request, a woman at the CDC got on the phone with us and was quite helpful. I think a number of employees realized its important to get the data out. They were not allowed to say anything publicly about this, but if someone goes in and submits this legal request, then its Well, we have to respond. So I guess we will.

After we got on the phone, she sent the data to us within hours. But unfortunately, it was a really large data set with mostly missing fields. It was 2 million records, but the records had no information in them.

What kind of information was missing? What fields were blank?

It was huge. It was very common to have missing information on race or ethnicity. The county of where exposure occurred was missing most of the time.

At least we had the state that the report came from. So we counted the number of cases relative to what the New York Times was counting. The New York Times was quite accurate because they were looking at daily postings, down to the county level, all over the country.

Hardly anything was coming in from Texas. For the time period we were looking at the CDC records for Texas had 5.5% of cases relative to what the New York Times was counting.

What does that mean, 5.5% of cases?

If you divided the CDCs count of Texas cases from late spring until the end of summer by the number of Texas cases the New York Times was counting, you got 5.5%.

That really means that over late spring and summer, 95% of case reports from Texas never made it to the CDC. It was mind-boggling.

Wed thought that we were going to collect this data so we could give guidelines to Texas policymakers  you know, these things are safe and these things are not safe. But how can you even do that if you have no information?

Texas was one of the worst. Some states were much better. Utah was pretty good. Minnesota, Michigan and surprisingly New Mexico had good data. So we were able to analyze a few states and just characterize the nature of the outbreak.

We had data that were similar to what you would have seen in other reports for you know, certain states or local areas. For example, it was clear that the Hispanic population had many more cases relative to their representation in the population distribution. It was clear that a lot of the case exposure was people ages 20 to 39  that was the highest. It was clear that a good portion of the work that the exposure was either at work or at home.

The missing data frustrates me so much. The CDC case reports actually asked whether you had been on an airplane. They asked, what county you live in? Also, if you had done domestic travel in the last 14 days, and if so, which states?

If that information had been complete, you would have been able to calculate the rates of cases at most major airports in the country. You could line up the county information with the location of the airports and say, Well, is it safe to fly or not?

But here we are. The latest information Ive seen about whether its safe to fly came from a story of a flight from Dubai to New Zealand. Im speechless: Thats more than a 12-hour flight. I dont care how safe it is, or unsafe it is, to be on a 12-hour flight. But a lot of us care whether its safe or not to be on a two- or three-hour flight, right? And we still dont know.

The airlines would have appreciated that. I mean, they can get up and say, Well, were sanitizing our airplanes every time after people get off. But if we had CDC numbers, we would actually know how dangerous this is or whether it isnt.

What else could we figure out if we had better data?

The case report form did ask: Have you been at work? Were you exposed at work? And if so, it had a blank for what type of work. It could distinguish between health care workers and others  weve had good data on health care workers  but the CDC form also specifically asked, Are you a grocery store worker? We would really have benefited from knowing how many of these cases resulted from people being in grocery stores, in restaurants or bars, and being in work areas where there are many people not wearing a mask.

You really want to distinguish those from places where exposure is not much of an issue. My guess is, if you walk into most small businesses, or most small retail stores, there are many fewer people and theyre all wearing masks, and so its not an issue.

Having that work data would tell you, do we need a full shutdown of the entire local economy? Or could we get by with just shutting down restaurants and bars and recommending curbside delivery for lots of items?

On HoustonChronicle.com: 5 things you need to know as Johnson & Johnson submits application for COVID vaccine

Over the holidays, a former student  hes now a medical student  said, Hey, Ive got some time. Maybe I could write a short paper. And I said, Please look in the research data for me. Can you find the number of cases that were bar exposures? He found case studies that show virus outbreaks in bars. But there are no studies of a county or a state saying the percent of virus cases that resulted from bars.

Heres the reason I want to know that: Certainly if you read the Chronicle, youve seen that some places are running full tilt in the middle of the night. If we knew that most of the cases in Houston were resulting from just small businesses, it might have made sense policy-wise to pay those bar owners not to open. The cases that resulted from their opening would result in such substantial health care costs in terms of hospitalizations, that in these extreme circumstances, were better off doing something like telling bar owners, Not only do you get a PPP loan, but were going to make it super easy for you to apply.

That didnt happen, because we had no information. There are all sorts of things we could have done in terms of economic incentives.

We could also have determined that its okay for various other workplaces to stay open.

So if we dont know where the outbreaks come from, we dont know what to target when were deciding what to close or reopen?

Exactly.

Do other countries do a better job tracking that sort of thing? Should the U.S. be looking at data from Israel or South Korea?

Thats a really good question. Early on, our understanding of what happens in restaurants and some of these other situations came from epidemiological papers about outbreaks in South Korea and China.

The problem is, those countries control the virus so effectively, they cant do the epidemiological studies anymore. Its like, theres no virus to study.

Here we have plenty of virus to study, but were not tracking it?

Exactly. We have so much to study, and theres just no information.

The other thing is, if you Google COVID-19 case report form, youll find different case report forms for different states and even different counties. There should be a federal mandate that says, This is the CDCs case report form. Everybody has to use it.

I looked at some of the forms. Some of the differences were interesting, It was like, Oh, that was a good idea to ask whether youd been sleeping with someone the night before. But its important that we decide on just one form, so that we get more data. That really has to happen before the next pandemic.

The only other solution I can think of is, experts in artificial intelligence could take the different forms, then aggregate all the information and get it working together. Its a shame that we just cant get some of the very top worker from Google, or Amazon or Microsoft t work on these things.

And boy, they would have been great in terms of vaccine distribution too, wouldnt they?

Do you have a sense of how vaccine is being rolled out in the different states? There are a lot of questions about equity. Are Black and Mexican-American people getting as much vaccine as you would expect, given their exposure and death rates?

I dont think theres a single state that has vaccinated people of color in proportion to how much theyve suffered from this pandemic. Even just in proportion to their part of the population, it is not happening.

Some states are doing better than others. Texas is taking this approach of delivering to large vaccine hubs. In a way, thats great. When youre getting a lot of vaccines to the city of Houston and Harris County, they make sure that they put vaccine hubs in all parts of the city and county where its easier for people of color and lower-income people to get access. That part, I think, is terrific. And also the vaccine programs at federally qualified health care centers.

The part Im not so happy with is, a lot of these vaccines went to large hospital health care systems because it was easy for the state to do that. And yes, they are vaccinating lots of people.

But theres a backdrop to this in terms of people of color. We know that a lot of them are uninsured  Texas has the highest percentage of uninsured people in the population  so they dont have a primary care provider at a major hospital system, and theyre going to be left out. So because of that, youre getting a population at a disadvantage.

Let me be sure I understand whats going on: The hospitals call their qualified patients to make appointments? Those appointments arent open to anybody whos not already a patient, who just walks up, even if the person meets vaccine criteria?

That is correct. You have to get an appointment.

Any of the major healthcare systems in Houston now have electronic medical records. You log on to whats called MyChart, and the first page you see says, We have COVID vaccines, but there is a line. So you sign up online or call your primary care provider, and they put you on the waiting list. Lots of people are getting vaccinated that way, which is really good news.

But heres something else Im quite concerned about: Fewer vaccines have been going to independent physician practices that are not part of a hospital system. Many of them are two- and three-person practices, but some are big as Kelsey-Seybold. I was checking this morning: Kelsey-Seybold has received only 2,000 doses total from the state.

The problem is, this system starts making it look as though a hospital system is a better place than these independent practices to have your primary care provider. The independent practices have already been hurt the most during the pandemic because they saw that drop-off in patients who were too afraid to go to the doctor.

Other research Ive done has shown that these independent practices actually have lower spending per patient on an annual basis than practices where the physicians salary is paid by the hospital. And we couldnt find any difference in the quality of care delivered. Id be okay with higher cost if it means better quality  but I couldnt find a quality difference.

So favoring physicians in hospital systems leads to higher costs in the long run, and higher insurance premiums.

We all know that insurance premiums are going up. Before the pandemic, everyone was concerned about the high cost of insurance. And a lot of the reason why health insurance is expensive is because health care is expensive. All of that is going to come back when economy opens back up. Youll sit there and look at your paycheck, and find out how much more your employer is going to charge you for your employer-provided insurance.

This is what a lot of health economists are already talking about: Whats the post-pandemic scenario?

What else are health economists and policy people thinking about? Whats the most interesting stuff youve read lately?

JAMA, the Journal of American Medical Association, just came out with an editorial this week, talking about concerns about consolidation of medical practices. A month after the pandemic hit, we were all told about the drop-off in in patients going to see their doctors. Everyone has been saying consolidation is going to increase and that consolidation is going to increase prices.

So small practices, with one or two doctors, were hit hardest by the pandemic? And fewer will survive?

They will not be able to survive. Hospitals are large enough to be able to negotiate a better price with insurance companies. If youre a two- or three-person practice, you cant get a good price.

The large hospitals also have financial reserves, so if theres some problem, they can get through it. But lots of the small practices didnt have enough in reserve for the pandemic. So those doctors join bigger practices or work for hospitals. Thats consolidation. Consolidation makes things worse.

The larger practices are able to charge high prices: Unless patients have a high-deductible health plan, they usually pay just a relatively small copay, so they dont notice theyre going to a higher-cost provider. Its not a competitive market. Its far from that.

The JAMA editorial was written by Leemore Dafny, a professor at Harvard Business School, who grew up in Houston. She says we have to stop this consolidation and maybe unwind some of it.

Currently, large hospital systems do these all-or-nothing deals. Theyll say to the insurance company, Look, if youre going to our main facility in the Texas Medical Center, you also have to include in your contract all of our other hospitals in the surrounding areas  The Woodlands, Conroe, Clear Creek  even if they have really high prices compared to their local competitors.

This leads to higher prices. Dafny is recommending substantially more employment in the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. My understanding is that their number of employees actually dropped under the Trump administration, at the same time as were really concerned about sort of unfair business practices by the large tech groups.

Theyre going after Facebook and Google. And we want to say, Wait a minute, theres this health care problem, too, thats costing us a lot of money.

Economists are really concerned about it. Weve been concerned about it for years. It has not received as much attention as it should because its hard for the normal consumer to see whats going on. Its all hidden in your insurance plan.

I recognize we have to get through COVID first. But there will be a post-COVID period, and its going to be very expensive. We have to do everything we can to make sure that it doesnt get out of control.

lisa.gray@chron.com, twitter.com/LisaGray_HouTX
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The field that could take a path from Lia Bhrega to the Ballymakenny Road

Foscadh Housing are to be approached by Louth CC to see if they'll allow access to a pathway to run from the Lia Breagha estate to service schools on the Ballymakenny Road.

At present, students on the northside of the town take a short cut through a dangerous gap at the bottom of the Castlemanor estate.

It has been the scene of serious anti-social behaviour in the past with a vehicle burned out at the location, robberies of delivery workers taking place and both guns and drugs being transported through the ditch.

It has been a long standing issue for terrified families in the immediate area.

With plans for the council to ultimately build on the green area in Moneymore bordering the ditch, it seems a resolution may have to be found to accommodate students.

A gravel pathway is being proposed through a council owned field at the end of Castlemanor, leading from Lia Bhrega to the Ballymakenny Road.

This has been a long-standing issue for residents. I recently asked the Council to consider putting a gravel path (low cost measure) in place adjacent to the estate on the lands to the north - similar to the one installed by Meath County Council on the Colpe Road. I believe this will be of benefit to all. It will enable those accessing the schools from Moneymore and neighbouring estates to do so safely and hopefully lead to the fencing off of the gap which continues to attract anti-social and criminal activity,' Cllr James Byrne stated.

The council say the only access to the lands north of Castlemanor is via the Lia Bhrega Housing development (owned by Foscadh Housing Association). It would lead from the most northerly cul-de-sac.

'Considering that this estate is not in the Charge of Louth County Council -- permission from the owners Messrs. Foscadh will be required,' they stated.

LCC's Housing Infrastructure section will approach Foscadh to determine if they would grant such a permission.
Dame Julie Andrews has led tributes to her The Sound Of Music co-star Christopher Plummer, who has died aged 91.

The Canadian actor died at home on Friday in Connecticut, in the US, according to his manager.

Dame Julie, 85  who starred opposite Plummer in the 1965 hit, labelled him a consummate actor and a cherished friend.

In a statement to the PA news agency, she added: I treasure the memories of our work together and all the humour and fun we shared through the years.

My heart and condolences go out to his lovely wife Elaine and his daughter Amanda.

Plummer enjoyed a varied career across film, television and theatre and in 2012 became the oldest actor to win an Oscar.

He was handed the best supporting actor gong for his part in Beginners.

The official Twitter account for The Oscars shared a tribute to Plummer.

Christopher Plummer beguiled audiences across generations in memorable roles from Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music to Harlan Thrombey in Knives Out, a statement said.

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He worked steadily for 60+ years, winning a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2012 for Beginners. He will be missed.

Sir Ridley Scott, who worked with Plummer in All The Money In The World, has paid tribute to the late actor.

In a joint statement with his wife Gianna, the director said: What a guy. What a talent. What a life.

And I was fortunate enough to work with him less than two years ago and had a wonderful experience.

My heartfelt condolences go to Elaine.

He will be really missed.

James Bond actress Ana De Armas starred alongside Plummer in 2019 whodunnit Knives Out, and said I will always think of you with love and admiration.

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Alongside behind-the-scenes pictures from the set of Knives Out, she wrote on Instagram: My heart is broken, my dear Chris. I feel your loss deep inside. How lucky was I having you next to me in whats been one the best experiences of my career.

Thank you always for your laughter, your warmth, your talent, your stories about Marilyn, the vitamins when I got sick, your patience, your partnership and your company. I will always think of you with love and admiration. Rest In Peace.

Actor Eddie Marsan said he was so sad to hear about Plummers death.

In a tweet, he added: I was lucky enough to work with him on the exception and it was like watching a master class.

He had nothing to prove anymore so he was completely free, kind, funny mischievous & beautiful to watch. RIP.

Lord Of The Rings actor Elijah Wood tweeted: So sad to hear that Christopher Plummer has passed. What a legend.

Star Trek star George Takei labelled Plummer a giant of stage and screen.

In a tweet, he added: Rest in eternal music, Captain Von Trapp.

Inception actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt tweeted: Christopher Plummer one of the greats.

Netflix described Plummer as a master of the craft whose films will live on forever.

Christopher Plummer brought warmth, humanity, and complexity to every performance throughout his extensive career, a tweet from the streaming giant added.

(Ian West/PA)

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau labelled Plummer one of our most iconic and beloved actors.

In a tweet, he added: From the Stratford Festival to The Sound Of Music to Star Trek, and countless other performances, Christopher Plummer gave life to so many characters we love and cherish  and always performed with gravitas and heart.

Plummer continued to star in major films well into later life and played the wealthy patriarch of a dysfunctional family in Knives Out, starring alongside James Bond actor Daniel Craig.

However Plummer, who also starred on Broadway and in Royal Shakespeare Company productions, is perhaps best known for playing Captain Georg von Trapp in 1965 film The Sound Of Music.

In 2017, it was announced the actor would replace Kevin Spacey in All The Money In The World after allegations of sexual misconduct emerged against Spacey.

The following year he was nominated for another Oscar for his role, after being enlisted at the 11th hour, as frugal billionaire J Paul Getty in Sir Ridleys film.
The developers of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine say the shot appears to work against the variant detected in Britain late last year.

It's similar to previously reported results by other vaccine manufacturers, including Pfizer and Moderna. Andrew Pollard of Oxford University, which helped develop the AstraZeneca vaccine, says the shot also appears to reduce the amount of virus in people infected with COVID-19. That could potentially slow the disease's spread. The research hasn't yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Sarah Gilbert of Oxford says it should be straightforward to tweak their vaccine to account for the variant detected in the UK.

She says vaccine manufacturers could quickly insert a new gene sequence from the variant into the virus needed to make the vaccine. Gilbert adds scientists are already in talks with regulatory agencies about how they might quickly authorize any new vaccine. It's a similar process for seasonal flu vaccines.

Also, researchers are studying the potential effectiveness of the vaccine against the variant that arose in South Africa.

Also read: First case of Brazilian coronavirus variant reported in Madrid

Also read: Covid-19 vaccine: AstraZeneca applies for approval in Japan
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 21:45:14|Editor: huaxia

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A staff member of Sinovac Biotech, a Chinese biopharmaceutical company, displays a dose of COVID-19 inactivated vaccine in Schering bottle package in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 23, 2020. China's National Medical Products Administration on Friday granted conditional market approval to CoronaVac, an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech, the company said on Saturday. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)

BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) on Friday granted conditional market approval to CoronaVac, an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech, the company said on Saturday.

The Sinovac vaccine, produced by the Beijing-based Sinovac Life Sciences Co. Ltd., affiliated with Sinovac Biotech, was approved for emergency use in China last June. The vaccine started being used for emergency inoculation among some special groups in the country from July last year.

From this January, countries including Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay and Laos successively approved the emergency use of the Sinovac vaccine locally.

These countries recognize the clinical research results of the vaccine, believing it has obvious effects on reducing the medical treatment, hospitalization, critical cases and deaths caused by COVID-19, and is of great importance to pandemic prevention and control, Sinovac Biotech said in a press release on its website.

Sinovac Life Sciences Co. Ltd. on Feb. 3 filed an application for conditional market approval of CoronaVac, which was granted on the basis of the vaccine's overseas phase-3 clinical trials for two months, it said.

The NMPA requested the company to continue to carry out relevant clinical trials, fulfill the conditional requirements, and submit the follow-up research results in time.

"We expect to provide more safe and effective vaccines as soon as possible and help control COVID-19 ultimately by increasing inoculation rates, enabling social and economic development to return to the normal track," said Yin Weidong, chairman and CEO of Sinovac.

According to the company, the vaccination procedure includes two shots with an interval of 14 to 28 days, and each dose is 0.5 ml. Enditem
Irvine Will Consider Hero Pay for Grocery Store Workers

Irvine city council will consider boosting the pay of grocery store workers during the COVID-19 pandemic at a Feb. 9 meeting.

If approved, the ordinance would increase employee pay by an extra $4 an hour at any large franchise companynot including managers, or supervisorsfor 120 days. The ordinance would go into effect immediately.

I am very supportive of our grocery store workers who have been on the front line and whove been greatly exposed, Irvine Councilmember Tammy Kim told The Epoch Times. The grocery store workers that we have here are going through a lot. They are some of our  poorest residents.

Grocery store employees are being singled out for the pay increase because theyve been tasked with working the frontlines as essential workers during the ongoing pandemic, when the job normally doesnt call for such a sacrifice, Kim said.

When you become a nurse, when you become a firefighter, when you become a police officer, youre an essential worker from the get-go. I think most grocery store workers, that scenario never [was] what most people signed up for  as minimum wage workers, she said.

The city of Santa Ana is considering a similar ordinance to support grocery workers, while Long Beach recently implemented a $4 hero pay for grocery workers employed at large stores.

The initiative was not without criticism.

Grocery giant Kroger announced Feb. 1 that it would shutter two of its Long Beach storesa Ralphs location and a Food4Less storein response to the citys hero pay salary boost.

As a result of the city of Long Beachs decision to pass an ordinance mandating extra pay for grocery workers, we have made the difficult decision to permanently close long-struggling store locations in Long Beach, according to a company statement. This misguided action by the Long Beach City Council oversteps the traditional bargaining process and applies to some, but not all, grocery workers in the city.

Kim said she didnt think a situation like this would occur in Irvine.

Im suspecting that they were underperforming stores anyway.  Theres a variety of things tied to it, she said. Whether or not this was really as a result of hero pay, you dont just get out of your lease  Im suspecting they were ending a lease anyway.

In Long Beach, the law applies to companies with 300 or more workers overall and more than 15 employees per location in Long Beach.

The California Grocers Association was among those opposing the ordinance, saying it wouldnt do anything to boost the safety of workers, but could lead to higher costs for consumers.

But Irvine Councilmember Larry Agran said he was supportive of the hero pay concept.

The need for additional compensation for those frontline at-risk workers is self-evident, Agran told The Epoch Times.

We need to have shared sacrifice. We need to help one another. We need to recognize those who are on the front lines of essential services and compensate them accordingly for the additional risk that theyre taking on.

To not compensate workers for the essential risk for the additional risk that theyre taking on as essential workers, is kind of heartless.

Normally for an ordinance to go into effect, it needs only a simple majority vote. The ordinance would go through two readings at least one week apart, and then it would require a 30-day buffer period before going into effect. An urgency ordinanceas in this caseneeds a four-fifths majority vote but will go into effect immediately.

(@FahadShabbir)

Beijing, Feb 6 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Feb, 2021 ) :China's Tianwen-1 probe has sent back its first image of Mars, the national space agency said, as the mission prepares to touch down on the Red Planet later this year.

The spacecraft, launched in July around the same time as a rival US mission, is expected to enter Mars orbit around February 10.

The black-and-white photo released late Friday by the China National Space Administration showed geological features including the Schiaparelli crater and the Valles Marineris, a vast stretch of canyons on the Martian surface.

The photo was taken about 2.2 million kilometres (1.4 million miles) from Mars, according to CNSA, which said the spacecraft was now 1.1 million kilometres from the planet.

The robotic craft ignited one of its engines to "make an orbital correction" Friday and was expected to slow down before being "captured by Martian gravity" around February 10, the agency said.

The five-tonne Tianwen-1 includes a Mars orbiter, a lander and a rover that will study the planet's soil.

China hopes to ultimately land the rover in May in Utopia, a massive impact basin on Mars.

After watching the United States and the Soviet Union lead the way during the Cold War, China has poured billions of Dollars into its military-led space programme.

It has made huge strides in the past decade, sending a human into space in 2003.

The Asian powerhouse has laid the groundwork to assemble a space station by 2022 and gain a permanent foothold in Earth orbit.

But Mars has proved a challenging target so far, with most missions sent by the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and India to the planet since 1960 ending in failure.

Tianwen-1 is not China's first attempt to reach Mars.

A previous mission with Russia in 2011 ended prematurely as the launch failed.

China has already sent two rovers to the Moon. With the second, China became the first country to make a successful soft landing on the far side.

All systems on the Tianwen-1 probe are in "good condition," CNSA said Friday.


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Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 14:40:17|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Ahead of the Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, Chinese President Xi Jinping has visited southwest China's Guizhou Province, home to the last nine counties removed from the country's poverty list.

By choosing Guizhou, Xi wanted to see in person the living conditions of those who had shaken off poverty.

As China has attained poverty relief achievements, its experience and vision on ending absolute poverty and promoting development can provide insights for the entire international community.

The following are some of his remarks on poverty reduction and sustainable development in the international arena.

Speaking at the 12th BRICS Summit in November 2020 that also gathered leaders from Russia, India, South Africa and Brazil, Xi said: "We need to call on the international community to place the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the heart of international development cooperation."

Poverty eradication must be made a primary goal, and more resources must be channeled to poverty reduction, education, health and infrastructure development, he noted.

"We need to support the UN's coordinating role and foster global development partnerships that are more equal and balanced, so that the fruits of development will spread to more developing countries and the needs of underprivileged groups will be better addressed," he said.

Addressing the 27th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in November 2020, Xi said the digital economy represents the future direction of global development, while innovation has fueled the economic takeoff in the Asia-Pacific.

"We need to proactively seize the opportunities of our times and fully harness our region's abundant human resources, solid technological foundation, and enormous market potential to gain a new competitive edge and open up new possibilities for the betterment of our people's lives," he said.

Xi pledged in the meeting that "China will host a workshop on digital technology-enabled poverty alleviation, in a bid to unleash the role of digital technologies in eradicating poverty in our region."

In his special address at the World Economic Forum Virtual Event of the Davos Agenda in January, Xi said as a steadfast member of developing countries, China will further deepen South-South cooperation, and contribute to the endeavor of developing countries to eradicate poverty, ease debt burden, and achieve more growth.

China will get more actively engaged in global economic governance and push for an economic globalization that is more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all, he added.

Speaking at the 20th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in November 2020, Xi said that true development is development for all and good development is sustainable.

"We need to be guided by the vision of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development and open up more opportunities for practical cooperation to facilitate economic recovery and betterment of people's lives," he added.

"China supports setting up an SCO joint working group on poverty reduction and stands ready to share our good experience with other parties," he said. Enditem
Ukraine has chosen a European Green Deal strategy and has all the necessary tools to implement it, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said.

He stated this during a video conference with representatives of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy of Germany on February 5, the Government portal reported.

Shmyhal stressed that Germanys experience in the successful closure of mines and the transformation of coal regions is particularly important for Ukraine, and welcomed a new energy partnership launched last August.

"We are prepared for the challenges facing Ukraine in the context of a green transition, the decarbonization of the economy and the need to reform the coal sector and transform coal mining regions," Shmyhal stressed.

The PM informed the German partners that the gradual abandonment of the use of coal envisages the development of the concept and the state program for the transformation of coal regions. According to him, such a program is currently being elaborated for the period up to 2030.

Shmyhal noted that there are 61 coal regions in Ukraine. These are monocities that are tied to one enterprise, coal mine or station. "All these regions have the old infrastructure of the 60s and 80s of the last century. Depletion, mine closures and the gradual strategic closure of the coal mining industry, in general, will create social tensions in the future. We must take a number of strategic steps to provide social security for the people in these regions," he said.

The head of government noted that in this context, the experience and support of Germany and the European Union are crucial to Ukraine. In this regard, Shmyhal welcomed the establishment of the Partnership Secretariat and emphasized that Ukraines government stands ready to cooperate with the Project Office for the Transformation of Coal Regions with the support of GIZ for the development and implementation of pilot projects.

The PM stressed that Ukraine had chosen the European Green Deal as its strategy. "We have all the essential government programs, as well as a national plan to reduce emissions from large combustion plants," he summed up.

German Federal Government Commissioner for Structural Change in the Ukrainian Coal-Mining Regions Stanislaw Tillich noted that Germany expresses readiness to accompany the process of transformation of coal regions within the framework of the energy partnership with Ukraine.

For his part, State Secretary for Energy of the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy of Germany Andreas Feicht added during the meeting that Germany also seeks to deepen the partnership with Ukraine in the field of hydrogen energy.
Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait on Saturday said the protesters demanding the rollback of the contentious agri-marketing laws on Delhi's outskirts will stay put till October 2. We will sit here till October 2, said Tikait, the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), who is camping with his supporters on a stretch of the Delhi-Meerut highway since November.

Interacting with the press, he claimed a few inputs had been received regarding some miscreants trying to disrupt peace during the chakka jam that was announced for 12 noon to 3 pm on Saturday. Because of these inputs, we had decided to call off the chakka jam' in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the 51-year-old Tikait, credited with reviving the farmers' stir, said.

Amid a stringent security set up installed around the Ghazipur protest site, the farmer leader, flanked by his supporters, also interacted with Delhi Police officials. Nobody can touch the farmlands, the farmers will protect it. Both farmers and soldiers should come forward for it, Tikait said. Interacting with security personnel who were on the other side of the barricading, he said, bowing his head and folded hands, "My pranaam (a respectful salutation) to you all. Now you all will protect my farms."

Besides Ghazipur, thousands of farmers are encamping at Tikri and Singhu border points of Delhi since November with a demand that the Centre repeal the three contentious agri-marketing laws, saying these would hurt their livelihoods. However, the Centre, which has held 11 rounds of formal talks with the protesting groups, has maintained that the laws are pro-farmer.
By Achal Prabhala and Chee Yoke Ling,

THEY, TOO, WORK, AND THEY CAN HELP FILL SHORTAGES EVERYWHERE.

While the richest countries in the world are grappling with shortages of Covid-19 vaccines, some of the poorest worry about getting vaccines at all. Yet a solution to both problems may be hiding in plain sight: vaccines from China and Russia, and soon, perhaps, India.

Chinese and Russian vaccines were initially dismissed in Western and other global media, partly because of a perception that they were inferior to the vaccines produced by Moderna, Pfizer-BioNtech or AstraZeneca. And that perception seemed to stem partly from the fact that China and Russia are authoritarian states.

But evidence has been accumulating for a while that the vaccines from those countries work well, too. The leading medical journal The Lancet published this week interim results from late-stage trials showing that Sputnik V, the Russian vaccine, had an efficacy rate of 91.6 percent. Those confirmed findings released in mid-December by the vaccines developers, the Gamaleya Center and the Russian Direct Investment Fund.

The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Serbia, Morocco, Hungary and Pakistan have approved the Sinopharm vaccine from China; as of mid-January, 1.8 million people in the U.A.E. had received it. Bolivia, Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil and Chile have approved and begun to roll another Chinese vaccine, from Sinovac. Sputnik V will be distributed in more than a dozen countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

When those countries vetted these vaccines, they made informed decisions, based on evidence about safety and efficacy released by the Chinese and Russian manufacturers  much of it also published in peer-reviewed scientific journals like The Lancet and JAMA  or after running independent trials of their own. To assume otherwise is to doubt the ability or integrity of these governments, some of which have health regulatory systems on par with those in the United States or Europe.

Read: Power, patriotism and 1.4 billion people: How China beat Covid-19 and roared back

In the face of major vaccine shortages and delivery delays, France, Spain and Germany are now beginning to talk about possibly placing orders for the Chinese and Russian vaccines. Semi-desperation, it seems, has finally prompted them to call out prejudice against non-Western vaccines.

But the skepticism endures. There is suspicion of the Russian vaccine in Iran, of the Chinese vaccines in Pakistan, and of both in Kenya and South Africa. A recent YouGov poll asked 19,000 people in 17 countries if they thought more positively or negatively about vaccines developed in which of those countries: Russia, China and India ranked lowest (except for Iran).

To some extent this is understandable. Chinas and Russias self-serving propaganda campaigns touting their respective vaccines only increased wariness, especially abroad.

China and Russia also started inoculating some of their citizens last year without efficacy results from late-stage, or Phase 3, clinical trials. (The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were approved in the United States after interim results from Phase 3 trials.) India has done the same recently with Covaxin, a vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech, causing a national furor.

All three governments have defended these actions as emergency measures necessary to accelerate the production and distribution of vaccines. That explanation may seem inadequate to some, but doing this is legal, and regulators in the West also cut corners for the same reason (though with more transparency).

Also read: Russia, China vaccines must 'show data' for EU approval

And now there are significant data about the reliability of the Chinese and Russian vaccines. (Its still too early to tell for Covaxin.) Trial results in the U.A.E. in early December placed the efficacy of the Sinopharm vaccine at 86 per cent; others, in China, at 79 percent.

A note, too, about what these efficacy numbers really measure and mean. Confusion over that has created doubts about vaccines  though about some vaccines more than others.

Take Sinovacs, and what appear to be conflicting results about its performance: 91 percent efficacy in trials in Turkey, 65 percent in trials in Indonesia and 50.4 percent in trials in Brazil. That last finding promptly made international headlines, even though researchers at the Butantan Institute, the state-run center in Sao Paulo that conducted those trials, pointed out at the same time that the vaccine had scored a 78 percent efficacy rate in preventing mild-to-severe cases of Covid-19.

We talked to Ricardo Palacios, the clinical research medical director at the Butantan Institute, in late January, and he told us that the trials had deliberately been designed as a stress test. They were conducted exclusively among health care workers directly taking care of Covid-19 patients, he said. (The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccine trials included some health care workers and other individuals at high risk, but not just.) And when you study a pool of subjects with much greater exposure to infection, a vaccine is likely to appear to perform less well. The Butantan Institutes trials also defined what counted as a symptom of Covid-19 much more broadly than did other trials.

The protocols for trials vary, in other words, even for the same vaccine. Considering that, now imagine the potential for differences among results from trials for various vaccines  differences that may reveal as much about the trialss designs as the vaccines performance.

No doubt, more information about the Chinese and Russian vaccines must be released to the public, but the same still goes to some extent for the leading Western vaccines. Not all the details or raw data for trials of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have been made available, not even to researchers.

Read: Russian campaign promotes homegrown vaccine and undercuts rivals

The fact is that no Covid-19 vaccine has been developed or released as transparently as it should have been. And while China and Russia may have botched their rollouts more than some Western companies, that doesnt necessarily mean their vaccines are shoddy.

The mounting evidence showing that the Chinese and Russian vaccines are reliable should be taken seriously, and fast, especially considering supply issues throughout the world.

Most vaccines produced in the West have already been bought up by rich countries: as of early December, all of Modernas vaccines and 96 percent of Pfizer-BioNTechs, according to the Peoples Vaccine Alliance, a coalition of organizations calling for wider and fairer access to vaccines worldwide.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance has some Western vaccines reserved. But by our tally of its supply data, as of this week, it estimated being able to ship during the first quarter of this year only between 110 million and 122 million doses from AstraZeneca and a mere 1.2 million doses from Pfizer-BioNTech  for all 145 of the countries that have signed up with Gavi to obtain Covid-19 vaccines.

Whats more, most big pharmaceutical companies in the West have resisted licensing their vaccines to non-Western manufacturers, and several wealthy countries are blocking a proposal by India and South Africa that the World Trade Organization temporarily suspend some intellectual property protections for Covid-19-related vaccines and treatments.

On the other hand, according to our latest analysis of data provided by the analytics firm Airfinity, Sinovac has already signed deals to export this year more than 350 million doses of its vaccine to 12 countries; Sinopharm, around 194 million doses to 11 countries; Sputnik V, about 400 million doses to 17 countries. All three manufacturers have stated publicly that they will have the capacity to produce up to 1 billion doses each in 2021. And all three have licensed their vaccines to local manufacturers in several countries.

So how can these vaccines be made desirable to more of the people who need them? One way would be to subject them to a formal assessment by an international organization with technical expertise. The problem currently is that the World Health Organizations rules for certifying vaccines are themselves skewed in favor of rich, essentially Western, states.

The WHO maintains a list of stringent regulatory authorities it trusts for quality control  all are European countries except for Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States. For the rest of the world, the WH. runs a service called prequalification. In theory, this is a way by which vaccines from, say, China or Russia could be placed on an equal footing with vaccines from the West. In reality, its an onerous and time-consuming process.

Read: The Sputnik V vaccine: A scientific and political win for Russia

When a vaccine is developed in and approved by a country on the WHOs trusted list, the organization usually relies on that assessment to quickly sign off. But when a vaccine maker anywhere else applies for prequalification, the WHO conducts a full evaluation from scratch, including a physical inspection of the manufacturing facilities.

The WHO approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the end of 2020 less than two months after the makers applied for consideration, and it is expected to decide on the Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines this month. The Chinese and Russian vaccines are still waiting in line, even though the review processes for those were initiated earlier.

In the course of reviewing the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the WHO worked closely with the European Medicines Agency, and approved it about 10 days after the EMA had. There is no reason the WHO, while maintaining its standards, couldnt also collaborate with health regulators in other countries to help local vaccine manufacturers get through the vetting process. It must urgently give all vaccine-producing countries the attention they deserve.

Some doctors and activists have put forward proposals to increase the delivery worldwide of vaccines produced in the West. These calls are well-intentioned, but they, too, assume that vaccines from Western countries are the only ones worth having  and waiting for.

There is a simpler solution, already at hand: Its time to start trusting other countries vaccines.
(Newser)  If you're wondering about the meaning of the "Proposal to Prevent the Feminization of Male Youths," the newest initiative from China's Education Ministry, the title pretty much explains it. The New York Times reports that the plan, unveiled last week with scant detail and no word on a timeline, has tasked elementary and secondary schools with giving their gym programs an overhaul. The goal is to build up the "spirit of yang"in other words, boost boys' "masculinity." This proposal calls for schools, typically dominated by female teachers, to hire more male PE instructors, especially those who are retired athletes or otherwise come from sporting backgrounds, and to place more emphasis on so-called manly sports. The plan took root in May after Si Zefu, a delegate for a governmental advisory group, declared boys in his country "weak, timid, and self-abasing," making them too effeminate, per the BBC.

story continues below

Si Zefu noted that the "feminization" of Chinese boys could be traced back to so many being raised by their moms or grandmas, as well as a proliferation in Chinese culture of well-groomed male celebrities with delicate features who've come to be known by the derogatory term "little fresh meats." Some fear that boys are now idolizing these pop stars instead of more "masculine" role models like military heroes. The proposal hasn't been getting rave reviews online, per the BBC and News.com.au. "Is feminization now a derogatory term?" one person wrote on Weibo, China's Twitter. Another pointed out that being "emotional, timid, or gentle" aren't traits of boys or girls, but of humans in general. (China has addressed this perceived issue before.)


by Fady Noun

Human Rights Watch is critical of the investigation, which appears to have run aground on legal technicalities. Victims families demand justice and slam the law of silence that cloaks this tragedy. The Bar Association is trying to jumpstart the investigation. The prosecutor seeking the truth needs all the help he can get.

Beirut (AsiaNews)  In a recent statement, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has criticised Lebanons justice system for failing to determine what caused the Beirut port tragedy and who was responsible for it, six months after the 4 August 2020 blasts.

The ongoing local enquiry is going nowhere and some procedural irregularities might compromise every attempt to shed light on an event with many dark sides.

The public prosecutor has accused the outgoing prime minister and three ministers of negligence, but the investigation has not progressed for weeks and many are calling for an independent enquiry amid growing charges and vetoes.

After more than 200 dead, more 6,000 injured including some permanently disabled, hundreds of thousands of broken lives, businesses gone up in smoke, devastated houses, will a cloak of oblivion, ignorance and guilty silence cover the immense tragedy that occurred last 4 August in the Port of Beirut?

Cardiologist Nazih Adem whose daughter Krystel was taken away in her prime by the double explosion cannot resign himself to what happened. Regardless of any hope he might have of seeing the truth established one day, he thinks that his silence would only be tantamount to complicity with the crime that took place.

Our dead will only be truly dead if we forget them, Dr Adem said, quoting Jean d'Ormesson from memory. I want to know who killed my daughter. She did not choose to die a martyr. She died in her home.

His compassion goes to the firefighters who disappeared at the site of the twin explosions and to those sent by their superiors, knowing full well that they would be sent to certain death. I saw with my own eyes soldiers wounded or lying on the ground at the naval base in Beirut. Can no one demand truth and justice for them? wonders the doctor.

After placing the lifeless body of his daughter in an ambulance driving through the streets of the devastated port district, he ran, bewildered, from morgue to morgue in an attempt to see her angelic face. Six months later, like hundreds of thousands of Lebanese, Dr Adem slams the law of silence that cloaks this tragedy and prevents the truth from revealing itself. Lebanon has become the graveyard of the truth.

All the means of the Beirut Bar

Faced with such carnage, the president of the Bar Association Melhem Khalaf grits his teeth. Having a certain familiarity with humanitarian actions, he soon reacted to the tragedy and provided the Bar Association with the means to file a case that he considers national in scope. As a result, hundreds of legal cases were initiated thanks to the joint effort of lawyers, collectives (Legal Agenda, Mouttahidoun), and the Bar Association, ending up on the desk of Judge Fadi Sawam, who was put in charge of investigating the incident by the Court of Justice.

This is a substantial effort. Today the Bar is handling, for free, some 1,400 individual cases against person or persons unknown for loss of life, injuries, and material damage. However, only 120 of these cases have been fully completed and are before Judge Sawan, who is in charge of the investigation. The other cases are still waiting to be completed with official documents, expert reports, estimates by experts, prosecutors, etc.

It should also be stressed that the Bar Association does not usually take on cases involving insurance companies. Few of them pay out compensation to their clients, and most of them, explains the Bar Association president, are stalling to see how this tragedy is clearly defined.

Supporting Fadi Sawan

We must support Fadi Sawan, said Melhem Khalaf, as the victims families hold protests under the judges office window over the seemingly slow enquiry. A titanic effort is required, and fine tuning. No area of law will be left out in the work and conclusions that we will bring to his attention. But he is certainly under huge pressure. We must not leave him alone. He must feel that public opinion is close to him; he must realise that people are on his side.

At the same time, the president of the Bar Association remains firmly opposed to an international. One of the issues the investigation must deal with, and one of the most difficult to solve, concerns what set off the explosion that blew up the warehoused ammonium nitrate.

The answer of MP Margaret Hodge

With respect to the real identity of the owner of the Savaro company who rented the Rhosus freighter, British MP Margaret Hodge gave her support to the enquiry. For her, no one shall escape justice if their responsibility is ascertained. So far, the alleged owner, a Cypriot businesswoman named Marina Psyllou, has said that she is not the real owner, whilst refusing to reveal the names of the true owner.

Two more leads

A second lead on which the Bar Association is working is the quantity of ammonium nitrate that blew up. An FBI report states that only 500 tonnes of nitrate blew up in the double explosion. We must therefore find 2,250 tonnes, Khalaf said.

It is clear that, given the amount of data at his disposal, Judge Fadi Sawan should be able to provide some certainty to the thousands of plaintiffs awaiting his conclusions. So what is he waiting for to pursue the investigation?

For sociologist and anthropologist Carmen Aboujaoude, It is time to end impunity, we must not miss this opportunity. The wave of political killings that have plagued the country since 2005 are on the verge of being forgotten.

International justice has disappointed, as we have seen with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (responsible for the investigation into the murder of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri and which recently issued its verdict).

With the port tragedy, a whole country has the opportunity to redeem itself, to regain its dignity by making criminals pay the bill. We must hold onto this unique opportunity that is offered to us to achieve justice.
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President Biden has recommitted the United States to global alliances and a role in the world that projects democratic principles, using his first major foreign policy address to promise that he will counter advancing authoritarianism and to announce an end to US support for offensive operations in Yemen that are blamed for thousands of civilian deaths.

Mr Biden also said he would increase the number of refugees admitted to the United States and freeze troop redeployments from Germany, reversing former President Donald Trumps administration policies that the new president sees as out of step with American values.

We will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again, not to meet yesterdays challenges, but todays and tomorrows, Mr Biden said during an address at the State Department that attempted to turn the page on isolationism and restore diplomacy as the tool of choice.

America is back. Diplomacy is back, Mr Biden said, vowing that the United States will rebound from the attempted insurrection at the US Capitol last month stronger, more determined and better-equipped to unite the world in fighting to defend democracy because we have fought for it ourselves.

Read More

Mr Biden sketched his traditional foreign policy views with a broad brush, pledging to confront human rights abuses, tyranny and intolerance in China, Russia, Myanmar and elsewhere while seeking cooperation with competitors where possible. He promised American diplomats demoralised by the Trump years, Ill have your back.

As part of the effort to project American values abroad, Mr Biden announced a policy of support for LGBT rights worldwide.

On Russia, he drew a stark contrast with Mr Trump, who was frequently deferential to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

I made it clear to President Putin, in a manner very different from my predecessor, that the days of the United States rolling over in the face of Russias aggressive actions, interfering with our elections, cyberattacks, poisoning its citizens, are over, Mr Biden said.

We will not hesitate to raise the cost on Russia and defend our vital interests, he said, while working alongside Russia on some international problems.

Mr Biden said Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny should be released from detention immediately and unconditionally.

Calling China our most serious competitor, Mr Biden promised a similar approach balancing confrontation and cooperation.

Well confront Chinas economic abuses, counter its aggressive, coercive action, to push back on Chinas attack on human rights, intellectual property and global governance, he said. But were ready to work with Beijing, when its in Americas interest to do so.

There were no specifics about trade talks with China, which were suspended last year without reaching the grand bargain Mr Trump had promised, n or about the US response to Chinese human rights abuses or military aggression in the South China Sea. ( Washington Post)

 Washington Post
Chinas telecoms regulator is drafting new rules to rein in mobile app operators that leverage personal information and profit off targeted advertising without users consent, in the latest move aimed at reining in the countrys rising tech giants.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said it is boosting its efforts to regulate internet companies that collect excessive amounts of user data by illegally accessing microphones, photo albums and contact lists on their personal devices without their permission.

By collecting and analyzing such private information, some apps have been able to generate detailed profiles of individual users and sell them to third-party companies that push targeted ads to those users, deputy minister Liu Liehong said at a meeting Friday.

The move marks the latest by the MIIT against apps that breach users privacy. More broadly, the latest campaign reflects Chinas efforts to better protect peoples private information from apps and website operators that often use such data for marketing purposes and sell it to third parties without users permission.

In November last year, the MIIT called a meeting where it issued a directive calling on apps to collect only personal data that is necessary and within the scope of users consent. A dozen tech giants, including Alibabas financial affiliate Ant Group, retailer Suning.com, smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. and online video platform iQiyi Inc, attended that meeting.

Liu emphasized that the apps cannot collect data from users contact books or share such information with third parties without their permission.

Despite constant criticism for collecting data without user consent, some popular apps still havent learned their lesson, and still suffer from the same issues, Lu Chuncong, another high-ranking MIIT official, said at the November meeting.

Privacy issues and corporate data theft have been increasingly scrutinized in China as the nation prepares to enact sweeping legislation intended to protect data from misuse by corporations.

A string of high-profile data breaches in recent years has strengthened public calls for the government to pass a unified law safeguarding the personal information of citizens. In the first seven months last year, more than 8,000 apps and 478 companies were penalized by regulators for violating data collection rules.

Contact reporter Anniek Bao (yunxinbao@caixin.com) and editor Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com)

Support quality journalism in China. Subscribe to Caixin Global starting at $0.99.
NORMAN, Okla. (AP)  Austin Reaves was back to his usual stat-stuffing ways.

Oklahomas scoring leader this season missed the previous two games while in COVID-19 protocols. He returned Saturday and had 16 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as No. 9 Oklahoma held off Iowa State 79-72 on Saturday for the Cyclones' seventh straight loss.

Hes a big piece to our team, Oklahoma's Brady Manek said. He does well facilitating, getting guys open, sharing the ball. Hes got a good mind for the game. He plays well at his position, he gets off screens, finds open guys. ... He really did a good job and on top of that, he scored a lot.

Thats what we need from him. Hes that kind of player. We need him to come out and do that every night."

Manek, who returned to the starting lineup for the first time since being out with COVID-19, had nine points and a career-high 15 rebounds for the Sooners (12-5, 7-4 Big 12).

I knew I needed to play well inside today," Manek said. Sometimes you block out and the ball doesnt come to you, and I felt like it was coming right to me today. It was weird. But all around, I think we did well. As a team, we rebounded well."

Elijah Harkless scored a season-high 19 points and Umoja Gibson added 18 points for Oklahoma, which bounced back from a close loss at No. 10 Texas Tech.

Rasir Bolton scored 21 points and surpassed 1,000 career points for the Cyclones (2-11, 0-8), who haven't won since Dec. 20. Iowa State made 16 of 31 3-pointers, but just 11 of 40 shots inside the arc.

When you get good opportunities, youve got to live with the results," Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said. Youve got to have a peace of mind about that.

It was a tough game for the Cyclones, who haven't won since Dec. 20 and were coming off a 76-72 loss to No. 17 West Virginia on Tuesday.

You dont get to choose in life what you go through, Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said. Gods going to hit you with different trials and tribulations. How are you going to respond? I thought our guys responded terrific to every bout of adversity today. Thats all we can do.

Story continues

The Sooners led 40-36 at halftime. Iowa State tied it at 53 on a 3-pointer by Bolton with just over 11 minutes to play, but Oklahoma's Kur Kuath threw down a two-handed jam on a lob from Reaves.

Iowa State led 58-57 before the Sooners went on an 11-0 run that included seven points by Jalen Hill and put Oklahoma in control for good.

Losing is no good," Prohm said. Its not acceptable. Its not what this programs been about. Theres great tradition here. Theres multiple championships have been won in recent years. This programs about winning and doing things the right way on and off the floor. Though we came up short today, I think we checked all the boxes in all the other areas. Now, weve got to figure out ways to break through.

BIG PICTURE

Iowa State: It was the second straight close loss for the Cyclones against a ranked team. The wins aren't there yet, but the Cyclones are showing they can compete.

Oklahoma: The Sooners played a rare game against an unranked team and found themselves in trouble. They made it through with gritty interior defense and balanced scoring.

QUOTABLE

Prohm: I think the last two games, if youve watched us play and watched us play close, I think our shot selections been so much better. Its been terrific. You saw big threes in the second half where the ball went side to side. And now were slowly starting to creep to being a high assist team. Thats the way we play. Thats the way youve got to play to be efficient on the offensive end.

FREE THROWS

Oklahoma shot 21 free throws to Iowa State's two. Three Iowa State players fouled out  Bolton, Javan Johnson and Jalen Coleman-Lands.

Prohm said the disparity in free throws has been an issue all season.

Weve got to do a better job on our end of not fouling from that standpoint," he said. We have to do a better job of getting around in the post, fronting. ... I dont have an exact answer for that because it is frustrating. We cant harp on it.

UP NEXT

Iowa State: Plays at TCU on Tuesday.

Oklahoma: A home game Wednesday against No. 2 Baylor was postponed. Its next game is Saturday at No. 17 West Virginia.

___

Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP

___

More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/College-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25


India has become the first country in the world to reach the 5 million COVID-19 vaccination mark in just 21 days, the Union Health Ministry said as nearly 53 lakh beneficiaries have been administered shots under the countrywide inoculation exercise till Friday evening.

The USA, the UK and Israel have reached 5 million vaccinations in 24, 43 and 45 simultaneous days respectively.

"The countrywide COVID-19 vaccination program was conducted successfully on the twenty-first day as well," the ministry said.

The cumulative number of healthcare workers vaccinated against COVID-19 is nearly 53 lakhs.

A total of 52,90,474 beneficiaries were vaccinated through 1,04,781 sessions, as per the provisional report comprising data collected till Friday 6 pm.

As many as "3,31,029 beneficiaries have been vaccinated till 6 pm on the 21st day of the vaccination drive," the ministry said, adding, the final report would be completed by late in the night.

The final report would be completed for the day by late Friday night, the ministry said.

One of the highlights of the vaccination process is a link for downloading the certificate which is also a part of the confirmatory SMS sent to the beneficiary post vaccination.

The Certificate can also be downloaded by the Vaccinator and District Immunization Officer and handed over to the beneficiary, the ministry said.

Total 27 persons have been hospitalized so far which translates to 0.0005% of the total vaccinations done so far. No new hospitalization has been recorded in the last 24 hours, the ministry said.

The ministry further said total 22 deaths have been recorded till date and none of these deaths have been causally linked with COVID-19 vaccination.

"One new death was reported in the past 24 hours, of a 77-year-old male in Agra, seven days after vaccination. It was a case of shock with pre-existing diabetes. None of these deaths have been causally linked with COVID-19 vaccination," the ministry said.

Total 3,31,029 beneficiaries who have been vaccinated on Friday 6 pm include 29,229 from Bihar,12,992 from Kerala, 23,291 from Karnataka, 1,104 from Madhya Pradesh, 35,172 from Maharashtra, 6,258 from Tamil Nadu, 8,038 from Delhi, 27,862 from Gujarat, 53,959 from Uttar Pradesh and 17,329 from West Bengal, according to the provisional report. PTI PLB RDM RDM

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.

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New Delhi: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Saturday (February 6) ordered the closure of several metro stations in the national capital ahead of the three-hour-long nationwide 'Chakka Jam' call given by farmers. The decision has reportedly been made to maintain law and order in view of any disturbance during the agitation.

The official Twitter handle of DMRC, announced the closure of entry and exit gates of Mandi House, ITO, Delhi Gate, Vishwavidyalaya station, Lal Quila, Jama Masjid, Janpath and Central Secretariat, in a series of tweets. Entry and exit gates of Khan Market and Nehru Place stations have also been closed.

Take a look at the tweets shared by DMRC:

Earlier, the Delhi Police asked DMRC to to stay prepared to shut down over a dozen metro stations, if the need arises, within short notice, in view of the protest. The DCP has said that given the circumstances of law and order and to control the crowd, the metro staff should be ready.

The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait has said that chakka jam will not take place in Delhi, UP and Uttarakhand. The three-hour-long 'chakka jam' or road blockage has been called from 12 PM to 3 PM on February 6.

There is heavy deployment of police personnel at the Red Fort as a preventive measure to dispel actions resulting from calls for 'Chakka Jaam' by farmer unions protesting against the farm laws.

Extensive barricading measures have been undertaken at the Ghazipur border with water cannon vehicles deployed, as a preemptive measure to deal with possible disturbances resulting from 'Chakka Jam' calls by farmer unions protesting farm laws.

Around 50,000 personnel of Delhi Police, Paramilitary and Reserve Forces deployed in Delhi-NCR region to maintain law and order situation on Saturday, amid `chakka jam` call by the protesting farmers` representatives.

Police along with the barricading measures at the Minto Bridge area deployed. The area has been blockaded as a peremptory counter-measure to thwart the calls. Barbed wires placed over police barricades seen in Delhi`s ITO area.

Farmers have been protesting at different borders of the national capital since November 26 last year against the three newly enacted farm laws: Farmers` Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

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Protesting farmer unions Saturday said they are ready to resume talks with the government, but asked it to come up with a fresh proposal as the existing offer to put the three farm laws on hold for 12-18 months is not acceptable to them.

The unions, however, made it clear that they would not settle for anything less than the repeal of the three contentious laws.

Addressing a press conference at the Singhu border here, Samyukta Kisan Morcha's senior leader Darshan Pal said the ball is now in the government's court.

"We are ready to talk. The ball is in the government's court. We clearly told them that their last proposal (of suspending the farm laws for 12-18 months) was not acceptable to us. Now, they should come up with a new proposal," he told reporters.

Talking about the Saturday's 'chakka jam', the farmer leader claimed it got huge nationwide support which once again "proved" that across the country are united against these farm laws.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

NEW DELHI: If you are planning to buy a property in Delhi but the skyrocteing prices of land in the national capital were not letting you achieve your dream, here's a major update for you. The Delhi government, led by Arvind Kejriwal on Friday (Feb 5) reduced the circle rates of residential, commercial and industrial properties by 20 per cent for the next six months, making it substantially cheaper for people to invest in real estate sector in the national capital.

Delhi Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, decided to reduce circle rates of properties in residential, commercial and industrial categories in the city by 20 percent for six months.

The properties in Delhi are categorised in eight classes from 'A' to 'H', with posh areas falling under 'A' while least developed areas in 'H' category, officials said. The existing circle rate of land in 'A' category areas -- Rs 7.74 lakh per square metre -- will go down to Rs 6.19 lakh per square metre, they said. In 'H' category, the circle rate will be reduced from Rs 23,280 to Rs 18,624 per square meter, they added. The minimum construction cost of commercial properties will also decrease from Rs 25,200 square metre to Rs 20,160 square metre in 'A' category areas, the officials said. In 'H' category areas, it will go down from Rs 3,960 per square metre to Rs 3.168 square metre, they added.

The minimum rate of built up flats (per square metre) in more than four-storeyed buildings will be reduced from Rs 87,840 to Rs 78,272.

Kejriwal expressed hope that the step will help in giving a boost to economy post the COVID-19 pandemic. "While we are slowly recovering from the economic contraction in the post-COVID era, it is the duty of our government to take all steps to further reduce the financial burden on the common man," he said.

The decision is expected to make it "substantially cheaper" for people to do property transactions, he said. It will also revive the real estate sector which has been hit severely by the coronavirus pandemic and create new jobs, he added. Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot said the lowering of circle rates will encourage more people to transact in real estate and avoid the stagnanation in the sector.

A reduction of 20 percent in the circle rate would have an impact close to reduction by one percent in the stamp duty or registration charges, he said. The decision to cut down circle rates till September 30, 2021, will also boost the revenue collection of the government, officials said.

Against a target of Rs 5,300 crore from property registration in 2020-21, the actual collection has been Rs 1,830 crore by November 2020, they added.

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Christopher Plummer, the dashing award-winning actor who played Captain von Trapp in the film The Sound of Music and at 82 became the oldest Academy Award acting winner in history, has died. He was 91.

Plummer died Friday morning at his home in Connecticut with his wife, Elaine Taylor, by his side, said Lou Pitt, his longtime friend and manager.

Over more than 50 years in the industry, Plummer enjoyed varied roles ranging from the film The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, to the voice of the villain in 2009s Up and as a canny lawyer in Broadways Inherit the Wind. In 2019 he starred as murdered mystery novelist in Rian Johnsons whodunnit Knives Out and in the TV suspense drama series Departure.

But it was opposite Julie Andrews as von Trapp in 1965 that made him a star. He played an Austrian captain who must flee the country with his folk-singing family to escape service in the Nazi navy, a role he lamented was humourless and one-dimensional. Plummer spent the rest of his life referring to the film as The Sound of Mucus or S&M.

We tried so hard to put humour into it, he told The Associated Press in 2007. It was almost impossible. It was just agony to try to make that guy, not a cardboard figure.

The role catapulted Plummer to stardom, but he never took to leading men parts, despite his silver hair, good looks and ever-so-slight English accent. He preferred character parts, considering them meatier. His memoir in 2012 was titled In Spite of Myself.

Tributes

Tributes quickly came from Hollywood and Broadway. Joseph Gordon-Levitt called him one of the greats and George Takei posted Rest in eternal music, Captain von Trapp. Dave Foley, a fellow Canadian, wrote: If I live to be 91 maybe Ill have time to fully appreciate all the great work of Christopher Plummer.

Plummer had a remarkable film renaissance late in life, which began with his acclaimed performance as Mike Wallace in Michael Manns 1999 film The Insider, continued in films such as 2001s A Beautiful Mind and 2009s The Last Station, in which he played a deteriorating Tolstoy and was nominated for an Oscar.

In 2012, Plummer won a supporting actor Oscar for his role in Beginners as Hal Fields, a museum director who becomes openly gay after his wife of 44 years dies. His loving, final relationship becomes an inspiration for his son, who struggles with his fathers death and how to find intimacy in a new relationship.

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Too many people in the world are unhappy with their lot. And then they retire and they become vegetables. I think retirement in any profession is death, so Im determined to keep crackin, he told AP in 2011.

Plummer in 2017 replaced Kevin Spacey as J. Paul Getty in All the Money in the World just six weeks before the film was set to hit theatres.

That choice that was officially validated in the best possible way for the film  a supporting Oscar nomination for Plummer, his third. I was just hopeful that at my age, my memory would serve me, he said at the time. I had to learn my lines very quickly.

There were fallow periods in his career  a Pink Panther movie here, a Dracula 2000 there and even a Star Trek  as a Klingon, no less. But Plummer had other reasons than the scripts in mind.

For a long time, I accepted parts that took me to attractive places in the world. Rather than shooting in the Bronx, I would rather go to the south of France, crazed creature than I am, he told AP in 2007. And so I sacrificed a lot of my career for nicer hotels and more attractive beaches.

The Canadian-born actor performed most of the major Shakespeare roles, including Hamlet, Iago, Othello, Prospero, Henry V and a staggering King Lear at Lincoln Center in 2004. He was a frequent star at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada.

Ive become simpler and simpler with playing Shakespeare, he said in 2007. Im not as extravagant as I used to be. I dont listen to my voice so much anymore. All the pitfalls of playing the classics  you can fall in love with yourself.

Awards, profile

He won two Tony Awards. The first was in 1974 for best actor in a musical for playing the title role in Cyrano and his second in 1997 for his portrayal of John Barrymore in Barrymore. He also won two Emmys.

Plummer was born Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer in Toronto. His maternal great-grandfather was former Canadian Prime Minister Sir John Abbott. His parents divorced shortly after his birth and he was raised by his mother and aunts.

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Plummer began his career on stage and in radio in Canada in the 1940s and made his Broadway debut in 1954 in The Starcross Story. While still a relative unknown, he was cast as Hamlet in a 1963 performance co-starring Robert Shaw and Michael Caine. It was taped by the BBC at Elsinore Castle in Denmark, where the play is set, and released in 1964. It won an Emmy.

Plummer married Tony-winning actress Tammy Grimes in 1956 and fathered his only child, actress Amanda Plummer, in 1957. Like both her parents, she also won a Tony, in 1982 for Agnes of God. (Grimes won two Tonys, for Private Lives and The Unsinkable Molly Brown.)

Plummer and Grimes divorced in 1960. A five-year marriage to Patricia Lewis ended in 1967. Plummer married his third wife, dancer Taylor, in 1970, and credited her with helping him overcome a drinking problem.

He was given Canadas highest civilian honour when he was invested as Companion of the Order of Canada by Queen Elizabeth II in 1968 and was inducted into the American Theatres Hall of Fame in 1986.

(AP)

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The two liberal strategists, funded by Democratic donors, plan to offer their services free to progressive organizations and have already hired two staff members  Hannah Simon and Tre Easton  to help with their work. The name of their group references the slogan of Nevada  a homage to the home state of Mr. Reid, a mentor and the last Senate majority leader to preside over a Democratic-controlled Capitol. Mr. Jentleson described their new operation as a political intelligence organization for progressives, offering insights about legislative maneuvering and ways to shape the policy debate.

Were in this moment where we have power for the first time in a long time, and the question is how to use it, he said. One of the things we bring to the table is having served in leadership roles when Democrats had power and were able to advance their agenda.

The shadow of that period looms large over the party, with many Democrats arguing that former President Barack Obama and Mr. Reid spent too much time chasing Republican support for their early legislative initiatives. Mr. Reid has privately urged President Biden and Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic majority leader, to adopt a more aggressive approach to passing their agenda.

With the country in the shape its in, we dont need people who get along just to go along, Mr. Reid said, praising the new collective. We need people who will try to reshape the country and the party.

Mr. Jentleson and Ms. Kirszner Katz, he said, are outsiders with the knowledge of the insiders.

So far, progressives seem fairly satisfied with the early moves of the new administration, encouraged by Mr. Bidens cabinet picks, a spate of early executive orders and signals that Democratic leaders plan to push through a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package.

But the post-pandemic future will likely presage intraparty battles. Throughout the presidential campaign, Mr. Biden staked out a more moderate path than many of his primary rivals, rejecting calls from liberals for proposals like ending the filibuster and expanding the Supreme Court. He has not entirely embraced the Green New Deal and supports more limited plans to tackle health care and college debt.

Pushing their own party will involve a new set of political skills for many progressive activists. Younger organizations, like Justice Democrats and Sunrise, built a following by rallying the public with staunch calls of opposition to Mr. Trump and his administration. Mr. Jentleson and Ms. Kirszner Katz are urging them not to use those same tactics within the party, encouraging phone calls before blasting a fellow Democrat on Twitter, and have released a series of messaging memos laying out their collective position.
Myanmars junta extended a social media blockade to Twitter and Instagram on Saturday in the face of a growing protest movement against the coup that ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and halted a transition to democracy.

Days after a temporary blockade on Facebook, authorities ordered internet providers to enforce the latest ban until further notice", Norwegian mobile phone company Telenor Asa [TEL.OL] said.

Demand for VPNs has soared in Myanmar, allowing some people to evade the ban, but users reported more general disruption to mobile data services that most people in the country of 53 million rely on for news and communications.

We lost freedom, justice and urgently need democracy," wrote one Twitter user. Please hear the voice of Myanmar."

Army chief Min Aung Hlaing seized power on Monday, alleging fraud in a Nov. 8 election that Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyis National League for Democracy had won in a landslide. The electoral commission dismissed the armys accusations.

The takeover drew international condemnation with a U.N. Security Council call for the release of all detainees and targeted sanctions under consideration by Washington.

Suu Kyi, 75, has not been seen in public since the coup. She spent some 15 years under house arrest during a struggle against previous juntas before the troubled democratic transition began in 2011.

The lawyer for Suu Kyi and ousted President Win Myint said they were being held in their homes and that he was unable to meet them because they were still being questioned. Suu Kyi faces charges of importing six walkie-talkies illegally while Win Myint is accused of flouting coronavirus restrictions.

Of course, we want unconditional release as they have not broken the law," said Khin Maung Zaw, the veteran lawyer who is representing both of them.

Although there have been no mass street demonstrations in a country with a history of bloody crackdowns on protesters, a civil disobedience movement is growing and every night people bang pots and pans in a show of anger.

In addition to about 150 arrests in the wake of the coup reported by human rights groups, local media said around 30 people have been detained over the noise protests.

DISOBEDIENCE

Teachers became the latest group to join a civil disobedience campaign with some lecturers refusing to work or cooperate with authorities. The movement that began with doctors has also brought in some government ministry employees.

International pressure on the junta has increased.

U.N. Myanmar envoy Christine Schraner Burgener strongly condemned the militarys actions in a call with the countrys deputy military chief Soe Win, and called for the immediate release of all those detained, a U.N. spokesman said on Friday.

The junta defended its action in a statement from the foreign ministry, saying the refusal to take action on the armys election complaints was tantamount to the attempt to take the sovereignty of the Union by wrongful forcible means".

It said the army would practice genuine and discipline-flourishing multiparty democracy" suited to Myanmar and then transfer responsibilities after a fair election.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressed top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi in a phone call on Friday to condemn the coup in Myanmar, the State Department said.

China, which has close links to Myanmars military, joined the consensus on the Security Council statement, but has not condemned the army takeover and has said countries should act in the interests of its neighbours stability.

The United States is considering targeted sanctions on individuals and on entities controlled by the military.

The generals have few overseas interests, but the militarys extensive business interests could suffer if foreign partners leave - as Japanese drinks company Kirin Holdings said it would on Friday.

Telenor, another company attracted to invest by Myanmars decade of opening, said it was legally obliged to follow the order to block some social media, but highlighted the directives contradiction with international human rights law."

U.S. based pressure group Human Rights Watch called for the lifting of the internet restrictions, the release of detainees and an end to threats against journalists.

A news and information blackout by the coup leaders cant hide their politically motivated arrests and other abuses," said Asia director Brad Adams.

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
CLEVELAND, Ohio  More than half of all dollars rolling into high-profile mayoral candidates coffers during the past reporting period did not come from the city of Cleveland, instead filtering in from the suburbs or elsewhere in Ohio.

That figure comes from an analysis of campaign finance disclosures filed for the latest reporting period from July through December by five of the top-tier candidates who are exploring a run or have entered the race to succeed Mayor Frank Jackson  who hasnt ruled out a run for a fifth term.

Cleveland City Council President Kevin Kelley, City Councilman Blaine Griffin, former Mayor Dennis Kucinich and 2017 mayoral hopeful Zack Reed all received a majority of their donations from outside Cleveland, most of it from familiar suburbs such as Shaker Heights or Lakewood. Nonprofit executive Justin Bibb, the only candidate who has officially declared a run, was the only candidate who reported a majority of his donations from the city, though he also had the highest percentage of his donations coming from out of state.

Another, Cleveland City Councilman Basheer Jones, did not disclose his donors.

The suburban money helped Kelley obtain a massive cash advantage over his potential rivals. Kelley, who has not officially announced, has more than $500,000 in his coffers, with Bibb the next closest at around $160,000.

That included raising more than $217,000, most of it through a high-dollar fundraiser on Nov. 19 where Kelley raised $208,150. Most of Kelleys donations came from unions, businesses and players in Northeast Ohios political scene  such as $10,000 from the influential Ratner family.

Kelley got $80,000 of his money directly from donors, unions, PACs and businesses within the city of Cleveland. More than $117,000 came from the outlying suburbs or elsewhere in Ohio, with another $20,000 coming from out of state.

Kelleys largest expense was $6,000 to North Ridgeville-based Falls Communication for media consulting. Another $2,000 went to Lakewood-based Pathway Polling with most of the rest of Kelleys expenditures going toward daily campaign expenses such as cell phones and advertising.

Bibb reported raising around $27,000 over that time, adding to the $144,000 he had in his account. Bibb spent $12,000 for a final tally of around $160,000 cash on hand. More than half of Bibbs money came from Cleveland, with around 29%  roughly $7,700  from the suburbs or elsewhere in Ohio. About 20% of Bibbs money  $5,750  came from out of state.

Bibbs largest expense was $7,500 to Kentucky-based LA Harris and Associates for fundraising consulting. Another $1,365 went toward housing for his finance director.

Cleveland City Councilman Blaine Griffin, who said he was running for re-election but hasnt completely ruled out a bid for mayor, raised $45,830 for a total, after expenses, of just more than $93,000. Nearly 70% of Griffins money  $31,950  came from the suburbs or elsewhere in Ohio, with around 29%  roughly $13,000  coming from Cleveland.

Griffins largest expense was $2,374.92 for a MacBook. Another $1,800 went toward a Ward 6 event in January 2020.

Former City Councilman and 2017 mayoral hopeful Zack Reed, who currently works for Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, raised $31,150 and spent just more than $11,000, ending with just more than $20,000 cash on hand. Reed also loaned his campaign $40. More than half of Reeds money - $16,900  came from outside Cleveland.

Former Mayor Dennis Kucinich raised $51,000 to go with his $402 in the bank. However, Kucinich also carried $35,777 in outstanding debt in the form of a loan to himself during his 2018 run for governor.

All of Kucinichs donors also gave to Reed. More than half of Kucinichs money  $28,000  came from politically active restaurateur Tony George and his family. George also gave Reed $5,500.

Another $20,000 of Kucinichs money came from real estate developer James Kassouf and his family, a Republican donor who was recently pardoned by Republican President Donald Trump in December for a 1999 guilty plea to a single count of filing a false tax return. Kassouf gave Reed $2,500.

Cleveland-based immigration attorney Margaret Wong also gave to both candidates: $2,000 to Kucinich and $500 to Reed.

Cleveland City Councilman Basheer Jones raised just more than $80,000. However, with only $11,500 in the bank and after spending $44,000, Jones was left with just under $48,000 cash on hand.

Jones took the unusual step of not disclosing the full names and addresses of his contributors which is required by law. A spokeswoman at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections said Jones treasurer was in the process of updating the report with the full list of donors.

Jones spent nearly $24,000 on consulting and marketing alone. The biggest beneficiary was former Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redferns Columbus-based firm Redfern & Rossi for $7,000. Philadelphia-based Youssef Komah, who was described as a campaign strategy and marketing consultant, received $6,500.

If Jackson is running for re-election, he isnt raising any money to do so. According to the latest filing, Jackson raised no money since July, ending with just more than $6,000 in his campaign account.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York, on Feb. 5, 2021. Guterres on Friday welcomed the agreement on a new interim executive authority for Libya. (Xinhua/Xie E)

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday welcomed the agreement on a new interim executive authority for Libya.

"Today we have very good news in our search for peace. I welcome the selection by members of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) of a unified, temporary executive authority," he told reporters.

He called on all members of the dialogue and the Libyan and international stakeholders to respect the results of Friday's vote.

There is no reason for anybody not to be in agreement with this process, he said. "This process was a process agreed by all key actors -- both Libyan actors and all other countries directly or indirectly involved in Libya. It was a transparent process, and it was a process that was inclusive of all regions of the country and all political forms of expression within the country."

It is absolutely essential to unify Libya and to move forward on the way to peace with the elections that are scheduled for December 2021 being a key element of that way to peace, said Guterres.

"It would be totally unacceptable to put into question a process that has been agreed by everybody," he said.

Guterres believed that Friday's Geneva vote represents a breakthrough as it followed the agreement on a nationwide cease-fire.

"So now we have a cease-fire. We have a political agreement about elections. We have a new transitional authority being put in place -- or going to be put in place," he noted.

"The fact that the cease-fire has been holding, even with a huge military presence on both sides and very heavy military equipment on both sides, is a signal of hope and I believe it is the duty of everybody to do everything possible to make that hope transformed into a reality."

It is essential that all foreign fighters and mercenaries move first to Tripoli and Benghazi and then leave Libya, according to the new schedule that was defined. And it is essential that everybody cooperates with the new authorities to make peace happen in Libya, he said.

Guterres congratulated the three new members of the Presidency Council and the prime minister-designate on their selection, and wished them every success in their mandate to lead Libya for the remainder of the preparatory phase, leading up to national elections in December 2021.

"I welcome the pledges made by the new executive authority to form a government, reflecting political pluralism, geographical representation; and its commitment to include no less than 30 percent of women in executive positions, as well as to ensure the participation of youth."

"I also call on the new executive authority and all concerned Libyan stakeholders to approve the principles and timelines set out in the Tunis roadmap," he said.

After the cease-fire that was agreed, the selection that took place shows that Libya is moving in the right direction, he added.

The United Nations' commitment to supporting the Libyan people in their efforts to build a peaceful and prosperous country will continue, said Guterres.

Members of the LPDF on Friday voted for a new prime minister and a new Presidency Council in UN-sponsored talks in Geneva.

Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah was selected as the new Libyan prime minister and Mohammad Younes Menfi as president of the Presidency Council. Mossa Al-Koni and Abdullah Hussein Al-Lafi were selected as members of the council.

The new authority will present a new government to the House of Representatives within 21 days.
As your institution navigates the changing world of IT, you need a strategy to ensure effective IT management and a secure, compliant environment. A holistic strategy to strengthen your cybersecurity posture, plan for future needs and ensure alignment to your institutions goals should include the creation of an IT Steering Committee.

What is an IT Steering Committee?

Providing strategic direction for IT-related projects, an IT Steering Committee is a group of high-level stakeholders who are tasked with establishing an institutions IT priorities, as well as a governance framework to support these projects and initiatives. According to the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), many boards of directors elect to delegate the responsibility to monitor IT activities and progress to such a committee. Your committee should be empowered to steer IT to successful outcomes and ensure alignment with your business objectives.

An IT Steering Committee adds value by clearing hindrances from the pathway to success for the achievement of IT-related business objectives while ensuring initiatives remain on track and aligned with their original intent. This function often requires decisive action as the committee works to identify and mitigate issues before the project encounters trouble or suffers meaningful setbacks. However, many IT Steering Committees lack effectiveness because they fail to realize this critical function, or they are not empowered or prepared to embrace this role.


India has shown great progress in significantly driving down the number of Covid-19 cases, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in an online news briefing from Geneva on Friday, February 5.

"This shows us that if we can do these simple public health solutions, we can beat the virus...With vaccines being added, we would even expect more and better outcomes," he said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) chief also called on companies to share manufacturing facilities to help ramp up the production of Covid-19 vaccines. He said almost 130 countries with a combined population of 2.5 billion people were yet to administer a single dose of vaccine, and urged rich nations to share doses with poorer countries once they have vaccinated health workers and older people.

"Expanding production globally would also make poor countries less dependent on donations from rich ones. These are unprecedented times and we applaud those manufacturers that have pledged, for example, to sell their vaccines at cost," he said.

Tedros also urged vaccine manufacturers to share their data and technology to ensure global equitable access to vaccines. "And we call on companies to share their dossiers with WHO faster and more fully than they have been doing, so we can review them for emergency use listing," he said.


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Analysts tracking the performance of Cognizant Technology Solutions said the company must quickly overcome a difficult period it had been facing over the past year after its December quarter results did not match industry peers. Since the new CEO Brian Humphries joined, the results (of his decisions) have not come yet.

The company has been plagued with one or the other issue over the past year... but it is still in the initial transformation phase under the new CEO, said Pareekh Jain, founder and lead analyst at EIIR Trend. The New Jersey-based ...
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The Lebanese Community in Ghana has offered a one-year scholarship, totalling GH39, 000, to five needy but brilliant Ghanaian students of the Ghana School of Law (GSL).



Under the Communitys scholarship scheme, the amount is half of the full package given to the beneficiaries who are studying the professional law course at the Accra and Kumasi Campuses.



The beneficiaries, comprising three males and two females, are Andrews K. Benin Aning, Akua Nyantakyiwaa Sarpong, Kenneth Afriyie Appiah, Bright Tabiri and Keziah Hillary Engmann.



At a brief ceremony in Accra yesterday where a cheque was presented to the schools authorities, the Lebanese Ambassador to Ghana, Maher Kheir, assured the students that the community would continue to support them.



The Lebanese Community is still committed to supporting your academic journey until you fully realised your ambition. Your ambition is a major pillar in our battle for victory of life, he said.



Reflecting on 2020, Mr Kheir said, although the year was a difficult one due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it had taught humanity to appreciate the worth of life and essence of human relations.



However long and dark the night may be, there is always an hour when the day breaks at last. So we are pinning our hopes on you to continue brightening future prospects for the world, he said.



Mr Kheir expressed gratitude to partners and their community members for their contribution to the scholarship scheme and urged them to continue contributing to sustain the scheme.



A member of the Community, Naaman Ashkar, told the Ghanaian Times in an interview that the scheme was in line with the communitys civil duty to their host country.



He said since its inception in 2013, more than 170 Ghanaian students had been supported in the areas of law, languages, arts and journalism at various universities in the country.



The acting Director of Legal Education of the GSL, Mr Maxwell Opoku-Agyeman,who received the cheque, commended the Community for the gesture and hoped that it would be extended to cover more students.



One of the beneficiaries, Mr Appiah, thanked the Community on behalf of her counterparts, saying the gesture had given them sound mind to pursue their dreams.

Source: The Ghanaian Times









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Colorado Springs Republican Eli Bremer, an Olympian and former chairman of the El Paso County GOP, told Colorado Politics he asked an acquaintance to reserve a series of internet domain names this week to make sure they're available in case he decides to challenge U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet next year  but Bremer stressed the move was out of prudence and said he isn't actively considering a Senate run.

Bremer said a friend acting on his instructions registered the domains  six permutations of elibremerforussenate.com  to eliminate the chance he'd discover the web addresses had been scooped up by a rival or a domain-name squatter if he later decided to mount a campaign for Bennet's seat.

"I considered it a wise move, considering all the questions weve been getting," Bremer said Friday. "My name started getting out there and I started getting some calls around that, so I said I probably ought to grab these."

While he didn't rule out a Senate campaign, Bremer insisted he hasn't been spending any time thinking about a run, though he acknowledged that registering the domains would spark speculation.

"Nature abhors a vacuum, and thats true in politics," he said. "There are a number of folks around the state, around the country, looking at it and saying, 'Who might be interested in running?'

"All I can say is, its not something that I've been putting any thought into. There's absolutely no chance of an imminent announcement."

The domain registrations were first reported by the CATargetBot Twitter account.

Bremer's name has been in the news recently since the 2008 Olympic pentathlete was appointed in December to a congressional committee charged with recommending reforms to the U.S. Olympic system.

A consultant in several industries and a media pundit, Bremer is married to El Paso County Commissioner Cami Bremer and is the son of former county GOP chairman and congressional candidate Duncan Bremer. His uncle, Paul Bremer, ran the the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq under President George W. Bush after the U.S. invasion.

Bremer was also at the center of a dispute last year that landed the Colorado Republican Party in court after U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, its chairman, told Bremer to add a candidate to an El Paso County legislative primary ballot after the losing candidate complained he'd been treated unfairly at a virtual nominating assembly.

The Colorado Supreme Court sided last spring with Bremer, letting a Denver District Court ruling stand despite the state GOP's argument that the decision would lead to Colorado courts being overwhelmed by "purely political fights."

Bennet has yet to draw a Republican opponent for what could be the Denver Democrat's re-election bid for a third full term. Late last month Buck, who had long been rumored to be a likely Bennet challenger, announced that he won't run for the seat.

A spokesman for the Bennet campaign declined to comment.

Bremer said it's too early to give any thought to next year's elections.

"I think theres just so much to be done this cycle before we (Republicans) even have a clue whats going on," he said. "Its an unprecedented time with Joe Biden ruling by executive order. We dont know what thats going to do, politically."

He added: "The Super Bowl is this weekend, and it'd be foolish to think you know how that's going to turn out. Anybody who says they know whats going to happen next November  its not responsible to be making decisions that far out."

New Delhi, Feb 6 : Referring to the ongoing farmers' agitation against the three new farm laws, former BJP Rajya Sabha member and senior RSS leader from Madhya Pradesh Raghunandan Sharma has said that the "arrogance of power" has gone to the "head" of Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

However, BJP leaders in Madhya Pradesh downplayed Sharma's comment and said he has a habit of making such comments to hog the limelight.

"Since the last two years, Sharma is sidelined in the party and to seek attention, he makes such comments," said a BJP leader from Madhya Pradesh on condition of anonymity.

IANS tried to contact Sharma, but by the time of filing this report there was no response.

In a Facebook post on February 4, Sharma had written, "Dear Narendraji, you are a partner of the governance of India. Till the formation of today's nationalist government, thousands of nationalists have spent their lives and youth. For the last 100 years, the youth have been engaged in the expansion of the idology of service to the motherland and the national interest paramount by their dedication and hard work." He further stated: "You should not be under any illusion that the power you have today is a result of your hard work. When the arrogance of power climbs up, it does not look like a river, mountain or tree, it is now climbing to your head," Sharma said. "Why are you losing public opinion? It is not in the interest of ideology to implement all the rotten policies of the Congress. The pitcher gets empty drop by drop and it can happen with public opinion also," he added.

He further wrote: "Your intentions might be in the interests of farmers, but if someone does not want to let themselves helped, what is the justification of doing it forcefully? If someone wants to remain naked, there is no need to force him to wear clothes. You should put your constitutional power behind making nationalism a force or we may have to regret. I think you have understood the need to secure the future of the ideology." In an earlier post on Facebook on January 31, Sharma had allegedly used derogatory language against Union Home Ministry and farmers referring to the violent clashes during the tractor parade in the national capital on January 26.

Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have been protesting since November 26 last year, demanding the repeal of three farm laws . During the January 26 tractor parade, farmers and security personnel clashed at several places and the police has filed more than 44 cases on farmer union leaders.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Reading books from a very young age helps develop the mind, communication skills, creativity and imagination. Reading opens a plethora of doors - to new things, information, hobbies and interests. But in India and many other parts of the world, reading books is a luxury, not everyone can enjoy. They can just dream about it. The concept of pop-up libraries, however, has changed that for a lot of people. In places where elaborate concrete libraries do not exist, there are those that are smaller and at times, even on wheels, that help lessen the disconnect. Following are some libraries that have brought books closer to people.

1. Human Library In Hyderabad, You Can Borrow Humans For 30 Minutes

hyderabadhumanlibrary

A bunch of students in Hyderabad spearheaded the Human Library movement back in 2017, hoping to bring about a change in society through community stories. Human Library was set with the aim to challenge prejudices, and understanding our society better. The idea of the library is for a reader, or any participant in the programme, sit down and have a conversation with a human book or someone with a unique personal experience who is ready to have a conversation with a stranger. In India, the first ever Human Library was conducted at the Indian Institute of Management at Indore, and Human Library Hyderabad was the second city to open the library.

2. When Pune Students Started The Open Library Movement





For people who are already book worms, this is definitely good news. A group of eight students in Pune took up a unique initiative to inculcate the habit of reading by providing access to books to people 24 X 7. Students call this the 'Open Library Movement', and as part of the project, they have installed an open bookshelf that can be accessed by anyone. They set up an open library at Jeet playground in Kothrud back in 2019. Abhishek Awchar, an author and member of the Open Library Movement was quoted as saying, Many people have offered financial aid. We do not want to involve these. We will accept books and bookshelves only. We believe that the citizens will take this cause ahead.

3. 30-Year-Old Woman Set Up Free Roadside 'Self-Help' Library In Rural Arunachal Pradesh



Roadside library in Arunachal Pradesh pic.twitter.com/oAwFDKE2PT  Nirvikar Singh (@NirvikarRana) September 9, 2020

Ngurang Meena set up Arunachal Pradesh's first roadside library to encourage more young people to read. She realised that the state had a wine shop every 100 metres, but not a library in sight.



"I bought books of all kinds worth Rs 10,000 and spent another Rs 10,000 to make the wooden Self-Help Library. I have kept 70-80 books there and the rest are in my room, said Ngurang Meena, who has been encouraging the localitys children to spend 15-20 minutes at the library every day. I have been asking the kids to visit the library by offering them chocolates, Meena told The Times of India.

She said that idea to set up a library dawned upon her when she came across a photo on Facebook, of a Mizo youth on a bike, reaching out towards a tiny box with shelves full of books.



4. Kolkata's Boat Library For Children

Twitter

The West Bengal Transport Corporation collaborated with a heritage book store and launched a children's library on a boat. The idea behind the boat library is that a person can read books as well as appreciate the beauty of Kolkata while cruising on the Hooghly river. "Children will have the chance to choose from a selection of 500 titles in English and Bengali on the Young Readers' Boat Library. The boat library would take people on a three-hour-long trip," an official said. The trip will begin from Millenium Park, and the boat will then travel to Belur Math jetty and return, he said. He also said there will be three trips on all weekdays.



5. Mobile Library To Deliver Books To The Less Fortunate





Sandeep Kumar from Mohali runs a mobile library & provides books/study material to children living in slums. He realised that many students did not even have basic necessities like pencils and notebooks, and that is when he came up with the initiative of a mobile library. He provides books and other study material to the less fortunate, who do not have adequate access to the same. "I was a teacher at a school, but then I realised students don't have basic things, such as pencils & notebooks. That's when I decided to help them this way," ANI quoted him as saying.



6. Garbage Collectors In Turkey Built A Library Out Of Abandoned Books

CNN

Back in 2018, a bunch of garbage collectors in the Turkish capital opened a public library with books that were abandoned. These books that were destined for landfills now adorn the cabinets of a public library that will serve everyone in the town. The place was discovered by the garbage collectors on one of their excursions, when the men were collecting discarded books. They then began collecting these books for months and created quite a spur in the city with this drive. When people came to know about the cause, they began donating books directly to the team.



7. Man Saved 20,000 Books From The Trash And Started A Library For Underprivileged Kids

AP

Back in 2017, story of Jose Alberto Gutierrez touched many, after he salvaged books from the trash and lent it to poorer children in his community. The garbage hauler has retrieved over 20,000 books from the trash he collects from upper class neighbourhoods in Bogota, Colombia, and the children lovingly call him 'Lord of the Books'. "This should be in all neighbourhoods, on each corner of every neighbourhood, in all the towns, in all departments, and all the rural areas, Gutierrez told AP. Books are our salvation and that is what Colombia needs.


In June 2020, just six months after the World Health Organization first learned of a viral phenomenon in Wuhan, China, that would become the COVID-19 pandemic, life in the city where the disease was first identified was largely back to normal. The Chinese government attributed the success of a brutal lockdown period to its citizens voluntarily adopting safety precautions. Even when residents of Wuhan were no longer required to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) in public, 35 year-old resident Pan Yuan told Reuters that people still wear masks.

That same month in the United States, Tim Walters, co-founder of an anti-lockdown protest group "ReOpen Maryland," announced on social media that despite contracting COVID-19, he would continue not wearing a mask and would not be assisting in contact tracing efforts.

These are, of course, just anecdotesthe Chinese government has plenty of incentive to showcase its success in containing the virus, and Walters' actions don't represent American response as a whole. But the contrast illustrates an ongoing conflict over how to react to a global pandemic; a conflict that persists despite overwhelming evidence that masks are effective in slowing the spread of a disease that has killed thousands and injured millions physically and economically. Countries that embrace masks as a cultural norm, however, have been far more resilient to the viruss impact, providing ample incentive for the United States to make mask-wearing a cultural norm.

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Face mask habits dont spontaneously appear in fashion like Ugg boots or a bolo tie; theyre nearly always the product of an environmental or biological catalyst. Japan, one of the countries quickest to embrace face masks as a precaution, has been using them for centuries.

Tomatsu Hirai, a clinical pharmacist in Tokyo and a collector of vintage medical paraphernalia, told The Japan Times that wearing masks to contain unclean breath dates back to the Edo Period (1602 - 1868) at the latest, and the custom became more widespread after Japan suffered back-to-back disasters in the 1918 influenza pandemic and the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, which triggered massive fires that choked the island nation with smoke and ash for weeksnecessitating daily mask wear. When a second flu pandemic hit Japan in 1934, its population had barely had a chance to break the habit.

After that, wearing a mask in Japan became de rigeuer for the sick, the immuno-compromised, and those simply observing an abundance of caution.

Masks serve an entirely secondary function for young people in countries that have adopted masks as casual wear, too: They act as a social firewall. In the U.S., its not uncommon to wear headphones in public not only to listen to music, but as a not-so-subtle hint that you arent interested in conversation. Masks serve a similar purpose, with the added implication that it might actually be dangerous to talk to you, since you may be sick with something nasty.

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While it might seem obvious, the fact remains that masks are only effective with widespread use. Its a community effort achieved by collaboration rather than the efforts of a lone hero, and it's influenced largely by social pressure: Jamie Cho, an immigrant from South Korea living in New York, told the Huffington Post that she always wore a mask when sick during her childhood, but changed that habit when she moved to the United States.

(My mother) was scared of me seeming more foreign than I already was at the time as a young immigrant, she said, because of that, Ive never worn a mask in a Western country prior to COVID.

In 2021, young people are disproportionately responsible for spreading SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) in the U.S., and a Centers for Disease Control study found that social or peer pressure to no wear mask had a large impact on their personal health decisions. Meanwhile, in Asian countries where mask wearing has been common for decades, studies from both the current pandemic and the 2002 SARS epidemic show that normalized mask wearing had a dramatic effect on stopping the spread.

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Its clear that when the U.S. faces its next pandemic, cultural acceptance of masks can play a significant role in mitigating its impact. As for the likelihood of widespread acceptance, New Zealand, which also dealt with anti-mask protests in the early days of the COVID pandemic, provides an example.

There havent been mass protests, but there have been some small ones, Professor David Murdoch, MD, of the University of Otago, Christchurch, told SFGATE. I think for a start that a kind of collective responsibility is stronger in New Zealand. But it was still a transition.

On March 16, 2020, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern mandated that anyone arriving in New Zealand, including citizens returning from abroad, had to quarantine. She made no apologies for what she claimed were the strictest regulations in the world, and by July, New Zealand was free of cases.

Nobody knows exactly how the world will change following this pandemic, but it's naive to think the ongoing lockdown that's approaching a year in length wont have a long-term impact on social norms and customs.

I think face masks will continue to be used by the general public in times when they dont feel well, Dr. Panagis Galatsatos, a critical care doctor who works with COVID-19 patients, told CNBC. And honestly, were realizing that no one feels slighted without a handshake.

Others take a harder line: I do think we need a new culture of masks, said former director of the CDC Dr. Tom Frieden, at least any time not feeling well.

The good news is that the partisan nature of this issue seems to have dissipated over time. According to a PEW Study. In June, 76% of Democrats and 53% of Republicans said they were usually wearing masks in public, but by August, those percentages had increased to 92% of Democrats and 76% of Republicans, reducing the partisan gap from 23 percentage points to 16 percentage points.

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The CDC study also identified confusing messaging as harmful to mask participation. The agency struggled to clarify its message early in the pandemic, and has recently come into conflict with the advice of foreign world leaders. With time and experience, however, that confusion is likely to have less of an impact on the average person's day-to-day decision-making.

Ultimately, masks are effective and simple, making it difficult to argue that the inconvenience of foggy glasses and mild maskne outweigh having to relive the darkest days of 2020. But mask wearing in the future will require mainstream acceptanceand not forgetting the lessons of half a million dead Americans.

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Shortly after Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert married playwright Bo Brinkman, she became pregnant with her first child. From the moment we got married, we knew we wanted to start a family, Gilbert wrote in her memoir, Prairie Tale. If others thought we were rushing things, too bad. The actor had wanted to be a mother since she was three years old. However, throughout her pregnancy, red flags started to arise in her relationship with Brinkman.

Melissa Gilbert and Bo Brinkman | Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

How Melissa Gilbert learned she was pregnant

Gilbert and Brinkman had been trying to get pregnant for several months. The actor had taken so many tests that she stopped getting her hopes up. But, one day, she had a feeling something changed. She went to the doctor and after a blood test, a nurse confirmed she was pregnant.

Unfortunately, I hadnt dragged Bo with me, she wrote. After so many negatives, I hadnt seen the point.

According to Gilbert, Brinkman was spending the day with his 14-year-old niece who was visiting from Texas.

But I was exploding with excitement, wrote Gilbert. I had to tell someone. I called my mom, who started to cry from happiness (I think). I told her not to say anything to anyone because I hadnt told Bo yet.

Eventually, Gilbert was able to get a hold of Brinkman by paging him in FAO Schwarz.

He was ecstatic and we celebrated that night at Windows on the World, wrote Gilbert. We had a wonderful evening.

Bo Brinkman gave Melissa Gilbert the silent treatment after learning she told her mother she was pregnant before him

As Gilbert and Brinkman returned back to their apartment after a night of celebrating, the phone was ringing.

Bo answered, wrote Gilbert. It was my mother, who congratulated him on the baby news. He asked how she knew. She said that Id called her right away.

After he hung up, Brinkman went on to give Gilbert the silent treatment for the next three days. She didnt know why until he finally said I cant believe you told your mother you were pregnant before you told me. Gilbert was shocked.

Bo Brinkman and Melissa Gilbert | Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

RELATED: Shannen Doherty Slept With Melissa Gilberts First Husband Because She Wanted To Be Just Like [Her], According To the Laura Ingalls Actor

Dude, you were in FAO Schwarz, she told him. Do you know what it took for me to find you there? I had to tell someone. I told my mother. Its not like I called up Liz Smith. And I told her to keep it quiet until I told you.

So you told her that I didnt know? he replied, according to Gilbert.

It was a no-win situation, like most arguments with Bo, she wrote. Eventually, he calmed down and the couple moved on.

Bo Brinkman gave Melissa Gilbert the silent treatment again after his birthday party

A few months later, Gilbert threw her husband a birthday party. She rented out a restaurant and created a special menu with all of his favorite foods, hired a DJ, and invited all of his friends.

It was a good time until Bo and one of his buddies, after drinking too much, knocked over tables and got completely out of control while doing Monty Pythons fish-slapping dance, she wrote.

Mortified and angered by their wanton destructiveness, Gilbert left the restuarant, went home, packed some things, and stayed the night at her friends apartment. When she came home the next morning, Brinkman gave her the silent treatment for a couple days.

I let it slide, she wrote. I wanted to keep the drama to a minimum. I gave him a long leashhe could do whatever he wanted. As far as I was concerned, my existence was about nurturing the baby.
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SANTA FE, N.M.  Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin is headed home to New Mexico after nearly three weeks in a Washington jail, after a judge on Friday said she will trust Griffin to show up for trial in connection with the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Beryl Howell on Friday reversed a magistrate judges prior detention order that described Griffin as a flight risk.

Griffin denies federal charges that he knowingly entering barricaded areas of the Capitol grounds with the intent to disrupt government as Congress considered Electoral College results.

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Continued incarceration pending trial might have left Griffin in jail for longer than the one-year maximum sentence amid pandemic-related court delays, Howell said.

Griffin is banned from visiting Washington outside of court proceedings, must surrender his passport and must not possess a firearm.

More than 150 people have been charged in federal court with crimes following the Jan. 6 riot.

In releasing Griffin, the judge said she weighed Griffins unrepentant appearance among the riotous crowd at the Capitol and vows to return and plant a flag on House Speaker Nancy Pelosis desk against his apparently candid subsequent interactions with the FBI and no obvious disdain toward the judiciary. She noted repeatedly that Griffin on Jan. 6 did not carry weapons, commit violence or enter the U.S. Capitol.

I appreciate that the charge here is that he disregarded signage about restricted areas of the Capitol on Jan. 6. But his subsequent cooperation with law enforcement showed that he is not a person who has a categorical disdain and disregard for any and every government act or authority, Howell said.

Griffin, an elected commissioner in Otero County, has led the Cowboys for Trump group in horseback parades through cities across the country in support of Donald Trump.

Griffin was arrested Jan. 17 in Washington  days after announcing during a public meeting in Alamogordo that he would return to Washington with guns at the ready in opposition to Bidens election and inauguration.

Griffin says the guns were a self-defense precaution against recent death threats  and that he ultimately left them with friends from Pennsylvania.

Prosecutors say Griffin is a flight risk because has advocated the violent overthrow of the U.S. government on multiple occasions. A magistrate judge noted Griffins history of threatening comments, racial invective, access to firearms and vows that Biden would never be president.

Howell had a different take, saying that Griffins status as an elected official in New Mexico with child-support obligations weigh against continued incarceration.

There doesnt seem to be any evidence that he poses a risk of danger to the community in New Mexico, she said.

Griffin last year was barred from in-person visits with his son following social media posts that have generated threats and for refusing to abide by COVID-19 mask requirements.

Current custody terms are unclear. Griffin continued to openly flout the states mask requirement at a public meeting in January as a county commissioner.

Colleagues on the Otero County commission have called on Griffin to resign in the aftermath of the Capitol siege.

State election regulators recently sued Griffin over his refusal to register Cowboys for Trump as a political group, as he agreed upon in arbitration. Griffin says the group is a for-profit business and that he worries about contributors being identified and harassed.
Hotel systems are generally not designed to generate the kind of airflow turnover needed to minimise the risk of aerosol transmission, he says, especially in the face of the threat posed by the new, more highly infectious virus strains coming out of Britain, South Africa and Brazil. We have gone down the path of least resistance because there is great cost and inconvenience in dealing with an airborne threat Miller argues. However that is demonstrably less than the cost and inconvenience of repeated instances of quarantine breach, cross-infection and lockdown. He believes developing more quarantine facilities at greenfield sites must be on the agenda, but in the interim the stepping stone to greenfield sites is to immediately upgrade the airflow within the [existing] facilities, and the way they are administered. Sydney-based epidemiologist Professor Mary-Louise McLaws, who sits on a World Health Organisation advisory panel, is equally perturbed. Its not always easy to change a hotel ventilation system she says. They often cant maximise airflow change with an industrial unit thats designed for a lower rate of airflow change [than a hospital] - though older hospitals too can have ventilation problems. She says any facility being used for quarantine should have at least 10 airflow changes an hour, and would also prefer to see them located in regional areas or on the edges of CBDs.

McLaws points to Howard Springs outside Darwin, a former labour camp currently co-funded by the Commonwealth and the Northern Territory to provide up to 850 quarantine places a fortnight, as ideal. It has single-storey rooms with verandahs and open-air walkways, and proximity to top-class medical facilities. Following Fridays national cabinet meeting Prime Minister Scott Morrison unveiled plans to more than double Howard Springs capacity, but reiterated that hotel quarantine would remain the primary mode of dealing with returning travellers. The remote Howard Springs quarantine facility outside Darwin. Credit:Louise Radcliffe-Smith The hotel quarantine system, he declared, had been incredibly effective, processing more than 210,000 international returnees with only a handful of cases that havent been completely contained. He also left the gate open to the Toowoomba option - albeit warning there is a lot more information we are going to need - and flagged the possibility of home quarantine down the track depending on a successful vaccine rollout. Toole is not optimistic that large-scale alternatives to hotels are possible, but I think every option now needs to be examined.

Border health security is our number one priority to keep the virus out until we are vaccinated. You have to throw resources at it. Im annoyed to see in Perth that a security guard wasnt being paid enough to make a living and had to have a second job  why arent we paying these people decent salaries? Its a drop in the bucket in terms of resources. Jane Halton, one of the countrys foremost experts on quarantine who completed a report on the topic for national cabinet last year, told the Herald and The Age that the quarantine system has to continue to evolve  the pandemic is not static and neither can quarantine be. We are learning as we go, in terms of what works and what some of the risks are, so we have to take steps to mitigate those as we understand them better. Jane Halton said the quarantine system was generally working well but needed to continue to evolve. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer But she believes the hotel quarantine system is generally working well. Now chair of the global Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI), Halton says a broad question remains over how to ensure best practice is well-coordinated among the states and territories. And she cautions that any facility outside a major capital needs close proximity to a major transport hub and acute-care facilities, with access to an expert workforce large enough to be rotated.

This weeks shocks have laid bare the fact that some states have been slow to shore up their defences against the virus. It has also highlighted the strikingly different policies on whether ancillary staff working in quarantine hotels should be allowed to hold down additional jobs. In NSW, for instance, the government sees no need to ban secondary employment among hotel quarantine workers. State Health Minister Brad Hazzard argues that in the real world, people including security guards and cleaners have lives. They go home to their families, they see their friends and if you tried to stop them living those lives, you wouldnt have people doing the job. He says the state has progressively adopted additional checks and balances, the most significant of which is the daily saliva test for every staff member working in hotel quarantine. National cabinet agreed on January 8 that any worker involved in quarantine should have daily COVID-19 tests. However Toole points out that while this was adopted in NSW on January 17, it didnt get implemented in WA until January 29, too late for the Perth security guards infection to be promptly picked up. Scott Morrison is sticking with hotel quarantine despite the virus leaks. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The WA government says its now working with hotel and security companies to negotiate an arrangement that prevents staff from having secondary employment. Its also testing workers for the virus daily, and requiring mask-wearing by guards in hotel corridors  which was not the case prior to this weeks reported infection in the security guard. South Australia is running five medi-hotels for returning travellers and, from Monday, its workers too will have daily saliva tests as well as a weekly nasal swab, but staff will continue to be allowed a second job outside hotel quarantine. Queensland also allows hotel staff or contractors to have multiple jobs or work across multiple sites with the same employer, justified on the basis that restricting these opportunities would have significant financial impacts. Victoria, seared by its harsh lockdown for 3 months last year triggered by breaches of security at quarantine hotels, has the toughest regime. It has set up a dedicated agency, COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria (CQV), to run the system, which directly contracts ancillary workers who are banned from holding down secondary jobs. Queensland and WA are keenest among the states to explore alternatives to quarantine in big city hotels, with WA pushing Christmas Island as one option (firmly rejected by Morrison), while the Toowoomba option holds appeal for Queensland.

But in NSW, Hazzard remains adamant that it would be impractical  indeed, downright disadvantageous  for us to be considering moving our public health hotels out of the Sydney regional area, not least because of the sheer size of the NSW quarantine workforce (3500 people daily). Victorian Premier Dan Andrews said this week he was always happy to sit down with the Prime Minister and see if there are some bespoke facilities that can be built but warned staff have lives  you can put a quarantine facility 50 kilometres from where we are standing, or 500 kilometres, but there will be people there too and the virus spreads. The fresh spotlight on hotel quarantine has renewed criticisms that the Morrison government has largely absented itself from the quarantine task. Labor has branded Morrison hands-off Harry for not picking up what it says is the Commonwealths primary constitutional responsibility for quarantine. How well-founded is that line of attack? Sydney University constitutional law expert Professor Anne Twomey writes in a forthcoming article for the Australian Law Journal that it appears that the Commonwealth Government took the view that it did not have the capacity or competence to be able to establish and run [compulsory hotel quarantine]. Instead it took the easier path of leaving it to the states to take up the financial and logistical burden of establishing an entire system from scratch within 48 hours [last March]. Twomey says while section 51 (ix) of the Constitution does vest quarantine power in the Commonwealth it is not an exclusive power, and the states public health safeguards operate alongside it. While the Commonwealth could have chosen to exclude state law under section 109, it had not done so.

In past decades, she writes, the federal government had gradually taken over quarantine stations from the states but closed them after successful immunisation campaigns, particularly against smallpox. The resulting lack of large-scale quarantine capability in capital cities [with the exception of Howard Springs] has left Australia ill-equipped to deal with a major pandemic, Twomey concludes. Melbourne University Professor Cheryl Saunders, also a constitutional expert, notes that usually the Commonwealth exercises its concurrent powers  often quite aggressively. But in this case, the federal government held back, in recognition of the fact that it doesnt have the personnel, it doesnt have the presence on the ground, it doesnt know the local scene as deeply as a state or territory government does. Last years probe into Victorias hotel quarantine failures by jurist Jennifer Coate noted there had been an opportunity for the Commonwealth to come up with a national quarantine scheme immediately after 2009, when it reviewed the countrys response to the H1N1 flu pandemic. People associated with the Australian Open line up at a testing facility at the View Hotel in Melbourne. Credit:Getty That review had recommended that the roles and responsibilities of all governments for the management of people in quarantine  during a pandemic should be clarified, with a set of nationally consistent principles to be drawn up. But that was never acted upon.

Toole and McLaws both believe the federal government should be exercising firmer leadership over how hotel quarantine is run. Asked how national standards were currently being co-ordinated, the federal health department cited a Statement on national hotel quarantine principles adopted by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC)  the body that brings together all federal, state and territory chief health officers  published on Christmas Eve. But those who want to see the Commonwealth step up further say the AHPPC is already over-burdened and the December statement is not prescriptive enough, particularly on the risks of aerosol transmission. McLaws calls for more stringent adoption of best practice around the country, including eye protection and enhanced PPE for hotel quarantine workers, and the use of CCTV instead of personnel keeping watch in corridors. Toole says its now up to the federal government to do everything in their power - and that power is considerable - to ensure that there is a national standard that is being implemented by every state.
opinion

Ibadan  If there is one thing that has again advertised Nigeria as a dangerously fragile country, it is the fallout of the eviction notice issued to herders to leave Igangan community in Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State by the Akoni Oodua of Yorubaland, Sunday Adeyemo, otherwise known as Sunday Igboho.

Igboho had given a seven-day ultimatum to herdsmen accused of killings, kidnappings, rape and other abominable crimes to leave the aforementioned community.

True to his words, the Yoruba chief alongside his fans invaded Igangan community and ejected herders, including Seriki Fulani, Salihu Abdukadir, from Ibarapaland at the expiration of the ultimatum issued.

To be clear, Igboho spat at the law and opted for impunity instead by issuing an eviction notice to herders in Igangan community. Though condemnable, it is what happens where impunity is king and the oppressed resort to self-help.

From Ondo to Ogun, Ebonyi to Delta, Kaduna to Jigawa, sad tales of law-abiding Nigerians who are locked in the prison of agony because of a people's sense of entitlement have not ceased to rankle many. And, hope of freedom remains elusive.

It is this state of helplessness, precipitated by the callousness of herdsmen and the impotence of the men of power that has made a hero of the Igbohos of this world.

Only recently, for instance, residents and monarchs of some villages in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State lamented that they were mercilessly beaten till they saw stars by men in military uniform.

Not because they looted valuable items, or made a pass at the wife of a General in the Nigerian Army. Their unforgivable sin? They prevented herders from accessing their farms for allegedly raping, destroying farmlands and killing residents.

Perhaps the herders and the men in military uniform who brutalised the villagers in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State had drawn inspiration from an earlier statement by President Buhari's spokesman, Femi Adesina, which suggested that Nigerians should give up their ancestral settlements for grazing to curb killings occasioned by frequent clashes between farmers and herders as only the living can talk of ancestral attachment at a time the tears of the victims of the callousness of herders had yet to dry. It was a dance on the grave of the dead by Buhari's spokesman.

Little wonder the National President of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Abdullahi Bodejo, had the temerity to declare that "all lands in this country belong to the Fulani". No doubt, the view expressed by the Miyetti Allah leader is not only capable of fanning the embers of discord in a country sharply divided along religious and ethnic lines, it hands a phoney sense of entitlement to a section of the country.

Curiously, Mallam Garba Shehu - the presidential aide whose needless anger about a harmless directive by the Ondo State government that herders in the forest reserves in the state should either get registered or leave stirred controversy- was (and still) not on hand to cure the verbal diarrhoea of a man in dire need of some education.

Say what you may about about Sunday Igboho, he is to many the 'saviour' of the oppressed, especially the victims of herdsmen attacks in the South West who look to him for salvation. And, the 'saviour', has not hidden his intention to chase all the herders deemed the tormentors of the Yoruba from the South West.

But do things have to get this horrible? Is this not the same country patriots - dead and living - fought very hard during the civil war to keep together? Expectedly, the Arewa Consultative Forum has warned that the crisis between the people of the South West and Fulani herdsmen could snowball into another civil war if not properly handled, calling on governments at all levels to be proactive to stop history from repeating itself.

It must be stated that war has never solved any problem. At least, none that this writer is aware of. In fact, a great number of those who witnessed the civil war do not wish and pray for a second experience.

Some lines from "Viva Nigeria", an evergreen song by Afrobeat creator, Fela Kuti, which was recorded in Los Angeles in 1969 during the Nigerian civil war, has an advice for those whose actions and inaction call for another war: "Never should we learn to wage war against each other. Let Nigeria be a lesson to all. We have more to learn towards building than destroying. Our people can't afford any more sufferings. Let's join hands Africa. We have nothing to lose. But a lot to gain. War is not the answer. War has never been the answer. And it will never be the answer."

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Wise words! It is, however, noteworthy that we can only achieve a lot together when people respect one another in a country where injustice and double standard are not the order of the day. If Nigeria must not burn, those in the power loop must be fair to all. They must truly belong to everybody and belong to nobody.

In a country where the Miyetti Allah leader claims the lands in Nigeria belong to the Fulani, it is only expected that such unguarded comments will fuel provocation, particularly among families of the victims of the murderous activities of herdsmen.

But where is the voice of rebuke from the seat of power?

Ladelokun, a commentator on national issues, wrote from Ibadan
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court's order late Friday night that California must allow churches to resume indoor worship services reveals a conservative majority that's determined to guard religious rights and is more than willing to second-guess state health officials, even during a pandemic.

Under restrictions imposed by California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, almost all of the state was under an order to ban indoor religious services as officials battle the raging coronavirus pandemic. It is the nation's most severe restriction, and the court said in an unsigned opinion that it violates the Constitution.

Instead, the justices imposed their own rule: The state must allow indoor services but may limit attendance at 25% capacity. The court left in place - for now - a ban on singing and chanting at those events, activities the state said were particularly risky for spreading the coronavirus.

The court's action was badly fractured. Five of the nine justices wrote to explain their reasoning, including Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who issued her first signed opinion.

But the direction of the court is clear: The conservative justices now in control are highly suspicious of state restrictions on the constitutionally protected right to worship, even as some officials contend that those are the events - people from different families gathering together for an extended period indoors while singing and chanting - most likely to spread the virus.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for himself and Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, said the court last fall made it clear that states may not enact looser regulations for businesses and other activities than for houses of worship.

But "once more, we appear to have a state playing favorites during a pandemic, expending considerable effort to protect lucrative industries (casinos in Nevada; movie studios in California) while denying similar largesse to its faithful," Gorsuch wrote.

He added: "If Hollywood may host a studio audience or film a singing competition while not a single soul may enter California's churches, synagogues, and mosques, something has gone seriously awry."

Justice Elena Kagan answered for her colleagues on the left, Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor, in a sharply worded dissent.

"Justices of this Court are not scientists," Kagan began, accusing her colleagues of practicing "armchair epidemiology."

She implied hypocrisy: The Supreme Court itself has been closed for official business for nearly a year, and the justices conduct oral arguments and their private conferences by phone rather than in person because of the pandemic.

Although the court displaces the advice of experts, she wrote, "if this decision causes suffering, we will not pay. Our marble halls are now closed to the public, and our life tenure forever insulates us from responsibility for our errors. That would seem good reason to avoid disrupting a state's pandemic response."

The court's action underscored the change that has occurred since the death of liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her replacement by Barrett, a conservative.

In the early days of coronavirus restrictions, Chief Justice John Roberts joined with the court's then-four liberals in basic deference to local officials. Roberts said that generally it was up to local and state officials, not unelected judges, to protect public health, even if religious activity is restricted.

But the court's more conservative justices balked at the notion that judges had little role to play. Once Barrett replaced Ginsburg and the court's balance shifted, they struck down New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's capacity restrictions on houses of worship.

"Even in a pandemic, the Constitution cannot be put away and forgotten," said the unsigned opinion in the New York case. Restrictions that bar many people from attending worship services "strike at the very heart of the First Amendment's guarantee of religious liberty."

Both the New York and California cases have come before the court as emergency applications, and thus do not have the kind of extended briefing and oral arguments that accompany the court's other cases.

The orders that result generally are short and unexplained: Friday night's unsigned opinion, for instance, is only 19 lines long, and it does not say how the majority decided on the 25 percent capacity limit.

Barrett, in her first signed opinion, said she agreed substantially with Gorsuch and the others that the restrictions should be lifted, but she wasn't sure the churches had shown the ban on singing was discriminatory.

"Of course, if a chorister can sing in a Hollywood studio but not in her church, California's regulations cannot be viewed as neutral," Barrett wrote in a one-paragraph statement joined by Justice Brett Kavanaugh. "But the record is uncertain," and the decisions by the lowers courts "unfortunately shed little light on the issue."

Roberts continued to try to find a place in the middle, but he said California officials had gone too far in allowing only outdoor services.

"The State's present determination-that the maximum number of adherents who can safely worship in the most cavernous cathedral is zero-appears to reflect not expertise or discretion, but instead insufficient appreciation or consideration of the interests at stake," he wrote.

California had argued that its restrictions were based on the best scientific advise and were as tough, if not tougher, on similar events, such as lectures and performances. While acknowledging the cost to the religious, the state said the limits were necessary to control a pandemic that is almost out of control. Kagan noted in her dissent that more than 3,500 Californians died of the virus just last week.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State President Rachel Laser said the court was adopting a "radical definition" of religious liberty.

"The Supreme Court has misconstrued religious freedom to mean religious privilege and placed the health of the American people in jeopardy," she said in a statement.

The state's restrictions were challenged by South Bay United Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista and Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena. Another group, Harvest International Ministry, has facilities throughout the state.

Charles LiMandri, who represented South Bay on behalf of the Thomas More Society, said in a statement that Newsom's unprecedented restrictions "demonstrated a flagrant disregard for California's citizens and their deeply and sincerely held religious beliefs. . . . It is time for the United States Constitution to be honored in the State of California."

A district court judge and a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit had found that the state's restrictions were appropriately tailored to respect religious rights but also to protect the public.

But Gorsuch said those decisions appeared to be more recalcitrance than adherence to the guidelines the court set out in its decision last fall.

"This court made it abundantly clear that edicts like California's fail strict scrutiny and violate the Constitution," Gorsuch said. "Today's order should have been needless; the lower courts in these cases should have followed the extensive guidance this court already gave."

The decision came in South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom.
China will provide 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to on a grant basis, officials here said on Saturday, supplying the first batch of vaccine aid for the Himalayan nation.

During a telephonic conversation with his Nepali counterpart Pradeep Gyawali on Friday evening, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi assured that China would accord priority to in vaccine cooperation, according to a press statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here.

Wang announced that China will provide 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to on a grant basis, it said.

According to a report by the official Chinese news agency Xinhua, during the phone conversation with Gyawali, Wang said China attaches great importance to Nepal's urgent need of COVID-19 vaccines and has decided to provide the first batch of vaccine aid for the country.

The Embassy of China in Kathmandu recently said that China would provide 300,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine that is expected to benefit 150,000 Nepali people. During the telephonic conversation between the two foreign ministers, China increased the grant assistance to 500,000 doses, My Republica portal reported.

However, the Chinese company producing the vaccine is yet to submit all necessary documents to the Nepal government. Without the green signal from the government, the BIBP-CorV vaccine -- developed by Sinopharm -- cannot be brought to Nepal, the report said.

China's move to supply the vaccine to Nepal is seen as Beijing's efforts to step-up its vaccine diplomacy amid projections from experts that India could become a key player in distributing the jabs to the world.

Known as the 'pharmacy of the world', India produces 60 per cent of vaccines globally.

On January 22, India gifted 1 million doses of domestically manufactured COVID-19 vaccines to Nepal. The vaccine is currently being administered to frontline health workers, employees and security personnel.

A number of countries in the subcontinent, including Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, where Beijing has substantial investments, caught China by surprise by opting for Indian vaccines.

So far, India has sent consignments of vaccines under grant assistance to Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Seychelles, Myanmar and Mauritius.

It is also undertaking commercial supplies of the doses to a number of countries, including Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Brazil and Morocco.

(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.)

Rating Action: Moody's affirms the Czech Republic's Aa3 ratings and maintains stable outlookGlobal Credit Research - 05 Feb 2021Frankfurt am Main, February 05, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has today affirmed the Government of the Czech Republic's long-term issuer and senior unsecured local and foreign currency debt ratings at Aa3 and maintained the stable outlook.Concurrently, Moody's has affirmed the Czech Republic's senior unsecured foreign currency MTN programme rating at (P)Aa3, and the other short-term foreign currency rating at (P)P-1.The key drivers for the rating action are:(1) Despite the severe coronavirus pandemic-induced growth shock in 2020, the Czech Republic's medium- to long-term economic resiliency remains strong;(2) The Czech Republic entered the crisis with a low debt level and strong debt affordability, and overall fiscal strength will stay solid despite an increase in the debt burden over the coming three to four years.The stable outlook reflects the Czech Republic's inherent fundamental credit strengths and the low exposure to event risks, which are based on a resilient and stable banking sector, as well as strong government and external liquidity metrics.The Czech Republic's local and foreign currency country ceilings remain unchanged at Aaa. The three-notch gap to the sovereign rating is supported by the limited government footprint in the economy, the high degree of reliability and predictability of government actions, as well as low political risk. In addition, the very high capital account openness and moderate external indebtedness inform the zero notch gap between local currency and foreign currency ceiling. These ceilings typically act as a cap on the ratings that can be assigned to the obligations of other entities domiciled in the country.RATINGS RATIONALERATIONALE FOR AFFIRMING THE Aa3 RATINGSFIRST DRIVER: ECONOMIC RESILIENCE REMAINS STRONG DESPITE GROWTH SHOCKThe first driver of affirming the Czech Republic's Aa3 ratings is based on the country's medium- to long-term economic resiliency. Fundamentally, the Czech Republic compares favourably to similarly-rated peers and those at comparable economic strength levels. Moody's does not expect significant permanent scarring from the pandemic, and the economy will return to its pre-crisis real GDP level by 2022. Compared to its close rating peers -- particularly Belgium and the United Kingdom -- the Czech Republic has a stronger potential growth rate, which the Czech National Bank estimates at around 3%.Following a sharp contraction in real GDP growth in 2020 of almost 6%, the Czech economy will start recovering from the second half of 2021, and Moody's forecasts real GDP growth to average 3.2% in 2021 and 2022. The Czech Republic's expected growth performance will be broadly in line with that of its close peer group median. In Moody's view the recovery in consumption will be faster (potentially reaching the Q4 2019 level during the second half of this year already), while the recovery in investment growth could take well into 2023.The Czech Republic has a high share of manufacturing in gross value added (25% in 2019), and particularly automotive. This is slightly lower than for Korea and Taiwan, but higher than for Germany and other European peers. While there was a sharp contraction in manufacturing industrial production during the first wave of the pandemic, Czech industry recovered very quickly once the lockdown measures were lifted, underlining the sector's flexibility and competitiveness.Government restrictions in response to elevated infection rates since the autumn of 2020 will remain in place for at least the first quarter, and the rebound in economic activity will remain dependent on pandemic developments, as well as effective administration of the vaccination programme. Downside risks to the growth outlook remain and the evolution of business and consumer confidence, as well as developments in the Czech Republic's main trading partners and particularly Germany will be crucial in 2021 and beyond.SECOND DRIVER: AMPLE FISCAL SPACE SUPPORTS FISCAL STRENGTH IN LIGHT OF RISING GOVERNMENT DEBT BURDENThe second driver of today's rating action is based on Moody's expectation that the Czech Republic's overall fiscal strength will stay solid, despite the expected significant increase in the debt burden over the coming three to four years. The Czech Republic's low government debt burden of only 30.2% of GDP in 2019 provides fiscal space for government support measures, which amounted to an available envelope of around 20% of GDP in 2020, consisting of direct fiscal measures and sizable guarantees. That said, only 60% of the direct support envelope was actually paid out, and 8% of the announced guarantees were demanded by companies, resulting in only 2.7% of GDP of direct fiscal support and 1.1% of GDP in guarantees being used.Moody's estimates that the Czech Republic's general government debt ratio has increased to 37.5% of GDP by the end of 2020, reflecting significant borrowing increases in light of the large stimulus package and due to declining nominal GDP as result of the economic shock.Mainly due to the general elections in October 2021, Moody's does not incorporate any meaningful fiscal consolidation measures into its projection. Fiscal deficits will therefore stay sizable (at around 6% of GDP in 2021 and 2022), and the debt-to-GDP ratio will continue to rise to 45% in 2022 and above 48% by 2024. This means that the Czech Republic's debt burden as a share of GDP will deviate from the Aa3-rated median of 34.9% of GDP in 2020. Having said that, the Czech Republic's debt affordability will remain strong, and its relative position compared to its peers will not deteriorate significantly. Moody's forecasts average annual interest payments-to-revenues of 1.8% during 2020-24, below the Aa3-rated median of 2.4% over the same period.RATIONALE FOR THE STABLE OUTLOOKThe stable outlook reflects the Czech Republic's inherent fundamental credit strengths and the low exposure to event risks, reflecting the resilient and stable banking sector, as well as strong government and external liquidity metrics.Czech banks are well-capitalized, highly liquid and the share of NPLs has remained low in 2020, although some increase is expected in 2021 and 2022. Overall, there are limited risks of contingent liabilities from the banking sector for the sovereign. Strong demand for residential real estate and the limited supply of new flats pushes up prices and according to estimates by the Czech National Bank apartment prices are overvalued by around 17%. However, there are no visible imminent threats to financial stability, and the private sector shows only very limited foreign currency exposure.The Czech government has strong market access and no difficulties in funding its borrowing needs in domestic and international markets. In addition to market access, the government has a sizable liquidity buffer in the single treasury account (about 7% to 8% of GDP in 2020), and has access to EU funds under the Next Generation EU facility, with grants amounting to about 3% of GDP for the three years 2021-23. Given its favourable funding conditions, the Czech government decided not to utilise loans under SURE, the EU's unemployment support scheme, in 2020.Moreover, the Czech Republic does not face external liquidity pressures. Moody's expects a large current account surplus of close to 4% of GDP in 2020, reflecting the dampening effect on imports from the coronavirus pandemic, strong export competitiveness and narrowing of the primary income deficit. Foreign direct investment into the country has continued in 2020, albeit at a lower level than in previous years, but nevertheless underlining its attractiveness as an investment destination. As a result, the Czech Republic's net international investment position has further improved, reaching a net liability position of only 12% of GDP (based on data for the first three quarters), up from above 20% in 2019.ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, GOVERNANCE CONSIDERATIONSThe Czech Republic's ESG Credit Impact Score is neutral-to-low (CIS-2), reflecting low exposure to environmental and social risks, and a very strong governance profile that supports the capacity to respond to shocks.The Czech Republic's overall E issuer profile score is neutral to low (E-2), reflecting low exposure to environmental risks across all categories.Moody's assesses the Czech Republic's S issuer profile score as neutral to low (S-2), reflecting low exposure to social risks across most categories. Demographic change in the form of relatively fast population ageing poses a long-term fiscal sustainability challenge to the Czech Republic and entails a moderately negative social risk. Without further pension and healthcare reforms the very strong government balance sheet could deteriorate significantly from the mid-2030s. While overall unemployment rates are low, persistent skills mismatches could lead to rising challenges for new entrants to the labour market and labour and income considerations therefore pose a moderately negative social risk as well.The Czech Republic's strong institutions and governance profile support its rating and this is captured by a positive G issuer profile score (G-1). The country has an overall strong institutional framework (despite some concerns about the control of corruption). The Czech Republic also benefits from independent and high-quality monetary policy, and fiscal policy formulation and implementation are overall prudent and transparent. Coupled with high wealth levels and a strong government financial position, this supports a high degree of resilience, mitigating further already low E and S risks.GDP per capita (PPP basis, US$): 42,670 (2019 Actual) (also known as Per Capita Income)Real GDP growth (% change): 2.3% (2019 Actual) (also known as GDP Growth)Inflation Rate (CPI, % change Dec/Dec): 3.2% (2019 Actual)Gen. Gov. Financial Balance/GDP: 0.3% (2019 Actual) (also known as Fiscal Balance)Current Account Balance/GDP: -0.3% (2019 Actual) (also known as External Balance)External debt/GDP: [not available]Economic resiliency: a1Default history: No default events (on bonds or loans) have been recorded since 1983.On 2 February 2021, a rating committee was called to discuss the rating of the Government of the Czech Republic. The main points raised during the discussion were: The issuer's economic fundamentals, including its economic strength, have not materially changed. The issuer's fiscal or financial strength, including its debt profile, has not materially changed. The issuer's susceptibility to event risks has not materially changed. Other views raised included: The issuer's institutions and governance strength, have not materially changed.FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGSWHAT COULD CHANGE THE RATING UPA positive rating action seems unlikely over the next two years, given the expected further weakening in key credit metrics. Having said that, a clear focus on comprehensive social security system reform, including old age pensions but also health and long-term care, that contains the projected rise in old-age related spending would be positive for the Czech Republic's credit profile. Similarly, signs that the economy moves into a higher value-added, innovation-driven stage together with faster-than-currently expected income convergence with higher-rated peers would also support a change in the outlook to positive, and could ultimately lead to a rating upgrade.WHAT COULD CHANGE THE RATING DOWNThe formulation and implementation of a strategy to reduce fiscal deficits and stabilize or lower the government debt burden will be key for the Czech Republic's rating trajectory after 2022. Fiscal deterioration beyond the current baseline expectations would be credit-negative and could lead to a change in outlook to negative from stable. Similarly, a weakening in the Czech Republic's economic strength, or a significant rise in event risk exposure would be negative for the rating.The principal methodology used in these ratings was Sovereign Ratings Methodology published in November 2019 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1158631. Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.The weighting of all rating factors is described in the methodology used in this credit rating action, if applicable.REGULATORY DISCLOSURESFor further specification of Moody's key rating assumptions and sensitivity analysis, see the sections Methodology Assumptions and Sensitivity to Assumptions in the disclosure form. 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EDWARDSVILLE  The citys fire and police chiefs submitted end-of-the-year reports for 2020 to the Jan. 28 administrative and community service (ACS) meeting.

Police department

From Chief Jay Keevens perspective, last year was extremely challenging. His officers handled 66,160 service calls, performed 7,175 business checks, 11,262 neighborhood checks and assigned 27,435 extra patrols to areas of concern.

More than 90 drivers were arrested for driving while impaired even though Keeven emphasized the goal is to prevent impaired driving, not make arrests.

Officers investigated 733 traffic crashes in 2020. One hundred fifty-two of those resulted in injures to drivers or passengers. There were three crashes involving pedestrians which resulted in injury and one crash last year resulted in a death.

The department reported 12 Use of Force cases in 2020 and all were deemed to be justified. Four cases involved taking the perpetrator to the ground. Two others involved holding suspects on the ground to await ambulances. One case reads force needed to leg hobble. Two suspects were tasered. One was pepper-sprayed. Two cases in January before the pandemic took hold locally required the most force. One involved a fist strike and pepper spray while the other one required multiple fist strikes, pressure point use and a taser to restrain the individual.

Three cases resulted in scrapes or cuts to the officers involved.

Solved 2020 cases ranged from child pornography possession and grooming of a juvenile victim by a registered sex offender in northern Illinois to one inmate at the Madison County Jail soliciting another inmate to kill the first inmates victim after the second inmate was let out. Other solved cases included theft of tobacco products from multiple Walgreens locations in Illinois and Missouri, armed robbery at King City Liquor, a forgery and a purse snatching.

Thirty search warrants, 15 subpoenas for information and 93 felony arrest warrants were executed. One stat that keeps rising annually is digital data acquisitions  via a suspects mobile phone, tablet or desktop computer. Last year, EPD conducted 42 of them. The trio of detectives in this area also assisted the Major Case Squad several times and a Child Death Task Force activation.

Almost 3,000 cannabis cases, between 2009 and 2018, were examined and 816 people received letters of expungement regarding their juvenile records, per state statute. Another 52 people received notice that their cannabis offenses were expunged.

When it comes to grant funding, Keeven said the department took advantage of almost $3,000 in 2020 but the pandemic limited the number of available opportunities. On the training front, more than 1,685 hours of training from the Southern Illinois Law Enforcement Commission (SILEC) was completed, along with training by in-house instructors.

Keeven said all but four of his officers have received crisis intervention (CIT) team training. Its a department goal to have every officer trained in CIT to address issues posed by the mentally ill and those in excited delirium.

The department added two new employees  a dispatcher a year ago, and an officer in November. In addition, the department created a telecommunicator supervisor. During July, staff held interviews for the position and promoted James Hengehold to it, effective Aug. 1.

Fire department

Chief James Whiteford referred to 2020 as unusual and challenging.

In April, the department took delivery of its long-awaited Engine 1310 and its better than anticipated. The final planned equipment for the truck, a pair of electro-hydraulic rescue tools was ordered in December with delivery expected next month.

There were 3,322 calls for fire and of those, 2,364 calls were for EMS service last year. Significant calls included talking down a jumper from a water tower in White City, two water rescues and 28 industrial accidents.

The department responded to 858 fire calls, 52 of which were active. Of the 14 building fires, five were in multi-family units. Two of those fires were caused by a type of electric breaker that had been recalled.

Two new employees started in the fire department last year, Chris Rathmann on Feb. 28 and Chris Hartsoe on Sept. 8. After 10 years in Edwardsville, Fire Chief Richard Welle retired and Deputy Chief James Whiteford was appointed the new fire chief on July 14. On Nov. 9, former Wood River Fire Chief Brendan McKee became the new deputy fire chief.

Reach reporter Charles Bolinger at 618-659-5735
On the occasion of the 176th anniversary of the first arrival of Indian immigrant labourers to these shores, I intend to comment briefly, through a couple of letters to the press, on the current status of Indo-Trinidadians after their presence here for over a century and a half. They may be regarded as ethnic-focused, divisive and contentious, or may be deemed irrelevant and inconsequential in these times.
Ukraine has chosen the European Green Deal strategy and has the necessary resources for its implementation, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.

"We are prepared for the challenges facing Ukraine in the context of the green transition, the decarbonization of the economy and the need to reform the coal sector and the transformation of coal mining regions," Shmyhal said during a video conference with representatives of with representatives of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy of Germany.

He said that Germanys experience in the successful closure of mines and the transformation of coal regions is particularly important for Ukraine, and welcomed the launch of a new energy partnership last August.

The head of government said that the gradual abandonment of the use of coal envisages the development of the Concept and the State Program for the Transformation of Coal Regions. According to the Prime Minister, such a program is currently being elaborated for the period up to 2030.

Denys Shmyhal said that, currently, there were 61 coal regions in Ukraine. These are mono-cities that are tied to a single enterprise, coal mine or station.

"All these regions have the old infrastructure of the 60s and 80s of the last century. Depletion, mine closures and the gradual strategic closure of the coal mining industry, in general, will create social tensions in the future. We must take a number of strategic steps to provide social security for the people in these regions," the Prime Minister said.

Shmyhal noted that in this context, the experience and support of Germany and the European Union are of paramount importance for Ukraine. In this regard, Denys Shmyhal welcomed the establishment of the Partnership Secretariat and emphasized that the Government of Ukraine stands ready to cooperate with the Project Office for the Transformation of Coal Regions with the support of the German development agency GIZ for the development and implementation of pilot projects.

"We have prepared two mines - in Donetsk and Lviv regions, which we proposed to take for the implementation of joint pilot projects. They must demonstrate the results of the transformation so that we can extend them to other coal regions," Shmyhal said.

The Prime Minister said that Ukraine had chosen the European Green Deal as its strategy: "We have all the essential government programs, as well as the National Plan for Reducing Emissions from Large Combustion Plants".

In addition, Ukraine, according to Denys Shmyhal, should also launch a joint project to transform coal regions with the World Bank.

"It is important to ensure the transformation of coal regions is accompanied by the creation of new economic incentives so that new competitive clusters and new innovation and technological industries appear on the basis of coal industry enterprises. After all, the selected regions have the appropriate infrastructure: transport routes, substations, and power grids," the Prime Minister said.

German Federal Government Commissioner for Structural Change in the Ukrainian Coal-Mining Regions Stanislaw Tillich noted that Germany expresses readiness to accompany the process of transformation of coal regions within the framework of the energy partnership with Ukraine.

For his part, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy Andreas Feicht added during the meeting that Germany also seeks to deepen the partnership with Ukraine in the field of hydrogen energy.

UCLA Mellon Grant to Establish Archive About Mass Incarceration

UCLA scholars are launching an initiative to collect, digitize and preserve an archive of data, testimonies, artifacts and police files for the next generation of research on racial and social justice, the university announced today.

Archiving the Age of Mass Incarceration is being funded in part by a three-year, $3.65 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and it will bring together expertise from the UCLA Institute of American Cultures four ethnic studies centers and their established connections to local advocacy groups.

This vital and significant effort will expand our knowledge of mass incarceration, connect the academy and impacted communities in a deep, meaningful effort to tell a more detailed and complete story about policing and race, and make the findings and insights gleaned from these crucial archival materials broadly accessible to the public, said Elizabeth Alexander, the foundations president.

Our country has the highest incarceration rate in the world, she said, and the archive will ensure both that oral histories and ephemera provide alternative narratives to police statistics about crime, and that the materials of our profoundly unjust criminal legal system are studied and preserved.

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The project builds off of the work of the UCLA-based Million Dollar Hoods research project, a community-driven initiative that began in 2016 to map the fiscal and human cost of mass incarceration in Los Angeles.

The collection will include new oral histories documenting Angelenos experiences with law enforcement and incarceration, as well as stories of survival and protest practices. Other materials collected from the community, such as bail bond receipts, mix tapes and poster art, will provide meaningful counterpoints to official police and criminal justice statistics.

UCLAs ethnic studies centers  the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, the Asian American Studies Center, American Indian Studies Center and the Chicano Studies Research Center  were established in 1969. With a shared mandate to support research that advances social and racial justice, the centers have a combined total of more than 250 affiliated faculty members, one of the nations largest concentrations of racial justice scholars.

The collaboration will preserve the documentary evidence of mass incarceration and its impact on peoples lives in Los Angeles while building a new digital bedrock for racial justice scholars and scholarship at UCLA, said Kelly Lytle Hernandez, director of the Bunche Center and a 2019 recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, commonly referred to as the genius grant.

Led by Lytle Hernandez, Million Dollar Hoods has advanced efforts to shrink public funding for policing and jails in Los Angeles and to redistribute those resources to community-based systems of care.

Reaching across communities of color, one of the projects first initiatives will digitally preserve a cache of Los Angeles Police Department records documenting a wide range of issues, ranging from on-the-ground enforcement of the war on drugs to entanglements between the police and immigration control.

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Lytle Hernandez won access to those records in a legal settlement with the LAPD and was able to bring the records to UCLA with legal guidance from UCLA Library, which also provided access to a secure, climate-controlled location for the files.

Without the UCLA Library, we would not have those records, Lytle Hernandez said.

A key element of the overall project will be that it encompasses research across several communities of color. That breadth will be critical to improving public awareness of Los Angeles as the epicenter of mass incarceration in the U.S., and it will highlight various ways in which biracial and people of color are disproportionately affected, according to Lytle Hernandez.

Million Dollar Hoods, the ethnic studies centers and experts from the community who regularly work with the public will train UCLA students to work with digital archives.

Students will get hands-on experience in how both institutional and community-based archival collections are preserved, described and made accessible to the public, said Chon Noriega, director of the Chicano Studies Research Center. Theyll be on the front lines of helping make this history visible.
The coronavirus infection rate still remains high across most of the country, while the newest, more transmissible COVID variants are popping up. And, according to health experts, while some businesses are open, you should still avoid spending time in them. In other words, just because you can, doesn't mean you should. There is one type of establishment that many of them, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical advisor to the President and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, still advise staying out of. Read on to find out whereand to ensure your health and the health of others, don't miss these Sure Signs You've Already Had Coronavirus.

Dr. Fauci Warns Against "Breathing Other People's Breath"

Fauci, and others, maintain that it still isn't safe to dine inside of a restaurant. And, if you do, make sure it is "done carefully," Fauci advised on Tuesday during an interview with CNN's Don Lemon.

"If you do indoor dining, you do it in a spaced way where you don't have people sitting right next to each other," he said adding that "good airflow" is key, he said. In other words, avoiding breathing other people's breath.

Dr. Paul Pottinger, a professor of infectious disease at the University of Washington, told The News Tribune that he is "nervous" about restaurants reopening. "My overall philosophy is: Yes, of course it can be done safely. The question is whether it will be," he explained.

"At this point, we have plenty of information about how it is spread to be able to say, 'These are the core elements of a safe experience,'" he said, pointing to masks, properly circulating air, and social distancing measures keeping you away from those who don't live in your household. "The virus doesn't care how hungry you are. The virus doesn't care how much you want to see your friends. It simply waits for us to make a mistake with those core elements."

Story continues

As for those outdoor setups involving a vinyl tent, he describes as "an air-proof, leak-proof chamber," he maintains that you are better off in a well-ventilated building with open windows.

RELATED: 5 Sure Ways to Avoid COVID Now, According to a Doctor

How to Stay Healthy During the Pandemic

So follow Fauci's fundamentals and help end this surge, no matter where you livewear a face mask, social distance, avoid large crowds, don't go indoors with people you're not sheltering with (especially in bars), practice good hand hygiene, get vaccinated when it becomes available to you, and to protect your life and the lives of others, don't visit any of these 35 Places You're Most Likely to Catch COVID.
Cy-Fair has seen rapid growth in COVID-19 cases in recent months, and some of its ZIP codes have some of the largest total case counts in Harris County.

The Houston Chronicle published an interactive map Jan. 21 showing the ZIP codes in Harris County with the highest number of COVID cases. Of the 25 listed, three were found around Cy-Fair: 77429, with 3,927 total confirmed cases and nine confirmed deaths; 77433, with 4,811 total cases and 19 deaths; and 77095, with 3,535 total cases and 20 confirmed deaths.

Interactive map: Harris County ZIP codes with the highest number of COVID-19 cases

The number of cases active has been rising rapidly as well, with Harris County Public Health data showing Cy-Fair surpassing 5,000 active cases in the middle of January.

So, how did it get like this in Cy-Fair specifically? Samuel, Bissett, a spokesperson with Harris County Public Health, said the distribution of the virus is dynamic and many factors contribute to its spread, such as close confinement with others.

This includes multi-generational households, going to high traffic areas in the community and being around people outside of your social bubble, Bissett said. Though we may see spikes in one community now, it can spread and impact any and all communities tomorrow.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Lone Star College-CyFair helps host vaccine delivery site to aid in the fight against COVID

More Information See the Cy-Fair ISD COVID-19 dashboard here. See More Collapse

Sociodemographic factors are associated with case incidence as well, he said. Some studies have shown, for example, that Hispanics account for a disproportionate number of cases, hospitalizations and mortalities, and cases have been persistently high among younger people.

If a larger community doesnt participate in COVID-19 prevention practices, Bissett said, it can lead to more cases not just in that community, but in neighboring communities as well.

That is why its important for all residents to understand we have a collective responsibility to help stop the spread of COVID-19, he said. This is why we continue to reiterate residents wear their facial coverings, maintain social distances of 6 feet, wash hands often, avoid gatherings, but to also stay home as much as possible.

A rise in cases can lead to a rise in hospitalizations, and Troy Sarver, chief nursing officer at HCA Houston Healthcare North Cypress, said his hospital has been extremely busy. Since the pandemic began, he said the hospital has admitted 710 patients for COVID-19, with about 30 percent of those being critical care patients.

Weve done a good job keeping everybody safe with it by establishing areas to keep all of our COVID patients at, but its been real busy for us, Sarver said.

Cy-Fair Resource Guide: Immunizations for children and volunteer opportunities available

While the numbers fluctuate, Sarver said the hospital hasnt reached capacity just yet and are managing the high flow of patients.

Since vaccinations started in December, Sarver said theyve vaccinated more than 50 percent of their staff. He said the vaccinations were optional for employees.

You have some people that dont believe in vaccinations for whatever reason, personal beliefs, Sarver said.

While they are dealing with staff vaccinations right now, Sarver said they plan to have more vaccinations issued by the state to extend to their patients and the community as well. Aside from staff, he said officers from Cy-Fair ISD and the Harris County Sheriffs Office had been vaccinated as well.

Cy-Fair ISD has seen higher case numbers in the past few weeks as well. The district has a total of 473 confirmed active cases across the district, as of Feb. 1, according to the districts COVID-19 dashboard.

Cy-Fair ISD Spokesperson Leslie Francis said the number of positive cases is still an extremely small percentage of the number of students and staff in the district.

The increase in cases that the district has seen post-holidays is similar to what Harris County and the state are experiencing, Francis said. Students and staff are doing a great job following CFISDs LEAD Safety Plan while on campus, and we continue to remind students and staff to be personally responsible for their actions when not on campus.

Teachers who are 65 years or older are eligible to receive the vaccine and the district has shared registration info with their staff as soon as they receive them from local hospitals and Harris County, Francis said.

paul.wedding@hcnonline.com
ALTON  The start of February is expected to bring a weeklong chill for the Riverbend region.

Melissa Byrd, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in St. Charles, Missouri, had said snow was expected this weekend. Only a dusting was tossed toward the Riverbend, with more snow chances forecast for Monday.

Then it gets cold.

Monday is expected to start a seven-day run of temperatures continually below 20 degrees, dipping to minus 3 or 4 on Feb. 12-13. Snow chances also are in the forecast for Wednesday and Thursday.

Preparation for snow removal is among the most important parts of handling winter weather, according to Dan St. Peters, co-owner of St. Peters Hardware and Rental in Godfrey.

You want to make sure you are dressed appropriately, he said. And you want to make sure you have the right tool for the job.

He recommended a snow pusher, which he said is very good at removing deep snow with less lifting. For those who prefer to use a shovel, he recommended getting one with a bent handle.

Leaf blowers can also be used for snow removal, he said, but only if the snow remains dry.

With the temperatures being so cold, any amount of snow we do get will end up being dryer than if the temperature was above freezing. he said.

More Information Don't forget the pets The Human Society of Missouri is reminding people to keep pet indoors when temperatures drop below 35 degrees. If animals must be left outdoors, provide them with a well-insulated, draft-free, appropriately sized doghouse with a sturdy, flexible covering to prevent winds from entering. When you bring pets inside, check paws for cold-weather damage - a cracked paw pad, redness between toes or bleeding - as well as chemicals such as rock salt. See More Collapse

For people needing shelter from the cold, the Deliverance Temple at 1125 E. 6th St., Alton, will offer an overnight warming center.

The center is opened when temperatures are forecast at 20 degrees or lower. For more information on the winter shelter, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/OvernightWarmingCentersAlton/.

Illinois American Water also is reminding homeowners to take steps to prevent frozen pipes. People should allow a small trickle of water to run overnight to keep pipes from freezing, the firm, said, and consider collecting the water for later use, such as watering indoor plants. The cost of a short-term trickle is much less costly than a repair to a burst pipe, they said.

The firm also advised opening cabinet doors to expose pipes to warmer room temperatures.

If an in-home pipes freeze, they reecommend customers shut off the water immediately. Do not attempt to thaw frozen pipes unless the water is shut off; freezing can often cause unseen cracks in pipes or joints.

People can apply heat to the frozen pipe by warming the air around it, using a hair dryer, space heater or hot water. Space heaters should not be left unattended, and customers should avoid using kerosene heaters or open flames

Once pipes thaw, water should be turned on slowly and pipes should be checked for cracks and leaks.

If people are away from home, they should have someone regularly check their property to ensure the heat is working and the pipes have not frozen. Illinois American Water also suggests buying a freeze alarm that will call a user-selected phone number if the inside temperature of an unoccupied home drops below 45 degrees.

Emerald Fennell suits her name. She's a woman of many facets. Just when you think you know who she is, she changes.

An internationally acclaimed actress as Camilla Parker Bowles in Netflix epic The Crown, she's also a successful novelist and screenwriter with a soaring Hollywood reputation.

Now, as well as joining forces with Andrew Lloyd Webber for a fresh musical take on Cinderella, she's written and directed her first film, Promising Young Woman, and it's set to be one of the most controversial of the year.

She has the cut-glass accent, booming laugh and commanding jawline of the public schoolgirl whose career began when she was spotted by a talent agent in an amateur production at Oxford University. But there's an unexpected side to Emerald Fennell.

On the rise: As well as joining forces with Andrew Lloyd Webber for a fresh musical take on Cinderella, Emerald Fennell (pictured) has written and directed her first film, Promising Young Woman, and it's set to be one of the most controversial of the year

'My outward reflection definitely isn't what I feel inside, which is a sort of bag of slithering, cold, dark eels.

'I think that's something a lot of people feel,' she says during a Zoom call from her London home, sounding completely cheerful.

'There may be a female thing... well, not to gender it, but I think there's a feeling with girls and women that the darkness they carry must be kept very internal. There can be a strange juxtaposition between how we're expected to look and feel, and what the truth may be.'

Emerald, 35, sprang to fame in 2014 as boisterous redheaded nurse Patsy Mount on Call The Midwife, who was in a secret relationship with nurse Delia (Kate Lamb).

What few viewers realised was that Emerald was already a successful children's author, writing ghostly tales of a deserted stately home. And in the midst of her starring role on BBC1, she launched herself as a horror novelist for young adults, with Monsters.

After quitting Call The Midwife in 2017, she wrote series two of the global megahit Killing Eve, taking over from Phoebe Waller-Bridge when she left to co-write the latest Bond movie.

Screen star: Emerald is best known for starring as Patsy Mount (pictured left) in Call The Midwife and Camilla Parker Bowles in The Crown (pictured right)

Then came The Crown, with show-stealing scenes as Camilla with Josh O'Connor as Prince Charles.

Now her first major film, starring Carey Mulligan as a traumatised barista who takes inventive revenge on men who prey on girls after dark, is here.

'I've always wanted to direct. It feels as if everything up until now has given me the tools to do that  working with many talented people. It's been kind of life-changing,' she says.

Inside I feel like a bag of slithering, cold eels

'I started out writing books and moved into screenwriting, and whenever I've been on a set as an actor I've been actively learning about what the director was doing.

'Directing seems to me to be the ultimate way of telling a story, particularly if it's something you've written yourself.'

Promising Young Woman is the blackly comic tale of Cassie, whose life is upended by an incident of sexual aggression just before the #MeToo days.

Into the director's chair: Emerald (photographed in 2014) has directed her first film

It explores the themes of responsibility, sexual power, and a woman's right to say 'no'. The male characters don't come off as shining knights, but Emerald is quick to say she doesn't regard them as unadulterated villains.

'I'm interested in good people who do bad things and won't admit to them because it explodes their idea of who they are. Don't we, men and women, all think we're nice guys?'

Cassie trawls nightclubs and pretends to be drunk to get 'nice guys' to take her home. She waits for them to try to take advantage of her and then turns the tables, hurting them or scaring them into changing.

'Everything we see in this film, we've seen in romantic comedies over the last 50 to 70 years,' says Emerald. 'It's only when you look back through different eyes that you think, "Hang on, maybe this stuff isn't so cool".'

Emerald was born with not just looks and talent but a silver spoon firmly in her mouth, her father being famed society jewellery designer Theo Fennell.

Emerald followed her mother into writing after getting an English degree from Oxford. Pictured: Emerald (in headphones) directing her new film

She says, however, that she was not named after the gem, but the 1930s society hostess Lady Maud 'Emerald' Cunard. In a curious foreshadowing of Emerald's The Crown role, she was notorious for encouraging her friend Wallis Simpson and Edward, Prince of Wales.

Emerald's mother Louise is a novelist, her books including Fame Game and Dead Rich. Hardly surprising, then, that Emerald and her fashion designer sister Coco have become creative adults.

I DIDN'T MURDER ANYONE! Emerald's success as a writer of dark children's novels proved excellent practice for her season as showrunner on Killing Eve, TV's acclaimed saga of twisted love, double-dealing and murder. Emerald wrote series two of Killing Eve, starring Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer She clearly had the time of her life, beginning with a child having his neck broken in his hospital bed and ending with a gruesome axe murder. These blood-spattered tales seem an anomaly coming from the imagination of a thoroughly nice woman. 'It's interesting, isn't it?' she nods. 'Very interesting, because it was what I felt like a lot of the time when I was writing Killing Eve, although I didn't murder anyone in order to be able to write it!' Advertisement

After an education at Marlborough College (Kate Middleton's school) and an English degree from Oxford, Emerald followed her mother into writing.

From the beginning, she says, she was drawn to the darker side of her imagination. Her first two books, Shiverton Hall in 2013 and its sequel The Creeper (shortlisted for the Waterstones 2014 Children's Book Prize), were written for older children.

'Children's literature is already a shadowy place, filled with villains  the piper who lures children to their doom, the poisoned apple.

'It's no coincidence the books we read as children are often frightening. They are what expose us to a world full of its own darkness.'

She thinks her third book Monsters, about a 12-year-old orphan fascinated by a series of murders, was even darker still. 'The only monsters in it are human,' she has said.

As an actress, her material has been less dark, though often tinged with sadness. It must have been something of a relief, even for her, to turn to the more free-spirited young Camilla.

'She is great fun to play,' she told me while filming. 'She was funny and straightforward.'

Off screen, she's fiercely protective about her private life  she has a child with her partner, director Chris Vernon  but she does admit that her relationship with her parents is close.

'I stayed with them for four months when we came back from LA at the beginning of the lockdown. For a couple of years my life had been so busy I hadn't seen many people I care about,' she says. 'Being forced to spend time with my family has been amazing.'

You can't blame her, then, for taking things easier during lockdown. So is she planning to throw herself into a new project? Well, as she cheerfully replies... 'Why not?'

Promising Young Woman will be coming to cinemas soon.


A marriage eventually frayed at the edges but robust in its critical mass of shared cultural persuasions irrevocably linked the Alkazi and Padamsee families in the artistic sphere.

The reams of Indian newsprint lavished on the cultural exploits of the Alkazi and Padamsee clans over the decades might easily fill several volumes, even if one were not to take into account the sustained cycles of recapitulation that feed arts coverage in the country. A marriage eventually frayed at the edges but robust in its critical mass of shared cultural persuasions irrevocably linked the two families in the artistic sphere. Born of that providential if star-crossed union, theatre director Feisal Alkazi, son of Roshen and Ebrahim Alkazi, delivers a personal take on a multi-generational saga with its own intrigues in his new book Enter Stage Right: The Alkazi / Padamsee Family Memoir.

Brought out by the independent publishing imprint Speaking Tiger, the opus attempts to chalk out a lucid chronicle from the haze of familiarity that visits its most notable figures and their kin. As the author says in the blurb, Writing this book was like opening an old cupboard stuffed full with memories. Some were familiar, easy to recount, others I had heard so much about that I felt I had been there. And still others, hidden away at the back, revealed secrets I never knew.

The book follows a largely chronological path, cutting to the chase with an emphatic claim to legacy in the first line itself, English Theatre in Bombay was born on my grandmothers horseshoe-shaped dining table. Of course, the history of theatre in a colonial tongue in a colonial city stretches back almost a century and a half before that, but Feisal is likely referring to the undeniable influence of the company founded in 1941 by his uncle, the enterprising Sultan Bobby Padamsee. Called simply Theatre Group, it had an unprecedented focus and prolificacy in staging English theatre, and reached its zenith in the 1970s. They were rightful pioneers of a now entrenched city tradition.

From those beginnings, the book traces the career trajectories of his father and his uncle and aunt, Pearl and Alyque Padamsee  illustrious names from the world of theatre with distinctive approaches to their respective practices  while contributing detours that illuminate a constellation of other principals. Although assuming the mantle of the first-person narrator, its only halfway through the book that Feisal emerges as the young protagonist slowly taking over the reins of the narrative. In his parents generation alone, there were a mind-boggling 17 siblings on both sides  understandably not all their stories or those of their offspring find an airing in this volume. This doesnt appear to have contributed to any significant lacunae  the book is simply another perspective of a cast of characters first introduced in Alyques 1994 autobiography, A Double Life.

Like that book did in passing, Enter Stage Right also casts the dashing Bobby as the fountainhead of the clans entwined artistic destinies, despite his untimely death by suicide in 1946 at the age of just 24  which the book openly discusses, perhaps this expansively for the first time on record. One of Bobbys talked-about shows was a production of Oscar Wildes Salome, outlawed by his alma mater St Xavier's College, but staged anyway by Theatre Group at the Sir Cowasji Jehangir Hall at Colaba, that now houses the National Gallery of Modern Art. Salomes suggestive dance of the seven veils was performed by a 19-year-old Roshen, Bobbys sister, after the Parsi actress originally cast backed off. Written in 1892, Wildes play was first staged in 1896 while he was incarcerated on account of his homosexuality. In recent years, queer writers like Hoshang Merchant have attempted to instate Bobby as another iconic martyr on the altar of alternate sexuality. Feisals account of Bobby sidesteps such conjecture, but doesnt shy away from painting a disarmingly candid portrait of a persona so comfortable in his own skin and so prodigiously accomplished that he easily commanded awe, attention and adulation.

Linked by loss and a commitment to his burgeoning legacy, three of Bobbys proteges, including Ebrahim, went on to marry three of his sisters. Feisal takes pride at the melting pot his family represents. While the Padamsees were of Khoja Muslim stock, and the Alkazis came from Saudi-Kuwaiti antecedents, all of Roshens siblings settled into cross-community marriages. Our generation has gone the same way with Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, and Buddhist partners. We have had to be very inventive, constantly designing cross-cultural marriage ceremonies, [often heavily relying] on texts like Khalil Gibrans The Prophet!, writes Feisal. Its a remarkable heritage of heterogeneity and inclusivity that stood in some contrast to his grandparents. In the chapter dedicated to his grandmother Kulsumbai of Kulsum Terrace  she occasionally comes across as intransigent in her views but was nonetheless a matriarch whose steely resilience fired the spirits of her children.

The interior worlds of Bobby, Ebrahim and Roshen are made all the more piquant and poignant by the poems written by them that Feisal includes in the book. Roshens forlorn separation from her husband, albeit not in her professional capacity as an accomplished costume designer and fine arts curator, is a study in intimate and tender observation that only a child of estranged parents could have done justice to. Ebrahims tryst with Theatre Unit in Bombay, after breaking away from the Theatre Group in tumultuous fashion, and his pioneering stewardship of the National School of Drama has been written about extensively, and was the subject of an archival art exhibition by the Alkazis. But Roshens existence has been delicately offered up by her son in an account that provides the book its emotional spine, alongside the tale of Bobby and his mother Kulsumbai  which Feisal likens to the central conflict in Tennessee Williams Suddenly, Last Summer, in which a possessive and grasping matriarchs gay son is driven to suicide. Staged by Ebrahim at Meghdoot Theatre, the open-air space on the terrace of their residence (not to be confused with the similar venue he established at NSD), in quick succession of Euripides Medea, prompts Feisal to liken the plays violent themes of disintegration and collapse of [families] torn apart with the disintegration of his own extended family, even as his artists eye ascribes telling symbolism to household artefacts and paintings in drawing rooms, as the living circumstances of the Alkazis and he Padamsees change over time.

Less successful is Feisals descriptions of the changing cultural zeitgeist in which successive generations of the family came of age. The breathlessly kaleidoscopic accounts of a city (Bombay, and later Delhi) in constant flux, read at times like Whos Who primers or entries in an encyclopaedia. Occasionally, they might evoke a sense of the active ferment of a renaissance perpetually in the making looked at with a decidedly halcyon gaze, but incisive commentary or social insight remains thin on the ground. When he dips into the world of the stage into which he was born, there are the details that bring alive an intense engagement of some longevity with the performing arts, but not necessarily a personal vision or a raison d'etre.

In the telling of episodes from his own life and practice, Feisal is much less revealing of his motivations or conflicts, letting exposition rather than argument, punctuated by carefully selected plaudits, drive the story forward. As the books epilogue reminds us, the passing of Ebrahim last year meant that all those who were gathered at Kulsumbais horseshoe-shaped table on the fateful evening described so nostalgically in the books prologue, have passed into the sands of time. While the next generation continues to deliver on the promise of following worthily in the footsteps of their illustrious predecessors, there is a sombre sense of a full circle in the journey Enter Stage Right takes us on, which makes it a compelling read of a strangely evanescent quality all the more.

***

Feisal Alkazi's book Enter Stage Right also contains rare archival pictures of scenes from theatre productions by the family over the years. View them here: From Oedipus to Yeh Bhi Jungle, Woh Bhi Jungle  a look at theatre productions under the Alkazis over the years.

Chinas ambassador to Britain, Liu Xiaoming, recently bade farewell to this country in characteristic style. Dwelling on golden memories of his time here, he recalled his humble part in President Xi Jinpings state visit in 2015 and New Years Eve parties on the banks of the Thames.

He also mentioned the happy days when he was awarded honorary degrees in ceremonies at the Universities of Huddersfield and Nottingham. The details were telling. What had the Chinese ambassador done to merit these garlands?

Here was a man who represented a country accused of genocide by our closest ally, the United States; whose state broadcaster has been refused a licence to disseminate propaganda in the UK; and whose companies are connected to an army that targets our innovations. He was certainly no natural friend to Britain.

Sickening details of the persecution of Uighur Muslims  involving concentration camps, torture, sterilisation, brainwashing and rape  have been emerging for years.

Yet Beijings ambassador to Britain would blithely argue  albeit unconvincingly  that video footage allegedly showing vast numbers of blindfolded, shackled and shaven-headed Uighurs waiting to be led on to trains, was an everyday prisoner transfer. The next minute, hed be given the red-carpet treatment by British universities.

Chinas ambassador to Britain, Liu Xiaoming, recently bade farewell to this country in characteristic style

Huddersfield University gave him an honorary doctorate in 2019 when a new Confucius Institute there opened, in partnership with the East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai. The focus of this tie-up was innovation in science and technology.

Meanwhile, His Excellency became an honorary Doctor of Law from Nottingham, urging his young audience to consolidate the China-UK Golden Era and to handle differences with wisdom.

Such snapshots  and the murky web of financial deals they hint at  look increasingly like a sham.

Why have Britains universities been prostrating themselves so enthusiastically to the Chinese state that denies freedom of thought?

Huddersfield University (pictured) gave him an honorary doctorate in 2019 when a new Confucius Institute there opened, in partnership with the East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai

The ugly truth is that some of our universities, a fundamental part of the UKs innovation-based economy, have been motivated by a mixture of naivety and greed.

Among the most prestigious institutions in the UK are some which have been topping up their income with sponsorship from Chinese military and tech firms which, it should not need saying, have aims that run fully counter to our own. And these universities have been doing this while in receipt of billions in British taxpayer cash.

The Commons foreign affairs committee, which I chair, has noted that despite 100,000 Chinese students at British universities, there has been precious little debate about Chinas influence on campuses, despite evidence that it is undermining academic freedom and closing down free debate on subjects such as Tibet and Taiwan.

Even Universities UK, which represents our 140 universities, has warned of misappropriation of research output, including the seizing of research data and intellectual property.

Has UK-based research been used in the repression of minorities and democracy activists in China? I fear it is all but certain our universities have, perhaps only in part, become enablers in the crushing of dissent.

Three examples stand out from new research by Civitas. There are Cambridges ties to Chinas National University of Defense Technology  an organisation sanctioned by the US over nuclear missile development.

Also, Imperial Colleges research units, sponsored by Chinese weapons suppliers, including the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, which is designing the latest generation of stealth fighters.

Finally, there are the Scottish centres, one of which is researching radar jamming with a military-linked laboratory in China.

Make no mistake: these are some of the best universities not just in Britain, but in the world. They are at the cutting edge of research and attract the worlds brightest students and teaching.

Universities should collaborate with the private sector in research. For example, millions of us will benefit from the partnership between Oxford and AstraZeneca to produce a vaccine for Covid-19.

But in the race to stay ahead, it is obvious some in Britains universities have lost their moral bearings and are not promoting academic freedom, but undermining our strategic interests.

In opening the doors of our universities to China, we are bargaining away our competitive advantage  and, for a price, handing over the secrets that will help an often-hostile country become the greatest military power of the 21st Century.

University leaders must recognise that the great hope of the past two decades  that China was steadily opening up politically as its economy became more competitive  has been dashed. A Maoist personality cult has been established around President Xi, with his personal thought inserted into Chinas constitution, to be studied by all.

He has allowed what Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has called a grievous attack on Hong Kongs rights and freedoms by ordering the mass arrest of politicians and activists. Freedom is being crushed so blatantly that the UK is giving many of Hong Kongs residents  all British passport-holders  the right to live and work here.

Universities need to wake up to these abuses.

The Government must introduce rules that govern the research British higher education institutions carry out with Chinese involvement, sponsorship or support. Particular attention must be paid to science and technology, where it is clear our competitive advantage is being handed to a strategic adversary.

It seems Xi has learned from Lenin  the capitalist really will sell you the rope you use to hang him. Or in our case, design it.
ADULT FICTION

The Art of Falling by Danielle McLaughlin: Nessa McCormacks seemingly perfect life is coming apart at the seams. Her marriage is on the rocks, her daughter is pulling away from her, and the arrival of a young man named Luke threatens to reveal an important secret from her past. Nessas solace is her work at a local art gallery, where she is in charge of a retrospective exhibit for one of Irelands most beloved and enigmatic artists, Robert Locke. However, this, too, is thrown into chaos when a woman comes forward claiming to be the true creator of Lockes most famous work, The Chalk Sculpture. Danielle McLaughlin weaves these two narratives together to reveal profound truths about love, power and the secrets that rule us.

ADULT NONFICTION

All the Young Men: A Memoir of Love, AIDS, and Chosen Family in the American South by Ruth Coker Burks and Kevin Carr OLeary: In 1986, 26-year-old Ruth is visiting a friend at the hospital when she notices a door to one of the rooms is painted red. Nurses, all of them unwilling to help, are drawing straws to see who will tend to the patient, who is crying for his mother on the other side. Ruth immediately steps into the quarantined space herself, comforting the young man in his last moments. Before she realizes what shes done, word spreads in the community that Ruth is the only person willing to help these young men afflicted by AIDS, and she is called on to nurse them. This moving and elegiac memoir honors the extraordinary life of Ruth Coker Burks and the beloved men with AIDS who fought valiantly for their lives during a most hostile and misinformed time in America.

DVD

Bad Education: Long Island school superintendent Frank Tassone and his assistant superintendent for business, Pam Gluckin, are credited with bringing Roslyn School District unprecedented prestige. Frank, always immaculately groomed and tailored, is a master of positive messaging, whether before an audience of community leaders or in an office with a concerned student or parent. In short, it seems Frank can do no wrong. That is, until a plucky student reporter decides to dig deep into some expense reports and begins to uncover an embezzlement scheme of epic proportions, prompting Frank to devise an elaborate cover-up  by any means necessary.

CHILDRENS BOARD BOOK

Elmo is Mindful by Joe Mathieu: Elmo and his friends share tips and techniques to focus, relax and stay calm when experiencing all sorts of feelings. During this time, kids may have questions about what is happening around them and this book can be a great way to explain the world and how to deal with it.

CHILDRENS PICTURE BOOK

Outside, Inside by LeUyen Pham: Something strange happened on an unremarkable day. Everyone who was outside went inside. Outside it was quiet and different while, inside, we laughed and cried and grew. While the world changed outside, we became stronger inside.

Did you know?

The Take and Make Crafts for February are a Valentines Day paint jar for kids and finger-knitting a heart for teens. You may pick up your craft in the Childrens Department anytime during February.
Berger said when he read the findings of the first probe, "it was pretty clear to me we needed to do a follow-on...
We have been into whiskies since the day we started drinking but how many of us read a label and see an Irish Single Pot Still apart from a bourbon? What the heck man, it is all whisky, right? Wait. How did you just spell it? Whisky or whiskey? That letter 'e' itself matters big in the world of spiritsthe world is split into two, with countries like Scotland, Canada and Japan shunning the 'e', while the US and Ireland holding on to it religiously).

This week we are going to see the different types of whiskeys out there in the market.

Scotch

Made in Scotland with either malt or grain, it is Scotch that has made whiskies this popular in the world. Scotch is Class. Scotch is style. Scotch is a statement.

The law stipulates that the drink should not only be made in Scotland but it also has to go through some rigorous procedures to call itself Scotch. Each bottle should have an age statement and anything less than three years old is haram in the Scotch whisky bible. While blended whisky is the product of blending different types of whiskies from different distilleries, a single malt, which is considered to be the most prestigious, carries the unique signature of a single distillery.

A file picture of a bottle of single malt scotch whisky Macallan. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Different regions in Scotland produce different styles of whiskies and so we have types like Lowland, Highland, Islay, Speyside, Campbelltown, etc.

A 72-year-old bottle of Glen Grant single malt whisky from Scotland fetched more than $54,000 in an auction in Hong Kong on January 29.

Connoisseurs don't wolf down Scotch whisky to get drunk, instead, they make an art out of sipping it slowly, meditating on life, art and philosophy.

Irish

Eternally at war with the Scots over the paternity of whisky, Irish whiskeys are made from a mash of malt and can only be distilled with water.

A minimum of three years of aging inside a wooden cask makes this whiskey smooth and easy for your palate. Traditionally Irish whiskey is triple distilled in a copper pot, while its counterpart, the Scotch, undergoes only double distillation. No wonder that Irish whiskey is less smoky than the Scotch.

American

American whiskey is an altogether different expression when you compare it to the continental ones. To begin with, since it is rarely smoked with peat, you will find the drink less peaty and less smoky. Which means, it is sweeter to your palate. Unlike Scotch, which is aged in old and used barrels, American whiskey is aged in new charred oak barrels from which its distinct aroma evolves. There are different kinds of American whiskeys.

Bottles of Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey await packaging for shipment at the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky, U.S., June 11, 2018. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston - RC1982252CE0

Bourbon, the most popular of the American style, is made from corn (the spirit needs to have at least 51 percent corn to be called bourbon). Aged in new and charred oak barrels, bourbons do not take any additives or colouring agents.

Tennessee is similar to bourbon in terms of grains used but the spirit undergoes some charcoal filtering that takes away its sharp edge. It is made in, well no points for guessing, Tennessee (Jack Daniel's is a Tennessee).

America also produces some phenomenal rye and wheat whiskeys apart from many bold and wonderful single malts.

Canadian

Canadian whisky like Scotch must be barrel-aged for at least three years. In the past, Canadians depended on rye to make their whiskies as it was the only crop that could withstand the harsh winter of the country. But today, unless specifically mentioned, Canadian whiskies contain mostly corn rather than rye (technology has helped other crops to fight the snowstorms and take root).

The law stipulates that Canadian whisky be mashed, distilled and aged in Canada. Since the distilleries in the country are not known to be generous in sharing their wares, Canadian whisky is generally made from a single distillery.

Japanese

They started out as ardent fans of Scotch whiskies.

Though a bit late on the scene, Japanese whisky made significant improvements in the late twentieth century to court a lot of attention.

Just think, in 2015 Jim Murrey's Whisky Bible, the most prominent guide to the world's whisky rankings, adjudged the Japanese Yamasaki Single Malt Sherry Cask 2013 as the best in the world. It shows far the Japanese have come and emerged from the shadow of Scotch, whom they modelled upon, only a few decades ago.

Japanese whisky is bold and complex, and confidently takes on the palates of millions of whisk(e)y aficionados all over the world.

(This article has used both the spellingswhisky and whiskeyjust to be fair).

(Manu Remakant is a freelance writer who also runs a video blog  A Cup of Kavitha  introducing world poetry to Malayalis. The views expressed here are personal.)
Nepal and India jointly inaugurated a newly-constructed 108-kilometer road that connects the Indian border with several areas of the Himalayan nation on Tuesday, the Indian embassy here said. Built with Indian grant assistance, the blacktopped road from the Indian border Laxmipur-Balara to Gadhaiya in Sarlahi district, Nepal was jointly inaugurated by Nitesh Kumar, Consul General of the Consulate General of India, Birgunj and Binod Kumar Mauwar, division chief of Department of Roads, Chandranigahpur.

The India grant assistance of Rs 44.48 million was utilised for the construction of the road, according to a statement issued by the Indian embassy in Kathmandu.

The road was taken up as a high impact community development project under an agreement between the governments of India and Nepal, it said.

The newly-built road connecting the Indo-Nepal border is expected to ease the movement of daily commuters across the border, it added.India-Nepal bilateral ties came under strain after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a 80-km-long strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8 last year.

Nepal reacted sharply to the inauguration of the road, claiming that it passed through the Nepalese territory. India rejected the claim, asserting that the road lies completely within its territory.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Egypts Cairo International Airport has received the Airports Council International's (ACI) health accreditation certificate, becoming the sixth Egyptian airport to receive such recognition due to its strict preventive measures implemented during the pandemic crisis.

In press statements reported by the state-run Middle East News Agency on Friday, Civil Aviation Minister Mohamed Manar said the accreditation is testament to Egyptian airports commitment to implementing the highest level of preventive measures against the coronavirus since the outbreak last year.

In its attempts to save the tourism sector from the economic repercussions of the coronavirus, Egypt has been luring travellers to its hotspot destinations since the majority of tourism-receiving countries continue to place strict pandemic measures due to a surge in cases.

Around 1.4 million tourists visited Egypt as of December since reopening its seaside resorts of Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada, and Marsa Matrouh to international flights and foreign tourists in July after a three-month halt over the coronavirus pandemic, Tourism and Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Anany said last month.

Since September, travellers to Egypt have been required to present PCR certificates upon departure and arrival.

Egypt hopes recent archaeological discoveries and a postponed opening of the mega Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), located near the Giza Pyramids, to this year will help it recover its key source of foreign currency.

The country's tourism revenues fell by approximately 70 percent to $4 billion in 2020 due to the pandemic, with the number of tourists falling down to 3.5 million from 13.1 million in 2019, El-Anany told Reuters in January.

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New US Covid-19 cases have declined by 61 percent compared to the peak level on January 8, officials said Friday, as they announced troops were being deployed to support the national vaccine campaign.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Rochelle Walensky said that latest official data from February 3 showed new infections were down to approximately 121,000, while hospitalizations were down nearly 42 percent and the pace of deaths appears to be slowing.

"While the data are moving in the right direction, context is important because cases, hospital admissions, and deaths, all remain high and well above the levels that we saw in the summer and early fall," Walensky said during a briefing by the White House's Covid-19 Response Team.

The Department of Defense meanwhile announced it had approved 1,110 active duty members to assist at five federal Covid-19 vaccination centers. That number could eventually rise to 10,000.

The new administration of President Joe Biden has set its sights on delivering 150 million doses of Covid shots in the first 100 days of office -- a challenge made all the more pressing by the emergence of new variants of the coronavirus that are more transmissible and reduce the efficacy of vaccines.

To this end, Tim Manning, the national supply chain manager for the Covid response, said the government was invoking emergency legislation called the Defense Production Act to give Pfizer priority access to the raw ingredients for its vaccine.

The legislation is also being used to help deliver 60 million more point-of-care or at-home tests by summer, and to increase the domestic manufacture of surgical gloves.

The US Food and Drug Administration is meanwhile examining vaccine data submitted to it by Johnson & Johnson, ahead of a meeting by an independent advisory panel on February 26.

The panel is likely to advise in favor of emergency use authorization (EUA) given the positive data announced from J&J's multi continent trial, which found the single-shot vaccine overall 66 percent effective, but highly protective against severe Covid.

An EUA would follow soon after, bringing a third vaccine into the picture, with vaccines by AstraZeneca and Novavax on the horizon.
Angelica Ramsey made her first public appearance in Midland to become the school districts 12th superintendent.

After the Midland ISD school board voted unanimously to approve her contract and officially hire Ramsey -- who previously was the lone finalist for the position -- the superintendent of the Pleasant Valley School District in Camarillo, California, signed on the dotted line.

Her first day will be Feb. 22.

The three-year contract provides a base salary of $275,000, the same amount the district was paying her predecessor. The contact also calls for a district cell phone, a $600-a-month car allowance and up to $7,000 for moving expenses. Everything is standard, according to Board President Bryan Murry, but Ramseys arrival isnt seen as just another hire.

Rick Davis, who has been on the board for two previous superintendent hires, said Friday that hiring Ramsey does feel different  that she has the right balance of qualities to get the job done.

I have more confidence in this one being successful than I had in any of the others, Davis said. I was optimistic and felt good about the others and was excited about the others, but this one does feel different. I think she really is exactly the right fit for us at exactly the right time.

While Ramsey said she will wait and see before talking in much detail about what to expect, she told the Reporter-Telegram she has created a 90-to-100-day plan of entry that she will bring before the board. Should the board approve it, she will publish it for people in the community to read, so residents, parents, staff and students know what the next step is.

That is step 1, Ramsey said, getting to know the context of MISD.

Murry said Ramsey brings a whole new level to the academics. He said he said her plan includes getting Midland ISD to a phonics-based reding program.

It will not be an autonomous thing around the district; it will be everybody doing the same thing and we are going to build around that base, Murry said. I am super excited about laying the foundations that I thought would have already been in place.  She brings a strong academic background, and I'm really looking forward to making some changes there, because that's always been our main focus.

Davis took the time during the meeting to read comments from Scott Wright, the president of the Pleasant Valley Educators Association, about Ramsey. Wright wrote that Ramsey inherited a difficult situation in Camarillo that included staffing problems at the district office and all-time low morale.

She committed herself to improving both issues, and she did so quickly and efficiently, Wright wrote. She understands how vital each employee is in ensuring the education of students, and she was able to motivate all of us to work collaboratively for their benefit.

Davis added, Even more impressive to me was the recommendations, referrals and the testimonials that people who worked with her gave about her and about the very qualities we were looking for. That they confirmed what we thought we were seeing and hearing from her personally. They confirmed that she actually walked the walk, not just talked the talk.

Board members gave credit during the meeting to interim Superintendent Ann Dixon for her work with the district and her help during the superintendent search. It was stated that Dixon will stay with the district through the next board meeting (Feb. 16). That meeting could include a decision about the 2021-22 school calendar.

But for one Friday, the Bowie Fine Arts Academy auditorium was filled with an optimism about educational improvement in Midland. Murry, who just became board president in January, said it was an exciting day for education.

We're going to start fresh and were going to right the ship, Murry said. It's time for us to make some moves. And so, there's some changes coming, and that won't be easy, but we have to do what's best for kids.

MISD Superintendents

1907-1941: W.W. Lackey

1941-1943: George A. Heath

1943-1954: Frank Monroe

1954-1955: William M. Hadley

1955-1968: Harold H. Hitt

1968-1982: James H. Mailey

1982-2001: Joseph P. Baressi Jr.

2001-2006: Robert E. Nicks

2006-2010: Sylvester Perez

2010-2016: Ryder Warren

2017-2020: Orlando Riddick

Beginning Feb. 22, 2021: Angelica Ramsey
New Delhi: Telugu actor-model Srivatsav Chandrasekar died from suicide, as per reports. The young actor was Dhanushs co-star in 2019's Enai Nokki Payum Thotta.

As per Times of India report, Chandrasekar was found hanging in the house that was being used by his father for business. The actor left his house in Perambur on Wednesday stating that he was going out for shooting that day. However, as per several media reports, he went to another house owned by his family and was found dead there.

His last rites were performed on Friday (February 5). The deceased actor was reportedly suffering from psychological issues and was undergoing treatment for the same.

Television and film fraternity has expressed shock and condolences on the passing away of the young and budding actor.

Srivatsav Chandrasekar was part of Vallamai Tharayo, a digital web series made for YouTube, that has been gaining a lot of recognition as it was being broadcasted in prime time on a popular Telugu TV channel. The plot revolves around a patriarchal family and how well-intentioned parents push their daughter into an imbalanced marriage.
Registration on the Co-WIN portal does not require a user to submit Aadhaar card details, Union Minister of State for Health Ashwini Choubey has informed the Lok Saabha. Providing details about the Co-WIN portal, which has been created along with the CoWin mobile app to streamline the COVID-19 vaccination drive in India, he said it has been developed by the Ministry of Health, government of India with the support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), India Office.

On whether Aadhaar is mandatory for registering on the Co-WIN application, Choubey, in a written reply, said: "No, Aadhaar is not mandatory for registration on Co-WIN portal." He said that  58.90 lakh has been incurred on Co-WIN, as on February 1 this year.

ALSO READ | CoWin App Registration, When & How to Download and Why You'll Have to Wait for Access to it

On whether any privacy impact assessments were carried out to develop the application, Choubey said: "Yes, privacy impact assessments were carried out for Co-WIN portal. For data safety, data is encrypted using a highly secure key, no unauthorised access to database on AWS server is allowed and restricted access to relational database service (to decrease the risk of malicious activities)."

The Co-WIN application follows the privacy policy as stated in the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM), he said.

The Co-WIN application comes with five different modules, namely - Administrator module, Registration module, Vaccination module, Beneficiary Acknowledgement module, and Report module - to ensure smooth tracking and registration for COVID-19 vaccine in the country.

The mobile app is also an upgraded version of the eVIN (Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network) and will be available to download for free via the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The app may also launch on Jio phones that run on KaiOS.

Citizens who are not frontline health workers will be able to register for the vaccine via the 'Registration Module'. Currently, the app is being used as a back-end software during COVID-19 vaccination drive.
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 6 : The ruling Left front in Kerala has been questioned by the Opposition over the government postings, which the latter has termed as 'backdoor postings'.

The youth wing of CPM, Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) has backed the postings by the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government, saying they were done under humanitarian considerations.

This has come as a complete contrast to DYFI's earlier stance as in the past, it had conducted several agitations against the previous UDF government led by Oommen Chandy over such postings.

In a press conference, the DYFI said the postings were implemented for those who had completed 10 years on temporary service, and that they were done in categories and posts where the recruitment was not through the Public Service Commission (PSC).

Reacting to this, Youth Congress state president and Member of Kerala Legislative assembly Shafi Parambil told IANS: "The DYFI had shed blood in the streets of Kerala citing discrepancies during UDF government period and has taken a clear summersault on these postings as those close to several DYFI leaders got postings through backdoor.

"If they are speaking about humanitarian grounds ,what about the youth that worked hard to prepare for the PSC examinations and waited for their turn to get employment after finding a place in the list. This cannot be tolerated and Youth Congress will not be a mere spectators," he said.

In a related development, Kerala Minister for Industries, Youth Affairs and Sports, EP Jayarajan who was the first All India President of DYFI, justified the postings.

"There is nothing wrong in these postings. These are done to post those who had served the past 10 years at meager amounts and those who are creating trouble are the ones who got postings in this manner during earlier government period," he told the mediapersons.

Meanwhile, Paramabil called for a judicial probe into the backdoor appointments and added that the manner in which the spouses of several DYFI leaders got government jobs should be investigated.

The state government in the last Cabinet meeting on Wednesday regularised the services of 118 temporary employees in the Centre for Development of Imaging Technology, or C-DIT, which falls directly under the Chief Minister.

The government is also planning to regularise the services of 90 temporary employees in Matsyafed, a government of Kerala undertaking which is into the welfare of the fishing community as well as sale of fish. Minister for Fisheries J. Mercykutty Amma said that the Matsayfed is also recruiting employees through PSC and those being regularized has been working at the organisation for the past 10 years.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The police chief who steered Oakland through a pandemic, a burst of homicides and a string of budget cuts retired Friday, leaving behind a department mired in new allegations and a city divided over public safety.

Interim Chief Susan Manheimer held the citys top law enforcement job during a turbulent 10-month period, in which she maneuvered between residents demanding faster responses to 911 calls, activists pressing to defund the department and politicians with competing agendas.

It was a continuous and evolving string of challenges that built upon one another, Manheimer said Friday morning, speaking on the phone from the parking garage of the Police Administration building. Mayor Libby Schaaf had just tweeted a video announcing Manheimers successor, LeRonne Armstrong, and Manheimer was preparing for lunch with colleagues to mark her otherwise low-key departure.

Schaaf appointed Manheimer in late March of 2020, shortly after regional leaders clamped down shelter-in-place orders. Though Manheimer had served for years in law enforcement as chief of San Mateo and in various positions at the San Francisco Police Department, some residents and politicians perceived her as an outsider in Oakland.

She was the second white woman in a row to lead a city of stark racial and economic disparities. Schaaf and the Police Commission fired her predecessor, Anne Kirkpatrick, without cause.

Manheimer saw herself as a stabilizing force, a role that became more significant as COVID-19 and civil unrest convulsed the city. She oversaw hundreds of officers who had to stay on the streets even as other city workers went home. As of Feb. 5, 86 police staff had tested positive for the virus, she said.

But the interim chief also faced scrutiny over her departments response to demonstrations against police violence.

The Minnesota police killing of George Floyd in May triggered Black Lives Matter protests around the country and in Oakland, where activists had urged cuts to the police force for years. During some of the demonstrations in late May and early June, people set 137 fires and vandalized 200 businesses, Manheimer wrote in an open letter to the community. She said the department used smoke and gas to disperse crowds and stem assaults on officers.

In July, federal judge Joseph Spero issued a preliminary injunction that limited the Police Departments use of tear gas and non-lethal munitions, as part of a lawsuit filed by the Anti Police-Terror Project and various people who participated in the protests.

Manheimer acknowledged the righteous rage of the demonstrators. However, she said that other people had used the protests as cover for violent disruption.

By mid-summer, cities across the nation were rushing to take action on police brutality and Oakland leaders wanted to set an example. The City Council formed a Reimagining Public Safety task force with a stated goal to cut the departments $290 million budget in half.

For several months, Manheimer sat in on task force meetings where some participants accused the police of irresponsibly driving up spending with overtime, a complaint echoed by members of the City Council. But when City Administrator Ed Reiskin directed the department to cut overtime in December by disbanding units  such as motorcycle traffic enforcement, foot patrols and a detail that provides security when city workers clear homeless encampments some city councilmembers were not satisfied, saying they had been shut out of the process.

It was very frustrating that many tried to paint a picture of the Police Department frivolously overspending their budget, Manheimer said. That money was being spent on vital community services. I think that was the thing that was most irksome. Theres not an understanding by our leaders or by the Reimagining Committee that we are so understaffed and under-resourced that everything you cut impacts the safety in our community.

The city reinstated its police homeless encampment detail, though other services remain suspended.

In January, Manheimers last month on the job, Oakland saw 15 homicides. It marked the deadliest start of the year in two decades and a rapid unraveling for the city.

Were talking about real lives, not just statistics, said City Councilman Loren Taylor, who co-chairs the Reimagining task force. His district includes a large swath of the flatlands in East Oakland, an area bounded by Interstate 580 in the hills and Interstate 880 near the industrial waterfront. Over the past year it became an epicenter of intertwined crises in Oakland: shootings, poverty and a relentless virus.

Communities and neighborhoods are being traumatized, and we have to address that, Taylor said. It would have been a challenge for anyone, let alone an interim chief who doesnt have the history, the background, the connection to community, everything else.

Armstrong, who has worked closely with Manheimer throughout her stint as chief, has a strikingly different public image. He is Black, grew up in Oakland and is widely seen as someone with deep community roots.

Yet as he steps in, the Oakland police face at least two internal investigations. One centers on officers who may have endorsed or been involved with the social media account of a former officer who defended the Capitol takeover mob. Another concerns six Instagram posts that used racist content to denigrate police reforms.

John Jones III, a formerly incarcerated community activist who serves on the Reimagining task force, said he initially felt skeptical of Manheimer. About two decades ago, Jones was arrested in the Tenderloin by an officer who he said planted drugs on him. Manheimer was working the Tenderloin beat at that time.

Shortly after she took the Oakland job, the two met; Jones brought up the arrest and pointed to what he saw as an injustice. Manheimer said she made several calls to the San Francisco Police Department and the District Attorneys Office, and that staff offered to work with Jones to expunge the conviction from his record.

Since then, weve been in contact on a variety of issues, Jones said. To me, thats important, he added.

Manheimer agreed.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  Governor Kim Reynolds announced she would end most restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus in Iowa.

Reynolds issued a proclamation Friday afternoon that removes a mask requirement for those spending 15 minutes or more in an indoor area within 6 feet of people not in their household. She also ended mask requirements for those in state buildings and some businesses, such as barber shops.

The governors new order also ends limits on the number of customers in a business or a requirement that they stay socially distant. The governor issued the earlier restrictions in November when hospitals were struggling to care for a surge of coronavirus patients. Those numbers have dropped, though the state typically reports dozens of deaths each day.

To read the Governor's proclamation, click here.

Christopher Plummer, the acclaimed actor who took on Captain von Trapp's role in the film "The Sound of Music," has died at 91 years old.

Plummer died on Friday morning at his Connecticut home with wife Elaine Taylor by his side, according to Lou Pitt, his manager and longtime friend.

RIP 'Sound of Music' Star Christopher Plummer

Hollywood stars have paid homage to the Canadian actor. According to Dame Julie Andrews, who starred along with Plummer in "The Sound of Music," he was a "cherished friend" and "consummate actor."

To say that Plummer left an indelible mark on the screen would be an understatement. The actor's body of work was varied, prolific, and often memorable -- starring in movies from 1958 and working right up until his death, reported Greek City Times.

Plummer has passed away after experiencing a fall.

Plummer was the oldest actor to have won an Academy Award for 2010's Beginners. He had a star-studded career on the stage and screen, extending back to the 1950s, reported Evening Standard.

According to Pitt's statement, "Chris was an extraordinary man who deeply loved and respected his profession with great old fashion manners, self deprecating humor and the music of words. He was a National Treasure who deeply relished his Canadian roots. Through his art and humanity, he touched all of our hearts and his legendary life will endure for all generations to come," reported WTHI-TV 10.

Aside from co-starring as Captain Von Trapp in the 1965 musical opposite Julie Andrews, the actor won a supporting actor Oscar award for his 2010 movie "Beginners." He was nominated again as recently as 2018 for "All the Money in the World," in which he replaced Kevin Spacey as J. Paul Getty after the younger actor was involved in a scandal.

The versatile Canadian-born actor was critically lionized as among the pre-eminent Shakespeareans of the previous century. He bagged two Tony awards and two Emmy awards, along with his Oscar award.

Plummer, a prominent Shakespearean actor renowned for his television, film, and stage work in a career that stretched over six decades, was best known for his "The Sound Of Music" role, which at the time eclipsed "Gone With the Wind"(1939) as the top-grossing film.

He flourished in a progression of meaty roles when he reached beyond 70 years old -- a time in life when most actors eventually fade away.

Plummer also starred in the films "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," as a canny lawyer in "Inherit the Wind" on Broadway, and was the voice of the villain in 2009s "Up." He starred back in 2019 as a murdered mystery novelist in the suspense drama series "Departure" and Rian Johnson's whodunnit "Knives Out."

The Academy Award winner was also lauded as an "extraordinary" person and a "completely free, kind, and funny" individual.

Plummer was also nominated for numerous awards.

One of his many remarkable roles was the wise Aristotle's role in Oliver Stone's epic historical drama film "Alexander" in 2004. It was based on the life of the king and Ancient Macedonian general Alexander the Great.

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

Former President Donald Trump's historic second impeachment trial begins Tuesday, forcing the Senate to decide whether to convict him of incitement of insurrection after a violent mob of his supporters laid siege to the US Capitol on January 6.

While Trump's acquittal is expected, all 100 senators will first have to sit at their desks and listen to hours of graphic testimony from House Democrats about the riots, which left five people dead. The House impeached Trump on Jan. 13, one week after the violence.

A look at the basics of the upcoming impeachment trial:

HOW DOES THE TRIAL WORK?

The Constitution says the House has the sole power of impeachment while the Senate has the sole power to try the individual on the charges. The person being impeached  who can be the president, the vice president or any civil officer of the United States  can be convicted by two-thirds of the senators present.

The House appoints managers as prosecutors who set up on the Senate floor, along with the defendant's lawyers, to present their case. The prosecutors and Trump's defense team will have a set amount of time to make arguments, and then senators can ask questions in writing before a final vote.

The chief justice of the United States normally presides over the trial of a president, but because Trump has left office, the presiding officer will be Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who is the ceremonial head of the Senate as the longest-serving member of the majority party.

Once the senators reach a final vote on the impeachment charge  this time there is just one, incitement of insurrection  each lawmaker will stand up and cast their vote: guilty or not guilty.

HOW LONG WILL THE TRIAL LAST?

Unclear. The Senate has to agree to the rules of the trial, and party leaders are still working out the details.

Trump's first impeachment trial, in which he was acquitted on charges that he abused power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate now-President Joe Biden, lasted almost three weeks. But this one is expected to be shorter, as the case is less complicated and the senators know many of the details already, having been in the Capitol during the insurrection.

And while the Democrats want to ensure they have enough time to make their case, they do not want to tie up the Senate for long. The Senate cannot confirm Biden's Cabinet nominees and move forward with their legislative priorities, such as COVID-19 relief, until the trial is complete.

WHY TRY TRUMP WHEN HE IS OUT OF OFFICE?

Republicans and Trump's lawyers argue that the trial is unnecessary, and even unconstitutional, because Trump is no longer president and cannot be removed from office. Democrats disagree, pointing to opinions of many legal scholars and the impeachment of a former secretary of war, William Belknap, who resigned in 1876 just hours before he was impeached over a kickback scheme.

While Belknap was eventually acquitted, the Senate held a full trial. And this time, the House impeached Trump while he was still president, seven days before Biden's inauguration.

If Trump were convicted, the Senate could take a second vote to bar him from holding office again. Democrats feel that would be an appropriate punishment after he told the angry mob of his supporters to fight like hell" to overturn his election defeat.

Democrats also argue that there should not be a January exception" for presidents who commit impeachable offenses just before they leave office. They say the trial is necessary not only to hold Trump properly accountable but also so they can deal with what happened and move forward.

You cannot go forward until you have justice," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week. If we were not to follow up with this, we might as well remove any penalty from the Constitution of impeachment."

HOW IS THIS TRIAL DIFFERENT FROM TRUMP'S FIRST TRIAL?

Trump's first trial was based on evidence uncovered over several months by the House about a private phone call between Trump and the president of Ukraine, as well as closed-door meetings that happened before and afterward. Democrats held a lengthy investigation and then compiled a report of their findings.

In contrast, the second trial will be based almost entirely on the visceral experience of a riot that targeted the senators themselves, in the Capitol building. The insurrectionists even breached the Senate chamber, where the trial will be held.

The fresh memories of January 6 could make it easier for the House impeachment managers to make their case, but it doesn't mean the outcome will be any different. Trump was acquitted in his first trial a year ago Friday with only one Republican, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, voting to convict, and there may not be many more guilty votes this time around.

In a test vote January 26, only five Senate Republicans voted against an effort to dismiss the trial  an early indication that Trump is likely to be acquitted again.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.

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Berlin, Feb 6 : German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that her country's attitude towards the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project is, for the present, "unaffected" by Russia's treatment of its opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

At a press conference after an online meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Merkel on Friday reiterated that the stance of the German government on the project has not been changed, reports Xinhua news agency.

The 1,230-km Nord Stream 2 pipeline is designed to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea.

The pipeline could deliver 55 billion cubic metres of gas per year.

Merkel added that it was vital to maintain channels of dialogue with Russia.

"Despite all the differences, it is nevertheless strategically advisable to remain in contact on many geo-strategic issues," she said.

On Navalny's case, Merkel said that Germany and France reserve the right to continue sanctions against Russian officials.

Also on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that relations between Russia and the European Union (EU) are challenged by "a lack of normalcy".

Talking about the possibility of new sanctions over the case of Navalny, Lavrov said that Russia has grown accustomed to the "unilateral restrictions" of the bloc, adding that the EU remains an "unreliable partner" at this stage.
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The Kano State Executive Council has approved and amended the proposed bill on Child Rights (protection) Act 2010 to reflect the position of Sharia on all sections of the Child Rights Act (CRA) 2003.

Muhammed Garba, Commissioner for Information in Kano State disclosed this in statement he signed and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano on Saturday,

Mr Garba said the decision for the approval was reached at its state council meeting in line with the Federal Government policy of 2003 where states were asked to domesticate the bill .

He said that the approval was necessary because of the commitment of the state administration on child welfare.

Mr Garba disclosed that the state government was motivated to enact the child right bill after it assented to the bill on free and compulsory education.

The administration developed a keen interest in seeing the passing of the Child Rights Act because of its commitment to child growth and development in the state.

According to the statement, the approval had been passed to the state assembly for passage, and assured that the bill when passed would protect the rights of the child as a human being.

He said in compliance with the federal governments policy, the state governments embarked on the act to domesticate the bill and engaged Islamic scholars and others to bring it to fruition.

NAN reports that the amended Act was initially drafted in 2010 and only succeeded in been approved in 2021 for passage. (NAN)
Tens of thousands more firms will be offered Government funds to pay for rapid Covid tests for staff after Matt Hancock and major employers backed The Mail on Sunday's campaign.

The Health Secretary today announces that he is expanding the Government's workplace coronavirus testing pilot scheme to all companies with more than 50 staff.

Until now, only English firms with 250 or more staff qualified for the scheme, meaning just 5,000 firms were eligible for state support.

The huge expansion opens up the scheme to a further 31,000 medium-sized companies across England.

Retailers John Lewis (including Waitrose), Dixons Carphone and Boohoo, energy giant EDF and steelmaker Tata have backed our crusade to get more firm testing their employees regularly

Writing for The Mail on Sunday, Hancock calls on companies to take up the offer, with NHS Test and Trace set to release marketing materials to local authorities and firms to support the initiative.

It is a major step forward for The Mail on Sunday's Tests at Work campaign, which was launched last week to help reboot Britain's economy by getting millions of workers safely back to factories, plants, shops and offices.

We revealed that early results from a Government pilot scheme showed major companies had prevented thousands of sick days and avoided entire factory closures by using regular rapid tests that deliver results in as little as 15 minutes.

Retailers John Lewis, Dixons Carphone and Boohoo, energy giant EDF and steelmaker Tata have thrown their weight behind our crusade to get more companies testing their employees regularly.

The firms said workplace testing was a vital tool in reopening the economy safely while the Government focuses on getting Covid-19 vaccines to the entire population.

Our Tests at Work campaign is also calling on the Government to extend its hugely successful pilot scheme beyond the current March 31 cut-off date and expand it from England to all of the UK.

The pilot scheme, launched late last year, offers financial support and advice for companies in England to help them implement workplace testing for employees without Covid symptoms.

Employers have been providing workers without Covid symptoms regular so-called 'lateral flow' tests that produce a result in 15 minutes to an hour.

Staff are asked to wait for the results in isolated areas before being allowed into the workplace if they test negative.

Businesses in the pilot have also allowed staff who have been in contact with a Covid sufferer to keep going into work as long as they test negative for seven days running.

This so-called 'daily contact testing' programme helped John Lewis and Tata save 8,000 potential sick days between them.

It also avoided five potential factory shut-downs. Our campaign to roll out rapid workplace testing has won widespread praise over the past seven days as Ministers and businesses plot a route out of lockdown.

Online fashion retailer Boohoo said it had avoided at least 750 sick days since the Army trained staff at its distribution centre in Burnley, Lancashire, to test its 500 employees in October

Two of Britain's best-known entrepreneurs  former Dragons' Den star Duncan Bannatyne and Pimlico Plumbers boss Charlie Mullins  have given us their full backing.

And industry bodies such as the Confederation of British Industry, the British Retail Consortium and the Food and Drink Federation  which together represent hundreds of thousands of firms and millions of staff  are on board.

Other supporters joining our call for widespread workplace testing include the FTSE 100-listed packaging giant Smurfit Kappa, Abel & Cole owner William Jackson Food Group and telecoms specialist Odyssey Systems.

Online fashion retailer Boohoo  which last month bought the Debenhams brand and is in talks to snap up Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton  said it had avoided at least 750 sick days since the Army trained staff at its distribution centre in Burnley, Lancashire, to test its 500 employees in October.

We would encourage other employers to get behind this important campaign and start offering people tests in the workplace. David James - Boohoo

David James, supply chain director at Boohoo, said: 'We would encourage other employers to get behind this important campaign and start offering people tests in the workplace.

'For larger employers, it is a big logistical exercise but it will help to protect colleagues, their families and the wider community.' Energy provider EDF is carrying out 1,000 tests a week at its construction site for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset.

EDF has developed its own track and trace system with local health authorities, and has invested in two mobile laboratories capable of processing 700 tests a day.

David Brown, principal medical officer at EDF, said: 'Implementing workplace testing helps us to safely continue our critical role of supplying power to customers at home, in businesses and in the NHS.'

Dixons Carphone said it was rolling out rapid lateral flow testing at its sites in high-risk areas. It began at distribution centres in Kent and Nottinghamshire, and will extend the scheme to sites in Liverpool, Southend-on-Sea, in Essex, and Stevenage, in Hertfordshire.

Lindsay Haselhurst, chief supply chain officer at Dixons Carphone, which owns Currys PC World, said: 'It's early days but workplace testing can play a critical role in our fight against this virus. It gives us the means, for the first time, to identify asymptomatic colleagues before they pass it on unknowingly.'

Dixons Carphone said it was rolling out rapid lateral flow testing at its sites in high-risk areas

Nicholas Oughtred, chairman of William Jackson Food Group, which owns the vegetable box delivery firm Abel & Cole as well as the restaurant supplier Wellocks, said: 'We support The Mail on Sunday in encouraging more businesses to proactively test their colleagues.

'We've been carrying out weekly testing since October and know first-hand how effective it is at helping people feel safer about coming to work. We've carried out about 5,000 tests and identified about 100 people who unknowingly had the virus.'

Charlie Mullins, the founder and chairman of Pimlico Plumbers, said: 'Covid testing is a complete no-brainer and something all responsible companies should be doing while the Government gets on with the critical business of vaccinating the entire UK population.

'The Mail on Sunday's campaign hits the nail on the head and is simple common sense.

'Testing offers peace of mind, reduction in business downtime and ultimately boosts the safety of workers and the public.'

Duncan Bannatyne, chairman of the Bannatyne Group, vowed to use testing for members of his chain of health clubs when they reopen.

He said: 'Well done to The Mail on Sunday for this important campaign. Workplace rapid testing can play a significant role in reopening businesses and the economy. If the Government provides the tests, I will test all my staff, and members, when they enter the health clubs.'

He added: 'The fitness sector has a major role to play in the physical and mental health of the country and it's important we are allowed to open sooner rather than later. Testing will add to the already robust procedures the industry has in place to ensure everyone's safety.'

The 'daily contact testing' programme helped John Lewis and Tata save 8,000 potential sick days between them

British Retail Consortium chief executive Helen Dickinson said: 'The BRC is supporting retailers who are implementing workplace testing, and the Government should play its part to support and finance the long-term, widespread roll-out of such schemes, particularly by extending their own pilot support scheme beyond March 31.'

Andrew Murphy, executive director for operations at the John Lewis Partnership, said: 'We're pleased to support The Mail on Sunday's Tests at Work campaign, which will get the economy moving while helping to keep workers safe.'

Food and Drink Federation chief executive Ian Wright said: 'Food and drink workers are hidden heroes of the Covid crisis. They have worked throughout the pandemic to keep the nation fed. Their safety is of utmost importance.'

A survey of 1,150 managers by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) found that 89 per cent of them agreed with The Mail on Sunday that Government testing support needs to cover all of the UK.

Some 83 per cent of managers said that the Government should extend the March 31 deadline, and 88 per cent said that more firms should launch rapid Covid testing in the workplace.
Naidu maintained that VSP is a jewel-like project won by Telugu people after waging a hard-fought struggle in which over 32 people laid down their lives.  DC Image

VIJAYAWADA: Telugu Desam chief N. Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday criticised Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for mortgaging all his party 151 MLAs, 22 Lok Sabha and six Rajya Sabha members to the Central government for saving himself from the 31 cases registered by the CBI.

Naidu said that as Chief Minister, Jagan Mohan Reddy had the responsibility of saving the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) from falling into private hands. He accused YSRC MPs of sealing their mouths at the behest of CM, instead of speaking against privatisation of the steel plant.

The TD president recalled how the then TD government in AP brought pressure on A. B. Vajpayee government at the centre to protect the steel plant from a similar threat at that time. He demanded that the Chief Minister explain to people why his regime is not taking up any concerted action now.

Naidu maintained that VSP is a jewel-like project won by Telugu people after waging a hard-fought struggle in which over 32 people laid down their lives. He said TD will fight conspiracies of Jagan Reddy gang to buy precious lands of the steel plant at the price of scrap.

The TD chief said in the name of decentralisation and shifting of APs capital, YSRC chief has already grabbed hills and hillocks of the port city as well as prime lands. Jagan Mohan Reddy has now set his sights on the steel plant lands, he stated.
So you finally got a Covid-19 vaccine. Relieved, you take a photograph of your vaccination card, showing your name and birth date and which vaccine you had, and publish it on social media.

But some experts are warning that the information on the celebratory photo might make you vulnerable to identity theft or scams.

Unfortunately, your card has your full name and birthday on it, as well as information about where you got your vaccine, the Better Business Bureau said last week. If your social media privacy settings arent set high, you may be giving valuable information away for anyone to use.

On Friday, the Federal Trade Commission followed suit: Youre posting a photo of your vaccination card on social media. Please  dont do that! it warned bluntly. You could be inviting identity theft.
Chennai, Feb 6 : England all-rounder Ben Stokes heaped praise on his captain Joe Root after he scored his second double century in three matches on the second day of the first Test against India here on Saturday.

"He makes us all feel pretty rubbish, how he makes batting look. I was quite surprised when he ran down the wicket and smashed a six for the double," said Stokes after play.

"He is in phenomenal form. Makes it look very, very easy, the way he plays spin and dominates spin. Is incredible to watch. I don't think we have had an England batsman ever play spin the way he does. He's got an answer and option for everything thrown at him. He is such a delight to watch," he said.

Root batted for nearly six full sessions for his 218, scored off 377 balls, before falling to left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem.

Stokes, who scored 82 and shared a 124-run partnership with Root for the fourth wicket, said that he was surprised by how the England captain crossed 200: dancing down the track and hitting spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for a six over the long-on boundary.

Nadeem also praised Root. "Joe Root is very good batsman. He has been in form of late. He is sweeping really well. So to bowl to him you have to plan to stay on the stumps," he said.

Former England captain Kevin Pietersen paid tribute to Root. "Sir Joe Root!" Pietersen said in his tweet.

Michael Vaughan, another former England captain, tweeted: "Without question @root66 will end up being England's greatest Batsman across all formats !! #INDvENG." Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar, too, doffed his hat to Root. "Watching some excellence in Test batting from Root & Stokes. Both using that space behind the batting crease against spinners like no foreign batsman I have seen for a while. Brilliant stuff!" he tweeted.
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Community News Editor / Librarian

Jeannie Maschino is community news editor and librarian for The Berkshire Eagle. She has worked for the newspaper in various capacities since 1982 and joined the newsroom in 1989. She can be reached at jmaschino@berkshireeagle.com.

The immigration debate is back with its usual mix of promise and pitfalls.

The good news is that we are once again having an adult conversation about who should be admitted to the United States and what to do with those who are currently living here without documents. In a country where many systems arent working well at the moment, the immigration system is more broken than most. And real people pay a steep price.

The bad news is that this chapter in our ongoing national dialogue over immigration promises to be as dishonest and dysfunctional as previous ones. Some are still proposing simplistic solutions to complicated problems. Others are keeping secret their true intentions. Still others seem to be letting politics and partisan interests guide them.

Last week, President Joe Biden signed a series of executive orders. One revoked former President Donald Trumps cruel policy of separating families and created a task force to locate the parents of children in U.S. custody. A second order changed the process by which would-be refugees can claim asylum by no longer requiring them to remain in Mexico while claims are evaluated. And a third sought to support legal immigration by rolling back Trump-era policies that sought to make it more difficult for people to migrate, even when they followed the rules.

This was round two of Bidens executive orders on immigration. The first round came on his first day in office, when he sought to protect Dreamers, the undocumented immigrants brought here at a young age; end the ban on immigrants from Muslim countries; and stop construction of Trumps big beautiful wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Another executive order from that early batch  calling for a 100-day moratorium on deportations  hit a roadblock when a federal judge in Texas looked favorably on a legal challenge by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who insisted the federal government has to alert the states in advance of any significant change to immigration enforcement.

At the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, Congress received an immigration proposal on Bidens first day in office that was less than comprehensive. The legislation asks for a lot (i.e., a pathway to U.S. citizenship for an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants). But it doesnt give back much in return (nothing about beefed-up border security, guest workers, employer sanctions for those who hire illegal immigrants).

The omissions raise the possibility that Bidens immigration plan  which will be haggled over for months  could be a sneaky show bill not intended to pass, only to give the administration a gold star for trying.

Biden claims he wants to remedy the abuses that took place during the Trump administration. But we wont know if hes serious about improving a broken system unless he goes back further and also tackles the misdeeds that occurred before Trump took office  during the Obama administration, in which Biden served as vice president.

Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, a son of Cuban refugees, has been confirmed. Pro-immigrant activists are counting on Mayorkas to take a kinder and gentler approach to border security and immigration enforcement.

Not so fast. Rather than Mayorkas changing the DHS bureaucracy, the DHS bureaucracy is likely to change Mayorkas. Dont be surprised if the new secretary decides to quietly keep some of Trumps harsher policies to help control the border, curb illegal immigration and discourage would-be Central American refugees from seeking asylum in the United States.

According to CNN, the Biden administration is opening what both the White House and a compliant media are calling an overflow facility to house migrant children apprehended at the border. This is not to be confused, we are assured, with the practice made popular by Trump  and before him, former President Barack Obama  of putting kids in cages.

Spare us the wordplay. A jail cell on the border by any other name still strips a person of freedom  often without due process, a fair hearing or even access to a lawyer.

Sure, we need to fix the situation on the U.S.-Mexico border, just as we need to fix the immigration system as a whole. But the first thing that needs fixing is the way we talk about immigration in general.

When politicians sink their teeth into that issue, its not a story about good guys and bad guys. More often, its a case of bad guys and worse guys.

ruben@rubennavarrette.com
Gardai attached to the Laois Offaly Kildare Garda Division have seized cannabis herb, cocaine and LSD in Portlaoise.

Garda HQ in Dublin says Gardai in Portlaoise seized 187,000 worth of drugs and arrested one man during a search operation conducted today, Saturday, February 6.

"As part of ongoing surveillance operation, Gardai conducted a search under warrant at an address in Portlaoise at 3pm today. During the course of the search, Gardai seized approximately 9kg of suspected cannabis herb with an estimated street value of 181,000.

"A quantity of suspected cocaine was also seized with an estimated street value of 6,000 as well as cash to the value of 2,735, a small quantity of LSD and a weighing scales. All drugs are subject to analysis," said a statement.

Gardai add that a man, aged in his 40s, was arrested at the scene and taken to Portlaoise Garda Station where he was currently detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996.
Two journalists responsible for some of The New York Timess most high-profile work of the last three years have left the paper after their past behavior was criticized inside and outside the organization.

In two memos on Friday afternoon, Dean Baquet, the papers executive editor, and Joe Kahn, the managing editor, informed the staff of the departures of Donald G. McNeil Jr., a science correspondent who reported on the coronavirus pandemic, and Andy Mills, an audio journalist who helped create The Daily and was a producer and co-host of Caliphate, a 2018 podcast that was found to have serious flaws after an internal investigation.

Mr. McNeil, a veteran of The Times who has reported from 60 countries, was an expert guide on a Times-sponsored student trip to Peru in 2019. At least six students or their parents complained about comments he had made, The Daily Beast reported last week. The Times confirmed he used a racist slur on the trip.

In their memo, Mr. Baquet and Mr. Kahn wrote that Mr. McNeil has done much good reporting over four decades but added that this is the right next step.
There is no indication that India has given up on the extradition of David Coleman Headley, the Mumbai terror attack accused, attorney of his co-accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana has told a US court.

Rana, 59, a childhood friend of Headley, is facing extradition request by India for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack in which 166 people, including six Americans, were killed. Rana, who has been declared a fugitive by India, is opposing his extradition.

In a submission early this week before the US District Court Judge in Los Angeles Jacqueline Chelonian, opposing his extradition the attorney of Rana claimed that as of now there is no indication in the record that India has agreed to forgo Headley's extradition to India.

India presumably could have agreed to forgo Headley's extradition in return for his assistance to the United States, but there is no indication in the record that it did so, the court submission told the court.

"In fact, the opinion of the Indian prosecutor serving as the government's expert states: "The present opinion is specific to the extradition request in respect of fugitive Tahawwur Hussain Rana. This opinion may not be construed in any manner to indicate that the various extradition requests pending with different sovereign nations in respect of the above-mentioned case which includes the case in respect of Accused No. 1, David Coleman Headley, is either being given up or not being pursued vigorously," said the motion filed by his attorneys.

Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Headley was involved in plotting the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. He was made an approver in the case, and is currently serving a 35-year prison term in the US for his role in the attack.

Rana's attorneys said that the Court should not lightly assume (as the government appears to suggest) that the government circumvented its treaty obligation to India through a sham interpretation of Article 6 of the India-US Extradition Treaty as part of its deal with Headley.

The government's conclusion in Headley's plea agreement that Article 6 defines offenses in terms of conduct rather than elements and thus bars Headley's extradition must be taken as its good-faith interpretation of the Treaty's terms, it said.

Rana, in the court filing, describe his childhood friend Headley as a liar.

Headley lied to federal agents, judges, and presumably prosecutors in relation to these cases. After his first heroin sentence (reduced because of his cooperation), he went back to dealing heroin despite promising that he would not.

He disregarded the agents' instructions regarding his dealings with targets and travelled to Pakistan without permission. After his second heroin conviction, he used his status as a DEA cooperator to deflect government scrutiny of his activities with Lashkar and his statements supporting jihad, his lawyers alleged.

(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.)
Scroll through to take a look at some of her hottest photos on her social media. (Image: Instagram)
Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak, the Member of Parliament for Asawase constituency has retracted and apologized for accusing a Supreme Court judge of bribery.



The Asawase MP it may be recalled had alleged that a certain Supreme Court Judge attempted to bribe a member of parliament of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to vote for the immediate past Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye.



Speaking in a one-on-one interview on Joy News, he alleged: shamefully, a Supreme Court judge called a lady colleague telling her what they will give her, if she votes for Prof Mike Oquaye. He told her that, they will help her take care of her children. She can take fuel from a filling station for free for the next four years. So we are going to look into it".



This however generated lots of reactions with some asking him to prove it. The Ghana Bar Association (BAR) called on him to substantiate his bribery allegation.



Let sleeping dogs lie



In a release signed by him and sighted by Peacefmonline.com, Muntaka said his decision to retract and apologize was based upon good counsel", adding "I have also decided to let sleeping dogs lie and will consequently refrain from any further public commentary on the matter which, as I have indicated was originally reported to me by a female colleague Parliamentarian.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will release guidance on school reopenings in the coming week, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Friday, amid rising tensions about how best to send students and teachers back into the classroom.

"Among the things that we need to do to make sure that schools are safe is to make sure that the community spread of the disease is down," Walensky said during a White House briefing.

She continued: "We are actively working on the guidance, the official guidance, which will be released in the week ahead."

The guidance will come amid a national debate about when and how to reopen schools safely, as fear of spreading the coronavirus has closed them and forced classes online amid the pandemic.

President Joe Biden has said he will work to reopen most K-12 schools within his first 100 days in office but has stressed he will rely on health and medical experts to dictate the national guidance in order to reopen safely.

The White House initially distanced itself from Walensky's comments earlier in the week suggesting that schools could safely reopen without teachers getting vaccinated for Covid-19.

Walensky said during a White House briefing on Wednesday, "There is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen. And that that safe reopening does not suggest that teachers need to be vaccinated in order to reopen safely."

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday that Walensky was speaking "in her personal capacity" and that although Walensky was the head of the CDC, the agency hadn't issued its official guidance yet.

But on Friday, Psaki appeared aligned with Walensky's comments, saying vaccinations are only part of several mitigating factors that will help schools reopen safely.

"There are several mitigating factors that we've seen in data to date that will help make it safe," Psaki said in a White House briefing.

"Of course, vaccines are part of that, but so is masking, so is social distancing, so is ensuring that schools have the ventilation and the facilities that they need in order to do it safely," Psaki said.

Some teacher unions are resisting reopening some schools amid fears of teachers getting infected with Covid-19.

The Chicago Teachers Union has told its members to be prepared to go on strike if the school district retaliates for teachers choosing to continue teaching online, as Chicago Public Schools CEO Dr. Janice Jackson and other school officials say it's time to get everyone back into the classroom.

Last week, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, cautioned that reopening most schools within 100 days "may not happen," as the US continues to grapple with high Covid-19 transmission.

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten has also said Biden's goal may need to be reassessed depending on how the coronavirus is spreading over the next few months.

More than 456,400 Americans have died from coronavirus as of Friday afternoon, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. About 35.2 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered, and about 6.9 million Americans have received the two doses of the vaccine.

Twenty-four states plus Washington, DC, are allowing some or all of their teachers and school staff to receive Covid-19 vaccines.

The President has signed several executive actions to help support reopening schools and establish a national strategy to get the pandemic under control. Biden is pushing Congress to approve another $170 billion for K-12 schools, colleges and universities to help them operate safely in person or facilitate remote learning, as part of his $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package.

Congress approved $82 billion in aid for schools in December, which Biden has said he views as a "down payment."

This story has been updated with additional information.

OAKLAND (BCN)

A busy community center in Oakland's Eastlake neighborhood that serves thousands of meals every week to people in need was gutted by a fire early Saturday, fire officials said.

The blaze at the Vietnamese American Community Center of the East Bay was reported shortly after 1 a.m. and is believed to have sparked at nearby homeless camp. The cause is still under investigation, fire officials said.

No injuries were reported in the fire and it's not clear whether any residents of the homeless camp were displaced, said Oakland fire spokesman Michael Hunt.

The fire was under control by 1:40 a.m. at the two-story building, located at 655 International Blvd. and adjacent to Clinton Park.

"This is obviously a huge loss for the community," Hunt said. "Thousands of residents rely on meals distributed by the center."

Oakland City Council President Nikki Bas said the center's loss was "devastating" for the city's Eastlake and Vietnamese community.

"We were planning to come together at Clinton Park Sunday for Lunar New Year and will still come together for support, solidarity and safety for all our communities and in unity," she said Saturday in a Twitter post.

Copyright  2021 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
Chennai: Air Customs has busted a new method in which the smugglers conceals the gold in the aircraft on international run coming from Dubai and by using domestic passenger who travels to a domestic city such as Guwahati by other means and board the same flight running on the domestic leg from Guwahati to Chennai to retrieve the gold.

Based on an intelligence that gold was likely to be smuggled from Dubai by concealing in aircraft, Indigo flight 6E-66 was taken up for special rummaging. On searching, five rectangular heavy pieces wrapped with black adhesive tape and tied with a thread along with a metal piece were found in the hollow pipe portion in one of the seats. On cutting it open, 10 gold bars with foreign markings each totally weighing 1.16kg and valued at Rs. 57.1 lakhs were recovered.

This aircraft then operated on its domestic leg to Guwahati as Flight 6E627 and returned back to Chennai as Flight 6E623. One Mohabath Khan, 56, of Kancheepuram who traveled from Guwahati to Chennai on the same seat from which the gold was recovered earlier, was intercepted. On personal search 5 rectangular heavy pieces wrapped with black adhesive tape and tied with a thread along with a metal piece were found concealed in a cloth pouch tied along his waist concealed under his shirt.

On cut opening, 10 gold bars of 10 tolas each with foreign markings totally weighing 1.16 kg and valued at Rs. 57.1 lakhs were recovered. While questioning the suspect informed that he had travelled from Chennai to Guwahati by a SpiceJet flight on the same day and he returned to Chennai by the same Indigo Flight. He further added that he was supposed to retrieve gold items from two seats from this aircraft, however he found gold from one seat only. He admitted his involvement in both the cases and was arrested.

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Somali leaders have failed to end a stalemate over the selection of a new president scheduled for next week, government officials said on Saturday, raising the risk of more political turmoil.

President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed flew back to the capital Mogadishu without a deal on the staffing of regional electoral commissions, Osman Dube, the information minister, said late on Friday.

No agreement was reached, the minister said, adding that both houses of parliament would meet on Saturday to chart a way forward. Mohameds office said he was set to address both houses of parliament.

Somalia, which has had only limited central government since 1991, is trying to rebuild with the help of the United Nations.

It had initially aimed to hold its first direct election in more than three decades this year but delays in preparations, and the governments inability to rein in daily attacks by al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents, meant switching to an indirect vote, with elders picking lawmakers who would choose a president.

Now even that plan is in tatters.

The United Nations, the African Union and other international partners on Thursday warned that the impasse over the election must be resolved.

Any alternative outcomes, including a parallel process or partial elections, or other measures short of an agreed electoral process, would be a setback that would not obtain the support of partners, they said in a joint statement.

Regional authorities in at least two of Somalias five federal states, Puntland and Jubbaland, oppose holding the election for now. National and regional forces have clashed in Jubbaland.

One sticking point in this weeks three-day crunch talks held in the central town of Dhusamareb, was control of Gedo, an area of Jubbaland where President Mohameds forces have been battling their regional counterparts for control.

President Faarmajo insists he will rule Gedo region and hold its election, said Ahmed Mohamed Islam Madobe, Jubbalands president, using President Mohameds informal name.

While the constitution sets out four-year mandates for the presidency, an extension of the governments term by parliament is legally allowed by precedent, though analysts warn that the move is politically fraught.

If the main politicians dont agree, there is still going to be a massive problem,, said Omar Mahmood, senior analyst for Somalia at international think-tank International Crisis Group.

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Google has unveiled new capabilities for its Pixel smartphones, which will allow users to measure their heart and breathing rates using its camera.

The feature uses advances in artificial intelligence (AI) computer vision to repurpose the sensors already built into the phone.

Respiratory rates can be measured by pointing the phone's camera at a person's head and upper torso, while measuring a heart rate simply requires placing a finger on the rear-facing camera.

Once measured, the vital signs can then be transferred to the Google Fit app to allow users keep better track of their health and "improve day-to-day wellness".

Google's director of health technologies, Shwetak Patel, wrote in a blog post on Thursday that the new feature would be available for Pixel owners next month before rolling out to other Android devices.

"These features let you use your smartphone's camera to track tiny physical signals at the pixel level  like chest movements to measure you respiratory rate and subtle changes in the colour of your fingers for your heart rate," Mr Patel wrote.

"We developed both features  and completed initial clinical studies to validate them  so they work in a variety of real-world conditions and for as many people as possible. For example, since our heart rate algorithm relies on approximating blood flow from colour changes in someone's fingertip, it has to account for factors such as lighting, skin tone, age and more in order to work for everyone."

The new feature can measure a persons breathing by analysing their head and upper torso (Google)

During a Google Health event on Thursday the tech giant revealed that early studies suggest the tool is able to measure heart rates to within an accuracy of 2 per cent.

Google is not the first smartphone maker to include heart rate monitors on their devices, with Samsung previously introducing it on its Galaxy S10 and other older Galaxy models.

The South Korean manufacturer has since removed the monitor from newer phones, preferring instead to rely on more accurate readings from the sensors embedded in wearable devices like its Galaxy Watch.

Google's hope is to make the technology available to a wider audience than just those who wear fitness trackers and smart watches.

"My team has been working on ways that we can unlock the potential of everyday smart devices," Mr Patel said, adding that the ultimate goal is to get it to "as many people as possible".
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Prosecutors in the war crimes trial of Gibril Massaquoi alleged Friday that the defendant tried to influence witnesses in the case. State Prosecutor Tom Laitinen told presiding judge Juhani Paiho that a cleaner at the prison where Mr Massaquoi was being held in pretrial detention found handwritten notes in the restroom of the family meeting area, following a meeting Mr Massaquoi had with family on September 30.

It turned out that these notes were written by Massaquoi and contained detailed instructions for the witnesses on the case, Mr Laitinen said. The notes were submitted into evidence with the police pre-trial investigation materials which totalled 3800 pages.

Mr Massaquois lawyer Kaarle Gummerus dismissed the importance of these notes, arguing that his client had been in a state of panic at the time, and that the intention of the notes was to remind people of the events in the early 2000s, not to ask them to lie.

The final day of the first week of the trial in Pirkanmaa District Court in the Finnish city of Tampere was dominated by Mr Massaquois defence. Lead lawyer Gummerus said the case relied heavily on written evidence  news articles, United Nations reports, the 2009 report by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia (TRC) Report, and other documents that Gummerus said paint a picture of a man who had no reason  or time  to be involved in atrocities in Liberia.

We want to bring the entire context to for everyone to see, to show there are many moving parts, Mr Gummerus said.

Sierra Leonean Gibril Massaquoi, 51, is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder and aggravated rape, allegedly committed during the second Liberian Civil War between 1999 and 2003. A former colonel and spokesman in the Sierra Leonian rebel group the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), Mr Massaquoi was an informant in the case brought against Liberias former president Charles Taylor at the Special Court for Sierra Leone which eventually convicted Mr Taylor and several other top leaders. Mr Massaquoi moved to Finland in 2008 after the Northern European country signed a law allowing the settlement of informants such as him.

The prosecution against Mr Massaquoi relies on testimonies gathered during the pre-trial investigation carried out by Finlands National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in between 2018 and 2020. The NBI was initially alerted of Mr Massaquois alleged past by Swiss NGO Civitas Maxima and its Liberia-based sister organization, the Global Justice and Research Project (GJRP).

On Thursday, Mr Massaquois defense lawyers argued that these organizations may have played a role in influencing witnesses narratives. We ask the court to consider how the witnesses have become involved in the investigation, the defensce lawyers said. It appears that the majority of them are either directly or indirectly involved with either Civitas Maxima or the GJRP.

On Friday, the prosecution rejected these claims, saying that witnesses were also found by NBI investigators. There are 55 individuals who were found entirely independently of these organizations, prosecutor Laitinen said. We plan on hearing 20 of those witnesses in this trial.

The narratives of Mr Massaquois alleged involvement in committing and overseeing atrocities are consistent, Mr Laitinen said. Regardless of what way the witnesses were found, the common factor is that their stories of Massaquois guilt are very similar, he said.

Friday was the first day in the trial to feature direct questioning between prosecution and defence, with both interjecting to question the others evidence.

Defence lawyers argued that newspaper stories submitted into evidence show that Mr Massaquoi was not in Liberia at the time of the alleged crimes. They also said the absence of Mr Massaquois name in the extensive testimonies that made up the 2009 Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report showed that he could not have committed the crimes.

The prosecution challenged the trustworthiness of the media stories that the defense was relying on to establish that Mr Massaquoi was not in Liberia when the alleged crimes took place. Prosecutor Laitinen repeatedly questioned the validity of the media reports, saying that a number of them could have involved journalists not seeing Mr Massaquoi in person, meaning that he could have been anywhere when those interviews were done.

The trial will continue on Monday with the second part of the defences written evidence. Mr Massaquoi will testify later in the week. After two weeks, the court will move to Liberia and Sierra Leone to hear witnesses there.

This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project
A combination of government-led reform, international pressure, higher wages, and the return of migrant workers from abroad has all-but eradicated the use of child and forced labour in the Uzbek cotton harvest. As Emerging Europe reports, although some local vestiges still remain, the systematic and systemic use of child and forced labour in Uzbekistans cotton industry has come to an end, according to a new report from the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The report, compiled for the World Bank, shows that one in eight people of working age in Uzbekistan participated in the 2020 cotton harvest, which makes it the worlds largest recruitment effort. Sixty-five per cent of pickers were women, and the vast majority were from rural areas.

However, the report concludes that systematic child labour has been eradicated and that it is no longer a major concern. When I was a child, we unfortunately missed a lot of school classes because of the cotton harvest, says Dilshoda Shodmonova from Chircik, near the capital Tashkent. Today, thanks to the reforms, my own daughter can go to school uninterrupted and get her education. This encourages me to continue my work as a labour rights activist.

According to the ILO, the country is making significant progress on fundamental labour rights in the cotton fields. More than 96 per cent of workers in the 2020 cotton harvest worked freely and the systematic recruitment of students, teachers, doctors and nurses has completely stopped.

In 2020, the share of cotton pickers that experienced coercion was 33 per cent lower than in 2019. However, there were still cases at the local level of people being threatened with loss of privileges or rights if they declined an invitation to pick cotton.

Higher wages

The main motivation for Uzbeks to pick cotton last year was the opportunity to earn money. On average, each picker participated in the harvest for twenty-one days and earned 1.54 million soums (equivalent to 150 US dollars). This is higher than the average salary of a teacher in Uzbekistan.

The cotton harvest accounted for a crucial part of most pickers livelihood. Sixty per cent of pickers said that the 2020 cotton harvest was their only source of cash income.

The Uzbek government has significantly increased wages since 2017 and introduced a differentiated pay scale so that pickers are paid more per kilogram of cotton towards the end of the harvest, when conditions are less favourable and there is less cotton to pick. This also led to a significant drop in the prevalence of forced labour.

The elimination in March 2020 of production quotas, abolishing a system that was first instituted in the 1920s under the Gosplan system of the Soviet Union, also played a key role. That quota system  an integral part of the Uzbek economy for nearly a century  contributed to systemic human rights violations by encouraging the use of forced labour.

Forced labour is not only socially and morally wrong, but is a serious violation of human rights and a criminal offence in Uzbekistan, says Tanzila Narbaeva, chairperson of the Uzbek senate and the national commission on forced labour and human trafficking. In order to change behaviour, you need to change the way people think. We make it happen by working together as legislators, government officials, employers, trade unions, and civil society activists.

The ILO began monitoring the Uzbek cotton harvest for child labour in 2013, when, after decades of using forced child labour, the Uzbek government ended its policy of forcibly mobilising children nationwide. In 2014 it committed to work with the ILO to apply international standards, including the prohibition of forced labour. In 2015, as part of an agreement with the World Bank, this work was extended to cover both forced labour and child labour.

Moving up the value chain

Having ditched quotas, Uzbekistan is now replacing the old Soviet legacy state production system with a market-based model.

The governments strategy is to move Uzbekistan up the value chain and position the country as an exporter of textiles and garments instead of raw cotton. This has the potential to create millions of higher paid jobs and generate significant export earnings, as well as attract significant investment.

These reforms should continue to be supported by the international community, said Jonas Astrup, chief technical advisor for the ILO Third-Party Monitoring Project.

Trade and investment decisions by responsible international companies are likely to contribute to the further abolition of the legacies of the centrally planned economy. They can also have a positive impact on compliance with international labour standards.

However, according to the Cotton Campaign, which since 2007 has advocated with governments, companies and investors to use their leverage to end systematic human rights violations in Uzbekistan, one of the problems with the countrys reform process is that it has centered on shifting cotton production from government control to the control of cotton-textile clusters  corporations with vertically integrated production  which has created significant vulnerabilities for farmers that also need to be urgently addressed.

Only one cluster operates in each district, so farmers do not have a choice about which cluster to contract with and have no control or bargaining power over the price they will receive for their cotton or the cost of inputs. In at least one instance, farmers trying to form an independent cooperative were told by local authorities they had no choice but to contract with that districts cluster. Farmers who refuse to grow cotton face losing their land.

In addition, the government has pursued a policy of transferring land from small and medium farmers to clusters for direct farming with a devastating impact on rural livelihoods. Under this process, some farmers find work for the clusters as farmworkers for wages. In doing so, they and their employees lose the ability to grow food crops, graze livestock, and gather dried cotton stalks, essential for fuel and animal fodder. Others lose their livelihoods entirely.

As Uzbekistan seeks investment in its emerging textile sector and economic opportunity for its citizens, it needs to be deliberate in setting up pro-active mechanisms to avoid a corporate-driven race to the bottom, says Cathy Feingold, international director of the American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO).

Rather than replace an abusive government model with an abusive private model, the time is right for a new responsible sourcing model that puts vulnerable workers in positions of greater power to protect their own labour rights.

Problems remain

Uzbek Forum for Human Rights, a Berlin-based NGO and a partner of the Cotton Campaign, has also reported a vastly improved 2020 harvest in terms of forced labour.

In its own assessment, it says that for the first time, in some districts, monitors did not document any cases of forced labour.

Much like the ILO, Uzbek Forum puts this down to concerted government efforts to eradicate the practice of forced labour  it says the governments strong political commitment and messages from key central officials against forced labour were clear and unequivocal  together with higher wages and the need for workers returning from abroad to find employment.

However, unlike the ILO, Uzbek Forum stops short of declaring child and forced labour fully eradicated.

While Uzbek Forums network reported higher numbers of voluntary pickers in places they monitored, and fewer encounters with pickers mobilised against their will, they did however document instances of forced labour organised by officials, as well as instances in which employees at state enterprises were required to contribute portions of their salary to hire cotton pickers.

The progress we observed in the 2020 harvest shows there is a real prospect for Uzbekistan to end forced labour definitively, says Umida Niyazova, director of Uzbek Forum for Human Rights.

We saw many positive changes, but key elements of the forced labour system remain entrenched and some new abuses have emerged. We found districts where cotton was harvested without forced labour, but farmers in those same districts were forced to grow cotton and could not negotiate the terms. As the situation becomes more complex, it is even more important to develop proactive, verifiable approaches that can distinguish producers who still rely on forced labour from those that do not.

The path forward

The export of cotton and cotton-based textiles is worth about 1.3 billion US dollars to the Uzbek economy each year, accounting for 15 per cent of total exports.

The findings of the ILO and Uzbek Forum may now bring at least a partial end to the boycott of over 300 brand-name retailers who have committed to avoid Uzbek cotton until forced labour of children and adults ended, boosting investment in the industry further. But the progress made must be sustained.

Uzbekistan has the opportunity to become a trusted global supplier, but it will require transparent monitoring and governance models so brands and retailers can verify responsible sourcing, says Julia Hughes, president of the US Fashion Industry Association.

Nate Herman, vice president for policy at the American Apparel and Footwear Association, echoes the sentiment: Brands have a zero-tolerance policy on forced labour, and to overcome the risks inherent from past practices, Uzbekistan needs to implement innovative models that provide high levels of assurance that forced labour will not taint cotton supply chains, he says.
Somali leaders have failed to end a stalemate over the selection of a new president scheduled for next week, government officials said on Saturday, raising the risk of more political turmoil.

President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed flew back to the capital Mogadishu without a deal on the staffing of regional electoral commissions, Osman Dube, the information minister, said late on Friday.

No agreement was reached, the minister said, adding that both houses of parliament would meet on Saturday to chart a way forward. Mohameds office said he was set to address both houses of parliament.

Somalia, which has had only limited central government since 1991, is trying to rebuild with the help of the United Nations.

It had initially aimed to hold its first direct election in more than three decades this year but delays in preparations, and the governments inability to rein in daily attacks by al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents, meant switching to an indirect vote, with elders picking lawmakers who would choose a president.

Now even that plan is in tatters.

The United Nations, the African Union and other international partners on Thursday warned that the impasse over the election must be resolved.

Any alternative outcomes, including a parallel process or partial elections, or other measures short of an agreed electoral process, would be a setback that would not obtain the support of partners, they said in a joint statement.

Regional authorities in at least two of Somalias five federal states, Puntland and Jubbaland, oppose holding the election for now. National and regional forces have clashed in Jubbaland.

One sticking point in this weeks three-day crunch talks held in the central town of Dhusamareb, was control of Gedo, an area of Jubbaland where President Mohameds forces have been battling their regional counterparts for control.

President Faarmajo insists he will rule Gedo region and hold its election, said Ahmed Mohamed Islam Madobe, Jubbalands president, using President Mohameds informal name.

While the constitution sets out four-year mandates for the presidency, an extension of the governments term by parliament is legally allowed by precedent, though analysts warn that the move is politically fraught.

If the main politicians dont agree, there is still going to be a massive problem,, said Omar Mahmood, senior analyst for Somalia at international think-tank International Crisis Group.
The alleged victim of an alleged car boot kidnapping is now wanted by police to answer a criminal charge in Queensland.

Nisha Phillips, 24, was due to appear at the Ipswich Magistrates Court near Brisbane on Friday. After she failed to show up, a warrant was issued for her arrest.

Just days earlier, she was allegedly found kidnapped and stabbed in the back of a Holden Commodore.

Latia Henderson, 18, who was allegedly driving the car, was pulled over by NSW police after a truck driver allegedly saw a woman's hand waving out the boot of a white Holden Commodore driving down the Hume Highway near Pheasants Nest.

Kayley Lee Ketley, 24, was a passenger in the vehicle with Ms Phillips allegedly stuffed into the boot of her own car.

Nisha Phillips (pictured) was allegedly stuffed in the boot of her own Holden Commodore

The pair, who are both from Campbelltown in Sydney's southwest, have been denied bail

A driver called police after allegedly noticing the 24-year-old's hand hanging out of a broken tail light in the boot of the Commodore (pictured)

Police are investigating if the alleged kidnappers were on their way to Belanglo, a forest between Sydney and Canberra, the Daily Telegraph claimed.

Henderson and Ketley were both refused bail at Picton Local Court on Thursday.

Court papers reveal police allege that on Tuesday, February 2, both Henderson and Ketley went to an address in Claymore, Western Sydney, and allegedly stole Ms Phillips' prized Holden Commodore before allegedly stabbing her and stuffing her in the boot.

Henderson's lawyer Gazi Abbass made no application for bail on her behalf, telling media outside he was yet to be given instructions to fight the charges.

The 18-year-old appeared in court over video link from a police cell, wearing a white forensic jumpsuit and appearing largely emotionless aside from a small wave to her grandmother who was supporting her in court.

A disheveled looking Ketley was not represented by a lawyer but still applied for bail despite Magistrate Mark Douglass urging her not to.

'These are very serious offences, please obtain some legal advice in relation to all matters,' he told her.

But Ketley persisted unsuccessfully in her application, saying she would do whatever she needed to so that she could care for her sick grandmother.

'My grandmother is very ill. I would be asking to be released to live at her address so I can care for her,' she said.

'I will report at least twice a day everyday. I will do whatever I have to to get bail.'

Henderson's lawyer Gazi Abbass (pictured centre) made no application for bail on her behalf - with the 18-year-old remanded in custody

Police allegedly pulled the car over on the Hume Highway in Berrima, in the NSW Southern Highlands, on Wednesday morning

Both Henderson (left) and Ketley were refused bail to reappear in Campbelltown Local Court in April

When police opened the boot of the car near Berrima, they allegedly found Ms Phillips suffering stab wounds to her knee, thigh and forearm.

Police have charged both Henderson and Ketley with unlawful wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, detaining to gain advantage causing bodily harm and driving a vehicle without (the) owner's consent.

Ketley was also hit with the additional charges of cannabis possession and driving while disqualified.

Ms Phillips remains in Liverpool Hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

Forensic police spent Wednesday combing over the car for evidence, with Detective Chief Inspector Brendan Bernie praising the truck driver for his awareness.

'[An] observing motorist saw a hand protruding from a tail light cavity in the vehicle and subsequently called police. It was stopped by police after [an officer] saw a hand also protruding from the tail light,' Det Chief Insp Bernie said.

'Some excellent work done by the motorist who identified the hand coming out of the vehicle and they subsequently notified police and we can't thank the motorist enough.'

'It's very fortunate that we found this woman alive  we obviously think it could have ended quite catastrophically for her  we are fortunate no one was killed or seriously injured.'

Henderson and Ketley will return to Campbelltown Local Court on April 7.

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It was January 2, 2021, a week prior to the Chinese Lunar New Year. The COVID-19 pandemic has not dampened peoples enthusiasm for the once-a-year family gathering, but for 39-year-old Wang Lihua, this could be her sixth New Year of not coming home.

Toiling herself indefatigably on the frontline against COVID-19 pandemic for months, Wang, a nurse at Beijing Fangzhuang Community Health Service Center, is one of the tens of thousands of medical workers in Beijing whose daily routine is to collect COVID-19 test samples. According to statistics, as of January 24, Wang and her colleagues have completed over 17 million COVID-19 tests, with an average daily workload of 415,680 tests and the highest daily record of 1.4 million tests.

7:00 a.m. The only sound in her office was the soft tick of the clock. Feeling hesitant to call her parents to tell them her decision to not come home, Wang put down her mobile phone and started preparation for todays sample collection. Work keeps her busy, and work might be the only way to temporarily forget the guilt she feels for her family.

7:20  7:50 a.m. Verification of information (Peoples Daily Online/Kou Jie)

Wangs office hours start at 8:00 a.m., but she came to the office an hour earlier to double-check the patients information and prepare necessary equipment.

The job of collecting COVID-19 test samples is quite complicated. We need to verify and register the patients personal information, communicate with the patients and their family, as well as collect samples and send samples back to the labs. We must be very careful, careless actions may result in severe consequences, said Wang.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wangs daily work is divided into two parts: indoor sample collection in the morning and outdoor nucleic acid tests in the afternoon..

For those who are in quarantine, we will take necessary equipment and collect their test samples at their home. For those who are at low risk of getting COVID-19 or want to have an nucleic acid test, we will set up an outdoor testing site, Wang explained.

8:00 a.m. Inform the patients of indoor sample collection (Peoples Daily Online/Kou Jie)

According to Wangs work plan, this morning she was expected to visit three families who are in quarantine, offering them throat and anal swabs, as well as collecting samples from their home to determine if they are infected with COVID-19.

The newly added anal swab is more accurate than nose and throat swabs, albeit awkward for recipients. Most patients in quarantine are required to take such tests, as most of them are people returning from overseas or are close contacts of patients, which means they are among high-risk groups, said Wang.

In addition to informing the patients of the upcoming tests, Wang also needs to dismiss the patients fear of COVID-19, offering them professional advice. A male patient who was expected to take an anal swab expressed his concerns, and Wang spoke softly to reassure him that the method is painless and safe.

One of the biggest challenges of my work is to communicate with patients. Due to the lack of professional knowledge, some of them may misunderstand or even get angry with us. Some hear rumors from the Internet and refuse to cooperate, its our job to make them feel assured and comfortable, said Wang.

8:20  8:50 a.m. Inspection and preparation of equipment (Peoples Daily Online/Kou Jie)

Though working as a nurse for over 19 years, tackling the COVID-19 pandemic remains one of the most difficult tasks in Wangs career. From February to July 2020, Wang volunteered to work in a centralized quarantine center in Beijing, gathering first-hand experience in dealing with the lethal virus.

There was one time when I worked 40 days in the center without going home. Living and working with COVID-19 patients and possible virus carriers has taught me a lot about the virus, honing my skills in sample collection and nucleic acid testing, said Wang.

Usually, a COVID-19 test team requires two medical workers. Wangs partner is 26-year-old Yu Xiaoyi, a doctor who worked in Wangs hospital for less than a year. Preparing medical equipment together, Wang shared her experience in COVID-19 prevention with Yu, helping young medical professionals better understand the virus.

9:00  9:20 a.m. On the way to the first family in quarantine (Peoples Daily Online/Kou Jie)

On her way to the first household in quarantine, Wangs thoughts drifted away to Huanggang, Hubei Province, where her parents live.

Being the epidemic center of Chinas first COVID-19 outbreak, Hubei Province is Wangs hometown. When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit China, Wang was worried about her father who suffered a stroke and her mother who has respiratory issues, but her work in Beijing kept her from going back home. Considering for weeks, Wang the doctor took precedence over Wang the daughter.

When the pandemic first took place in my hometown, I felt worried and helpless. I really wanted to go home to see my parents, but my duty as a medical professional kept me working day and night in Beijing to tackle the virus, said Wang.

Weeks after the COVID-19 pandemic hit her hometown, several of Wangs colleagues were selected to form a medical team to support Hubeis pandemic control. Though Wang was not in it, she felt grateful for her colleagues efforts.

I thank every medical worker who went to my hometown when my family was in great need. The best way to pay for their effort is to work harder to help more people during the pandemic, and this is what I have been doing, said Wang.

9:25  9:35 a.m. Prevention preparation (Peoples Daily Online/Kou Jie)

The winter in Beijing is unbearably cold. Working outside in this time was a trial for the spirit and a torment for the body. To tuck themselves in protective clothing, Wang and Yu had to take off their winter clothes, enduring the freezing wind.

When changing protective gears outside the residential building, a little boy riding a toy tricycle came closer to Wang, observing them with curiosity. You two are angels in white, arent you? asked the boy.

Yes, we are, kid, arent you afraid of us? asked Wang, refraining herself from laughing.

Not at all. Well done! the boy replied.

The boys encouraging words made Wang smile. The reason why she became a medical worker is because she loves to see peoples happy faces, while helping patients regain their health is the best reward for her hard work.

9:40 a.m. Enter the house of the first quarantine family (Peoples Daily Online/Kou Jie)

The first patient Wang visited this morning was an elderly person, who expressed fear to take an anal swab. Wang spent much time in comforting him, soothing his nerves.

Most of my patients are elderly, who remind me of my parents. I understand their fear of the lethal virus, and I always try my best to comfort and help them. We are medical workers, but we are also daughters and sons, said Wang.

When entering the patients houses to take samples, we sometimes encounter hostility and even humiliation. When I was younger, I always cried, but now I try my best to understand the patients feelings, relying on my professional skills to reduce the patients pain, said Wang.

Most of the time, Wang and her partner are expected to visit three to seven patients in quarantine in the morning. She must avoid drinking water or eating food before finishing the work, as the heavy workload and the inconvenience of taking on and off the protective gears means that she cannot go to the toilet the whole morning.

1:00 p.m. Complete sample collection, sterilize samples, take samples back to lab (Peoples Daily Online/Kou Jie)

Four hours later, Wang and Yu have completed their morning task. Rigid medical procedure requires them to sterilize the samples on the spot, the disinfectant they sprayed on the sample froze within seconds, leaving grains of ice on their hands.

COVID-19 samples are highly dangerous. Wang and Yu have to go through the sterilizing procedure several times to ensure that the samples are safely dealt with, which may take them another half an hour.

The coldness outside is unbearable, but at least now we can have an hour of rest and have some decent food, said Wang.

1:40 p.m. Lunch break (Peoples Daily Online/Kou Jie)

Lunch break is Wangs favorite time of the day. For medical workers like Wang and Yu, the lunch break not only recharges their battery, but can also offer them a chance to temporarily escape from the toil of work.

Todays topic on Wang and Yus lunch table is family. Wang shared fun stories of her 13-year-old son, who is a middle school student.

My son knows that I dont have much time to take care of our family, so instead of me taking care of him, he cares about me a lot. When he was a little boy, he already learned how to cook breakfast for me, I feel so proud of him, Wang told Yu, who added that sometimes she feels that she is in great debt to her son.

Though being a medical worker is hard and tiring, I always encourage him to consider being a doctor one day. I told him helping people is one of the best life experiences, though Im not sure if he agrees with me as his mother is always absent, laughed Wang.

2:20 p.m. Start another round of indoor sample collection (Peoples Daily Online/Kou Jie)

After one hour lunch break, Wang and Yu started another round of indoor sample collection.

I always joked with my patients that they are very lucky, because they can see me more often than my parents do. For instance, by taking samples on the same patient in several weeks, I can see them several times, but it would be a blessing if I can see my parents once a year, said Wang.

Some of the patients say they want to have a daughter like me, and I always tell them, no you dont, because no parent would like to see their daughter working on the frontline to tackle a lethal virus, and no parent would like to see their daughter only once a year, said Wang.

4:50 p.m. Finish afternoon work, call parents (Peoples Daily Online/Kou Jie)

After a whole days hesitation, Wang decided to make a phone call to her parents, telling them that she is not going home for Spring Festival again.

For the past few years, Wangs parents showed full support of Wangs work, but after the pandemic ravaged both Hubei and Beijing, her parents told Wang that they would really love to see her in person during the Spring Festival this year, not through video chat.

My parents feel that my work is both tiring and dangerous. They want to make sure that the pandemic has not damaged my health, said Wang. Instead of video chat, Wang decided to call her parents. Due to the heavy workload, she lost 20 kilograms, she feared that her toil-worn face may make her parents more worried.

Mom, I cannot come home this year, because the pandemic is still here and medical workers are needed, said Wang.

Dont worry my love. Take care of yourself, and I have kept all the food you love. When you are home, I want to have a better look at you, said Wangs mother.

When the cherry flowers are in blossom, I will come home. It is my favorite time of the year, and I believe the pandemic will be under control by then, said Wang.

5:20 p.m. Additional nucleic acid testing at outdoor testing sites (Peoples Daily Online/Kou Jie)

Wangs working hours usually end at 5:00 p.m., but during the pandemic, additional daily outdoor nucleic acid tests are inevitable. For those who have been to low or medium risk areas, as well as those working in food chain, service industries who contact people more often, Wangs hospital sets up an outdoor testing site to perform nucleic acid test.

Outdoor tests usually start from 5:00 or 6:00 p.m.. It can last as long as six hours, depending on how many people are designated to our testing site, said Wang, who noted that there were many days when she worked until 11:00 p.m.

6:20 p.m. Finish outdoor testing work, sterilize samples (Peoples Daily Online/Kou Jie)

To Wangs relief, there were only several patients in the afternoon. At 6:20, Wang and Yu finally finished todays work. Her hair was soaked in sweat and tangled on her face.

Im very lucky today, because usually we cannot finish our work so early, said Wang.

7:00 p.m. Off work (Peoples Daily Online/Kou Jie)

After 12 hours of hard work, it is time to go home. Taking off her protective gear, Wang is an elegant woman who loves to follow fashion trends and takes great care of her appearance. Her hair combed up in a pony tail, her hands clutching her favorite handbag, there is no trace of a solemn medical professional on her, but a vibe of simple and unadorned beauty.

The streetlight flickered on and the city went into its evening hustle and bustle, Wang blended in a passing crowd who talked excitedly about the upcoming Spring Festival. No one realized that a warrior, who safeguarded them from the COVID-19 pandemic, was among them.

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Debtor's prisons were abolished in the United States in 1833. Until that time, failure to pay what you owed could and did land you in jail. And debtor's prisons added a nice touch -- not only were you forced to pay your debt, but you were also forced to pay your prison fees. The question was, how? These prisons didn't allow work release, and prisoners didn't print license plates, so once in the lock-up, debtors were almost solely dependent on family or friends (or hidden funds that took imprisonment to shake from their pockets) in order to pay the bill -- sometimes less than a dollar.

And while waiting for payment to drop from the sky, debtors could look forward to accommodations that toed the line between a jail and a dungeon. In 1736, a Maryland committee described the local debtors' prison as, "A place of restraint and confinement [that] has also been a place of death and torments to many unfortunate people" [source: getoutofdebt.org]. Not least among the torments was typhoid fever, which did wonders for the overcrowding of 18th- and 19th-century jails.

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One of these unfortunate, incarcerated debtors was Robert Morris, who loaned the fledgling U.S. government $10,000 during the Revolutionary War. After land speculation went south, he defaulted on loans and landed in Philadelphia's Prune Street Prison.

Obviously, this tough-on-debt approach was supposed to deter people from taking on debts they couldn't repay. Unfortunately, it didn't work. In a 1758 letter titled "To The Idler," the English author and essayist Samuel Johnson wrote:

"We have now imprisoned one generation of debtors after another, but we do not find that their numbers lessen. We have now learned that rashness and imprudence will not be deterred from taking credit; let us try whether fraud and avarice may be more easily restrained from giving it." [source: SamuelJohnson.com]

In other words, Johnson gave up on punishing users and recommended refocusing on suppliers. This kind of thinking eventually led to a national bankruptcy law in 1802 (springing Robert Morris from Prune Street), and the establishment of the Federal Trade Commission in 1914, which was -- among other things -- supposed to protect consumers from predatory lending practices that would result in impossible debts [source: FTC].

The irony in that last sentence makes a nice transition into the question of whether debtors' prisons really still exist.
Police at the scene in Rinmore Drive in Derrys Creggan Estate where two men where shot on Saturday evening. Photo: Martin McKeown

A man is in critical condition in hospital after he and another man were shot in the legs in Londonderry on Saturday night.

Police say they believe the double shooting was carried out by dissident republicans.

The shooting happened in the Creggan area at around 6.30pm and the two men were found with gunshot wounds to their legs in an alleyway at Rinmore Drive.

A 48-year-old man was shot twice in the leg, in his thigh and shin. A 31-year-old man was hit in the thigh.

Local people reported hearing a number of shots being fired.

Police and the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) attended the scene from where both men were taken to Altnagelvin Area Hospital.

The scene remained sealed off on Sunday morning.

One of the men has been discharged from hospital, however the other was in intensive care on Sunday night after being transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.

Detective Inspector Michelle Boyd said: "Our officers are continuing with their enquiries into these savage attacks, which we believe were carried out by dissident republicans.



"The fact the victims were shot in a residential area at a time when people would have been out and about shows just how reckless those responsible are, and how they have no regard whatsoever for life.



"Last night's double shooting brings the number of shootings in our city to four since the start of the year. They are simply unacceptable and there can never be any justification for them.



"Carrying out attacks like this during a global health pandemic is particularly repugnant. We know the majority of people are working hard to keep their community safe and to protect the NHS, yet these violent criminals are endangering lives and increasing pressures on our emergency services and frontline workers.



"I am appealing to the public to help us remove these violent criminals from our community by bringing any information they have to us."

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has said the incident was "utterly depressing."

The Foyle MP tweeted: "Our hospital has enough to deal with at this time. We don't want the law of the jungle in our city. Get off our backs."

Utterly depressing that we've had a double shooting in Derry tonight. Our hospital has enough to deal with at this time. We don't want the law of the jungle in our city. Get off our backs.  Colum Eastwood (@columeastwood) February 6, 2021

Sinn Fein MLA Karen Mullan also condemned in the incident.

"There is no place for guns or this type of activity on our streets," she said.

"This is the fourth shooting since Christmas. We are in the middle of a pandemic, our health service is already stretched to the limit. This is the last thing people of this city want to see.

"Anyone with information on what happened should bring it forward to the PSNI."

Four people shot in Creggan since Christmas, this needs to stop now!



The people of Creggan neither want or support these actions!



Our Hospitals and front line staff are under enough pressure, this has to end! https://t.co/XJktCEg7dz  Karen Mullan (@k_mullan) February 6, 2021

DUP MLA Gary Middleton described the shootings as "disturbing", adding "there is no place for guns on our streets".

"Such attacks are disgusting at anytime, not least when our hospitals are working over capacity. I will continue to be updated by PSNI team," he said.

People Before Profit Cllr Shaun Harkin added: "Two more people have been sent to Altnagelvin following another barbaric shooting in Creggan. People Before Profit repeat what we have said many times before - these are futile acts that only serve to further traumatise those directly impacted and a community facing many hardships - and brings burden to an already overwhelmed health service."

Anyone who was in the area at around 6:30pm and saw what happened is asked to call detectives at Strand Road on 101, quoting reference number 1559 of 06/02/21.

Information can also be given on the non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org

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Every day, with the inevitability of a sunrise, more than 300 Americans are shot. Many of those lucky enough to survive will face uncertain recoveries, and can be saddled with lifelong disabilities. Like sailors lost at sea, squinting for a hint of land, they search desperately for tools that can help them eke out an existence.

Functional wheelchairs.

Safe, accessible housing.

Some way of sorting through the scattered federal, state, and local government programs that might offer assistance, if only their rules were easy to decipher.

 READ MORE: Shot and Forgotten: shooting victims face lifelong disabilities and financial burdens

The ranks of survivors who are forced to solve these puzzles continue to swell, in rural towns and big cities alike. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence estimates that more than 114,000 people are shot in the U.S. every year. In 2020, at least 2,240 people were shot in Philadelphia; as of Feb. 3, the city has already recorded 202 shootings, 40 of which have been fatal.

To address the often-overlooked plight of disabled victims and their families, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans said earlier this week  Gun Violence Survivors Week  that they will soon introduce legislation to create a federal advisory council that would be tasked with making it easier for victims to find and obtain sorely needed assistance.

This marks the second time that Casey and Evans have cosponsored the Resources for Victims of Gun Violence Act, which was crafted in response to a 2018 Inquirer report that spotlighted the physical, emotional, and financial burdens of paralyzed gun violence victims.

The lawmakers first attempt at advancing the legislation, in 2019, stalled; not a single Republican member of Congress agreed to cosponsor.

Every bill related to any kind of gun violence was really shut down the last six years with [then-Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell, Casey said.

Democrats now control the House and the Senate  and the White House, with President Biden ensconced in the Oval Office. Casey and Evans are optimistic that their legislation will find a smoother path this time around, either as a stand-alone bill, or attached to a larger piece of legislation.

Im not opposed to exploring other options, if we keep running into a roadblock, Casey said. There may be things that the Biden administration can do through an executive action.

 READ MORE: Under Fire: In 8,500 shootings since 2015 in Philadelphia, suspects have been convicted in just 9%.

Casey and Evans expect that Biden  who visited Evans district in Northwest Philadelphia several days before the November election  will be eager to tackle gun violence. As a candidate, Biden outlined an array of steps hed take, including pushing for an assault weapons ban and universal background checks.

This is a real issue about people who have been hurt across the country. Its not just Philadelphia, Evans said. When do we have a chance to look out for the victims?

Disabled survivors in Philadelphia long ago grew accustomed to feeling forgotten and having to scrounge for benefits. The Department of Public Health has found that survivors face an average of $46,632 in medical costs; some have had to turn to online fund-raisers to help them afford new wheelchairs or handicapped-accessible housing.

Others found a trickle of hope in the unlikeliest of places: the basement of Temple University Hospital, where a handful of paralyzed men and women formed a support group two years ago, after realizing no such resource existed anywhere else.

One of those survivors, Jalil Frazier, shared his personal anguish during a City Hall hearing last February. Frazier was shot and paralyzed in Philadelphia in 2018, while he protected three children during a robbery at a barbershop.

When I first came home, I was told I was going to get a ramp and all this stuff. I came home and I didnt get anything, Frazier told a roomful of politicians who had often offered what amounted to empty promises about helping people like him.

I was calling my brother to come help me get out of the house. I had a friend carry me. I was sleeping in the living room because I couldnt get upstairs.

How long are we supposed to wait?

 READ MORE: Philly police now take two-thirds of gunshot victims to the ER, and that saves lives, Penn study finds

During that same hearing, Jaleel King also testified. In 1984, he was just 8 when he was shot by a South Philadelphia man who was angry that neighborhood kids were setting off fireworks, and tried to quiet them with a sawed-off shotgun.

Asked if there were available services for survivors like him, Kings answer was unequivocal: No.

Theres never been help, and if there is help, you have to jump through so many hoops that you get exhausted and give up. So, the answer is no.

The advisory council created by Resources for Victims of Gun Violence Act would require officials from federal agencies like the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services to identify  with input from victims and their caregivers  the myriad needs that victims struggle to meet, from housing and transportation to education and employment.

 READ MORE: Phillys violent year: Nearly 500 people were killed and more than 2,200 shot in 2020

The council would also have to compile a congressional report on their findings, including gaps in the government safety net.

King, when told about the councils intended mission to right so many systemic wrongs, expressed cautious curiosity. Would it really improve the daily lives of people living with catastrophic gunshot injuries, or just create another layer of bureaucracy for them to navigate?

If Im being honest I feel like a lot of things have changed, some things for the better and some things for the worse, he said. Realistically, trying to find resources is still like trying to find a needle in a haystack  and even then, there is only so much available.
SKIP DICKSTEIN

The Viewpoint "Stefanik has violated her constitutional oath," Jan. 28, condemns the recent actions of Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, arguing that she violated her oath of office to defend the Constitution. The writer urges the congresswoman to resign although recognizing that she will not. All of this is fair as opinion and can be debated.



What cannot be debated is the error of the action the writer proposes be taken: that the Legislature redistrict the 21st Congressional District so that Stefanik is ousted in a future election. This is contrary to every notion of a fair and nonpolitical redistricting process.



First, it should be noted that the legislative redistricting following the 2020 census is going to be done, at least initially, by a bipartisan commission, not the Legislature. But, beyond that, the proposal that a district be drawn with the intent of defeating a specific individual is contrary to every notion of fairness in the process. Basically, districts should be drawn with community interests in mind so that the districts afford voters an effective voice in whatever legislative body is being considered. When done correctly, political interests of parties or individuals are not a factor in drawing the lines.



The League of Women Voters would oppose any map where one or more districts were drawn specifically to defeat a current officeholder or any other individual.

Patricia Sibilia
China will tighten supervision of 2.36 million businesses that discharge pollutants to ensure laws are followed amid efforts to improve environmental protection, according to a regulation newly released by the State Council.

Environmental authorities should decide the frequency of business inspections based on factors including the quantity of pollutants emitted and the environmental impact, Liu Zhiquan, a senior official with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said when introducing the regulation on Feb 5.

"More inspections should be made on pollutant discharging units with worse social credit and higher public attention," said Wang Canfa, an environmental law expert and professor at the China University of Political Science and Law.

Authorities can monitor the emissions of companies at the scene or through a national-level information platform, according to the regulation, which is scheduled to come into effect on March 1.

Businesses are expected to apply for discharge permits and disclose emission information on the platform, which is an authoritative channel for the public to learn related information.

"Either residents or professional environmental protection institutions have access to information about nationwide pollutant discharging units, including whether their applications have been accepted. Information is the basis of supervision," said Bie Tao, a senior official with the ministry.

One of the major difficulties of environmental law enforcement was that pollutant discharging businesses held back the original emission figures, obstructing the collection of evidence, said Wang, the professor.

"The new regulation states that companies must provide their discharge permits, environmental management records and monitoring data, greatly enhancing environmental enforcement," he added.

Moreover, when the data provided by businesses differs from what environment authorities monitored, the latter should be the evidence for law enforcement, the regulation said.

Companies are asked to install automatic monitoring equipment and keep records for no less than five years. Those who violate the provision will face a maximum fine of 200,000 yuan ($30,900) and even criminal responsibility.

The maximum fine for discharging pollutants without permits can reach 1 million yuan, along with a suspension of operations, according to the regulation.
Halliburton Company has announced it was awarded a contract from Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) to collaborate on their digital transformation journey through the maintenance and expansion of digital solutions for their North Kuwait asset.

It will allow KOC to accelerate their data-to-decisions cycle by designing and operating digital twins of the field to automate work processes, supported by DecisionSpace 365, a cloud-based subscription service for E&P applications.

Built on an open architecture, DecisionSpace 365 will help KOC engineers model, optimize and deploy intelligent work processes to plan, forecast and optimize production and asset operations.

The open architecture integrates Halliburton and third-party technologies to enhance operational performance and increase ultimate recovery.

Nagaraj Srinivasan, Senior VP (Landmark) at Halliburton Digital Solutions and Consulting, said: "We are excited to collaborate with KOC on their digital transformation initiatives and build on our previous work to increase reservoir recovery and production."

"By using cloud computing, IoT and real-time technologies to drive new ways of working, we can improve production planning, scheduling and enable virtual and autonomous reservoir optimization," he added.
[February 05, 2021] Voxtur Announces Grant of Restricted Share Units and Stock Options

TORONTO, Feb. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Voxtur Analytics Corp. (TSXV:VXTR) (Voxtur or the Company) today announced that, in accordance with the Restricted Share Unit Plan that was approved by the shareholders of Voxtur, previously iLOOKABOUT Corp., at its Special Meeting of Shareholders on January 22, 2021, the Company has granted a total of 7,250,000 Restricted Share Units to employees and a consultant which will vest 1/3 upon grant and 1/3 on each of the following two anniversaries of the grant date. A complete copy of the Restricted Share Unit Plan can be found as Exhibit A of the Companys Management Information Circular dated December 21, 2020, a copy of which is available at www.sedar.com.

In addition, in accordance with the Companys Stock Option Plan that was approved by the shareholders of Voxtur, previously iLOOKABOUT Corp., at its Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders on September 25, 2020, the Company has grante a total of 14,167,231 Stock Options to employees. These options have an exercise price of $0.59 and will expire five years from the grant date if not exercised. Vesting of 12,950,000 of these options will be 1/3 upon grant and 1/3 on each of the following two anniversaries of the grant date. Vesting of 1,217,231 of these options will be 1/4 upon grant and 1/4 on each of the following three anniversaries of the grant date. A complete copy of the Stock Option Plan can be found as Exhibit A of the Companys Management Information Circular dated August 20, 2020, a copy of which is available at www.sedar.com.



About Voxtur From Valuation to Liquidation, Voxtur is redefining the real estate lending lifecycle. With intelligent automation and innovative AI solutions, Voxtur eliminates the need for archaic and complex processes used today. The Voxtur portfolio of technology solutions creates a unique value proposition to benefit real estate investors, lenders and servicers alike, and propels the real estate lending industry into a digital reality that increases returns for key stakeholders and, more importantly, lowers costs for consumers.

Voxturs common shares are traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol VXTR. 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.

Contact: Gary Yeoman, CEO gary@voxtur.com 416-347-7707

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Posted Friday, February 5, 2021 5:20 pm

Lewis County Superior Court has set bail at $250,000 for a Lakewood man who allegedly admitted to shooting the door of his Motel 6 room with stolen firearms Tuesday night.

Cesar Emiliano Soria, 48, was arrested after he called the Centralia police from the Motel 6 in the 1300 block of Belmont Avenue at approximately 10 p.m. on Feb. 2, allegedly claiming that someone at the motel was trying to kill him, according to court documents.

The probable cause affidavit states that Centralia police had responded to the same location earlier that day and were able to calm Soria down, but this time when law enforcement responded, they noticed bullet holes in the door that were not previously there.

When contacted by responding officers, Soria admitted that he shot at the door because he was afraid of people he thought were outside the door, according to the affidavit.

Soria allegedly revealed two firearms in his possession  a 9 mm pistol and a 12-gauge shotgun  that were listed in the law enforcement database as stolen.

Soria had past felony convictions outside of the state of Washington, most notably for fourth-degree assault, domestic violence, and was not legally permitted to possess a firearm.

When doing a sweep of the motel room, officers also observed what they believed to be methamphetamine residue and heroin residue, based on their training and experience.

Soria was booked into the Lewis County Jail at 11:35 p.m. on charges of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of a stolen firearm and possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine.

His conduct was bizarre, to say the least, said Will Halstead, Lewis County deputy prosecutor, of Soria at Sorias preliminary hearing in Lewis County Superior Court on Feb. 2.

Halstead, prosecuting Soria on behalf of the state, recommended that Soria be held for an additional 24 hours at the Lewis County Jail so that he can be seen by a mental health professional.

Im not opposed to him seeing a mental health professional, but that would just leave us in the same position we are in now in 24 hours having to address bail, said Judge J. Andrew Toynbee, who agreed with Halsteads recommendation to set bail at $250,000.

It is because of the behavior described in the probable cause, the past history and his lack of connection to this community, Toynbee said.

Soria is scheduled for arraignment and trial setting on Feb. 11.
(Natural News) Now that they think their anointed is safely enthroned at the White House, the Deep State, through its propaganda mouthpiece Time magazine, is gloating over a conspiracy of Big Business, Big Tech, Big Government, Big Labor, and other powerful forces to oust President Trump from office. The behind-the-scenes operation has eerie parallels with Color Revolutions staged in foreign lands by the very same operatives who took down Trump.

(Article by Alex Newman republished from TheNewAmerican.com)

In a piece by the far-left Time magazine headlined The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election, propagandist Molly Ball gloats about it all. There was a conspiracy unfolding behind the scenes, one that both curtailed the protests and coordinated the resistance from CEOs, she wrote, saying Trump was right about the orchestrated plot to oust him. Both surprises were the result of an informal alliance between left-wing activists and business titans.

The conspiracy involved a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information, Ball explained, bragging of her role as their mouthpiece to tell their version of the story without pesky fairness or even any opportunity to comment for victims of the effort.

One example she cited of the alliance of conspirators against Trump was a joint statement by the globalist U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the far-left AFL-CIO labor union published on election day. It involved Big Business and Big Labor joining forces to oppose what the propagandist describes, without giving details or evidence, as Trumps assault on democracy  never mind that the true assault on self-government came from the conspirators.

But of course, as Time admits, that alliance between anti-American business bigwigs and far-left labor organizers was just the tip of the iceberg of the anti-Trump machinery that was working to destroy the president. The handshake between business and labor was just one component of a vast, cross-partisan campaign to protect the election, wrote Ball, touting a loosely organized coalition of operatives that was mostly on the left but included NeverTrump conservatives as well.

The Time propaganda piece, which the Deep State no doubt hopes will be the official historical account of the subversive actions, describes the scheme like this:

Their work touched every aspect of the election. They got states to change voting systems and laws and helped secure hundreds of millions in public and private funding. They fended off voter-suppression lawsuits, recruited armies of poll workers and got millions of people to vote by mail for the first time. They successfully pressured social media companies to take a harder line against disinformation and used data-driven strategies to fight viral smears. They executed national public-awareness campaigns that helped Americans understand how the vote count would unfold over days or weeks, preventing Trumps conspiracy theories and false claims of victory from getting more traction. After Election Day, they monitored every pressure point to ensure that Trump could not overturn the result.

The New American magazine reported on much of this. In fact, in September, this writer exposed the schemers working on a Color Revolution-style campaign to overthrow President Trump by any means necessary. The plot  elements of which were almost certainly illegal  included many of the very same State Department and Intelligence Community operatives who had been using similar tactics for decades to overthrow Eastern European and Middle Eastern governments.

One of the key figures involved in the plot, we reported, was former Obama Ethics Czar Norm Eisen, who has been foaming at the mouth to remove the president for years. Interestingly, Eisen actually wrote the go-to manual on Color Revolution, known as The Playbook, before unleashing it in America against Americas elected president. Eisens strategies, by his own admission, are merely a continuation of those pioneered by the originator and Godfather of the Color Revolution model.

In the Time piece, the rabid anti-Trump hysteric gloats about it all. The untold story of the election is the thousands of people of both parties who accomplished the triumph of American democracy at its very foundation, Eisen is quoted as saying, adding that the scariest moment of the entire election was when Michigans Republican legislature considered sending Trump delegates to defeat what most GOP voters and even many Democrats across the state viewed as a blatantly rigged vote in Detroit.

While Eisen is described as a prominent lawyer and former Obama Administration official who recruited Republicans and Democrats to the board of the Voter Protection Program, the Time propaganda never mentions his long career as a regime change professional overthrowing foreign governments for the Deep State. If readers knew his history, they might find it a bit strange that he played such a key role in the conspiracy to supposedly defend democracy from voters, laws, and the U.S. Constitution.

Other key operatives in the plot include AFL-CIO schemer Mike Podhorzer, who is painted as one of the leading luminaries behind the conspiracy. Some of his co-conspirators included bigwigs at the tax-funded baby slaughterhouse Planned Parenthood, Greenpeace, George Soros-funded MoveOn.org, the Marxist-led Black Lives Matter movement, and countless others. Eventually, key figures from Congress (unnamed), the Big Tech totalitarians in Silicon Valley, and even state officials were brought into the conspiracy too. Facebook money helped finance part of the conspiracy, Ball reported. Big Tech censorship and algorithms to suppress truth that the anti-Trump forces viewed as disinformation were key, too.

Of course, much of the Balls narrative in Time is simply fraudulent, as anyone can verify for themselves. For instance, propagandist Ball claims that when the media called the race for Biden on November 7, jubilation broke out and people thronged cities across the U.S. to celebrate the democratic process that resulted in Trumps ouster. While tiny throngs may have come together in Democrat bastions such as New York and Los Angeles, across the rest of America, even the fake medias polls showed average Americans believed it was rigged. Even a third of Democrats believed the election was stolen from Trump, polls show.

The propaganda piece never even touches on the countless affidavits offering massive evidence of systemic voter fraud across America. It also blatantly misrepresents facts that anyone can check. For example, Ball claims Trump urged his supporters in D.C. to go to the Capitol and fight like hell. That is a lie. Trump actually declared as a fact that we fight like hell, and added that if you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore. When making comments on the Capitol, Trump urged supporters peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard there. Without noting that Trump repeatedly condemned the riots and called for peace, Ball also dishonestly claimed Trump called the rioters very special. In fact, he called his supporters very special and condemned the rioters on multiple occasions. Similar dishonesty can be found throughout the Time propaganda piece.

Time magazine has always been an important propaganda megaphone for the Deep State. It was founded a century ago by Henry Luce, a member of the Skull and Bones secret society infamous for occult death rituals and influential members. According to Stanford historian Antony Sutton, who wrote two books about the outfit, it serves as a recruiting ground for a conspiracy to create a one-world government that aims to control both sides of the debate  2004 presidential candidates John Kerry and George W. Bush were both members, for instance, as was Deep State conservative hero William Buckley. Luce was also a key player in the Central Intelligence Agencys Operation Mockingbird, which bankrolled hundreds of American journalists willing to prostitute themselves to serve as propagandists for the scandal-plagued CIA.

Ball actually admits and appears to relish the fact that she was chosen to serve as the mouthpiece for the cabal of conspirators, saying the participants want the secret history of the 2020 election told. The cabal was obviously behind her efforts, with Ball saying the inside story of the conspiracy she retells  at least the propaganda version the conspirators want you to believe  came from her exclusive access to the groups inner workings, never-before-seen documents and interviews with dozens of those involved from across the political spectrum. In short, Time and its fake journalists now all but celebrate their role as establishment lapdogs who parrot Deep State propaganda to the public.

Once upon a time, journalists would have been ashamed to be known that way  but not anymore. Ball and Time magazine should be embarrassed to be used like this in peddling obviously one-sided propaganda. But at this point, with morality out the window, it appears that very few in media or politics have any shame left. Still, it may not be too late for accountability in the months and years ahead. Conspiracy, after all, is a serious crime.

Read more at: TheNewAmerican.com
Scene Bethanny Frankel, former reality TV star from Bravos The Real Housewives of New York City, was seen dining at La Taqueria on Greenwich Avenue on Jan. 29. The Skinny Girl lifestyle entrepreneur reportedly purchased a home on Pecksland Road in Greenwich.

Out there Academy Award-winning actor Christopher Plummer passed away on Friday at the age of 91 at his home in Weston. Plummer portrayed Captain von Trapp in the award-winning 1965 musical The Sound of Music opposite Julie Andrews and Kym Karath, who portrayed the youngest of the von Trapp children, Gretl, and once lived in Greenwich.

Dining Stamford Downtown and Stamford Tables are joining forces to present the 2021 Winter Restaurant Weeks, beginning on Presidents Day, Monday, Feb. 15, running through Sunday, Feb. 28. A total of 20 restaurants will participate, offering seasonal prix-fixe lunch and dinner menus at value-oriented prices ranging from $14.21 to $20.21 for lunch and $29.21 to $40.21 for dinner. Participating restaurants include: Acuario Restaurant, Bar Rosso, Barcelona Wine Bar, bartaco, Bedford Hall Craft Kitchen & Bar, Blackstones Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Capriccio Cafe, Cask Republic, Columbus Park Trattoria, FISH Restaurant + Bar, Flinders Lane, Hudson Social, Jerkyz, Kashi Sushi Lounge, Kouzina, Kyushu Ramen & Sushi, One Club Tequila Lounge at Residence Inn, Siena Ristorante and ZAZA Gastrobar. Patrons must wear masks until they are seated and practice social distancing. Reservations are advised. For more info and menus,visit stamford-downtown.com/events/winter-restaurant-weeks.

For fun The Greenwich Historical Society is offering a fun-filled program called Mini Monster Makers for children ages 6 through 8 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11. The kids will learn about Muppets creator Jim Henson and about his time living in Greenwich. They will also find out about the history of puppetry and how to create three different types of puppets. For more info and tickets (members $15, nonmembers $25 per session), visit greenwichhistory.org/winter-vacation-fun-mini-monster-makers.

Virtual screening The Bedford Playhouse in nearby Bedford, N.Y., is featuring a virtual screening of Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11. The film will be followed by a Q&A conversation with director Mary Wharton and producer Chris Farrell and moderated by Playhouse founder John Farr. The documentary features new interviews with Bob Dylan, Bono, Willie Nelson, Paul Simon, Gregg Allman and Garth Brooks, as well as with former President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter, whose love of music, family and leadership is illuminated in the documentary. Ticket buyers will be sent a link to watch the film before Feb. 11. For more info and to register, visit www.bedfordplayhouse.org.

Happy birthday... A big shout out to Riverside resident Loretta Spezzano, who celebrates her 90th birthday on Monday, Feb. 8. Best wishes to Loretta and all of her family!

Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.

 William James

And thats all for now.

Later

Got a tip? Seen a celebrity? Email Susie Costaregni at thedish2@yahoo.com.
On Saturday morning, Sonakshi Sinha took to Instagram and posted a photo of herself from her latest shoot. She wore a white jumpsuit and glammed up her look with a gold choker and a pair of hoops. Sonakshi basked in the sun while keeping her eyes shut. Sharing the same, he wrote in Hindi, "", (Sunshine). As soon as Sonakshi Sinha's Instagram post was up on the internet, fans of the star rushed to drop comments on it. A user wrote, "So beautiful," whereas another fan penned, "Omg, wow, love your outfit and your accessories."

Sonakshi shares sun-kissed pic

Also Read | Vicky Kaushal And Manushi Chhillar Snapped Shooting At Maheshwar Ghat; See Pictures

This is not the first time when Sinha posted her sun-kissed pictures. Earlier, she shared many glimpses from her Goa and Maldives holiday. On Friday night, she also gave a sneak-peek into the shooting location of her upcoming venture. Once again, Sonakshi shared a photo of a picturesque village and showed how the sunset looked like out there. The caption on her story read, "Pack up" which made it evident that she is shooting for one of her movies. However, Sinha did not reveal the destination.

Also Read | Mira Rajput Gets Wisdom Tooth Extraction, Misses Husband Shahid Kapoor

She also requested her fans to drop kind comments on peoples' posts. The Once Upon a Time in Mumbai Dobaara actor wrote, "I just got a random idea. I'm going to drop a sweet comment on a random profile or two every day just to brighten up someone's day." She added that it's just a small way of spreading positivity. Not only this but Sonakshi indirectly also taunted her haters and mentioned that there are so many people who are doing the opposite of this. "Try it if you want. A kind word goes a long way," she concluded.

Also Read | Urvashi Rautela Is At War With Herself; Shares Picture Quipping Its "mind Vs Heart"

On the work front, Sinha was last seen in Dabangg 3, alongside Salman Khan. She will be seen in the upcoming movie, Bhuj: The Pride of India, opposite stars like Ajay Devgn, Nora Fatehi, Sanjay Dutt, Rana Daggubati, Parineeti Chopra and Ammy Virk, among others. The movie is helmed and written by Abhishek Dudhaiya. The makers of Bhuj: The Pride of India are set to release the film on the OTT platform, Disney+Hotstar. Reportedly, Sonakshi has a movie titled Crazy Hum in the pipeline.

Also Read | Urvashi Rautela Is At War With Herself; Shares Picture Quipping Its "mind Vs Heart"

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.
Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - The Mauritian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Nando Bodha, on Saturday resigned from his post and from all the bodies of his party, the MSM (Mouvement Socialiste Militant), he announced in a statement

Pleas in Supreme Court seek Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia to kin of those who died of COVID-19

Apprehension of death due to COVID-19 not a ground for anticipatory bail: Supreme Court

Despite SC's interim bail, comedian Munawar Faruqui still in jail

India

oi-Deepika S

Indore, Feb 06: Stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui failed to walk out of jail on Saturday despite the Supreme Court granting him bail as prison officials cited a warrant issued by a Prayagraj court against him.

Arrested for allegedly hurting religious sentiments, Faruqui is in Indore jail since January 1.

On Friday, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail after the Madhya Pradesh High Court had rejected his bail plea on January 28. The Apex court also stayed the production warrant issued against Faruqui by a court in Prayagraj in connection with an FIR lodged there.

Faruqui''s lawyers on Saturday submitted a copy of the SC order in the local court, which then directed that he be released on a bond of Rs 50,000 and same amount of security.

But he was not released. Asked for the reason, an official of the Indore Central Jail said a court in Prayagraj had ordered Faruqui''s production in a similar case on February 18.

Citing the jail manual, he said an order from the Prayagraj court or a competent government officer was needed to release him.

The comedian will be taken to Prayagraj on Sunday morning if they did not get the requisite order, he said.

Before that, he will undergo a COVID-19 test, the official said.

Munawar Faruqui accused of insulting Hindu Gods gets interim bail in SC

Faruqui''s cousin Zaid Pathan said they were disappointed by the jail administration''s stand.

"Our belief in judiciary was strengthened after the Supreme Court order," he said.

Faruqui and four others were arrested on January 1 following a complaint by a BJP MLA''s son that objectionable remarks about Hindu deities and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were passed during a comedy show at a cafe in Indore on New Year''s day.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, February 6, 2021, 23:41 [IST]

Gardai are retracing the steps of a 72-year-old woman found dead in a burnt-out car in woods in North Cork as they continue to question a Limerick man in connection with the killing.

The man has been arrested on suspicion of the unlawful killing of widowed mother of three, Mary O'Keeffe, and is being held at Fermoy Garda Station.

The arrest follows the discovery on Thursday of the body of Ms OKeeffe, from Dromahane, in a burning car on a remote forest track in Dromdeer, near Doneraile, north Cork.

Detectives continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death and part of their focus will be on the relationship between the arrested man and the deceased.

Gardai have 24 hours to question the man before charging him or releasing him.

The death of Ms O'Keeffe has left her home village reeling, with locals in disbelief at the loss of the 'kind, lovely woman'.

Dr Margot Bolster, the assistant State pathologist, completed her examination of the woodland scene yesterday morning and a full autopsy took place last night at Cork University Hospital.

The location where Mary O'Keeffe was found dead in a burnt-out car

The arrested man, aged 63, was rescued from the River Awbeg shortly after Ms OKeeffes body was found in the woods, following the intervention of gardai.

He was pulled from the water near Ballinamona Cross, where a bridge crosses over the river.

He was treated at the scene by paramedics and transferred to Cork University Hospital.

A local resident is understood to have spotted a man running in the area of forest where the Limerick-registered 2020 vehicle was burning.

Around the time the vehicle caught fire, another resident initially thought he had heard a bang.

When he saw the flames, he immediately called gardai.

The deceased woman's own vehicle was later found about half a mile away, parked beside a small concrete water pump house a few hundred feet from the main road to Doneraile.

Friends and family devastated

The rural community of Dromahane is reeling at news of the tragic death of one of its own.

Although few were out and about in the small north Cork village, those who spoke to the Irish Examiner were struggling with their emotion.

A softly-spoken widow who was intensely private, the mother-of-three was very well respected by those who had got to know her in the 50 or so years she had lived in the village.

A mother to three adult sons, two of whom are twins, she was also a devoted grandmother.

The remains of a burnt-out car are removed from Drumdeer Wood, at Doneraile, Co Cork where Gardai discovered a body of a woman on Thursday afternoon. Picture: Dan Linehan

Villagers remain baffled as to who could possibly have harmed a woman who is affectionately described as a gem, and a "gas ticket".

One woman who knew her well is Ann O'Shea.

Herself and her husband Dennis had known the 72-year-old for 48 years.

They had also known her husband Donal, who died about 25 years ago.

Their own children were friends with Mary O'Keeffe's oldest son Ger and her twins, Christie and Donal.

I was only talking to Mary literally about two days ago," said Anne.

As usual she was very chatty, very cheerful and we asked each other how we were.

She was in the backyard of her house, which backs onto my own backyard.

"She was always a very friendly, lovely woman.

She paused briefly, taking a deep breath and repeated: She was such a lovely warm woman.

Tears glistened in her eyes as she smiled, recalling how Mary loved the dancing.

She had also been a keen card player, with '45' being one of her favourite games.

Although she kept pretty much to herself, she was a fun-loving woman with a great sense of humour.

She was a gas ticket.

She added: She also had a heart of gold and had nursed her brother-in-law Dennis after he contracted cancer.

"She was very kind. To be honest, you couldn't find a nicer person.

She said she was aware Mary had a friend who lived in Ardpatrick, in Limerick but said she didnt know too much about him.

A Garda at the road leading to Drumdeer Wood, near Doneraile, Co Cork showing one of the cars which was taken away for examination. . Picture: Dan Linehan

Other Dromahane residents who knew Mary said that she used to dance at the Hazel Tree club near Mallow.

Mary was often seen in the village walking her two dogs, one of which is described as being a purebred collie.

She worked as a cook in a sheltered housing project in Mallow and was also said to have previously worked in Nazareth House, in north Cork.

Her car was the subject of a joke between herself and Ann.

When she came back with the new 202-Reg car, we joked she must be rich, she recalled. She laughed and said: Well, Im broke now.

I am just dumbfounded about what is happened, Ann added of her friends death.

Equally shocked is another friend and close neighbour, 86-year-old former teacher John Joe Kavanagh.

"I have known her for more than 40 years and I taught her lads. She was just a kind, sociable woman and a very good neighbour.

My sincerest sympathies go to her family, her friends and anyone who knew her.

What has happened is just a terrible thing.

Investigation ongoing

The burnt-out car is removed from Drumdeer Wood, at Doneraile where Gardai discovered a body of a woman in a car that was on fire. Picture: Dan Linehan

Mary O'Keeffe was known to leave her house in Dromahane most mornings at around 7am to volunteer at a sheltered housing project outside Mallow in a place called Ballydaheen.

It is not clear if she was working on Thursday  friends believe she was on a day off.

One of the last times she appears to have been seen alive was on Wednesday, by a near neighbour and long term friend, Ann OShea.

Whether or not Mary went straight on Thursday to Dromdeer from her home, or from Ballydaheen, is not clear.

Either way, her white 202-Reg SUV was found parked by a small concrete water pump house about 200 yards up a small rural lane that leads through Lissard and around to Doneraile.

It is a popular spot for walkers to park their cars.

Whether she walked to the spot where she was later found dead, inside a burnt-out car, or was driven there, is also not yet clear.

The spot where her body was found at around 3.30pm is about half a mile along a forest path from the small lane where she parked.

The river in which the man was later rescued from is between two and three kilometres from the spot.

He is understood to have been rescued somewhere around Ballinamina Cross.

Gardai are appealing for anyone who was in the Doneraile area between 3pm and 5pm on Thursday, particular anyone with mobile phone footage or dashcam footage, to contact Fermoy Garda Station on 025 82100 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.
1. Yes. The public must have assurances that ethical standards are met by everyone.

2. Yes. As long as an independent board hears the grievances, its a worthwhile idea.

3. No. The concept is too broad. It should be limited to the citys elected officials.

4. No. There are plenty of stipulations in place already. An ordinance is a waste of time.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say without seeing how it would be structured and applied.

Vote

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TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Following the recommendations issued by the National Medical Taskforce for Combatting the Coronavirus (COVID-19), requesting government entities and institutions to allow a maximum of 70% of employees to work from home from February 7 to 20, the Ministry of Education instructed schools and directorates to follow certain measures.

The Ministry said that only 30% of the staff of schools and directorates should attend in person during the week starting on February 7, and that the same mechanism will be applied during the week starting on February 14, with another 30% attending.

They were also requested to prepare a list of the employees who will work on-line and those who will work in-person, as well as determine the duties of each group.

The Ministrys circular also stressed that the plans approved in the previous period should go ahead as planned in order to achieve the students interests and deliver the necessary services to visitors.

School principals and the Ministry's directorates may name the employees whose personal presence is of utmost importance to the smooth flow of work so as to attend and carry out the required duties.

The Education Ministry stressed the need to continue adhering to the precautionary health measures, including social distancing, wearing face masks, as well as washing and sanitising hands regularly.
In this age of the far-flung Irish diaspora it's not unusual to see one of our own making waves in foreign lands. We are everywhere, as likely to be seen outside the Capitol Building during a riot as we are on the red carpet for the latest Hollywood premiere.

But it wasn't always thus, and it certainly wasn't the case in the mid-seventeenth century.

Foreign travel was an alien concept to Irish people then, the only possibility of seeing the world coming by way of conscription to the British Army.

Yet some broke with tradition, some rose to prominence far from home, and indeed one Wexford man set in motion a fight for independence which would take place thousands of miles from his native land.

William Lamport was born in Wexford town in 1615, the youngest of Richard and Anastasia Lamport's (nee Sutton) four children. The Lamports had originally come to Ireland with Strongbow in the twelfth century, building a castle in Rosslare, and were what Fabio Troncarelli describes as 'noble Catholics'.

However, that nobility didn't prevent William's grandfather, Patrick Lamport, from taking part in the rebellion against the English in the late 1500s, joining Hugh O'Neill at the Battle of Kinsale.

Expand Close An illustration from The Legend Of William Lamport / Facebook

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Revolution was in the Lamport blood. And it was into this world, a world in which his father, and his father before him, had to fight for their freedom, that William was born.

Like so many Catholics of that age, William's formative years were marked by persecution, by the oppressive regime of the British Empire. And from a young age he adopted the revolutionary ideals which had been sewn deep into his lineage.

Having been sent to London to study with the Jesuits at the age of 13, William was forced to flee to the continent after he published anti-Protestant pamphlets and began distributing them around town.

Barbara Jones has recently returned to Wexford having served as the Irish Ambassador to Mexico for three years, a keen historian with a deep interest in the life of William Lamport, she says he was effectively radicalised by what he saw growing up in Ireland.

'He was radicalised by what he witnessed when he was growing up in Ireland where the world of his father and grandfather was turned upside down,' says the Enniscorthy-native. 'The Elizabethan conquest was displacing the old order and he and his father were losers in that battle.'

Still just a teenager, William boarded a ship destined for the European mainland, but while at sea it was commandeered by a gang of pirates. Undeterred, Lamport promptly joined this gang and, employed as a mercenary, took part in the Siege of La Rochelle, a battle which effectively ended the Hugenot rebellion against the French monarchy.

Fresh from his maritime exploits he arrived in Spain, in Galicia, where he studied at St Patrick's College and, in order to blend in with the locals, changed his name to Guillen Lombardo.

A gifted scholar and swordsman, Lamport cut a dashing figure with his shock of red hair and piercing blue eyes, and he subsequently came to the attention of the local governor, who in turn recommended that the Duke of Olivares (the Spanish President) speak to Lamport and utilise his talents.

Still barely out of his teens, Lamport was appointed as a captain in the Spanish army, earning notable victories against Swedish and French troops. At this point he also acquired a mistress, Ana Cano y Leiva, a woman several social classes above him, and a woman who was not supposed to shack up with a little red-headed soldier from Wexford. Oblivious to societal norms, William not only moved in with Ana, he also fathered a child, Teresa, with her.

But it was in 1640, at the age of 25, that Lamport was sent on an errand which would not only define his life but alter the course of history. Olivares sent him to Mexico, then under Spanish rule, to spy on the Marquis of Villena and to report from the ground on a political situation which was growing increasingly unstable. The Holy Inquisition, an arm of the Catholic Church, held authority there and sought to undermine and oppress the native Mexicans, the black slaves and any other demographic which didn't adhere to their prophesies.

While in Mexico, Lamport moved in the upper echelons of society. He got engaged to a rich heiress, Antonia Turcios, and styled himself as a nouveau riche member of the elite. All the while he was reporting his findings to Olivares, acting as a double agent, more James Bond than the Zorro he is frequently linked to.

At this point one could be forgiven for imagining William Lamport as a man entirely bereft of morals, an unethical blackguard who could be purchased for the highest dollar. But while he was kowtowing to the elites and spending as many pesos as Olivares could send, he was also surveying the land before him, and the people who lived within in.

It was here that his experiences as a boy in Ireland, as a member of the oppressed classes, came home to roost. Lamport saw how the indigenous Mexicans were treated, how the black slaves were reduced to nothing more than livestock, and he didn't like it one bit.

'Tell me why do you buy and sell men as though they were beasts?' he later wrote in his memoirs. 'By what right do you take another man's liberty which is more precious than gold?'

'Unjustly are they sold to you and unjustly do you purchase them. A great crime you have committed against God and you must restore the freedom of free people lest their blood and their slavery cry out to God against you and ensure the blows of heaven will rain down upon you and your children.'

Those words were published after Lamport's death, but he had no issue in uttering them during his life, which, in a sense, was to be his downfall.

With enough clout to make those in power incredibly uncomfortable, Lamport became something of a representative for the underclasses, highlighting the injustices suffered by native miners for example, writing letters on their behalf.

Most saliently, he began to question the colonial model which existed in Mexico, outright rejecting it and campaigning for the freedom of not just the natives, but also the black slaves.

Eoin McAuley is the author of The Legend of William Lamport, a graphic novel series which recounts Lamport's life, he explains just how strident the Wexford man was in his views.

'Lamport found a sense of affinity with the natives whose land was being displaced by the Spanish government. This led to Lamport writing the first Declaration of Independence of the Indies, a century before the French Revolution.'

Along with artist Cormac Hughes, and designers Ellie Wright and Robin Jones, Eoin has created an entire series on Lamport, one which has been made available for free to schools across the country.

'When I came across the story of William Lamport and his connection to the origin and inspiration of some of the key heroic adventurers in fiction, I instantly realized that his story would be easily and attractively adapted to the comic book format,' he says. 'The fact that he was an Irish man and son of Wexford only drew my interest further in.'

Based on Lamport's memoirs, the series is, in Eoin words a 'dramatised account of his life'.

'In our telling of the legend we include real locations recorded as having been visited by Lamport, people he met and studied under and real dates of noted historical battles he claimed to have been involved in.

'Unfortunately, Lamport was both creative and liberal with the telling of the truth so sometimes certain accounts can be conflicting or uncertain. Even his date of birth is not known for certain.'

One fact which can't be disputed is Lamport's desire for justice, for an equal and fair society.

'His principal struggle was against colonialism,' Barbara explains. 'He came to Mexico and stood with the oppressed, advocated a radical view of society, freedom of expression, freedom of speech. Because of this, he is a revered figure in Mexico today.

'He is identified in Mexico's historical narrative as being one of the founding fathers in movement of their struggle for independence. As such he is memorialised with a statue in the mauseleom of the Angel de Independencia, alongside a very exclusive gathering of the greats of Mexican history.'

Lamport even wrote letters to Oliveras informing him of his plans to organise a rebellion and fight for the freedom of Mexico, letters which were subsequently intercepted by The Inquisition and used against him.

Yet it wasn't until he attempted to adopt yet another new persona that Lamport was imprisoned for his actions. Recognising that he didn't quite have the gravitas to lead an insurgency he declared himself to be the natural son of King Phillip III of Spain, a move which backfired spectacularly.

Denounced as an imposter and a heretic and accused of attempting to crown himself the king of an independent Mexico, Lamport was imprisoned by The Inquisition in October of 1642.

But even from a prison cell he remained active, becoming the de facto leader of the mostly Jewish prison population and continuing to write and distribute incendiary pamphlets and materials.

Ultimately, Lamport would spend the next 17 years in prison, a time he described as being 'alive in a living death'. However, there was one period of respite, brief as it was. On Christmas Day 1650 he escaped, and immediately began nailing pamphlets to any available structures, denouncing The Inquisition and proclaiming his innocence.

His period of freedom lasted less than 24 hours before he was recaptured and imprisoned once more, this time for the last time. It wasn't until the death of Olivares, Lamport's greatest ally, that he was finally sentenced to death.

On November 19 1659 he was burned at the stake, although legend has it that he struggled and used the metal collar around his neck to strangle himself before the flames could reach him.

His story doesn't end there though. While imprisoned he wrote extensively, composing poems, his memoirs, a book, and dozens of letters to politicians throughout Europe.

Those works have since been preserved in the Mexican archives and used to retell his story. And in death that story became yet more dramatic.

'His fame survived his death, his deeds in support of the Indians and the underprivileged made him a hero in their eyes and of the Franciscan community of friars,' writes Fabio Troncarelli.

'In the people's imagination he became the hero who struck in the darkness, challenged and ridiculed The Inquisition and wanted to proclaim himself king to free the Indians and black slaves.

'In his last will and testament Lamport proclaimed the hope that the time of God's judgment would soon come and the certainty that the archbishop of Mexico City would be engulfed by the fires of hell.'

That prediction didn't quite come to fruition but Lamport's status as a hero of Mexico's fight for independence endures to this day.

'Lamport is probably the most prominent Wexford person of the 17th century in terms of his impact upon society,' Barbara says. 'He was an advocate for the rights of Jewish people, the indigineous people's rights to the land, 200 years before slavery was abolished his belief was that people should be free. He stood against the idea of hate speech, he was a pioneer for human rights and equality, he was way, way ahead of his age.'

The Legend of William Lamport can be read by visiting www.thelegendofwilliamlamport.com. And Eoin is hopeful that, upon completion, physical copies of the book will be available to purchase in Lamport's home town.

'Upon the final completion of the graphic novel we would love to see the book made available in Wexford, with Lamport being a native son. It is our hope that this story will engage the imagination of the audience but also, particularly among younger readers, raise awareness among certain historical events and peak their interest in wider historical studies.'
Women write messages on a banner during a memorial service to remember those who have died from drug overdoses in B.C., on International Overdose Awareness Day in Vancouvers Downtown Eastside on Aug. 31, 2017. (The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck)

Enabling Drug Use Isnt Working

The real solution lies within families and in addiction treatment

Commentary

Facing a surge in opioid overdose deaths he calls an absolute catastrophe, Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart is hoping for help by asking Ottawa to decriminalize possession of small amounts of illicit drugs.

Some police want a safe supply of drugs free of the deadly fentanyl, which comes from China but also domestic sources.

Others say that legalized safe sources might ease matters in the short term, but that the real solution is to get addicts off drugs completely.

We have to start taking some action toward a recovery-oriented system, said Dr. Carson McPherson, managing director of Cedars at Cobble Hill, a B.C. drug addiction treatment facility. He told Global News that supplying drugs is playing into whats ultimately a sick-care system and not a health-care system.

Between January 2016 and June 2020, there were 17,602 apparent opioid toxicity deaths in Canada, according to federal government data. Fatal overdoses and other harms from drugs have risen even more since the pandemic began last March, with 1,628 deaths occurring between April and June, compared with 1,029 deaths between January and March.

So, what to do about drug addiction? More of the same makes no sense, and legalization is not a long-term answer.

Its time for us to stop enabling the addicts among us, declares a recent headline in the letters section of the Victoria Times Colonist. The letters author, Monica Babic, notes that thousands of individuals and hundreds of charities are all falling over themselves to enable a most dangerous community.

We help people destroy themselves and our communities. I understand addiction. Was one. Family full of them. I know what enabling is. Large communities of drugged-out people are not a good thing for any city, and keeps this city from ever becoming world-class.

By enabling, Babic is referring to the free tents, the hotel rooms, and now container camps with all the food, clothing, hydro, water, medicines, drug supplies, etc. that you want. Im a recently reformed enabler of 40-plus years, and what you are doing here is crazy.

She warns of more to come. Just wait for the influx of illicit drug users in this city, she writes. What is the example we are setting here for our youth and future generations?

This is happening elsewhere too, of course.

Babics excellent letter struck a chord with readers, among them Donald Lang.

Monica Babics letter brought me back to the late 1960s, when I was involved with drug education programs on the East Coast, he writes in a letter to the Times Colonist.

We quickly learned that presentations by medical professionals to enlighten young minds about the curse of drugs were useless. Instead, we brought in known former drug users, those who had been down that godawful road to addiction but somehow managed to be free, at least for a time.

When parents sought advice from the former drug users on what to do, Lang writes, their response was very, very enlightening: The solution to drug use problems lies within the family. Its the family that ultimately controls illicit drug issues.

He agrees with Babic on the subject of enabling. Coddling drug users is inviting wholesale drug-induced communities. Its the worst-possible approach to eliminating drug use.

We know that many of the troubled drug users are from broken families. Children who are loved and secure at home rarely go down that awful path. They sometimes do, but more often than not drug users come from broken homes, single-parent homes without dads, homes with absent or abusive mothers, or homes with an addict parent, where love and security can be missing. Good role models are often absent. To compensate, kids turn to peers who are also troubled. Drugs are part of that culture.

We need to listen to people like Lang and Babic, who have been there, and Dr. McPherson, who is working to help addicts recover.

We once had many institutions in this country that housed and helped those who suffered from mental health disorders and related ills like drug addiction. One such facility was the Brandon Mental Health Centre in Brandon, Manitoba. It was closed in 1999 as part of deinstitutionalization, when people were put out on the streets. Its true that asylums were not an ideal solution, but what is?

Institutions not only provided help, they protected the rest of society from many of those who are doing so much harm today. Lets stop enabling drug use. Its making the problem worse. And lets open more institutions equipped to cure addicts and keep them clean.

More intact and happy families would also help, as would a properly functioning economy. As soon as possible, governments need to lift their job-killing and life-damaging COVID-19 restrictions.

Brad Bird is an award-winning reporter and columnist based in B.C.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

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KABUL: Fighting in Afghanistan has escalated as over 90 militants and soldiers have been killed in the past 24 hours amid the stalled peace talks in Doha. In the latest wave of violent incidents, Taliban militants stormed a base of pro-government militiamen in Khanabad district, Kunduz province, on Friday, killing 16 fighters and injuring four others. In the fighting involving hundreds of Taliban militants and lasted for three hours, 10 armed insurgents were killed and five others injured, Xinhua news agency reported.

A statement issued later in the day by the Defence Ministry said that the government forces backed by fighting planes struck the militant group's hideouts and positions in Arghandab, Panjway and Dand districts of Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban.

The militant group also attacked a police checkpoint in Muqar district, Badghis province, on Friday and escaped after killing seven policemen, a local government official confirmed. Badghis Governor Hasamudin Shams has confirmed the incident by saying, "both sides suffered casualties".

The security forces killed 62 militants, while 23 others were injured, the Ministry said in the statement.

No meeting has been held between the Afghan Republic and the Taliban negotiators in Doha over the last 19 days after the peace talks resumed between the two sides on January 5 following a break.

The Afghan peace talks, which started on September 12, 2020, following the US-Taliban peace deal inked last February to end the war, has made little progress to achieve the goal.

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Syracuse, N.Y.  Pyramid Cos. founder Robert Congel had a well-earned reputation for being a demanding boss, requiring those who worked for him to be on hand at 6 a.m. daily -- often including weekends -- at the mall developers headquarters in downtown Syracuse.

But those who worked for Congel say he had a soft side that people from outside the company did not get to see.

Kim Bachstein remembers reporting at 6 a.m. when she worked for Pyramid as an executive assistant in 1990, the year Congel opened the Carousel Center, now known as Destiny USA.

At the time, I was in my early 20s, said Bachstein, who is now manager of the My Hot Tub store at Destiny USA. They were so good to me. Bob used to walk the halls every morning and speak to everyone by your name. Hello, Kimberly, how are you this morning? He went through the halls and said that to everyone. He acknowledged you. You were never just an employee.

Congel died Wednesday afternoon at the age of 85, surrounded by his family at his home in Manlius. He had been in failing health from Alzheimers disease for several years.

Congel founded Pyramid in 1968 with Michael J. Falcone, a former schoolmate at Christian Brothers Academy.

Falcone said the idea of forming the company was Congels. At the time, Congel was running a small contracting business installing sewer and water lines, and Falcone was building small grocery stores in Syracuses suburbs.

He calls me one day and said, Lets get together for lunch, come over to my house, he said. He proposed going into business. Thats how it started.

Over the next seven years, they built shopping plazas and small malls and eventually large malls. They also built warehouses and office buildings. Falcone said they had a good relationship, with Congel focusing on the construction side of the business while Falcone focused on arranging the deals and financing.

Even back then, Congel insisted on holding business meetings every day at 6:30 a.m., Falcone said.

That certainly wasnt my idea, I can tell you that, he said. He was used to getting up very early. He was at his best in the morning. I was at my best in the afternoon.

Falcone left Pyramid in 1975 to form his own development company, Pioneer Cos.

He wanted to stay purely in the shopping center business, and I wanted to get into everything, said Falcone. So I started building assisted living and other types of real estate.

Congel went on to grow Pyramid into the largest privately held mall development company in the Northeast, with 15 major shopping centers in New York and Massachusetts.

He opened the Carousel Center in a former scrap yard on the south shore of Onondaga Lake in 1990 and redeveloped nearby Franklin Square, a run-down former industrial neighborhood, into an attractive residential, retail and office center.

In 2012, he completed an 850,000-square-foot expansion of Carousel Center, an addition that made the center the largest mall in New York and sixth largest in the U.S.

Robert Congel talks about his plans to expand the Carousel Center into Destiny USA during a meeting at his Savannah Dhu conference center. John Berry | syracuse.com

Mike Lorenz served as chief executive officer of the mall expansion project from 2001 to 2008, a role that frequently required him to meet with Congel at 5:30 a.m.

Bob was as generous and gracious as he was tough minded, Lorenz said. He was a demanding person, but he never demanded more from you than he demanded of himself. He knew what it took to be successful. That was his objective.

Congel faced many obstacles to building the Carousel Center and then expanding it. Lorenz said Congel pressed forward and completed both projects not just to benefit Pyramid, but to improve his hometown.

He believed in trying to create a better Syracuse, he said. That was his motivation. It sounds kind of a bit non-business oriented to say Bob was an emotional guy. But Bob was really passionate, very emotional, and he loved Syracuse. He wanted it to be better and he wanted to showcase Upstate New York to people from all over the world.

Tom Young had just been elected mayor of Syracuse when Congel proposed building the Carousel Center and developing Franklin Square and the nearby Inner Harbor in 1986. Young said it took a year of intense and often difficult negotiations with Congel before they reached an agreement that gave the developer 15 years of property tax discounts on the mall in exchange for his commitment to transform the citys lakefront area.

Bob Congel was an acknowledged giant in his industry, Young said. He was a zealous proponent of his projects. He was a master in political navigation. And I can tell you first-hand, he was a very astute and aggressive negotiator.

Syracuse Mayor Tom Young, left, and Pyramid's Robert Congel look over a model of the developer's plans for the Carousel Center mall and the Oil City section of the city in 1988. Syracuse Post-Standard

Young said he took criticism from some quarters for not being tougher with Congel when negotiating the tax deal, but he said the goal was to turn the lakefront area into a commercial and residential attraction like Baltimores Inner Harbor. That transformation is still ongoing, particularly in regard to Syracuses Inner Harbor between Destiny USA and Franklin Square, but the lakefront area has been improved tremendously because of the deal, he said.

There was no other developer, locally or in the country, stepping forward to do what was being done, he said. If it wasnt for Bob Congel, thered be no Oil City development.

In 2005, Congel cut an even bigger tax deal with the city to expand the mall into the behemoth it is today. That deal was negotiated with Youngs successor, Roy Bernardi, and drew criticism from then-state Sen. John DeFrancisco, who thought the deal was far too generous.

Though the two fought a public battle over the deal, DeFrancisco said his meetings with the developer were always cordial.

I always expressed my point of view on the tax deal and other things to him directly and in public, he said. I dont agree with all the decisions that were made, but as far as a personal relationship, there was never anything that was any way other than professional.

17 Robert Congel, Pyramids founder who brought Destiny USA mall to Syracuse

Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148
Traffic was affected on key roads in the national capital on Friday as the Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikri borders continued to remain closed for traffic as a security measure in the wake of farmers agitation against the three contentious farm laws of the Centre.

PTI

The Delhi Traffic Police alerted motorists about the traffic-affected areas and suggested alternate routes.



Delhi: Personnel of Security Forces including that of Rapid Action Force deployed at Ghazipur border (Delhi-Uttar Pradesh).



Around 50,000 personnel of Delhi Police, Paramilitary & Reserve Forces have been deployed in Delhi-NCR region, as per Delhi Police. pic.twitter.com/PBZleWSQOY  ANI (@ANI) February 6, 2021





The news reports further stated that extra barricading has been installed at Delhi's critical points like Kalindi Kunj, Akshardham, Naraina and Narela due to which traffic jams were being reported on Friday. The cops feared that the sympathisers and supporters of the farmers may have tried to enforce the chakka jam within the city.



Reuters

Farmers from cities in Karnataka including Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Vijayapura, Belagavi, Mysuru, Kalaburagi staged protests against during the nationwide 'chakka jam' and blocked roads causing major traffic jams. The police took some agitators into custody and were later released, according to sources.

Similar scene were witnessed in many states across India, like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Telangana. Massive traffic snarls were reported and protesters were detained.

Telangana: Police removed the protesters who were agitating on a highway on the outskirts of Hyderabad as part of the countrywide 'chakka jaam' called by farmers today.#FarmLaws pic.twitter.com/kdWepxOeh3  ANI (@ANI) February 6, 2021





Kerala: Police use water cannon, teargas & grenade on Youth Congress workers demonstrating against backdoor appointment made by LDF government in Thiruvananthapuram pic.twitter.com/UZn6lt0UCm  ANI (@ANI) February 6, 2021





Punjab: Protesters block roads as part of 'Chakka Jaam' call given by farmers from 12 pm to 3 pm today; visuals from Golden Gate on Delhi-Amritsar National Highway in Amritsar #FarmLaws pic.twitter.com/X4pEN56Kct  ANI (@ANI) February 6, 2021





Farmers doing chakka jam near Bangalore airport toll gate #Bangalore #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/OLh3F1lsUC  Imran Khan (@keypadguerilla) February 6, 2021





Heavy traffic Jam in Greater Kailash Jammu. Its due to chakka Jam by farmers in Kunjwani. Please avoid these roads today. pic.twitter.com/ajqs3M5aPe  Rudhan Sharma (Dogra) (@Rudhans1) February 6, 2021

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at three Delhi border points -- Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur -- for over 70 days, demanding a complete repeal of three central farm laws.
Kayla McKeever, TY student at Scoil Mhuire, presenting a hamper and pen-pal gifts for residents to Ber O Leary, Director of Nursing at Kanturk Community Hospital

For the past number of years Transition Year students from Scoil Mhuire, Kanturk, have regularly visited residents at the local community hospital, sometimes for a sing song, a chat or to play cards with residents and staff.

Sadly, throughout 2020 and into this year, the COVID pandemic has curtailed these visits, visits that residents looked forward to so much.

However, Transition Year student Kayla McKeever, with her friend, Ciara, came up with a novel idea of connecting with the residents by setting up a pen-pal system.

"We heard that other schools around Ireland were doing this and we wanted to take part. Not many of these projects were happening in Cork, and we did not want the nursing-home residents in Cork to feel isolated and left out. We decided that it was the perfect opportunity to get our school year involved," Kayla told The Corkman.

"Due to the pandemic, Transition Year students in our school have had fewer opportunities to take part in projects or trips, so this was a great activity to get involved in. We pitched our idea to our teacher, Mr Crotty, who has been a great help and support throughout the whole project."

Glyntown Care Centre, Glanmire, was the first nursing home the group contacted, pairing students with the residents.

"Next we got in contact with Windmill House Care Centre in Churchtown, and they too decided it was a thoughtful idea and gave us a list of their residents who would write back and residents who were less likely to write back," explained Kayla.

"For the residents who weren't able to write a letter, we sent Christmas cards, and some students even sent presents. Finally, we invited Kanturk Hospital to take part in our project. In total, we managed to pair up over 35 residents with our TY classes," she said.

The benefits have been many for both the students and the recipients.

"We found that the residents created strong bonds with the students, and we hope that these will last for a long period of time. Our initial aim was to make the residents feel less isolated, and we feel like we achieved that," said Kayla.

"In doing so, we also enabled students to take part in a unique experience that many don't have anymore. We learned that everyone found it to be a very enjoyable and beneficial activity" Kayla added.

Speaking on behalf of staff and residents at Kanturk Community Hospital, director of nursing Ber O'Leary said that she was hugely grateful to the students for the positive engagement they provide to the residents.

"The pen-pal initiative they created has led to the development of many great friendships, the residents love receiving their letters and replying to them. We look forward to having the students back on site in the near future," she said.

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Six suspected cultists have been shot dead in a gun battle with the police at Oke Oyinbo township, along Market square, in Igbogila town, Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State, the police have said.

One of the alleged cultists was arrested by the Anti-Cultism department of the police and moved to the police headquarters in Abeokuta, a development which his gang thought was not favourable to them. As a result, the police said they mobilised and stormed the police station in the town to release him.

The police spokesperson in Ogun State, Abimbola Oyeyemi, who confirmed the incident on Saturday, said unknown to the alleged cultists, the member arrested had been moved to Abeokuta for further interrogation.

Mr Oyeyemi added that the alleged cultists, thereafter, launched a violent and bloody attack on the police station with various dangerous weapons and engaged the police in a gun duel.

Yes, one of their colleagues was arrested by anti-cultists squad and taken to the headquarters. The others thinking that the arrested one is being detained at Igbogila Division mobilised themselves and attacked the station with dangerous weapons such as gun, axes and cutlasses. The policemen on duty repelled them and some of them were fatally shot, Mr Oyeyemi said.

The police did not say if their own officers recorded any casualty during the shootout.

Protests

On Saturday, the youth in Igbogila took to the streets to protest their harassment and arrest by the police.

One of the protesters told a member of Ogun State House of Assembly, Adegoke Awoso, representing the constituency, that a power tussle had earlier brewed between the youth of two communities in Igbogila axis. He said the police came to arrest a member of one group, a move which they considered as unfair.

ALSO READ: Police arrest suspected cultists during initiation in Ogun

He said the police stormed Igbogila late night and whisked away one of them, adding that in the course of the arrest, the police mercilessly beat several innocent people. He said those arrested were manhandled by the officers, insisting that the youth in the community are not criminals as the police wanted the public to believe.

The protesters said they would not leave the major road leading to the town, in protest of the arrest. They said they were waiting for additional policemen to be deployed to the town to come and kill more of us.

It was gathered that the alleged cultists, in the course of the attack on the police station, made away with a pistol, which was later recovered through the intervention of the lawmaker. The pistol, as at the time of filing this report had been handed over to a police officer identified as Haruna Anthony.
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Progressive vision loss, and eventually blindness, are the hallmarks of juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (JNCL) or CLN3-Batten disease. New research shows how the mutation associated with the disease could potentially lead to degeneration of light sensing photoreceptor cells in the retina, and subsequent vision loss.

"The prominence and early onset of retinal degeneration in JNCL makes it likely that cellular processes that are compromised in JNCL are critical for health and function of the retina," said Ruchira Signh, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Center for Visual Science and lead author of the study which appears in the journal Communications Biology. "It is important to understand how vision loss is triggered in this disease, what is primary and what is secondary, and this will allow us to develop new therapeutic strategies."

Batten disease is caused by a mutation in the CLN3 gene, which is found on chromosome 16. Most children suffering from JNCL have a missing part in the gene which inhibits the production of certain proteins. Rapidly progressive vision loss can start in children as young as 4 and eventually develop learning and behavior problems, slow cognitive decline, seizures, and loss of motor control. Most patients with the disease die between the ages of 15 and 30.

It has been well established that vision loss in JNCL is due to degeneration of the light-sensing tissue in the retina. The vision loss associated with JNCL can precede other neurological symptoms by many years in some instances, which often leads to patients being misdiagnosed with other more common retinal degenerations. However, one of the barriers to studying vision loss in Batten disease is that mouse models of CLN3 gene mutation do not produce the retinal degeneration or vision loss found in humans. Additionally, examination of eye tissue after death reveals extensive degeneration of retinal cells which does not allow researchers to understand the precise mechanisms that lead to vision loss.

URMC is a hub for Batten disease research. The Medical Center is home to the University of Rochester Batten Center (URBC), one of the nation's premier centers dedicated to the study and treatment of this condition. The URBC is led by pediatric neurologist Jonathon Mink, M.D., Ph.D., who is a co-author of the study. Batten disease is also one of the key research projects that will be undertaken by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development-supported University of Rochester Intellectual and Development Diseases Research Center.

To study Batten disease in patient's own cells, the research team reengineered skin cells from patients and unaffected family members to create human-induced pluripotent stem cells. These cells, in turn, were used to create retinal cells which possessed the CLN3 mutation. Using this new human cell model of the disease, the new study shows for the first time that proper function of CLN3 is necessary for retinal pigment epithelium cell structure, the cell layer in the retina that nourishes light sensing photoreceptor cells in the retina and is critical for their survival and function and thereby vision.

Singh points out that understanding how RPE cell dysfunction contributes to photoreceptor cell loss in Batten disease is important first step, and it will enable researchers to target specific cell type in the eye using potential future gene therapies, cell transplantation, and drug-based interventions.

Explore further Gene therapy targets inner retina to combat blindness
Darren Iozia | Journal-Courier

Three people were taken Friday to Passavant Area Hospital after a two-vehicle collision at U.S. 67 and Bethel Lane. Chapin firefighters and rescue personnel were assisted by Jacksonville firefighters and Morgan County sheriffs deputies.
Hours after the Ministry of Home Affairs ordered the suspension of internet services at Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri borders of Delhi, where farmers have been protesting against the new farm laws, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the government to restore mobile internet in these areas.

According to NDTV, the petition filed by two advocates, Sanpreet Singh Ajmani and Pushpinder Singh, says snapping internet is a violation of fundamental rights.

The authorities had snapped internet at the protest sites to prevent trouble after a tractor rally by farmers on January 26 turned violent in Delhi. A man had died near ITO in central Delhi during the protest, reportedly in an accident. The petition, however, sought a judicial probe into the death, the report stated.

"Access to internet has been upheld as a part of fundamental right by the Supreme Court in the matter related to Jammu and Kashmir... By shutting the internet the government is trying to stop farmers and journalists from bringing the true picture before the nation," the petition said.

"Internet has been suspended around farmers' protest cites and only the government's narrative is getting brought forward, which is clear attack on fundamental rights... The entire Sikh community is blamed and defamed by some news channels, spreading hate against the community..." the petition said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs suspended internet services at Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri borders of Delhi till Saturday night in the wake of 'chakka jam'. Apart from the three sites, internet services will remain suspended in their adjoining areas too till 23:59 hours on February 6.

The decision was taken to 'maintain public safety and averting public emergency' under Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules 2017, a home ministry official said. The internet has been suspended in view of the 'chakka jam' (road blockade) call given by the farmers' unions for Saturday, another official said.

Earlier, the suspension of internet services was ordered at Singhu, Ghazipur, and Tikri borders and their adjoining areas from 11 PM on January 29 and was effective till 11 PM on January 31, which was further extended till February 2. On January 26, when large-scale violence was reported during the farmers' tractor rally, internet services were temporarily suspended in some parts of Delhi.
Chinese scientists have found a natural mutation in the African swine fever virus they say could be less deadly than the strain that ravaged the world's largest pig herd in 2018 and 2019.

The findings, published in the February edition of the Chinese Journal of Veterinary Science this week, come amid intense debate in the industry over the evolution of the disease for which there is no approved vaccine.

Reuters reported last month that at least two new strains of African swine fever had been found on Chinese pig farms, which appeared to be man-made.

The strains are causing a chronic form of African swine fever that is impacting production on sow farms, industry insiders have said.

The researchers at the Military Veterinary Institute in Changchun said there appeared to be a growing trend of lower mortality from African swine fever with more clinical symptoms that are not easy to detect and difficult to control.

Such characteristics have also been attributed to strains believed to have been made for use in illicit vaccines.

But the researchers said that with the prolonged period of swine fever circulating in China, natural variants would inevitably appear.

Less virulent variants have also been found in Latvia and Estonia in recent years.

The new strain, called HuB20, was isolated from pork sampled at a market in central Hubei province, said Hu Rongliang and colleagues at the institute under China's People's Liberation Army.

It had a partial deletion of the CD2v gene and an adjacent 8CR gene. Earlier research in Russia has suggested that deleting the two genes could protect against African swine fever.

The genes are different to those missing from virus isolates described previously to Reuters by industry participants.

"This variant does not contain any known marker genes, indicating that natural variants of ASFV are occurring in China and this may be related to the sub acute epidemic of ASF in the country," the authors wrote.

Hu and colleagues said work was underway to validate the virulence of the new strain.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.

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The former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria to reverse its policy directing Nigerian banks to close all cryptocurrencyrelated accounts and stop such transactions in the country.

He said this in a statement he issued on Saturday.

Mr Abubakar said the first challenge facing Nigeria is youth unemployment and that it is an emergency that needs urgent attention.

In fact, it is not a challenge, it is an emergency. It affects our economy, and is exacerbating insecurity in the nation, he said.

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Friday had directed banks in the country to close all cryptocurrency-related accounts.

The regulator prohibited all financial institutions from facilitating cryptocurrency payments in the country.

The apex bank said all Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFIs), and other financial institutions (OFIs)

should identify persons and entities transacting in, or, operating crypto currency exchanges within their systems, and close such accounts immediately.

Mr Abubakar, who was the Peoples Democratic Party candidate for the 2019 presidential election, said Nigeria needs to open, rather than close the economy now.

Especially after todays report by the National Bureau of Statistics indicated that foreign capital inflow into Nigeria is at a four year low, having plummeted from $23.9 billion in 2019, to just $9.68 billion in 2020, he said.

Mr Abubakar expressed worry that the nation had already suffered severe economic losses from the border closure, and the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world.

He said this is definitely the wrong time to introduce policies that will restrict the inflow of capital into Nigeria.

I urge that the policy to prohibit the dealing and transaction of cryptocurrencies be revisited, he added.

He explained that it is possible to regulate the sub sector and prevent any abuse that may be inimical to national security.

That may be a better option, than an outright shutdown, he said.

Mr Abubakar highlighted that there is already immense economic pressure on the Nigerian youth and that it must be the job of the government, therefore, to reduce that pressure, rather than adding to it.

We must create jobs in Nigeria. We must expand the economy. We must remove every impediment towards investments. We owe the Nigerian people that much, he concluded.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 7)  Cities so far inspected by the Interagency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) have more than satisfactory plans for vaccine handling and cold storage, the health chief said on Saturday.

IATF officials, through the so-called Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) Team Visit, have been making the rounds of cities and municipalities in Metro Manila ahead of the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines.

More than satisfactory, if not really close to excellent. The level of preparation reflects the commitment The evidence is there. Weve seen it, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III told a press briefing.

CODE Team visits that began last week so far covered Makati, Quezon City, Manila, Malabon, Caloocan, Valenzuela, Marikina, Mandaluyong, Pasay, Paranaque, Muntinlupa and Navotas. More visits are expected in the coming weeks.

In Navotas, Duque and IATF co-chair Karlo Nograles inaugurated a cold storage facility the city has set up within school grounds  in The Navotas Polytechnic College.

Universities and schools are shut amid quarantine rules that forbid children and minors from leaving their homes, so many classrooms across the nation have been turned either into quarantine facilities or evacuation centers.

Navotas has allocated 20 million in budget for its vaccine procurement. It has so far signed a tripartite deal for 100,000 doses of British vaccine AstraZeneca for delivery in the second half of the year.

Navotas health officials said on Saturday that it also made arrangements for the purchase of 10,000 doses of Moderna vaccine, and another 40,000 doses of Pfizer under COVAX, an alliance led by the World Health Organization to give poor nations access to the vaccine.

Already, the city has bought two ultra-low temperature freezers for the Pfizer vaccine given the vaccines required minus 70 degrees Celsius storage temperature. Those freezers can store up to 257,000 doses.

Two more freezers were allocated for the Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines that need to be stored at 2 degrees Celsius to 8 degrees Celsius.

City health officials said the target is to give 107,000 Navotenos a dose, including those working in the city. They have drawn up a master list of who gets the vaccine, while beefing up an information campaign to convince those in the roster to take it. A vial of Pfizer is good for three doses, so planners try to avoid wastage.

As long as we are assured there are no [duplications]. [If] they work in Navotas, we will provide the vaccine, said Christia Padolina, Navotas City Health Officer.

To achieve herd immunity, 70% of the population would have to be vaccinated.

The Health department said local government vaccination plans must be aligned with President Rodrigo Dutertes national immunization program.

But asked on the exact timetable for that national rollout, Duque said: We cannot control yet when exactly the vaccines are coming, we dont know what day, what time of the day, we dont know which flight number.

But we are already preparing the groundwork so that when it comes, we will just execute, the health chief added.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reacted to President Biden's statement regarding his foreign policy.

Joe Biden announced his foreign policy addressing the State Department on Thursday seeking to "repair" alliances "and engage with the world once again," further saying that "America is back." But Pompeo questioned his policy hoping that it would not be like Obama's, and that it would "look much more like our America first foreign policy", The Blaze reported.

"We will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again, not to meet yesterday's challenges, but today's and tomorrow's," Biden said.

"America is back. Diplomacy is back at the center of our foreign policy", he continued.

Biden stated that he would act to restore democracy in Myanmar, confront China with economic issues, extend the "New START Treaty" with Russia and stop the war in Yemen.

He said that in "accelerating global challenges," the country must begin "with diplomacy rooted in America's most cherished democratic values," believing that it is the nation's global power, "inexhaustible source of strength" and "abiding advantage."

"Investing in our diplomacy isn't something we do just because it's the right thing to do for the world. We do it in order to live in peace, security, and prosperity. We do it because it's in our own naked self-interest. When we strengthen our alliances, we amplify our power as well as our ability to disrupt threats before they can reach our shores," the statement also says.

Speaking to Trey Gowdy of Fox News Primetime, the former secretary of state reacted to Biden's foreign policy if being "back" means "back to when ISIS controlled a caliphate in Syria that was the size of Britain."

"I hope not. President Trump and our team took that down," he added.

Pompeo further stated that he is hoping Biden's statement would not mean letting China destroy millions of American jobs again like what happened to those living in some states He is also hoping that when it comes to alliances, being "back" wouldn't mean cutting ties with allies and friends like Israel and then supplying terrorists in Iran with funding.

"When he says "back," when America is back, does he mean back to letting China walk all over us, destroying millions of jobs in places like Kansas and South Carolina, that we know so well? I hope that's not what he means by back. He talked about allies, when he said go back, does he mean back to dissing allies and friends like Israel and treating the terrorists in Iran like friends by giving them $150 billion in pallets of cash?" he said

Moreover, Pompeo said that America cannot afford to bring back Obama's foreign policy, hoping that Biden's administration would move forward with a foreign policy that resembles the "America first foreign policy."

America First

The Trump administration made major changes to America's foreign policy. President Donald J. Trump's push for "America First" is proven by his actions during his first four years in office.

His policies resulted in promoting life, religious liberty, and self-governance among U.S. citizens, regardless of skin color and ethnicity. These also resulted in the defunding of Planned Parenthood in other countries.

His foreign policies also resulted in preventing wars with other nations via a historic peace deal between Israel and Sudan, as well as negotiations with North Korea's Kim Jong-un.
SPRINGFIELD  Doris Turner, a Springfield alderwoman, has been chosent to succeed former state Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, to represent the 48th Legislative District.

Manar resigned his state senate seat to take a senior advisors post with Gov. J.B. Pritzker. The 48th State Senate District stretches from the east side of Springfield to Decatur then heads south to include Christian and Montgomery counties and portions of Macoupin and northern Madison counties.

Last month the selection committee named eight finalists for his replacement, including Macoupin County Board Member Roberta Vojas. The 48th Legislative District Committee met Saturday to discuss the post and voted unanimously to appoint Turner to fill the remainder of Manars Illinois Senate term.

From the start, we wanted to make sure that this was an open and transparent process, said Committee Chair Pam Monetti, chair of the Macoupin County Democratic Party.

We wanted to make sure that the candidate we selected would share our values and commitment to our communities, Monetti said. We wanted to find someone who would be a bold fighter for the families in the 48th District. We know we found that in Doris Turner.

Turner was first elected to the Springfield City Council in April 2011 after 10 years on the Sangamon County Board. She recently retired from the state after 33 years, 22 of them with the Department of Public Health.

I am thankful to receive the support and appointment of the county chairs in the 48th District, Turner said. This is an honor of a lifetime and not something that I will take for granted.

We are facing a difficult road ahead as our state rebuilds from the devastation of COVID-19. The gravity of this will weigh on me every day as I work to get our kids back in school and our businesses reopen, she said. From Bunker Hill to Decatur and everywhere in between, its time to roll up our sleeves and get to work.

Turner was the first African American to chair the Sangamon County Democratic Party and the first African American to be elected to the executive board of the Illinois County Chairmens Association. She is a member of Grace United Methodist Church and worships regularly at Greater All Nations Tabernacle Church of God in Christ.

She is a past member of the Springfield/Sangamon County Health Initiative Board of Directors, Springfield/Sangamon County Regional Planning Commission, and Voices for Illinois Children Springfield Leadership Team. She is a current member of the Memorial Medical Center Parent University Newsletter Editorial Board, Springfield/Sangamon County Minority Health Coalition, Lincolnland Community College Eastside Advisory Board, Springfield Chamber of Commerce Q5 Initiative Diversity Council and a founding board member of the Southern Illinois University Federally Qualified Health Center.

A lifelong resident of Springfield, she and her husband, Cecil, have three children and nine grandchildren. She can be contacted at 217-202-8095 or cdt2100@aol.com.
Myanmars military leaders are extending their internet restrictions in a bid to limit protests against their coup. According to BBC News, NetBlocks has discovered that Myanmar instituted a near-total internet shutdown in the country a of the morning of February 6th. Connectivity was just 16 percent of normal levels, NetBlocks said. Residents had been using VPNs to get around earlier content bans, but the blackout rules them out for most people.

The shutdown followed mere hours after Myanmar blocked Instagram and Twitter, widening a ban that previously targeted Facebook. The Ministry of Information claimed on February 2nd that users had been using social networks to incite rowdiness.

Its not certain if or when the military regime will lift restrictions. Thats unlikely in the near future, though, as large-scale protests are continuing despite the new measures.

Unfortunately, Myanmar is using a familiar strategy. Like Iran, Egypt and a handful of other countries have tried in the past, the countrys military is clearly betting that internet disruptions will prevent protesters from mobilizing or documenting events. As weve seen in the past, though, determined pro-democracy advocates will often find technological workarounds or protest regardless  if anything, shutdowns might galvanize resistance.
Egypt will produce new coins featuring a design of medical workers to pay homage to Egypts white army that have been on the frontlines in the fight against the coronavirus, Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said on Friday.

The move is in appreciation of "their courageous efforts to save the lives of thousands of people," he added.

Egypt's president and authorities have repeatedly hailed the role of doctors and nurses amid the pandemic. As the vaccination campaign started in the country last month, medical workers at quarantine hospitals have been the first to receive the vaccine.

Egypt will produce 15 million coins with the new design, including 10 million EGP 1 coins and 5 million PT 50 coins, Maait said in a cabinet statement.

The ministry wants to develop national awareness of the symbols of human giving who have enriched our lives with their heroic stances and valuable sacrifices, Maait added.

The minister pointed out to the governments decisions taken to raise medical workers salaries, including raising monthly allowances granted to around 600,000 doctors and other medical staff at the cost of EGP 2.25 billion.

The raise includes physicians, dentists, pharmacists, veterinarians, physiotherapists, nursing staff, chemists, physicists, and medical technicians.

The decision, announced in March 2020, raises monthly allowances for medical workers from a range of EGP 400-700 to a range of EGP 700-1,225.

In addition, a presidential decree ordered the creation of a risk fund for medical staff.

The state also decided in April to raise the monthly bonus of intern doctors who work in university and Al-Azhar hospitals from EGP 400 to EGP 700 to receive EGP 2,200 per month.

Short link:


New Delhi: The supremely talented and dedicated Nora Fatehi shot in the scorching heat of Rajasthan summers with heavy lehengas and burning fire for the latest chartbuster 'Chhor Denge'.

Creating an uproar across social media with her latest song 'Chhor Denge', Nora Fatehi is basking in the glory of the successful chartbuster. Imbibing the cultural essence of Rajasthan in her avatar, Nora Fatehi aced the Indian dance and persona for the song.

Shot across Rajasthan, 'Chhor Denge' features Nora Fatehi dressed in the heavy lehengas with antique jewellery in the burning heat of summers amidst the desserts. Adding to the atrocities, Nora Fatehi shot surrounded by fire for the sequences, exhibiting her sheer dedication for the craft.

Revealing details of the shoot, a source close to the project shared, "It was broiling in the desserts as it was the summers of Rajasthan, while it was difficult to normally function around, Nora was shooting in heavy lehengas with flaming fire around. The entire crew was stunned by her dedication as she completed each sequence with sheer focus without any breaks or distractions."
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Armenia ex-minister of emergency situations hospitalized with heart attack

Mher Grigoryan: Clarification of border points is possible only after withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from Armenia

Suspicious deal: Whether there was profit from buying DNA IDs?

Armenia ex-president says current authorities are trying to blame Russia for defeat in war

4 people killed in Afghanistani bus attack

Robert Kocharyan: This war could not have happened, it was a consequence of the policy of the authorities

Kocharyan: I have to ask people how it happened that overwhelming majority elected this leader

Armen Gevorgyan presents 'Armenia' bloc program: We offer the concept of a working country

Biden's administration proposed to leave unchanged amount of financial support to Armenia

US Embassy in Baku calls on Azerbaijan to immediately release Armenian POWs

Luxembourg MFA calls on Azerbaijan to immediately release all Armenian prisoners

Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions

Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US

Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions

Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes

Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus

Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function

Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him

We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel

Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment

Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops

There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission

Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two

Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh

Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions

Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter

Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval

"Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced

42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship

US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities

China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says

15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia

Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision

Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh

California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body

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EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation

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Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest

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Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow

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We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan

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(Natural News) The Centers for Disease Control and the Department of Health and Human Services are now taking full control of Americans private medical decisions and suspending the civil liberties of all American travelers coming to/from the United States, including all domestic travelers moving in between the states. These agencies are now enforcing 42 U.S. Code  264, titled: Regulations to Control Communicable Diseases. The Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Surgeon General are now threatening all American travelers to wear masks over their mouth and nose, and commanding all federal employees to enforce this emergency order. In the order, any travelers may be ordered to remove their masks if the government needs to scan their face to comply with facial recognition software, security identification, or other law enforcement demands.

Government claims bodily ownership over Americans, can order travelers to put on masks or remove masks

The mask order explicitly states that the requirement to wear a mask shall not apply under the following circumstances: when its necessary to remove the mask to verify ones identity such as during Transportation Security Administration screening or when asked to do so by the ticket agent, gate agent, or any law enforcement official. Of course, taking off your mask when youre told to do so, is also about your safety.

The mask order demands that all transportation hub operators and employees deny entry for anyone who refuses to comply with mask orders. The non-compliant person is to be reprimanded that they are violating Federal law for refusing to wear a mask or take it off when told to do so. Additionally, anyone who does not comply to the masking and unmasking orders during transit is to be removed from the premises at the earliest opportunity.

This U.S. Code also grants health authorities and TSA officials complete dominion over peoples lives, circumventing all state and local civil protections for people with religious, philosophical, or medical exemptions to mask wearing.

Government violating its own U.S. Code by treating everyone as a source of infection, with no probable cause or evidence

Even worse, if a traveler is suspected of being in a qualifying stage of communicable disease, then he/she can be detained and/or quarantined under this U.S. Code. With the mask mandate, the CDC and the federal government are superseding the due process rights of Americans, and treating everyone as if they are, by default, a source of infection. U.S. health authorities have taken their authority to extreme measures, declaring every traveler to be in a pre-communicable stage  with no probable cause or evidence to justify their order, whatsoever. Even worse, health authorities are using fraudulent, high-cycle PCR tests to falsely label and isolate people with a communicable disease they do not actually possess.

Regulations prescribed under this section may provide for the apprehension and examination of any individual reasonably believed to be infected with a communicable disease in a qualifying stage and (A) to be moving or about to move from a State to another State; or (B) to be a probable source of infection to individuals who, while infected with such disease in a qualifying stage, will be moving from a State to another State. Such regulations may provide that if upon examination any such individual is found to be infected, he may be detained for such time and in such manner as may be reasonably necessary.

A qualifying stage, of communicable disease, as written in the U.S. Code, is vague. This overzealous prognosis can be initiated by easily-frightened, scientifically-illiterate federal employees who believe they have authority to claim that a suspected individual is in a precommunicable stage of infectious disease  whereas the disease would likely cause a public health emergency if transmitted to other individuals. Public health authorities can now claim dominion over anyone if they believe a person is asymptomatic  a determination that has been debunked by the World Health Organization themselves, as the issue of false positives continues to be leveraged to commit medical fraud and medical tyranny over the lives of healthy Americans. As the medical tyranny continues, healthy Americans will be subjected to the new surveillance system, continually being rolled out. The mask suddenly is not important to public health when the public health dictators are interested in one thing: making people obey their faux authority.

Sources include:

BlackListedNews.com

Law.Cornell.edu

CDC.gov [PDF]

Pandemic.News

NewsTarget.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
Federal investigators have arrested two more Pennsylvania residents in the Jan. 6 insurrectionist riot at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. That brings the total number of Pennsylvanians charged to at least nine.

The latest arrests include that of Zachary Alam, who was taken into custody Jan. 20 in Denver, Lancaster County. He allegedly was seen on video smashing a window just before a woman was fatally shot, pennlive.com reports.

In addition, Rachel Marie Powell was taken into custody Thursday night in New Castle, about 30 miles from her home in Sandy Lake, said Margaret Philbin, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney in Pittsburgh, The Associated Press reports.

Powell is accused of helping to storm the Capitol, with federal authorities saying she is the pink-hatted person shown in video directing others through a bullhorn about how to gain further control of the building, authorities said Friday.

Zachary Alam

Charging documents state that Alam was spotted in video footage at multiple stages during the riot inside the Capitol, including a video of him smashing the window into the Speakers Lobby just before Ashli Babbitt was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer as she tried to climb through one of the shattered windows.

As FBI agents scoured video footage, the man they identified as Alam is first seen in a fur-lined hat with ear flaps, climbing through the window of the Senate Wing around 2:17 p.m.

He and a large crowd forced their way past Capitol Police, making their way further into the building, authorities say, noting he appeared to be agitated as he got close to a Capitol Police officer near the East Stairs.

Several videos also purport to show Alam among the group that was trying to breach the barricaded door into the Speakers Lobby, guarded by three Capitol Police officers as more officers approached to guard it from the other side.

Video screenshots attached to federal charging documents are purported to show Pennsylvania resident Zachary Alam in a fur-lined hat with ear flaps as he smashed a window to the Speaker's Lobby during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrectionist riot at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.Courtesy photos | For lehighvalleylive.com

A video showed Alam punching the glass door panels behind the officers, splintering the glass and pushing his body up against one of the officers, authorities said. The FBI says Alam was among those shouting (expletive) the blue at the officers.

Court documents state during the chaos, Alam grabbed a black helmet from another member of the crowd as he began smashing the middle glass panel, shattering the window to chants of Break it down. After he broke the glass, Babbitt was shot trying to climb through one of the shattered windows, court records state.

Days later, with the investigation underway, the FBI received an anonymous tip providing Alams name, phone number, email address and other identifying information.

Agents watched his YouTube Channel, saw his Facebook page and matched the images with his drivers license, they say.

On Jan. 19, a relative of Alams reached out to the FBI, saying they were the anonymous tipster, and they provided a phone number from which the relative had been in contact with Alam, court records state.

That relative was shown images from the videos at the Capitol and identified Alam. While the relative did not know where Alam was, they told the FBI Alam called them and said he was sorry for what he had done at the U.S. Capitol, but he was not going to turn himself in because he did not want to go to jail again, court records state.

Alam is now facing charges of assault on a federal officer with a dangerous or deadly weapon, destruction of government property, obstruction of an official proceeding, unlawful entry on restricted building or grounds and violent entry and disorderly conduct.

Rachel Marie Powell

Prosecutors have asked that Powell remain in custody, asserting she might otherwise flee.

Her lawyer, Michael Engle, of Philadelphia, said Powell turned herself in once she knew charges were pending against her. She wanted to turn herself in to face these charges and address them head-on, Engle said.

An FBI agents affidavit on a warrant issued Wednesday said that after a group inside a Capitol room stated they needed a plan, Powell told them that they should coordinate together if you are going to take this building. She also notes that they have another window to break.

She is also accused of using a large pipe to break a Capitol window.

The warrant lists charges of violent entry or disorderly conduct, obstruction, depredation of government property, entering a restricted building and being in that building with a dangerous weapon.

Powell, 40, a mother of eight children, stopped short of confirming to The New Yorker magazine this week that she had bashed in a window.

Others:

Ryan Samsel

Bucks County man charged with officer assault at U.S. Capitol

Dawn Bancroft and Diana Santos-Smith

Pa. woman charged in Capitol riot allegedly said she wanted to shoot Nancy Pelosi in the friggin brain: report

Riley June Williams

Judge: Riley Williams, Harrisburg woman accused of stealing Nancy Pelosis laptop, must stay off internet

Craig Bingert

Lehigh Valley man part of group that pushed barricade into cops to try and get into Capitol, feds say

Robert Sanford

Pa. man accused of throwing fire extinguisher at Capitol police being held in Lehigh County Jail

Andrew Wrigley

I went inside the capitol building and got teargassed: Pa. mans Facebook posts lead to arrest, feds say

Pennlive.com, The Associated Press and Lehigh Valley Lives Kurt Bresswein contributed to this report. Reach him at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
Calcata, in north Lazio, is a bohemian haven whose residents hark back to a more beautiful era.

Less than an hour north of Rome lies Calcata, a mediaeval village clinging to a volcanic cliff surging out of the mists of the densely-wooded Treja valley. With its rugged tufa walls and steep pathways, entering this mystical, car-free hamlet is like stepping back in time or falling into a dream where Woodstock meets Hansel and Gretel.

Stuff of fairytales

Calcatas story is indeed the stuff of fairytales. Its history dates back almost 3,000 years and the presence of humans in the area can be traced to prehistoric times. However in the 1930s Calcatas story very nearly came to a shuddering halt. The Fascist-era government condemned the craggy village due to fears that its foundations were subsiding, and by the 1960s the inhabitants had either relocated to the newly-built Calcata Nuova nearby or moved south to Rome.

In the 1970s the old village received a new lease of life when Italian and international artists and hippies began squatting in Calcatas abandoned houses and caves. They later bought and restored their homes, opened art galleries and cafes, and rescued an ancient village from being consigned to the cobwebs of history. The romantic tale was complete when the new residents succeeded in convincing the Italian authorities to reverse their decision condemning the village.

Although only about 40 km from the hustle and bustle of the capital, Calcata feels light-years away. Those arriving by car will have to leave their vehicles outside the fortified gates of the 13thcentury Palazzo Baronale  the villages only access to the outside world and once inside it is impossible to withdraw cash from a bank machine or even send a postcard, and forget about relying on mobile phones.

The centre of the action is the main square which is at times a market, a playground, a concert arena, a meeting place, an open-air wine bar. The rambling alleys of the village centre are festooned with artisanal shops selling art work, jewellery, antiquities and the kind of essential retro-vintage items associated with the beautiful people.

One of the villages many artists is Caterina Satta, who has lived and worked in Calcata for three decades. She says the number of residents has gone up and down over the years but now there are about 60  one of whom is Belgian, one Spanish, one Dutch, and two English. Many people come here from Rome on day trips or stay for the weekend, but on weekdays and during the summer the village is often empty.

Calcata's artists

Some of Calcatas best known longterm residents include Paolo Portoghesi  the distinguished architect who designed the mosque in the Parioli district of Rome and more recently oversaw the restyling of the capitals Piazza S. Silvestro  and the painter and ceramicist Simona Weller, whose work has featured on a Wanted in Rome cover. In recent years Portoghesi and Weller held a joint exhibition dedicated to Calcata in Palazzo Baronale, which acts as a visitor centre and whose recent restoration was supervised by Portoghesi. A gallery of Wellers latest works is located in the middle of the village and is open to visitors.

Throughout the year, cultural association Il Granarone coordinates much of Calcatas artistic activity, holding concerts, jam sessions, theatre and art exhibitions at its base on the evocative sounding Via di Porta Segreta. The organisations founder is Marijcke van der Maden from Holland, who is celebrated for her marionette puppets. For more than 30 years van der Maden has presented the village with its own personalised nativity scene, displayed at Il Granarone each Christmas. All the statues are handmade and represent the real people of Calcata. Every year I make a new person and I never tell who it will be, she says.

Most visitors get their photographs taken in the main square, sitting in the three over-sized Etruscan-style thrones, the work of local sculptor Costantino Morosin. In 1996 Morosin and Anne Demijttenaere, a Belgian actress and painter, founded Opera Bosco, the Museum of Art in Nature. Spread out over two acres in the forests below Calcata, this open-air museum is filled with organic sculptures and art installations and has a soundtrack of streams, birdsong and croaking frogs.

A tea drinkers paradise can be found at La Sala dei 201 The  which boasts over 200 types of tea  while Caffe Kafir, whose Italian owner starred in 1970s B-movies of the erotic variety, is the most eccentric coffee shop most people are likely to visit anywhere.

Meanwhile the rock nroll-themed bar Rockcaffe, just off the central piazza, has a glorious secret. Enquire about sitting outside and youll be directed to a tiny private balcony, with a table for four and a breath-taking view of the woods 150m below.

By Andy Devane

This article was originally published in the October 2013 edition of Wanted in Rome magazine.

Where to stay in Calcata:

I Sensi della Terra, Via S. Giovanni 1, tel. 0761587733, www.isensidellaterra.it, rooms and apartments forrent throughout village.

Gisa, apartments in historic centre, tel. 0761587989, gisa.federici@libero.it.

Where to eat in Calcata:

La Piazzetta, Via S. Giovanni 47, tel. 0761588078, honest-to-goodness fare including hand-made pasta, polenta and sausages. Booking advised.

Il Tugurio, Via Sinibaldi 7, tel. 0761587388, cosy restaurant serving local specialities, open Sat, Sun only.

How to get to Calcata:

The easiest way to reach Calcata is by car. From Rome, take the Cassia bis(SS2); exit at Settevene and follow the signs for Calcata. Alternatively take a 20-minute journey on the light-rail train service from Via Flaminia in Rome to Saxa Rubra, then hop aboard one of the blue Cotral buses (www.cotralspa.it) to Calcata Vecchia. Buses leave regularly, and the trip takes a little over an hour.

Things to do in Calcata:

Simona Weller gallery, Via Garibaldi 4, generally open 11.00-13.00, 16.30-19.00. To visit after hours or to confirm the artists presence, tel. 0761587239.

Palazzo Baronale visitor centre Mon-Fri 09.00-17.00, Sat 15.00-19.00, Sun 11.00-19.00.

Bring suitable walking gear when visiting the stunning Monte Gelato waterfalls in Parco de Treja, a few km outside Calcata, near Mazzano Romano. Open all year round and particularly beautiful in autumn and spring.
Enjoying more free time while working from home? Maybe not. New research conducted during the pandemic shows that home-working employees in the United Kingdom, Austria, Canada and the United States are putting in more hours than before.

Home working has led to a 2.5-hour increase in the average working day in those countries, said NordVPN Teams, a New York-based company that provides virtual private networks (VPNs) to businesses.

The United Kingdom and the Netherlands stand out, with employees "working until 8pm, regularly logging off later than usual to wrap up an extended working day," it added.

However, employees in Denmark, Belgium and Spain initially recorded a spike in working hours but have since returned to their pre-pandemic timetable, NordVPN Teams said in a statement.

NordVPN Teams, which works with more than 10,000 companies, looked at the amount of data being sent via servers to calculate employees' working hours.

The company recorded "no significant drop of business VPN usage at lunch time indicating potential short lunch breaks while working remotely," it added.

It also noticed a 41% increase in business VPN server traffic on Thanksgiving compared with the average weekend, which the company says "suggests that people are spending their family time working."

While server data can't distinguish between work and personal use, NordVPN said it was confident its research reflects longer working hours.

"Technically, somebody could perform personal tasks while logged into their business VPN, but we find employees usually treat work resources carefully and more often than not use them appropriately," Auste Valikonyte, a spokeswoman for the company, told CNN.

"There are personal VPNs on the market which are typically used for personal purposes."

Separate research from Wildgoose, a firm that offers virtual team-building experiences for businesses, found that 55% of UK employees say they have been expected to work outside their regular hours while working from home, and 74% have suffered fatigue, stress or burnout during the pandemic.

Wildgoose spoke to employees from 133 UK companies and found 44% said their workload had increased while working from home, and 31% reported an impact on their mental health, such as feeling depressed, anxious or exhausted since shifting to home working during the pandemic.

"While we've all grown used to home working as the pandemic has continued, it continues to present huge challenges in maintaining the right work/life balance," Wildgoose managing director Jonny Edser said in a statement.

"With increased workloads and a worrying trend of working through sickness, people's jobs are becoming ever more blurred with their home lives at a time when it's crucial the two remain distinct from each other."
BAY CITY, MI - Bay City residents are warned to be aware of a scam call that says residents utilities are being shut off immediately.

The city of Bay City issued a notice on Friday, Feb. 5 that city utility customers are receiving scam calls that tell them that their utility service will be shut off within 35 minutes if their bill is not paid.

According to the city, utility customer service representatives were notified about the scam calls. The citys utility customer service collection staff may send a recorded autodialer phone message or make a courtesy call if necessary but the city stated that it does dont ask for payment over the phone or give a specific time for a shutoff.

Questions regarding a utility account may be directed to 989-894-8104.

At this time, Bay City Hall is closed to the public until Feb. 21 in keeping with the recently extended Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Epidemic Order, with a scheduled reopening now set for Feb. 22.

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This year marks 60 years since Holly Golightly stepped on to Fifth Avenue in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) in her iconic LBD with its pearl back. It's a two-hour treat and I always pull my chair closer to the screen for a better view of Hubert de Givenchy's costumes, especially those awesome funnel-neck coats.

I don't even notice Grace Kelly's voice anymore when watching High Society (1956). All I see are those achingly gorgeous costumes, designed by MGM's Helen Rose, who went on to design Kelly's wedding dress. Favourite fashion moments are when Kelly slips out of a Grecian robe to reveal a white halterneck bathing suit and, later, when she dances with Frank Sinatra in swirling layers of embellished grey and pink chiffon, a dress which now lives in the Museum of Style Icons in Newbridge, Co Kildare.

My guilty pleasure is watching Chinatown (1974), the detective noir set in 1930s LA, just to ogle Faye Dunaway's lean silhouettes and fabulous accessories, designed by Anthea Sylbert. If you like tailoring, fedoras, veiled hats, finger-wave hair and barely-there eyebrows, you'll be in seventh heaven.

Faye also pops up in The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), worth watching for her '60s chic and Steve McQueen's slick three-piece suits and his blue-lens Persol sunnies. The incredibly talented costume designer, Theodora Van Runkle, was also responsible for Faye's 1930s gun moll outfits in Bonnie and Clyde (1967), starring a very debonair Warren Beatty. I love My Fair Lady (1964) for its spectacular monochrome, Belle de Jour (1967) for Catherine Deneuve's chic Yves Saint Laurent wardrobe, and A Single Man (2009) for Colin Firth's 1960s brown suits and Julianne Moore's fab monochrome dress with the Watteau back.

I asked a few well-known fashion aficionados to share their own film favourites...

1. Robert O'Byrne

Author and fashion historian

During the Depression years of the 1930s, fashion became an important part of film, as it offered a means of escape for audiences. You can really see this in one of my favourites from the period, The Women (1939), directed by George Cukor.

This has an all-female cast, with all of them dressed by perhaps Hollywood's greatest costume designer of the time, Adrian [Adolph Greenburg].

The line-up is incredible - Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Paulette Goddard, Joan Fontaine, Rosalind Russell - but so are the clothes and the terrific hats. Best of all, in the middle of this black-and-white film, there's a full six-minute colour fashion show.

Also, long before Pippa Middleton was declared Rear of the Year for the McQueen dress she wore at her sister Kate's wedding to Prince William 10 years ago, another woman caused an equal sensation in a similarly seductive number: look out for Jean Harlow in Dinner at Eight (1933), also designed by Adrian and directed by Cukor.

2. Lorna Mugan

Costume designer (Normal People, Peaky Blinders)

I love the slow cascade of Grace Kelly on to the screen in Rear Window (1954), from close-up to full reveal, in the magnificent monochromatic, ballerina-style dress.

It's straight off the Paris plane and she tantalises us. I read that Hitchcock had wanted her to look untouchable, like a piece of Dresden china. Each of the striking ensembles that follow have exquisite fold-and-stitch details. Even the risque negligee is an evening gown. So many chic silhouettes evolved in the 1950s that constantly inspire me, with Kelly being the epitome of elegance.

Another fashion favourite is In the Mood for Love (2000), set in 1960s Hong Kong. It's intoxicating and poetic, in a series of mesmerising, sculpted floral cheongsams worn by Maggie Cheung. Each dress is a reflection of shifting moods, with colours and patterns echoed in the set. Even the haunting score is delicious.

3. Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh

Costume designer (Brideshead Revisited, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, Breakfast on Pluto)

The first film that made me sit up in my seat was Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) by Pedro Almodovar. His female characters, both young and old, are vibrant and feminine, yet boldly liberated, and their exuberance is mirrored in how they dress. I love everything he does.

I have watched Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot (1959) a million times and I will never tire of it. Everyone, including the costume designer, is at the top of their game. Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon just bounce off each other. The costumes are breathtaking but fun, and the cross-dressing is something to behold.

I will also sit down and watch any film designed by costume designer Sandy Powell. She works with many great independent filmmakers and chooses projects based on the merit of the script and the people involved, and not the budget.

4. Richard Malone

Award-winning fashion designer

I absolutely adore Funny Girl (1968), starring Barbra Streisand. It was her first movie role, and the first one for which she won an Oscar. Look out for the big-budget costumes by Irene Sharaff, especially the changes as Fanny Brice moves from being a shopworker's daughter in Brooklyn to Ziegfeld Follies megastar. The closing scene is one of the best of all time.

Secondly, and more recent, I'd have to direct you to Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) from director Celine Sciamma. It's set on an isolated island in France with an all-female cast. The costumes (by Dorothee Guiraud) are incredible against the stark backdrop of the empty house and surroundings, and there's none of the faff we come to expect from period dramas. An incredibly modern queer romance that is uplifting and bold.

Also watch And Then We Danced (2019) by Levan Akin for the beautiful, traditional Georgian costumes and especially the dance scene by Levan Gelbakhiani. The iconic feather hat and dance to Robyn's Honey is astounding and uplifting.

5. Peter O'Brien

Couturier, theatre and film costume designer & lecturer

Auntie Mame (1958) is a perfect lockdown movie: funny, glamorous and boasting terrific performances from Rosalind Russell as Mame and the glorious Coral Browne as her best pal, Vera Charles. Directed by Morton DaCosta, with costumes by Orry-Kelly, it's an utter joy of a movie with tons of frocks.

The sexual politics in The Women (1939) are definitely of the period. The film is a hoot and the costumes by Adrian are wonderful and witty. He almost broke the studio with his extravagant costuming for Marie Antoinette (1938). Directed by George Cukor, this movie is really fabulous.

In my opinion, Piero Tosi was the greatest costume designer in the last 60 years. Death in Venice (1971), directed by Luchino Visconti, is an exquisite film and Tosi's costumes, particularly those of Silvana Mangano, are breathtaking.

Gigi (1958) was directed by Vincente Minnelli, with costumes by Cecil Beaton. I think Beaton's work in Gigi is gorgeous to look at and almost more interesting than his legendary work on My Fair Lady.

6. James Seaver

Head of costume, Gate Theatre, Dublin

I love Nocturnal Animals (2016), Tom Ford's unrivalled masterpiece. The beautiful Amy Adams obtained the status of sex symbol while wearing a crisp white blouse, black leather pencil skirt, three-tone fur coat and skin-tight leather knee-high boots, all of which ooze Ford's militant glamour. Costume designer Arianne Phillips' use of fashion and colour to dictate the mood of the scene is pure art.

Needless to say, because of my job, when I watch a film, I'm really watching the fashion, which means I can go to see a movie a few times.

Another film I adored for the fashion is Mary Queen of Scots (2018), which has so many beautiful moments of historic fashion being interpreted through the modern eye of the costume designer, Oscar-winning Alexandra Byrne. Her knowledge of the Elizabethan period is made highly contemporary by her use of modern fabrics like denim. This, to me, would in any other world be blasphemous, yet the cut of the garments, especially on Saoirse Ronan, is just wonderfully sumptuous.

7. Catherine Condell

Fashion Stylist

Diane Keaton's androgynous outfit of bowler hat, waistcoat, shirt, tie and slouchy khaki trousers in Annie Hall (1977; costume design by Ruth Morley) had such an impact on me. I adored it, and I had to get myself an oversized straw bag just like hers!

I have a real love of movies and many of them have hugely influenced my styling work. The costume designers I've chosen are such masters in their field, with their immeasurable knowledge and perfect attention to detail across all eras.

I saw Out of Africa (1985; costume design by Milena Canonero) three times in a few weeks and even took notes! Meryl Streep's linen safari outfits, more formal suits and bucket hats were mesmerising.

I think Sandy Powell is an utter genius. The muted Victorian colours and fabrics in Gangs of New York (2002) are completely in line with the amazing sets. Cameron Diaz's vaguely Oriental kimono with corset and bustled skirt is a favourite of mine, and Daniel Day-Lewis' exaggerated stovepipe hat is rather fab.

8. Victoria Smurfit

Actress and fashion lover

When it comes to memorable fashion in film, I nominate Patricia Norris for Scarface (1983).

The elegance, sex appeal and sheer gangster of all the costumes told us everything about their world. Michelle Pfeiffer's innocence and captive sexuality, and Al Pacino's wide lapels and cut suits, while deeply embedded in the mob world, were a great juxtaposition. Crisp, white suits that contrasted with the bloody mess of the environment were powerful. And who can forget the Hawaiian shirts? To be clad in jaunty colours, open to the navel, while swinging a gun keeps your eye confused.

The costumes brought a lightness and incongruous levity to the seriousness of the world they were living in, which made the level of violence you were witnessing almost palatable. Such an odd thought that we can justify the actions of a beautifully dressed person more than one in a grubby hoodie. What does that say about us? Nothing good! But Patricia made it possible.

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Here what to do in Ocean City on rainy days

Even on rainy days Ocean City has a host of indoor activities  like shopping, movie theaters, wineries and breweries  to entertain.
BAY CITY, MI  A North Dakota man who sold and gave away marijuana from Bay County businesses without state-required licenses has been court-ordered to pay fines but is otherwise in the clear.

Bay County Circuit Judge Harry P. Gill in December sentenced Eric F. Owens, 46, to two days in jail with credit for two days already served. Gill ordered Owens to pay a fine of $1,500, plus $85 in restitution to the Bay Area Narcotics Enforcement Team, or BAYANET.

Gill did not order Owens to serve any probation time. Records also indicate Owens intended to return to North Dakota.

Owens had previously pleaded guilty to one count of delivering or manufacturing a controlled substance, a four-year felony.

Owens case began in November 2019 when the Michigan State Police Marijuana and Tobacco Investigation Section in November received tips that Owens business, Deeply Content, was advertising free alcohol and marijuana to patrons. At the time, Deeply Content was located at 707 Washington Ave. in downtown Bay City. The business was described on its website as selling premium cannabis smoking supplies and apparel.

There is no apparent record of MRA licensing, LCC licensing, or Michigan Department of Treasury tax identification or city business licensing being issued for the store, troopers wrote in their reports, contained in court files.

An investigator visited Deeply Content in mid-January 2020 and was told by staff that a purchase of paraphernalia comes with a free gift of pot, the reports state. The investigator returned about a month later and bought a grinder for $68.90, receiving a complimentary  ounce of pot, reports state. The same grinder was available on Amazon for about $20, the trooper noted.

The reports also state that an employee of the store told the undercover trooper that the business was not licensed to sell marijuana, the reports state.

In early March, undercover troopers returned to Deeply Content and bought a silicone smoking pipe for $37.10, receiving a complimentary 1/8 ounce of marijuana, the police reports state. Owens was present at the time, reports state.

In neither visit were troopers asked for identification for their purchases, their reports state.

Deeply Content closed its Bay City location in March 2020 and thereafter reopened in a strip mall within 808 N. Euclid Ave. in Bangor Township. Troopers surveilled the site and saw Owens on one occasion place a garbage bag in a Dumpster, the reports state. Troopers pulled the trash bag and allege they found $21 in cash and a paper bag bearing the logo of PUFF Cannabis Company, a legal marijuana dispensary in Bay City.

Troopers also observed Owens seemingly living on a boat in Liberty Harbor Marina, records state.

On Aug. 31, personnel with the Bay Area Narcotics Enforcement Team, or BAYANET, visited Deeply Content and bought a pipe for $20. Though the receipt they were given showed the total was $21.20 with sales tax included, the salesman told the undercover officer not to worry about the $1.20 difference, police reports state.

An investigator again visited the business on Sept. 2 and spoke with Owens. Owens took the officer to a back room and showed two glass jars of marijuana, the reports state. Using his bare hands, Owens measured  ounce of pot in a disposable Solo cup and placed it in a plastic sandwich baggie, the reports state. He also provided the investigator with marijuana wax and charged a total of $85, no sales tax included, reports state.

Police on Sept. 3 executed a search warrant on Deeply Content and arrested Owens.

Read more:

North Dakota man operated pot shops in Bay County but didnt bother with licenses, police say

North Dakota man charged with illegally selling marijuana from Bay County business

Police raid Bay County marijuana supply business
Vahan Badasyan, Chairman of the United Armenia party of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and Karabakh war veteran, issued a statement, from a prison of the National Security Service of Armenia, and which was published by his lawyer, Arayik Papikyan, on Facebook.

The statement, in particular, says: "I am being tortured through custody.

Although not a conscript, with an unwavering desire to defend the homeland, I voluntarily participated in the [recent Artsakh] war from the very first day of the war, and I played a significant role. I am more than convinced that my action is heroic.

Evidence of this is also the putting of my life at risk and the sustaining of serious injuries.

I am convinced that the state encourages and presents a state reward for such a heroic act, whereas in case of an alleged offense, the abovementioned is taken into account.

And how does the current government treat me? After undergoing major surgery, when I still need postoperative rehabilitation, depriving me of my liberty, is subjecting [me] to inhuman physical and psychological torture.

Dear compatriots, I urge [you] to unite and raise your voice in protest to end the physical and psychological torture being inflicted on me."

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Gavin Williamson is making plans for students to return to universities in England from next month.

The Education Secretary will announce on February 22 that final year students in practical degrees will go back to campus, with their peers expected to follow shortly after.

But vice-chancellors say that most of their students have already been told to stay at home, while the unions - which have plagued Mr Williamson's tenure - are unwavering in their complaints about Covid safety.

It comes amid wrangling over when the national lockdown will end with schools expected to reopen on March 8, the keystone in Boris Johnson's plan to liberate Britain.

Gavin Williamson, Secretary of State for Education, arrives at the Department of Education, on January 27. He's hoping to send children back to school and reopen universities from March

Graduates of Oxford University walk by Hertford College, wearing traditional academic gowns in the summer of 2014

Mr Williamson's announcement for the universities coincides with the Prime Minister's February 22 date to produce a roadmap 'to unlock.'

The Department of Education is planning for the first students to go back to campuses in lockstep with the reopening of schools on March 8.

Mr Johnson is under mounting pressure from Tory backbenchers to announce a major easing of curbs - while scientists are urging caution.

Striking fear into the teaching unions is the R-rate  which fell only marginally from 0.7-1.1 in the previous week to 0.7-1.0 in the most recent seven days.

Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union, told The Guardian: 'The priority right now must be to keep as much teaching as possible online for the rest of the academic year, and putting staff and student safety first.

'Instead, ministers and universities seem intent on reopening campuses due to financial pressures. We need to learn the lessons of last term and prevent further outbreaks.'

Sticking in ministers' minds are the chaotic scenes of the autumn when students were barricaded inside their halls of residence as the virus reappeared from the summer.

But if they don't manage to get the students back before Easter, many won't see any reason to go back at all as tutoring ceases ahead of the exam schedule in May and June.

Professor Peter Mathieson, vice-chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, told the Guardian: 'We have indicated to undergraduate students that we don't think there will be any substantial face-to-face teaching for the rest of this semester, which means until Easter.

'We still hope it will be possible for postgraduate students. Sadly undergraduate students are not going to get a lot of teaching in this academic year.'

As it stands, only students carrying out laboratory-based work such as medics and vets, and courses deemed important like teaching and social work, are on campus for face-to-face learning.

Some universities, like the London School of Economics, have already cancelled any in-person learning for the academic year.

But universities minister Michelle Donelan told the Guardian these institutions would be provided the option to row back these plans.

In contempt of the Government orders, many students returned to their campuses at the end of the Christmas holidays.

Most estimate that around 30 to 40 percent of their normal cohort are back as the youngsters find a new home away from home.

Prof Mathieson told the Guardian: 'Some students have voted with their feet, it's been reported by just about all the universities I've heard from, Russell Group and elsewhere.

'It's interesting, it reflects the fact students start to identify university as their new home.'

Plans for the universities come as the PM has marked continued education as a 'national priority' and has vowed to help children account for lost learning.

Department for Education officials are even weighing up whether it would be viable to extend the school day to squeeze in more teaching time.

Sources told the Telegraph one option being mulled is for schools to tack an extra lesson on to both the start and end of the current day.

An extension had been pushed by some Tory MPs - but have been met with a backlash from teaching unions.

Paul Whiteman, NAHT general secretary, said: 'Research evidence shows that there are better methods to help pupils than lengthening the school day.

'The Government must filter out loud calls for superficially attractive schemes and listen to the experts instead.'

The Government is still drawing up its plan to get Britain out of lockdown to be unveiled later this month, with possible measures including testing for office workers and a reopening of pubs - but without the booze.

Almost 11 million people have now had their first dose of the vaccine and ministers are facing mounting calls to flesh out exactly how they intend to lift restrictions.

The Government said it hopes to have offered jabs to all over-50s by May, meaning the 33million most vulnerable citizens would have been inoculated.

Some inside Downing Street are even more bullish and believe it is possible that almost all adults could have received a jab by then.

Ministers are expected to adopt a 'tentative' approach - with some sources claiming a 'booze ban' on pubs between April and May was being considered to stop social distancing slipping.

But a senior Government source told MailOnline that an alcohol ban in pubs was not on the cards.

They said: 'We are not going to open pubs that can't sell booze. What would be the point of that?'

Other measures being floated include axing the 10pm curfew for pubs - which has been given the go-ahead according to some reports, along with an end to the requirement for drinkers to order a 'substantial meal' with alcohol.

England could also emulate Scotland's indoor alcohol ban that was in effect during its November lockdown, and allow unlicensed cafes to reopen while keeping pubs closed.
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The bosses of Britain's three biggest airports today issue an unprecedented joint plea for financial support as the travel industry faces a deepening crisis.

In a dramatic intervention, the chief executives of Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester Airports Group  which also controls London Stansted and East Midlands  warn in an article in The Mail on Sunday that they are losing 50million a week.

The trio are calling for urgent help from the Government to avoid thousands of further job losses. They say that without 'fair support' for airports, the Government will have left the aviation sector severely damaged by the time the pandemic is over.

Plea: John Holland-Kaye, chief executive of Heathrow airport

That will inadvertently hand European airports a major competitive advantage, the bosses warn.

It is the first time the three rival airport chiefs have joined forces. They are speaking out as the Government imposes tough new restrictions on global travel.

From next Monday, February 15, all passengers arriving in the UK from countries on the Covid hotspot list must self-isolate for ten days at their own cost in quarantine hotels.

All UK arrivals will also have to take two Covid tests. Passengers from outside Covid hotspot areas will be allowed to isolate at home for ten days, but will still have to take tests on the second and eighth days.

In their co-written appeal, the bosses slam Ministers for an 'apparent disregard' for the vital importance of the aviation sector to the economy in powering international trade and tourism.

They write: 'We agree with the shared goal of ending this crisis and resuming normality as soon as it is safe to do so.

'[But] unless the Government grasps the true significance of the role we play, it risks giving away our success and our competitive advantage.

'The longer we go unsupported the less likely we will be in a position to help drive the UK's recovery and to deliver the Government's manifesto pledges.

'The toll of job losses will only increase unless we work with Government on a roadmap out of this and, in the meantime, agree what fair support looks like while we are prevented from doing business. Without action, this Government will be levelling down and creating a Little Britain rather than a global one.'

Gatwick's chief executive, Stewart Wingate

The appeal for greater state support comes at the most critical point for aviation since the start of the pandemic. The third lockdown travel ban was followed by the suspension of airbridges and stricter testing and quarantine rules.

The three airport operators served 188million passengers in 2019, but passenger numbers fell to just 37million last year.

Despite the airports experiencing a 'near complete collapse in demand', the bosses say their fixed costs paid to the Government  including business rates, policing and air traffic control  remain the same at more than 335million collectively each year.

The three chief executives  Heathrow's John Holland-Kaye, Gatwick's Stewart Wingate and Charlie Cornish at Manchester Airports Group  say they will be unable to recover from the crisis unless the Government provides 'targeted' support, including business rates relief.

Their rates bills are based on revenues generated if all terminals are open. But Heathrow closed Terminals 3 and 4 last spring and Gatwick is only operating from the North Terminal.

The bosses point out that supermarkets received rates relief while remaining open. They handed back 1.8billion after making bumper profits.

The bosses write: 'We ask the Chancellor to revisit the devastating impact on aviation and redistribute some of that money to a sector facing a real threat.'

Following almost 12 months starved of revenues and passengers, the bosses warn they need to cut more costs after shedding 10,000 jobs.

'This is having... a hugely negative impact on local communities reliant on our airports for jobs,' they say.

They also warn they will be forced to close further airline routes. This would mean Britain's biggest airports lose passengers to European hubs, which have received 'two to three times' the level of state support provided by the UK Government. There are also fears some smaller regional airports may have to close permanently.

The bosses say: 'We are all now in a fight with our European competitors to win these routes back.'

They add: 'The Government cannot have a global Britain with a grounded and damaged aviation sector. Nor can it have a well connected, levelled-up Britain if we emerge weakened.'
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Mr Kelly is seeking to overturn that advice. Examine newsletter Science and health explained and analysed with a rigorous focus on the evidence. Examine is a weekly newsletter by science reporter Liam Mannix. Sign up to receive it every Tuesday. In an earlier unpublished interview with The Age and Sydney Morning Herald in October, Mr Kelly described a meeting he had with Mr Hunt on the matter last year. I said Greg [Hunt] these people are wrong. They are not looking at the relevant studies. They are relying on a study that has been debunked. There are numerous, Im talking 20-plus, other studies, that show hydroxychloroquine is reducing the rate of death, he said. Greg says I have to listen to the taskforce. I have to listen to the TGA. So I put all my efforts into trying to influence the task force and the TGA, Mr Kelly said last October.

A spokesman for Mr Hunt said Mr Kellys views have been rejected categorically and have had zero impact. Comment was also sought from the TGA on Mr Kellys approaches. A spokesperson for the task force said there was no relationship between it and the TGA. On Friday, Mr Kelly said he had stopped lobbying late last year after his private correspondence was the subject of freedom of information applications. As a member of the government, I have a responsibility to make sure that groups that are government funded ... if they are making recommendations to the government, they are not missing crucial bits of the puzzle, he said on Friday. Opposition health spokesman Mark Butler said Prime Minister Scott Morrison needs to immediately reassure the public that Mr Kelly will no longer seek to influence the task force and the TGA.

MPs should not be trying to influence the National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce and the TGA. The TGA must be able to make its important decisions with complete independence and free of any attempts of influence from members of Parliament. The taskforce is part-funded by the federal government to bring together the nations top health bodies to review evidence and develop guidelines on preventing and treating COVID-19. Mr Kelly said the task forces conclusions on hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin were wrong. He said he had been emailing the taskforce on a weekly basis [to] explain to them, [the studies] they rely on.... has been debunked and discredited.

In October, Mr Kelly said he was attacking the position of the government I belong to, because were the ones that set up this task force. They are denying Australians access to a medicine and medical treatment. I think this is perhaps one of the greatest medical scandals in living memory. I dont say that lightly. Prime Minister Scott Morrison this week reprimanded Mr Kelly for airing his disputed claims about COVID-19. Mr Kelly held a press conference on Wednesday in which he confirmed Mr Morrison had phoned him the day before, but he said the call had not included any criticism of his public statements or his decision to appear on a podcast with celebrity chef Pete Evans, who has been removed from Facebook for spreading misinformation about COVID-19.

Mr Morrison declined to comment for this story. Emails from Mr Kelly to taskforce members, released to The Age and Sydney Morning Herald under freedom of information laws, show he asked them to make urgent recommends [sic] to state chief medical officers to remove their ban on doctors prescribing [hydroxychloroquine] to treat Covid. The emails were first reported by Business Insider. Senator David Leyonhjelm at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday 12 February 2019. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Meanwhile, the TGA has confirmed it is considering taking action against a former federal politician, ex-Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm, for promoting the use of an ivermectin worming product for horses as a treatment for COVID-19.

Mr Leyonhjelm tweeted an image of the worming product with the caption: In several countries, ivermectin is being used to treat Covid. For those who want some, this horse product is probably the most economical source. Enough to treat the street too. Loading A spokeswoman for the TGA, Australias drugs watchdog, said the tweet appeared to promote an equine drug for human use. Unapproved therapeutic goods and prescription medicines cannot be advertised to consumers in Australia, the spokeswoman said. The TGA is concerned about this kind of promotion. The TGA strongly advises against using any product which states it is for animal use only for personal use.
Wellington, Feb 6 : People across New Zealand celebrated the country's National Day, the 181st anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, on Saturday with special services and performances to mark the day.

The highlight of the day was the dawn service and a following free breakfast at Waitangi served by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, wearing an apron, and other government officials for people at the service, reports Xinhua news agency.

Hundreds of celebratory events were also held across New Zealand.

In the South Island, the Okains Bay Museum Waitangi Day Commemorations was held on Saturday.

It has been a signature event on the New Zealand calendar since the museum first opened in 1977.

It was a fun day full of family activities, demonstrations, workshops and exhibits set amongst the extensive museum grounds in the beachside village of Okains Bay, which attracted several thousand visitors.

Wellington celebrations featured a film night, a film festival, a kite festival, Maori dancing performances and a 'hangi' to present Maori way of cooking food.

The Treaty of Waitangi was signed on February 6, 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and Maori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand.

The New Zealand government established 'Waitangi Day' as a national holiday in 1974.
Imperial Valley News Center

California Man Sentenced to More Than 7 Years in Prison for Orchestrating Firearms Trafficking Ring

Fresno, California - Rafael Sanchez, Jr., 41, of Hanford, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd to seven years and three months in prison for orchestrating a large-scale firearms trafficking ring, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, between April 2016 and March 2018, while residing in Hanford, Sanchez identified firearms available for purchase in Tennessee with the assistance of various co-conspirators residing there. Sanchez transferred money to the Tennessee co-conspirators, who used the money to purchase, package and ship the firearms to Sanchez in California. With the assistance of others, Sanchez identified California-based purchasers and offered to sell and sold to them the firearms he received from the Tennessee co-conspirators. Neither Sanchez nor the six charged co-conspirators were licensed to deal or import firearms, and Sanchez was prohibited from possessing firearms because of a pior felony conviction in Kings County Superior Court for assault with a deadly weapon.

Five other defendants charged in the case have been convicted and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment and probation, including Alexis Sanchez, of Kettleman City, Veronica Ramirez, of Lemoore, and Tennessee residents Victor Luna, Ashley Sanchez and Elvia Sanchez. A seventh defendant, Juan Daniel Gonzalez Mejia, of Tennessee, was convicted of firearms trafficking and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 21.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Lenoir City - Tennessee Police Department, Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee assisted in the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Christopher D. Baker is prosecuting the case in the Eastern District of California.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Departments renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorneys Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 6)  Major power distributor Meralco said Saturday it will not cut supply for low-income groups with past due electricity bills pending guidelines on the government's extended no disconnection policy for so-called lifeliners amid this pandemic.

Hindi tayo magdi-disconnect ng lifeliners batay na rin po sa kautusan, Meralco spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga told CNN Philippines Newsroom Weekend, referring to the policy.

[Translation: We will not implement power disconnection on account of lifeliners non-payment of bills, based on the directive of the government.]

Aantayin parin po namin kung ano ang mga [We are still waiting for the] guidelines coming from the DOE, he added.

Early this week, President Rodrigo Duterte approved the recommendation of the Department of Energy to extend the no disconnection policy for lifeline customers, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said Thursday. In October 2020, the Energy Regulatory Commission prohibited power distributors from cutting the electricity supply of lifeline clients for the rest of the year.

I understand based on news reports - another two months. But we will wait ano 'yung reckoning point nung two months na 'yun ano. So, this gives them more room to prepare kung sakali man na may mga utang sila, he said.

[Translation: I understand based on news reports - another two months [of no disconnection.] But we will wait as to what the reckoning point of those two months is. So this gives them more time to prepare in case they have unsettled debts.]

Lifeline customers, or those who consume 100 kilowatt-hours or less per month, comprise nearly 40 percent of Meralcos seven-million client base. Zaldarriaga said these consumers are from the marginalized sector, which already benefits from subsidized rates ranging from 20% to 100%. Despite the financial support, some still find it difficult to pay on time.

Ito 'yung nangangailangan ng tulong kaya may subsidiya 'yung kanilang rates at additional help nga ito para sa kanila itong order ng gobyerno na 'wag silang putulan for another period of time, he said.

[Translation: These people are the ones who need subsidy in their rates and this government order not to cut their electricity is an additional help.]
Gigi Hadid coyly revealed the name of her daughter with Zayn Malik a mere weeks ago with an Instagram bio update that read 'Khai's mom,' after months of anticipation.

On Thursday a Twitter post went viral after the 25-year-old supermodel called the baby 'Khaiba,' as fans were quick to guess that was her child's full name, before Hadid shared it was just a nickname.

The nickname means 'surprise' in Arabic, as she also revealed previously in an interview with Vogue that her Dutch and Arabic heritage had influenced many of her family names.

Baby Khai: Gigi Hadid, 25, revealed her daughter Khai's name by updating her Instagram bio a mere weeks ago, additionally revealing on Thursday that she had given her the nickname 'Khaiba' which means 'surprise' in Arabic

Pet names: The supermodel shared that Khaiba was one of many names influenced by her Dutch and Arabic heritage

A fan account re-posted a comment from Hadid that read 'I love u sm it hurts. Khaiba is lucky to have an auntie like u.'

When it was alleged by eagle eye fans that was the baby's full name, Hadid wrote back 'lol no it's just a nickname.'

Additionally she shared with Vogue that her parents Yolanda and Mohamed Hadid had been given pet names of their own, with her mom being 'Oma' which means grandma in Dutch, and her dad being 'Jido' - the Arabic name for grandpa.

Additionally Malik's mom Tricia will go by 'Nini' which is a variation of Nana, and his dad will be Abu which is Urdu to reflect his Pakistani roots.

Multicultural: The nicknames given to their respective grandparents reflect their backgrounds with Hadid being Dutch and Arabic and Malik being British and Pakistani

Matching ink: The parents who have been on and since 2015 both got Khai's name inked on their arm

Sweet surprise: The nickname seemed to be a nod to the unanticipated pregnancy as she was publicly off with Zayn at the time

The meaning behind the nickname Khaiba seemed to be a reflection of the seemingly unanticipated pregnancy, and she was on and off with the One Direction boybander at the time.

She welcomed Khai - which means the chosen one in Arabic - via home birth in September, keeping intimate moments of the pregnancy largely underwraps.

Both Gigi and Zayn have inked their daughter's name into their arm in Arabic, with Hadid revealing the tattoo this week.

Oma: Yolanda's Dutch roots inspired her name as she will go by Oma

Jido: Her real estate mogul father has been given the moniker Jido which means grandpa in Arabic

On her terms: She held off on revealing her daughter's name only coyly revealing it in her Instagram bio a few weeks ago

Highly private when it comes to their child, Hadid held off on sharing the baby's name for a while until she updated her Instagram bio.

She spoke to Vogue about the process of having a homebirth in order for Khai to have 'a peaceful bringing to the world,' having her family and a midwife present as she shared, 'I had to dig deep.'

'I knew it was going to be the craziest pain in my life, but you have to surrender to it and be like, "This is what it is." I loved that.'

Zayn, her mother Yolanda, and sister Bella Hadid were there to give her support through the pain, as she called her daughter a' bright' light upon seeing her for the first time.

Home birth: She welcomed Khai via home birth in September with Zayn, her mom and sister Bella by her side

Four months: The supermodel recently shared on Twitter that she found out she was pregnant a few months before fashion week last year

'There definitely was a point where I was like, I wonder what it would be like with an epidural, how it would be different. My midwife looked at me and was like, "You're doing it. No one can help you. You're past the point of the epidural anyway, so you'd be pushing exactly the same way in a hospital bed."'

When it was announced she was pregnant in the spring, she gave details to Jimmy Fallon on an episode of The Tonight Show saying 'During this time, it's a nice silver lining to be able to be home and together, and really experience it day by day.'

She also recently shared that she had found out she was pregnant a few months before fashion week last year, as she said she was 'so nauseous.'

'I learned I could kinda control it if I continuously ate, so my mom would pack me snacks before each show,' she shared on Twitter.

Coronavirus vaccine manufactured by AstraZeneca is finally arriving in the EU countries as the bloc tries to speed up its inoculation campaign. According to Bloomberg, France will use the vaccine beginning Saturday, with a priority for healthcare workers, after its first batch arrived Friday evening. Germany, Ireland, Spain and Austria will also start offering the shot, while Portugal, on the other hand, will receive deliveries early next week. The doses by the pharmaceutical company are transported mostly by truck via hubs across the continent, and their arrival is a welcome development for the European Union, which has spent the past few weeks in a public row over vaccine targets.

AstraZeneca will deliver 30 per cent more coronavirus vaccine doses to the European Union than it pledged earlier. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen had informed that the pharmaceutical company will be sending nine million doses. The recent development comes after days of tensions over production delays and the EU accusing the company of diverting its share to Britain and other countries.

READ: France Advises AstraZeneca Vaccine Only For Those Under 65

READ: AstraZeneca To Deliver 9 Million Additional COVID-19 Vaccine Doses To EU: Commission Chief

70% adults to be vaccinated before end of summer

EU aims to vaccinate 70 per cent of adults by the end of summer. It is worth noting that AstraZeneca is the third company to receive approval in the European Union after American firms Pfizer and Moderna were granted CMA earlier last month. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) reviewed the trial data and unanimously recommended the vaccine for use in adults aged 18 years or older. The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the EMA has recommended the use of two doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine in adults at 4 to 12 weeks interval.

European countries are under pressure to vaccinate more people because of the ongoing restrictions that are severely affecting the lives and businesses in the region. Several European countries reintroduced lockdowns after the detection of new COVID-19 variants, which are contributing to the higher caseloads and fatalities. European hospitals are also feeling the pressure because of an increase in hospital admissions in the recent past. According to Bloomberg, the EUs vaccination progress is so far lagging far behind the UK and the US.

READ: Vietnam Approves AstraZeneca Vaccine After 82 New Cases Reported In The Region

READ: AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID Vaccine 'Quasi-Ineffective' For Elderly: French President Macron


Students in Bavaria are striking against the state governments attempts to force graduating classes back into in-person lessons amid the pandemic. School strikes, which began in Nuremberg on Monday at seven schools, then spread to Augsburg within three days and met with a huge response on social media among students from all over the country.

Students arrive at the 'Friedensburg Oberschule' school for the first day at school after the summer vacations during the new coronavirus outbreak in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

Participating in the strikes in Nuremberg on Monday were high school graduates from the Hans-Sachs-Gymnasium, the Durer-Gymnasium, the Bertolt-Brecht-Schule, the Neues Gymnasium and the state vocational high school (BOS). At the state-run Fachoberschule 2 (FOS 2), only 30 of the 400 students in the 17 graduating classes showed up for the face-to-face classes on Tuesday.

In an urgent request to the state government, student representatives at FOS had noted that they had received no response from the responsible departments, in some cases for months. The government is giving us an ultimatum, counterposing our health and that of those we care about to education, the students said. This is an ultimatum we cannot and will not agree to. The high incidence levels of 130, as well as the emergence of the new viral strains, were deeply worrying. The student body had therefore decided by majority vote on Saturday that a strike will take place against in-person teaching. This was also agreed and supported in the upper secondary schools.

The main demand of our strike has been met, Mike, a high school graduate from FOS Nuremberg, told the World Socialist Web Site.

Originally, all non-attending students were excluded from online classes. Now, at our school, anyone who wants to is allowed to study from home. Citing fear of infection, students can call in sick on days they should attend in person and participate in online classes instead. Students who lacked decent technology have been given a tablet for this purpose. He and the other students, Mike said, were proud and very positively surprised by the growth of the strikes and the great support they have won among students and teachers.

In Augsburg, final year students at three secondary schools went on strike at the beginning of the week, starting with around 50 students from the Fachober und Berufsoberschule (FOS/BOS) on Monday. Student spokesperson Dominique Treske emphasised to broadcaster SAT.1 the risk of contagion associated with the journey to school. Many come from the surrounding area and sometimes have to travel an hour and a half by trainand then by tram. Under the current conditions, public transport was the main place of infection.

A petition in which the students demand, among other things, a considerable reduction in the number of exams and school-leaving examinations has already received over 8,000 signatures.

At the Holbein Gymnasium, final year students first wrote a letter of protest to state Education Minister Michael Piazolo (Free Voters) after a survey showed that 90 percent of students rejected a return to alternating in-person and remote classes. Then, on Wednesday, only 25 of the 160 prospective graduating students showed up for face-to-face classes. We all called in sick, explained pupil spokesperson Luisa Link, stressing the health risk for pupils and teachers  even more so now that the [COVID] mutations have been detected in Augsburg.

The 60 final year students at Bayernkolleg also went on strike on Wednesday. As pupil Hanna Zrayenko told the Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung, the strike would continue after an examination next Tuesday. In addition to the Abitur graduation exam, it was also about our health and that of our teachers, she said. The strike was an act of solidarity because teachers, (classed as civil servants), could not stop working. In a press release, the students demand, among other things, the expansion of digital teaching options and the hiring of new educators to relieve teachers and reduce class sizes.

If the state government has its way, Bavaria is currently threatened with a general return to face-to-face teaching from February 15. A spokesperson for the Education Ministry told the press that the goal is to have as much face-to-face teaching as possible.

One is forced to weigh up between education and health, commented Mike. We all want to pass our exams, after all. But we wanted to campaign for everyone who is scared to stay at home. I know what its like to be scaredI myself was still in serious therapy just last year. We were expecting to strike until everyone was on the verge of being kicked out.

The students fight for safe education enjoys the support of teachers and headteachers, who are unanimous in calling for the continuation of distance learning for all students.

It wont be long before the first students are back in quarantine for 14 days, Bianca V., a teacher from Bavaria, told the WSWS. You sit on top of each other all day with a mask on; at home you have to wonder if you might just be carrying the virus from the classroom into your family.

Schools have nowhere near the internet bandwidth needed for connection from the classroomso you only manage a fraction of the material relevant to the Abitur exams this way. The pupils in Nuremberg are therefore absolutely right: where distance learning works, it is the much better way for pupils in this age group. For pupils with poor internet connections, there would be a need for additional facilities in libraries, for example.

However, the government and all the establishment parties have made it clear again and again in recent months that they are hostile to the legitimate and popular demands of students and instead intend to put all available resources at the service of militarism and trade war. While the current federal budget slashes expenditure on education and health, military spending is to be increased and the security agencies strengthened. Schools are to open so that parents can work and businesses can make a profit.

The many should not suffer for the profit of a few, Mike said. But the pandemic has shown that the greed of a few seems to outweigh the interests of the many. The real starting point of the crisis, he said, is the gap between rich and poor.

I get that feeling in schools, too, where attendance is supposed to be compulsory during a pandemic, even though online classes are available. This leads to struggling students either doing badly or living in fearor not at all, he said.

I saw what happened in France, Mike added, referring to the students who demonstrated for infection control in schools last year and were attacked by riot police using mace and clubs. That might have happened to us too if we had all demonstrated in front of the school. To the French students, I say: Restez a la maison, restez forts! Et montrez votre solidarite avec les faibles de votre ecole! [Stay at home and stay strong! Show solidarity with the weakest in your school!]

I would personally support a Europe-wide school and general strike, says Mike, this is a Europe-wide problem. He said the international unity of students and workers is crucial: In Turkey, protesting students are called terrorists. If so many students of a multicultural society unite and all differences of opinion become unimportant, the government has a problem.

Strikes and protests are not only growing in Europe. Throughout the United States, as in Europe, action committees for safe education are emerging, organised independently of the pro-capitalist parties and the unions, and uniting workers internationally. In Chicago, thousands of teachers have taken a stand against the reopening of schools.
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Cases of COVID-19 are continuing to drop across the United States with all four regions reporting a decline in new daily infections.

In the Midwest, the seven-day average for new daily cases per capita has now dropped to a quarter of what it was during the regions peak in late November.

It now stands at 231 news cases a day per million people; compared to 328 in the West, 394 in the Northeast, and 490 in the South.

Nationwide, there were 131,146 new cases reported on Friday and 86,373 Americans were hospitalized with the virus.

This was the second day in a row that the number hospitalized remained below 90,000, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project. This was the first time it had dropped below this threshold since late November.

According to the Tracking Project, there were 3,543 new fatalities from coronavirus in the U.S. reported on Friday.

It came after America recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic yet on Thursday, with a staggering 5,077 fatalities in 24 hours, that is believed to have been a result of a surge of infections after the holiday period.

The national death toll now stands at 459,360 and more than 26.8million have been infected with the virus.

Cases of COVID-19 are continuing to drop with all four regions reporting a decline in new daily infections. The seven-day average for new daily cases per capita in Midwest dropped to a quarter of the regions peak in late November, pictured

As new case numbers fall in all parts of the country, so do hospitalizations with only two states  New York and Arizona - reporting more than 400 people hospitalized with COVID-19 per million residents, as pictured above

As new case numbers fall in all parts of the country, so do hospitalizations with only two states  New York and Arizona - reporting more than 400 people hospitalized with COVID-19 per million residents.

In January, 19 states exceeded that level.

The national seven-day average for hospitalization has now fallen to 92,210 and to 125,431 for new cases.

It marks around a 50 percent drop in the average cases since the national peak on January 12.

The plummet in cases is even being felt in California, The states worst coronavirus surge continues to abate as new virus cases fall sharply.

The daily average now is about 14,500 cases, down almost 50 percent from two weeks ago.

The California Department of Public Health rescinded its hospital surge order, which had required hospitals to delay some elective surgeries and to accept patients from other counties whose intensive care unit capacity had dropped below 15 percent.

Deaths also are starting to fall but remain exceptionally high.

Another 558 were announced Friday and in the last week almost 3,500 have died.

However, despite the continued high deaths, the Supreme Court on Friday told California that it can't enforce a ban on indoor church services because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The high court issued orders late Friday in two cases where churches had sued over coronavirus-related restrictions in the state.

The high court said that for now, California can't ban indoor worship in areas where virus cases are surging, but it can cap indoor services at 25 percent of a building's capacity.

The justices also declined to stop the state from barring singing and chanting at services.

The court's three liberal justices dissented.

Nationwide, there were 131,146 new cases reported on Friday and 86,373 Americans were hospitalized with the virus

The court's action follows a decision in a case from New York late last year in which the justices split 5-4 in barring the state from enforcing certain limits on attendance at churches and synagogues.

Shortly after, the justices told a federal court to reexamine a similar lawsuit over California's restrictions in light of the ruling.

America recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic yet on Thursday, with a staggering 5,077 fatalities in 24 hours, dwarfing the previous record of 4,466 deaths on January 12 by 611.

It comes despite encouraging and sustained declines in daily coronavirus infections as the trend in fatalities consistently lags weeks behind trends in cases and hospitalizations, which have been falling for the past three weeks.

Hospitalizations fall after cases, and deaths are expected to follow hospitalizations, despite yesterday's record-high fatalities.

CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky said earlier in the week that 'the pace of deaths appears to be slowing.'

On Friday she said: 'Early data suggest now we're starting to see this, with the 7-day average of deaths declining 6.7 percent to slightly more than 3,00 deaths a day from Jan 28 to Feb 3.'

Meanwhile, experts are encouraged, but perplexed by the decline in infections. Vanderbilt University infectious diseases professor Dr William Shaffner told DailyMail.com he is 'bumfuzzled' by what's driving the trend.

It's too soon for vaccines to be a significant driver of the downturn; just 8.7 percent of the US population has had one or more shots, according to Bloomberg data, and the US is nowhere near herd immunity yet.

And while CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky called this week's encouraging downward trend in cases 'consistent,' Dr Shaffner echoed her warnings that the trend could be reversed by the arrival of variants and potential super-spreader events, like Super Bowl Sunday.

Already, there are at least 645 cases of the UK's 'super-covid' variant in 33 states, at least five cases of the South African variant and two of the Brazilian variants in the US, in addition to several homegrown variants.

Holidays led to the last surge of infections that followed the triple-threat of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve.

With the lags between infections, hospitalizations and deaths, yesterday's record fatalities likely still reflect patients infected in that period.

'Just as we are smiling,' about the downturn in cases 'there are a couple of three countervailing factors,' Dr Shaffner told DailyMail.com.

'The arrival of variants could create more cases, more illnesses and hospitalizations down the road.

'The second factor is Super Bowl Sunday. We expect anticipate many families parties where people gather together for prolonged periods, cheering lustily or groaning mightily, depending on which team is doing what, and those are ideal circumstances for spreading [the virus].

'Super Bowl Sunday may become a super-spreader event all over the country.'

Patients are vaccinated against COVID-19 at the Sharp Vaccination Center in La Mesa, California, on Friday

Residents wait in line to receive COVID-19 leftover doses of the Moderna vaccine in Los Angeles on Thursday

The last massive surge of infections in January may mean slightly fewer people are vulnerable now because they were previously infected, the US is long way off from herd immunity.

Scientists estimate that as many as 100 million Americans, or about a third of the population, have had COVID-19.

At least 70 percent of the population needs to have protection from prior infection or vaccines to reach herd immunity.

New calculations predict that the coronavirus pandemic will drag on for another seven years at the current rate of vaccinations worldwide.

It will take that long to reach Dr Anthony Fauci's estimate for the herd immunity threshold of 75 percent of people inoculated globally, according to Bloomberg's vaccination calculator.

More than 4.5 million vaccines are being administered a day, for a total of 119.8 million shots given worldwide.

The US has vaccinated 8.7 percent of its population thus far, at a rate of 1.3 million shot given a day. After a slow start, the rollout is picking up steam and saw a record 1.7 million people vaccinated Thursday.

Despite ranking sixth in the world for the pace of its vaccinations, the US is predicted to reach herd immunity just in time for New Year's 2022.

But all of this depends on whether the vaccines are effective against variants like those that emerged in South Africa and Brazil, which appear to dull the potency of shots.
LOUISIANA  Cox employees will give more than $50,000 to schools in its Southeast service area through the Cox Charities Innovation in Education program. Pre-K-12 teachers are invited to apply for grants of up to $2,500 at www.CoxCharitiesSER.org now until February 28, 2021. Cox will notify recipients in May and announce the winning grant recipients this fall.

Innovation in Education grants support technology, programs and curriculum that promote students academic success and enhance the educational experience.

Cox employees donate to the program through recurring payroll deductions and one-time gifts. Funds that are raised locally support local nonprofits along with supporting educators in the areas where Cox employees live.

Cox remains committed to helping students reach their full potential whether its in a digital, hybrid or traditional classroom, said Erin Monroe Wesley, vice president of government and public affairs. Our employees are passionate about supporting programs that bring innovative technology and skills development to students across our footprint. Coxs Southeast Region includes: Acadiana, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Floridas Gulf Coast (Pensacola and Fort Walton), Central Florida (Gainesville and Ocala) and Middle Georgia (Macon and Warner Robins).

Branded under the theme Give Where You Live, Cox Charities was created to strengthen Cox communities through the support of programs that positively impact communities in the areas of education, technology, social issues, conservation and the arts. In addition to the Innovation in Education grants, Cox Charities offers Community Investment grants to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations (with a grant cycle opening in August 2021.) Last year, employees in the Southeast Region pledged over $150,000 to Cox Charities.

About Cox Communications Cox Communications is committed to creating meaningful moments of human connection through broadband applications and services. The largest private telecom company in America, we proudly serve six million homes and businesses across 18 states. We're dedicated to empowering others to build a better future and celebrate diverse products, people, suppliers, communities and the characteristics that makes each one unique. Cox Communications is the largest division of Cox Enterprises, a family-owned business founded in 1898 by Governor James M. Cox.
New Delhi:

One person's body has been recovered whereas three others have been rescued in rescue operations after their boat capsized in Vena river in Kalameshwar tehsil, Nagpur on Sunday. On the other hand, seven people are still believed to be missing. As per the police, out of 11 people in the boat, nearly eight were from Nagpur and reportedly in the age group of 20-25.

2 teams are here for rescue ops. Few boys had come for picnic, they took fishing boat that capsized: Suresh Bhoyat, Additl. SP Nagpur Rural pic.twitter.com/Vo4NocCRuH  ANI (@ANI_news) July 10, 2017

The boat carrying 11 people, including three boatmen, capsized in evening, said the police. "Seven people are feared drowned in the incident which occurred between 6 pm and 6:30 pm.

ALSO READ: Patna boat tragedy: PM Modi announces ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh

While three persons two boatmen and a college student were rescued, one body was fished out in the night," said Shailesh Balkawade, SP, Nagpur Rural.

Nagpur boat capsize incident, early morning #visuals, one body recovered, three rescued, seven missing, rescue operations underway. pic.twitter.com/27fsewk9fs  ANI (@ANI_news) July 10, 2017

He said the incident was witnessed by a local who in turn alerted the police control room, following which a rescue operation was undertaken. The SP said efforts are on to look for survivors, if any.

READ: Video | Patna boat capsize: Death toll rises to 24, rescue operations underway

He said the cause behind the incident was not known immediately.

Nagpur boat capsize incident #UPDATE: Three people have been rescued #Maharashtra  ANI (@ANI_news) July 9, 2017

With PTI inputs

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Click here to stay informed and subscribe to The Logan Banner . Click #isupportlocal for more information on supporting our local journalists.

State health officials confirmed another 2,982 COVID-19 cases and 74 virus-related fatalities on Friday, according to the latest data from the Department of Public Health.

The number of active statewide cases is 59,934.

There are currently 1,503 patients hospitalized with the virus, including 322 in intensive care, 196 of whom are intubated.

The seven-day average of positive tests dropped to 3.16%.

There have now been a total of 510,148 COVID cases and 14,563 deaths in Massachusetts since the pandemic began.

Roughly 20% of new cases, or 10,332, over the last two weeks have been in people younger than 19, according to the state data. Twenty-somethings saw the second highest number of new infections with 9,334, or roughly 18%. Residents over the age of 70 accounted for less than 10%, data shows.

Conversely, residents over the age of 70 made up more than 80%, or 706, of deaths over the last two weeks. Residents in their twenties or younger comprised less than .5%, or four, virus fatalities, data shows.

Over the last 14 days, average age of death was 80.

Nationwide, cases have fallen roughly 30% over the last 14 days, with hospitalizations also declining, the New York Times reports. But COVID deaths remain elevated, with more 100,000 having died so far in 2021.

Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday said theres been a pretty significant downward trend in viral activity statewide. Beginning on Monday, restaurants, gyms and museums, among many other businesses and venues, can up their capacity from 25% to 40% amid encouraging numbers over the last few weeks. Boston officials also announced Friday that they would follow the states lead in expanding capacity for those businesses.

A call center set up to help residents book appointments to get the vaccine went live on Friday following complaints from residents having trouble navigating the online system.

The vaccine scheduling resource line, which can be accessed through 211, will be open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Baker said the center will be staffed by hundreds of workers, some of whom speak English and Spanish.

And well have translators available to support residents in about 100 different languages, Baker said.

Total COVID cases by county:

Barnstable County: 9,103

Berkshire County: 4,608

Bristol County: 51,859

Dukes County: 798

Essex County: 78,729

Franklin County: 1,822

Hampden County: 38,147

Hampshire County: 6,020

Middlesex County: 104,142

Nantucket County: 1,100

Norfolk County: 41,587

Plymouth County: 37,111

Suffolk County: 73,016

Worcester County: 60,634

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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  The future of Santa Fes coveted Midtown campus remains a mystery, but many of its current buildings may not survive.

KDC Real Estate Development and Investment/Cienda Partners, the former master developer of the Midtown campus, announced Jan. 21 it would terminate its agreement with the city of Santa Fe because the 64-acre campus had no commercial value.

Due to that lack of value, some buildings would likely have to be removed. KDC/Cienda recommended the city demolish 17 buildings on the campus, while preserving eight for any future use, according to a KDC/Cienda report obtained by the Journal.

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The remaining buildings that will not be preserved will need to be demolished to reduce the Citys holding costs and liabilities, and clear a path for new development and users on the campus, the report states.

Among the buildings recommended to be torn down were all the residence halls and many of the education buildings used in years past. The Midtown campus previously served as home to the College of Santa Fe until 2009, and the Santa Fe University of Art and Design until 2018.

Many of the buildings were constructed as early as the 1960s and very few have undergone significant renovation since then.

Thirteen buildings were classified as being in either poor or bad condition, with another, Luke Hall, being classified as dangerous.

Sam Burnett, a property maintenance manager for the city, said two buildings are currently condemned, but declined to state which ones for fear they would be vandalized.

He also said poor condition doesnt mean the buildings arent functional. In some cases, he said, the rehabilitation of the buildings makes them not economically feasible and they are therefore classified as poor.

Everything is perfectly functional and well maintained, he said. It comes down to that cost-benefit equation, that the condition of the building doesnt make it viable for rehabilitation.

Some buildings, such as the residence halls, he said, are difficult to reconfigure for commercial purposes so it might be considered more advantageous to tear them down. KDC/Cienda estimated demolition of buildings to cost $500,000 and remediation another $1 million.

Economic Development Director Richard Brown said some buildings will be preserved because they are cultural icons of the campus, among them the Fogelson Library.

Which buildings are demolished is ultimately up to the new developer, Burnett said.

Another unknown for the campus is the amount of asbestos left in the buildings. The New Mexico Environment Department conducted a 2011 survey of the campus and found asbestos present in numerous buildings.

Many of the buildings date back to the campus founding after World War II when asbestos use in construction was more prevalent.

It seemed to me that half of those buildings out there had some type of asbestos-containing material, Allan Morris, compliance and enforcement chief for NMEDs Air Quality Bureau, told the Journal.

NMED records show more than 30 separate abatements were performed on the campus from 2011-19. Burnett said the city is planning an environmental impact study to see how much abatement still needs to be done and what dangerous materials remain.

However, he said all the buildings on campus that arent condemned are habitable and do not pose a danger to the public.

For now, the Midtown campus remains as it was, awaiting a developer and a future.

Former city councilor Mike Harris, once heavily involved in the citys plans for Midtown, said he was disappointed by the campus current state.

Its a tremendous drain on the Citys resources, Harris said. The City of Santa Fe is going to have to probably do more than what they have in the past. If we cant make that happen, then I think there needs to be a serious discussion about selling the property.

VIJAYAWADA: The State Election Commission (SEC) has advised polling officials, including returning officers, against feeling insecure during the ensuing gram panchayats elections in the state.

The state election commissioner N. Ramesh Kumar in a statement here on Saturday assured all officials that they would be under the protection of the SEC. He said that if any disciplinary action has to be initiated against them, SECs prior approval was mandatory, as directed by the Supreme Court.

Maintaining that subjecting government employees to threat was unethical, he advised officials on poll duty not to get frightened over intimidating tactics. He said that the Election Commission is an independent constitutional authority and its mandate is to conduct elections and added that the Governor serves as his custodian.

He called upon the officials on poll duty to discharge their duty with commitment, dedication bearing a constitutional spirit and said that persons occupying positions were temporary while institutions were permanent.


Bengaluru, Feb 6 : In solidarity with the national farmers union that launched a protest - chakka jam - across the nation on Saturday, Karnataka farmers organisations succeeded in blocking national highways in various parts of Karnataka in general, and Bengaluru in particular.

Traffic movement was hit on the Mysuru-Bengaluru highway, while farmers partially succeeded in blocking vehicles across the state, except in the coastal region which is the ruling BJP's stronghold in the state.

The protests across the state were held in a peaceful manner with no unruly incidents being reported.

Over 40 farmers unions under the aegis of the Bharatiya Kisan Union have been protesting on Delhi's borders for the last two months against the three contentious agri laws enacted last year.

Farmers succeeded in blocking some roads in Bengaluru temporarily as part of the nationwide "chakka jam".

This led to minor traffic snarls. In Bengaluru, Mysore Bank Circle, Sadahalli Gate, Devanahalli Road, Yelahanka New Police Station Circle saw farmers gathering with green flags and stopping the free flow of traffic.

Some of the demonstrators were detained as the police tried to clear the roads for traffic movement. Pro-Kannada leader Vatal Nagaraj, who joined the farmers, was also detained at Mysore Bank Circle.

Major blockades were also witnessed at Mandya, Bengaluru-Mysuru Highway, Srirangapatna-Bengaluru- Mysuru National Highway, Kikkeri-Srirangapatna Hassan Highway, Nagamangala-near Bellur Cross, Mysuru-Ring road Circle, APMC Bandipalya, Mysuru National Highway near Columbia hospital, Piriyapatna National Highway, KR Nagar-Hassan State Highway, Chamarajanagar-Satyamangala Road, Chamarajanagar-Gundlupete Highway 202.

Meanwhile, a delegation of farmers from Karnataka reached the Ghazipur border near Delhi on Thursday to show solidarity with the ongoing farmers' protest. Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, Hasiru Sene led by farmer leader Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, met Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait.

Kodihalli addressed the protesting farmers and assured them of support till the three farm laws are repealed.

He announced that nearly 4,000 farmers from Karnataka will join the protests at the Delhi borders after February 6.

Kodihalli explained that the farmers were arriving in batches as the government will make attempts to stop the mass movement of farmers. He added that the situation at the Tikri and Singhu borders is worse than that at Ghazipur.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
They sit on opposite sides of the aisle in Federal Parliament, but two doctors-turned-MPs have been working together behind the scenes to gain their colleagues support for laws permitting a new genetic procedure to prevent a devastating and deadly disease.

Labors Dr Mike Freelander and the Liberal Partys Dr Katie Allen both witnessed the devastating effects of mitochondrial disease in their work as paediatricians.

Dr Mike Freelander Dr Katie Allen both support changes that would allow transformative IVF technology to help families with mitochondrial disease. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Its pretty harrowing, said Dr Freelander, who has worked as a paediatrician for 37 years. It really is awful to see the families go through that.

The pair, who also put their medical expertise to use in the fight against COVID-19 as part of the national COVID-19 health and research advisory committee, are helping inform their parliamentary colleagues about mitochondrial disease, and how IVF technology changes will help the small number of affected families.

Australian Chief Health Officer Brendan Murphy during a press conference in Canberra, Australia, May 15, 2020. (Rohan Thomson/Getty Images)

No New Local Virus Cases in Australia, Repatriated Arrivals to Jump Soon

Australia is set to mark another day with no locally acquired cases of COVID-19 as more stranded Aussies prepare to return home when international arrival caps return to higher levels.

News South Wales (NSW), Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia all on Saturday announced zero local COVID-19 cases in their respective 24-hour reporting windows.

Western Australia, which on Saturday exited its five-day lockdown after a hotel quarantine worker picked up the virus, is yet to report its figures.

However, the Victorian government on Saturday announced it had changed mask policies for hotel quarantine staff and would review hotel airflow, seeking to avoid a repeat of this weeks two suspected COVID-19 leaks.

Hotel quarantine staff in Victoria have since Thursday been required to wear a face shield and surgical mask while on the job.

Staff were previously wearing only an N-95 mask.

Hotel quarantine organisers from Wednesday also established buffers between family groups and other guests, resulting in 140 rooms being taken out of the system, and staggered food delivery times.

The moves follow a case of suspected COVID-19 transmission among two separate groups of guests at Melbournes Park Royal Hotel, and a worker at the Grand Hyatt testing positive to the coronavirus.

Victoria will increase its weekly hotel quarantine capacity to 1,310 from Feb. 15 as a month-long national slowdown on arrivals concludes.

NSW will from Feb. 15 return to a cap of about 3,000 people a week, while Queensland is reverting to 1,000 and South Australia to 530.

WA will retain its halved cap of 500 until the end of the month.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the increased caps after a national cabinet meeting with state and territory leaders on Friday.

The return to more arrivalshaving been briefly paused due to the emergence of the contagious UK and South African virus strainswill coincide with the commencement of the Australian vaccination program.

Hotel quarantine workers, frontline staff, and border officials are first in line for the Pfizer coronavirus jab, along with the elderly and most vulnerable.

Department of Health head Brendan Murphy said the risk of the virus leaking from hotel quarantine will reduce once its workers have had the jab. State borders could then also be relaxed on a lasting basis.

While he was hesitant to give a possible time frame for when Australias international border restrictions will ease, Murphy said officials would keep a close eye on how well the population was protected after vaccinations.

Progressively over the second half of this year we should see a trajectory towards normality, he told a parliamentary inquiry on Friday.

The government hopes most Australians will be vaccinated by late October.

Australia has secured more than 150 million doses of various vaccines.

AAP
She was a gunner on a mission in a village deep in the mountains in Afghanistan.

Just 30 minutes into the mission on Nov. 28, 2006, Cpl. Sue Downes was shot in the hip.

Everything went blank, she said, wounded from an assassins bullet.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Hundreds mourn hero to many at funeral of Sgt. Marty Gonzalez, decorated U.S. Marine and Veterans Court advocate

Moments later, a massive explosion ripped through the Humvee she was traveling in.

I remember trying to get up and I couldnt understand why I couldnt, she said as she lay helpless.

She had been standing up with her hip exposed in the open turret.

She was thrown from the vehicle and the turret shield landed on her legs.

Her driver had unknowingly hit some landmines that were laced together and the shrapnel from the explosion did the intended damage.

That pretty much took my legs, she said.

The massive explosion also took the lives of her driver and staff sergeant instantly.

Downes had suffered internal injuries, lacerations to her liver, damage to her spleen, kidney, and intestines as well as damage to her hip and both legs.

She lay there for hours waiting for a medevac that never came because of the heavy snowfall.

While we were under fire, they were rendering aid until they were able to get me out of there, she recalled.

Once the Quick Reaction Force arrived, which was four hours away, she was loaded onto a truck and driven eight hours away to Bagram Airfield in Bagram in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan.

They handed me off to a French NATO hospital because I lost all my blood, she said at one point during the trip.

She has O-negative blood, but they didnt have any and the medic made the decision to go ahead and give her O-positive blood to keep her body warm.

Also, during the trip, she quit breathing.

The breathing mechanism they had me on quit working for about 45 minutes, the soldier said.

They hand-pumped her for 45 minutes until the machine began working again.

They worked hard to save my life, she said grateful.

Downes learned later that they saw her, knew she was a mother, and werent giving up on her. Three times she flatlined on them, but they remembered she had two kids at home.

Honestly, thats what made me keep fighting too was my children, the mom said.

Before she deployed, Downes said she prayed to God asking Him if she got hurt to please allow her to make it home and watch her babies grow up.

If I had to hurt, that was okay. I just wanted to live. I think it was my faith in God that saved me and allowed me to come home, she said.

Hope is Not Cancelled: Cy-Hopes year-end appeal draws record donations

Once she made it to Bagram, she was stabilized enough for them to fly her to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center Hospital in Germany, the largest U.S. military hospital outside of the continental United States.

During transit, she developed a hematoma (bleeding on the brain) and they lost her again but were able to bring her back.

I wasnt going anywhere, she smiled.

When doctors were able to wake her at the hospital, they asked her if she remembered anything.

I told them I thought I had lost one of my legs, she said.

It was then that they told her the horrible news. They had to take them both because she had bled out.

At the time, she couldnt really grasp everything because she was still in a medicated fog.

Three days later, doctors allowed her to fly back to the United States to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

I remember getting off the plane and being loaded onto a bus. My (husband at the time) was there, and I remember raising my head up enough to say, Im OK.

They took her into a room where her stepdad, her brother, and her mom brought in her five-year-old son to see her briefly.

Shortly after, she was wheeled away to an ICU unit and placed into a medically induced coma. They began transfusions with the right type of blood and her body miraculously had no reaction to the blood and no serious side effects.

Periodically she was brought out of the coma and told what was happening by doctors.

On several occasions, her son was lying on the bed next to her comforting her and watching TV.

One time I woke up and my son was holding one hand and my daughter the other, she said.

After months of therapy and sheer determination, she was up walking around by March 2007.

They fitted me for (prosthetics), and it was so painful at first, but I had two kids to take care of and I was going to walk, she said.

Her kids were her motivation to walk again. When they offered her a walker, she refused.

I told them I was 25 and I wasnt going to be using a walker, and she was more determined than ever.

She remembered staying at Mologne House at Walker Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and following orders she would walk down to the elevator with the walker. She would take it downstairs where she would walk around regardless of how painful it was.

She returned after one of her trips and asked for crutches instead. Then she graduated to a cane within a few months.

She traveled to Massachusetts where she received a NEADS Service Dog, Lila, to assist her.

She really helped me to learn how to walk again. After I got her, I didnt need the cane anymore, and she doesnt walk anywhere without her.

A few surgeries and a few years later, she set a goal for running her two-mile and climbing the rock wall again before she left Walter Reed.

Two years later, she finally moved back to Nashville. A devastating fire and her mothers failing health led back home to Tennessee and she has been raising her kids on her own. After her sons graduation from high school, she felt it was time to make her move to Texas.

Last year at their gala, Helping A Hero awarded her a home in the Cypress area following her nomination by another Walter Reed patient.

The home was supposed to be built in December 2020 but because of delays attributed to the coronavirus, the home will not be ready until August of 2021.

Camden Property Trust has stepped up and has picked up the tab on the apartment they put her in at Camden Cypress Creek Apartments until her home is ready.

Rooms To Go donated the furniture for the apartment, and Sofia Androgue and Kim Martin from River Oaks did some networking and raised the money for bedding, kitchen and bathroom accessories.

It was basically a shower for her, Iler said. Downes had a fire in her home in Tennessee and lost most everything. This was a real blessing to her and her son.

Downes, who is a Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient, has been impressed by the outpouring of love and support she has received since she moved here.

When Meredith Iler from Helping A Hero approached Ric Campo, chairman of the board and CEO for Camden Property Trust, with Cpl. Downes story and needs, he immediately said yes to an apartment until she was able to move into her home.

They are not only donating the apartment, but a parking space, the utility bills, trash fee, pretty much everything except for her cable, Iler said.

Downes anticipated receiving a free vehicle from another charity and sold her own vehicle. The deal fell through and she was without a vehicle until former Rotary District Governor Rhonda Walls-Kerby stepped in an offered her a truck to use in the interim period.

Despite COVID, the American spirit to help our wounded warriors hasnt wavered, Iler said.

The groundbreaking will occur in the coming weeks and the public will be invited to attend.

dtaylor@hcnonline.com

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India has become the first country in the world to reach the 5 million COVID-19 vaccination mark in just 21 days, the Union Health Ministry said asnearly 53 lakh beneficiaries have been administered shotsunder the countrywide inoculation exercise till Friday evening.

The USA, the UK and Israel have reached 5 million vaccinations in 24, 43 and 45 simultaneous days respectively. "The countrywide COVID-19 vaccination program was conducted successfully on the twenty-first day as well," the ministry said. The cumulative number of healthcare workers vaccinated against COVID-19 is nearly 53 lakhs. A total of 52,90,474 beneficiaries were vaccinated through 1,04,781 sessions, as per the provisional report comprising data collected till Friday 6 pm.

As many as "3,31,029 beneficiaries have been vaccinated till 6 pm on the 21st day of the vaccination drive,"the ministry said, adding, thefinal reportwould be completed bylatein the night. The final report would be completed for the day by late Friday night, the ministry said.

One of the highlights of the vaccination process is a link for downloading the certificate which is also a part of the confirmatory SMS sent to the beneficiary post vaccination. The Certificate can also be downloaded by the Vaccinator and District Immunization Officer and handed over to the beneficiary, the ministry said.

Total 27 persons have been hospitalized so far which translates to 0.0005 per cent of the total vaccinations done so far. No new hospitalization has been recorded in the last 24 hours, the ministry said. The ministry further said total 22 deaths have been recorded till date andnone of these deaths have been causally linked with COVID-19 vaccination.

"One new death was reported in the past 24 hours, of a 77-year-old male in Agra, seven days after vaccination. It was a case of shock with pre-existing diabetes. None of these deaths have been causally linked with COVID-19 vaccination," the ministry said.

Total 3,31,029 beneficiaries who have been vaccinatedon Friday 6 pm include 29,229 from Bihar, 12,992 from Kerala, 23,291 from Karnataka,1,104 from Madhya Pradesh, 35,172 from Maharashtra, 6,258 from Tamil Nadu, 8,038 from Delhi, 27,862 from Gujarat, 53,959 from Uttar Pradesh and 17,329 from West Bengal, according to the provisional report.

Also read: PM SVANidhi scheme: Zomato sign MoU to take street food vendors' businesses online
(Newser)  Harland Earls was driving through California's Sierra Nevada, on his way to a birthday party in Truckee last month, when his GPS suggested he turn up ahead for a shorter route. So he left Highway 49 for Henness Pass Roadwhich does, in hindsight, sound ominous during a snowstorm. He soon became stuck in the snow. Henness Pass Road isn't plowed; it's only open during the summer, WDJT reports. "The GPS doesn't know if there's six feet of snow on a road or if the road is clear and passable," Sierra County Sheriff Mike Fisher said. Earls, 29, spent seven days stranded there, as another 6 to 8 feet of snow fell. Last Sunday, after running out of food and water, he turned his snowboards into snowshoes and hiked to a high spot in search of cellphone service. His 911 call was dropped, per the Los Angeles Times, but the sheriff's department was still able to locate him. A helicopter was sent to rescue him.

story continues below

Earls had one thing going for him, his mother said: a longtime interest in survival skills. Julie Earls said that when he was young, she'd often find him in the middle of the night reading a survival skills book by flashlight. He used a small propane camp stove to melt snow for drinking water, and he lived off two cans of beans, sausages and a few pieces of moldy bread. He was able to cut wood to keep a fire going. His cellphone got wet when he was trying to dig his truck out, but Earls found handwarmer packets and dry spaghetti noodles in his truck, which he put into a zipped plastic bag with his phone. In three days, the phone was dried out and charging, though he still had no signal. In the meantime, his family organized search parties. "I will not wait until spring to find his body," Julie Earls said at the time. "I will find him now if I have to go out there myself." His physical condition was good when he was rescued. "He just wanted to get home," his mother said. (Read more rescue stories.)

The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks!

Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics.

The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc.

The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics.

The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates.

Access to college recruiters and advisors  its harder to line up higher education.

Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family.

Vote

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She was a gunner on a mission in a village deep in the mountains in Afghanistan.

Just 30 minutes into the mission on Nov. 28, 2006, Cpl. Sue Downes was shot in the hip.

Everything went blank, she said, wounded from an assassins bullet.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Hundreds mourn hero to many at funeral of Sgt. Marty Gonzalez, decorated U.S. Marine and Veterans Court advocate

Moments later, a massive explosion ripped through the Humvee she was traveling in.

I remember trying to get up and I couldnt understand why I couldnt, she said as she lay helpless.

She had been standing up with her hip exposed in the open turret.

She was thrown from the vehicle and the turret shield landed on her legs.

Her driver had unknowingly hit some landmines that were laced together and the shrapnel from the explosion did the intended damage.

That pretty much took my legs, she said.

The massive explosion also took the lives of her driver and staff sergeant instantly.

Downes had suffered internal injuries, lacerations to her liver, damage to her spleen, kidney, and intestines as well as damage to her hip and both legs.

She lay there for hours waiting for a medevac that never came because of the heavy snowfall.

While we were under fire, they were rendering aid until they were able to get me out of there, she recalled.

Once the Quick Reaction Force arrived, which was four hours away, she was loaded onto a truck and driven eight hours away to Bagram Airfield in Bagram in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan.

They handed me off to a French NATO hospital because I lost all my blood, she said at one point during the trip.

She has O-negative blood, but they didnt have any and the medic made the decision to go ahead and give her O-positive blood to keep her body warm.

Also, during the trip, she quit breathing.

The breathing mechanism they had me on quit working for about 45 minutes, the soldier said.

They hand-pumped her for 45 minutes until the machine began working again.

They worked hard to save my life, she said grateful.

Downes learned later that they saw her, knew she was a mother, and werent giving up on her. Three times she flatlined on them, but they remembered she had two kids at home.

Honestly, thats what made me keep fighting too was my children, the mom said.

Before she deployed, Downes said she prayed to God asking Him if she got hurt to please allow her to make it home and watch her babies grow up.

If I had to hurt, that was okay. I just wanted to live. I think it was my faith in God that saved me and allowed me to come home, she said.

Hope is Not Cancelled: Cy-Hopes year-end appeal draws record donations

Once she made it to Bagram, she was stabilized enough for them to fly her to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center Hospital in Germany, the largest U.S. military hospital outside of the continental United States.

During transit, she developed a hematoma (bleeding on the brain) and they lost her again but were able to bring her back.

I wasnt going anywhere, she smiled.

When doctors were able to wake her at the hospital, they asked her if she remembered anything.

I told them I thought I had lost one of my legs, she said.

It was then that they told her the horrible news. They had to take them both because she had bled out.

At the time, she couldnt really grasp everything because she was still in a medicated fog.

Three days later, doctors allowed her to fly back to the United States to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

I remember getting off the plane and being loaded onto a bus. My (husband at the time) was there, and I remember raising my head up enough to say, Im OK.

They took her into a room where her stepdad, her brother, and her mom brought in her five-year-old son to see her briefly.

Shortly after, she was wheeled away to an ICU unit and placed into a medically induced coma. They began transfusions with the right type of blood and her body miraculously had no reaction to the blood and no serious side effects.

Periodically she was brought out of the coma and told what was happening by doctors.

On several occasions, her son was lying on the bed next to her comforting her and watching TV.

One time I woke up and my son was holding one hand and my daughter the other, she said.

After months of therapy and sheer determination, she was up walking around by March 2007.

They fitted me for (prosthetics), and it was so painful at first, but I had two kids to take care of and I was going to walk, she said.

Her kids were her motivation to walk again. When they offered her a walker, she refused.

I told them I was 25 and I wasnt going to be using a walker, and she was more determined than ever.

She remembered staying at Mologne House at Walker Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and following orders she would walk down to the elevator with the walker. She would take it downstairs where she would walk around regardless of how painful it was.

She returned after one of her trips and asked for crutches instead. Then she graduated to a cane within a few months.

She traveled to Massachusetts where she received a NEADS Service Dog, Lila, to assist her.

She really helped me to learn how to walk again. After I got her, I didnt need the cane anymore, and she doesnt walk anywhere without her.

A few surgeries and a few years later, she set a goal for running her two-mile and climbing the rock wall again before she left Walter Reed.

Two years later, she finally moved back to Nashville. A devastating fire and her mothers failing health led back home to Tennessee and she has been raising her kids on her own. After her sons graduation from high school, she felt it was time to make her move to Texas.

Last year at their gala, Helping A Hero awarded her a home in the Cypress area following her nomination by another Walter Reed patient.

The home was supposed to be built in December 2020 but because of delays attributed to the coronavirus, the home will not be ready until August of 2021.

Camden Property Trust has stepped up and has picked up the tab on the apartment they put her in at Camden Cypress Creek Apartments until her home is ready.

Rooms To Go donated the furniture for the apartment, and Sofia Androgue and Kim Martin from River Oaks did some networking and raised the money for bedding, kitchen and bathroom accessories.

It was basically a shower for her, Iler said. Downes had a fire in her home in Tennessee and lost most everything. This was a real blessing to her and her son.

Downes, who is a Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient, has been impressed by the outpouring of love and support she has received since she moved here.

When Meredith Iler from Helping A Hero approached Ric Campo, chairman of the board and CEO for Camden Property Trust, with Cpl. Downes story and needs, he immediately said yes to an apartment until she was able to move into her home.

They are not only donating the apartment, but a parking space, the utility bills, trash fee, pretty much everything except for her cable, Iler said.

Downes anticipated receiving a free vehicle from another charity and sold her own vehicle. The deal fell through and she was without a vehicle until former Rotary District Governor Rhonda Walls-Kerby stepped in an offered her a truck to use in the interim period.

Despite COVID, the American spirit to help our wounded warriors hasnt wavered, Iler said.

The groundbreaking will occur in the coming weeks and the public will be invited to attend.

dtaylor@hcnonline.com
New Delhi, Feb 6 : It has been over two months that farmers have been agitating at the national capital borders against the new farm laws. With their announcement of a nationwide 'chakka jam' on Saturday, Delhi Police tightened security at the Ghazipur border with Uttar Pradesh.

This is despite assurance by farmer unions that the road block would not affect the traffic within the Delhi borders as well as in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The scene at the farmers protest site at Ghazipur did not seem any different from other days of protest since November 26.

Image Source: IANS News

Ever since the January 26 incident, the police have been extra careful to seal all loopholes in the security arrangements.

They have been constantly monitoring the situation at the Delhi borders with the help of drones. Top police officials are also taking stock of the situation.

Image Source: IANS News

Volunteers on behalf of farmers sitting at the border have also been doing their bit to maintain peace. The volunteers have placed their barricades 100 metres before the police barricades so that as per assurance no one can set foot inside Delhi.

-- Syndicated from IANS
Jamaica is facing a marijuana shortage, in what has been described as a 'cultural embarrassment'.

Heavy rains followed by an extended drought, an increase in local consumption and a drop in the number of marijuana farmers have caused a shortage in the island's famed but largely illegal market that experts say is the worst they have seen.

'It's a cultural embarrassment,' said Triston Thompson, chief opportunity explorer for Tacaya, a consulting and brokerage firm for the country's fledgling legal cannabis industry.

Jamaica, which foreigners have long associated with pot, reggae and Rastafarians, authorised a regulated medical marijuana industry and decriminalised small amounts of weed in 2015.

Heavy rains followed by an extended drought, an increase in local consumption and a drop in the number of marijuana farmers have caused a shortage in the island's famed but largely illegal market that experts say is the worst they have seen. (Above, a farmer with a marijuana plant during a tour of his plantation in Jamaica's central mountain town of Nine Mile in 2013)

People caught with 2oz (56g) or less of cannabis are supposed to pay a small fine and face no arrest or criminal record.

The island also allows individuals to cultivate up to five plants, and Rastafarians are legally allowed to smoke ganja for sacramental purposes.

But enforcement is patchy as many tourists and locals continue to buy marijuana on the street, where it has grown more scarce - and more expensive.

Heavy rains during last year's hurricane season pummelled marijuana fields that were later scorched in the drought that followed, causing tens of thousands of dollars in losses, according to farmers who cultivate pot outside the legal system.

'It destroyed everything,' said Daneyel Bozra, who grows marijuana in the south west of Jamaica, in a historical village called Accompong founded by escaped 18th-century slaves known as Maroons.

Worsening the problem were strict Covid-19 measures, including a 6pm curfew that meant farmers could not tend to their fields at night as is routine, said Kenrick Wallace, 29, who cultivates two acres in Accompong with the help of 20 other farmers.

Heavy rains during last year's hurricane season pummelled marijuana fields that were later scorched in the drought that followed, causing tens of thousands of dollars in losses, according to farmers who cultivate pot outside the legal system. (File photo)

He noted that a lack of roads forces many farmers to walk to reach their fields - and then to get water from wells and springs. Many were unable to do those chores at night due to the curfew.

Mr Wallace estimated he lost more than $18,000 in recent months and cultivated only 300lb, compared with an average of 700lb to 800lb the group normally produces.

Activists say the pandemic and a loosening of Jamaica's marijuana laws have led to an increase in local consumption that has contributed to the scarcity, even if the pandemic has put a dent in the arrival of ganja-seeking tourists.

'Last year was the worst year. We've never had this amount of loss,' Mr Thompson said. 'It's something so laughable that cannabis is short in Jamaica.'

Paul Burke, chief executive of Jamaica's Ganja Growers and Producers Association, said people are no longer afraid of being locked up now the government allows possession of small amounts.

He said the stigmatisation of ganja has diminished and more people are appreciating its claimed therapeutic and medicinal value during the pandemic.

Mr Burke also said some traditional small farmers have stopped growing in frustration because they cannot afford to meet requirements for the legal market while police continue to destroy what he described as 'good ganja fields'.

The government's Cannabis Licensing Authority - which has authorised 29 cultivators and issued 73 licences for transportation, retail, processing and other activities - said there is no shortage of marijuana in the regulated industry.

However, farmers and activists say weed sold at legal dispensaries - known as herb houses - is out of reach for many, given that it still costs five to 10 times more than pot on the street.
Call it a clash, an altercation, a fracas or even a contretemps, if you want to get fancy. However you label the confrontation between Tanya Plibersek and Craig Kelly in the hallway of the Parliament House on Wednesday, it was significant for both the Coalition and Labor, for very different reasons.

The argument between the Labor frontbencher and Kelly, frequently called a maverick MP, was over Kellys pushing of incorrect claims about COVID-19 and treatments for it. Kellys idiosyncratic views, which he shares chiefly on his well-subscribed Facebook page, are counter to official government guidelines and contradict scientific consensus.

Craig Kelly and Tanya Plibersek argue in the hallway of Parliament House on Wednesday. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Until now, the government has only had a generic problem with Kelly. Every now and then, he pops his head up to freelance on subjects on which he is not qualified to offer expertise  the Azerbaijan election, wind farms, his assertion that coral islands float.

But now the government has a very specific problem with Kelly. He is undermining its public health message over the pandemic, which has been successful because it has been orderly, centrist and unified. Kelly is also a dangerous reminder to voters that the Coalition has often been at the mercy of its conservative right wing, which commands so much of the attention economy that its influence is outsized and unrepresentative.
The global economy's recovery risks being dampened or even derailed by the lag in coronavirus vaccinations for poorer nations relative to their wealthier peers.

Bloomberg's Vaccine Tracker shows 4.54 million doses were given on average across the world each day over the last week, but it's far from an even spread. The U.S. and U.K. make up about 40% of the 119.8 million doses administered globally.

Developing and emerging markets are, by and large, doing far less well. In Africa, only Egypt, Morocco, Seychelles and Guinea are recorded as having given any of the vaccines at all. Much of Central Asia and Central America has yet to begin vaccinating, or is moving slowly.

That means emerging economies risk falling further behind economically and limits room for rebound even in fully-inoculated countries by depriving them of demand for their goods and a supply of manufacturing parts. Worse still, not combating covid-19 everywhere may mean harder-to-contain mutations of the virus generate fresh health and economic crises.

"With the virus mutating, no country is safe until the whole world is inoculated and achieves herd immunity," said Chua Hak Bin, senior economist at Maybank Kim Eng Research in Singapore.

A recent study commissioned by the International Chamber of Commerce concluded an unequal allocation of injections could deprive the world economy of as much as $9.2 trillion.

Similar research by Rand Corporation estimated the annual cost could hit $1.2 trillion. Global growth this year could be less than half the World Bank's 4% estimate if vaccine distribution doesn't move quickly, said Chief Economist Carmen Reinhart.

Such calculations put rich nations under intensifying pressure to share their vaccine stocks, even though their publics may not support such generosity. Yet the signs point to ongoing hoarding.

European countries are already at odds over access to vaccines, just as they were over personal protective equipment a year ago. A program aimed at enabling access to vaccines is being underfunded by the biggest economies.

In China, which has paced the global economic recovery after getting the virus under control, a lack of urgency means it is now lagging the West in its rollout of vaccines, according to analysis by Gavekal Dragonomics.

Some developing economies worldwide might see some relief soon through the World Health Organization's Covax initiative, which will send 97.2 million vaccine doses to India in its first tranche of distribution, even as current supply in the country is seen outpacing demand. Pakistan is due to receive 17.2 million shots from the program, with Nigeria getting 16 million.

Rand estimated that so-called vaccine nationalization could end up costing high-income countries $119 billion per year versus a $25 billion price tag for supplying low-income countries with vaccines. The U.S. and Germany would face the biggest hit in absolute terms from the lack of a global inoculation, according to a December report.

Meantime, the study sponsored by the International Chamber of Commerce and written by academics from Koc University and the University of Maryland reckoned 49% of the economic cost of a lingering worldwide pandemic would be borne by advanced economies even if they enjoy total vaccination.

Almost half of respondents in a survey of executives by Oxford Economics see activity in their business remaining below pre-pandemic levels throughout 2021. More than four in five respondents flagged repeated pandemic waves as a significant or very significant risk over the medium term.

Emerging and developing economies are vulnerable to richer countries hoarding their doses because their fragile health systems are straining under the weight of mounting infections, they lack the resources to generate and distribute vaccines as fast as their wealthier peers, and foreign investment is flowing to safer locations.

Take Indonesia. It's the world's fourth-largest economy and home to 274 million people, yet covid-19 cases and deaths have accelerated at record paces. Almost half a million people received a first dose of the vaccine by end-January, falling short of a government goal of 598,400 that month. The nation is currently one of the least-vaccinated populations across 66 nations, at 0.30 doses per 100 people as of Feb. 5, according to Bloomberg's Vaccine Tracker.

The Peterson Institute for International Economics spelled out the dilemma posed by so-called vaccine nationalization bluntly in a report published this week titled: "The pandemic is not under control anywhere unless it is controlled everywhere."

"If you have public health out of control somewhere, it's not just a local economic problem, it's a global economic problem," said Monica de Bolle, a senior fellow at Peterson and one of the report's authors. "But, unfortunately, I'm not sure anyone is gearing up to actually do anything about it."
The Congress party has asked Modi government to disclose the names of entities who have bid for state-owned carrier Air India. Congress MP Manish Tewari on Thursday asked an unstarred question in Parliament seeking details of the eleventh corrigenda issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in relation to the sale of Air India. The details were sought in reference to restrictions on the Transaction Advisor, Ernst & Young LLP India, from publicly disclosing the details of the qualified interested bidders (QIBs) of Air India who have responded to and have been cleared in the evaluation of Expression of Interest (EOI).

In response to Tewari's question, the civil aviation ministry said, "As per the process of the disinvestment, the Expression of Interest in response to the Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM) by any group or entity were to be submitted to the Transaction Advisor. As per eleventh corrigendum issued in this regard, post completion of the evaluation of the EOIs received, the Transaction Advisor will directly intimate the Qualified Interested Bidders about their qualification and the next steps for the proposed transaction."

Putting this response on Twitter, Manish Tewari said, "Read this answer on Air India disinvestment carefully. Ministry of Civil Aviation does not even want to make the names of the Qualified Interested Bidders public. Why the secrecy and opaqueness? Let the transparency shine on the process. Make names of QIBs public."

The PIM inviting Expression of Interest for strategic disinvestment of 100% of government of India's stake in the national carrier, along with 100% stake in Air India Express Ltd and 50% holding in Air India SATS was issued on 27 January, 2020. The final deadline for submitting expression of interest by potential bidders, after few extensions due to COVID restrictions, was 14 December 2020. Last month, on 5 January, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management was to have finally intimated the qualified interested bidders for further course of action. However, the details of QIBs have been kept confidential.

On Friday, the Ministry of Civil Aviation tweeted a document, which said, "The Transaction Advisors should strictly maintain the confidentiality of the potential bidders from all persons including persons in government including the CPSE and non-Government. However, if required, information may be shared with specified agencies in National Interest upon an advice by the Administrative Ministry in writing."

The document read that each qualified interested bidder will be assigned a 'code' that will mask their identity and will be used for all activities including due diligence, site visits, biddings etc.

Further, the Ministry of Civil Aviation stated, "a non-disclosure undertaking should be signed by the potential bidder, inter alia, undertaking that the entity and its employees shall not reveal their identity and/or contact any member of the CPSE or the Administrative Ministry/DIPAM and also keep the data/information of CPSE (shared as part of transaction) strictly confidential.

Several names have done the rounds including Tata Sons, New York-based Interups Inc and a consortium of Air India employees, as having expressed interest in buying Air India. But there has been no official confirmation of the same.

Also read: Air India disinvestment: Qualified bidders to be announced on Jan 5

Also read: LIC IPO likely after Oct; BPCL, Air India disinvestment by Sept: govt official


Ready for talks, but won't accept anything less than repeal of agri laws: Farmers union

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Feb 06: Protesting farmer unions on Saturday said they are ready to resume talks with the government, but asked it to come up with a fresh proposal as the existing offer to put the three farm laws on hold for 12-18 months is not acceptable to them.

The unions, however, made it clear that they would not settle for anything less than the repeal of the three contentious laws.

Addressing a press conference at the Singhu border here, Samyukta Kisan Morcha's senior leader Darshan Pal said the ball is now in the government's court.

'We are ready to talk. The ball is in the government's court. We clearly told them that their last proposal (of suspending the farm laws for 12-18 months) was not acceptable to us. Now, they should come up with a new proposal,' he told reporters.

Internet suspended again at borders where farmers are protesting

Talking about the Saturday's 'chakka jam', the farmer leader claimed it got huge nationwide support which once again 'proved' that farmers across the country are united against these farm laws.

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Story first published: Saturday, February 6, 2021, 22:03 [IST]
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It appears that a global pandemic is not going to stand in the way of various pre-Super Bowl celebrations.

On Friday evening, several musicians hosted concerts and parties in and around the Tampa, Florida area in anticipation of the annual sporting event.

Many of the events were advertised as being COVID-conscious, although many of the photos and videos that were taken during the functions show partygoers throwing caution to the wind while enjoying themselves.

Party time: On Friday, many entertainers threw pre-Super Bowl events in and around Tampa, Florida; 50 Cent, who hosted his own function in St. Petersburg, is with DJ Self seen yesterday evening

No worries: Many of the events featured little to no social distancing regulations in place, jeopardizing the health of the attendees; 50 Cent is seen with other performers on Friday evening

One of the parties was hosted by rapper 50 Cent and took place in a St. Petersburg. airplane hangar.

The 45-year-old hitmaker promoted the event through his Instagram account and posted a flyer with the message 'tonight its going down pull up' on the day of the show.

The rapper is set to host another event later tonight.

Getting the word out: The In Da Club hitmaker promoted his event through his Instagram account, and he is set to host another party tonight

Mask off: Steve Aoki also hosted an event of his own at the WTR Tampa Pool on Friday evening, where he sprayed champagne over a crowd of fans

DJ Steve Aoki also hosted a pre-Super Bowl party of his own at the WTR Tampa Pool at the Godfrey Waterfront Hotel, which TMZ covered.

The event's organizers made a point of expressing that masks had to be worn and that everyone should have maintained six feet apart from each other.

However, footage from the event showed that neither protocol was being followed by anyone in particular.

The 43-year-old DJ and producer also came into close contact with his fans in order to spray champagne over them.

In attendance: French Montana, ready to party, arrived to an event with a mask in hand, but not on his face; Montana pictured with Funkmaster Flex at The Big Game Bash at The Ritz Ybor

Cutting loose: Montana and Rick Ross co-headlined a large concert in anticipation of the annual sporting event; very few fans were seen wearing facial coverings or observing social distancing guidelines; French pictured at The Big Game Bash at The Ritz Ybor

Rappers French Montana and Rick Ross co-hosted an event and shared several videos to their respective Instagram Stories.

Neither the majority of the performers or the fans in attendance were seen observing any coronavirus safety protocols.

The Unforgettable rapper took a video of himself wearing a face mask at one point; he later removed his protective covering during the show.

Take a gander: French shared footage from the show with his Instagram following on Friday night

Getting close: The Unforgettable songwriter shared multiple videos to his Instagram story showing him getting close to both his fans and fellow performers

On Thursday night, Tory Lanez threw a pre-Super Bowl event at the same venue Aoki would occupy a night later.

The 28-year-old songwriter also documented the event through his Instagram Story, and made a point of sharing numerous shots from the non-socially distanced party.

Many fans have traveled from across the United States to attend the Super Bowl and other functions associated with the annual sporting event, and many public officials are worried that the increased social interaction will only serve to spread COVID-19 further.
Right from the start, the UK's airports have consistently supported measures that protect public health. This is despite knowing the financial pain additional travel restrictions would bring to our businesses.

In many cases, we have led the way in pulling industry and Government together to work on future measures to enable travel to resume safe when the time is right.

The past few weeks have been no exception, as we have continued to back the Government's decision to suspend travel corridors alongside strengthening restrictions at the border.

Once again, we have come to the table to propose a risk-based roadmap out of these restrictions.

'We have come to the table to propose a risk-based roadmap out of these restrictions', say the bosses of Manchester, Heathrow and Gatwick airports

We agree with the shared goal of ending this crisis and resuming normality as soon as it is safe to do so.

However, there are three areas where it feels we are out of step with the Government, despite repeated reassurances from Ministers they will do everything necessary to protect the UK aviation industry and the jobs it supports.

The first is recognising the true scale of the impact Covid-19 has had on our sector and its ability to recover without targeted support after almost 12 months of no revenues or passengers.

The second is just how critical aviation is to the UK and to the more than one million people employed in our sector.

The third is the apparent disregard for the fact that our industry will provide the tools to deliver the Prime Minister's twin visions for levelling up and creating a Global Britain.

Of course, all sectors feel they need support and that they are a special case. But that does not mean we should ignore the unique role aviation plays.

Airports are critical parts of our national infrastructure and an enabler of Britain's success. So many other parts of our economy rely on the international connectivity we provide.

Unless the Government grasps the true significance of the role we play, it risks giving away our success and our competitive advantage. The longer we go unsupported, the less likely we will be in a position to help drive the UK's recovery and to deliver the Government's manifesto pledges.

Our businesses are somewhat different to others. From day one we have remained open for critical flights that carry supplies such as PPE, and we are now helping facilitate the vaccine roll-out. We have also supported the repatriation of UK citizens stranded abroad.

To ensure we stay open and provide a vital role in fighting this virus  at the same time as paving the way for a strong recovery  we have had to reduce costs wherever possible.

Heathrow has already lost its crown as Europe's busiest airport, bosses say

More than 10,000 people working at our airports have already paid for this with their jobs, both from our direct employees and the wide range of airport partners such as ground handlers, airlines and catering companies.

This is having, and will continue to have, a hugely negative impact on local communities reliant on our airports for jobs. The quicker we can open up travel, the quicker we can continue to be a driver of regional and national economic prosperity.

The one bill we have not been able to reduce by a penny is that which we pay to the Government. Together, we served 188million passengers in 2019. Last year, the figure was 20 per cent of that. Standing at more than 335million collectively, our fixed costs for business rates, policing and air traffic control have remained the same  despite a near complete collapse in demand.

Our airports are unable to diversify like other businesses. And as bosses of the UK's largest airports, we are collectively making losses of around 50million a week. If protecting the country means these strict controls on travel need to continue, there must be targeted financial support which reflects our new reality. We also need to start the planning for what our future will look like as we safely reopen.

Heathrow has already lost its crown as Europe's busiest airport. Since the start of this crisis, Manchester, London Stansted, Gatwick and East Midlands have also lost or seen a suspension of direct and critical trading routes. We need to open up routes to Europe as a first phase to reopening to the world.

'Most of the costs of running an airport cannot be turned off or turned down, and the furlough Job Retention Scheme has covered less than a sixth of our total costs,' airport bosses said

We are all now in a fight with our European competitors to win these routes back. We know that building trade links requires strong connections.

So, unless we rebuild services to the likes of Canada, Singapore and Malaysia, the UK's aspiration to become members of international trade deals like the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) will remain grounded.

None of the 11 CPTPP member countries tipped to experience huge growth in years to come, will rely solely on shipping.

Without action, this Government will be levelling down and creating a Little Britain rather than a global one.

The Government repeatedly talks of the 'unprecedented support' it has given to aviation. Much of this is no different to the support offered to all sectors of the economy, such as the furlough scheme, as welcome as that has been.

Like most businesses, we have made use of the furlough scheme to maintain jobs as far as we can. But most of the costs of running an airport cannot be turned off or turned down, and the furlough Job Retention Scheme has covered less than a sixth of our total costs.

The Airport Support Scheme, which offers less than one quarter off a collective bill of 186million, was inadequate in November. It now verges on disbelief. It was designed to respond to the pressure we faced in 2020 and fails to consider the impacts of a further national lockdown, the suspension of airbridges and further border restrictions.

This lacklustre response from the Government would have been seen as wholly inadequate if the same measures had been offered to rail, Tube and bus operators as they encountered the same loss of passengers.

John Holland-Kaye, chief executive of Heathrow airport

Germany, France and Portugal have all provided two to three times the level of financial support to their aviation sectors that our Government has given.

The Treasury has a straightforward choice. Last year, supermarkets returned 1.8billion in unnecessary business rate alleviation after receiving the support whilst recording bumper profits.

The Chancellor said early on that he would support businesses (big and small) with policy that would see them through this crisis. In that his original judgement was misplaced with supermarkets, we ask the Chancellor to revisit the devastating impact on aviation and redistribute some of that money to a sector facing a real threat.

The things we have needed from Government have not changed since the start of this outbreak, nearly 12 months ago.

Stewart Wingate, chief executive of London Gatwick airport

In writing this a year on, the only things that are different are the scale of the financial impact of the crisis, the losses we have experienced in terms of passenger numbers and, most sadly of all, the number of jobs that have been lost at our respective business, and across the industry.

The toll of job losses will only increase unless we work with Government on a roadmap out of this and, in the meantime, agree what fair support looks like while we are prevented from doing business.

International travel and trading are fundamental to Global Britain and recovery. The Government cannot have a Global Britain with a grounded and damaged aviation sector. Nor can it have a well connected, levelled-up Britain if we emerge weakened.

And in terms of supporting the global vaccination programme once the UK is protected? Unless they plan on sending supplies via our EU competitors or on sea containers, they need an aviation sector that can take off quickly when that time comes.

Continued disregard for our sector will only cause this economic hardship to spread and weaken the many sectors that rely on global markets, such as inward investment, tourism and higher education, at the very start of the UK's journey outside the EU.

We want to support the Government on its plan to repair the damage. In the 21st Century economy, an increasing amount of global trade travels by air  if the UK can maintain its leadership as having a world class aviation sector, we can help to deliver a thriving independent 'Global Britain'.

Charlie Cornish, John Holland-Kaye and Stewart Wingate are the chief executives of Manchester, Heathrow and Gatwick airports.
Trade authorities in the U.S. and Canada have imposed preliminary anti-dumping tariffs on copper pipes and concrete bars imported from Vietnam.

The U.S. has applied a 8.05 percent anti-dumping tariff on Vietnams seamless refined copper pipe and tubes.

The decision was made after the U.S. Department of Commerce conducted a preliminary investigation between October and March 2020, in which it found Vietnamese copper products were sold at less than fair value.

This rate is lower than what the U.S. is applying on Chinese copper pipes and tubes at up to 60 percent, according to the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam.

It added that Vietnams exports of these products to the U.S. rose 21.7 percent to $183.9 million last year.

Meanwhile, the Canada Border Services Agency has imposed a preliminary anti-dumping tariff of 3.7-15.4 percent on concrete reinforcing bars from Vietnam.

It has also applied a tariff of 4.5-28.4 percent on the same products from several other countries including Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.

Final conclusions are expected to be issued in May and June. Vietnam trade authorities have recently warned of rising number of allegations of trade safeguard violations.

In the last five years, around 100 complaints were levied against Vietnam, accounting for half of the total number the country has faced since 1994.

Radical Sikh outfits, Pak-based Twitter handles fomenting trouble: Rawat on farmers' stir

India

pti-Deepika S

Dehradun, Feb 06: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Saturday said US-based outfits such as Justice for Sikhs and around 300 Pakistan-based Twitter handles are stoking anger among farmers as he challenged those protesting the three new agricultural laws to prove how they are harmful to farmers.

Those behind the farmers'' agitation want to break the nation, he said, claiming the new farm laws have brought real freedom to farmers to sell their produce anywhere they want, apart from in the traditional mandis.

"I am sure those agitating against the new farm laws will be at a loss if challenged to prove how they are harmful to farmers," Rawat said after distributing Rs 300 crore worth interest-free loans to farmers under the Deendayal Upadhyay Co-operative Farmers'' Welfare Scheme.

"Anger among farmers is being stoked by US-based outfits like Justice for Sikhs and around 302 Twitter handlers in Pakistan because they don''t want farmers in India to grow under the prime ministership of Narendra Modi," Rawat said.

Criticising the New York Times for allegedly describing Narendra Modi as a "dangerous patriot", the Chief Minister asked how being patriotic can be dangerous.

"If we (the BJP government) had the powers of Hanuman, we would have split our hearts open to show what lies there for farmers," the Chief Minister said.

Appreciating the farmers of Uttarakhand who have stayed away from the day''s ''chakka jam'' in other states against the new farm laws called by the protesting unions, Rawat said he wants to thank them for refusing to submit to the forces that want to "instigate" them to serve their own interests.

Internet suspended again at borders where farmers are protesting

Reassuring farmers that the Modi government cannot ever think of harming them as empowering them monetarily to increase their buying capacity is integral to the BJP's ideology, Rawat said the prime minister should be credited for implementing the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission for farmers.

Naming Central schemes such as the PMGSY introduced during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, Narendra Modi's PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana and the Jan Dhan Yojana under which the poor could open zero balance accounts, Rawat said they were all meant to empower the rural populace and small and marginal farmers.

As many as 25,000 farmers of the state were distributed interest-free loans worth around Rs 300 crore through the loan distribution programme joined by about 5,0000 farmers from the state physically as well as virtually.

Interest-free loans of Rs 3 lakh to each beneficiary and Rs 5 lakh to each farmer group are being provided for investment in agriculture and agriculture-related fields including fisheries, forestry, cultivation of medicinal plants, dairy and poultry activities.

Thousands of farmers have been protesting at Delhi's borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh demanding the rollback of the Farmers'' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

Delhi metro stations to avoid amid farmers Chakka jam | Oneindia News

The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporations.

However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring farmers better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture.

It was one year ago today that Kimberly Police Officer Nick ORear died after he was shot in the line of duty on Interstate 65.

Family, friends and coworkers gathered Friday in his memory to mark the solemn anniversary, and to see, for the first time, interstate signs that will be placed in his honor on the stretch of roadway where he was killed.

The Officer Nick ORear Memorial Highway is on I-65 between mile markers 280 and 281. The signs, which will be placed northbound and southbound, were unveiled by State Rep. Allen Treadaway, State Sen. Shay Shelnutt and Kimberly Mayor Bob Ellerbrook at a ceremony held at the Kimberly Fire Station.

ORears parents, siblings, children and Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall were among dozens in attendance at the event. ORears K9, Stella, also attended.

We need society to drive by these signs on the interstate and they need to pause because every time they see one of these names, somebody died so that they could live in a safe community,' Treadaway said. This job is getting more and more difficult. Law enforcement officers are being demonized and have been for the last several years for whatever reason. But the sacrifices these men and women make for us is nothing short of amazing.

A portion of I-65 in northern Jefferson County has been named in honor of Kimberly Police Officer Nick O'Rear who was killed on Feb. 4, 2021. His K9, Stella, is pictured with the new sign.

The shooting happened Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020 on I-65. ORear, a 33-year-old father of two with a child then on the way, was struck in the head. He was pronounced dead in early the next morning at UAB Hospital.

At a March 2020 preliminary hearing against suspect Preston Johnson, State Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Pete Acosta chronicled what happened that night. Lee Glenn  a Warrior officer  was parked alongside I-65 and spotted an approaching black BMW. When the driver of the BMW  later identified as Johnson  spotted the patrol cruiser, he began to drive erratically. Glenn activated his emergency equipment, Johnson failed to stop, and a chase began.

As Glenn pursued the black BMW, testimony showed, ORear heard the radio traffic and joined in. When he entered I-65, he was ahead of Johnsons vehicle and Glenn was behind the suspect.

Acosta testified that a woman was with Johnson. He had picked her up and was taking her to her mothers house. That woman told police that when Johnson noticed a police officer behind him, he told her to grab a gun. She refused. At that point, she told agents, Johnson reached into the back seat and retrieved a long gun, which court records state was a Norinco Mak-90 AK-47.

Johnson, according to the witness, fired through the front windshield at ORears vehicle and then fired through the back windshield at Glenns vehicle. Once they realized there were no more police officers behind them, they exited the interstate and parked the BMW behind a church. Johnson then made some phone calls, and the pair was picked up by another man and woman in a white GMC pickup truck.

Johnsons passenger told police they left multiple items in the woods near where they had left the BMW. Acosta said investigators recovered the assault rifle, a Glock 9 mm handgun, a set of keys, a military camouflage jacket, a purse, a backpack and some narcotics.

Acosta said investigators had quickly identified Johnson as a suspect because of the vehicles description and law enforcements previous contact with him. A lookout bulletin was issued first to law enforcement only, but later a Blue Alert went out statewide.

Authorities were able to determine that Johnson had switched vehicles because the wife of the man who picked up Johnson was tracking him via social media, according to court testimony. The wife said she had called her husband to see if he was coming home and he told her he had to go pick up Johnson who had either had a wreck or was having car trouble. The wife then saw news bulletins that Johnson was wanted, and she called police to tell them that Johnson was with her husband. It wasnt clear in testimony how the woman was tracking her husbands movements, but Acosta said it wasnt through a phone app.

Johnson and the other man and two women were taken into custody shortly before 1 a.m. on Feb. 5 on U.S. 78 near Dora. Jefferson County deputies, Adamsville and Sumiton police were among those at the arrest.

Johnsons passenger picked Johnson out of a photo lineup as the man she was riding with. After questioning, Johnson was taken to the Jefferson County Jail and the other man and two women were released without being charged.

Acosta testified that both police cruisers  those belonging to ORear and Glenn  were heavily damaged by gunfire. Additionally, ORears vehicle suffered additional damage from crashing into the interstate median after he was shot. ORears rear window was shattered by gunfire, and there was blood evidence throughout the vehicle, including on ORears headrest.

Johnson remains held without bond. A trial date has not yet been set.

Following ORears death, Kimberly City Councilwoman Tanya Cowart joined together with Police Chief Ricky Pridmore and Fire Chief Brendt Wood to help launch the North Jefferson First Responders Memorial Scholarship fund.

Cowart said she stills remember her thoughts when she saw a police officer at work the day following ORears death. He just lost a brother. Here is a man who still had to show up and go to work that day He didnt have the luxury of calling in sick,' Cowart said. One of my favorite words came to mind and it was altruistic. Altruism is an unselfish welfare for others and in my mind, thats what nick Orear was,' Cowart said. People he didnt know, he went out and put his life on the line for us.

Pridmore spoke of ORears legacy. It was a privilege to know Nick and be a part of his legacy. When I think about legacy, I think about everything that goes into a legacy - attitude, character and thats just a few,' the chief said. To me your legacy is giving to you when youre born. Its like a tree given to you as a child. You water it as you grow and you pour your character into it, you pour your integrity into it. Nick, he left a legacy. His attitude, always positive.

I could go on for a while talking about his integrity. When you do the business we do, youre not always liked,' Pridmore said. But the day they lay you to rest, when the people you put in jail show up to your funeral, if that doesnt say enough about his integrity, no other story will help you understand about his integrity.

Like the tree were always given, Nick was given a tree and he left us with that tree - his legacy,' he said. Today I urge each and every one of you to pick up a cup of water with me and never forget to keep watering his tree for him so we can keep his legacy alive.

Fire Chief Wood read a joint statement from the mothers of Nicks three children, one of whom was born after his slaying, on behalf of the children. Last year has been the toughest years of our lives. Were still grieving. To say that each passing day got easier would be a lie,' the statement read. We miss Nick every day. Their daddy will never be forgotten.

Treadaway said law enforcement officers need to be thanked often. Nick is a true hero,' he said. When you pass these signs, remember that sacrifice was for all of us.
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Skyworks Aeronautics Also Strengthens Executive Team with Recent New Hires and Adds to Electric Aircraft Partnership The Company envisages going public via SPAC merger or traditional IPO

Skyworks Aeronautics Corp. today announced a $100 million investment commitment from GEM Global Yield LLC SCS ("GEM"), the Luxembourg based private alternative investment group. Under the agreement, GEM will provide Skyworks Aeronautics with a Share Subscription Facility of up to $100 million for a 36-month term following a public listing of the Skyworks Aeronautics common stock. Skyworks Aeronautics will control the timing and maximum amount of drawdowns under this facility and has no minimum drawdown obligation. Concurrent with a public listing of Skyworks Aeronautics shares, Skyworks Aeronautics will issue warrants to GEM to purchase up to 3% of the common stock of the company.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210205005052/en/

Skyworks Aeronautics VertiJet (Photo: Business Wire)

"Skyworks Aeronautics looks forward to working with GEM as we continue to work to bring our cutting-edge aircraft to market," stated Mr. Steve Stevanovich, Skyworks Aeronautics Co-Executive Director. We think that GEM is an excellent partner that believes in our vision and understands the promise and potential of our technology.

Skyworks Aeronautics will use the funds to move forward with the commercialization of its cutting-edge gyroplane aircraft, including the eGyro electric air taxi geared towards urban air mobility and the 400 mph VertiJet VTOL aircraft that competes directly with helicopters, but at a much higher speed, longer range and lower operating cost.

Brig. General (Ret.) John Michel, Skyworks Aeronautics Co-Executive Director added, With our highly experienced leadership and technical team and strong intellectual property portfolio, this commitment by GEM positions Skyworks Aeronautics to become the first company in the world to commercialize gyrocraft at scale. Be it providing affordable vertical lift alternatives to developing nations, progressive electric aircraft capabilities for air carriers, or game-changing vertical takeoff and landing platforms, Skyworks Aeronautics is now poised to be a transformative force in the rapidly evolving air mobility industry.

This agreement comes on the heels of Skyworks Aeronautics recent announcement of its electric aircraft collaboration with Mobius.energy to produce the state-of-the-art electric gyroplane, the eGyro. The Skyworks Aeronautics eGyro has been designed to leverage the fundamental safety and exceptional performance advantages of a gyroplane to create an eVTOL system that provides an unparalleled practical, affordable, and scalable approach to intra and inter-city passenger and air cargo transport. With a proprietary autorotating main rotor design delivering exceptional performance and unprecedented safety, the eGyro overcomes a key limitation of many of todays existing eVTOL system concepts. Mobius.energy developed an advanced battery module architecture optimized for electric aircraft.

Amongst other senior and technical staff, Skyworks Aeronautics has also recently added Mr. Barry Jones as its Director of Aviation Operations and Chief Pilot. Mr. Jones, a retired British Army Air Corps Captain, is a highly decorated aviator and instructor in numerous aircraft. He has also served as the Chairman of the British Rotorcraft Association (the organization that governs Gyro flying in the UK), has successfully worked with aviation regulators across Europe on certification matters, and has spent the last decade working in the field of Gyro Research & Development, successfully developing and launching several significant gyroplane enhancing concepts. He is leading Skyworks Aeronautics certification efforts. The full senior leadership team can be viewed on the following link: https://www.skyworks-aero.com/#section-teamone

About Skyworks Aeronautics

Skyworks Aeronautics is the world leader in gyronautics, the study and design of sustained autorotative flight represented by the company's gyroplane technology. Skyworks Aeronautics has more than 40 patents with several more underway, all obtained in an effort to radically change not only the way gyroplanes are perceived, but also the way they are utilized. From mass personnel transportation, agriculture, defense, and border protection to literally changing the economies of developing nations, Skyworks Aeronautics' goal is to change the nature of vertical flight. For more information about the company, its products, and individual members of the Skyworks Aeronautics team, visit www.Skyworks-Aero.com

About GEM

Global Emerging Markets (GEM) is a $3.4 billion, alternative investment group with offices in Paris, New York, and Los Angeles. GEM manages a diverse set of investment vehicles focused on emerging markets and has completed over 400 transactions in 70 countries. Each investment vehicle has a different degree of operational control, risk-adjusted return, and liquidity profile. The family of funds and investment vehicles provide GEM and its partners with exposure to: Small-Mid Cap Management Buyouts, Private Investments in Public Equities and select venture investments. For more information: http://www.gemny.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210205005052/en/

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Wrexham student bucks languages trend with offer from world-leading university

This article is old - Published: Saturday, Feb 6th, 2021

A local Coleg Cambria student has secured a place at one of the worlds leading universities.

Emma Hinde has received an offer to study Spanish and German at Oxford from October.

The 18-year-old from Wrexham, also received interest from Russell Group universities but has her heart set on attending the elite institution.

Her natural flair for languages became apparent as a pupil at St Josephs High School, which in tandem with a love for travel led her in this direction.





However, she admits that while her future may lie overseas, the here and now is what is important, especially given the challenges of 2020.

I have no definitive path and will see where life takes me, but I could look at becoming a translator, writer, teacher or any number of careers with this degree, said Emma, a keen musician who plays piano and flute.

My family and I visited Oxford for an open day last year and were blown away by how incredible it was; I never really believed I would ever receive an offer.

When that arrived, we were all shocked and surprised, but everyone has been very supportive and believes I can do it.

Parents Lesley and Mike, and sister Jenny, were all thrilled for Emma, as are staff at Coleg Cambria Yale.

As part of the Seren Network  a Welsh Government initiative designed to support Wales brightest sixth form learners to meet their academic potential and gain places at the UKs top universities  she had access to extra support and guidance when applying, which proved invaluable.

And that was especially vital given the unprecedented circumstances facing all educators at present.

Classes have been online for most of the last year, which has been difficult at times because there is no substitute for having face to face dialogue and picking up different facets of speech and grammar when learning languages, said Emma, currently studying A Levels in Spanish, English Literature and Psychology.

But with the help of the college and my lecturers and language tutors I have managed to progress and get to this point, which is brilliant.

They made me believe while getting into Oxford would be difficult it is achievable, which has not traditionally been the case for previous generations of students from this region  I cant wait to get started.

Gareth Jones, Curriculum Director of General Education at Coleg Cambria Yale, echoed those points.

With a sharp decline in the number of teenagers opting for languages at school, he is pleased to see a reversal in that trend.

Congratulations to Emma, she is a hard-working and engaging student who deserves every success, he said.

I hope her journey will inspire other students interested in learning languages to join us at Coleg Cambria, because nationwide there has been an alarming decrease in numbers  we want to change that.

Gareth added: We have shown in past years Cambria is a college that raises aspirations and can help learners realise their dreams, whatever they might be.

At what is a challenging time for all students we will continue to be there with support and in constant dialogue to ensure no stone is left unturned in helping them achieve their goals.

Visit www.cambria.ac.uk for more on the wide range of A Levels and qualifications available at Coleg Cambria
To accuse Jack Alterman of a lazy eye would likely elicit a firm objection from most any Charlestonian who knows his work.

For decades, the celebrated Charleston photographer has been known to take serious measure to get his shot, ascending heights for rare bird's-eye views, venturing the world over to lend his lens to its residents and terrain or coaxing souls for his hosts of uncannily spot-on portraits.

However, thats just what the photographer asserts at the get-go of his new book of photography. The title is My Lazy Eye.

The book, which was released in January, serves as a companion edition to his previous book of photography, My City Charleston, a photographic essay of the same size that captures South Carolinas aesthetic and its history, doing so by offering seldom-seen perspectives by way of bucket trucks, rooftops and boats.

Its true, in his introduction for My Lazy Eye, Alterman clarifies his playful adoption of the term. It first was attached to him as a child, when he was diagnosed as having reduced vision in one eye.

Really, its a metaphor for my life, Alterman said, explaining that it also applies to another defining trait, his so-deemed scant attention span.

I admire artists so much that are meticulous and take weeks to do a painting, he said, offering as an example the artist Mary Whyte, who is a friend of his. I see her pretty often, and I see her in her process as she creates a piece and it takes a lot of forethought."

The heft of Altermans new tome alone belies any such self-avowed indolence. The ground covered, the technique wielded and the life chronicled could hardly be summed up as lazy.

In one extravagantly spacious spread after the next, deeply considered, deftly executed images unfold before you, optimizing natural light, proffering visual bearings, graciously guiding your own eye from one point of interest to another.

They are the aggregate of his work over the past few years and from well before, spanning portraits and places, structures and natural stunners.

They embrace the rapturously wild, from Nepalese perches to regal Kenyan giraffes. They frame the magnificently man-made, too, from Parisian cityscapes to Charleston spires.

They cross paths with all manner of humankind, from this citys cultural icons to quizzical kids to Spanish toreadors.

And if that werent enough to offer something about which to muse in these hunkered-down days, Alterman throws in another layer of intrigue. True to his claim of a rapidly roving eye, he pairs unlikely page fellows together throughout, with one informing the other in its composition, color, subject matter and more.

Thus, a beguiling Mexican woman made up for Dia de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, shares space with the doorway of 8 Legare St. in Charleston. And it works. Her rose pink earrings play off the other photos red door. Her blacked out face paint bears a similar feeling to the textured stucco of the Charleston home. Even her welcoming eyes invite, like the slightly ajar wrought-iron gate in the companion image.

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Then you are hooked. Absorbed in this curious commonality, a flip-through of photos settles into a deeper form of engagement. In another spread, you marvel at how the verdant and stone glow and wend of Cathedral Rock at Yosemite National Park shares a similar majesty to an autumnal curve of Central Park trees before a steel-and-concrete range. How is it that the back of a luminous moment in the studio of artist Linda Fantuzzo so seamlessly coexists with a softy colored window lintel in Greece  or an orange and green Jonathan Green portrait seems meant for a swaying Aspen field?

For all the artistry, Alterman attributes as much of the projects genesis to logistics. After moving with his wife Jennet to Wadmalaw, he started moving boxes of slides and negatives out there from storage and wherever they were and realized it called for a serious culling.

There was just so much of it and I started editing, getting rid of a lot of the commercial stuff, he said, I was thinking, What happens when Im gone? Someone's gonna have to do this. 

From there, surprising juxtapositions began forming. Some are elegiac, like an arching snowy egret on Wadmalaw living beside a black-and-white portrait of the late artist John Doyle. The subject calls to mind one of the painters Lowcountry scenes. Whats more, eyes closed and head bent, the artists arching hand-on-chin takes on further elegance in the company of the winged sidekick. There are some that stand tellingly alone, like Philip Simmons smiling and holding open his eye. There are also pages devoted to his "East Side Matters" photography project.

As such, you find yourself getting more deeply acquainted with his subjects, human and otherwise. Maybe it's the wanderlust wrought by this pandemic, and Alterman's panoramic eyefuls are scratching that maddening itch. Maybe you're longing to see and be seen around this presently (and uncharacteristically) anti-social town.

After all, you would do well to approach the book with an altogether leisurely eye, indulging in a steady saunter through its pages and roaming Charleston and the globe in your own sweet time.

You want to take a breath between its pages, offered Alterman.

Theres a bit of cheek, too. Alterman is an agreeable sort, and a sense of play presents itself from time to time. In a self-portrait, artist Richard Duke Hagerty becomes a lurching red-orange bull. On the opposite page, a Spanish toreador is ready with his red cape. In one of Altermans earliest photographs from 1969, a group of Woodstock-esque festivalgoers in Atlanta gather at the waters edge, among them a nude man walking away, only to be paired with The Naked Cowboy in Times Square striking a similar pose of personal freedom.

After youve lingered and looked for a spell, more congruencies surface and more stories do, too, particularly about all those faces. It called to mind the way we used to learn about one another in Charleston, in the days when we crossed paths on street corners or clinked glasses at friends houses, when bits of soul and psyche were revealed over time and by context.

And Im not just referring to those days before the pandemic, Im also thinking of those times when this community easily came together in a smaller town with fewer distractions.

As for Alterman, he's able to forge such relationships during his portrait sessions in record time by emitting a confidence that so that his subject can, too.

"It's sort of by osmosis."

This all happens in crucial five or 10 minutes, which he deems the optimal time for a portrait session. Or perhaps that's all that his so-called lazy eye can muster. Ever on the move, hes got many more places to go and people to see.

My Lazy Eye is available at the photographers website, jackalterman.com, and at Buxton Books at 160 King St. in downtown Charleston.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 16:00:57|Editor: huaxia

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Motorists line up to receive inoculation at a COVID-19 vaccination site at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, the United States, Jan. 15, 2021. (Xinhua)

The move will send 1,110 active-duty service members to support five FEMA COVID-19 vaccination centers, according to Pentagon. Teams of 222 troops will support each one of the sites and will include medical and support personnel.



WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- More than 1,000 U.S. troops will be deployed to assist with a nationwide vaccination rollout amid fears of a new surge in infections and deaths caused by multiple new COVID-19 strains.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has approved a request for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to "augment and expedite" the vaccination efforts, Andy Slavitt, senior adviser to the White House's coronavirus response team, said at a news conference on Friday.

The move will send 1,110 active-duty service members to support five FEMA COVID-19 vaccination centers, according to Pentagon. Teams of 222 troops will support each one of the sites and will include medical and support personnel.

The first contingent of troops will arrive in vaccination centers opening in California over the next 10 days and begin operations around Feb. 15 with additional vaccination missions soon to follow, Slavitt said.

U.S. National Guard troops are seen near Capitol Hill after the inauguration ceremony of the 46th President of the United States in Washington, D.C., the United States, on Jan. 20, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

President Joe Biden has called for setting up 100 mass vaccination centers around the country within a month.

Biden's national vaccination campaign aims to administer 100 million doses of two-stage coronavirus vaccines in his first 100 days in office.

About 58.3 million vaccine doses have been distributed across the United States, but only about 36.8 million have been administered as of Friday morning, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The circulation of multiple new coronavirus strains in the country has increased the urgency for the Biden administration to accelerate the pace of vaccinations.

A total of 618 infections of new variants had been reported in at least 33 U.S. states as of Thursday, according to the CDC.

People register with National Guard members outside the mass vaccination site at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York, the United States, Feb. 5, 2021. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

The United States has recorded more than 26.7 million COVID-19 cases with related deaths exceeding 458,000 as of Friday afternoon, showed a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

A model developed by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington shows that the United States is projected to see 631,000 COVID-19 deaths by June 1.

The result depends on the vaccine rollout and the spread of variants, said the IHME. A worst-case scenario could see the death toll go as high as 703,000.

Increasing mask use from current levels of 77 percent to 95 percent can save 44,000 lives by June 1, according to the model.

A man receives COVID-19 vaccine in the mass vaccination site at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York, the United States, Feb. 5, 2021. (Don Pollard/Office of Governor Andrew Cuomo/Handout via Xinhua)

The IHME estimated that 17 percent of people in the United States had been infected as of Monday. The daily death rate is greater than 4 per million in 41 states.

"Daily deaths have peaked and are declining. By June 1, 2021, we project that 123,600 lives will be saved by the projected vaccine rollout," the IHME said.

The best strategies to manage this period of the pandemic are rapid scale-up of vaccination, continued and expanded mask-wearing and concerted efforts to avoid rebound mobility in the vaccinated, according to the institute.

Some states are lifting mandates rapidly, which poses a real risk of increased transmission as new variants spread and vaccination rates remain comparatively low, the IHME warned. 
The chairman of the African Union's executive body, Moussa Faki Mahamat, was re-elected for a second four-year term Saturday during a virtual summit of heads of state and government, AU officials said.

"51 votes out of 55 member states voted for @AUC_MoussaFaki for a second term as Chairperson of the @_AfricanUnion Commission," spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo said on Twitter, a result that was confirmed by a separate AU official.

Faki, a former prime minister of Chad, was running unopposed in the contest to head the restructured commission, though some member states had voiced concerns about voting online in the secret ballot.

On January 25 Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni wrote a letter to the AU leadership requesting that elections be postponed "for a period of one year or until such a time when the Assembly is in a position to hold a physical meeting to deal with AU Commission choices".

In the end, though, Faki's re-election bid went off with little resistance on the first day of a two-day summit that, in addition to internal elections, is expected to focus on the AU's response to the Covid-19 pandemic and conflicts across the continent.

In another race, Nigerian Bankole Adeoye is favoured to head the AU's newly-merged political affairs and peace and security departments, diplomats say, though AU rules dividing top positions among Africa's sub-regions could lead to a surprise result.

Whoever wins could play a critical role, along with Faki, in addressing crises the AU is accused of overlooking.

A three-month-old conflict in the AU's host country Ethiopia, pitting Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government against the former ruling party of the northern Tigray region, has proved especially sensitive.

Abiy has rejected appeals from high-level AU envoys for talks with Tigrayan leaders, sticking to his line that the conflict is a limited "law and order" operation.

"More than anyone, I am aware of the limitations the AU is facing in silencing the guns," Faki said in an interview with the Institute for Security Studies published this week.

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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 5, 2021) - CUSPIS CAPITAL LTD. (TSXV: CUSP.P) (the "Company") a capital pool company as defined under TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV" or the "Exchange") Policy 2.4 - Capital Pool Companies ("Policy 2.4"), is pleased to provide an update to its press releases of August 19, 2020, August 31, 2020, and December 22, 2020, regarding its transaction with Graphene Manufacturing Group Pty Ltd. ("GMG"), a private company incorporated under the laws of Australia, and the intended target of the Company's Qualifying Transaction, as such term is defined in Policy 2.4 (the "QT"). In addition, the Company announces that it intends to implement certain amendments to align with the TSX Venture Exchange's (the "Exchange") recently announced changes to its Capital Pool Company ("CPC") Program and Exchange Policy 2.4 - Capital Pool Companies ("Policy 2.4"), effective as of January 1, 2021 (the "New CPC Policy").

Subscription Receipt Financing of Graphene Manufacturing Group Pty Ltd.

GMG intends to complete a non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") of up to 2,310,000 subscription receipts (the "Subscription Receipts"), at a price of C$0.65 per Subscription Receipt, for aggregate gross proceeds of up to C$1,501,500, with the option to increase the Offering for the issuance of up to 3,077,000 Subscription Receipts for aggregate gross proceeds of up to C$2,000,050, at the discretion of GMG's board of directors.

As previously disclosed, GMG will effect a share split (the "Split") on the basis of twenty two (22) post-Split ordinary shares in the capital of GMG for every one (1) pre-Split ordinary share held, in connection with the QT. The Subscription Receipts will automatically convert into units of GMG (the "Units") immediately prior to the listing of GMG's post-Split ordinary shares (the "GMG Shares") on the Exchange in connection with the QT. Each Unit will consist of one (1) GMG Share and one-half (1/2) of one ordinary share purchase warrant in the capital of GMG (each, a "GMG Warrant"), with each whole GMG Warrant exercisable into one (1) GMG Share at a price of C$1.00 for a period of eighteen (18) months from the date of issuance.

All proceeds of the Offering are to be held by the subscription receipt agent in trust and will be released to GMG concurrently upon the conversion of the Subscription Receipts into Units (the "Subscription Receipt Conversion"). In the event that the QT is not completed and the GMG Shares are not listed on the Exchange, the proceeds of the Offering will be returned to the subscribers.

GMG may pay finder's fees to various parties in connection with the Offering equal to (i) a cash payment equal to 6% of the proceeds from investors introduced by the applicable finder; and (ii) ordinary share purchase warrants in the capital of GMG (the "Finder Warrants") equal to 6% of the Subscription Receipts subscribed for by investors introduced by the applicable finder (collectively, the "Finder's Fees"). Each Finder Warrant will be exercisable for one GMG Share at an exercise price of C$0.65 for a period of 18 months from issuance. The Finder's Fees will be paid at the time of the Subscription Receipt Conversion.

The Subscription Receipts and all underlying securities to be issued pursuant to the Offering will be subject to a four-month hold period under applicable Canadian securities laws. Completion of the QT and the listing of the GMG shares on the Exchange remains subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, the filing of disclosure documents and regulatory approval. There can be no assurance that the QT will be completed as proposed or at all.

Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in disclosure documents to be prepared in connection with the QT, any information released or received with respect to the QT may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of a capital pool company should be considered highly speculative.

Changes in Accordance With New CPC Policy

In order for the Company to align certain of its policies with the New CPC Policy, the Company is required to obtain disinterested shareholder approval to implement certain changes. The Company will seek such approval at its upcoming annual general and special meeting of shareholders to be held on March 9, 2021 (the "Meeting"), for, among other things, approval to: (i) remove the consequences of failing to complete a QT within 24 months of the Company's date of listing on the Exchange; and (ii) amend the escrow release conditions and certain other provisions of the Company's CPC escrow agreement dated February 11, 2019 (the "Escrow Agreement"). These proposed amendments are described in further detail below.

Removal of the 24 Month Deadline for Completing a QT

Previously, under Policy 2.4 (the "Former Policy"), the Exchange could impose certain consequences if a CPC did not complete its QT within 24 months of its date of listing (the "Original Deadline"), including, among other things, the potential for the company's shares to be delisted or suspended, or transferred to NEX (subject to the approval of the majority of the company's shareholders) and the cancellation of certain seed shares. The New CPC Policy has removed these aforementioned consequences, in the event that a CPC does not complete its QT by the Original Deadline, assuming the CPC obtains disinterested shareholder approval.

While the Company has entered into a definitive agreement for the completion of its QT with Graphene Manufacturing Group Pty Ltd. (see the Company's press release of December 22, 2020), there is no guarantee that this transaction will be completed either in advance of the Company's Original Deadline, or at all. Therefore, the Company intends to seek disinterested shareholders to approve of the removal of such consequences at the Meeting. The Company believes that obtaining such approval will provide the Company with greater flexibility to complete a QT, and allow the Company to better withstand market volatility.

Amendments to the Escrow Agreement

The Company intends to seek disinterested shareholders to approve of certain amendments to the Escrow Agreement, including, among other things to allow:

the Company's escrowed securities to be subject to an 18 month escrow release schedule detailed in the New CPC Policy, instead of the current 36 month escrow release schedule; all incentive stock options (the "Options") granted prior to the date the Exchange issues a final bulletin for the QT (the "Final QT Exchange Bulletin") to be released from escrow on the date of the Final QT Exchange Bulletin; and all common shares issued upon exercise of any Options prior to the date of the Final QT Exchange to be released from escrow in accordance with the 18 month escrow release schedule as detailed in the New CPC Policy.

The Company believes that these changes are in the best interests of its shareholders as it will allow the Company to have greater flexibility and mechanisms to increase shareholder value.

The TSXV has in no way passed upon the merits of the QT, and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

For further information:

William Ollerhead

Cuspis Capital Ltd.

Will@CuspisCapital.com

Tel. (416) 214-4810

Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this press release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected" "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts". "estimates", "believes" or intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could, "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. In this press release, forward-looking statements relate, among other things, to: completion of the QT; conducting of the Meeting and the results thereof; closing of the Offering; director and regulatory approvals; and future press releases and disclosure. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; and the delay or failure to receive shareholder, director or regulatory approvals. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this press release. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This press 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 unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, unless an exemption from such registration is available.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION OR DISSEMINATION DIRECTLY, OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/73811
A Conroe woman on parole for the fatal injury of her prematurely born infant son is charged with allegedly leaving a newborn girl she birthed in a water-filled toilet.

Denette Elizabeth Williams, 34, is charged with endangering a child, a state jail felony. Williams is out on a $50,000 bond, according to Montgomery County court records.

Williams was previously convicted by a Montgomery County jury in August 2012 of injury to a child, a first-degree felony, for the March 2011 death of her 5-week-old son. Jurors originally handed Williams 15 years imprisonment, but her sentencing was reduced to 10 years in December 2014 on appeal.

Endangering child charges

According to a probable cause affidavit filed Nov. 17 by a Conroe Police investigator, Williams was out on parole the early morning of Sept. 3 when she gave birth to a girl at her mothers home. The newborns father was awoken by Williams screams and called 911 when he discovered the baby head down in a toilet with water, the affidavit details.

Despite medical staff at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Hospital thinking the baby was 35 weeks in gestation, Williams asserted she was unaware she was pregnant. She said she thought she had severe menstrual cramps when she went to the toilet around 3 a.m. After one presumed cramp she heard a plop, began bleeding and proceeded to the shower, according to charging documents.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Montgomery County crisis negotiators see 50 percent increase in calls during pandemic

Medical staff said they noticed a six-inch part of the umbilical cord with a flayed end still attached to the otherwise healthy child, documents show.

The investigator received a copy to an online state welfare benefits application electronically signed May 26 by Williams. The application states Williams identified herself as pregnant with a Sept. 11 due date, according to charging documents.

Searching where Williams gave birth, the investigator noted in the affidavit that the toilet was in a separate room 10 feet away from the shower where she said she had walked to.

Williams mother told the investigator she noticed her daughter was showing a belly bulge about a day before the birth. The woman asked Williams if she was pregnant and was told she may have been and would check with a doctor, according to the affidavit.

Prior conviction

In the injury to a child conviction, baby Braylan Hood stopped breathing March 14, 2011 after suffering injuries, including a broken neck. Braylans father, Jimmie Preston Hood, 32, of Spring, was also convicted in the case.

Prosecutors said injuries to the baby born five weeks premature also included broken ribs, neck and arm ligature marks and brain bleeding, according to a Dec. 12, 2012 story in The Courier. The prosecution argued Williams and Hood failed to take the newborn to a doctor or emergency room and instead kept him strapped to a car seat without feeding him or changing his diaper, the article detailed.

Prosecutors contended Braylan also suffered a partial severed spinal cord and was left in a car for 11 hours, according to an Aug. 2, 2012 Houston Chronicle story.

Jurors deliberated for less than an hour before finding Williams guilty Aug. 1, 2012, sentencing her the following day, according to a report in The Courier.

In the Aug. 2, 2012 story, prosecutor Sheri Culberson was quoted as saying, Were pleased they did not give her probation. When you cause the death of your own flesh and blood from sheer neglect, you dont deserve probation.

Longtime Houston criminal defense attorney George Parnham represented Williams in the trial. Parnhams past clients include Andrea Yates, the Clear Lake woman convicted of drowning her five small children in the family bath tub in 2001.

On the phone Friday, Parnham said he remembers taking Williams case after her father reached out to him about it. He was not Williams attorney in her successful sentencing appeal.

Hood received probation in a separate trial. His probation was revoked for violations less than a year later and he was handed a seven-year sentence, according to a Sept. 17, 2013 story in The Courier.

New developments

The Ninth Court of Appeals lowered Denette Williams injury to a child conviction to a second-degree felony and reversed her punishment. As a result, on Dec. 16, 2014, presiding Judge Lisa Michalk of the 221st District Court reduced Williams sentencing to 10 years, according to court records.

Williams paroled out of the Huntsville unit on June 5, 2017 with a July 31, 2022 parole expiration date, according to information from the Texas Department of Public Safety records.

Montgomery County court records show Culberson accepted these new endangering child charges. She will not be the trial prosecutor as she had been in the injury to a child case since she recently left the District Attorneys Office.

The embroiled mother is now being represented by Montgomery County criminal defense attorney Judith Shields who said she thinks her client would have been saved from new charges if only she did not have the injury to a child conviction.

I think that when everything is looked at and brought forward that we may find that Denette is not the hideous monster that the state is trying to portray her as, so were just gonna keep working to find the truth, Shields said.

No trial has been set for Williams. If convicted, Williams could face up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

jose.gonzalez@chron.com

twitter.com/jrgzztx
Many of these unsubstantiated claims stem from an instance in Antrim County, Mich., when a clerical error in reporting results led the county to initially show a landslide vote in favor of Mr. Biden. The error was soon corrected, but conspiracy theorists have latched onto the incident as evidence that voting was rigged.

Files were deleted from the Dominion system in Antrim County. We know that for a fact, Matt DePerno, a lawyer who has fought to investigate the incident, told Mr. Lindell in the film. Wow, Mr. Lindell responded.

There has been no evidence that votes were manipulated in the county, and a hand-counted audit of votes in December affirmed the outcome there.

2. No, foreign countries did not interfere with voting machines.

Mr. Lindell interviewed retired Army Col. Phil Waldron, another member of the movement that fought to overturn the election. Mr. Waldron, who said his military background involves information warfare, pushed the unfounded claim that the Chinese government invested money in Dominion and therefore has access to its files and data.

A lot of movements of votes, direct access to Pennsylvania voting precincts, county tabulation centers, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, all of that coming directly from foreign countries, China being the predominant one, Mr. Waldron said.

He also claimed that overseas servers in Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom somehow played a role in manipulating results. The manipulation, Mr. Waldron said, was part of a coup that was aided and abetted by a foreign-threat nation-state, a peer enemy nation-state: China.

Election officials and cybersecurity experts have said there is no credible evidence that China helped Mr. Biden win the election.
On January 28, the National Education Union (NEU) released its Education Recovery Plan January 2021, urging the UK government to create the conditions to sustain education throughout and beyond the pandemic.

In lockstep with the government, the plan is predicated on the dangerous fiction that it is possible to reopen schools safely while the pandemic is raging.

National Education Union joint general secretary Mary Bousted speaking at the Zoom meeting attended by 400,000 educators

The previous day, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had announced that he would set out a roadmap for lifting lockdown restrictions on February 22 and that schools would reopen from March 8. The governments official COVID-19 death toll, a significant undercount, had just passed the grim milestone of 100,000. Its own statistics agencies had reported that the prevalence of the virus is still extremely high and, at best, falling very slowly. Over the next few days, dozens of cases of new, more dangerous variants of the virus were recorded across the country.

Opening schools, which Johnson has acknowledged are vectors for transmission, in these circumstances would lead to an explosion of infections, hospitalisation and deaths.

Both the Labour opposition and the trade unions support the governments homicidal agenda, with a few caveats required to sell the governments roadmap to educators and the general public. Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU, said in response to Johnsons announcement, We all want schools to open, but like the Prime Minister we want them to open when it is safe to do so We agree with Boris Johnson that this is a balancing act.

The NEU, the largest education union with a membership of 450,000, has fallen behind government policy since the virus first hit, acting alongside the other unions to divert and suppress opposition to the Johnsons herd immunity policy. Its latest Education Recovery Plan sets out how to reopen schools and colleges in a safe and sustainable way away from the Governments stop/start approach, which has resulted in schools and colleges being closed to full pupil intakes twice.

The plan states that on June 10 the NEU wrote to [prime minister] Boris Johnson with its first education recovery plan. We did not receive a reply.

What they do not mention is that the union went along with the governments reopening of schools and campuses in the autumn termknowing full well that even the limited measures they were calling for were not in place and that their members, pupils and families would be in grave danger. The results proved catastrophic.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), approximately one in 1,400 people in England had COVID-19 in the week August 30-September 5. By January 23, the ONS reported that the rate had skyrocketed to one in 55, and one in 35 in London. On average, 1,000 died each day in January, the deadliest month in the pandemic. Notwithstanding government claims that schools are safe, official statistics reveal widespread coronavirus infection in schools and the deaths of 570 education workers.

The latest NEU plan states that the union  will campaign for Government to accept this plan so that our members can return to school only when the science says it is safe to do so [their emphasis]. This reassurance is worthless.

When school gates opened last September, the NEU quietly shelved the science, dropping its own five safety criteria as a condition for safe re-openings. The criteria included the R rate being below 1, test, track and trace being in operation, social distancing in place and the protection of vulnerable staff. None were fulfilled or, like social distancing, even possible in a school setting. The NEU fell behind the government so that furloughed parents could return to work and resume profit making for big business.

In November, Boycott Return to Unsafe Schools (BRTUS, now Parents United) called for a parents strike against the governments refusal to close schools as infections raced out of control. The NEU ignored a letter of appeal from BRTUS to call its members out, and like the other education unions sabotaged the strike. United action by parents and educators would have shut schools and significantly slowed down the spread of the virus, saving thousands of lives.

The NEUs Recovery Plan includes social distancing, limiting the numbers on site through rotas and remote education, increased use of face coverings and better ventilation, specific support for SEND (special needs) settings, and the vaccination of education staff. The criterion of testing and contact tracing has been junked, after the government dropped its 78 million plan to roll out testing in schools, because the lateral flow tests proved impractical and the results unreliable.

Vaccination is presented as the panacea to enable a return to normality. But vaccines must be coupled with strong public health measures to suppress the virus until the whole population is protected. By March 8, millions of vulnerable people will still be unvaccinated. The further rollout of the vaccine is threatened by the fierce vaccine wars emerging between nations. New strains of the virus which make inoculation less effective are already being allowed to spread widely.

The NEUs plan appeals to the government to look to the future and build a better education system, with more resources like laptops, staff, ending punitive welfare reforms that have plunged many families into destitution, and an end to child poverty.

This is a cruel joke, after more than a decade of austerity cuts have been imposed by governments and Labour councilswith the collaboration of the unions. This resulted in a dramatic increase in poverty, accelerated by the pandemic crisis, so that the Institute for Fiscal Studies predicts UK child poverty will rise to 5.2 million in 2022.

The NEUs appeals for a fully resourced education system are for the record. They are under no illusions that the government will reverse its attacks on the working class.

To cover for the government and its own complicity over cuts to education and the unsafe reopening schools, a much-hyped major announcement in a Zoom meeting hosted by the NEU on January 26 turned out to be the launch of a joint fundraising campaign with the Daily Mirror, Help a Child to Learn .

Senior Vice President of the NEU Daniele Kebebe complained the government had not made good on its promise to roll out laptops to schools, that the attainment gap between richer and underprivileged children had widened. The Mirror and NEU were therefore making a national appeal to the public to help plug the education funding gap, and the NEU would start the ball rolling with a pledge of 1 million, paid for out of members subscriptions.

The Mirror s headline that morning had been, We just want to go back to school.

Teachers responses on social media to this stunt ranged from lukewarm to scathing. Mrs B posted on Twitter: You are my union representing teachers not a childrens charity. I really feel its the govts job to fund schools and by dipping further into our pockets we are letting the govt off the hook.

In the Zoom meeting, which did not take questions, Jeddeo asked drily in the chat, Wouldn't it be more efficient for us to cancel union subs and set up a standing order direct to schools?

Amanda wrote, Thought this was going to be a major announcement to finally help those of us who are currently teaching in lockdown in schools where all staff are expected in, up to 20 children are being housed in one small room, no segregation, and no safety in the school, teaching online as well as in person etc etc. O well. Better luck next time.

The NEU and other unions stand on the side of government and the financial oligarchy, which will tolerate no interruption to the accumulation of profit. To this end they are prepared to sacrifice the lives of educators and pupils by agreeing their return to the classroom before the virus has been suppressed and controlled.

Workers have shown time and again their opposition to these policies and a willingness to fight. An online meeting of the NEU ahead of the planned reopening of schools at the start of January was attended by a world-record 400,000 people. Many of these school workers then voted with their feet, refusing to return to schools and forcing Johnson to declare the current lockdown. Tens of thousands of teachers in Chicago are currently refusing to return to unsafe in-person teaching.

Educators rank-and-file safety committees have been set up in the UK, US and Europe and Australia to provide this opposition with a political programme and international organisation, independent of the trade unions. They are fighting for a political general strike and a response to the pandemic that puts lives before profits. We call on education workers in the UK to join the Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee today and attend its upcoming meetings.
Donald Trump is not expected to face charges in the hush money payment scandal involving porn star Stormy Daniels and former playmate Karen McDougal, despite no longer having the shield of presidency, according to people familiar with the case.

The former president's exit from the White House last month prompted speculation that US prosecutors might revive the investigation that sent his former attorney, Michael Cohen, to prison.

Trump himself had been publicly implicated by prosecutors as complicit in Cohen's campaign finance crimes during his 2016 run for office.

But several people involved in the case say the US attorney's office in Manhattan has made no such move, and is unlikely to do so going forward.

Donald Trump was expected to face charges in the investigation now that he no longer has the shield of presidency

Trump was accused of paying six-figure sums to porn star Stormy Daniels (right) and ex-playmate Karen McDougal (left) to keep quiet about their affairs during the 2016 presidential election

An attorney for one key witness described the investigation as 'dead,' adding that prosecutors have even returned certain evidence they collected - a likely indication no one else will be charged.

The attorney spoke on the condition of anonymity because prosecutors have not discussed the case publicly.

One current and one former law enforcement official told the AP that factors beyond presidential immunity prevented Trump from being charged for his role in buying the silence of McDougal and Daniels.

Both women said they had extramarital affairs with Trump in the mid 2000s and claimed they were offered hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep quiet ahead of the presidential election.

Trump's departure from office has not altered that equation, said the officials, who weren't authorized to discuss internal deliberations and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Cohen, who has cast himself as a potential star witness against his former boss, told the AP that hasn't heard from the US attorney's office in Manhattan since late 2018, when he was sentenced to three years in prison for arranging the payments.

The US attorney's office declined to comment. A message seeking comment was sent to Trump's attorney; his legal team is preparing for the start of his second impeachment trial.

Trump has said the payments to Daniels and McDougal were a private matter and did not amount to campaign finance violations.

Federal prosecutors infamously referred to Trump as 'Individual-1' in charging Cohen with skirting campaign contribution rules by arranging six-figure payments to Daniels and McDougal, a former Playboy model, to keep them quiet about years-old affairs that Trump consistently denied.

Cohen, 54, who served as Trump's attorney and 'personal fixer' during that time period, served time in jail due to the scandal

The investigation turned up evidence that Trump himself had been aware of the payments, despite his initial public claims he knew nothing about them, including a recording in which he can be heard speaking to Cohen about efforts to buy McDougal's continued silence.

Prosecutors said 'Individual-1' directed Cohen to make the payments, which they said should have been subject to campaign finance laws because they were made for the purpose of helping Trump win the election.

Trump's lawyers maintained during his presidency that he was shielded from prosecution while in office, raising questions about his legal exposure following his tenure - and even the prospect he would preemptively pardon himself.

But prosecutors harbored other concerns, particularly over the reliability of Cohen as a witness, the former enforcement official said, adding it was 'not likely for new witnesses to emerge.'

As part of the same case, Cohen was also charged with lying to Congress about a Trump project in Russia.

At the time, Manhattan prosecutors said in court filings that Cohen had been 'forthright and credible' but added that he 'repeatedly declined to provide full information about the scope of any additional criminal conduct in which he may have engaged or had knowledge.'

Prosecutors also believed it was far from clear that Trump could be convicted of a campaign finance crime, even if a jury believed Cohen's allegations that he directed the hush-money payments.

Daniels's attorney, Clark Brewster, declined to say when she last spoke with federal prosecutors in Manhattan but said this week he wasn't aware of any new movement in the case. Pictured: Daniels at a press conference in 2018

Campaign finance prosecutions are fraught with challenges, as evidenced by a similar case over hush-money payments to a woman that the government brought - and ultimately dropped - against former US Senator John Edwards, a Democrat.

Daniels's attorney, Clark Brewster, declined to say when she last spoke with federal prosecutors in Manhattan but said this week he wasn't aware of any new movement in the case.

Trump still faces a minefield of other potential legal issues on top of his second impeachment trial opening next week, including investigations of his business practices by the Manhattan district attorney and the New York attorney general.

The Manhattan prosecutor's probe includes a look at the 2016 hush-money payoffs.

Cohen has said that Trump greenlighted a $130,000 payment to Daniels ahead of the election and later reimbursed him for the payment with 'fake legal fees.'

The AP reported last month that the Manhattan District Attorney's Office recently interviewed Cohen for hours, quizzing him about Trumps business dealings.

'Trump has since gotten himself embroiled in more dramatic - and potentially more easily provable - forms of criminality,' said Elie Honig, a legal analyst and former federal prosecutor in Manhattan.

Federal prosecutors in New York first revealed they had closed their investigation into Cohen's hush-money payments in July 2019 amid a push by news organizations, including AP, to unseal search warrants relating to the FBI raid of Cohens office and hotel room.

That didn't preclude them from reopening it, however, and speculation lived on that it could be revived. Instead, prosecutors have moved on.

Several assigned to the case also have left the U.S. attorney's office - departures that may have been delayed if they were eyeing a criminal case against a former president.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has completed his three-day trip to Moscow amid criticism of Russia's response to anti-government protests.

The European External Action Service (EEAS) said in a February 6 press release that Borrell addressed a number of issues with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, including the "deteriorating human rights situation in Russia and the deliberate attempts to silence critical voices, NGOs, and civil society."

Borrell reiterated the European Union's "strong condemnation of the recent sentencing of Aleksei Navalny, which followed his illegal detention and assassination attempt by a chemical nerve agent on Russian soil." Borrell repeated calls by Brussels for the opposition politician's "immediate and unconditional release"

The EU official also "strongly condemned" Russia's February 5 decision to expel three diplomats from EU states for allegedly participating in anti-government rallies held after Navalny was jailed upon his return from months of treatment abroad for his nearly fatal poisoning. The opposition politician and anti-corruption activist has accused President Vladimir Putin of ordering the assassination attempt.

Borrell rejected the allegations that the diplomats from Sweden, Germany, and Poland had conducted activities incompatible with their status, and called on Moscow to reconsider the decision.

Regarding Navalny being sentenced this week to nearly three years in prison related to a previous fraud conviction, Borrell said that the implications of the Moscow court decision would be discussed by EU foreign ministers later this month.

The EEAS statement also said that EU diplomats were in contact with Navalny's lawyers during Borrell's visit.

Borrell also discussed Russia's actions in Ukraine, where Moscow has seized Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and supported a separatist conflict against Kyiv, and called on Russia to "respect the democratic choice of the people of Belarus and other conflicts in the neighborhood."

Moscow has given its support to Alyaksandr Lukashenka despite the refusal by the EU and other Western countries to recognize him as president. Mass protests have been held weekly since Lukashenka declared himself the winner of the country's August 20 presidential vote, leading to thousands of arrests and documented cases of violence against demonstrators.
Australian chef and TV personality Poh Ling Yeow has revealed her marriage to Jonathan Bennett is over.

In an interview with The Weekend Australian magazine over the weekend, the 48-year-old announced that after six years of marriage and 12 years together in total, they've split.

The former MasterChef star revealed the shock news when asked what she plans to do this year, saying: 'It is about me doing the things I love and remembering who I am without another person. [Husband] Jono and I broke up.'

It's over! Australian chef and TV personality Poh Ling Yeow has revealed her marriage to Jonathan Bennett is over. In an interview with The Weekend Australian magazine, the 48-year-old announced that after six years of marriage and 12 years together, they've separated

While it's still fresh, Poh maintains she and Jono, 39, remain amicable as they work alongside one another.

'But Jono and I still work together and are the best of friends,' she said.

She added that it was the most 'untraumatic breakup possible.'

Bizarre connection: In a unique situation, Poh, Jono and her ex-husband Matt Phipps run Jamface Cafe at the Adelaide Central Market, along Matt's new wife Sarah Rich (who also happens to be Poh's best friend of 20 years). Pictured left: Jono and Poh, right: Matt and wife Sarah Rich

In a unique situation, Poh, Jono and her ex-husband Matt Phipps run Jamface Cafe at the Adelaide Central Market, along Matt's new wife Sarah Rich (who also happens to be Poh's best friend of 20 years).

She joked that Jamface 'is a catalogue of failed marriages.'

Speaking of the working with ex-husband Matt back in 2017, Poh told Mamamia: 'He's my ex-husband. She's my best friend. And when we broke up, they got together and it's all dandy.'

Me time: The former MasterChef star revealed the shock news when asked what she plans to do this year, saying: 'It is about me doing the things I love and remembering who I am without another person. [Husband] Jono and I broke up.'

She said Matt was 'like her brother' and there was no such thing as a 'love triangle.'

Poh became a household name after appearing on MasterChef season one in 2009.

In 2019, she returned to the show as a mentor. And in 2020, Poh gave it one more shot as a contestant in the Back to Win series and placed 6th.

Remember this? Poh became a household name after appearing on MasterChef season one in 2009

Israel Embassy blast: NIA, Mossad exchange leads

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 06: With the National Investigation Agency being handed over the probe into the Israel Embassy blast case, a team of the Mossad met with the agency and exchanged leads that had been gathered.

A team of the Mossad was specially flown in from Tel Aviv earlier this week to assist the Indian agencies in the probe. It may be recalled that Dr. Ron Malka, Israel's Ambassador to India had earlier said that his country would cooperate with the Indian agencies to investigate this case.

The Mossad team will coordinate with the Indian agencies to identify the Iranian suspect, who could be behind the attack that took place on January 29.

NIA to probe Israel Embassy blast case

Following the blast, Israel Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu dialled PM Narendra Modi and thanked him for the security of the Israel diplomats in India. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke today by telephone with Indian Prime Minister and thanked him for his government's efforts to safeguard Israeli representatives in the aftermath of the terrorist event near the Israeli Embassy in India, PM of Israel had said in a tweet.

Indian Prime Minister Modi noted that his country is committed to the security of our people and added that India would continue to cooperate with Israel in the fight against terrorism, another tweet read.

While several leads have emerged from the investigation into the low intensity blast that took place outside the Israel Embassy in New Delhi, there are more pointers towards an Iran angle.

While there is nothing conclusive as yet owing to the false flags, officials in New Delhi tell OneIndia that the probe into the Iran angle is on and some of the leads are pretty strong.

There is also a very strong possibility that the blast could be linked to the one that took place on February 13 2012. We are not ruling out any possibility, the official cited above also said.

Investigators are also looking at the role of a group called the Jaish-ul-Hind. A person by the name Vikar had claimed responsibility for the blast on a Telegram group in the forum that is linked to the Qayam Foundation.

The internet protocol address has been traced to Herat in Afghanistan. However this angle needs to be thoroughly probed as it could be a false flag, officials say. The message posted by Vikar has been forwarded on many groups, but it could be a way of misleading the investigators, officials further pointed out.

Will not let the culprits get away, India tells Israel after blast outside embassy

On Saturday, the Delhi Police observed two suspects getting off the cab moments before the minor blast.

After observing the CCTV footage, the cops found that the two suspects were getting off a cab moments before the blast. The cab driver has been identified and was questioned by the Delhi Police.

Following the minor blast outside the Israel Embassy in New Delhi, the police had found a note addressed to the to Israel Embassy ambassador.

Delhi metro stations to avoid amid farmers Chakka jam | Oneindia News

The letter contained a threat and describes the explosion as a trailer. The letter also refers to Qasem Soleimani, one of Iran's most powerful generals who was assassinated in a drone strike by the United States in January last year.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, February 6, 2021, 7:55 [IST]
Met Eireann's official storm weather forecasting partner has declared a Status Red warning for Storm Darcy which is caused by a bitterly cold front pushing east from Russia towards Ireland.

Met Eireann, the UK Met Office and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) work together to name and forecast winter storms likely to hit the three countries

There have been just three storms this winter and the Dutch service has named the fourth on Friday. It issued a Status Red alert on Saturday.

"On Sunday, code red (weather alert) is in effect for snow in combination with a lot of wind and light to moderate frost," said its forecast.

Storm Darcy will also bring gale-force winds which will cause snowdrifts.

The conditions that have caused Storm Darcy are explained by Met Eireann's other partner, the Met Office in the UK. They have warned of snow in the southeast of England.

The Met Office explained what is causing the storm which will raise the risk of snow in the week ahead in Ireland.

"Cold air emanating from Russia and Eastern Europe will move across the UK over the coming days," said its statement on Storm Darcy.

It has also tweeted to show the weather being pushed across Europe. More below tweet.

Easterly winds will draw cold air across all of the UK by the end of the weekend. Strong winds and  heavy #snow  will affect parts of the southeast, with snow showers across other eastern areas.



Latest warnings https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs



Stay #WeatherAware  pic.twitter.com/eAzl8O2U8r  Met Office (@metoffice) February 6, 2021

Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Paul Gundersen, said: The UK is in for a notably cold and snowy period over the next week, with very cold air in place over the whole of the UK by Sunday". MORE BELOW TWEET.

Storm #Darcy has been named by the Dutch Met Service, KNMI, and is set to bring strong winds and heavy snow to southeast England late on Saturday and on Sunday, this easing through Monday



Met Office warnings are already in force



Stay #WeatherAware pic.twitter.com/X1m4FVlH0q February 5, 2021

Met Eireann says this weather from the East will have an impact in Ireland.

"Our weather is expected to turn progressively colder from early on Sunday 7th February, with the cold spell now looking likely to last well into next week," said a tweet.

Met Eireann has also warned that snow is on the cards this week with a commentary saying there is a risk of 'significant and lasting snow' due to the weather from Russia.

Last February Ireland was battered by Storms Ciara, Dennis and Jorge, which swept in from the Atlantic. This year Ireland has escaped the worst of a repeat of the Beast from the East conditions which caused Storm Emma in 2018.

Met Eireann has forecast that temperatures will tumble in Ireland from Sunday. Its summary outlook for the days ahead predicts wintry showers, mainly in eastern counties, largely dry elsewhere.

It says with will feeling very cold during the day with low temperatures and a moderate to fresh wind introducing additional wind-chill while frosty and icy nights are expected. MORE BELOW TWEET.

With conditions on the footpaths set to turn icy this week, take extra care when out and about. To avoid slips and falls walk like a penguin when the temperatures fall below freezing. pic.twitter.com/Lluoz1Frwt  Met Eireann (@MetEireann) February 6, 2021

NATIONAL FORECAST issued at 7.46pm on February 6.

SUNDAY: Another cloudy day tomorrow with limited bright spells. Isolated showers will mainly affect eastern areas and southern coasts. Some showers will turn wintry in the northeast and east later. Highest afternoon temperatures of just 1 to 5 degrees, coldest over Ulster, but there will be an added wind chill factor in moderate to fresh easterly winds.

Isolated wintry showers will affect eastern and northern areas with a dusting of snow possible on Sunday night. Lowest temperatures of minus 2 to plus 1 degrees, coldest over Ulster, with widespread frost and ice, in moderating easterly breezes.

Monday: Scattered wintry showers will continue to move in from the Irish Sea onto eastern and northern coasts. Bright or sunny spells developing generally and staying mainly dry elsewhere. Daytime temperatures of 1 to 3 degrees in moderate to fresh easterly winds.

Wintry showers will become more frequent and push further inland later in the night. Very cold with clear spells and lowest temperatures of minus 3 to zero degrees with a widespread sharp frost under clearing skies. Mainly moderate easterly winds, fresh to strong in the southwest.

Tuesday: Staying very cold with temperatures through the day of plus 1 to 3 degrees in fresh easterly winds, strong on southern coasts. Wintry showers will continue to feed in from the east, affecting mainly the northeast and east with some accumulations possible. More isolated showers will reach further inland. Very cold overnight again with lowest temperatures of minus 4 to zero degrees with severe frost and ice causing hazardous conditions. Winds will ease overnight with fog developing.

Wednesday: Further wintry showers will occur through Wednesday. Daytime temperatures only reaching 2 or 3 degrees for much of the country. Light to moderate easterly winds will freshen on Atlantic coasts towards the evening as a band of rain arrives from the southwest, gradually extending into much of Munster overnight, preceded by falls of sleet and snow. Another very cold night with lowest temperatures of minus 4 to zero degrees.

Further outlook: Very windy on Thursday with further falls of sleet and snow over much of the country, with more persistent rain developing in the southwest. Temperatures will increase towards the weekend.

More below tweet.

Our 10 day Atlantic Chart shows the precipitation and pressure forecast in 6 hour intervalshttps://t.co/9Giuj4CR5m



A nationwide forecast and outlook covering the next week can be found here. https://t.co/9gKN6SVok4 pic.twitter.com/TECkvdP659  Met Eireann (@MetEireann) February 6, 2021

The next storm is Evert. Met Eireann, the KNMI, joined the Met Office in the west Europe storm naming group in 2020.
Town of Homer, N.Y.  One person died and another was injured Thursday afternoon when a car crashed into a parked delivery truck in Cortland County.

Michael J. Knickerbocker, of Cincinnatus, the driver of the car, was pronounced dead at a Cortland hospital shortly after the accident on State Route 13 in the town of Homer, said the New York State Police. He was 55 years old.

Knickerbocker was driving southwest on Route 13 when he crashed his Chevrolet Impala into the back of a U-Haul parked on the shoulder of the southbound lane, troopers said.

Two people were using the U-Haul to make deliveries.

Alerted by a noise, one of the deliverymen  a 43-year-old Jamesville man  saw the incoming Impala and jumped out of the way, troopers said. He was not hurt.

The other deliveryman, a 49-year-old Delphi Falls man, was looking for a package in the back of the truck when the car hit, troopers said. He was taken by TLC Ambulance to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, where he was treated for head and neck pain, troopers said.

Knickerbocker was the only person in the Impala at the time of the crash. He was pronounced dead at Guthrie Cortland Medical Center.

The deadly accident remains under investigation.

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.
What makes for a great career in acting? For one answer to that, you could look no further than the roles Christopher Plummer played over the years. His long career has, sadly, reached its end  IndieWire reports that Plummer has died at his Connecticut home at the age of 91.



Plummers career included a series of acclaimed roles on both the stage and screen. He was born in Ontario, grew up in Quebec and made his first impact as an actor with roles on Broadway. In 1958, he co-starred in Stage Struck for director Sidney Lumet  his first film in a screen career that would last for over 60 years. He won Tony Awards in 1974 and 1997 for his work in Cyrano and Barrymore, respectively. In 2012, he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his work in Mike Millss film Beginners.



Plummers most widely-seen role is likely that of Georg von Trapp in The Sound of Music, a film which he famously did not enjoy making, working with Julie Andrews excepted. I was a bit bored with the character, he said in a 2010 interview with the Boston Globe. Although we worked hard enough to make him interesting, it was a bit like flogging a dead horse.



Later in Plummers career, he took on high-profile supporting roles working with directors like Michael Mann (The Insider), Terry Gilliam (12 Monkeys) and Spike Lee (Inside Man, Malcolm X). And in the right role, you could sense the joy that he brought to his craft  his role as a wealthy mystery novelist in Rian Johnsons Knives Out offers a host of examples of this.



The stage continued to hold a special place for Plummer. In a 2017 interview with CTV News, he recalled the most exciting theatrical experience Ive almost ever had  playing Henry V at the Stratford Festival in Ontario in 1956. In the same interview, Plummer offered a sense of his ethos, helping explain the brilliance of his career.



I want to push forward, is my motto, Plummer said. His career stands as a tribute to that.

Over the past 11 months, medics have noted a bewildering range of Covid symptoms, from stomach upsets, fatigue and headaches, to rashes on the body and inside the mouth, dubbed Covid tongue.

But three have remained consistent: a new, continuous cough, a high temperature, and a loss of smell or taste.

These are one weve been told to watch out for  and that we should isolate, and immediately book a test should be develop them.

A group of 140 GPs have written to Prof Chris Whitty asking that a runny nose should be included on the official list of symptoms as many Covid-19 patients are initially presenting with signs of a common cold, picture posed by model

Health experts have also been careful to point out that if you suffer a runny nose, its highly unlikely to be the virus.

In September, Professor Tim Spector, an epidemiologist at Kings College London who has been involved in a major study tracking Covid symptoms, even said people shouldnt worry too much if they felt a cold coming on.

But this could be set to change. Last week, more than 140 GPs wrote to Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty urging the Government to broaden the official Covid symptom list to include mild cold-like symptoms.

Many of them, such as Dr Alex Sohal, a GP in Tower Hamlets, London, and the lead writer of the letter, say they regularly review patients reporting these mild symptoms who are later diagnosed with Covid. Dr Sohal said: Were reviewing patients who mention cold-like symptoms, almost as an aside, and then a few days later they are diagnosed with Covid. Often they havent even considered that a runny nose might be Covid-19 and obviously havent self-isolated.

This is really worrying when you consider Covid is most infectious in its early days.

Other doctors share similar stories. Dr Vicky Marchant, an Essex GP, said: My experience includes patients whose first symptoms include runny nose and fatigue and only a few days later develop a cough, having potentially spread their virus around their contacts in the first few days of symptomatic infection. Worryingly, healthcare workers say many patients are unable to get a test because they do not have at least one of the main symptoms. As a result, GPs have been encouraging their patients to lie about their symptoms to get a swab.

The GPs want Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty to include mild cold symptoms on the list as the Covid-19 virus is especially contagious in its early days

Maddie Shah, a nurse in Waltham Forest and Redbridge, said: The majority of positive Covid cases that I have observed presented initially with headaches, some with runny nose and diarrhoea. People are having to lie to get a test.

The GPs also point to the fact that the World Health Organisation already includes common cold symptoms as part of its Covid symptoms. Virus experts agree that the Governments Covid symptoms need updating.

Prof Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick, said: Coming up with a common set of symptoms for a virus is difficult. But for one mutating this rapidly, its really challenging.

Previously, researchers at Kings College London who developed the Covid Symptom Study, an app which surveys symptoms in more than four million worldwide users, had ruled out a runny nose as a symptom of Covid. Since the summer, data from the Covid Symptom Study, led by Prof Spector, has shown a mismatch between the official main symptoms and the experiences of Covid sufferers. According to the app, fatigue and headaches are more common than a cough, fever or loss of smell. And at the end of January Prof Spector published a study that suggested that a high temperature may not even be a reliable indicator of Covid in the elderly. If you followed this advice youd be missing half of the infections, he said. With new mutations of Covid emerging, its possible minor cold-like symptoms could become more common. Last week, data from the Office for National Statistics showed people who had been infected with the Kent variant were more likely to suffer from a mild cough, sore throat, tiredness and headache than those who caught the virus at the start of the pandemic.

Prof Young said: Were seeing in real time the virus adapting to our bodies. Its possible that its becoming more infectious but milder. We could see an increase in cold-like symptoms, which are very different from the ones presented at the beginning of the pandemic.

Doctors also argue patients should be extra-suspicious if they develop a runny nose because common cold infections are at an all-time low. In December, there was roughly one reported case of the common cold for every 100,000 people, according to the Royal College of GPs  roughly 27 times lower than the average rate. This data is limited by the fact that far fewer people will have reported their cold in the middle of a pandemic, but this is still a staggeringly small number.

The government has increased the number of people being tested for Covid-19, such as this centre in Walsall to try and find people with the virus who are not showing any symptoms

Dr Sohal said: Flu and colds are way down this year. Were not suggesting that every runny nose is Covid, but theres a possibility.

One Essex secondary school teacher, who asked to remain anonymous, said he tested positive for Covid in mid-December but went to school for three days before getting a test because his only symptom was a runny nose.

He said: I didnt think anything of it because my symptoms didnt match the guidance.

It was only when he took part in a local community testing initiative that was set up to tackle rising rates in Essex that he found out he had Covid. By then, he believes the damage had been done. By the time I had my test Id already spent several days teaching.

Dr Sohal says that since the letter to Prof Whitty was published shes been contacted by Dr Susan Hopkins, deputy director of Public Health England, who promised it would be included in an ongoing review of symptoms.

But Dr Sohal adds: Theres no information about when exactly that will happen.
Delhi Police have beefed up security arrangements across border areas of Delhi to prevent a repeat of the 'January 26 Red Fort-like incident'. Deployment of security forces has been increased substantially across places of national significance like the Parliament, India Gate, and border areas of the national capital-Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur.

"In view of the January 26 incidents in Delhi, some anti-social elements and aggressive youth creating law and order problems, cannot be ruled out," as per a communique accessed by news agency PTI.

"It is assessed that as part of the protest programme on February 6, protesting farmers/ unions may attempt road blockades of important national highways, state highways and interior roads," the communique added.

Multi-layered barricades, barbed wires, and nails studded on roads have also been placed ahead of the 'chakka jam' for three hours between 12pm and 3pm proposed by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha on February 6. Additional buses have already been taken. Besides this, all vehicles will be checked thoroughly at the entry and exit points of Delhi borders and pickets.

New Delhi DCP has also asked DMRC to shut down a dozen metro stations, given the law-and-order situation. These metro stations include-Rajiv Chowk, Lok Kalyan Marg, Mandi House, Central Secretariat, Khan Market, Janpath, Udyog Bhawan, Patel Chowk, Supreme Court, Ashram and Shivaji Stadium (Airport Express Line).

In a bid to ensure that normal life is unaffected due to this chakka jam; forces have been deployed at important points in the entire outer-north district of Delhi as a safety measure. Police will also monitor social media activity to keep a watch on those spreading rumours and fake news about the force.

Samyukta Kisan Morcha said that all roads leading towards Delhi except the ones where farmers' protests are going on during nationwide 'chakka jam'. This 'chakka jam' is being organised as a response to the Union Budget 2021-22 which, according to the farmers, has ignored their demands.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said that the people stuck in this blockade will be given food and water. However, there will be no chakka jam in states like Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

With PTI inputs

Also read: Is Bharat Bandh on February 6? All you need to know about farmers' chakka jam tomorrow

Also read: Congress lends support to 'chakka jam' called by farmer unions
NORTH BRANFORD  A plan for a solar farm on Forest Road carries with it elements also expected to benefit the local environment: Energy cost savings for the town and money toward remedial work on other sites.

The plan, which has the support of Economic Development Coordinator Roger Salway, would allow the town to save money on its electricity bills through a virtual net metering program that would give it a discount for having the array in town, he said.

North Branford would save roughly $120,000 annually for 25 years, according to Salway, though that number is an estimate.

He said he hopes the project will be operational by late summer, noting that sunflowers will surround the array, which also will supply free electricity to an adjacent farm.

Salway said hes proud of the project.

Cela Bernie is managing partner of Citrine Power, a Connecticut-based business that invests in renewable energy projects throughout the Northeast and will be responsible for installing the array.

According to Bernie, power from the array would be fed for free to the utility company, which then gives a discount to the municipality at a high virtual net metering rate.

In turn, the municipality has a private contract with Citrine at a rate much lower than what it gets credited, she said.

A virtual net metering program benefits the town although the solar array would go on privately-owned property, Salway said

Other benefits

Salway said the issue of possible remediation work to benefit other sites arose when the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was approached to green-light the solar array.

The site slated for the array is owned by Mark DiLungo, through his company What TF LLC. According to Robert Isner, who directs the DEEPs Waste Engineering and Enforcement Division, the land was previously the site of allegedly unauthorized solid waste management under a different owner.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

The eastern portion of a parcel at 127 Forest Road marks the proposed solar array site, according to Salway.

Its a piece of scrubby land that was not being used. It had been abandoned many years ago, he said. This particular owner was thinking about building a housing development on it.

Instead, Citrine and the town approached DiLungo about installing a solar farm.

It was presented by the town, and (DiLungo) thought he could be helpful to the town (which is) going to apparently acquire the energy from the solar farm, said Ann Catino, an attorney who represents DiLungo.

He thought this was a very good use of the property, Catino said.

DiLungo reached an agreement with DEEP that helps the solar plan move forward. Through it, 90 percent of revenue he receives from leasing his land to Citrine Power would go toward environmental work on some of his other properties, including three on Totoket Road, the agreement says.

Catino said the arrangement is a positive move forward.

(It) will provide some necessary funds so that the other properties can be addressed, she said. Its a win-win-win-win all around.

Catino said her client didnt cause any of these issues or contribute to them, but has done a lot of work on the properties since acquiring them.

Salway said testing concluded the location of the proposed solar installation is not contaminated and Isner also said the section of land slated for the solar array installation does not appear to have extensive environmental conditions on it.

According to Isner, any potential solid waste materials on the properties need to be removed and properly disposed of, and the sites need to be evaluated for contaminants.

Catino said her client has done extensive cleanup on the properties and they look completely different than they did previously.

But she agreed the properties needed to be assessed.

meghan.friedmann@hearstmediact.com
President Muhammadu Buhari has extended the tenure of the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar Adamu.

Adamu was due for retirement on February 1, 2021, but a day after, he welcomed Buhari back to Abuja from Katsina, dressed in his full uniform.

This had triggered different reactions while some lawyers asked the court to stop Adamu from parading himself as the IGP.

But speaking with State House correspondents on Thursday, Minister of Police Affairs, Maigari Dingyadi, said the President decided to extend Adamu's tenure in order to have enough time to search for his replacement.

"Mr President has decided that the present IGP, Mohammed Adamu, will continue to serve as the IG for the next three months, to allow for a robust and efficient process of appointing a new IG."

"This is not unconnected to the desire of Mr President to, not only have a smooth handover, but to also ensure that the right officer is appointed into that position," he said.

Born on September 17, 1961, Adamu and enlisted in the Nigeria Police Force on February 1, 1986, as a Cadet Assistant. He rose through the ranks, serving as Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 5 Police Command Headquarters, Benin, Edo State.

He had previously served as the Commissioner of Police in Ekiti and Enugu states. He was a Directing Staff at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos, Plateau State.
Its not just humans. Trees also suffer plagues.

In the past 120 years, voracious insects and fungi have swept across North America with frightening regularity, laying low the chestnut, the elm, the hemlock and, most recently, the ash. Each of those trees anchored natural ecosystems, and human economies and cultures. And while climate change and wildfires grab the headlines, invasive species have so far proved to be a far greater threat to forest biodiversity in the temperate world.

These plagues have also amplified climate change. Research has found that rotting trees killed in the United States by forest pests release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at a rate within the same order of magnitude as wildfires.

Much as we were unprepared for the virus that has killed more than 450,000 people in the United States and 2.2 million worldwide, were not ready for the next tree pandemic either.

Tree plagues differ from human ones in a few important ways. On the plus side (from a trees perspective), insects and diseases are often specific to a genus, so no plague can hit every tree at once. On the minus side, as Gary Lovett of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies points out, people can stay indoors and get immunized, but trees have to stand there and take it.


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Vendors in Anambra State say it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to sell newspapers these days, as readers prefer to read the news online.

Emeka Nweze, the chairman of the Newspaper Distribution Association in Awka, who disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday, called on the federal government to save their businesses from going extinct by limiting the scope of online publications.

Mr Nweze did not, however, explain what he meant by limiting the scope of online publications.

This development has seriously threatened our businesses as we hardly sell up to 100 papers in a day.

I was, for instance, supplied 89 copies of vanguard newspaper for the week but sold only 30 copies.

I received 75 copies of Sun newspaper but sold only 26 copies, 15 copies of Nation newspaper but sold only six copies and four copies of Punch newspaper and sold none, he said.

Mr Nweze recalled the good old days when he used to exhaust all his supplies in a day. He said Nigerians now prefer to source news from online publications.

Our businesses are presently sustained by paid advertorials, job vacancy placements and other forms of advertorials.

We earnestly hope for a change in fortunes and still believe that newspapers have more merits than online publications, said Mr Nweze who suggested that newspaper vendors may be forced to look for alternative means of survival, since they rely on commission from the sales of newspapers.

He said he has been in newspaper sales for 34 years and has not experienced the sort of sales drought in his business.

Another newspaper vendor, Nancy Okoye, said the government should enact a law to protect newspaper businesses from extinction.

A newspaper reader in Awka, Okey Ifebunna, however, told NAN he has to keep reading hard copies of newspapers in order to verify what he reads online.

I agree it is easier to access news from online sources, but efforts should be intensified to verify their sources in order to check the spread of fake news, he said.

(NAN)
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has received an additional Rs 3 billion from the federation this month in terms of net electricity profit, bringing the hydropower profit to Rs 11 billion this financial year

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Feb, 2021 ) :Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has received an additional Rs 3 billion from the federation this month in terms of net electricity profit, bringing the hydropower profit to Rs 11 billion this financial year.

The provincial government will negotiate with the federation to increase the installment. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Health and Finance Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra said that the efforts of the provincial government towards net electricity profit have proved fruitful and the province has started getting regular installments in this regard.

He said, so far during the current financial year, Rs 11 billion has been received, including the January installment of Rs 3 billion. He said that earlier in December and November also Rs.

3 billion had been received while in October 2020 the provincial government had received 2 billion rupees.

Timur Jhagra said that the efforts of Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan were involved in achieving hydropower benefits for the province while Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser, Federal Ministers Umar Ayub, Pervez Khattak and Faisal Wada also played an important role in it.

The provincial minister said that discussions would be held to increase the monthly installments of hydropower profits so that all the royalties for the current financial year would be given to the province and the arrears would be recovered soon under a comprehensive strategy and mechanism.
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The Horn of Africa (HoA) sometimes raises a metaphorical question whether its name contributed to its conflicts. 'Shall we get rid of the horn from the name?' some ask, allegorically. The adjectives "conflict ridden" and "war torn" have been associated with this region for decades.

The region is most of the time associated with conflicts and, as a result, human sufferings. Adding insult to injury, relatively stable nations like Ethiopia and Kenya are facing internal and external threats of conflicts causing more fragility in the region.

But, beyond the internal and external national interest factors driving conflict within and between nations of the Horn, alien interests from various powers from across the globe also play significant roles in the conflicts and wars in the region.

Although the region has never been off the eyes of the international community for its conflicts and nonstop wars, the recent war in Tigray region in Ethiopia has brought it renewed attention. Since the onset of fighting on November 4, 2020, the international community has focused on the "law enforcement operation" as the government called it. On one hand, this was because of the risk it carried to spill over to the region in general.

Similarly, following the withdrawal of the United Nations and the African Union hybrid force (UNAMID) in Darfur, conflicts have resumed and displacements started anew in Sudan starting from December 31, 2020.

On the other hand, apart from the security threats posed by Al Shabaab in Somalia, the border conflict between Kenya and Somalia is rapidly spiraling into a highly concerning matter. The border dispute between Somalia and Kenya concerns section of the Indian Ocean that is said to contain sizable amount of oil and gas deposits. Somalia urges that its borderline from the semi-autonomous Jubbaland should go straight to the section of the ocean, demarcating huge part of the claimed territory within its territory. Kenya, on the other hand, wants the border to make a turn at some point so that it takes large section of the resource rich ocean. This has, at times, caused military standoffs between the two nations apart from recalling respective ambassadors in each country.

Situated at a weaker position for bilateral negotiations given its security challenges and institutional deficiencies, Somalia has referred the matter to the International Court of Justice for resolution. It is still waiting for a hearing since being referred to The Hague in 2014.

The situation got worse recently as armed groups in Jubbaland fought the Somali National Army. The federal government of Somalia officially accused the Kenyan government of interfering in Somalia's internal affairs during the 38th Extraordinary Assembly of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Heads of State and Government in Djibouti. The Somali government accused Kenya of training and arming the armed group in Jubbaland. IGAD responded by sending a fact finding mission to the two countries. The findings that exonerated Kenya off the accusations were rubbished by Somalia that has since defeated the Jubbaland armed group and controlled the area.

However, tensions are still high as Somalia has threatened to leave IGAD in opposition of the findings of the fact finding mission. There are still reports of military buildup in the Jubbaland area especially from the Somali side.

The widely reported involvement of the Eritrean forces in the conflict in Ethiopia has also triggered a new wave of questions as to what the future holds for Ethio-Eritrean relations. This is also hugely linked to the undelimitated borderlines that were decided by the Algiers Accord agreed up on by the two countries. Even though PM Abiy Ahmed (PhD) of Ethiopia has declared his administration's commitment for the full implementation of the Accord, there has not been a concrete action taken so far to demarcate the border. But since the start of the war in Tigray on November 4, 2020, unconfirmed reports are coming out of the border area that the areas of contention have been controlled by Eritrean forces without prior discussions with the public.

In addition to this, the South Sudan warring parties live in uncertain times as every agreement signed and every truce reached has not been respected so far.

Engulfed with so many conflicts, the region also features superpower rivalry where only four countries in the Horn host 10 foreign military bases. Both western and non-western forces build military bases in the region to have influence in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden areas. Global powers like China, Russia, Turkey and the US are using these bases as show of force among themselves.

The presence of these bases has been a concern for African Union's Peace and Security Council which indicated that the inability of hosting nations to control the flow of weapons and other equipment to and from these bases poses security challenges. In 2016, while expressing fears of the growing presence of these bases in some African countries, the continental body urged countries to critically observe their agreements whenever they allow for the establishment of a foreign military base on their soil.

Although it would be difficult to put straight forward answers to what causes the conflicts in the Horn of Africa, some take it back to the time the regional borderlines were drawn by the European colonial powers. Especially concerning the Somali people in East Africa that were dispersed into Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya, Carolyne Mutisya states that, "the resultant division of people and fractured cultural areas form the basis of contemporary conflicts, particularly among the border populations in most African countries."

In addition, "The refugees, illegal immigrants, and the Kenya Somalis form an extensive network for the Somali ethnic group within the region, which makes it easy for Al Shabaab to recruit fighters from within this network. This protracted refugee situation in Kenya and the open border between Kenya and Somalia allows the Somali-based Al Shabaab terrorists to blend in with the refugees and move freely across the border. Meanwhile, the political instability in Somalia provides a favorable environment for terrorist training that poses enormous security challenges to Kenya and other neighboring countries," Mutisya found out.

Samuel Makinda on the other hand researched the nexus between conflict and the superpowers. Makinda highlighted that, "the current conflict in the Horn of Africa is in many respects both regional and global. It is regional in the sense that its major driving forces are embedded in the nature of the states within this region, although this observation looks like an understatement in view of the fact that most of these states were themselves created by external forces. The conflict has acquired a global dimension, on the other hand, because of the level of the involvement of external actors, particularly the two competing powers - the US and China. What are the implications of superpower involvement? At the regional level, this conflict directly concerns four countries, namely Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Somalia. One major characteristic of these countries is their possession of a certain proportion of the Somali people, something which most African historians regard as an accident of history."

Mehari Tadele, a researcher of foreign policy and politics in the Horn of Africa, observed in 2017 that Ethiopia is a regional power in the making and "the country is a key player in the Horn of Africa and, despite recent internal conflict, crucial for maintaining stability in the region. Its government engages robustly at the regional and continental level, mainly through multilateral agencies such as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the AU; and it is seen as a trustworthy mediator in East Africa and the Horn. This role is aided by the relative strength of its military and its active participation in regional peace and security operations; its capacity and willingness to combat terrorism; a pan-Africanist legacy; and its effective utilization of multilateral platforms."

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But the reality seems to have changed and even though Ethiopia has forces deployed in various countries across the region for peace keeping missions, the leadership role it used to have in the region is said to have dwindled. This is on the one hand because of the longstanding political tensions between the Administration of PM Abiy Ahmed and Tigray regional government that have culminated in an active war. The numerous identity induced conflicts across the region have also kept the government a step behind. These incidents occupied the government and consumed much of its energy.

Despite all these, the government is still striving to maintain its leadership in the region as can be seen in the mediation role it played in Sudan's transition after the fall of Omar Al Bashir's government.

The current vacuum of regional leadership and lack of any visible force to take the baton of regional leadership place the future of regional peace and security under uncertain conditions.

Although superpowers are present in the region with their military forces, the contribution they have is also limited and these forces do not serve the region apart from monetary contributions for hosting nations. For instance, Djibouti gets USD 300 million annually for hosting foreign military bases. Hence, observers comment that they need to advance the interests of regional peace and security apart from asserting their power among themselves.
A florist from Texas who is facing charges for participating in the riot at the Capitol last month can travel to Mexico later this month, a federal judge ruled Friday. Jenny Louise Cudd had gone viral earlier this week when some news reports incorrectly stated she had been given permission to visit Riviera Maya, Mexico for a retreat. At the time though she had only filed a request to get permission for travel. On Friday, Judge Trevor N. McFadden of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted her request to attend the work-related bonding retreat.

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In approving the request, McFadden said Cudd doesnt have a criminal history and no one had suggested she was a flight risk nor that she could pose a danger to others. McFadden also pointed out that the prosecutors had not objected to Cudds request to travel. The judge did order Cudd to provide her itinerary to her supervising Pretrial Services Officer and follow any other instructions provided by Pretrial Services.

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There is no question that Cudd, a flower shop owner who unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Midland, Texas in 2019, was inside the Capitol at the time of the riot. She streamed a live video of herself inside the Capitol in which she says she charged the Capitol today with patriots. In the video she said that we did break down Nancy Pelosis office door and seemed happy with herself for participating in the insurrection. Hell, yes, I am proud of my actions, she said in the video.

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Cudd also talked about her involvement with local media outlets. I personally didnt break anything, Cudd told the Odessa American shortly after the riot. I didnt break down any doors. I didnt do anything violent. No one that I saw had any weapons of any sort. In a television interview, Cudd didnt express regret, saying shed do it again in a heartbeat. In the interview with the Odessa American, Cudd said she wasnt worried about consequences to her actions because I know I didnt break the law. Prosecutors apparently disagree with Cudd. At first she was charged with two misdemeanors but they later brought additional charges. A grand jury has indicted Cudd on five counts.

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Last year was one for the books, thats for sure. Lockdown proved a huge boost to the Irish book trade, with more than 13 million books sold, up by almost a million on 2019. Sales totalled 161.5m, the highest figure in 12 years. British research published in May revealed that people had almost doubled their reading time since March. In December former East 17 frontman Tony Mortimer made headlines when he revealed his newfound love for fiction. Never having read a novel until his daughter introduced him to the books app on his phone last spring, his joyful social media posts about the 70 books he devoured since made him famous all over again.

But if 2020 was positive for the book trade, what did it mean for libraries, which traditionally focus on in-person services? With more than 12 million items available to borrow (including DVD box sets, eBooks, audiobooks, eMagazines and eNewspapers), the public library service is provided by Irelands 31 local authorities as a shared system operating as Libraries Ireland. On February 29, 2020 it staged the first National Library Open Day, designed to showcase the services, clubs, classes, exhibitions and activities available for free at Irelands 330-plus library branches. If that date rings a bell, its because Irelands first case of Covid-19 was confirmed the same day.

As with every sector, lockdown was new territory. With few staff equipped to work from home, organising laptops and remote access was a priority. Staff, some of whom had never used social media before, had to learn new skills and share knowledge quickly. As Angela Cassidy, divisional librarian in Dublin City Public Libraries communications and digital transformation team, explains: We had to find a way of maintaining lines of communication as well as assigning work and maintaining a level of public service in very difficult times. The switch to online services was harder in some smaller counties, says Cassidy, because library staff were redeployed to other areas.

What could have taken months of planning and deliberation happened almost overnight simply because there was no alternative. Including contact and collect, home delivery and new how-to videos, the libraries response was imaginative and wide-ranging. Many initiatives were staff-led, such as the video versions of childrens books made by the staff of the Dublins Central Library in the Ilac Centre. One photographs pages, another records the text, a third creates subtitles. Although they worked separately and remotely, senior library assistant Anne Buckley found the collaboration fulfilling. My job normally involves so much personal interaction with the public that the idea of working from home seemed impossible at first, she says. Books are my thing, after all. But humans are nothing if not adaptable. One City One Book is one of the most significant undertakings in the library calendar. Last April, the Dublin programme of more than 30 events featuring Christine Dwyer Hickeys Tatty was postponed. But by immediately focusing on creating new online content  including video readings by actress Seana Kerslake and a podcast in association with MoLI, the Museum of Literature Ireland  the festival found a way to carry on. The flagship online event in association with Dublin Book Festival, which would have had an expected audience of 300-400 in real-life, attracted a total audience of 1,050. Moving events online has changed our audience from a local one to one that includes Ireland and the rest of the world, says Jackie Lynam of the Dublin City of Literature team. Our online events are accessible to a wider audience and are available as a permanent record, so post-restrictions we envisage most of our events being a hybrid of real life and virtual to reach as many people as possible. Expand Close Actress Seana Kerslake. Photo by Steve Humphreys / Facebook

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Whatsapp Actress Seana Kerslake. Photo by Steve Humphreys Traditionally, the book chosen for One City One Book (recently renamed One Dublin One Book) goes on to be the most borrowed library book that year. This years is Ronan Hessions Leonard and Hungry Paul, a story of kindness and friendship that Lynam describes as a tonic in these difficult times. Read More In 2018, Libraries Ireland launched a five-year strategy, Our Public Libraries 2022, Inspiring, Connecting and Empowering Communities. This plan aimed to improve access, use and visibility of libraries as an essential community service, and establish them as go-to places for a range of sustainable, integrated public services. It couldnt have envisaged that within two years they would be operating as a complex range of online offerings rather than physical places, and that its focus on establishing libraries as a hub of integrated public services would, albeit temporarily, be defunct. As part of the response to the closure, funding for e-books was increased. The national book download service BorrowBox had a big jump in users. Yet, despite the demand for online resources, Cassidy says: People were delighted when we moved to a call-and-collect service. There was huge demand on it initially, showing the pent-up demand for physical books. The surge in usage of digital services will have a permanent effect, but it will not spell the end for the brick-and-mortar library. Covid has made huge changes, Cassidy says. But the buildings remain relevant without a doubt  prior to Covid we had seen a strong shift in terms of people spending more time in libraries, taking advantage of study space, free Wi-Fi, public PCs and laptops, printing and scanning. There is still demand for these services, and we expect this demand to remain post-Covid, along with the enduring popularity of library events for people of all ages and interests. With the growth in family apartment living, people need and value space, both to study and to work. Libraries have always provided this space and we dont envisage a decline in demand for it when life returns to normality. Books have the power to open the world up to us while we stay still. Today, we can say the same of our libraries.

All 77 BJP MLAs in Bengal to have central security cover

BJPs Bengal Rath Yatra to conclude with PM Modis rally in March

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Kolkata, Feb 06: The Rath Yatra by the BJP in West Bengal will sign out with a rally by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March. This would mark the end of the BJP's Parivarthan Yatra in the poll bound Bengal.

The yatras were launched by BJP's national president, J P Nadda. The last part of the procession would begin on Sagar Island around February 12 and reach Kolkata in march. The Yatra would be flagged off by Union Home Minister, Amit Shah.

BJP urges EC to deploy only central forces for Bengal elections

Meanwhile, amid chants of "Jai Shri Ram", BJP president J P Nadda Saturday held a road show in Malda in election-bound West Bengal.

Standing atop a decorated lorry with state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh and others, he showered ubilant supporters with marigold petals and waved to enthusiastic crowds that gathered along the 1 km stretch between Foara More and Guru Rabindranath Tagore's statue.

People watched the procession from rooftops and balconies and were seen shooting videos with their mobile phones.

The streets were lined with BJP's flags and buntings as the cavalcade inched its way through the narrow and crowded streets.

Delhi metro stations to avoid amid farmers Chakka jam | Oneindia News

Waving party flags, BJP supporters shouted "Jai Shri Ram", "Narendra Modi Zindabad" and "J P Nadda Zindabad".

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Story first published: Saturday, February 6, 2021, 15:01 [IST]
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Myanmar's military rulers have restricted internet access amid protests denouncing the coup and demands for the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

By Saturday afternoon, a "near total internet shutdown" was in effect in Myanmar, according to monitoring group NetBlocks Internet Observatory, with connectivity at just 16 per cent compared to ordinary levels.

"The information blackout is likely to severely limit coverage of anti-coup protests," the group added.

It came amid the first street demonstration in the capital Yangon since Monday's coup and calls on social media for people to join the march.

Protesters chanted "Military dictator, fail, fail; Democracy, win, win", and held banners reading "Against military dictatorship". Bystanders offered them food and water.

Many in the crowd wore red, the colour of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), which won November's elections in a landslide, a result the generals have refused to recognise.

The junta did not respond to requests for comment. It has tried to silence dissent by temporarily blocking Facebook and extended a social media crackdown to Twitter and Instagram on Saturday.

Norwegian mobile phone company Telenor Asa said authorities had ordered internet providers to deny access to Twitter and Instagram "until further notice".

Many had sidestepped the ban on sites such as Facebook by using virtual private networks to conceal their locations, but the more general disruption to mobile data services would severely limit access to independent news and information.

"Internet already down but we will not stop raising our voice," wrote a Twitter user with the handle Maw Htun Aung. "Let's fight peacefully for democracy and freedom. Let's fight until the last minute for our future."

Myanmar civil society organisations appealed to internet providers and mobile networks to challenge the junta's orders blocking internet access.

"By complying with their directives, your companies are essentially legitimising the military's authority, despite international condemnation of this very body," a coalition of groups said in a statement.

Telenor said before the internet shutdown it was legally obliged to follow the order to block some social media, but "highlighted the directive's contradiction with international human rights law".

Amnesty International's deputy regional director for Campaigns, Ming Yu Hah, said shutting down the internet amid a coup and the Covid-19 pandemic was a "heinous and reckless decision".

Army chief Min Aung Hlaing seized power alleging fraud although the electoral commission says it has found no evidence of widespread irregularities in the November vote.

The junta announced a one-year state of emergency and has promised to hand over power after new elections, without giving a timeframe.

The takeover drew international condemnation, with a United Nations Security Council call for the release of all detainees and targeted sanctions under consideration by Washington.

Ms Suu Kyi, 75, has not been seen in public since the coup. She spent some 15 years under house arrest during a struggle against previous juntas before the troubled democratic transition began in 2011.

The lawyer for Ms Suu Kyi and ousted president Win Myint said they were being held in their homes and that he was unable to meet them because they were still being questioned. Ms Suu Kyi faces charges of importing six walkie-talkies illegally while Mr Myint is accused of flouting coronavirus restrictions.

Sean Turnell, an Australian economic adviser to Ms Suu Kyi, said in a message to Reuters on Saturday he was being detained.

Saturday's protest is the first sign of street unrest in a country with a history of bloody military crackdowns on protesters. There were also anti-coup protests in Melbourne, Australia, and the Taiwanese capital Taipei on Saturday.

A civil disobedience movement has been building in Myanmar all week, with doctors and teachers among those refusing to work, and every night people bang pots and pans in a show of anger.

In addition to about 150 arrests in the wake of the coup reported by human rights groups, local media said around 30 people have been detained over the noise protests.

The US is considering targeted sanctions on individuals and on entities controlled by Myanmar's military.

Secretary of state Antony Blinken pressed top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi in a phone call on Friday to condemn the coup, the State Department said.

China, which has close links to Myanmar's military, joined the consensus on the Security Council statement but has not condemned the army takeover and has said countries should act in the interests of the stability of its neighbour Myanmar.

UN Myanmar envoy Christine Schraner Burgener condemned the coup in a call with Myanmar's deputy military chief Soe Win, and called for the immediate release of all those detained, a UN spokesman said.

The generals have few overseas interests that would be vulnerable to international sanctions, but the military's extensive business investments could suffer if foreign partners leave  as Japanese drinks company Kirin Holdings said it would on Friday.

US-based pressure group Human Rights Watch called for the lifting of the internet restrictions, the release of detainees and an end to threats against journalists.

"A news and information blackout by the coup leaders can't hide their politically motivated arrests and other abuses," said Asia director Brad Adams.

Additional reporting by Reuters

Nine local organisations were recently presented with a 500 cheque from supermarket giant Aldi.

The charities are the latest beneficiaries of the Aldi Community Grants programme.

The grant recipients were decided by the Aldi store teams, the Naas Regional Distribution Centre teams and the Head Office team in County Kildare.

Cheques for 500 were presented to Feileacain, Naas Food Bank, St Raphael Special School, Womens Aid Kildare, KWWSPCA, the Irish Wheelchair Association, Barretstown, Our Ladys Childrens Hospital Crumlin and Pieta House.

Aldis Community Grants programme helps fund local charities and organisations that contribute vital work and services in their local communities. Each local charity supported is chosen by Aldi employees, enabling them to help the local good causes they are passionate about.

According to the company, the programme has contributed to 750 local projects to date, donating over 375,000 since 2016.
WASHINGTON - The Biden administration has begun mapping out how the United States might rejoin the international nuclear deal with Iran, as the White House pledged Friday to tightly align its Iran policy with European nations sidelined by the Trump administration.

A central question facing the White House is whether to trade U.S. actions for Iranian ones as a way of bringing both nations back within the fold of the 2015 agreement, something European nations generally support but many in Congress would be likely to oppose.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other newly installed officials held their first strategy session on the Middle East on Friday, and Blinken joined a group discussion with the European nations that were parties to the 2015 deal: Britain, France and Germany. Russia and China were also signatories to the deal.

In public briefings, White House and State Department officials stressed the administration's efforts to coordinate with European allies and sought to lower expectations for swift action.

"This is not a decisional meeting. It's not a meeting where policy will be concluded, and it's not a meeting the president of the United States will be attending," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said of the gathering of senior officials at the White House.

The timeline for a potential resurrection of the deal is "really up to Iran," she added. "If Iran comes back into full compliance with the obligations" of the deal, "the United States would do the same, and then use that as a platform to build a longer and stronger agreement that also addresses other areas of concern."

Iran is one of Biden's most vexing foreign policy challenges, as he seeks to engage its leaders while challenging its influence in the Middle East and its support of terrorism. Even U.S. officials who back the Iran deal as a crucial step in curbing its nuclear ambitions view the nation as a severely destabilizing force.

During his candidacy, Biden's position was to place the onus on Iran to stop pursuing nuclear activities that break its commitments under the deal before the United States would rejoin. President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018, saying it was a bad deal for the United States, a view rejected by Biden.

The Biden administration has not directly addressed a suggestion by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that the United States move toward rejoining the deal at the same time that Iran takes steps to come back into compliance.

One fundamental question discussed in the U.S. meetings Friday, with a decision still to come, is whether to seek incremental moves to get the process moving again or to insist on one big agreement that goes beyond Iran's nuclear program.

The administration has said - and many in Congress have insisted - that any deal that releases Iran from sanctions must include negotiated restrictions on its ballistic missile program and on its support for proxy forces fighting in other countries such as Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

"It's much too early to say right now how it's going to sequence," said one European official. The most important thing, this official said, "is that the E-3 and the Americans move forward on the same page. If they don't, the Iranians are going to exploit the fissures."

The E-3 refers to the three European parties to the deal. The official, like others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential conversations.

Iran has said the ball is in the U.S. court.

"Why on earth should Iran - a country that stood firm & defeated 4 years of a brutal US economic terrorism . . . show goodwill gesture first?" Zarif tweeted late last month. "It was the US that broke the deal - for no reason. It must remedy its wrong; then Iran will respond."

Iran's parliament threatened to block some international inspections unless the new administration drops sanctions by later this month. The Biden administration is also eyeing Iranian elections in June that could yield a more hard-line government.

Iran has several times proposed turning over the negotiations to Josep Borrell, who in addition to serving as the European Union's foreign policy chief is also, under the original agreement, the coordinator of the deal and of the joint commission that supervises its implementation.

Although Iran is chiefly seeking the removal of U.S. economic sanctions reimposed under the Trump administration, there are other possible gestures the United States could take as a means to grease negotiations, diplomats said.

One option might be to lift objections to Iran receiving a coronavirus-related loan from the International Monetary Fund, something Biden's new envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, floated last year.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron offered to be an "honest broker" in any renewed diplomacy between the United States and Iran. "We do need to finalize, indeed, a new negotiation with Iran," he said during a forum sponsored by the Atlantic Council on Thursday.

Although rejoining the 2015 Iran deal was among the few foreign policy priorities Biden laid out before the election, he did not mention the deal or ongoing concerns about Iran during his first major foreign policy address Thursday.

After Trump withdrew from the deal, Iran began breaking its commitments under the agreement in response.

Iran's violations, which include processing material that could potentially be used for a nuclear bomb, greatly complicate the current outlook for negotiations, one of the European officials said.

"To give them more money at the moment, without getting something in exchange, would be very difficult," the official said.

Still, the official said, "it ought to be possible for both the United States and Iran to map out what the first steps should be and get some calibration between them."

Iran, for example, frequently complains about additional oil sanctions the Trump administration imposed after it pulled out of the deal. The United States could lift some of those measures, perhaps allowing for trade with Asia, in exchange for Iran reversing recent steps like increasing both the quantity and quality of enriched uranium it is producing.

"But they'd have to have a firm commitment from the Iranians that we could all believe, and we don't get many of those," the European official said.

Another option is to unfreeze some of the Iranian funds from oil sales that were passing through the U.S. financial system when Trump tightened the sanctions. The money could be passed through Switzerland, which has maintained an opening for the flow of humanitarian funding to Iran.

The Iranians have charged that European companies, which had made significant investments there under the deal, pulled out because the United States made it difficult.

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Around 60 people were detained near Shaheedi Park in central Delhi on Saturday for allegedly holding a protest in support of the 'chakka jam' call given by the farmers agitating against the Centre's new agri laws, police said. The protesters were from different organisations, they said.

They were detained around 12.30 pm and later released in the evening, police said. Police said some trade union leaders were also detained on Saturday at some places as a preventive measure. Farmers in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan blocked highways with tractor-trolleys and squatted on key roads on Saturday, while scattered protests were held in other states during a three-hour 'chakka jam' called by agitating farmer unions which are demanding scrapping of the Centre's new agri laws.

Farmer unions had on Monday announced a countrywide 'chakka jam' to protest the internet ban in areas near their agitation sites, harassment allegedly meted out to them by authorities, and other issues. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of the farmer unions, had earlier said the protesters will not block roads in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand during the 'chakka jam'.

The Delhi Police had intensified security at all border points of the city as thousands of personnel including paramilitary forces were been deployed to deal with any situation emerging out of the 'chakka jam'.

After the Republic Day violence, the Delhi Police has deployed additional measures, including tightening security and intensifying vigil across the city and its border points.
Credit unions have continued to lend during the pandemic because their mission is helping people, CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle told CNBC recently. Nussle, along with CUNA Senior Economist Jordan van Rijn, discussed credit union lending during economic hardship.

Because were a cooperative and a not-for-profit cooperative, we dont have the same motivation to make money off your misery, Nussle said. If people think that you have their best interests at heart  even in the middle of crisis, people recognize that. I think it creates loyalty and means more people during times of crisis might be more willing to come to a credit union.

The article highlights several credit union members who went to their credit union as the pandemic hit them hard. Van Rijn also looked into why credit unions increase lending during rough economic times.

During periods of risk and uncertainty, banks tend to pull back a lot more on lending and just get a lot more conservative. But credit unions as part of their mission is just to continue to serve the members, he said.


A man shot Thursday night by a Clark County sheriffs deputy has been identified as Jenoah D. Donald, 30.

Vancouver police said deputies were conducting a traffic stop about 7:41 p.m. Thursday in Hazel Dell when one of the deputies fired their weapon and hit Donald, the driver of the car.

Donald, 30, was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to the Vancouver Police Department, which is leading the team thats investigating the shooting.

He remained hospitalized Saturday afternoon. The Vancouver NAACP Branch said Donald, a Black man, was on life support and that his family was told Friday morning there was nothing further doctors could do.

The organization said his family is preparing for his funeral. And an online crowdfunding campaign is raising money for funeral expenses.

The NAACP also said Donalds family has asked people not to protest the shooting at this time. Family members are in shock and are trying to grieve, according to a Saturday statement from the organization.

Meanwhile, four Clark County sheriffs deputies are on critical incident leave, as is standard practice after law enforcement shootings.

Authorities have not provided a detailed description of the circumstances surrounding the shooting, which happened in residential neighborhood at the corner of Northeast 68th Street and Second Avenue.

A woman who lives across the street from the scene woke up to see numerous police vehicles and a car crashed into a fence.

The car had traveled across her lawn before hitting the fence, based on tire tracks in the grass, she said.

The woman also saw a person on a gurney being taken away in an ambulance. Law enforcement told her to stay inside, she said.

The shooting happened less than one mile away from the Oct. 29 shooting of Kevin Peterson Jr., a 21-year-old Black man from Camas who was shot and killed by Clark County deputies during an undercover drug sting.

The shooting, which led to tense demonstrations in Vancouver, was investigated by the same team thats investigating Donalds shooting.

The team was formed after the Washington legislature passed a bill in 2019 requiring an independent investigation in incidents where the use of deadly force results in death or substantial bodily harm.

After the investigation, Tony Golik, the Clark County prosecutor, asked the Pierce County Prosecutors Office in December to review the case to determine whether a crime was committed. There have not been any additional updates.

The NAACP released a statement Saturday afternoon saying Donald had died. The organization issued a corrected statement roughly 90 minutes later.

-- Jaimie Ding

jding@oregonian.com; 503-221-4395; @j_dingdingding
(TNS)  The city of Lebanon is considering a license plate reader system similar to Mt. Juliet's Guardian Shield in an effort to better protect residents.Councilor Joey Carmack asked LPD Chief Mike Justice about the program during Tuesday's city council meeting.Justice said he would like to place the automated license plate readers at entrances into the city, especially off Interstate 40. He told the council about an incident last week where a group of men from Nashville came into Lebanon in a stolen vehicle and were breaking into vehicles at apartment complexes. An officer noticed suspicious activity and police were able to arrest two of the men, but three escaped. Justice said a license plate reader could have alerted on the stolen vehicle as it entered the city and officers could have possibly prevented any crime.Mt. Juliet's program, which uses 37 cameras in undisclosed locations, began in March 2020, and has been deemed a success. The Mt. Juliet Police Department typically announces several arrests each week from traffic stops initiated after Guardian Shield alerts on a license plate. Typical is a stop from Saturday, where the program alerted officers to a 2000 Honda Accord that was stolen in Nashville on Jan. 12. Officers stopped the vehicle on Mt. Juliet Road near I-40 and arrested a woman wanted in Robertson and Sumner counties. Officers also found suspected heroin and drug paraphernalia in the vehicle."We've had this technology for about fours years," Justice said, but pointed out the department has mobile readers, not automated ones mounted in fix locations."I thinks this would be great for us to do," Carmack said. "I will support it."Justice said he would be back with more details at a future meeting.The use of automated license plate readers has been controversial in some locales, primarily over privacy concerns. While state law allows law enforcement agencies to keep the data collected by the readers for 90 days, Mt. Juliet only keeps it for 30 days. MJPD has emphasized that it does not use the readers for traffic law enforcement. The system recognizes plates that are either attached to a hotlist or to investigations in progress. Hotlists are made for vehicles connected to specific crimes like forcible rape, criminal homicide, kidnapping, motor vehicle theft, burglary, robbery, aggravated assault, general theft or certain drug offenses.
A 60-year-old man from Russia has reportedly died after drinking 1.5 litres of vodka while doing a YouTube live stream. The man, named in local media reports as Yuri Dushechkin, was allegedly offered money by a YouTuber in exchange for drinking liquor.

The man passed away after consuming 1.5 litres of vodka and the viewers witnessed his death as the live stream continued to record, according to Russian news website Readovka.

Dushechkin, who was nicknamed "Grandpa" in streams, was found dead in the city of Smolensk on Thursday. The security forces are looking into the matter. However, it is yet to be confirmed whether the Russian man died because of the overconsumption of vodka.

The incident is the latest in a worrying trend of "thrash streams," sometimes translated to "trash streams" in Russia, where people are asked to perform stunts, often humiliating stunts, on a live platform in return for money.

In Dushechkin's case also, viewers of the YouTube live stream donated money to encourage him to drink more, as part of "thrash" streaming. The live stream continued as Dushechkin lay on the ground before he was found dead.

The incident was livestreamed by another man who has more than 25,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel. In other videos on the channel, the man frequently offered money to homeless people in exchange for their engaging in violent or dangerous acts, particularly acts inflicting harm on other people. Dushechkin reportedly also appeared on the channel in the past.

Taking cognisance of the matter, Russian Senator Alexey Pushkov, chair of the Federation Council's Commission on Information Policy, has called for a ban on broadcasts that livestream violence.

Also read: PM SVANidhi scheme: Zomato sign MoU to take street food vendors' businesses online

Also read: Delhi cuts property circle rates by 20% for 6 months
In a first, the CRPF has inducted women personnel in its specialised jungle warfare commando force CoBRA. 34 women personnel from 6 Mahila Battalions will undergo a CoBRA pre-induction training for 3 months. After completion of their training, the batch will be posted in LWE areas alongside their male counterparts.

ANI

Ten Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) units with over 12,000 personnel were raised under the CRPF in 2009 for undertaking intelligence-based jungle warfare operations.

CRPF inducts women commandos for anti-naxal operations. 34 women personnel from 6 Mahila Battalions will undergo a CoBRA pre-induction training for 3 months. After completion of their training, the batch will be posted in LWE areas alongside their male counterparts. pic.twitter.com/Rc5DFsT5y2  ANI (@ANI) February 6, 2021





During a press conference in Delhi in January 2021, the force chief for the first time broke the news of mulling induction of women personnel in its CoBRA force. Force chief A P Maheshwari said, "We are favourably considering inducting women in the CoBRA."

The majority of CoBRA teams are deployed in various Naxal violence affected states and a few are based in the northeastern states under counter-insurgency operations. Troops inducted in CoBRA units have to meet tough mental and physical parameters.



ANI

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has had women personnel in combat since 1986 when its first 'Mahila' battalion was raised. It has six such units at present. The force, with a strength of about 3.25 lakh personnel, is the country's largest paramilitary force and is designated as the lead internal security combat unit.


Here what to do in Ocean City on rainy days

Even on rainy days Ocean City has a host of indoor activities  like shopping, movie theaters, wineries and breweries  to entertain.

Konstantin Chaykin plays with time and his watches reflect the broad range of his interests.

Konstantin Chaykin would make for an interesting dinner guest. And thats not just because he is one of the most creative and technically accomplished independent watchmakers around. Chaykins watches reflect his broad range of interests.

His Cinema Watch, a tribute to the first days of film-making, is the worlds first mechanical watch with a built-in miniature zoopraxiscope. The zoopraxiscope, invented by Eadweard Muybridge, was the worlds first moving picture projector. It is especially famous for the influential The Horse in Motion, which, in the late 1800s, laid to rest a pressing question: does a galloping horse have all four hooves off the ground at once? That animation comes alive on the dial of the Cinema Watch at the press of a second crown.

Chaykins Cinema Watch, a nod to the first days of film-making, is the worlds first mechanical watch with a built-in miniature zoopraxiscope.

As impressive is the Moscow Computus Easter Clock, which is housed in a miniature version of St Basils Cathedral in the Russian capital. It presents the date of Easter on both Julian and Gregorian calendars and has four different faces that display over 25 different functions.

Housed in a miniature version of St Basils Cathedral, Chaykin's Moscow Computus Easter Clock presents the date of Easter on both Julian and Gregorian calendars.

And, then there is the joker series, a wacky take on time, with the eyes showing the hours and minutes with their pupils and a lolling tongue displaying the phases of the moon.

In the joker series watches, the eyes show the hours and minutes and a lolling tongue displays the phases of the moon.

Chaykin, the only Russian watchmaker to be part of the Academie Horlegere des Createurs Independants, is a self-taught watchmaker who, while growing up in St Petersburg, was more interested in radio communications than horology.

I studied radio communications at college and was a door-to-door salesman for a while before finally starting a micro-business which involved a friend and I buying watches in Moscow and selling them in St Petersburg. I still have no idea why we chose to sell watches and not something else, says Chaykin, who moved to Moscow over a decade ago.

Neither does he quite know why he started making timepieces. After making a watch for his father on his 50th birthday in 2003, Chaykin focused on wall clocks, and these included a computus clock with an Orthodox Easter date indicator.

In 2008, Chaykin, 46, went to the Basel watch fair with a second, more complicated version of the computus clock, and things gradually began taking a turn. Chaykin worked on several bespoke watches for customers across the world, including buyers from India, before the Joker won him international recognition.

Today, Chaykins website lists a range of timepieces and clocks but as always, he says, everything starts with an idea and a sketch. It helps me to combine three thingsthe appearance of the timepiece, how the movement will look and its philosophy.

For a man who displays the passage of time in a variety of ways, Chaykin has a prosaic view of it. Im familiar with the Indian concept of cyclical time and the western concept of linear time, but to me, its all about carpe diem, of making the most of the time you have, says Chaykin.

Chaykin spends much time in museums and archives before he begins work on a watch project. He says he spent over a year delving into the history of early cinema while making the Cinema Watch. His curiosity about the traditionaland highly accurate  Jewish system of measuring time led to the Decalogue collection and one of his many horological ambitions is inspired by the 18th-century Russian inventor and watchmaker Ivan Kulibins legendary planetary watch, said to have been made between 1786 and 1801.

The Mars Conqueror, a tribute to Soviet fighter aircraft, is made of titanium and indicates both Earth and Martian time on a sub-dial at six o'clock.

And its not always the past that fires up his imagination. One of his more recent limited edition projects is the Mars Conqueror MK3 Fighter. Powered by an ETA calibre that offers 42 hours of power reserve, the Mars Conqueror, whose looks are a tribute to Soviet fighter aircraft, is made of titanium and indicates both Earth time as well as Martian time on a sub-dial at six o'clock.
(Natural News) Remember on election night when poll workers in Detroit put cardboard over the windows of the counting room at the TCF Center to keep GOP observers from seeing what was going on inside? We now know, thanks to newly leaked video footage, that one of the reasons for this was that mystery vans arrived there under the cover of darkness to deliver tens of thousands of illegal ballots.

At least three election observers testified in sworn affidavits that they saw vehicles delivering fraudulent ballots to the TCF Center during the early-morning hours of Nov. 4. Upon going back to review the security footage, it was verified that mystery vehicles did, in fact, deliver ballots during the middle of the night.

One of the witnesses was none other than Shane Trejo of Big League Politics, who at 3:30 am witnessed a Biden Ballot Drop that ultimately propelled Chairman Xiden into the lead. According to Trejo, there were thousands of ballots in each box.

There were at least 50 boxes that I saw unloaded at 3:30 am, well after the 8:00 pm deadline for ballots to show up, Trejo testified.

This 3:30 am drop of illegal ballots arrived after a previous drop that occurred at 10:30 pm, which was also past the deadline. This drop included a whopping 138,000 illegal ballots.

Trejo later testified that he noticed the city of Detroit Clerks Office and emblem emblazoned on the side of the white van that showed up with the illegal ballots. City Clerk Janice Winfreys name was on the van, along with a phone number, presumably for Winfreys office.

According to Trejo, the ballots could not be processed right when they arrived, so they had to be counted later after a new shift of poll workers had come in for the day, possibly unaware of what was happening.

Biden would not have won Michigan were it not for blatant fraud

Immediately after these illegal ballots were counted, China Joe took the lead from President Donald Trump, who before the illegal ballot drops was winning the state of Michigan.

The timing of all this is critical, Trejo says, because the first Biden Ballot Drop occurred right at the end of a ballot counting shift as it was transitioning to the next. This allowed the fraudulent ballots to remain uncounted until a new crop of ballot counters arrived to take over, not knowing from where those ballots came.

When Trejo repeatedly tried to ask site supervisors about the mystery truck, he says he was stonewalled.

Another witness to the sham was Michigan State Sen. Pat Colbeck, who likewise witnessed the 3:30 am illegal Biden Ballot Drop.

I went back there and I witnessed a mini-panel truck, if you will, with Detroit Election Bureau regalia all over the side and a vehicle ID number on it, Colbeck told The Gateway Pundit (TGP).

And inside of it, and this gets into some chain of custody discussions, there was no indication that there was a Republican and a Democrat (present) during the transfer. We dont know if they stopped by a side street in Coney Island and picked up a few more ballots during transfer. We have no way of verifying any of that information.

As to be expected, neither Michigan authorities nor the mainstream media is at all interested in these developments. According to them, Biden is the rightful winner of the election because democracy.

Another thing worth pointing out is that when TGP tried to access the incriminating footage from the TCF Center, they were quoted a cost of $22,000 for one days worth of video footage. In other words, the TCF Center did not want to help out without first getting a payout.

More related news about the fraudulent 2020 election can be found at Trump.news.

Sources for this article include:

NaturalNews.com

TheGatewayPundit.com
Alex Salmond will refuse to give evidence at an inquiry into the Scottish Government's handling of harassment complaints against him, sources claim.

The former-First Minister says his explosive dossier of accusations against successor Nicola Sturgeon are being censored.

There is 'no chance' he will provide witness testimony to the inquiry until the accusations are made public, reports suggest.

The Holyrood committee is probing the Scottish Government's botched handling of two harassment complaints against Mr Salmond in 2018.

A judicial review found the probe was unlawful and 'tainted by apparent bias', and Mr Salmond was awarded more than 500,000 of taxpayers' money for legal fees.

There is 'no chance' Alex Salmond (centre) will give evidence to a inquiry into the Scottish Government's handling of harassment complaints amid a censorship row, sources claim

The former-First Minister says his allegations against successor Nicola Sturgeon (pictured) are being censored

He was acquitted of 13 charges of sexual assault, including attempted rape, at the High Court in Edinburgh in March last year.

In an explosive dossier, Mr Salmond accused Ms Sturgeon of misleading parliament and breaking the ministerial code in her handling of the claims - claims she strongly refutes.

But the Holyrood inquiry have refused to publish the dossier, meaning it cannot be concidered in the inquiry's final report nor can he reference it when testifying.

He said the decision not to publish it was 'extraordinary' and 'farcical' and his spokesman said the move made a 'mockery' of parliament's commitment to openness.

Now, Mr Salmond is set to tell the Holyrood inquiry that he will only provide evidence if it backtracks on its decision not to publish the dossier, The Daily Telegraph reports.

His lawyers are believed to be writing a letter to the committee - set to arrive prior to their Monday meeting.

Mr Salmond has been warned by the Crown Office that if he presents this information or makes it public in any way, he could face criminal charges for contempt of court.

The Holyrood committee is probing the Scottish Government's botched handling of two harassment complaints against Mr Salmond (pictured) in 2018

The submission was also sent to James Hamilton, QC, who is investigating whether Miss Sturgeon breached the ministerial code, and has been leaked to several media outlets, including the Scottish Daily Mail.

A spokesman for Mr Salmond, said: 'It would be one thing to remove a sentence or so but to suppress the whole submission is simply farcical.

'It means that it can't even be considered for inclusion in the committee's report.

'In one letter, the convener seems to have wiped out the entire strand of her own committee's inquiry into the ministerial code and dispatched the submission into a black hole. Alex will consult with his advisers tomorrow afternoon as to where this leaves his evidence and what to do now.

'There is no possible justification whatsoever for this decision, which makes a mockery of the parliament's commitment to openness and transparency.'

In his document, Mr Salmond accused Miss Sturgeon of making 'simply untrue' and 'untenable' claims about their meetings in 2018.

Mr Salmond (pictured) has been warned by the Crown Office that if he presents this information or makes it public in any way, he could face criminal charges for contempt of court

He claims the Scottish parliament has been 'repeatedly misled' about their meeting on April 2, 2018  when Miss Sturgeon claims she first found out about the complaints against her predecessor.

The First Minister has admitted that she forgot about a meeting four days earlier with Mr Salmond's former chief of staff, Geoff Aberdein, during which allegations may have been addressed.

Mr Salmond said that Mr Aberdein had explained the background to Miss Sturgeon on March 29, 2018, and that she knew the April meeting was government business rather than an SNP party matter.

Miss Sturgeon says no records were made of the meetings as they were not official business.

In his submission, Mr Salmond said: 'The repeated representation to the parliament of the meeting on April 2, 2018, as being a 'party' meeting because it proceeded in ignorance of the complaints is false and manifestly untrue.'

But a spokesman for Miss Sturgeon has accused Mr Salmond of 'seeking to malign the reputation of the First Minister' and 'spinning false conspiracy theories'.

It is understood Mr Salmond had hoped to present the submission during his oral evidence session.

A spokesman for the Scottish parliament said: 'The committee has always been clear that the parliament cannot publish any information which does not comply with the legal obligations placed upon it.'



Armenia ex-minister of emergency situations hospitalized with heart attack

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Dear reader,

The best investigative reporters have a persistence thats undaunted by being told no, regardless of how many times they hear it. Syracuse.com |Post-Standard reporter Tim Knauss is one of those journalists.

After months of Governor Cuomo and New York State health officials refusing to fully disclose the number of nursing home residents killed by Covid-19, Tim was tasked with finding the full number for Onondaga County. For the first six months of the pandemic, the state had only said publicly how many of our elderly died in nursing homes, excluding any who were transferred to hospitals and then passed away.

By leaving those deaths out and only counting residents who died inside the nursing homes, the state vastly underestimated total nursing home fatalities for the first 10 months of the pandemic, Tim told me this week. You hear it from politicians all the time: We make decisions based on the data. But it turns out that sometimes their data stinks. And other times they dont want to share it with the public.

So, he asked the Onondaga County Health Department for help. They were busy, of course, but Tim kept asking and eventually was able to get data going back to November 1, which was helpful, but we were still missing March through November.

So, I asked the three main hospitals in Syracuse to help, Tim said. They said they were busy. After a week of emails and phone calls, one hospital came through. I used their response to try to guilt the other two into helping. A day later, a second hospital came through with a number. The third, however, refused to help. Nevertheless, I was close enough to a complete number. The hospitals death numbers provided by the county and two hospitals totaled 116, or 50% more than the 231 nursing home deaths the state health department had tallied in Onondaga County.

Tims reporting hypothesized if the states total fatalities were 50% more than reported, there could be nearly 13,000 nursing home deaths instead of the roughly 8,500 the state health department reported.

Tims story got the attention of people like Bill Hammond with the Empire Center, a non-profit government watchdog group thats been pushing for the state to release the complete number. The state wouldnt say how many nursing home patients died of COVID in hospitals so @TimKnauss tracked it down, Hammond Tweeted. Dogged reporting, sensitive story-telling, graceful writing from lede to the kicker. Great work.

Just a few hours after Tims story was posted on syracuse.com, State Attorney General Letitia James released a report of a similar conclusion  that the number of nursing home residents who have died from Covid is almost 56% higher than the number reported by the state health department. Under mounting pressure, the state health commissioner then released a fuller picture of the death toll at nursing homes.

Of course, behind all this data are real people who mattered a whole lot to the loved ones they left behind. Tims story also put real names and faces to the statistics, including a Solvay family that lost three elderly sisters, two of them nursing home residents, in the same week. The awful loneliness of those deaths was heartbreaking. During one of the interviews, both of us were in tears, Tim told me. Several readers, including some with family members in nursing homes, thanked me after the story ran for reporting those difficult stories.

Its thanks to subscribers like you that were able to do this kind of work  holding the powerful accountable and ensuring truth prevails. Its time-consuming and complicated at times but so important to our community, and we thank you for your support.
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 03:15:18|Editor: huaxia

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TRIPOLI, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The eastern-based Libya army on Saturday welcomed the appointment of a new prime minister and a new presidency council by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF).

"The (army's) General Command blesses the results of the UN-sponsored Libyan Political Dialogue Forum, which led to the selection of a new executive authority," the eastern-based army's spokesman Ahmad al-Mismari said in a statement.

"We congratulate the individuals chosen for the prime minister post and the presidency council, which the Libyans hope would work hard and provide services, and also prepare for the elections," the statement said.

On Friday, members of the LPDF voted for a new prime minister and a new presidency council during a voting session in Geneva, according to the UN envoy in Libya Stephanie Williams.

About three months ago, LPDF members agreed to hold general elections in Libya on Dec. 24, 2021. Enditem
POTTSVILLE  A Montgomery County man will not have to spend more time behind bars after he admitted Jan. 29 to a Schuylkill County judge that he trespassed in August 2018 at a Pottsville apartment.

Jason M. Hill, 45, of Norristown, pleaded guilty to defiant trespass. Prosecutors withdrew charges of aggravated assault, conspiracy, criminal trespass, theft, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.

President Judge William E. Baldwin accepted the plea, sentenced Hill to serve six to 12 months in prison and granted him immediate parole.

You wont ever see me again, Hill told Baldwin. You have my word on it.

Pottsville police charged Hill with entering the apartment of Sheila Carter without permission on Aug. 31, 2018.

Hill already was an inmate at the county prison, and Baldwin conducted the hearing by videoconference.

Also on Jan. 29, Luis D. Rosa, 26, of McAdoo, pleaded guilty to possession of drug paraphernalia. Prosecutors withdrew a charge of possession of a small amount of marijuana.

Baldwin placed Rosa on probation for nine months, and also sentenced him to pay costs and $100 to the Substance Abuse Education Fund.

McAdoo police charged Rosa with possessing paraphernalia on Feb. 18, 2020, in the borough.

In another Jan. 29 case, Kimberly A. Rossi, 51, of Lansford, pleaded guilty to public drunkenness. Prosecutors withdrew charges of possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and disorderly conduct.

Baldwin sentenced Rossi to pay costs and a $25 fine.

Coaldale police charged Rossi with being intoxicated on Nov. 1, 2019, in the borough.

A Monroe County man will not have to go to prison after admitting Jan. 27 to a Schuylkill County judge that he assaulted his girlfriend and smashed her cellphone in July 2020 in Tamaqua.

Robert D. Stan, 21, of Mount Pocono, pleaded guilty to simple assault and criminal mischief. Prosecutors withdrew charges of robbery and theft.

Judge Christina E. Hale accepted the plea, placed Stan on probation for 18 months and also sentenced him to pay costs, $50 to the Criminal Justice Enhancement Account and $2,010.67 restitution, have no contact with the victim and submit a DNA sample to law enforcement authorities.

Tamaqua police charged Stan with grabbing his girlfriend and smashing her cellphone on July 24, 2020, at 104 Schuylkill Ave.

Also in the county court, Francis E. Ney III, 36, of Meadowview, Virginia, pleaded guilty to two counts of recklessly endangering another person and one of driving under suspension.

Prosecutors withdrew charges of stalking and harassment and one additional count each of recklessly endangering another person and driving under suspension.

President Judge William E. Baldwin accepted Neys plea and sentenced him to spend six to 18 months in a state correctional institution and pay costs, a $200 fine, a $50 CJEA payment and a $50 bench warrant fee.

State police at Frackville charged Ney with committing his crimes on Sept. 13, 2018.

In a Jan. 28 case, Judge James P. Goodman revoked the probation of Tyler Dougherty, 22, of Mahanoy City, and sentenced him to serve four to 12 months in prison.

Dougherty originally pleaded guilty on March 4, 2020, to possession of a controlled substance. Prosecutors withdrew charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and public drunkenness.

At that time, Goodman placed Dougherty on probation for 12 months, and also sentenced him to pay costs, $100 to the SAEF, a $50 CJEA payment and a $50 bench warrant fee.

Mahanoy City police charged Dougherty with possessing drugs on May 12, 2019, in the borough.

Dougherty already is an inmate in the county prison, and Goodman conducted the hearing by videoconference.

In a Jan. 27 case, Senior Judge D. Michael Stine found Casey D. Herring, 33, of Pine Grove, guilty of indirect criminal contempt, which is contempt committed outside the courtroom. Stine sentenced Herring to serve 26 to 90 days in prison and pay costs and a $300 fine.

State police at Schuylkill Haven charged Herring with violating a protection from abuse order on Jan. 2.

Also on Jan. 27, Stine found Heather M. Morgan, 37, of Reading, guilty of indirect criminal contempt. He sentenced Morgan to spend one to 30 days in prison and pay costs and a $300 fine.

Port Carbon police charged Morgan with violating a PFA order on Jan. 6 in the borough.
The third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt is considered to be the greatest leader of the New Kingdom. He ruled Egypt for 66 years and died around the age of 90. Ramses II was buried in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings. However, later, his body was moved to a royal cache, where it was discovered again in the year 1881. Now, it is on display in the Egyptian Museum.

Unravelling the 'puzzle'

Amazon Primes movie, Ramses II: The Great Journey, revealed that it would take more than 200 years to unravel the puzzle. It started in 1991, when the team from the French National Research Centre, Christian LeBlanc started the archaeological mission that reopened the study of Ramses and his tomb. According to the reports by the Expres.co.uk, in the year 1798, he headed to the Ottoman territories of Egypt and Syria to defend French trade interests. He ended up defeating Napoleon, which led to the withdrawal of French troops from the region.

Read: In Egypt, A Push To Get More Orphans Families, Fight Stigma

This led to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, which sparked the creation of Egyptology. Further, it described how the British made a breakthrough. As per experts, his body was originally entombed in the Valley of the Kings. However, later, the ancient Egyptian priests moved it to thwart rampant looters. In the year 1881, Ramesses IIs mummy was discovered in a secret royal cache at Deir el-Bahr. After noticing its deteriorating conditions, the archaeologists flew it to Paris. There, it was treated for a fungal infection.

Read: Archaeologists In Egypt Discover Mummy Buried With A Golden Tongue

Mummy with a golden tongue

In another significant development, archaeologists have discovered a 2,000-year-old mummy with a gold tongue at an ancient Egyptian site called Taposiris Magna. As per the Egyptian antiquities ministry, It is being assumed that the embalmers placed the golden tongue on the mummy with the belief that the deceased would be able to speak in the afterlife. The statement said that if the mummy had an encounter with the god of the underworld, Osiris, they should be able to speak to the god.

Read: Egypt Receives Made-in-India COVID Vaccines, Confirms External Affairs Minister Jaishankar

Also Read: Egypt Announces 'major Discoveries' As Archaeologists Unearth Over 50 Sarcophagi

(Image Credits: Unsplash)
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State Rep. Mike Loychik, a freshman Republican from Trumbull County, wants to make Ohio a Second Amendment Sanctuary State, joining Alaska, Wyoming, Kansas and Idaho, plus a number of Ohio counties, in such an action. To this end, Loychik has introduced House Bill 62, with state Rep. Diane Grendell of Geauga County as his other primary sponsor. It seeks to bar the enforcement in Ohio of certain federal gun-control measures that a Biden administration might enact.

Specifically, cleveland.coms Jeremy Pelzer reports, Loychik has in mind actions that might reasonably be expected to create a chilling effect on the purchase or ownership of firearms. That would include taxes and fees but also, according to Pelzer, extend to registering or tracking of gun owners, and gun confiscation from law-abiding citizens.

Loychik sees this as protecting Second Amendment rights, but violating federal gun laws could lead to criminal prosecutions. That makes a Second Amendment Sanctuary State designation quite different from cities that have declared themselves sanctuary cities for immigration -- meaning only that their law enforcement officers wont necessarily cooperate with federal immigration authorities, which localities have the right to decide and is not a violation of federal law.

Nor is it clear how Loychiks bill, which seems largely symbolic, will help his economically distressed House district. Is it really wise to have one of Loychiks first legislative moves be seen as aimed at ideology and perhaps self-promotion rather than something that could help his constituents put food on the table?

If the GOP-run Ohio legislature does enact such a measure, does that mean Ohio Republicans are finally embracing Clevelands home rule right to be a Gun Control Sanctuary City and ignore state attempts to overrule its anti-gun-violence measures?

So what does our Editorial Board Roundtable think of Rep. Loychiks move? Wise? Misguided? Legitimate? Meaningless? Opening the door to home rule cities (whose rights are supposedly enshrined in Ohios Constitution now) to declare they can go ahead and enact their own gun measures?

Our Editorial Board Roundtable offers its perspectives.

Thomas Suddes, editorial writer:

Trumbull Countys median household income is 16% below Ohios. And guns are what its new Ohio House member considers a priority?

Ted Diadiun, columnist:

This strikes me as much ado about nothing: proposing a law that has no constitutional teeth, designed to oppose something that President Joe Biden might do but has never said he has any intention of doing. Tracking firearms sold at gun shows and Gov. Mike DeWines Red Flag proposal make sense. Hold your fire until youve got something to oppose, folks.

Eric Foster, columnist:

Limiting cooperation with federal authorities on immigration enforcement actions is not illegal. Declaring that federal law does not apply in your state is. I thought we were a nation of laws, and not of men. If you think a law is unconstitutional, go to court. The U.S. Supreme Court is mostly conservative. Nobodys coming to take your guns, people. Relax.

Victor Ruiz, editorial board member:

Ohio continues to move further into the wild, wild west: stand your ground; armed teachers, and now a proposal to make it a Second Amendment sanctuary state. I wish that legislators like Mr. Loychik would put their time and efforts into addressing Ohios real problems: poor economy; inequitable school funding; COVID-19, to name a few.

Lisa Garvin, editorial board member:

This toothless legislation is nothing more than virtue signaling by a freshman Republican to the hard-right voter base. However, the irony would be delicious if it set a legal precedent that could ultimately prevent lawmakers from quashing attempts at home rule, not just on guns but other issues. Is Loychik prepared for the unintended consequences of this publicity stunt?

Mary Cay Doherty, editorial board member:

This legislation will help defend Ohioans Second Amendment rights against unconstitutional gun control laws. That is why it is likely to withstand court challenges, since it just seeks to uphold existing constitutional rights. Simultaneously, however, it will embolden local anti-sanctuary laws. Notably, meanwhile, Rep. Loychik is also serving his constituents by co-sponsoring legislation to widen broadband access.

Elizabeth Sullivan, opinion director:

Why does this feel mostly like a stunt to get this young man some attention? Too bad Rep. Loychik doesnt think it would be equally attention-getting to sponsor legislation to help Ohioans fight fraud in the states unemployment claims system, say, or channel help to the states overwhelmed food banks.

Have something to say about this topic?

* Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication.

* Email general questions about our editorial board or comments on this editorial board roundtable to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com.
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Evangeline Parish  The Louisiana State Police Bureau of Investigations, with support fromthe Evangeline Parish Sheriffs Office, St. Landry Parish Sheriffs Office, and the Opelousas Police Department, are asking for the publics help in providing information related to the July 4, 2016, disappearance of Erica Nicole Hunt of Opelousas.

In December 2018, unidentified skeletal remains were discovered in Evangeline Parish. State Police investigators consulted with the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab, LSU Faces Lab, and the DNA Doe Project in an effort to identify the remains.

Today, State Police investigators were able to positively confirm a forensic match to Erica Hunt.

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to contact St. Landry Crime Stoppers at 948-8477(TIPS), online at St. Landry crimestoppers.com, or via Facebook by leaving a WEBTIP. Tips may also be submitted via text message by texting TIPS625 plus the tip to CRIMES (274637).

The Louisiana State Police online reporting system is also available to the public through a convenient and secure reporting form that is submitted to the appropriate investigators. Citizens can access the form by visiting www.lsp.org and clicking the Suspicious Activity link.
BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan on Friday stressed concrete efforts to ensure a good start to education development in the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025).

Sun made the call at a symposium held in the Ministry of Education, urging addressing the problems of unbalance and inadequacy in education development and establishing a high-quality education system.

Noting that an improved education system will underpin the building of a new development paradigm, she called for efforts to make ideological and political education more targeted and practical, improve the structure of education, disciplines, and talent cultivation and foster more high-caliber and technical talented people.

As more than 840,000 college students will stay at schools during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday, Sun urged measures and services to ensure them a safe and happy holiday.

China achieved significant breakthroughs in education development during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, with the nine-year compulsory education retention rate reaching 95.2 percent and the gross enrollment rate for senior high schools 91.2 percent.

The United Nations recently warned that the Islamic extremists are planning rash of pre-planned attacks when restrictions on movement imposed during the coronavirus pandemic are lifted. According to a report based on intelligence, the UN said that Islamic State will seek to end its marginalisation from the news with a wave of violence. The officials noted that the group recently even urged supporters to spend less time on social media to free up time to launch operations against its enemies.

Isis has enjoyed a captive audience, with so many people facing restrictions on movement and spending more time online. Threats may have accumulated during this period that remains undetected but could manifest in due course, says the report.

READ: Florida Man Charged With Trying To Join ISIS

Terrorist attacks low in non-conflict zones

The UN noted that the threat of terrorist attacks by Islamist extremists remains relatively low in non-conflict zones, such as Europe. However, they also added that the pandemic will provide significant opportunities to Islamic extremists by undermining local governments in parts of the world where they are already well-established. The report said that pandemic has weakened the hand of governments in conflict zones and its long-term impact on economies, government resources and allocations for international cooperation risks aggravating the threat further.

READ: NIA Special Court Sentences ISIS Terrorist To 7 Years Of Imprisonment In ISIS-Kannur Case

Amid the pandemic, the Islamist extremist groups have reacted in different ways, some seeking to exploit the global crisis to launch fresh attacks, with others concentrating primarily on bolstering local support. The UN noted that the responses have broadly followed existing strategic choices made by groups such as al-Qaida and ISIS. Further, they also noted that initially, ISIS had gloated over COVID-19 in its magazine, al-Naba, describing the virus as a punishment for crusader nations and calling for strikes against the west as it reeled from the pandemic.

Al-Qaida, on the other hand, had issued six Pages of advice and commentary on coronavirus and had said that the arrival of the pandemic in the Muslim world was a consequence of our own sins. The UN said that ISIS continues to emphasise the divine punishment of arrogance and unbelief narrative regarding the pandemic and to exhort followers to attack the enemy while counter-terrorist defences are supposedly weakened. However, the officials added that the group has not progressed as a practical proposition. The report underlined the continuing resilience of Islamic militant groups but also said many have met with significant setbacks.

READ: Presence Of ISIS, Al Qaeda In Parts Of Yemen Needs To Be Addressed: India

READ: Pakistan SC Orders Al-Qaeda Terrorist Let Off In Daniel Pearl Murder Be Sent To Safe House
Palghar : , Feb 6 (IANS) In a shocking incident, an Indian Navy sailor from Jharkhand, who was kidnapped in Chennai, was brought to Palghar where he was allegedly set afire alive for refusing to pay up the ransom amount, the police said on Saturday.

According to the investigating officer at the Gholvad police station, Sarjerao Kumbhar, the victim was found early on Friday in a half-burnt, semi-nude condition from a forested area. He was rushed to the Cottage Hospital in Dahanu and then to the Naval Hospital in Mumbai, where he succumbed to his injuries during treatment on Friday.

In his dying declaration, the victim -- identified as Surajkumar M. Dube (27) from Daltonganj in Jharkhand who was serving on INS Agrani -- said that he was kidnapped in Chennai on January 30 where he was held captive by three unknown persons.

The deceased sailor said that after completing his leave, he took a flight from Ranchi to Chennai to join duty on the morning of January 30, but was waylaid at gunpoint from outside the airport from where he was whisked away to an unknown location where he was kept for three days.

From Chennai, he was taken 1,500-km away into the forests near Gholvad in Palghar where the kidnappers asked him to arrange for a ransom of Rs 10 lakh.

"Since he refused to pay the ransom, they poured petrol on him and set him on fire at gunpoint in the jungles before decamping from there. Some locals found Dubey in a half-burnt condition and alerted us," said Kumbhar.

Taking serious note of the ghastly incident, the police have registered a case of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping for ransom, robbery and sections of the Arms Act and launched manhunt to nab the culprits.

The police are scanning the CCTV footages from Gholvad and surrounding areas, checking mobile call records besides pressing informers into service to get clues on the miscreants.

"We are also trying to ascertain if the kidnappers are from this region as we don't know why the victim was brought from Tamil Nadu to Palghar, which is on the Gujarat border, and using what mode of transportation," said another official.

Dube's body has been sent for an autopsy and his family in Jharkhand and the Indian Navy authorities in Mumbai have been informed of the tragedy. Further details are awaited.
Busan in the early 20th century. Courtesy of Diane Nars Collection



By Robert Neff



On January 28, 1853, the residents of Busan were alarmed by the appearance of "a big foreign ship"  nearly 40 meters long with two decks and three masts. Hanging from one of the masts was a strange red, white and blue flag  it was one that had never been seen before by the Koreans.



This incident, when mentioned in history books, is often no more than a footnote and there seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding the ship and its importance. One source claims that the ship was an American gunboat from Hawaii and was the first official US-Joseon contact. Another source claims it was a merchant vessel and was the first attempt at trade between the United States and Korea. Both of these theories are incorrect. The ship was the American whaler South America and its visit was due to an act of nature rather than an economic or political ploy.



In late December 1851 or early January 1852, the whaler (commanded by 36-year-old Washington T. Walker) left New Bedford, Massachusetts, and sailed to Hawaii  arriving there on May 25, 1852, but not without incident.





The whaling port of New Bedford in the early 20th century. Robert Neff Collection



According to the "Polynesian"  an English-language newspaper printed in Hawaii  the whaler "touched" a reef in Honolulu harbor. The paper caustically noted the whaler's "running on the reef was anticipated by persons ashore who had been watching her evolutions during the day." Apparently Captain Walker was ashore at the time and had left the ship in charge of one of his crew who "most certainly exhibited a recklessness in approaching the reef perfectly unjustifiable" even though it was broad daylight and "the line of breakers as distinct as the nose on his face."



Fortunately, after about an hour, the whaler managed to float itself off the reef "without sustaining much injury" and set sail to hunt whales in the northern Pacific Ocean and the Arctic regions. The newspaper editor seems to have considered Walker's quick departure as rather rash for he wrote, "[We] should not be surprised to see her [South America] back leaking, for she must have been considerably strained while on the reef."



The editor was wrong.





Japanese coastal scene in the early 20th century. Robert Neff Collection



On October 6, South America triumphantly sailed into Honolulu harbor with its holds filled with more than 1,300 barrels of whale oil and 2,600 whale bones. Captain Walker; his 23-year-old wife, Hattie; their 17-month-old daughter, Antoinette; and the crew of about 40 men, spent the next five weeks refitting the ship and preparing for their next voyage.



On November 17, South America  accompanied by its tender, a brigantine named Wilhemine  sailed from Honolulu bound for the East Sea. It was in the third week of December that they encountered a horrific gale near Japan and the two ships were separated. The Wilhemine's captain, "being without instructions to meet the case, and not knowing where to find the South America" sailed for Hong Kong. Captain Walker, still intent on hunting whales in the East Sea, proceeded along the coast of Japan and encountered a Japanese shipwreck. Two Japanese charcoal merchants  Gankichi (about 60 years old) and Senkichi (35 years old)  were rescued near a small island. They were the only ones to have survived when their ship sank on December 23.



It isn't clear why Captain Walker and his ship, South America, sailed into Busan. Perhaps the ship was damaged in the earlier storm or, perhaps, they were seeking refuge from another storm. Regardless of the reason, their appearance caused some excitement.





Busan in the early 20th century. Robert Neff Collection



When the local authorities approached the ship, the Western sailors identified themselves as "myorikye"  at least that is what the Korean authorities heard but they were likely saying "America." The Korean authorities tried to communicate with writing but the Westerner's writing was like the "shape of clouds or a picture not similar to the old seal script or any other known scripts." Hong Yeol-mo, the governor of Gyeongsang Province, was understandably frustrated with the inability to communicate with these strangers  even though he had interpreters who could speak in Japanese and Chinese, there was apparently no one in Captain Walker's crew who could speak either language. Obviously, the two shipwrecked Japanese merchants were unable to assist.



Despite the inability to communicate with one another, the relationship between the American crew and their Korean host seems to have been amicable. One source claims that Captain Walker and his family wined and dined the local Korean authorities and we know from Korean sources that a tour of the ship was given. According to a government report, the ship had a "large room of the width of roughly 12 kan, which was used as living quarters in the middle of the ship." It also noted the ship had one cannon, 12 rifles, 50 fishing hooks, 2 crates of grain, 5 barrels of whale oil and, somewhat surprisingly, two saddles.





A fortification in the Busan area in the late 19th century. Courtesy of Diane Nars Collection
Fox Business has canceled "Lou Dobbs Tonight" one day after the host was named in a multibillion dollar defamation lawsuit against the network and its parent company.

Dobbs, 75, was among the most ardent pro-Trump voices on air. He held influence over Trump administration policy - particularly on trade and immigration - and relentlessly promoted the former president's false claims of election fraud late last year. His nightly program, which a person close to Dobbs said aired its final episode Friday, was by far the highest-rated on Fox Business.

The news was first reported by the Los Angeles Times and confirmed by a Fox spokesperson. Dobbs will be unlikely to return to air, although he still has a contract with Fox News Media, according to the Times.

Election technology company Smartmatic filed a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit Thursday against Fox News, its parent company Fox Corp. and several on-air commentators, including Dobbs.

The network, however, said Dobbs's cancellation had already been in the works.

"As we said in October, Fox News Media regularly considers programming changes and plans have been in place to launch new formats as appropriate post-election, including on Fox Business - this is part of those planned changes," a Fox News Media spokesperson said in an email. "A new 5 p.m. program will be announced in the near future."

Smartmatic's nearly 300-page complaint alleges the network and hosts such as Dobbs "decimated" the company's future earnings by falsely accusing it of helping to rig the presidential election in favor of Joe Biden.

It cited several examples of Dobbs promoting baseless claims of voter fraud, including a Nov. 12 episode in which Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani claimed that Smartmatic was founded by Venezuelans close to former dictator Hugo Chavez "in order to fix elections." Dobbs thanked Giuliani for being "on the case," which the host said "has the feeling of a coverup in certain places."

A Fox Business staffer said employees were surprised by the cancellation and presumed that it was connected to the lawsuit. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The network has not announced any changes to the shows of two other hosts named in the complaint:Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro.

Dobbs started his career in local television, joined CNN at its inception in 1980 and became one of the network's stars, best known for hosting "Moneyline with Lou Dobbs." Amid reports of clashes with network executives, he left CNN in 1999 to start the astronomy news website Space.com.

He eventually returned to CNN but left again in 2009 as hard-line views on immigration became a bigger part of his personality. He was an early proponent of the "birther" conspiracy theory, which falsely held that Barack Obama had not been born in the United States and was thus ineligible for the presidency.

Dobbs landed on Fox Business in 2010, and over the years became must-watch TV for Donald Trump.

The two men spoke regularly, sometimes daily, The Post reported in 2019, and Dobbs's views on immigration influenced the president's policies. He was among a cohort of Fox personalities who became something of a shadow Cabinet for Trump. During an annual get-together with the Council of Economic Advisers in 2019, Trump placed a call to Dobbs to consult him, much to the surprise of the attendees.

Even before he began peddling election fraud claims, Dobbs was a reliable cheerleader for Trump's reelection efforts. A friend of Dobbs told The Post in 2019 that the host was aware his program had turned into "Trump 2020 TV" but "doesn't care. He's at the end of his career, and he's going to do what he wants to do."

Trump responded to the news of the cancellation in a statement Friday evening: "Lou Dobbs is and was great. Nobody loves America more than Lou. He had a large and loyal following that will be watching closely for his next move, and that following includes me."

Dobbs's departure from the air comes as Fox is grappling with an identity crisis following Trump's departure from office. Trump elevated the network during his presidency by citing the network's hosts and programming frequently from his Twitter account, and in Cabinet meetings.

Fox News has already made several other significant programming changes since the election: It has removed Martha MacCallum from hosting her regular 7 p.m. news show and replaced her with a rotating cast of opinion hosts including Fox Business host Bartiromo, Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade, and former congressman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C. The network also jettisoned two key members of its election night decision desk, politics editor Chris Stirewalt, and a senior vice president and Washington managing editor Bill Sammon.

Last month, Fox announced it had hired Larry Kudlow, former director of the National Economic Council, to host a daily show on Fox Business. Before joining the Trump administration, Kudlow hosted a show on Fox Business rival CNBC.

"Lou Dobbs Tonight" drew an average 305,000 daily viewers in 2020. Starting Monday, the network plans to start airing an interim show called "Fox Business Tonight," with a rotating pair of hosts: Jackie DeAngelis and David Asman.

- - -

The Washington Post's Jeremy Barr and Josh Dawsey contributed to this report.
Birminghams Sidewalk Film Center and Cinema has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The money will be used for the 2021 Sidewalk Film Festival, organizers said.

We are thrilled to have the support of the National Endowment for the Arts, as we believe strongly that their support not only provides financial assistance but acts as a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for our organization and the funded project, encouraging other grant-making organizations to contribute to our organization, Chloe Cook, executive director of Sidewalk, said via a press release.

Ann Eilers, acting chairman of the NEA, lauded the Sidewalk organizations efforts to survive and innovate during the coronavirus pandemic.

Sidewalk is among the arts organizations across the country that has demonstrated creativity, excellence, and resilience during this very challenging year, Eilers said in a statement.

The Sidewalk festival, a big-screen event that typically happens in several indoor venues in downtown Birmingham, shifted gears in 2020 as the pandemic raged, and transitioned into a drive-in event at The Grand River Drive-In at The Backyard in Leeds.

This years festival is set for Aug. 23-29, but the format and other specifics havent been announced.

The Sidewalk Film Center and Cinema, the nonprofit that organizes the festival, is one of eight organizations in Alabama earmarked for funding from the NEAs Grants for Arts Projects in 2021. Others are:

Also, the NEA awarded $25,000 each to Lauren Goodwin Slaughter of Birmingham and Jacqueline Allen Trimble of Montgomery. These are literature fellowships in creative writing, focusing on poetry.

The eight arts organizations and two poets in Alabama received a total of $270,000, the NEA said.

A total of 1,073 projects were approved for about $25 million in funding in the Grants for Arts Projects category, the NEA said. A total of 35 creative writing fellowships were announced, with each recipient receiving $25,000. Twenty-four literature translation fellowships were announced, as well; each includes $12,500 or $25,000 in funding.

This is the first round of recommended awards for fiscal year 2021, totaling more than $27.5 million, the NEA said.
After nine months of coming to the park every day, Brian Rogers has learned a few things  about the world of nature around him and about himself.

He is a sight to behold, almost completely engulfed by cooing pigeons, as he sits on the root of a tree, calmly hand-feeding a slice of bread to an eager young swan who looks at him with bright black eyes.

Its like a scene from Home Alone 2  but even Brenda Fricker didnt have the swans of Central Park eating out of her hands. The birds of St Stephens Green came to trust Brian after he rescued this same swan as a lost cygnet, reuniting it with its mother. Once the bigger bird began to trust him, the pigeons followed, along with the doves. Not to mention the squirrels  the other day, Brian fed two of them some peanuts from his hands.

This is far from his usual terrain. He is not a vet, he is a developer  I made a fortune and I lost a fortune he says of the last crash  but when the anxiety of lockdown struck, the Belfast native found himself with a large hole in his life that only the serenity of life in the park seemed to fill.

It passes the day. I dont know what Id do if I didnt have this, he says.

He is not alone. Despite hail, rain or even the looming snowfall, we are taking to the outdoors like never before  greatly assisted by the high-tech, wicking marvels of modern outdoor gear.

Lockdown life is park life, providing us with a walk and some quiet time spent in contemplation outside, or a socially distanced chat. It is our only real escape, the sole consolation that stops the four walls from closing in on us, the last thing that stands between us and house arrest.

Our parks have become our new replacement living rooms. Taking a book, our park becomes a library, a takeaway coffee transforms it into a cafe, with a laptop or phone it becomes an office, while using the outdoor fitness equipment makes it a pretty good alternative to a gym. All the hustle and bustle of our former lives has migrated there, as the wildlife looks on, bemused.

Its a chance to get out, say Zoe Hammerstein and Alyssa Clark, both from the States and over here studying. They are sitting in the green eating homemade Kouign-amann, a Breton butter cake, off proper plates and forks. Delicious, says Zoe.

Aspects of the lockdown are really difficult, says Indigo Lewisohn, who with friend Chloe Scanlan, both studying photography, came in to college from Monkstown to pick up some equipment, taking the opportunity to sit in the park for a bit since it is outside their 5km limit. There are no parties to pull you away from your work and there are also no rewards. Its just repetitive.

For Brian, sitting in the park has helped ease the anxiety of what lies beyond the lockdown on a financial level. He knows of many developers who cannot get access to credit from the banks. If a crash like the last one is looming, he is out of here, he says.

In the meantime, his routine in the park has helped him to discover his hitherto unknown affinity with birds.

Three months ago, a man came up to me and said if you can do it, I can do it and he tried to feed the swans but he ended up with a very nasty bite on the face.

From under another tree, this time in St Annes Park in Raheny in Dublin, floats the clear sounds of a saxophone  Somewhere Over the Rainbow, dreamily and almost unbearably poignant, as children splash in puddles and people sit around with takeaway coffees, waiting for normal life to resume with as much patience as they can muster.

Im not allowed to practice at home, says retired primary school principal, Bernie Mangan.

Her children who are now grown up like what they like in terms of music  but theyre not very keen on the sax, she thinks. And mindful of neighbours working from home on either side, she has taken to coming to the park, playing under a yew tree to stay dry.

People keep trying to give me money but I tell them Im only practising, she says.

She knows of two other women around her own age in the locality who play the sax and who have taken to playing it outside during the pandemic.

Her husband bought the instrument for her 10 years ago but she was too busy and its only since she retired three-and-a-half years ago that shes started to play.

Im sorry I didnt take it up 50 years ago, she says.

At the other side of the same park, Pat Nolan and Martin Whelehan are working out on the outdoor keep fit equipment, adding bungee ropes for strength training. They were members of a local gym for the past 36 years but it has now been forced to close its doors for good because of the pandemic.

When they closed the place down it felt like somebody died on me, said Martin.

Working out in the park is not the same. They miss the camaraderie.

He needs the steam room, Pat laughs of Martin. But it helps the head during Covid they both agree.

On a cloudy day, Bull Island in nearby Clontarf is as busy as it would be in July, with dozens of people strolling the causeway. Mairead McIlvenna, a healthcare worker, is currently on maternity leave and tries to get out of the house at least once a day with daughters Lucy (2) and six month old Abigail.

I just bring them out regardless of the weather. Abigail has a lovely sleep and it just clears the head, she says.

Originally from Roscommon, she misses the contact with her parents and her sister. But she remains hopeful of the impact of the vaccine. And in the meantime, this is a chance to spend precious moments together, she says, as she looks across the bay.





The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has disclosed that it has proofs of crops' destruction in farms all over the country by herdsmen's cattle.

It, therefore, urged the Federal Government to compensate farmers whose crops have been destroyed.

The MURIC Director, Prof Ishaq Akintola, disclosed this in a statement.

He suggested that the compensation, which may be in instalment, should be paid to farmers whose farms were destroyed in all states of the federation.

The Proof

According to him, MURIC now has concrete evidence of the culpability of herdsmen, including video clips, in which cows destroyed farms belonging to members of the organisation.

"MURIC is now in possession of indubitable evidence of the destruction of crops on farmlands by cows brought by herdsmen.

"We sent out feelers to all states where we have branches of MURIC and the reports are overwhelmingly convincing.

"We asked our members to supply information on the activities of herdsmen in their states, including Abuja. In fact, we were stupefied by the outcome.

"The most recent report from a young member of MURIC in Ogun State, who ventured into agriculture, reads: 'Herders invaded my five hectares of rice farm Sunday, 31st January 2021 and it was totally destroyed.

'The incident happened at the farm of Sanpro Foods, a rice production company whose premises is located at the Oyan farm settlement, Ibaro Rice Village, Ibaro in Abeokuta North Local Government, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

'The farm is along Igboora Road after the roundabout'," Akintola said.

Akintola said that the mudiir (principal) of a local Arabic school in Lagos also reported another sad incident in which herders brought cows to invade his father's cashew farm in Ijomu-Oro, Kwara State.

He quoted the principal as saying that everything was destroyed, lamenting that his father would have realised millions of naira had he been able to harvest his cashew nuts.

Akintola said: "He [principal] added that the fear of herders has forced farmers in Ido-Oro [also in Kwara State] to abandon their farms.

"This is frightening. Farmers in Kwara State are afraid of going to their farms due to the activities of herders.

"Farmers in Zamfara and Katsina have run away from their farms for fear of being killed or kidnapped by bandits.

"Farmers in Ilesa, Osun State, those in Igangan, Oyo State and those in Ebonyi live in palpable fear of herders.

"From where shall food come to our tables? Famine is coming! Cows and bandits have taken over Nigerian farms."

Daily Trust has not been able to get a response from the leadership of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN).

'Take responsibility now'

He, therefore, urged the federal and state governments to take responsibility.

He said that it was clear that the Federal Government is yet to appreciate what farmers are going through in the hands of marauding herdsmen.

He said: "How would you feel if someone just walks in and smashes all that you have been putting together for months or years?

"We, therefore, declare that farmers have been patient enough. FG should do something urgently.

"We recall our advice to FG two days ago in which we advocated for payment of bailout for herders to enable them to buy land from private owners for use as ranches.

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"The compensation we are now asking for farmers, who lost their crops, will be spread to all parts of the country: farmers in Benue, Ondo, Sokoto, Ekiti, Enugu, Ogun, Katsina, among others will be eligible.

"This is the way the government can take responsibility.

"Such compensation will assuage farmers, douse tension across the country and inject a new dose of confidence in Project Nigeria."

Clashes

There have been increased clashes between host communities across the country and herdsmen recently.

The Ondo State Government recently ordered herdsmen out of its forests reserves while in Ogun and Oyo states, youths are attacking Fulani settlements and ordering them to vacate their communities.

Also, in Edo, there were protests against herdsmen's activities within the week.

In the South-east, South-south and North-central states, host communities are in a constant battle with herdsmen.
(Newser)  Two separate explosions rocked the Afghan capital of Kabul on Saturday, killing at least three people, including members of the minority Sikh community, and wounding four others, Afghan officials said. The first explosion hit a store in the heart of the capital, causing it to collapse and kill at least two Sikhs, per Afghan police officials. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, but the Islamic State group has targeted Sikhs and other minority communities in Afghanistan, per the AP. Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz had different numbers, saying six people were wounded in the blast in the store and no one was killed. He said police were investigating what caused the explosion. The discrepancy between the two numbers couldn't immediately be accounted for. In Saturday's second explosion, Faramarz said a sticky bomb was attached to a police car and went off in northern Kabul, killing a police officer.

story continues below

A nationwide spike in bombings, targeted killings, and violence on the battlefield comes as peace negotiations in Qatar between the Taliban and the Afghan government have stalled. Some of the targeted killings are claimed by the local ISIS affiliate, but many go unclaimed, blamed by the government on the Taliban, who've denied responsibility for most attacks. With growing threats from ISIS, Afghanistan's once-thriving community of Sikhs and Hindus has dwindled from as many as 250,000 members to fewer than 700. ISIS claimed responsibility for an attack last March in which a gunman rampaged through a Sikh house of worship in the heart of Kabul, killing 25 worshippers and wounding eight. ISIS claimed it carried out 82 attacks in Afghanistan in 2020, killing or wounding 821 people, including 21 assassinations. Most of the victims in its attacks were either security personnel or Shiite Muslims. However, the perpetrators of many targeted killings are unknown.

(Read more Afghanistan stories.)

It was a day or two before the calls, emails, and texts came in from family and friends asking Melinda McCann the same frantic question.

How did you get your parents appointments?

Despite national confusion, mixed messages, and scarcity, McCann, 39, had managed to lock in a date for her Chester County parents, both cancer survivors in their 70s, to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Then she scheduled shots for her in-laws and older family and friends. She hasnt stopped since. In just two weeks, the Exton woman, her sister, Mary Brady, and cousin, Alicia Karr, have established a network of volunteers helping dozens in the area, most of them strangers, get vaccinated.

Virginia Schenk, a 61-year-old cancer survivor and COPD sufferer in Broomall, had despaired of finding an appointment until connecting with the women.

 READ MORE: In race for COVID-19 vaccinations, older residents in rural Pa. face tough obstacles

They got her an appointment for March 2 within almost an hour, she said, which was amazing to me because I had been trying for quite a few days.

McCanns primary care doctor, Christine Meyer, has helped connect the three women with people seeking shots through PA COVID Vaccine Match Maker, a vaccine information Facebook group Meyer started Tuesday in frustration over her stymied efforts to find appointments for her patients. The messages on the Facebook group, which gained more than 3,000 followers within days, express desperation and anxiety sown by the chaotic vaccination process.

Across the region, physicians and pharmacists have wait lists in some cases thousands of names long, and no clear sense of when those people will get shots. Meyer applied to administer the vaccine at her Chester County internal medicine practice, she said, and after dozens of phone calls and emails with the state has only been told her application is under review.

 READ MORE: At current rate, Phillys adults wont all be vaccinated until March 2022, though herd immunity could come a little sooner

Its been a colossal nightmare, Meyer said. Every day we get hundreds of phone calls, emails, asking, I need help finding a vaccine. 

Scramble for doses

Many of those eligible for vaccination, the regions seniors, are among the least likely to be tech savvy.

People who dont know how to use these tech resources, McCann said, thats who were really trying to help.

The search for vaccine can hinge on whether a senior has a relative or friend with the time and know-how to navigate digital sign ups.

 READ MORE: The (im)morality of line-jumping to get COVID-19 vaccines

You cant have the vaccine distribution be a race between elderly people typing and younger people typing, said Jeremy Novich, a clinical psychologist in New York City who has begun a group to help people navigate the technology to get appointments. Thats not a race. Thats just cruel.

In New York City, one college professor even designed computer code that allowed him to streamline the scheduling system, the New York Post reported.

Vaccine supplies everywhere are limited, and chasing down doses through national pharmacy chains can be an exercise in frustration.

You start putting in the information and as soon as you hit submit you take a deep breath because someone else is probably putting information in at the same time, Schenk said. Its who can type the fastest.

As of Friday afternoon, McCann and her group had found appointments for more than 50 people, and have a wait list of 75, including New Jersey residents. They have temporarily stopped accepting new requests to focus on people already waiting.

On the hunt

McCanns group catalogued the names, ages, and contact information of people eligible for vaccination into a spreadsheet. From there, success largely depends on vigilance and persistence. McCann, a mother of two who owns an architecture and design firm with her cousin Karr, said she and her other volunteers spend two to three hours a day refreshing the websites of vaccine providers and entering the zip codes of the people seeking appointments as they work, do chores, or watch TV. They fail more often than they succeed, McCann said.

You just have to keep trying, she said. Its a very frustrating process.

 READ MORE: Experts spent months on a fair COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan, only to witness a chaotic free-for-all

Its unpredictable when vaccination slots will open up, and they fill quickly, so McCann and her family text throughout the day to discuss their progress. They hustle to their computers when one discovers a location with vaccine doses available.

Theres no rhyme or reason to it and nobody understands it, she said.

Wednesday, Meyer posted on her Facebook group that Giant Food Stores would start carrying vaccine doses, prompting a roller coaster of messages as people reported making appointments, while others found no openings. McCanns group is among those who identify with the hashtag, #finders, to help those using the hashtag, #seekers.

It, like, kind of reminds me of back in the day before you could buy concert tickets on the internet, she said. Its such a rush to be able to secure the appointment.

Their passion for the hunt is infectious. McCanns mother and aunt are now volunteers. Schenk is also among the seven people in McCanns volunteer network. She has created a document with links to all the regions vaccine registration sites so she can click through them quickly throughout the day.

 READ MORE: Dozens of Philly pharmacies are willing to be COVID-19 vaccine providers. The city has approved just two.

Its a shame it has to be this way, Schenk said, but its nice how humanity has really stepped up to help people you dont even know.

The work, though, also drives home the vaccination process dysfunction.

Some of the people they register have to travel to the Lehigh Valley or near Harrisburg to get shots. Its virtually impossible to get appointments on the Main Line, McCann said. The ad hoc nature of the Facebook page has led to other complications, such as when a well-meaning participant shared a link to a vaccination sign-up form that should not have been made public.

Those involved in finding appointments say a fair vaccination process shouldnt rely on the efforts of random volunteers.

People are dying, Meyer said. Literally, peoples lives are in the balance and thats just not acceptable.

 READ MORE: A Philly private school got COVID-19 vaccines for its teachers. Then its clinic was canceled.

McCann logged on to Rite Aids website to make appointments for her parents as soon as they were eligible for shots, she said. She was shocked to find about 4,000 people ahead of her. After two hours in a digital queue, she got an appointment. Her mother teared up, she remembered.

The deep sense of relief she felt then has been replicated many times over.

Its been very rewarding and incredible, McCann said, to be able to help people who have been living in fear for a year now.

Kaiser Health News contributed to this story.
Parliament election results could be a deceptive indicator of the local power dynamics.

Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya writes:

Unishe half, ekushe saaf (in 2019 it is half, in 2021 game is up) was Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) slogan before the Lok Sabha election. They won half in 2019, almost. The question that looms over West Bengal politics, nay, Indian politics at the moment is: Can the BJP really do a saaf in the coming state election?


IT was a painful journey for Mr Brian Mawoyo when one of the countrys leading telecommunications companies arbitrarily terminated his contract of employment as a senior manager on three months notice in 2015.

This followed the infamous July 2015 Zuva Petroleum judgment on common law contracts of employment.

On the day he lost his job of 10 years, Mr Mawoyo failed to get up from his bed. He was so traumatised as he struggled to come to terms with the harsh reality. Due to retrenchment, the debt ridden Mr Mawoyo had to make several adjustments in his lifestyle, some of which included pulling out his children from private schools and moving out of their plush home.

His world had completely turned upside down overnight. However, in a script that reads like the popular Cinderella folk tale, Mr Mawoyos forsaken circumstances suddenly changed to a remarkable tale of success.

Thanks to a five-minute phone call that Mr Mawoyo made to a friend who worked for a local seed company. Through that phone call, he managed to secure seeds on credit, marking the dawn of a new era.

That phone call completely transformed his life and changed the way he now perceives life. Today, Mr Mawoyo co-owns the countrys largest producer of seedlings, Spinyard Seedlings. The company is also the sole distributor of Hazera seeds in Zimbabwe.

Hazera is an Israel based renowned global seed company that breeds, develops, produces and markets varieties and seeds in a wide range of vegetable crops around the world.

I started this company when I lost my job during the infamous job meltdown in 2015 when most people lost their jobs on three months notice. I used to work for one of the countrys largest telecommunications companies in Zimbabwe as a senior manager for close to 10 years. said Mr Mawoyo.

I woke up one day and there was no job and it was difficult time for me and my family because we had debt and mortgages. I had to pull out my kids from the good schools that they were going to, moved out of our house and rented elsewhere.

Mr Mawoyos strong passion and interest in farming resurged when he lost his job and today, he has no regrets despite the traumatic experience that he went through in 2015.

He said he ventured into seedlings production upon realising that the larger chunk of operating costs went into procurement of saplings.

I always had a passion for farming and when I started the horticulture project and selling the produce to shops such as OK and Pick n Pay supermarkets I then discovered that my biggest cost was in buying seedlings and I then decided to make my own seedlings, he said.

I partnered with a longtime friend Ronald Marikano and he inspired me in so many ways and I remember even when I had just been retrenched, he gave me hope, everything happens for a reason.

Mr Mawoyo said when they started producing seedlings for their horticulture project, other farmers started developing an interest in their seedlings and started buying from them. Because of huge demand, we then stopped field production and moved into seedlings production full time.

We started with a capacity of producing 365 000 seedlings per month, which was a small greenhouse and today we are now producing 20 million seedlings per month and we are the biggest producers in the country, he said.

Spinyard Seedlings has two sites in Mabelreign and Umwinsidale in Harare and they recently partnered with the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in Woodville on the outskirts of Bulawayo where they are producing at least 1,6 million horticulture seedlings per month targeting farmers in the Matabeleland region.

Mr Mawoyo said under the Spinyard/ADRA joint project, they have employed 93 people, most of whom are widows. The company also pays schools fees to orphans.

The Woodville seedlings production project is the latest addition in our group. We have always wanted to empower people because for me losing a job was quite traumatic. We deliberately took a position to economically empower widows and orphans. We also pay school fees for our employees children and other orphans out there, he said.

The idea of having the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), an NGO arm of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) church dovetails with our vision of empowering people locally. From their end, ADRA seeks to alleviate hunger and poverty.

Mr Mawoyo said the world has changed as most NGOs, which largely relied on receiving offshore funding, are now required to be innovative. Mr Mawoyo, who is a University of Zimbabwe (UZ) economics graduate, said although he is not a trained farmer, he relied heavily on reading and experimenting a lot of things about agriculture. He said Spinyard Seedlings also trains its clients on how to farm as well as improving in terms of self-sustainability.

We approached ADRA and they had this property and we didnt have a site in this region and we then offered to partner them because we wanted to empower people. Our dream is not to just sell seedlings, we also train farmers on horticulture because many people dont know how to do proper horticulture, he said. Our main objective in this partnership is to alleviate poverty, which is our core business and that marries with what we seek to do as Spinyard. Precisely, that is why we are here in Bulawayo.

The ADRA/Spinyard project which has been running for six months and also employs two agronomists, is already making waves in Matabeleland. The initial capital for the project in Bulawayo is US$60 000.

We dont just sell seedlings, we visit our farmers, employ full time agronomists and our dream is to fund this project and make sure that our people in Zimbabwe know how to farm and produce quality products, make money as well as increasing the countrys GDP, said Mr Mawoyo. We are so proud that in such a short space of time I have moved from unemployment to an employer and to distributing world renowned seed houses. We also import and distribute construction material for greenhouses from Israel.

Mr Mawoyo said they have also ventured into a poultry project, which started with 50 roadrunners and today they have over 5 000 birds. Roadrunners are indigenous chickens, which offer a healthier organic option. Unlike broilers, roadrunners are cheaper to rear as they thrive on natural foods such as grain and insects. We specialise in breeding the Black Australorps and Koekkoek and we recently introduced Light Sussex, Road Ireland and these roadrunners are over 5 000 in 18 months, he said.

We are excited to be in the southern region and we invite anyone who would love to be involved in horticulture so that we can visit them at their farms. Our agronomists are ready to help and we will provide you with quality seedlings for horticulture produce and selected tree seedlings.

Mr Mawoyo said Matabeleland region has a potential to be a serious export hub for the country if its resources are harnessed. Chronicle
The free hotline 18006132 was launched on Friday to support the contact tracing effort of the Hanoi authority by receiving real-time reports from local residents.

Residents from outbreak areas can dial the free hotline 18006132 from Friday to file reports directly to the Rapid Information Response Team under the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control, the Ministry of Health announced.

This is the second smart solution on collecting community reports on COVID-19 launched by the Rapid Information Response Team this year, after a medical declaration site was introduced on January 31.

A representative of the team confirmed that reports from the hotline will be received directly by the call centers operators, and will be solely used for COVID-19 contact tracing, analyzing and emergency support purposes.

Incoming calls to the hotline will be answered on a 24/7 basis by a team consisting of hundreds of volunteers in Hanoi.

The hotline infrastructure has a designed capacity of receiving as much as 200,000 calls and 500,000 interactions via all channels, including phone calls, SMS and emails, per day. In case of emergency, it can be adjusted to handle as much as one million calls per day.

It is also capable of storing call history and assisting volunteers in information processing to minimize the chance of missing calls.

It also boasts high security level with two-way encryption as well as other tech solutions integrated to protect personal information of callers.

This hotline was previously mobilized to support the Rescue Information System during the flooding crisis in central Vietnam on October 2020, with over 2,000 volunteers working concurrently on the system at peak hours.

Vietnam has reported 1,957 coronavirus patients as of Friday, with 1,465 recoveries and virus-related 35 fatalities, according to the Ministry of Health.

Most of the domestically-transmitted infections have been linked to Hai Duong and Quang Ninh, both located in northern Vietnam.

Hanoi has so far detected 23 cases of local transmission.

Rapid contact tracing is underway while authorities have managed to put a large number of direct and indirect contacts in quarantine to stem the pathogen.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
If you are planning for a trip to Shirdi and Shani Shingnapur, there is an offer available on IRCTC as part of the IRCTC tourism. The offer, Shirdi Flight Package, is a 1 Night/2 Days tour package for March 13, 21.

The trip will begin at a starting price of Rs 13,625 per person on double occupancy, and it includes Air fare from Delhi to Shirdi to Delhi, with airport pick-up and drop at Shirdi, one-night Deluxe Hotel accommodation at Shirdi, buffet fixed meals - 1 Dinner, 1 Breakfast and 1 lunch. This will include the applicable taxes along with sightseeing as per the itinerary by AC Vehicle.

According to irctctourism.com, the Day-1 of your itinerary you will arrive at Shirdi, have dinner, and board a flight from Delhi airport at around 14:20 hrs and arrive at Shirdi airport. You will get a pick up from Shirdi Airport by AC vehicle at 16:10 hrs and drive to the hotel at Shirdi.

On arrival, you will check-in the hotel and have the day free for a Shrine visit and participate in various programmes organised in the Shirdi temple. You will have an overnight stay in an AC accommodation in Shirdi.

On Day-2, you will arrive at Delhi, but prior to that in the morning, you will be served early breakfast and then depart from Shirdi at 8:00 hrs to Shani Shignapur. After Darshan of Shani Shignapur, you will be back to the hotel at Shirdi, and after early lunch, you will be dropped at Shirdi airport around 15:00 hrs to board the Delhi Flight 16:40 hrs.

According to information available on the website, the itinerary is indicative, as IRCTC and handling agents reserve the right to change in view of operation problem / local circumstances. The visit to all the sightseeing places is subject to time availability and flying of the airline as per the schedule. The IRCTC has clearly stated that it will not be responsible for any natural or social calamities. For other details, you should visit https://www.irctctourism.com.
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Marilyn Manson's manager Tony Ciulla has now dropped the rocker as a client after working with him for more than two decades.

Ciulla recently severed ties with the 52-year-old shock rocker in the wake of allegations from multiple women that he sexually and physically abused them, Rolling Stone reported on Friday.

The actress Evan Rachel Wood, 33, the most prominent of the women, claimed Manson was her abuser after having spoken about the figure anonymously in 2019 while advocating for legislation to extend the statute of limitations for domestic violence.

Severed ties: Marilyn Manson's manager Tony Ciulla has dropped the rocker as a client after working with him for more than two decades, Rolling Stone reported on Friday; seen at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in February 2020

Ciulla's 25-year collaboration with Manson (real name: Brian Warner) began in 1996 with the release of his breaththrough sophomore album Antichrist Superstar.

The LP, which blended industrial music with hard-edged metal, earned positive reviews from critics and became a commercial success after reaching number three on the Billboard 200 chart.

Ciulla was seemingly immune to past legal threats to Manson, including lawsuits launched by his former bandmates.

The musician was swept up in controversy following the 1999 Columbine High School shooting after the gunmen Eric Harris and Dyland Klebold were reported to have been fans of Manson's music.

The reports were false, but religious institutions and social conservatives escalated their campaigns against his music in the wake of the school shooting.

Longtime associate: Ciulla (L) began a 25-year collaboration with Manson (real name: Brian Warner) in 1996 with the release of his breakthrough sophomore album Antichrist Superstar; seen in 2013

Hit record: The LP earned positive reviews from critics and became a commercial success after reaching number three on the Billboard 200 chart

Ciulla, who hasn't commented on the abuse allegations against his client, dropped Manson after Woods publicly named him on social media earlier this week, a source said.

'The name of my abuser is Brian Warner, also known to the world as Marilyn Manson,' the Kajillionaire star wrote on Instagram on Monday.

'He started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years. I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission,' she continued.

'I am done living in fear of retaliation, slander, or blackmail. I am here to expose this dangerous man and call out the many industries that have enabled him before he ruins any more lives. I stand with the many victims who will no longer be silent.'

Four other women joined Wood with their own statements about Manson's alleged abuse on Monday, and other women have subsequently accused him of abuse.

The rocker's most recent record label, Loma Vista, also dropped him earlier this week.

Instigating incident: Ciulla, who hasn't commented on the abuse allegations, dropped Manson after his ex-fiancee Evan Rachel Wood accused him of sexual abuse on Monday; Wood and Manson seen in 2007 in Cologne, Germany

Setting the record straight: Wood previously mentioned an unnamed abuser during her 2018 testimony in front of a House Judiciary Subcommittee, and she later clarified that it was Manson

Wood previously mentioned an unnamed abuser during her 2018 testimony in front of a House Judiciary Subcommittee while trying to get the Sexual Assault Survivors Bill of Rights passed across the nation.

'My experience with domestic violence was this: Toxic mental, physical and sexual abuse which started slow but escalated over time, including threats against my life, severe gaslighting and brainwashing, waking up to the man that claimed to love me raping what he believed to be my unconscious body,' she said.

Manson posted a denial to Instagram shortly after Wood shared her statement.

'Obviously, my art and my life have long been magnets for controversy, but these recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality,' he wrote.

'My intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners. Regardless of how  and why  others are now choosing to misrepresent the past, that is the truth.'

Denial: Manson posted a denial to Instagram shortly after Wood shared her statement. 'Obviously, my art and my life have long been magnets for controversy, but these recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality,' he wrote; seen in 2019

Pushing back: 'My intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners. Regardless of how  and why  others are now choosing to misrepresent the past, that is the truth,' he continued

In a 2009 interview with Spin, Manson said of Wood: 'I have fantasies every day about smashing her skull in with a sledgehammer.'

However, a representative for the rocker downplayed the comment in 2020 to Louder, claiming that it was 'obviously a theatrical rock star interview promoting a new record, and not a factual account.'

In 2018, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that a police report had been filed against Manson over sex crimes that allegedly took place in 2011.

However, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office opted not to pursue the charges later that summer due to a lack of evidence.

'The allegations made to the police were and are categorically denied by Mr. Warner and are either completely delusional or part of a calculated attempt to generate publicity for the claimants business of selling Manson memorabilia,' said Manson's attorney Howard E. King at the time.

'The police report that spurred the investigation was accompanied by the womans press release and other attempts to generate publicity that fraudulently claimed she was held captive by Mr. Warner for 48 hours in 2011. Any claim of sexual impropriety or imprisonment at that, or any other, time is false.'

WASHINGTON  A splintered Supreme Court on late Friday night partly lifted restrictions on religious services in California that had been prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The court ruled in cases brought by South Bay United Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista and Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena. The churches said restrictions imposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, violated the Constitutions protection of the free exercise of religion.

The restrictions set varying limits on attendance at religious services by county, depending on infection rates. With the pandemic raging, in-person worship services were entirely barred in Tier 1, which covers almost all of the state.

In a brief, unsigned opinion, the court blocked that total ban but left in place a 25 percent capacity restriction and a prohibition on singing and chanting. Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch said they would have blocked all of the restrictions. Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented, saying they would have left all of the restrictions in place.



Her social media is filled with sultry bikini and workout snaps.

And Amber Turner wowed her Instagram followers once more on Saturday as she rocked a sizzling leopard print two-piece in a throwback picture from a vacation in Spain.

The TOWIE star, 27, showcased her toned midriff as she relaxed on a yacht while encouraging her fans to 'stay safe' amid the pandemic.

Send temperatures soaring! Amber Turner wowed her Instagram followers on Saturday as she rocked a sizzling leopard print two-piece in a throwback picture from a vacation in Spain

'Throwback to better days': The TOWIE star, 27, showcased her toned midriff as she relaxed on a yacht while encouraging her fans to 'stay safe' amid the pandemic

Amber adjusted her slinky bikini top as she gazed into the distance, her blonde tresses cascaded down her back in a natural hairstyle.

She rocked full coverage make-up as she wrote in the accompanying caption: 'Throwback to better days  They will be back soon..... but until then stay safe everyone .'

Amber recently spoke of her plans to have a baby with her TOWIE beau Dan Edgar.

The reality stars confirmed she hopes to have a child with the 30-year-old and said their six month break-up in 2018 strengthened the relationship they are in today.

Broody: Amber recently spoke of her hopes of having a baby with her partner Dan Edgar, 30, and said their six month break-up in 2018 strengthened the relationship they are now in today

Amber told New! Magazine: 'Us breaking up for six months was the best thing thats ever happened, Dan and I are really happy, were living together now.

'Its one little happy relationship for sure.'

Of the future, she said: 'Dan and I are going to buy a place together. We definitely want to have a baby and get married.'

When the couple split in 2018, Amber was left heartbroken to learn the TOWIE star had a fling with Chloe Sims while the two were filming in Thailand.

But Dan didn't pursue a relationship with Chloe and instead rekindled his flame with Amber.

Speaking about their time apart, Amber said: 'Sometimes relationships need that break for people to really realise whats important.'

Amber has recently returned to the UK after spending time away in Dubai on a work trip with Dan.

The couple returned before a travel corridor to the United Arab Emirates closed on January 29th.

Ministers are understood to have been increasingly concerned about social media 'influencers' and other celebrities turning up in exotic destinations while the rest of the country is in lockdown.

One government source told MailOnline last week that people appeared to have been exploiting grey areas about what counts as 'essential' work trips.

Jet-setting lifestyle: The reality star has recently returned to the UK after spending time away in Dubai on a work trip with Dan

'It is quite clear there are some high profile people getting away with it and what they are claiming as work is not,' they said.

And last week Priti Patel criticised those who have been holidaying in the sun when they have been told to stay at home.

She said going on holiday was 'not an exemption' as she unveiled a strict borders clampdown to slow the spread of the virus, telling the Commons: 'People should simply not be travelling.

'We see plenty of influencers showing off where they are  mainly sunny places.'

As the criticism intensifies, members of the public appear to be taking umbrage with their tone deaf posts from Dubai - now dubbed 'Covid Cosablanca.'
COVID-19 transmission extremely low at group of North Carolina day camps

Cases of symptomatic COVID-19 were extremely low among children and staff at a network of YMCA summer camps held last year in North Carolina that took precautions like masking and physical distancing, with close to zero transmissions occurring at the camps, according to researchers at Duke Health, Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian.

In the camps' 2020 sessions, there were 19 cases of COVID-19 among 5,344 staff and 1,486 youth, only two of which were linked to possible on-site transmission at a group of YMCA of the Triangle camps, at a time when rates in North Carolina had hit their first peak, according to a study published Feb. 3 in Pediatrics.

"This is part of the growing body of evidence demonstrating that if precautions like masking, distancing and hand washing are taken, coronavirus transmission can be avoidable in congregate settings for children during times of high community incidence," said Dr. Sallie Permar, chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine, pediatrician-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children's Hospital and a co-senior author of the study. Dr. Permar conducted the study at Duke when she was a member of its faculty; she joined Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian in December 2020.

The YMCA of the Triangle day camps are located at 31 sites across six counties in North Carolina, including the cities of Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh. The camps committed to opening for the summer of 2020 and were advised on programming and mitigation strategies by a group of pediatricians, including Dr. Permar, who at the time lived in the area."These results suggest that the benefit of in-person programming for supporting youth learning and mental health, particularly in vulnerable populations, outweighs the risk of viral spread," added Dr. Permar, who was recruited as the Nancy C. Paduano Professor of Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine. "This is true not only in a school setting, but in a camp setting where children are engaging in activities like playing outside and at the gym and doing crafts."

The camps implemented daily temperature checks, physical distancing of at least 6 feet, masks at indoor activities and outdoors where participants couldn't remain distanced, frequent hand washing and sanitizing, and site cleaning. They also split campers into cohorts of 10 youth and one staff member and trained staff in COVID-19 protocols. An internal audit in June found over 95 percent compliance with the mask mandate.

To identify potential COVID-19 cases, the camps asked about exposures outside of camp before allowing campers on site. If the camps learned of an infection, they did contact tracing to identify campers or staff who were exposed. Ten youth and 9 staff, or 0.6 percent of 3,030 people at camp sites where the exposures occurred, had infections that were linked to transmission outside the camps. The other two cases, or .07 percent, were potentially connected to exposure at the camps. Widespread testing was not available, which meant asymptomatic cases were not detected. The most common symptoms were fever and cough, and no one was hospitalized.

There was no difference in rates of transmissions between camps held outdoors, camps held indoors and those that offered a hybrid. Campers were an average of 8.5 years old; 66 percent were white and 54 percent were male.

The rate of transmission in the general North Carolina population was significantly higher, at 200 new cases per 10,000 people each a day, or a 2 percent infection rate. In Durham, positive cases among those under age 18 rose from 9 percent to 17 percent of total cases in the population from May to August, indicating increased spread in that demographic.

The low transmission rate contrasted with an overnight camp in Georgia, where 44 percent of campers had symptomatic cases. The camp was reported to lack adherence to masking practices and physical distancing, and allowed indoor singing and shouting while people were unmasked. The camp also didn't require testing immediately prior to camp attendance.

Dr. Permar said YMCA of the Triangle camps should be credited for forming an "academic-community partnership" early on to involve medical personnel and scientists, and ensure precautions were taken.

"They worked hard to stay open and keep campers as safe as possible," Dr. Permar said, "knowing how important these camps are to kids whose parents are essential workers, work multiple jobs and don't have another option for childcare."

###

This story has been published on: 2021-02-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
This year marks my 21st as a published author. The media release issued by Penguin for my latest novel says Ive written 13 books in that time: 12 novels and a collection of short stories. But I have a confession to make. The media release is wrong.

Ive written 16 books. Three  thankfully  have never seen the light of day. The first book-that-never-was was rejected by my Irish publisher in 2001, the second in a three-book contract. I wrote it in the months after my father died, in a whirlpool of grief. Id been contracted to write a romantic comedy. What emerged was a frantic mess: helicopter chases, police hunts, wild plot twists. Soon after Id sent off the manuscript, my agent got a call from the publisher. Is Monica okay? I was given three months to start afresh. I kept two characters, drastically changed the plot and delivered a new book in two months.

In my minds eye, I sent those thousands of words and hundreds of pages fluttering into the wind. Finally, I felt relief. Credit:Stocksy

The second rejection  in 2006  came from my husband and my sister, always my first readers. Id been commissioned to write a novella for a national reading campaign. The deadline was tight. It was a small canvas. I aimed for the heights, overexcited by the challenge. I made the central character a sock puppet.

My sister and husband read it independently. Are you okay? my husband asked. Is everything all right? my sister asked. I calmed down, kept one character (not the sock puppet) and wrote a different story. The third book I rejected myself. Id spent two years in Dublin writing it, during a deeply sad time for my Irish family. Loss had followed loss: a much-loved brother-in-law to

cancer, then my father-in-law, then mother-in-law. Grief surrounded me. The world felt bleak and lonely.
JP Nadda flags off BJP's 'Parivartan Yatra' in poll-bound Bengal

India

oi-Deepika S

Kolkata, Feb 06: BJP President J P Nadda on Saturday flagged off the 'Poribartan Yatra' from poll-bound West Bengal's Nadia district.

"'Poribortan Yatra' begins here. It is a change of not only the government, but also of thinking," JP Nadda said while flagging off the yatra.

Slamming Mamata Banerjee and the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), Nadda said, "Mamata di formed government 10 years back by swearing on 'Ma Mati Manush'. In 10 years, 'Ma' (mother) was looted, 'Mati' (soil) was disrespected and 'Manush' (humans) wasn't protected."

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has tried to give Bengal everything. But Mamata says 'chahi na, chahi na, chahi na'. She says 'hobe na' (won't happen) for everything. Why? Everything will happen after the month of May," JP Nadda was quoted as saying by ANI.

"What government is this? A government of tyranny? Around 130 of our people have been killed, over 300 people have been attacked. This government will have to go. When they can attack even us, I can understand the condition of the common people in West Bengal," he said.

Meanwhile, several top leaders of the BJP, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, are expected to visit the state to inaugurate five proposed yatras later this month.

The party has planned to launch similar yatras from Coochbehar, Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas, Jhargram and Tarapith in Birbhum between February 6 and 11. However, the state government has asked the BJP to seek permission from local district administrations before holding the yatra.
And the betting markets put the likelihood of Trump winning a second term at 62 per cent. Loading A year later, 450,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and millions are still out of work. Trump is out of office  but only after falsely claiming for months that the November election had been stolen from him, a crusade that culminated in the deadly January 6 riot at the Capitol. A week after that assault, 220 Democrats in the House of Representatives and 10 Republicans voted to impeach Trump for inciting the insurrection  making him the first president in US history to be impeached twice. Since departing for his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump has been remarkably quiet. His Twitter account lies dormant after his suspension from the platform and he hasnt given any media interviews since leaving the White House. The over-sharer who dominated the national (and international) conversation for five years has become a sphinx.

But Trumps second Senate trial will see him return to the political spotlight  albeit in absentia. A loaded cannon Last February, Democrats argued that Trumps pressure campaign against Ukraine was so egregious that he needed to be removed from office. This time around the calculus is different, given he is no longer the president. If the Senate was to find Trump guilty of inciting the Capitol insurrection, it would then be able to ban him from holding office again.

In an 80-page brief released last week, Democrats laid out their case for why Trump deserves this unprecedented punishment. Loading His conduct endangered the life of every single member of Congress, jeopardised the peaceful transition of power and line of succession, and compromised our national security, the Democrats wrote in their brief. This is precisely the sort of constitutional offence that warrants disqualification from federal office. They argued Trump summoned a mob to Washington, exhorted them into a frenzy, and aimed them like a loaded cannon down Pennsylvania Avenue.

In their 14-page response, Trumps lawyers argued the Senate trial was unconstitutional because Trump was no longer in office. They also denied he wanted his supporters to storm the Capitol, and said his complaints about election fraud were protected free speech. In late January, Republican Senator Rand Paul introduced a motion arguing that the Senate trial was unconstitutional because Trump was an ex-president. The vast majority of legal scholars dispute this claim. But its an appealing argument for Republican senators who want to acquit Trump without having to defend his behaviour in the lead-up to the riot. Republican senator Rand Paul says the Democrats push to convict Donald Trump of inciting the January 6 Capitol insurrection is dead on arrival. Credit:AP Forty-four of Pauls Republican colleagues voted with him - including then Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, who had only recently accused Trump of provoking the riot.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio called the impending trial stupid and unproductive while colleague Tom Cotton said: I think a lot of Americans are going to think its strange that the Senate is spending its time trying to convict and remove from office a man who left office a week ago. Just five Republican senators voted to uphold the trials constitutionality - a sign that the Democrats case was, in Pauls words, dead on arrival. Democrats can beat this partisan horse as long as they want, Paul said. This vote indicates its over, the trial is all over. The threshold for conviction in the Senate is extremely high, reflecting the fact Americas founding fathers did not want to see presidents removed from office on a whim. A two-thirds Senate super-majority would be required in order for Trump to be found guilty of inciting the Capitol riot, meaning 17 Republicans would have to vote against him.

Thats almost impossible to imagine given how divided Americans are along partisan lines and how popular Trump remains with the Republican Party base. Just last week Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader in the House of Representatives, met with Trump in Florida to convince him to campaign for the party in the 2022 midterm elections. A poll by Quinnipiac University this week found that 50 per cent of Americans believed Trump should be convicted of inciting the insurrection while 45 per cent did not. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The partisan split was almost exact: just 12 per cent of Republicans said Trump should be convicted while only 11 per cent of Democrats said he should be acquitted. In order for 17 Republican senators to vote in favour of conviction, there would have to be overwhelming and bipartisan support among voters for such a move. That groundswell simply isnt there.

Quick but fair Trumps first impeachment trial lasted for almost three weeks, with senators forced to sit in silence for up to 13 hours on some days as they listened to arguments from the prosecution and defence. John Roberts, the Supreme Courts chief justice presided over the trial, adding a sense of gravitas to proceedings. Loading We dont know exactly how long Trumps trial will last this time around, but it is likely to be days rather than weeks. Aware they have next to no chance of achieving a conviction, Senate Democrats are keen to dispense with the trial as quickly as possible and move on to other issues. It will be a fair trial but it will move relatively quickly, Chuck Schumer, the Democrats Senate leader, said recently. Schumer said it was important to keep the trial short because we have so much else to do - such as passing a $US1.9 trillion ($2.4 trillion) coronavirus relief bill.

US President Joe Biden has also made it clear that, while the Senate is obliged to hold a trial, he does not want the early weeks of his presidency to be overshadowed by Trump. The assault on the Capitol on January 6. Credit:Bloomberg The Democrats impeachment managers are expected to rely heavily on video clips of Trumps speeches and the violence on January 6 when making their case. Many of the senators were themselves witnesses to the violence, reducing the need for lengthy recitation of evidence. Witnesses are not expected to be called at the trial  especially because Trump, through his lawyers, last week declined a request to appear. Democrat Patrick Leahy, rather than Chief Justice Roberts, will preside over the trial  reflecting its somewhat downgraded nature.

Over 60,000 worth of drugs were seized by gardai from a house in Wexford yesterday.

Gardai from the Wexford Divisional Drugs Unit carried out a search of a house in the Kilmuckbridge area of Enniscorthy, as part of Operation Tara.

Pending analysis, they believe they found amphetamine and cannabis worth approximately 66,000, and have subsequently seized them.

Gardai also arrested two men in relation to the operation, one in his early forties and another in his late teens. Theyre currently being detained at Wexford Garda Station under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act of 1996.

The investigation remains ongoing according to Gardai.




The U.S. Department of Justice withdrew a lawsuit last week against Yale University over how it accepts students. In October 2020, the department accused the school in New Haven, Connecticut of making it too hard for Asian-American and white American students to be accepted.

The lawsuit said Yale uses race as a determinative factor in hundreds of admissions decisions each year. That term means race was considered a main reason for accepting or denying students.

The case resulted from a legal action brought in 2016 by the Asian American Coalition for Education. The organization condemned the Justice Departments sudden move on Wednesday, calling the dismissal baseless.

Difficult decisions

Colleges and universities in the U.S. say they make an effort to seek out and admit qualified students from different backgrounds. The decisions are not based on grades and test scores alone.

That means they consider where a student is from, what kind of high school they attended and what kind of experiences they had in life before college. These considerations include the students race and citizenship.

In the past, many American universities placed limits on the number of racial or religious minorities they would accept. Some had policies barring such groups.

Many schools also have a system that favors applicants whose parents attended the school. These students were known as legacies. Critics say these policies help only rich, white people.

Since the 1950s, the U.S. government has asked universities to end unfair admissions policies and to consider students based on merit.

However, although policies have changed and many legal cases have been brought, change has been slow. At famous colleges, like the Ivy League schools in the northeastern U.S., there is still a relatively low percentage of Black students. The Ivy League includes Harvard University in Massachusetts, Yale University in Connecticut and Princeton University in New Jersey.

Cases that have gone to the U.S. Supreme Court helped universities update how they make their admissions decisions. The policy that permits universities to give extra weight to the race of an applicant when making their decision is called affirmative action.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled several times that colleges can consider race as a way to accept students with different backgrounds. However, some groups of students have disputed affirmative action policies. They say famous universities are preventing qualified Asian-American and white students from being accepted.

For example, a lawsuit brought against Harvard in 2014 said outstanding Asian American students were being penalized because of their race. Last November, however, a court in Boston ruled that Harvard University was not breaking rules related to admissions.

After the ruling, Students for Fair Admissions, which brought the case, said it would appeal to the Supreme Court. Our hope is not lost, said Edward Blum, the groups president.



Yale denies unfair treatment

In the Yale case, Asian American students said they were not being treated in a fair way. And, in a statement last August, the Department of Justice said Asian American and white students had only one-tenth to one-fourth of the likelihood of admission when compared to similar Black students.

Yale rejected this. The universitys president said it would not change its admissions policies. With the recent ruling, it will not have to change. A spokeswoman called the Justice Departments decision gratifying.

Swan Lee is a co-founder of the Asian American Coalition for Education. She was angry about the decision. Its a setback in our fight against racial discrimination against Asian Americans in education, she said.

Some civil rights groups say the Department of Justices recent decision was a good one. David Hinojosa is director of the Educational Opportunities Project at the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

He said the decision fits with past court decisions that said admissions decisions that consider race are legal. Black students and other students of color who come from all walks of life can rest a little easier knowing our government is looking to lift them up, not divide and suppress, he said.

While the case against Yale will not move forward with the support of the U.S. government, the case against Harvard will likely continue.

Blum said his organization believes the best chance for his groups lawsuit to find receptive judges is at the U.S. Supreme Court. The court is expected to decide soon if it will hear an appeal in the Harvard case.

The challenge to race-based affirmative action in higher education will continue regardless of any change in the Department of Justice, Blum said.

Im Jill Robbins. And Im Dan Friedell.

Colleen Long and Michael Balsamo of The Associated Press wrote this story. Dan Friedell adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

What do you think of this story? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page.

Quiz - US Drops Case Against Yale for Racial Discrimination Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

lawsuit- n. a process by which a court of law makes a decision to end a disagreement between people or organizations

merit- n. a good quality or feature that deserves to be praised

applicant n. a person who is applying for a position or to attend a school, college or university

penalize- v. to be punished for something (whether it is fair or not)

gratifying- adj. giving pleasure or satisfaction

setback- n. a problem that makes progress more difficult or success less likely

receptive- adj. willing to listen to or accept ideas, suggestions

challenge n. a difficult task or problem; something that is hard to do

Tran Ngoc Han, senior associate from US-backed law firm Russin & Vecchi Vietnam

The new Law on Investment 2020 came into effect in January 1 and inherits the spirit of its predecessor by providing additional investment incentives. Article 15 describes new forms of incentives, new types of projects, and enterprises entitled to incentives.

Under the Law on Investment 2014, a project with investment capital of VND6 trillion ($260.87 million) or more, and which at least VND6 trillion is released within three years after the issuance of investment registration certificate, qualified for investment incentives.

The 2020 law narrows such projects by adding supplementary requirements. Now, together with releasing VND6 trillion within three years, in order to enjoy incentives, such projects must also generate minimum total annual revenue of VND10 trillion ($434.78 million) within three years from the year of generating revenue. Alternatively, it must have at least 3,000 permanent employees.

Also included are projects which employ the disabled or construct social-housing; investment and innovation projects which create research and development centres; and various projects which relate to tech transfer, tech enterprise incubators; or those in providing technology, equipment, products, and services to serve environmental protection requirements.

Finally, it also covers projects to encourage development of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), such as investment in their distribution chains; investment in technical establishments to support them; SME incubators; and investment in common working space to support startups.

Investment incentives can encourage development of SMEs, and specific conditions as well as specific tips to obtain incentives have been laid out.

Improved business environment

Based on statistics from the Vietnam Academic Social Sciences in 2020, there were 541,753 SMEs operating in various sectors with a total registered capital of VND130 billion ($5.65 million) and which make up 40 per cent of GDP. These SMEs contributed 30 per cent of the state budget and employed 60 per cent of the population nationwide.

Policies to support SMEs have been gradually developed by the government in various stages through the issuance of the law on support for SMEs in 2017, Decree No.39/2018/ND-CP from 2018, and other guidelines to create positive and strong assistance for SME development.

Currently, SMEs benefit from support on information, consultancy, and human resource development; support on use of technical equipment, technical application and transfer; and support on administrative procedures, technical application, or facilitation to approach financial supporting resources.

The government has consistently sought ways to improve investment and the business environment, to perfect regulations and to create motivations in order to enhance the SME system. Particularly, in addition to current incentives and facilitation for SMEs as summarised, the Law on Investment 2020 grants certain incentives to projects with investment targets to develop SMEs.

These include corporate income tax (CIT) incentives, such as application of a reduced rate or exemption; exemption of import duty on goods imported to form fixed asset, raw materials, supplies, and components; exemption or reduction of land rent, land use fees and land use taxes; and accelerated depreciation and more generous inclusion of deductible expenses to calculate taxable income.

Although the projects which focus on SME support have been added as being entitled to investment incentives, the Law on Investment 2020 does not provide specific conditions that an investor must meet to qualify for incentives. The government is in the process of providing guidelines to ensure clearer and simpler explanations.

Based on the proposed draft decree guiding certain articles of the Law on Investment 2020, to be entitled to investment incentives, investors and their projects which will invest in the SME system must meet specific requirements depending on each type of project.

(i) For projects to develop distribution chains of SMEs, an investor aims to enjoy these incentives should ensure:

+ The distribution chain is comprised of at least 80 per cent of SMEs to provide and sell their products. Rules to determine a qualified SME must be based on its main business operations, total registered capital, the number of employees covered by social insurance, and revenue in the preceding year;

+ The distribution chain must have at least 10 locations/outlets to distribute products to consumers; and

+ Revenue of SMEs in such a chain must reach at least 50 per cent of the total revenue of the distribution chain;

(ii) For investment projects that incubate SMEs and develop common working space to support them, investors must satisfy:

+ Requirements regarding location/premise; for example, the working space or conference room must accommodate 25 persons, and be fitted out with necessary office/technical equipment; and

+ A minimum number of management personnel or experts with suitable experience. These management personnel will provide training, consulting on investment plans as advisors of targeted SMEs.

As SMEs play an important role in the economy, and as the government seeks to balance innovation policies, business operations that support SMEs are encouraged. Specific conditions and steps to obtain incentives are in the final stages.

Decrees and guidelines in recent years have helped to gradually develop policies for supporting SMEs, photo Le Toan

Identify and prepare

There are practical tips for an investor to apply for incentives. They must ensure the business lines and/or investment project is compatible with requirements for receiving investment incentives. The scope of projects must be strictly consistent with requirements of qualifying projects as mentioned, to ensure that incentives will be duly granted.

Investors should identify appropriate incentives for a specific project. Normally, for projects that are required to obtain an investment registration certificate (IRC), investment incentives are indicated in the IRC. Specifically, the licensing authority indicates the legal grounds of the incentives and subjects are entitled to obtain such incentives.

An investor must propose, prepare, and clearly explain justification and details of incentives applicable to their project in the proposal on implementation of the project, as part of the application dossier to obtain an IRC. After the proposed investment incentives are indicated in the IRC, investors shall apply these approved incentives based on the IRC.

With respect to projects which do not require an IRC, investors must self-determine investment incentives and work with the authorities. We refer to local tax, customs, or land management authorities.

In case of concern in relation to self-determination of a projects incentives, an official letter submitted to the competent authorities to clarify possible incentives may help to avoid potentially controversial issues. A misidentification of tax incentives or land use fee (if any) may affect the implementation of a project at a later stage.

Furthermore, there should be separation between business lines/projects which are entitled to incentives and those which are not. Generally, investors need to separate incentives if they invest in many projects, but only certain of those projects qualify for incentives.

In such case, in the proposal on implementation, the investor must clearly indicate which projects are subject to incentives and the legal justification. During operations, if the incentives relate to CIT reduction or exemption, the investor must separate income from production and business activities which are eligible for CIT incentives from income from those ineligible for CIT incentives for separate tax declaration and payment.

Finally, there needs to be a follow-up process for issuance of relevant legal regulations. As projects to encourage SME development have been newly added to the investment law, regulations to apply such incentives need to be developed, especially tax incentives.
China said that a US guided-missile destroyer had been expelled from the South China Sea a day after the same warship had passed through the Taiwan Strait. The US Navy had termed it as carrying out a lawful "freedom of navigation operation.

China said on Friday that a US guided-missile destroyer had been expelled from the South China Sea a day after the same warship had passed through the Taiwan Strait. The southern theatre command of the Peoples Liberation Army released a statement saying that it deployed warships and aircraft to alert and drive away USS John S McCain from near Xisha Island in the SCS area (Paracel Island).

The US Navy had termed it as carrying out a lawful freedom of navigation operation while many view Fridays exchange is part of the war of words that has broken out between Beijing and Washington in the past 24 hours. Joe Bidens newly elected administration had chastised China Over HK, Tibet hence debunking Biden Soft On China speculation. Both the superpowers during the Trump administration has seen increased tensions arising out of disputes in the SCS region and Taiwan.

Chinas increasing growing aggression and expansionist intentions have claimed nearly the entire SCS, but it is disputed by several maritime neighbours including The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia, Vietnam and Taiwan. As per media reports, a spokesperson of the Chinese theatre command said the passage of the US warship has seriously infringed upon their countrys sovereignty and security as well as cooperation in the SCS maritime zone.

Also Read: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey likes Rihannas tweet supporting farmers agitation

Also Read: Iran carries out surgical strike in Pak; 2 soldiers freed from Jaish-Ul-Adl

US president Joe Biden earlier laid the outlines of his governments foreign policy declaring, America Is Back with a word of caution for Russia and China. President Biden has pledged to counter Chinas economic abuses and aggressive behaviour by rebuilding alliances.
All 77 BJP MLAs in Bengal to have central security cover

J P Nadda visits Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture in Malda

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Malda, Feb 06: BJP president J P Nadda on Saturday visited the Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture in West Bengal''s Malda district.

Nadda, who is on a day-long visit to the state ahead of assembly polls, was briefed by top officials about the activities of the institute, which works on basic, strategic and applied research to enhance sustainable productivity, quality and utilisation of subtropical horticultural crops.

"It will certainly receive all cooperation from the Narendra Modi government in its advancement," Nadda told reporters.

West Bengal people will bid 'tata' to Mamata Banerjee, TMC after assembly election 2021: JP Nadda

CISH, a unit of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), had started its journey in 1972 in Malda as Central Mango Research Station.

Nadda said that during his nearly 20-minute visit to the institute, he witnessed the research work undertaken by the authorities for comprehensive horticulture development.

Delhi metro stations to avoid amid farmers Chakka jam | Oneindia News

He was accompanied by Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development Debasree Chaudhuri to the institute during his three-hour-long visit to Malda district, once a stronghold of the Congress, in the run-up to the assembly elections due in April-May.

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Story first published: Saturday, February 6, 2021, 15:08 [IST]

YREKA, Calif. - Siskiyou County Sheriff/Coroner Jeremiah LaRue is reaching out to the public via Facebook and has asked citizens to let him know what kind of information they would like to receive from him on social media.

He posted this Facebook LIVE with a report of incidents that occurred in January of 2021.

More than 1,030 calls for service came into Siskiyou County dispatchers in January. More than 30 arrests were made by Sheriff's deputies and 54 citations were written for various incidents, said Sheriff LaRue on Facebook Friday.

Sheriff LaRue also talked a bit about the January 25, 2021 snowstorm. He thanked his staff and members of the California Highway Patrol for their efforts during the storm that caused "total chaos on the freeway."

LaRue suggested people get the Caltrans QuickMap on their phones so they can keep track of problems on North State highways. He said he wants suggestions from his constituents about what kind of information they would like in the Facebook posts.

The new sheriff is a native son of Siskiyou County. He appears to have a sense of humor, and a commitment to social media communication. The photo in this article with Bernie Sanders waiting on the front porch of the Sheriff's Office was included in a Facebook post sharing information about how to contact his office during Covid-19 related closures.

The caption of the post was this: "Bernie would like to remind you that our lobby is still currently closed at this time, but we are still conducting daily business and are accepting appointments. Call ahead to schedule appointments at 530-842-8303. And as always, our 24-hour dispatch is available at 530-841-2900."
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A BINGA gold panner is battling for life in hospital with a deep cut on the neck following a failed suicide attempt in which he tried to cut his own throat after beheading his wife who had ended their relationship.

Lastmore Ngwenya (24) and Muchite Munkuli (23) both of Chamateme village under Chief Siachilaba had been married for an undisclosed period before Munkuli fell sick in October last year.

She consulted a self-proclaimed prophet who told her she had been bewitched by her husband's father.

Munkuli left her matrimonial home to live with her parents.

The case involving the couple's separation was heard by Chief Siachilaba on Christmas Eve.

A consensus for the pair to separate and share property was reached at the chief's court but Ngwenya, who could not stomach the development, went on to kill Munkuli on Christmas Day.

It is suspected that he raped her before killing her because the body had semen.

Ngwenya, a gold panner in Filabusi's Mathiya Dam area in Matabeleland South, is admitted at Binga District Hospital where he is reportedly unconscious.

Binga magistrate Urgent Vundla remanded him to next week Friday on his hospital bed for a charge of murder and rape.

According to prosecutors, Ngwenya disappeared after killing his wife and was found unconscious in his bedroom hut the following day with a deep cut on the neck.

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Details of the case are that Munkuli got sick in October last year and visited a self-proclaimed prophet who told her that Ngwenya's father had bewitched her.

She confronted her husband resulting in a misunderstanding which saw her abandon her matrimonial home.

Village head Amos Mungombe intervened and referred the case to Chief Siachialaba after failing to reconcile the couple.

Chief Siachilaba summoned the two's families and on December 24, ruled that the marriage was no longer safe and a consensus was reached for the couple to separate and share property.

"The two parties appeared before Chief Siachilaba on December 24 and a consensus was reached for the couple to separate and share property. After the court Munkuli left with her cousin Eveline Muleya going to a Zion Church service in the area while Ngwenya left to an unknown destination. Munkuli spent the night at Muleya's place of residence after church and woke up in the morning to go home using a small footpath," said prosecutor Quiet Dube.

Munkuli's lifeless bloodstained body was found by her sister around 8am and had a deep cut on the throat, both palms and chin.

Her undergarment was torn and removed to knee level while there was semen on her privates suggesting her attacker may have raped her before the murder.

The body was taken to Bulawayo for postmortem.

Ngwenya was later found with a big cut on his neck showing he attempted to commit suicide using an unknown sharp object while his shirt was soaked in blood.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Local churches and agencies are teaming up to feed hundreds of families in need.

Volunteers will meet outside, in the parking lot, of Booker T. Washington Community Center. That's on 13th Street in Terre Haute.

It's hosted by First Free Will Baptist Church.

The goal is to give more than 500 baskets of healthy food to families. Baskets contain lean meats, fresh fruits and vegetables, multi-grain pasta, cereals, breads, water, milk, herbs and spices.

You can drive up from 9 - 11 a.m. Volunteers will load your food basket into your car.

Social distancing meaures will be in place.

A zip code and amount of family members must be provided during pickup.

For more information or to volunteer, contact First Free Will at cdmfree24@yahoo.com, or any participating church/agency.
Dong Nai is calling for investors to develop infrastructure for three industrial parks

The industrial park (IP) is one of three IPs approved by the prime minister. The two others are the 300-hectare Gia Kiem and the 190ha Phuoc Binh IP. At present, the provincial Department of Planning and Investment is completing dossiers to call for investment in infrastructure development for the three projects. Cam My IP has yet to complete site clearance.

Once the three IPs come into operation, Dong Nai will have a total of 35 IPs in its master plan for the 2021-2030 period.

According to the plan, the province will have an addition of eight IPs in the period of 2021-2030, including four new projects with the total area of 4,300ha in Long Khanh, Trang Bom, Nhon Trach, among others and four expansion projects, including Dau Giay, Long Khanh, and Tan Phu.

According to a study by the province, enterprises shifting operations from China to Vietnam are boosting IP development and industrial real estate in Dong Nai.

The province also has numerous advantages for IP development while numerous large-scale infrastructure projects are under construction, including Long Thanh International Airport as well as the Dau Giay-Lien Khuong and Ben Luc-Long Thanh highways.

Dong Nai is one of the leading provinces attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to Vietnam. Despite the COVID-19 outbreak, the province exceeded its investment attraction target of 2020 with more than $402.2 million.

Especially, FDI in the provinces IPs hit a five-year record in the first days of the year, according to the provincial Industrial Zones Management Authority. Notably, the province attracted FDI of more than $226 million in 11 projects in the first 10 days of the new year.

Three new projects accounted for $190 million with the other eight being existing projects that expanded investment by $36 million.
A Chief Magistrates' Court sitting in Kano on Friday ordered the closure of a mosque belong to a popular cleric, Nasir-Kabara'.

The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that the state government had on Feb.4, banned Nasir-Kabara for inciteful preaching.

The order was given by Chief Magistrate, Mohammed Jibrin, in a suit No KA/06/2021.

Jibrin also ordered Nasir-Kabara to stop preaching and making unguarded utterances to cause breach of public peace.

"The mosque and Islamic Centre at the Filin Mushe of Nasir-Kabara, should with immediate effect be closed pending the outcome of an investigation being conducted by the police and other security agencies"

"The authorities and all security agencies in the state should take drastic and appropriate measures against anybody who indulges in preaching and utterances that are calculated to cause breach of public peace.

"The authorities and all security agencies shall ensure that this order is strictly complied with"

The court also ordered all media organisations to stop broadcasting the preaching and unguarded utterances by the cleric pending the outcome of the investigation

Earlier, Mr Wada. A ,Wada, from the office of the Kano State Attorney-General in an oral exparte application, prayed the court to close the mosque of the cleric, Islamic centre and stop him from further preaching in the state. (NAN)
At least 10 babies were sent across the border from Northern Ireland to Kimberly Home in Greystones, which later became the Westbank Orphanage.

This is according to a report published last week investigating mother and baby homes in Northern Ireland between 1930 and 1990.

The researchers say there are question marks about the legality of the adoptions of hundreds of babies born in Northern Ireland and then sent across the border to the Republic. The 10 homes examined were run by both the Catholic and Protestant churches and other religious organisations.

The overwhelming factor for admissions to the homes was family pressure, researchers wrote, also noting 'a culture of stigma, shame and secrecy attached to unmarried mothers'. Some entered the homes 'as the result of a sexual crime, including: incest, rape or unlawful carnal knowledge.'

The report says Catholic and Protestant voluntary organisations, and in particular members of the clergy, 'were actively involved in the process'.

The researchers say at least 551 babies born in mother and baby homes in Northern Ireland were moved to homes across the border.

The researchers say 'a significant number' of those babies were later adopted by families in the Republic of Ireland, other parts of the UK, or the USA.

'There is no obvious logical reason for these cross border movements in terms of either Catholic diocesan administrative logistics or the home addresses of their birth mother,' according to the report. While the majority of cross-border movement was related to Catholic run mother-and-baby homes, 58 babies were also moved from the Salvation Army's Thorndale House in north Belfast to the Republic of Ireland, at least 10 of those to Greystones.

The home was run by Adeline Mathers 'Auntie', who died in 1999 has been accused of hiding records, injections, and beatings as punishment for bed-wetting.

Differing reports have come from former residents of the home, with some claiming that they were never mistreated.

In a 2011 'Would You Believe' documentary on RTE by Wicklow native and reporter Mick Peelo, Colm Begley told his story. He arrived in the home in 1966 and remained there until he was 18. He said he was regularly beaten, frequently went hungry and that he was mysteriously injected, as a punishment and treatment for wetting the bed, during his childhood days in the home. Ken Moore, who was placed in the home at the same time as Colm, spent almost 30 years there. In 1980 at the age of 14, he claims he was beaten badly by Miss Mathers with an electrical flex for wetting the bed.

Mick Peelo discovered that Miss Mathers facilitated a number of unorthodox adoptions. She also concealed from some of 'her' children details of their natural family backgrounds, and refused to help them find their relatives.

Andrew Yates was legally adopted after a couple who had been temporarily looking after him came to the conclusion that he was being neglected in Westbank. They brought him to live in the North of Ireland, where he had a very happy upbringing. Unknown to him, however, Andrew had a brother in the home. Miss Mathers had changed both their surnames to her own, so no-one except her knew that Andrew's adoption separated him from his brother. He and his brother Colm Begley traced each other many years after leaving the institution.
Yes, what you see before your eyes is a Chevrolet Bel Air , one from 1950. Or, should we say, was, as this thing here looks nothing like the car it is based on.Its called Boost, and it is the work of a Utah-based garage by the name Weaver Customs , following an idea by Pfaff Designs. It was shown for the first time in 2013 at the Detroit Autorama, where it snatched the Outstanding in Class Radical Custom. Because, as you can see, it is a radical custom.The car boast body panels that are nothing like the original, put there as a means to make it look more like a racer. Remade in the form of a two-seat roadster, the Boost is shaved as smooth, looking massive and impressive in the Gun Metal Gray paint it comes wrapped in.As with any custom project of this magnitude, not all the body parts are original to the Bel Air, but have been made to fit perfectly with the build. There is a custom front splitter up front, a speedster-style windshield, and a unique rear end rocking a Flowmaster exhaust at the end of a flipped 1951 Chevrolet grill.The red interior comes with a completely new dashboard holding Dakota Digital gauges, and a sporty-looking and center console, steel frames holding the two seats, and speakers in the panels behind them.The car and passengers move along under the power of a supercharged 383ci (6.3-liter) of undisclosed power, controlled by means of a 3-speed automatic transmission.Like many other custom cars that steal the spotlight, this cars 15-minutes of fame are long gone. After the first appearance in Detroit, it was sold in 2014 at a Barrett-Jackson auction for $71,500.Since then, the world has lost track of this build.

Colorado Springs, CO (80903)

Today

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.

A family outside their rooms in a migrant village on the outskirts of Beijing on Aug. 17, 2017. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images)

Report: Less Than 30 Percent of Chinese Netizens Earn More Than $774 a Month

A recent internet study shows that as of December 2020, less than 30 percent of Chinese internet users earn more than 5,000 yuan (about $774) a month in China.

The figure was released by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), a state-run agency, in its 47th Statistical Report on Internet Development in China dated Feb. 3.

Screenshot of average monthly incomes for individual Chinese Internet users in a CNNIC survey.

China has an estimated population of 989 million netizens, one-fifth of the total internet population of the world, making them the largest portion of the global group.

In terms of educational background, those with a junior high school diploma take the biggest share at 40.3 percent, while those with elementary education or below make up 19.3 percent. Respondents with a university degree account for only 9.3 percent of the total internet users.

Students constitute the largest portion of Chinese netizens at 21 percent; then comes self-employed personnel and freelancers at 16.9 percent; and migrant workers from rural China at 12.7 percent.

Of all indexes, the most attention-grabbing figure is the average monthly income for Chinese internet users.

Findings show only 29.3 percent have a monthly income of 5,000 or beyond and that 32.7 percent earn between 2,001 (about $310) and 5,000 yuan (about $774) a month. Another 15.3 percent earn only 1,000 yuan (about $155) a month or below.

The topic of less than 30 percent of Chinese netizens earning over 5,000 yuan a month was so hot that it became one of the top ten most searched on Chinese social media site Weibo.

A netizen questioned: Does the figure 5,000 mean disposable?

Another one commented: 5,000 isnt a big number. Even with such an income, we cannot afford to buy an apartment. And we have to face a mild rise in prices.

One female netizen posted: My husband and I earn more than 15,000 yuan in total. Still, were under great pressure from our auto loan, childs tuition, rent, among others.

Another internet user commented: Dont mention netizens. If all the Chinese population is included in the calculation, the same percentage should be far lower.

However, soon after, the focus on the issue dropped drastically, as it was likely censored by Chinese authorities who consistently do so with dissent or sensitive topics.

On May 28, 2020, Li Keqiang, head of the CCPs State Council, revealed at a press briefing following the Two Sessions that China has a population of 600 million whose monthly pay is barely 1,000 yuan ($155). His remarks drew global attention immediately.

The Two Sessions are annual key meetings among top CCP officials.

On Dec. 2, 2020, Ou Qingping, vice director of the poverty relief office under the CCPs State Council, told a press briefing that Chinas last 52 poorest counties declared their anti-poverty goals had been reached.

Nonetheless, such a statement was questioned by critics, including China news commentator Chen Pokong, who suspected it too implausible that the issue of poverty was resolved in Chinas 52 counties within one month.

In the mid-1980s, as a career military officer, I did an Armoured Reconnaissance (Recce) course in the United Kingdom, as part of my professional development.



At the same time, my classmate, Kwadwo, was in London as a medical officer. Mobile phones had not arrived. We, therefore, communicated by letters.



At the end of my course, I arrived in London on my way back to Ghana. Ghana was then transitioning from the black-and-white television to colour.



Like many young men at the time, acquiring a colour television was my dream. This was also a period of the video-deck and cassettes for showing movies.



On my shopping list, therefore, I earmarked a colour TV and a video-deck. However, I had limited funds.



Samsung vrs JVC



Kwadwo picked me on a Saturday morning to assist with my shopping. At an electronics shop, my limited finances luckily could buy a TV and a video-deck.



Kwadwo encouraged me to go for that, but no! The name/brand was Samsung, which was new on the market. I wanted a known name like Philips, JVC or Grundig.



Meanwhile a JVC video-deck was selling for the same price as the Samsung TV and video-deck together. I remembered my basic Economics concept of Opportunity Cost. I had to forgo one for the other!



Against all the dictates of commonsense, I decided to buy the JVC only, not the complete set of Samsung TV and video-deck, to Kwadwos amusement or annoyance!



On my return home, my JVC sat in my wardrobe for a year, as I continued watching my old black-and-white TV, until I could afford a colour TV.



This reminded me of the philosopher Voltaire who said, man is rational in that he can think, not in that, he thinks!



Otherwise, how could I explain my unreasonable decision of just wanting a name/brand? Why this recollection of a London incident which happened about 40 years ago?



Years later, a young university graduate sought my opinion on a choice of employment offer between a known reputable company and an unknown little company.



After an analysis of the prospects, we both agreed on the choice of the little unknown company, because he could rise faster in the small company as it grew.



Somehow, he finally decided to go for the bigger company! I was disappointed with his decision. But my brain quickly recalled Kwadwos disappointment in London, when I decided against logic and went ahead to buy a JVC video-deck only, when the same amount could buy me a Samsung TV/deck.



Isnt it said that what goes around comes around? Morally therefore, I could not protest. Eventually when I told him my story with Kwadwo, he only smiled.



Analysis



I realise some decisions are made not on rational basis, but on emotions, and sometimes to impress others! Ghanaians love big names! Recently, someone bragged that he ate lunch of whiskey and salad at Kempinsky Hotel!



Rolex was the creme de la creme of wrist watches, while Mercedes Benz was the king of cars, when we were growing up.



Indeed, a friend said when he congratulated an uncle on his retirement car of a brand new top-of-the-range Toyota in the 1960s, the uncle mournfully said in Twi hmmm! Mawie ni o!



In effect ending life with a Toyota, and not a Mercedes was painful to him. Toyota was new and did not have a name.



But should a name or brand supersede functionality, especially when one is constrained by funds?



Professor



A History professor once asked his Level-100 class what human beings learn from history. After amusing himself listening to all the theories his students propounded, he told them what we learn from history is that, human beings never learn from history!



Indeed, a young man who was fed up with his fathers pieces of advice told him Dad, allow me to make my own mistakes, suffer the consequences, and learn from them. I dont have to learn from yours always!



According to the professor, this is why we keep re-inventing the wheel, instead of using others lessons as springboard for progress.



Conclusion



Today, all electronic gadgets in my home are Samsung, a clear case of the stone which the builders rejected in the 1980s becoming the cornerstone of the 2000s!



The Toyota my friends uncle looked down on in the 1960s, produces the famous Land Cruisers now used by the UN in operational areas.



Let us cut our coat according to the size of our cloth. That way, we dont have to live beyond our means and steal to buy big names to fuel corruption!



More importantly, let us think out of the box and take initiatives. For, eventually, it is new thinking/new names that have sent others to space/moon and back, that grow into the established names we all seek.



Fellow Ghanaians, wake up!



The writer is a former CEO, African Peace Support Trainers Association, Nairobi, Kenya and Council Chairman, Family Health University College, Accra

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
The majority of Irelands over-85s will be able to get the Covid-19 vaccine from their own GP while 6,000 will be administered the jab in another surgery or hub, it emerged last night.

A small minority of the 72,000 people in this age group will have to travel to another doctors practice or a special centre. They will get the jab from their own doctor.

But an uncertain and limited supply of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines will mean these over-85s, as well as others over 70, will see an uneven roll-out and access to the vaccine may be dependent on where they live or how soon supplies are delivered to their GP.

The over-70s will be vaccinated through three different systems.

Read More

Most will receive the vaccine in their own doctors surgery, others will travel to another doctors practice where a number of GPs will buddy up.

In other cases they will get the jab in vaccination centres .

The first will be in Dublin City University (DCU) in Dublin and centres will all be opened in Galway and Cork, according to an email from the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) to GPs late last night.

The email said all practices with more than 200 over-70s on their list will receive deliveries through cold chain and operate their vaccination clinics within their own practice premises with the GP practice team.

In certain areas where there are a large number of smaller list practices there will be a GP run vaccination clinic at an agreed location such as Dublin, Cork and Galway

The first clinic will be DCU, Dublin, where there are 121 practices in the surrounding area with fewer than 200 over-70s in total.

This will operated by GPs, practice nurses and staff who will do sessions and be led by a lead GP to organise rotas and scheduling.

All booking, registration and payment for your own patients will be via your own practice management system  the only change is the venue at which the patient will receive the vaccine.

The clinics will operate in the agreed age phases until all these patients are vaccinated and at the 28 day intervals. These clinics will operate at weekends.

It said that for a small number of practices outside of Dublin, Cork and Galway we are assisting those GPs who have less than 200 patients on the over-70 age category in buddying up with a larger practice in the area.

In this way the small patient numbers from one practice will attend at the larger practice for vaccination but this will be delivered by the patients own GP team in that setting.

We will be contacting those practices and assisting with the buddying-up system.

Doctors will identify their patients, register them and invite them to the location where they will receive the vaccine.

There are around 490,000 patients over 70 in the community almost all of whom are patients of GPs around the country. Within this group the first patients to be vaccinated are those 72,000 over-85s, then moving on to patients between 80 and 84, 75 to 79 and 70 to 74.

Dr Denis McCauley of the IMO, who met with the HSE yesterday, said: The majority can get the vaccine at their own GPs surgery.

GP practices with a lower number of patients in these age groups will link up with other surgeries and, in exceptional circumstances, they will all set up in a designated centre. The alternative plan is just a tiny amount of patients, he said.

Dr McCauley said the deliveries would be staggered, with some GP practices in an area getting them before others.

However, the plan still is to begin the roll-out in the week beginning February 15.

If people are given a date to get the vaccine, they will not care if another practice gets its first.

Doctors will be given about five or six days notice of when their supplies will be delivered.

It follows the decision to make these two vaccines the preferred jabs over the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine because of a lack of evidence to the European Medicines Agency on how effective it is on older people.

Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said last night: Data on efficacy among older adults with AstraZeneca vaccine is lacking at this time.

GPs are expected to get a clearer idea of how the roll-out will operate today after a briefing from Irish Medical Organisation representatives.

However, several doctors across the country say they are in the dark about the arrangements and they have concerns about some elderly patients living in rural areas.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said yesterday the vaccination of the over-85s would start in the week beginning February 15.

Dr Gary Stack a GP in Killarney, Co Kerry, said he had 45 patients over 85 who are eligible for vaccination but was waiting for clarity on how the vaccination would operate.

Around one in 10 of these patients are living in quite rural areas and two or three are housebound.

He said he would still like to see a role for the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine to allow him to give it to housebound patients.

He said doctors were still unclear how much vaccine they would get.

There are other issues arising where a patient is entering a nursing home and has not been vaccinated although all the other residents have already received their first dose.

His call was echoed by Dr Michael Harty. The former Independent TD, who is a GP in rural Clare, said the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines created logistical complications due to storage and temperature

control.

There is not a critical mass of patients in each practice in west Clare, he said.

He said they would team up in a central location which could be located in Ennis.

Dr Ken Egan, a GP in Co Mayo, said he had 243 patients over the age of 85.

It was important to ensure there was safe transport provided for those who must be supported to travel to a surgery or vaccination centre, he said.

The HSE is also recruiting vaccinators and nurses, physiotherapists, doctors, paramedics and advance paramedics can apply.

The first batches of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine are due at the weekend with 21,600 doses. Another 190,000 are expected in February and these will now be offered to frontline healthcare workers.

These were earmarked for the over-70s but will now be given to frontline workers instead.

As of yesterday, 220,000 doses of vaccine have been administered since December.

Meanwhile, 35 more Covid- related deaths were reported yesterday with 1,047 cases.

The median age of those who died is 84 years and the age range is 63-96 years.

Among the new cases 292 are in Dublin, 119 in Cork, 76 in Wexford, 60 in Limerick, 47 in Kildare with the rest of the 453 cases among the remaining counties

The number of patients with Covid-19 fell to 1,221 with 181 in intensive care.

Dr Holohan said: No single intervention is perfect at preventing the spread of Covid-19. It takes many different individual actions to slow down the spread of the disease.

Every action you take is another layer of protection between you and the virus  the more layers you have the more protection you have.

Public health measures are based on this principle.

Keep physical distance from others, wash hands regularly, avoid crowds, wear face coverings and vaccines: all provide you with layers of defence against Covid-19.

Read More




All people arriving into Northern Ireland should be made to isolate in a quarantine centre and the measure should be put in place urgently, a leading expert has said.

Independent SAGE member, Professor Martin McKee, has criticised a delay by the Executive to implement strict border measures to stop Covid-19 variants from taking hold in Northern Ireland.

And he said he fears that political sensitivities over borders in Northern Ireland may be a driving factor in the refusal to completely close the border that may ultimately result in more Covid-19 cases here.

It comes just days after the chief medical officer, Dr Michael McBride, warned that it is "only a matter of time" before the more infectious South African variant arrives in Northern Ireland.

From February 15, all those arriving into England from 33 Covid variant hotspots will have to isolate in a hotel for 10 days.

This is despite the fact that Government advisers have warned that nothing short of quarantining all visitors or closing borders completely will "get close" to excluding any new variants.

Newly released minutes from a meeting of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) in January conclude that only a "complete, pre-emptive closure of borders or the mandatory quarantine of all visitors upon arrival in designated facilities, irrespective of testing history, can get close to fully preventing the importation of cases or new variants".

And last night the Executive Office said no decision has been made yet in relation to putting in tighter border controls in Northern Ireland, despite fears of a vaccine-resistant strain throwing the vaccination programme into chaos.

A spokesman said: "Cross-departmental work is continuing on supported isolation arrangements for international travellers, including the potential use of hotels."

However, public health expert Prof McKee, said it is crucial for the Executive to act swiftly.

"I would go for a blanket ban that doesn't limit itself to flights coming directly from countries of concern," he said.

"These variants don't just come from countries that we know about, they can happen at any time and many countries aren't even aware of them until it is too late.

"This should have been done weeks ago and Northern Ireland also needs to be working closely with the authorities in Dublin because so many international arrivals into Northern Ireland have travelled through Dublin first."

Prof McKee also said it is possible to implement strict border measures that would not disrupt medical or food supplies, as has been claimed is the case by officials.

"You don't necessarily need individuals to enter with the goods, there are ways of getting around it and we can see from other countries that it can be done, and in fact when it comes to truck drivers, there can be a little bit more leeway because they have been isolated."

DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley, a member of the Stormont health committee, said he welcomed the fact that work is being done in the background to address borders, but he added: "Speed is of the essence here and we need to make sure that appropriate controls are in place going forward."

Alliance Party MLA Paula Bradshaw, also a member of the Stormont health committee, said: "As this issue concerns people immediately upon arrival into the UK and Ireland, we need clarity about how exactly this will impact on arrivals in Northern Ireland and how information will be shared to ensure public health authorities in all jurisdictions have all the information they need."

Yesterday, it emerged that Northern Ireland's Covid-19 death toll has now reached 2,495 after a further 124 people lost their lives.

The NI Statistics & Research Agency (NISRA) released the latest Covid-19 statistics, which revealed that 124 deaths linked to the virus were reported between January 23 and 29.

According to the figures, there were 78 more deaths reported than the five-year average for the period.

However, the figures have also suggested that the Covid-19 death rate may be beginning to decline from the previous week's pandemic record high of 182 Covid-19 related deaths. The comparative total number of deaths reported daily by the Department of Health from the beginning of the pandemic up to December 29 was 1,837.

The Department yesterday announced 506 new cases and 16 further deaths.
Armenia fell from 86th to 89th place in the EIUs latest Democracy Index after rising substantially in the global ranking during the previous two years.

The EIU rates 167 countries and territories on five indicators, including civil liberties and electoral process and pluralism, and divides them into four categories: full and flawed democracies, hybrid regimes and authoritarian regimes.

Armenia remains in the hybrid regime category of nations with an aggregate democracy score of 5.35 out of 10. The EIU gave it 5.54 points in the Democracy Index 2019 released a year ago.

Armenias score declined significantly in 2020, after the country had bucked the regional trend and registered significant improvement in 2018-19, reads latest EIU report.

As a result of the armed conflict with Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorny Karabakh, the Armenian government imposed martial law which significantly limited citizens freedoms, including freedom of expression. Martial law continued even after the fighting was ended via a ceasefire and was used as a pretext to disperse anti-government protests and detain opposition leaders, it says.

Daniel Ioannisian of the Yerevan-based Union of Informed Citizens played down Armenias drop in the democracy ranking. He argued that the country still did much better than in EIU surveys conducted before the 2018 Velvet Revolution that brought Nikol Pashinian to power.

Although we have regressed, it is not that terrible and not comparable to the pre-revolution years, he told RFE/RLs Armenian Service on Friday.

Ioannisian noted that Pashinians government restricted civil liberties not only during the recent war but also after imposing a state of emergency in March to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

For example, the freedom of speech in Armenia was restricted at the start of emergency rule, from March 13 to April 16, which was quite controversial. Its good that this restriction was quickly lifted, he said.

Armenian opposition groups have accused the government exploiting the state of emergency and ensuing martial law to crack down on dissent.

They have also denounced it for enacting in June 2020 constitutional amendments that significantly changed the composition of the countrys Constitutional Court. The court was locked in a yearlong standoff with Pashinian.

Taking on Mamata Banerjee on her own turf, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President Jagat Prakash Nadda on Saturday accused the West Bengal government of not implementing the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme in the state because of 'ego'. On a day when farmer unions called a 'chakka jam' against three contentious agricultural laws, Nadda reaffirmed the BJP and the Narendra Modi government's commitment to the welfare of the farming community.

Nadda was addressing a rally of farmers during the last phase of the month-long 'Krishak Suraksha Abhiyan' and 'Ek Mutthi Chawal' campaign which he had flagged off in order to mobilise the farming community in the state in favour of the BJP. The programmes were also a part of BJP's outreach to farmers to blunt the opposition's charge that the ruling party and the Modi government were "anti-farmer" following farm protests at Delhi's border points.

Addressing a public meeting in Bengals Malda district, Nadda said, You will be surprised to know that nearly 23 lakh farmers of Bengal have applied online to take advantage of the PM-KISAN scheme. However, Mamata government has stopped the verification process. Today, West Bengal stands at 24 positions out of 29 states as far as welfare of the farmers is concerned. Peoples expectations towards TMC have now turned into their anger due to bad governance. BJP under the leadership of PM Modi can only ensure good governance in Bengal. Our target is to ensure good governance and development in West Bengal and on other side TMC leaders are busy minting money through extortion and cut money."

Assembly elections are due in West Bengal in April-May this year and the BJP has already launched a massive, very aggressive campaign highlighting farmers issues to oust the Trinamool Congress government from the state.

ALSO READ | Nadda Launches BJP's 'Rath Yatra' in Bengal: Here's the Poll Plan, Tussle with TMC and Past Experience

BJP is inevitably going to form the next government in 2021 in West Bengal and we will implement all the central government schemes, which were blocked by Mamata Banerjee. Mamata ji, dont you think people of Bengal have the right to avail these schemes? Why are you not implementing it? She is busy promoting Bhaipo (Mamatas nephew Abhishek Banerjee). Everywhere, I see Bhaipo and Didi photographs. We can clearly see people in Bengal made up their mind to end Mamata and Bhaipos rule. People in Bengal will show them the door in the upcoming polls, Nadda said.

We are the real representatives of Bengal because we believe in good administration, culture, and we believe in the holistic development of the state. But on the other side, I would like to ask all of you who are present here  who is behind stealing rice meant for the poor? Who is involved in corruption and depriving the poor of Central government schemes? See, you all know, who are these people behind rampant corruption, he said in an apparent reference to the Cyclone Amphan fund scam.

Mamata government represent lawlessness, anarchy, syndicate culture, cut money and corruption, he added as he raised the slogan, Onek Hoychhey Mamata, Parivartan Chaichhey Janata (People in Bengal want to get rid of Mamata, they want to see change).

Prior to the public rally, Nadda visited Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture in Malda and interacted with the officials on what scientific approach they should suggest for the benefits of the farmers.

Nadda, state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh and other party leaders also had a community feast where they ate khichdi and vegetable curry while seated on the floor with farmers. Amid chants of "Jai Shri Ram", Nadda also led a roadshow in Malda.

Standing atop a decorated lorry with Dilip Ghosh and others, he showered jubilant supporters with marigold petals and waved to enthusiastic crowds that gathered along the 1 km stretch between Foara More and Guru Rabindranath Tagore's statue. People watched the procession from rooftops and balconies and were seen shooting videos with their mobile phones.

The streets were lined with BJP's flags and buntings as the cavalcade inched its way through the narrow and crowded streets.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, right, and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell - Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP

The EU's top diplomat on Friday called for the bloc to turn to Russia to make up its shortfall in vaccine supplies in a humiliating visit to Moscow that drew a sharp rebuke from the United States.

Josep Borell was accused of whitewashing Vladimir Putins regime after failing to free jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny after a controversial visit that ended with expulsion of three European diplomats.

Officials in the US administration believed Mr Borrell got "played" by the Russians.

They regarded his visit as "awkward" and unnecessary, and felt he should have coordinated better with Washington, especially with the EU-US relations in need of repair and a united front against Moscow vital.

In the EUs latest blunder, the foreign affairs chief urged the independent European Medicines Authority (EMA) to press ahead with the authorisation of the Sputnik jab so it could make up the shortfall in supplies to the bloc.

The gaffe came after Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, Friday compared Brexit Britain to a speedboat in securing coronavirus vaccines, while likening the EU, which negotiated supplies as a bloc, to a slower tanker.

For the first time, she also publicly took personal responsibility for threatening to impose a hard border on the island of Ireland during a row over vaccines supplies last Friday.

Russia expelled three diplomats from EU members Germany, Poland and Sweden for observing January protests calling for Mr Navalnys release, which the EU has demanded, after Mr Borrell held a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, said the expulsions proved the Russian government was turning its back on international law. France condemned the move while Germany, Poland and Sweden said they could retaliate.

I take the floor to just congratulate Russia for this success, its good news for the whole mankind because it means we are going to have more tools to face the pandemic, Mr Borrell said earlier in Moscow.

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It will be good news because as you know we are facing a shortage of vaccines and if there is another course of supply, that is welcome, he told reporters after Mr Navalny was jailed for two years and eight months on fraud charges on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Mr Navalny was back in court on separate charges of defaming a Second World War veteran, which could see him jailed for an additional two years.

The EUs foreign affairs chief, who pressed ahead with the meeting despite misgivings from some EU member states was under pressure to at least meet Mr Navalny.

There are international moves to impose sanctions on Russia for the jailing of Mr Navalny, which took place after he narrowly survived an August poisoning attempt at the hands of Russian officials. He was arrested on his return home from Germany after recovering.

US President Joe Biden on Thursday said America will no longer be "rolling over in the face of Russia's aggressive actions" and his officials said they would take action over Mr Navalny.

A former senior US national security official for Barack Obama, with links to Mr Biden's state department, told The Daily Telegraph: "The optics are not good to have the EU's high representative in Moscow as Navalny is in a glass cage.

"It was awkward. Borrell should not have gone to Moscow in the absence of securing some kind of substantial deliverable in advance, and as far as we can tell there was no deliverable [...] It does look like the Russians played Borrell.

Bob Seely, Tory vice-chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on Russia, said: "I don't know if this is a quid quo pro, but I do think it's surprisingly uncomfortable for a very senior EU leader to be going to Moscow the week of one of its most high profile show trials in the past 15 years.

"It is bizarre, but it is also not right. Yes the EU has messed up its vaccine policy but to eject your value system straight out of the window so quickly? It's pretty shocking."

MEP Sandra Kalniete, a former Latvian foreign minister and EU commissioner, said Mr Borrell had whitewashed Putins regime.

The EU already has sanctions in place against Moscow for the chemical weapons attack on Mr Navalny and the illegal annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

The Spanish diplomats embarrassment was compounded when Mr Lavrov accused the EU of being an unreliable partner for considering further sanctions.

He suggested German Chancellor Angela Merkel was lying when she accused Vladimir Putin of being behind the assassination attempt.

An EU diplomat told The Telegraph, It was a bad day for the EU. Unfortunately, it was not a good performance by Mr Borrell. He was unprepared. Mr Lavrov played by his own rules and got everything he wanted.

Mr Borrell said he had told Mr Lavrov to release Mr Navalny and investigate his poisoning in August. "Over the last years our relationship has been marked by fundamental differences and lack of trust," he said on the first visit to Russia by a senior envoy since 2017.

Mr Lavrov criticised the EU for alleged human rights abuses in Latvia and said that Brussels and Moscow were united in their criticism of the US blockade of Cuba after Mr Borrell admitted the bloc was against the blockade.

Mrs Merkel said Germany was prepared to continue sanctions and suggested Berlin would retaliate for the expulsion of its diplomat.

She said it was a "diplomatic duty" to keep open channels of communication with Moscow in a press conference with Emmanuel Macron, who has also called for continued dialogue.

"With regards to the Navalny affair, I condemn with the greatest firmness from start to finish what has happened Mr Macron said on Friday.

Poland summoned Russia's ambassador and said it would take appropriate action. Sweden warned that it reserved the right "to an appropriate response".
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Myanmar's new military authorities appeared to have cut most access to the Internet on Saturday as they faced a rising tide of protest over their coup that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi's elected civilian government.

Numerous internet users noted a slow disappearance of services, especially from mobile service providers, that accelerated sharply late Saturday morning. Broadband connection also later failed, while there were mixed reports on whether landline telephone service was still working.

Netblocks, a London-based service that tracks internet disruptions and shutdowns, said Saturday afternoon that a near-total internet shutdown is now in effect in Myanmar, with connectivity falling to just 16% of normal levels.

The broad outage followed Friday's government order to block Twitter and Instagram that said some people were trying to use the platforms to spread what it deemed fake news. Facebook had already been blocked earlier in the week _ though not completely effectively.

The communication blockages are a stark reminder of the progress Myanmar is in danger of losing after Monday's coup plunged the nation back under direct military rule after a nearly decade-long move toward greater openness and democracy. During Myanmar's previous five decades of military rule, the country was internationally isolated and communication with the outside world strictly controlled.

Suu Kyi's five years as leader since 2015 had been Myanmar's most democratic period despite the military retaining broad powers over the government, the continued use of repressive colonial-era laws and the persecution of minority Rohingya Muslims.

The blockages are also adding greater urgency to efforts to resist the coup, with Saturday seeing some of the largest street protests against the takeover. In what appeared to be the main one, about 1,000 protesters _ factory workers and students prominent among them _ marched Saturday morning down a main street in Yangon, the country's biggest city, and were met by more than 100 police in riot gear.

Members of the crowd shouted Military dictatorship should fall and Down with dictatorship. They marched with their hands in the air, formed into three-fingered salutes, a symbol of defiance adopted from protesters in neighboring Thailand, who borrowed the gesture from the Hunger Games movie franchise.

The demonstration ended peacefully with no clashes reported. It dispersed around the time communications were cut, and it was unclear if the marchers later regrouped.

Telenor Myanmar, a major mobile operator, confirmed it had received Friday's order to block Twitter and Instagram. In a statement, Twitter said it was deeply concerned about the order and vowed to advocate to end destructive government-led shutdowns.

It undermines the public conversation and the rights of people to make their voices heard, its spokesperson said.

Since the coup, social media platforms have been major sources of independent news as well as organizing tools for protests.

For the fourth night Friday, those opposed to the coup and the arrests of activists and politicians that have accompanied gathered at windows and on balconies around Yangon to make a cacophony of noise in protest.

Earlier Friday, nearly 300 elected lawmakers from Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party declared themselves as the sole legitimate representatives of the people and asked for international recognition as the country's government.

They were supposed to take their seats Monday in a new session of Parliament following November elections when the military announced it was taking power for a year.

The military accused Suu Kyi and her party of failing to act on its complaints that last November's election was marred by fraud, though the election commission said it had no found no evidence to support the claims.

In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pledged Friday that the United Nations will do everything it can to unite the international community and create conditions for the military coup in Myanmar to be reversed.

He told a news conference it is absolutely essential to carry out the Security Council's calls for a return to democracy, respect for the results of the November elections, and release of all people detained by the military, which means the reversal of the coup that took place.

Guterres said Christine Schraner Burgener, the U.N. special envoy for Myanmar, had a first contact with the military since the coup and expressed the U.N.'s strong opposition to the takeover.

According to U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric, she reiterated to Deputy Commander-in-Chief Vice Gen. Soe Win the secretary-general's strong condemnation of the military's action that disrupted the democratic reforms that were taking place in the country.

In addition to 134 officials and lawmakers who were detained in the coup, some 18 independent activists were also held, said the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Myanmar, which added that some have been released.

On Friday, Suu Kyi's senior aide, Win Htein, was picked up in Mayangone township. He told BBC in a phone call earlier that he was being arrested for sedition, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Suu Kyi and President Win Myint are also under house arrest and have been charged with minor offenses, seen by many as merely providing a legal veneer for their detention. Suu Kyi was described by her party as being in good health.

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Melbournes experiment with expanded outdoor dining has been a resounding success, credited by most of the citys participating restaurateurs with helping them stay afloat after months of crushing lockdown.

A survey of 150 businesses with outdoor dining parklets, reclaimed from on-street car-parking spaces, showed 81 per cent said the scheme had helped them reopen.

Three-quarters of owners said having pop-up dining spaces outside had enabled them to maintain seating capacity while patron numbers were restricted indoors.

Restaurant tsar Chris Lucas at his Chin Chin parklet. Credit:Justin McManus

The research comes as Melbourne City Council mulls the future of its outdoor dining experiment.
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Young entrepreneurs are tapping into the growing campervan trend, making money by fitting out vintage vans or buying fleets of vans to rent out.

Even before the pandemic, social media had made #vanlife or #vanlifeaustralia cool, but the trend has been super-charged by COVID-19 driving a resurgence in domestic holidays.

Actor Zac Efron added a touch of Hollywood glamour to the trend when he recently posted photos on Instagram of himself with a van in South Australia, after filming Gold in Adelaide.

A growing number of Generation Z and Millennials are capitalising on the trend, such as Sydneysider Marcus Moffat, 22.
Philly Fighting COVID was only authorized to vaccinate home health aides at its Pennsylvania Convention Center site last month, but the city has no record of how many of the nearly 7,000 people vaccinated by the group actually fit that description, officials said Friday.

While a majority of home health workers in the city are people of color, the group  whose troubled partnership with Philadelphia drew embarrassing national headlines  failed to consistently record the racial breakdown of the people it vaccinated. Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said the organization appears to have vaccinated mostly white residents, based on the citys distribution of second doses to them this week.

The people who force their way to the front of the line and manage to get in often are people who are white, Farley said. I will fully acknowledge that problem.

Those details were among the racial equity concerns raised during a City Council hearing Friday on the citys vaccine distribution and former partnership with Philly Fighting COVID, a self-proclaimed group of college kids with whom the health department cut ties last week.

Council members have blamed Mayor Jim Kenney for failing to properly vet the organization. And they spent more than four hours questioning Farley and other top administration officials, who are scrambling to restore trust in the vaccination process. But the hearing yielded few new details about who advocated for the group, how it was vetted, and how the city can ensure such a debacle doesnt happen again.

Its still important to me to find out who put their credibility on the line, Councilmember Cherelle Parker said, suggesting that someone in an influential position advocated for Philly Fighting COVID. Im still pissed off about it right now.

 READ MORE: The city trusted a group of college kids to lead its vaccine rollout. But Philly Fighting COVID was full of red flags from the start.

Farley said he wasnt personally involved in conversations with Philly Fighting COVID, but ended the partnership after The Inquirer raised questions about the groups policy allowing it to sell personal data through a for-profit arm. He declined to answer several questions from Council, saying the citys inspector general has asked him not to interview his own staff to learn more until its own independent investigation is complete.

I have many of the same questions that I cant answer myself, Farley responded at one point. The rest of those questions are going to have to be answered when the inspector general report comes out.

Farley said he delegated vaccine planning to Caroline Johnson, his deputy who resigned last week after records obtained by The Inquirer showed she gave the group an advantage in a city bidding process. He said the city has revamped its vaccine planning, and he participates in daily calls with other officials.

 READ MORE: The city says it cant answer some questions about Philly Fighting COVID amid an investigation. Thats not true.

Philly Fighting COVID bid to receive city funding for vaccine distribution, but had no contract in place with the city for the Convention Center site. Like hospitals, pharmacies, and other organizations that receive vaccinations, the group signed an agreement with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Farley said the city checks medical licenses and inspects organizations for their ability to distribute vaccines, but doesnt sign contracts with its 98 vaccine providers.

Do you people Google folks? Councilmember Isaiah Thomas asked. I think there were a lot of signs that were right there in our face.

Farley couldnt say Friday whether the Department of Health did a Google or social media review of Philly Fighting COVID. Jim Engler, Kenneys chief of staff, said the city would look into how other cities vet vaccine providers and how Philadelphia could improve its process.

Philly Fighting COVIDs inability to limit vaccines to eligible residents and ensure racial equity isnt unique to that group, Farley said.

Every provider that weve given vaccine to  those invitations have sometimes been forwarded to other people and people have come in and been vaccinated who were not in that target population he said. There are so many eager people out there.

Farley acknowledged the city has fallen short on vaccinating people of color  only about 15% of vaccinations have gone to Black residents, who make up more than 40% of the citys population  and said one reason was that people of color were hesitant or less aggressive about signing up.

Council members pushed back, raising concerns about racial equity and pointing to issues such as lack of internet access, language barriers for residents who dont speak English, and the need to offer vaccination clinics in underserved neighborhoods. Council members also grilled Farley on the citys choice to give more vaccine doses to Philly Fighting COVID than the Black Doctors COVID Consortium, a more qualified group that is also focused on racial equity.

Farley apologized to Ala Stanford, who leads the Black doctors group.

I completely understand why Dr. Stanford would see it as disrespecting her, he said, and let me publicly apologize to her for that.

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(CNN)  Hong Kong has introduced sweeping new restrictions for how schools operate, months after the Beijing government imposed a new national security law giving authorities wide-ranging powers to crack down on vaguely defined political crimes.

For years, parents and students in the semi-autonomous city have feared a shift toward China-style "patriotic education," with a previous attempt to introduce such a curriculum defeated by mass protests in 2012. The new rules, coming in the wake of both the new security law and a crackdown on the city's opposition movement, go far beyond what was previously mooted.

In a circular issued to schools Thursday, the city's Education Bureau (EDB) said that "as far as national security is concerned, there is no room for debate or compromise."

A spokesman for the bureau said that in accordance with the national security law, "preventive efforts should be accorded priority in order to minimize the need for suppression and punishment."

"Schools have a significant role to play" in this, he added.

Speaking at a news conference Thursday, Ip Kin-yuen, a former lawmaker and vice chairman of the Professional Teachers' Union, criticized the government for announcing the new policies without consulting teachers and parents.

"There is a lot of sensitivity and unpredictability when it comes to national security law education," he said. "It will bring about huge pressure and anxiety among principals and teachers."

New rules

The new policies are outlined in a series of circulars seen by CNN, as well as new teaching materials, including videos, picture books, and graphics, with cartoon Chinese soldiers and local police officers helping students understand their "responsibilities" under the security law.

They go into granular detail over how national security issues should be taught across a range of subjects, from general studies and history to biology and music, as well as how administrators and teachers should handle discipline issues and failure to respect the new guidelines.

Both teachers and students who contravene the rules face potential censure, with administrators advised to involve the police in the event of "serious" offenses, while books and other materials deemed to be contrary to national security are to be removed from school grounds, though little precise guidance is offered for what materials are covered.

"If an employee is found to have committed any act of disrespecting the country, the school should give appropriate advice or warning, and pay attention to this employee's future performance accordingly," the rules state.

Students, both university and high school, were at the forefront of anti-government, pro-democracy protests which rocked Hong Kong for much of 2019. During the unrest and in the run-up to the national security law being introduced, many pro-government figures blamed the city's liberal education curriculum, as well as teachers, for supposedly radicalizing the city's young people.

"We lost two generations, we lost them through the schools," a top adviser to Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam told CNN at the height of the unrest.

"The fundamental problem is that you have a whole generation of young people who are not just dead against, but actually hate China," the aide said, on the condition on anonymity. "How are you going to have 'one country, two systems' work if you have a whole generation hating that country?"

While members of the city's democratic opposition have dismissed these claims, pointing out that many of them did not receive the supposedly radical lessons, which were only introduced in 2009, this has not stopped the push to "reform" Hong Kong's education system.

In her annual policy address last November, Lam, the city's Beijing-appointed leader, said the 2019 protests had "led many to question again the effectiveness of Hong Kong's education."

"We cannot bear to see that with the infiltration of politics into school campuses, students are drawn into political turbulence or even misled to engage in illegal and violent acts, for which they have to take legal responsibilities that will impact on their lives," Lam said, adding it was "the shared responsibility of the government, society, education sector and parents to find a way to protect our students."

Political controls

Under the new guidelines, inculcation of the tenets of national security will start early.

Kindergartens -- both private and public -- will be expected to instill in their students a greater knowledge of "Chinese history, Chinese culture, and moral education," which the guidelines say will "gradually build up students' identity as a Chinese and thus lay the foundation for national security education."

Beginning at the age of 6, all students in Hong Kong will receive new lessons aimed at helping them "understand the country's history and development, the importance of national security, the national flag, national emblem and national anthem."

Primary school students will be instructed in singing the national anthem and raising the flag, while older children will discuss the rationale behind the law itself, and the importance of institutions such as the People's Liberation Army.

Nor are international schools -- which are popular among both foreign residents and wealthier locals -- exempt from the new guidelines.

While private educational institutions are not directly under the control of the EDB, the rules issued Thursday state that international and private schools "have the responsibility to help their students (regardless of their ethnicity and nationality) acquire a correct and objective understanding ... of the concept of national security and the National Security Law, as well as the duty to cultivate a law-abiding spirit among their students."

Hong Kong's education system is already notoriously intense for students, while the city's international schools command high fees and are tough to gain admission to, meaning the new rules might be the final straw for some parents who were already considering moving abroad.

This week, the United Kingdom launched its resettlement program for holders of British Nationals (Overseas) passports, of which there are an estimated 3 million in Hong Kong. The Chinese government has reacted angrily to the plan and said it will no longer recognize BN(O) documents, but still an estimated 300,000 people are expected to relocate to the UK.

Others are moving to Canada and Australia, where many Hong Kongers hold dual residency, while several prominent activists and politicians have sought asylum in the UK, Germany and the United States.

"The (exodus) is already happening, especially for families with small kids," opposition lawmaker Lester Shum said last year. "If I put myself in their shoes, I can understand the fear and the worry that they have about the next generation. Children cannot reasonably have bright prospects or a bright future in Hong Kong, and so in order to protect that ... it's understandable why people want to leave."

Concerns for teachers

For school employees, both administrators and teachers, the new rules open up the concerning possibility of being reported by students for contravening national security, something that could result in them losing their jobs or, in extreme incidences, being arrested.

Last year, the city's former leader, CY Leung, launched a campaign to name and shame teachers he said had been involved in the 2019 protests, posting their personal details on his Facebook page and calling for them to be fired.

In mainland China, such reporting of teachers who go against the Party line is relatively routine, both on high school and university campuses, and regular campaigns are conducted to ensure educators' ideological purity, while "student information officers" compile dossiers on teachers deemed to be insufficiently patriotic.

While for many older Chinese these practices have worrying echoes of the Cultural Revolution, in which teenage Red Guards frequently abused and even murdered teachers, such campaigns have ramped up under Chinese President Xi Jinping.

On Thursday, China's government issued new guidelines for "strengthening the work of the Chinese Young Pioneers," (CYP) a Communist Party youth wing which "serves as a school for children to learn about socialism with Chinese characteristics and communism."

"The guideline stressed upholding the Party's leadership over the CYP work, and following the fundamental task of nurturing capable young people who are well-prepared to join the communist cause," according to state news agency Xinhua.

The Young Pioneers operate similarly to the Scouts, but with a distinctly political bent, wearing a uniform red scarf tied around their necks. Per the new guidelines, they will be encouraged to engage more with schools and youth groups in Hong Kong and Macao, so as to enhance the "national, ethnic and cultural identity" of young people in these territories.

This story was first published on CNN.com 'No room for debate or compromise' as Hong Kong introduces sweeping national security rules for schools
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The Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (CPCC) on Saturday passed a resolution seeking that Rahul Gandhi be made the party president again. The resolution was passed unanimously in a meeting of CPCC executive body and district presidents held at Rajiv Bhawan, the party's state office, a release issued by CPCC spokesperson Vikas Tiwari said.

"The resolution to reelect Rahul Gandhi as president of Indian National Congress was proposed by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. It was seconded by AICC state in charge P L Punia and CPCC president Mohan Markam," the release added. It said all Congress members were with Gandhi and the party would continue to grow stronger under him.

In August last year, Baghel had written a letter to Gandhi urging him to return as the party chief.

The Delhi Congress, too, had last week passed a resolution, including requesting Rahul Gandhi to take over as national president of the party.

"The party passed three resolutions unanimously, requesting Rahul Gandhi to take over as the president of the Indian National Congress, and demanding the resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for their failures'," the statement said.

Delhi Congress president Anil Kumar moved the resolutions. "Considering the disturbed and dangerous political situation in the country, Congress needs a dynamic and powerful leader like Rahul Gandhi at the helm, he said.

Kumar said Gandhi has been waging a determined battle to expose the "misdeeds" of the central government, and that his leading from the front as Congress president was an urgent need to boost the confidence and morale of party workers. The other resolutions demanded the resignation of Shah and Kejriwal for their "mishandling" of the farmers' tractor rally on January 26 and the subsequent violence in Delhi, the party statement said.

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 5)  The Sandiganbayan's fourth division has ruled that retired Lt. Gen. Jacinto Castillo Ligot, former military comptroller, "unlawfully acquired" over 102 million worth of properties which are now ordered forfeited in favor of the government.

In a 70-page decision promulgated on Wednesday, the anti-graft court said Ligot and his family failed to prove the assets they acquired from 2001 to 2004 were out of their lawful income. These include condominium units, houses, pieces of land, and investments in the Armed Forces and Police Savings and Loan Association, which were either under Ligot's name or the names of his family members. While they denied purchasing some of the properties, they did not present evidence to back their claims, according to the decision penned by Associate Justice Bayani Jacinto.

Ligot served in the Armed Forces for more than two decades, from 1982 until his retirement in 2004. Ligot's total acquisitions during that period amounted to 110.9 million, while his total dispensable income for the same period only stood at 9.1 million, the Sandiganbayan said.

It added that based on his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth, Ligot had a net worth of 105,000 in 1982. This ballooned to 3.2 million by 2003, but properties worth over 108 million were not declared in his SALNs from 1982-2003.

In deciding on which should be declared ill-gotten, the Sandiganbayan noted several factors, including that the public official's total cash outflow must be "manifestly out of proportion" to the dispensable income.

Meanwhile, the forfeiture case against Ligot's brother-in-law, Edgardo Tecson Yambao, was dismissed. Yambao was accused of acting as Ligot's front in purchasing some of the properties, but the Sandiganbayan said he was able to submit evidence of his independent financial capacity.

Ligot became controversial for his involvement in a 2011 corruption scandal, when another military official revealed a supposed incentive system called "pabaon" within the military organization. Under the scheme, retiring chiefs of staff appointed by then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo were allegedly given hefty amounts in addition to the usual retirement benefits.

In 2019, the Sandiganbayan found Ligot guilty of perjury over false declarations in his SALNs, sentencing him to at least six years in jail. He applied for probation to avoid imprisonment.
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 6 : Leader of the Opposition in Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala has attacked the ruling CPI-M for trying to divide Kerala on communal lines and said that the attack against the Indian Union Muslim League, a major constituent of the UDF, was a move in that direction.

The senior Congress leader was addressing the media during his "Aiswarya Kerala Yatra" when he slammed the Left party.

Chennithala said that there is a clear agenda behind the CPI-M state secretary A. Vijayaraghavan comparing the IUML to an Islamic fundamentalist outfit.

Vijayaraghavan had in a press conference on February 4, stated that Chennithala and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy were meeting IUML state president Hyder Ali Shihab Thangal and other leaders of that party to aid "compromising" with Islamic fundamentalism.

The remarks by the CPI-M leader was subject to scathing attack across public domains as IUML has been the secular Muslim face of the state and had worked over time to prevent a major communal carnage in the state after the Babri Masjid demolition.

Chennithala said that the CPI-M is trying to divide the state on communal lines and this is to get the Hindu vote bank which they had successfully played in the 1987 Assembly elections as well.

The senior Congress leader also said that the CPI-M agenda will not be successful in the state as both the Hindu and Muslim community were aware of the CPI-M's game.

The opposition leader also said that the CPI-M was instrumental in breaking the sanctity of the hill shrine Sabarimala by allowing women of the "banned age-group" to climb the hill shrine which was against the customs and traditions of the temple.

The opposition leader tried to remind that the CPI-M was neither for the Hindu community and had insulted the Hindus by allowing women at Sabarimala.

The opposition leader also listed details of CPI-M leader's and their relatives getting government postings after the LDF government had assumed office in the state.

Chennithala while speaking to IANS over telephone said: "The CPI-M leaders have posted their relatives in large numbers in government departments side stepping the Public service commission. The cases of former MP, M.B. Rajesh's wife getting the first rank as Assistant Professor in Malayalam at Sree Shankara University is a clear example of blatant violation.

"Even three subject experts who had participated in her interview had alleged that she was far beneath in the rank list. This is a clear indicator as to how power is being misused in the state." The opposition leader also said that the youngsters of the state were being cheated by the LDF government conducting backdoor postings of relatives of party leaders.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The registration process for the H-1B visa application for the next fiscal year will begin on March 1 and the successful applicants through a computerised draw of lots would be notified by March 31, a federal agency has announced.

The notification by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Friday came a day after the Biden administration announced that it will continue with the traditional lottery system to issue the much sought-after work visa to foreign professionals.

The USCIS announced that the initial registration period for the fiscal year?2022 H-1B?cap?will open at noon Eastern on March 9 and run through noon March 25.?

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

During the registration period, prospective petitioners and representatives will be able to fill out petitioner and beneficiary information and submit their registrations, the USCS said.

The agency said if it receives enough registrations by March 25, it will randomly select registrations and send selection notifications by March 31.

The successful applicants would be able to join their new jobs in the US on October 1, when the American fiscal year starts.

As mandated by the Congress, USCIS can issue a maximum of 65,000 H-1B visas in a year. It can also issue another 20,000 H-1B visas to foreign students who have completed higher studies from a US university in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects.

The quick announcement by USCIS on the next year's H-1B registration process comes a day after it said that it is delaying the implementation of the Trump administration policy of allocation of H-1B through a wage and skilled based process.

The Trump era rule was scheduled to go into effect on March 9.

On January 7, the USCIS announced to do away with the traditional lottery system in deciding the successful applicants for the H-1B visas.

The USCIS had said it would prioritise wages to protect the economic interests of American workers, and better ensure that the most highly skilled foreign workers benefit from the temporary employment programme.

In a statement on Thursday, the USCIS, however, said that it is delaying the rule's effective date until December 31, 2021.

The USCIS can issue a maximum of 65,000 H-1B visas in a year. It can also issue another 20,000 H-1B visas to foreign students who have completed higher studies from a US university in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects. LKJ PMS AKJ PMS

Also Read: 'India-China held nine rounds of military talks, so far': EAM Jaishankar

Best known for his role as Mathew Williams in ITV drama Cold Feet, actor and broadcaster Cel Spellman is also an ardent environmentalist and keen wildlife fan.

As part of a new podcast series for WWF, Call Of The Wild, launching on February 17, he speaks to several famous faces about topics impacting the future of our planet - from the way we travel to the items we buy. Even though we're only years away from irreversibly damaging our natural world, Spellman promises there is hope. Here's why

How do you intend to be a more responsible traveller once the pandemic ends?

"I'm very passionate about trying to experience new things and see new cultures. But in the same breath, I'm very conscious and aware that flying is dreadful for the environment and does have a massive impact. Currently, I'm trying to find the right balance with actions that won't have too much of a catastrophic effect, but where I'm also not going to take all the enjoyment out of doing something that I love.

"What's been nice about this reset, is that we've turned to the natural world for peace of mind. We're always looking further afield, but within this country, there are so many beautiful green spaces."

Where will you be heading on holiday?

"As soon as the lockdowns end, I want to go and explore Scotland. There's so much variety of beautiful landscapes, interesting terrains and different habitats. I think you could go for six weeks and get completely lost.

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Whatsapp Undated Handout Photo of cheetahs in Kenya's Masai Mara. See PA Feature TRAVEL Call Of The Wild. Picture credit should read: PA Photo/iStock. WARNING: This picture must only be used to accompany PA Feature TRAVEL Call Of The Wild.

"Cornwall is also top of the list. It seems like anyone who goes there comes back raving about it. But I've never had - or created -the opportunity to go and spend a week or so down there."

When did you start caring about the planet?

"I've always had an awareness of the environment. And then, in turn, you learn about wildlife habitats and realise they're just as much your habitat. When I was 15, we touched upon global warming in science studies at school. I started to understand it was having a devastating effect on the planet. Later, I reached out to WWF.

"Now I'm conscious that if I'm aligning myself with WWF and other environmental charities and organisations, I have to be able to back up what I'm saying with my own actions. For a while now, I've been trying to do all the things in my power to live more sustainably, to make those choices that may be better for the planet and, in turn, for ourselves."

What's your most memorable wildlife holiday?

"About five years ago, we'd just finished a series of Cold Feet and I booked a holiday to Kenya as a treat for myself. I was there for just under three weeks, starting in Nairobi and then heading out to the Masai Mara. I can never quite quantify it or put it into words, but it was magical. It's the cradle of civilization. There was an abundance of wildlife everywhere you looked, right down into the sand, into the ground with all sorts of ants and little critters. It was teeming with life.

"Before that, the closest I'd ever been to seeing these animals was through David Attenborough's programmes. Then suddenly, I was about five feet away from a wild African elephant, or a cheetah with its kill.

"Another thing that really stuck with me from that trip, was visiting the Maasai people. They lived so harmoniously with their environment. They demonstrated it is achievable."

What can we do to make our travels more sustainable in the future?

"In the UK, we're very fortunate with what we have available. So, I think anything that you can do locally is great. I think it's also important to remember that we can have an impact in the way we spend our money. If we can use our money to let big businesses know that we will only invest in things that are going to be beneficial for the planet, then we'd be having a positive impact. Eventually, businesses will have to follow suit.

"If we moved away from investing in fossil fuels and actually started putting money into the renewable side of things, that would be really powerful. But at the same time, I'm very aware that trying to make the sustainable, ethical and right choices often comes at a premium price. It's not always affordable for everyone. There should be more attainable options. I think people are very much ready to make the right decisions and use money in the best possible way."

What was it like to meet Sir David Attenborough, one of the guests on your podcast?

"It was a dream come true. He's one of my greatest inspirations and I can honestly say, he's even better than you imagine. To be in his presence and listen to him is something that I'll treasure forever. He's a fountain of knowledge, and I felt - in our conversation - there were things I've never heard him speak about. He gave some beautiful messages, pieces of advice and great wisdom. He has so many stories. The minute you add his voice, his feelings, it just takes it to a whole new level.

"One beautiful thing he said was, 'I encourage anyone to step out into the natural world and stop for 10 minutes, take a breath. Let it all unfold around you, and you'll see something special'.

"I think we've lost that connection. If you can connect with the natural world, it will very quickly show you many miracles, and prove this is something we need to be protecting and caring about."

The first episode of Call Of The Wild with Cel Spellman and WWF launches on February 17 - available on all podcast providers
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Kabul, Feb 6 : Afghan First Vice-President Amrullah Saleh confirmed on Saturday that intelligence personnel has arrested another man for his alleged involvement in the November 2020 Kabul University attack that claimed the lives of 22 people.

"Another key element behind the vicious terrorist attack, Mohammad Omar, who was under prosecution, has been arrested in Police District 16 of the Kabul city," Saleh, who is heading a security team in-charge of security of the capital, said in a Facebook post.

On November 2, 2020, at least 22 people were killed and over 40 others were wounded after two gunmen attacked the University.

The victims included 18 students -- 16 from the Public Administration Faculty and two from the Law Faculty.

"As the people are aware, an individual involved in Kabul University attack had also arrested earlier, and had been sentenced to death and we once would be witnessing their hanging," the First Vice-President added in his post.

Attack mastermind, Mohammad Adil, was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court on January 1.

Five other collaborators of the attack were sentenced to various jail terms on charges of treason, transfer of explosive materials and cooperation with the Islamic State terror group which claimed responsibility.

Adil, a resident of Panjshir province, was recruited by Sanaullah, a member of the Haqqani Network terror group, according to the First Vice President.
Aadhaar is not mandatory for registration on Co-WIN portal, Union Minister of State for Health Ashwini Choubey informed Lok Sabha on Friday. Providing details about the Co-WIN portal, he said it has been developed by the Ministry of Health, government of India with the support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), India Office.

On whether Aadhaar is mandatory for registering on the Co-WIN application, Choubey, in a written reply, said, "No, Aadhaar is not mandatory for registration on Co-WIN portal." He further said that Rs 58.90 lakh has been incurred on Co-WIN, as on February 1 this year.

On whether any privacy impact assessments were carried out to develop the application, Choubey said, "Yes, privacy impact assessments were carried out for Co-WIN portal. For data safety, data is encrypted using a highly secure key, no unauthorised access to database on AWS server is allowed and restricted access to relational database service (to decrease the risk of malicious activities)."

The Co-WIN application follows the privacy policy as stated in the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM), he added.

KING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY, Saudi Arabia (AP)  Dustin Johnson is in sight of another victory at the Saudi International, a European Tour event the top-ranked American has virtually made his own.

Johnson birdied the last two holes of his third round to shoot 4-under 66 and take a two-stroke lead on 13 under overall on Saturday as he looks to win the tournament for the second time, after the inaugural edition in 2019.

In the defense of the title last year, he placed second behind Graeme McDowell.

I would say the game is in better form right now than two years ago, said Johnson, the reigning Masters champion, but I think I holed a lot more putts two years ago than I did this year so far.

But theres always tomorrow.

Victor Perez of France is Johnsons nearest rival after shooting 66. Four players  Soren Kjeldsen (65), Tony Finau (67), Andy Sullivan (68) and Tyrrell Hatton (66), the recent Abu Dhabi Championship winner  are a stroke further back at 10 under overall.

They are all chasing a player who has had six top-three finishes in his last eight events stretching back to the PGA Championship in August.

Johnson returned to Royal Greens Golf & Country Club early Saturday to complete his second round and rolled in a birdie putt from 15 feet at the last for a 6-under 64, leaving him a shot off the lead shared by Ryan Fox and Stephen Gallacher.

Johnson moved into a share of the lead by the second hole of his third round and the outright lead by the time he reached the back nine. He brought the field back into play, though, by making a double bogey at No. 13  for his first dropped shots of the week  after a poor 8-iron approach shot from the middle of the fairway that fell 30 yards short.

He reacted by finishing birdie-birdie  his eagle putt at the last shaved the right side of the cup  to take command again.

I was a little frustrated today. You know, I just try not to let it linger too long, Johnson said. "I know Im doing things right, but sometimes it just doesnt go your way.

Story continues

But I still played a really solid round and real happy with the way Im playing," he continued. "A little frustrated maybe with the shot on 13. But other than that, very pleased with how I played.

The Saudi International is the last of three events in the Gulf Swing that launches 2021 on the European Tour.

___

More AP golf: https://apnews.com/apf-Golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports


Indian-American economist and former NITI Aayog vice chairman Arvind Pangariya says that while privatisation invites skepticism, the Centre's focus on it now is of the same magnitude as that of the government of India in 1992. He espoused the idea of a "separate privatisation ministry".

In an exclusive interview with CNN-News18, Pangariya talks about job-creation in a post-pandemic world, his views on the recent Budget, and much more.

Edited excerpts from the interview:

Q: Many economic and market experts were saying that so far the successive budgets by the BJP-led NDA government was not bold on reforms. In fact, some of announcements in the previous budget were seen as populist. Will you say that this budget 2021 coming in the times of pandemic has attempted to take the Bull by the horns - be it the question of growth, boosting infrastructure, or tackling the fiscal deficit?

A: This is a watershed budget. It really takes on every reform that we have been asking for. And its not just through the budget, but reforms have also already been carried out, such as labour reforms, or farm laws and medical reforms. The candidate Modi that we saw in 2014 is at its full fledge in Modi 2.0.

Q: I am going to talk about reforms in just a bit, because we are seeing the politics of reforms playing out, but a little bit more about the budget because privatisation has got a major push in this time. Many are saying that it is the most ambitious plan since Vajpayee's era. What do you think about that? Nirmala Sitharaman has announced 1.75 lakh crore as the disinvestment target for the fiscal year of 2021-2022 again; a huge amount. How realistic is this target?

A: Skepticism gets expressed regarding privatisation. Privatisation has been the government's own agenda since 2016. While I was at Niti Aayog, the PMO supported us in many things that needed to be privatised. This is a little different from what it was earlier. The policy now is as of the same magnitude that the government of India announced in 1992. The government is saying this is my policy and not just saying we want to do it. I feel like now we need a separate privatisation ministry.

Q: Yes, because you have talked about that it, that it would make you happy if India actually has a separate disinvestment ministry. The one we saw during the Vajpayee era. Can the Modi government really implement it? They have created very interest-specific or focus-specific ministries be it skill development or even the Jal ministry which is to do with the Ganga ambition.

A: In terms of implementation, this is the best government that we have. The Modi government can implement this. I never thought Swachch Bharat would do such good but PM Modi made it successful.

Q: Is India really in a position to turn the tables when it comes to the higher fiscal deficit figures? A higher fiscal deficit is not just the government's headache, it also impacts our financial lives.

A: By and large in the past six years this government has been very conservative to fiscal deficit target. I support what the government has done on the fiscal front. People are now returning to work and now spending money also. What will happen we have to see. I expect this to boost our growth. If the government delivers what it promised, then growth will go above 8%. Growth will be powerful, if we are able to lower the debt. The government says we have a consolidation plan, we will see deficit coming down.

Q: You just mentioned that India could easily achieve over 8% growth in next 2 decades following Covid-19. Given the momentum we have maintained, and we contain expenditure going forward. Where do you see scape for expenditure cut. The wastage or leakage, if any?

A: The scope for cutting expenditures is shrinking because the government is doing a better job of plugging the leakages. The whole area of public distribution system is still the same. The government has a large number of centrally-sponsored schemes, these need to be revisited. We never close any scheme once its open it remains open. There should be an audit done by a set of experts which tells which scheme is supposed to continue till when, and it will make our expenditure come down. These are things which I think the government can do.

Q: I am going to talk about the political-hot potato right now here in India; while budget announcements have been largely welcomed by experts the problem many argue is getting these ideas and announcements to see the light of the day. We are witnessing massive protests against the farm laws which have been touted as a landmark reform by many, including you. How can you separate good economics from politics in a democracy like ours?

A: We can never separate politics from good economics. Sometimes there is uncertainty but that doesnt mean we will sit back and do nothing. Thats what we have been hearing in UPA: that there is no consensus. We have done a large number reforms in the last 30 years. This is the largest protest to any reform. The opposition is coming from mainly two states, which is not all of India. Most states have welcomed the reforms. The government is working on to resolve it soon. Overall we have done pretty well.

Q: How do you find the political solution? Finding political solution requires getting the state chief ministers on board because of course we are seeing a law and order situation that emerged because of the Republic day parade and the vandalism that happened. Both Delhi borders have been petrified because there is an another anticipation. My question is that how do you implement this and look for a political solution because the farmers have taken maximalist position and the opposition parties are backing the farmers saying that they would also want complete roll back of these reforms.

A: It's something the PM and his cabinet have to navigate. All I can say is that the government has shown good flexibility at the point of postponing the laws for more than a year. Sometimes compromise has to be made to reach an agreement. It's something the government has to do.

Q: 1991 was a year when India badly needed economic reforms, are we in the same situation right now? Are the farm reforms almost like a 1991-moment for agriculture reforms, or will you be giving a new phrase to it?

A: 1991 was a good moment because that was beginning of reforms. The reforms that happened in the last five years are some of the toughest reforms. Labour law reforms, Modi government has done it. We changed the entire policy frame work. From planned economy, we became a market economy. For how long does the poor farmer has to wait to get his right to sell his produce at his own terms. Reform has to happen and we certainly cannot undermine the interest of farmers in 27 other states because two states oppose it. China has done so many reforms. Reform has to be done and economy has to grow, how long do we have to wait.

Q: Will you say that given the nature of political opposition that is in our country at this juncture, what will be his (Modi's) ranking in the category of reformist Prime Ministers. Will you be saying that he is like Mr Narsimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, or will you rank him above them?

A: If I was to write a book on the makers of new India, then those three PMs will be the defining PM of that book.

Q: How do you arrive at this conclusion, seeing the challenge right now, particularly once-in-a-century pandemic makes it more difficult for PM Modi?

A: It's not just pandemic but what makes it more difficult is that you always to try to pluck low hanging fruits and by the time Modi came, all those fruits were already harvested. Modi has a tough task of doing reforms which were the toughest to do. The discussion on farm laws started in Atal ji's government. Modi has said if the constitution allows to do then why not do it, everybody wants to pluck the lowest-hanging fruit first.

Q: Can we really get to the five trillion target that has been set by the Prime Minister and is this the first time that India is showing a definitive economic vision and following a well-calibrated growth strategy. And how is it really a departure from the past?

A: PM Modi has a vision I can tell you that. This budget tells me that he is laying down the roadmap for the next five years to come. Privatisation of banks like companies. Very big progress in infrastructure like rails roads. He is really building India. He thinks that defense has to be looked at differently. Geographically, he has a vision. He is clear that he also wants to do things for east India and not just North India. Before he even became PM he felt that East India needs more attention. He thinks holistically, operates a little different from previous leaders.

Q: There is criticism that is coming from the opposition that this is the government that is selling assets. Also, the other focus is mainly on infrastructure development which has been the big focus in this election. Will it really address the issue of jobs in the short to medium run because of the massive job losses that we have seen?

A: In the short run, infrastructural development has to be done because it is labour intensive. So, it is the right kind of expenditure. In the longer run, private sector has to do its bit and provide jobs. The government can be held responsible for good or bad policies but the job creation is up to private sector. If the private sector says we can't give jobs because of some policy, then tell this to the government. It is not the government's job to create jobs.

Q: And what do you think of the opposition's views on the budget?

A: This is all shenanigans in my view, the government never sells assets, it just swaps assets to create other assets. If you spend on education it means you are building human capital which is also an asset. By swapping the assets, the government is doing the right thing. It is not for govt to do manufacturing activity. That's done best by the private sector. Infrastructure or health is clearly the government's job. How the government is going to do it we will see, if the government lacks resources then what can be done.
Ganta wanted all elected representatives in the state to resign and organise massive protests so that the central government is pressurised into withdrawing its decision. (Photo: DC/Narasimha Murthy)

VISAKHAPATNAM: Former minister and Visakhapatnam North MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao on Saturday sent a resignation letter to Speaker Tammineni Sitaram and said it was in protest against the Centres decision to privatise the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP).

In his letter, the Telugu Desam legislator cited the reason for quitting his elected position as privatisation of RINL (Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited). As per norms, no resignation letter should cite any reason for taking such a decision as it amounts to taking the decision under duress. However, the legislator deliberately stated the reason thereby indicating that it was clear drama to gain popularity.

Srinivasa Rao wanted all elected representatives in the state to resign and organise massive protests, so that the Centre is pressurised into withdrawing its decision.

Meanwhile, trade unions and mass organisations continued their sit-in on the national highway at Maddilipalem against VSPs privatisation for the third day on Saturday. About 29 leaders, including women, belonging to CPM, CPI and affiliated trade unions, HMS, IFTU and AITUC were arrested and bundled into waiting vans. The leaders said their protests are over steel plants privatisation as well as opposing farm bills passed by the Centre.

Speaking on the occasion, city CPM secretary B. Ganga Rao said the Modi governments move to privatise the steel plant is a conspiracy against people of Andhra Pradesh.

The plant came up after 32 people sacrificed their lives for its establishment and farmers of 32 villages gave away their 24,000 acres of land for establishing the countrys only shore-based steel plant. He demanded that all political parties support the agitation all over the state till the union government drops its plan to privatise the plant.

Rao asked BJP leaders to spell their stand instead of making conflicting statements. He wanted Jana Sena leader Pawan Kalyan to snap his ties with BJP and participate in the agitation against privatisation of the steel plant.

Just when you thought the FBI couldn't fall any further, the Bureau utterly, hilariously, and luridly beclowns itself. In a formal document, a criminal charge. Using a Photoshopped picture from 4chan, the reviled (by all people who abhor wrongthink) website where a wag substituted a lurid picture for the official portrait hanging on the wall of the U.S. Capitol in the background of a shot of the Viking horn helmet guy and others who stormed in on January 6, 2021.

Seamus Hughes was the eagle eye who spotted it, though the arrow in his picture on the following tweet directs the eye away from the object of humor:

Ive studied extremism for 15 years, Ive reviewed mostly every court record for decades. I can honestly say very little surprises me. That said, I have absolutely no idea what to say about the Internet image the FBI used in a criminal complaint of the picture hanging on the wall pic.twitter.com/nznszFmif7  Seamus Hughes (@SeamusHughes) February 4, 2021

Here is a blurry enlargement of the key detail:



Source.

This is so sloppy a job that it suggests extreme pressure to act in haste. That need for speed, of course, is the excuse used by Kevin Clinesmith to explain away his lying to a federal court  and the judge in question, James Boasberg, bought it and let him off with no prison time, a $100 fine, and community service.

I am so old that I remember when the FBI was adored by the media and most of the citizenry other than communists. And J. Edgar Hoover's insistence on getting the details right was legendary. Back then, not having enough Brylcreem in an agent's hair could get one exiled to the field office in Butte, Montana. Considering the light punishment handed out to FBI lawyer Clinesmith, will anyone at the FBI even care about this? Will the judge hearing the complaint?

It's come to this: Americans have to learn about how to practice free speech and about threats to democracy from foreign leaders. From France, for crying out loud!

Our Big Tech and major media are now so compromised by their allegiance to the slow-motion coup underway that it takes outsiders, leaders of democratic states like France, Australia, Mexico, Hungary, and Poland, to warn Americans that our democratic republic is slipping away.

This has never happened before.

If you think Joe Biden's presidency is just the normal back-and-forth of power-sharing by election, you are kidding yourself.

The AP has the story of the president of the French Republic's upset at the muzzling of Trump:

French President Emmanuel Macron says he was "very upset" by the way social networks muzzled Donald Trump at the tail end of his U.S. presidency. Speaking in a recorded video chat with scholars, Macron cited Trump's example in arguing for more government regulation of social media platforms. The comments, which Macron made in English, were released Thursday by the Atlantic Council think tank. "At the very second when they were sure" that he would not hold onto power, platforms that had previously "helped President Trump to be so efficient" in making himself heard "suddenly cut the mic and put the mic on mute and killed ... all the platforms where it was possible for himself and his supporters to express themselves," Macron said. "It was a unique answer to deliver, but it's not a democratic answer," he said.



Emmanuel Macron (photo credit: Estonian presidency, cropped).

Alexander Hall of NewsBusters has the story of Macron's shock but adds to that an account of other democratic leaders who are warning us. It should be read in full, but here are some of the key points:

I am so old that I remember when the United States of America was regarded as the leading democracy of the world. Actually, it wasn't that long ago.
A Sahara dust plume has swept across ski resorts in the Alps and coloured the snow yellow as a sandstorm from the African desert makes its way across the continent.

The cross-country ski track at La Fouly in Val Ferret, Switzerland, was scattered with sand from the Sahara today and left the sky an eerie shade of yellow.

Skiers were seen taking to the slopes despite the freak weather incident after the increased concentration of dust from the African desert continued to stream in.

Meanwhile a skier in the Pyrenees captured the blanket of sand covering the snow as they scraped the layer of orange with their skis.

An orange hue was also seen in the Chamonix Mont-Blanc Valley as the air was laden with sand dust from the Sahara.

The cross-country ski track at La Fouly in Val Ferret, Switzerland, was scattered with sand from the Sahara today and left the sky an eerie shade of yellow

Skiers wearing protective face masks as they sit on a chairlift in Anzere, Switzerland, as Sahara sand colours the snow orange

The orange tint is the result of strong winds in Africa causing the sand to sweep across to Europe before it hits the mountain ranges and settles onto the snow. Pictured: Val Ferret, Switzerland

The National Meteorological and Climate Service for France tweeted a satellite picture showing the sand from the Sahara

The orange tint is the result of strong winds in Africa causing the sand to sweep across to Europe before it settles onto the snow in the mountain ranges.

The National Meteorological and Climate Service for France tweeted a satellite picture showing the sand from the Sahara, captioned: 'Seen from space: A low pressure system on the Iberian Peninsula organises a powerful southerly flow which brings up sand from the #Sahara as far as France.

'Saharan lifts appear in yellowish on satellite image between Balearic Islands and Sardinia.'

A ski truck was also seen ploughing through a cloud of orange in Sestriere, Italy's western Alps, near the French border, which was described as a 'Martian landscape'.

Captioning the picture to Twitter, a user wrote: 'This is not Mars! This is Sestriere, on the Italian Alps, close to the French border.

'A storm brought sand from the Sahara. Everything become orange: the sky, the snow, looking like a Martian landscape!'

Sand settled on a car bonnet in the Chamonix Valley, France, as an orange hue filled the sky

A orange hue was seen over the streets of the Chamonix Mont-Blanc Valley today

An orange glow was seen over Lyon, France, today. The National Meteorological and Climate Service for France tweeted: 'A low pressure system on the Iberian Peninsula organises a powerful southerly flow which brings up sand from the #Sahara as far as France'

A ski truck was also seen ploughing through a cloud of orange in Sestriere, Italy's western Alps, near the French border, which was described as a 'Martian landscape'
A northern Michigan university is facing backlash from students and alumni who say the school lacks in diversity and inclusion and creates an unwelcoming environment.

The issue at Michigan Technological University in Houghton was sparked in recent weeks after a white professor demanded an apology for a faculty resolution condemning hate speech, racism and white supremacy. Dr. Jeffrey Burl, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, wrote a letter in response, which said he has been discriminated against as a white man for 40 years.

The professors letter is one example of Michigan Techs unwelcoming culture, current and former students said.

(Its) the responsibility for students to educate the staff members because theyre so incompetent in talking about these issues, said Angela Gutierrez, a Tech student. And this is unpaid labor that not only takes up our time, but its also super emotionally taxing when I have to worry about school.

The resolution condemning hate speech, racism and white supremacy was passed by the university Senate in December as an extension to a prior one, which was passed after a local synagogue was spray painted with Nazi symbols in 2019.

Burl, however, sparked controversy when he asked the university Senate for an apology. The resolution, he said, implies white people and the local community are racist.

Burl, in his letter to the Senate, said he was discriminated against in hiring decisions and grant allocations because he is a white man. He also said white men are discriminated against at the university and in the nation at large.

At Michigan Tech, I have seen no signs (in my 28 years here) of discrimination against women and people of color, Burl wrote.

If Burl had talked to any woman or person of color on campus, he would know they experience discrimination, said Logan McMillian, a graduate student of color. She said she has experienced as much racism from professors as she has from students.

When McMillian asks professors for exam guidance, she said they suggest switching majors.

They would go on and tell me about this long rant and how people who look like me dont particularly get into this field, said McMillian, a chemical engineering major.

A second Michigan Tech professor, Jaroslaw Drelich, also submitted a letter responding to the resolution, claiming it pushed a leftist narrative.

In an open Senate meeting this week about the letters, the committee on equity and understanding apologized to minority students for any harm caused by the letters. Public comment featured faculty, students and local residents, with some supporting Burl but many voicing inclusion issues at the university.

University President Richard Koubek said the university condemns racism in a statement to students but did not mention Burl by name.

I dont think he would have been much less reassuring if he had just said racism is indeed bad, signed Rick Koubek, said Michigan Tech student Jess Fureigh.

University statements have not addressed Burls employment, but a petition is calling for his termination.

The petition was created by Timothy Ward, who studied and taught at Michigan Tech between 2008 and 2016. He started the petition out of concern for Burls students.

As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, Ward said he was often the first adult gay man that students had met. Several students came out to him, he said.

I pretty strongly broke with university policy, and regularly advised those students to leave Michigan Tech and transfer, because I did not feel that it was an environment where LGBT students were set up to succeed in any way, Ward said.

Some students have said they left the university because of its unwelcoming environment towards those with diverse backgrounds.

Nolla Rohrer grew up in Houghton, Michigan and transferred out of Michigan Tech in 2009 for educational reasons, but also because they didnt think the university or surrounding community was accepting.

Im actually non-binary and theres no way I would have been able to come out as non-binary up there, Rohrer said

Gutierrez, a Latina student, took this semester off because of the lack of support for students of color.

I think its really easy to have the stereotype that only uneducated people are racist, Gutierrez said. I think its also worth noting that Ive met a bunch of educated racists that are professors here at Tech.

Burl maintains he is not racist or a white supremacist. He said the resolution contains hate speech against white people and he had to take a stand.

When he completes required diversity and inclusion training at the university, Burl said it doesnt represent the advantages of students of color and women, only disadvantages.

I would argue that I have a squeaky-clean reputation in that I dont think that anybody who knows me will think that Im a racist, Burl said. ... A lot of people who dont know me will think those things.

In a statement to MLive, the university said Burls letter is an exercise of his right to free speech, as was the resolution. Anyone disagreeing with either statement is exercising the same right, the statement said.

David Brown was not shocked by Burls letter, based on six years of his experiences as a Black student at the university. Brown said the university uses the diversity and inclusion office on campus as a crutch and he wants more genuine care from university administration.

I would love to see the university president himself come out and specifically address what happened, Brown said. I know it wont make things better, but it will help convince the people affected by this that they really care.
Chicopee Police and Fire personnel launched boats on the Connecticut River Friday evening and a State Police helicopter was scrambled in search of a missing 11-year-old Chicopee youth.

Chicopee Police Lt. Holly Davis said authorities are searching for Aiden Blanchard, who was last seen walking in Willimansett near lower Front Street. His family reported the youth missing Friday evening.

Davis described the boy as standing 5 feet tall, with blue eyes and brown hair. He was last seen wearing a red coat and black snow pants.

Anyone seeing Aiden is asked to contact the Chicopee Police Detective Bureau at 413-594-1740.
La Vie teamed up with the Women's Union of Hai Duong province to provide mineral water bottles to quarantine areas in Chi Linh city on February 4

The company is joining forces with the Women's Union of Hai Duong province, Hope Foundation, and authorities to support 45,000 litres of mineral water to quarantine areas, field hospital, and clinics providing treatment to COVID-19 patients in Ha Long city in Quang Ninh, as well as Chi Linh city and Nam Sach district in Hai Duong. This is part of La Vies efforts to support front line workers fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic.

La Vie also collaborated with the Hope Foundation to deliver mineral water to Quang Ninh Lung Hospital

La Vie mineral water was delivered to Quang Ninh Department of Health to support COVID-19 patients

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, La Vie has been actively providing support worth VND23 billion ($1 million) to front line, community, and small business households who have been affected by the pandemic. Specifically, La Vie has joined forces with local agencies to support doctors and border guards in the battle against COVID-19. At the same time, the company has sponsored more than 1.6 million products worth more than VND20 billion ($869,570) for12,000 businesses across the country affected by the pandemic to share difficulties as well as support recovery.

Despite being affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, La Vie continues to pursue sustainable development, including providing high-quality drinking water for everyone, protecting water resources, and promoting sustainable packaging development with the view to reduce plastic waste and environment pollution.
In this post, I reported that, thanks to the Trump Justice Department, Amtrak will no longer discriminate against the disabled. Thats because the Trump DOJ filed suit against the Amtrak. As a result, the company reached an agreement with the Justice Department to make its train stations accessible, as well as to provide training to staff on ADA requirements.

The successful action against Amtrak is an example of how, under President Trump, the DOJs Civil Rights Division, led by Eric Dreiband, vigorously enforced federal civil rights laws on behalf of all groups protected by these laws. I presented quantitative evidence of this fact here.

In the Amtrak post, I compared the Trump DOJs response to the companys discrimination against the disabled with that of the Obama DOJ. I stated, the Obama administration wasnt interested in taking action against Amtrak. I also said, when Vanita Gupta, Bidens new associate attorney general nominee, headed the civil rights division, it did nothing to enforce the ADA against the perennially non-compliant Amtrak.

This overstates things a little. As can been seen here, the Obama DOJ opened an investigation of Amtrak following the receipt of complaints in 2011 and 2012. And in 2016, under Gupta, the DOJ issued a letter of findings notifying Amtrak of its non-compliance with the ADA.

But this record  opening an investigation in 2011, issuing a letter of findings years later, and leaving office without having forced compliance  hardly constitutes taking effective action to bring Amtrak into compliance. Congress set a deadline for Amtrak: 2010. That deadline was not onerous. It gave Amtrak two decades after the 1990 enactment of the ADA to comply. When Amtrak failed to meet this deadline, the Obama DOJ should not have let things slide.

Why such a lengthy gap between the beginning of the investigation and the letter? Amtrak plainly did not comply with its statutory obligations and, as I understand it, never even claimed otherwise. This was not a complex white collar fraud scheme that required sorting through complicated records.

In sum, the Obama administration had six years after the 2010 statutory deadline to bring Amtrak into compliance or to sue. It did neither.

Thus, what I should have written in my original post is that the Obama DOJ wasnt much interested in taking action against Amtrak and that, under Gupta, it did very little to enforce the ADA against the perennially non-compliant company.

Im happy to make this correction to my post. It would be nice if Gupta and her fellow leftists would correct their dishonest claims about the Trump DOJs record. That wont happen, though.

Residents temporarily evacuated from Homestead after fire, no injuries

A Saturday afternoon fire in an apartment at a senior living complex was quickly extinguished and nobody was injured.
By Monica Machicao

LA PAZ (Reuters) - Corpses in Bolivia have begun to pile up as a fierce second wave of the coronavirus has overwhelmed funeral homes and cemeteries, according to officials, stoking fears the growing backlog could become yet another focal point of infection.

The bodies of the dead, wrapped in impromptu Andean alpaca wool blankets and blue plastic bags or even packed into suitcases have inundated funeral parlors in the capital La Paz, the hardest hit region of the Andean nation.

Jorge Silva, Bolivia's vice-minister of consumer protection, said authorities have found corpses strewn on the floors of garages, porches, and hallways of funeral homes, and he accused some owners of seeking to profit from the recent spike in deaths by taking on more corpses than they can safely handle.

"This is good business for these companies but logically, it also puts the health of the population at risk," Silva told Reuters. He called the homes "focal points for infection."

But funeral home owners in El Alto, Bolivia's second largest city, said many cemeteries had stopped accepting the bodies of COVID-19 victims, leaving them with few options.

"We in El Alto have no place to bring our dead," said Carmen Apaza of the Taylor Funeral Home.

Bolivia is among South America's poorest countries and the second wave of coronavirus cases has pummeled its ailing health care system, pushing many hospitals to the brink of collapse.

The country, initially slow to lock down vaccines, recently received a batch of Russian Sputnik V doses to start its inoculation program. It expects to receive one million more doses via the COVAX program later this month.

Bolivia has reported 225,910 infections and 10,687 deaths from COVID-19 since the outbreak began, according to a Reuters tally. Infections in recent days have reached 80% of the first wave peak.

Health experts in Bolivia estimate January was the second deadliest month since the pandemic began.

(Reporting by Monica Machicao; Writing by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

Absolutely inappropriate to have students wearing masks in school. In fact, it is a breach against our civil rights and has gone too far. I am so against the masks that in fact I am withdrawing my kids from school and homeschooling them. For all the sheep following inline with a ridiculous theory, when you're in a concentration camp, being forced to vaccinate, maybe then you will wake up.

Cadi Middleton
Mouse plagues are wreaking havoc in regional parts of Australia as fears grow the rodent swarms could disrupt the livelihoods of the nation's farmers.

A video taken by farmer Harry Gaynor showed hundreds of mice crossing the road in the headlights of a car near the village of Collie in New South Wales.

Social media has been flooded with the shocking imagery of thousands of mice either running wild or lying dead on the ground.

Wet weather and bumper crops have meant mice numbers are much higher than usual especially across cropping regions of central NSW and southern Queensland.

'If we walk into our machinery shed at night-time and you turn a torch light on, the floor is crawling,' Vicki Green told the ABC

A car headlights capture mice all over the road near Cowie, in central NSW

Mouse plagues occur every few years in country areas, with some of the worst in memory coming in 1984 and 1993, when nearly $100 million damage was done to crops, buildings and even poultry farms.

That could happen again if the mice continue to breed unchecked.

Mice last reached plague levels in 2011 and they have done again, due to a combination of early rains, mild conditions and big crops 'falling over' in field before they can be harvested.

Steve Henry, of the CSIRO, told Daily Mail Australia current mice plagues hadn't reached the levels seen in disturbing footage of infamous mice plagues in north-west NSW in 1984, but he said it could still happen.

'In some locations you'd call it a plague and other locations it's just higher than normal but it's definitely cause for serious concern because the mice are still breeding.

'There's potential for them to cause serious harm when farmers sow the winter crop.'

A single breeding pair of mice can produce 600 offspring in a season, Henry said.

The Australian government has even created a mouse alert website and app to help farmers monitor the damaging spread of mice

CSIRO Research Officer Steve Henry said in cropping regions of NSW and Queensland mice are 'all pervasive right now... they're in your linen, in your pantry - they're everywhere every time you turn around'

The impacts of mouse plagues are economic and social: farmers lose tons and tons of crops- sometimes the entire crop - and they have to pay thousands of dollars to control the outbreaks.

To cull mice, farmers are only allowed to use zinc phosphide - unlike in controversial footage of farmers controlling 1984 mouse plagues, where one desperate farmer used a flame thrower.

'That is one of the most appalling things I've ever seen, I was disgusted by it and I'm surprised no action was taken,' Henry said of the video.

A horrific video of a mouse plague in NSW in 1984 has resurfaced raising fears that the current mouse plagues could get that bad again

Then there's the social impacts on rural communities, Mr Henry said.

'Mice are all pervasive.'

'They run across your bed, they're in your linen, in your pantry - they're everywhere every time you turn around. People in the city complain when they see one mouse, but in the country people are trapping 20 or 30 a night in their homes at the moment.'

In some rural areas this season, a 'carpet' of mice has been observed

James Constable, who mows lawns at the Merriwa racecourse, told the ABC: 'I don't think I have seen them this bad.'

'It was a carpet of mice because they were running everywhere trying to get away from the mower.

Emma Henderson, also of Merriwa said mice had infested her appliances.

In the 1984 video, a desperate farmer uses a flame thrower to kill mice, which 'disgusted and appalled' CSIRO's Steve Henry

'They made a nest around the oven and to make it more comfy they pulled all the insulation from around the elements of the oven, which was causing my oven to overheat and trip power,' she said.

In central and southern Queensland the mice plagues have been happening since mid 2020 and cost thousands of dollars in property and crop destruction.

Dalby grain grower Angus Dalgleish told the ABC the numbers had grown so much he could see mice scurrying among his crops in the daylight.

Mr Dalgleish said the mice were destroying cotton, sorghum, corn crops, damaging farming machinery and getting into homes.

Mice were causing havoc on the Darling Downs, around Toowomba.

Vicki Green, a farmer from Felton, was setting dozens of mouse traps in her home, and around her property. 'If we walk into our machinery shed at night-time and you turn a torch light on, the floor is crawling,' Ms Green said.

STAMFORD  Leon Standly is homeless.

That makes him the perfect person to help others navigate the unique challenges that come with being homeless: how to get to medical appointments, fill out applications for food stamps, or collect the COVID-19 stimulus checks from the federal government.

For many Americans, the stimulus money was deposited directly into bank accounts back in April. But when youre homeless, that means no home address and often no drivers license or other identification, which means you cant open up a bank account.

Standly, however, was not about to let that stop him from helping his friends.

So, I was researching options for homeless people to get direct deposits and I just happened to hit on KeyBank on the internet, Standly said.

KeyBank said it would offer a Smart Checking account to clients in need, a free bank account that eliminates many of the fees homeless people often incur when they instead opt for convenient but expensive prepaid cards.

The problem with (prepaid cards) is, you get charged, here, there and everywhere, Standly said, adding that many homeless people feel forced into using them due to their barriers in accessing a bank account.

Prepaid card holders are typically charged a monthly fee, a transaction fee, ATM withdrawal fees, a cash reloading fee, balance inquiry fees, inactivity fees, card cancellation fees, and more, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and it puts an additional strain on an already financially struggling individual.

In Connecticut, in 2019  the most recent data available  8.4 percent of people were unbanked, or were not served by a bank or similar financial institution, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Inspired by what he had read about KeyBank, Standly decided it was worth a visit to their location on Canal Street, conveniently less than a 10 minute walk from Pacific House, the homeless shelter for men where he lives.

Assistant Vice President Branch Manager Marta Hryniszyn told Standly a Smart Checking account would not only allow Pacific House clients and other local people in need to open a bank account for free, it would link them to banking experts who could help move them toward financial literacy and the bank would offer an additional $200 incentive if those clients agreed to have their social security benefits or their job payments directly deposited into the account.

A new partnership

Standly walked out of KeyBank last summer  after he secured his own Smart Checking account  eager to help other Pacific House clients receive the same service.

Since then, hes helped at least six other homeless people sign up for the account with Hryniszyns assistance, a mission he said he will continue, especially as many await the next round of stimulus payments.

Those interested in signing up for a Smart Checking account must undergo a background check, provide the address of a shelter where they are staying or another address where they can receive mail, and must keep a small amount of money in the account, Hryniszyn said. Homeless individuals who live outdoors, for example, may not be eligible for the service if they cannot provide an address.

Homeless people often distrust the banking system, Standly and advocates for homeless people said. But Hryniszyn said shes working to change that, by ensuring homeless and underprivileged people are not overlooked.

We want all relationships, and this is what makes us a community bank, and a relationship bank where we can help everybody, she said.

KeyBank, Wells Fargo and Liberty Bank are among the banking institutions that go above and beyond in their work for the community, always looking for new programming and initiatives to help expand access to banking, said Tori Hamilton, who works for the Connecticut Association for Human Services and also coordinates one of its flagship programs, Bank On Connecticut, which helps people who are unbanked and underbanked find safe access to affordable bank and credit union accounts.

Theres no way to measure how many banks in the state are helping homeless or financially underprivileged people, she said. Its even hard to get data from banks on how many accounts they open per year because of HIPAA-type rules, Hamilton said.

But, I can tell you that since the pandemic, more (banks) are coming on board because they recognize the need, and their branches are not overfilled with people anymore, Hamilton said. So, theyre looking for ways to reach people outside the normal way of traditional banking.

Incentivizing banks

Large U.S. banks removed more than $11 billion in overdraft fees from their customers accounts in 2019, according to a report by the Center for Responsible Lending. Eighty-four percent of those fees were paid by only nine percent of account holders, individuals who often carried low balances and had low monthly deposits, according to Forbes.

People in the community who can least afford fees often end up paying more fees and are underbanked, said state Rep. Harry Arora, who represents Greenwich and the 151st District.

From a business perspective, banks benefit from serving and incentivizing clients who take out large loans, individuals with lots of money in savings, and those who can make big deposits into their bank accounts often, explained the former banking committee member.

So, if you think about this demographic, somebody who is homeless, most likely, they are not going to make very large deposits and most likely they are not going to be credit-worthy to get any big loan, he said. So, from a banks perspective, thats not the client that theyre going to seek out.

But, Arora said, This is something we can fix and I intend to work on.

The lawmaker said he has asked, not in a committee meeting but informally in the past, for banks to publicly post every year or per quarter a metric that would show how many financially underprivileged people theyre helping to access banking services. It would drive competition among other banks and persuade them to do the same, he said.

Amid the national reckoning on racism, JPMorgan Chase pledged within the next five years to dedicate $30 billion to help provide economic opportunity to under-served communities, including helping 1 million people open bank accounts at low cost, according to the organizations website.

Similarly, the American Bankers Association recently urged every financial institution in America to offer a Bank On Certified Account, a check-less account where its structurally-impossible for a person to overdraft, Hamilton said.

I do believe it will be achieved, the Bank On Connecticut coordinator said. COVID for us, is a tragedy, but theres also so much opportunity that has come, because the spotlight has shone on the LMI (low-to-moderate-income) community, that prior to the pandemic, they were already struggling, but now after the pandemic, its even worse. I think now is the most opportune time to discuss alternative strategies.

A path forward

In early March, just before the COVID-19 pandemic struck Connecticut, Pacific House leaders hosted an in-house banking literacy course at their facility, led by Webster Bank employees.

The seminar focused on the importance of budgeting, saving, opening and managing a bank account, and maintaining good credit, said Rob Lockhart, director of program services at Pacific House.

Lockhart strongly advises that his clients set up their own banking accounts, outside of using prepaid cards run by financial technology companies.

The Pacific House leader said hosting the seminar was a no-brainer. The more information clients have about financial literacy, the easier it is for them to find housing, Lockhart said.

And thats really the driving process, he continued. We want it all to tie into moving beyond the homelessness and the shelter system, but really being independent out in the community, and having their own place to live and managing it that way.

And thats exactly how it played out for Kenneth Kenny Moss.

In late August, Moss complained to his good friend Standly about the unnecessary fees associated with his prepaid card.

Standly jumped at the opportunity to educate his friend and shine a light on KeyBanks service.

As he spoke, my interests got higher and higher, Moss said.

Moss recently moved out of Stamfords Pacific House Shelter and into his own apartment, where he said he feels a heightened sense of independence, security and dignity.

Asked to reflect on how his life has changed since he started using his Smart Checking account, Moss said he no longer feels limited by his prepaid card.

Im able to do as I please, he said, And more.

tatiana.flowers@thehour.com @TATIANADFLOWERS


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Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and Vice President Iliana Iotova will run for a second term when presidential elections are held this autumn.

The announcement "is an honest, respectful approach" because "we are about to sail in turbulent waters, and it is critical to have institutions and political actors with clear priorities and positions," Radev said at a press conference here on Monday.

Radev said that negotiations with political parties to garner support have yet to be held.

However, he and Iotova are expected to receive support from the Socialists, who backed them in 2016, "with the thousands of people on the left who are our political family, as well as with all worthy Bulgarians," Radev said.

According to the Bulgarian Constitution, the president is elected directly by voters for a period of five years, and is eligible for only one re-election to the same office.

The previous presidential elections in the Balkan country were held in November 2016, and Radev won 59.37 percent of the votes during a runoff against GERB party candidate Tsetska Tsacheva.
WASHINGTON - Two Republican House members have been fined $5,000 for bypassing the security screening that was set up outside the House chamber in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, a senior Democratic aide said Friday.

The lawmakers, Reps. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, and Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., appear to be the first members punished under a new rule approved by the House on Tuesday night.

Spokespeople for Gohmert and Clyde did not respond to requests for comment, but Gohmert issued a statement Friday night, explaining that he had stepped out to use the restroom and did not know that he needed to be rescreened on his way back in.

"Unlike in the movie The Godfather, there are no toilets with tanks where one could hide a gun, so my reentry onto the House floor should have been a non-issue," Gohmert said in the statement.

According to the new rules, lawmakers who bypass the metal detectors that have been installed outside some doors to the House chamber will be fined $5,000 for the first offense and $10,000 for each subsequent offense.

Gohmert called the policy "unconstitutional" and vowed to appeal the fine, citing a portion of the Constitution known as the Speech and Debate Clause that provides lawmakers immunity from arrest for things they say or do during a speech or debate in Congress. The clause is specifically designed to protect the legislative branch from interference by the president or executive branch agencies, and to insulate members from lawsuits and prosecutions based on actions carried out as part of their official duties. It is unclear what if any bearing it would have on Capitol security policies adopted by members themselves.

On Friday, Republicans on the Committee on House Administration alleged in a letter to the House sergeant at arms, the official tasked with imposing the fines, that "multiple members" saw House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., enter the building without completing security screening and called on him to hit her with the $5,000 penalty.

Acting sergeant at arms Timothy Blodgett responded that Capitol Police had not submitted a complaint about Pelosi violating the policy.

"House Sergeant at Arms imposes the fine after receiving an unusual occurrence report from the United States Capitol Police (USCP). An unusual incident report from the Capitol Police is appended to the document sent to the Member providing notice of the fine," Blodgett wrote.

"Only the USCP can determine whether an individual has failed to complete security screening as only the USCP has sufficient training to determine compliance with USCP screening procedures. I have directed that the USCP produce and provide unusual incident reports on any individual who fails to complete security screening without exception. I have not received any unusual incident report from the USCP concerning the Speaker of the House."

In the days after the equipment's installation, some Republicans, such as Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., refused to hand their bags over to police even after they had set off the magnetometers. Others, such as Gohmert and Reps. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and Randy Weber, R-Texas, walked around the machines on their way into the House chamber.

The metal detectors were installed in a move aimed at tightening security in the wake of the deadly Jan. 6 riot. Some Republican lawmakers have objected to being screened, prompting tense confrontations with Capitol Police.

Still others argued with the Capitol Police officers enforcing the new security measures, and one lawmaker, Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., delivered a floor speech in which he blasted the metal detectors as "appalling" and an "atrocity."

Without naming lawmakers, Pelosi cited some of that behavior in a statement after Tuesday's vote, noting that after the Jan. 6 insurrection, "many House Republicans began disrespecting our heroes by refusing to adhere to basic precautions keeping members of our Congressional community safe - including by dodging metal detectors, physically pushing past police, and even attempting to bring firearms into the chamber."

"It is beyond comprehension why any Member would refuse to adhere to these simple, common-sense steps to keep this body safe," Pelosi said, describing the rule change as "sad" but necessary to ensure the safety of lawmakers and others inside the Capitol.

- - -

The Washington Post's Paul Kane and Mike DeBonis contributed to this report.
Brazilian Communication Minister Fabio Faria will discuss potential 5G network supply to Finland on the eve of an auction of 5G frequencies made by the Latin American Nation, the Finnish foreign ministry said on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th February, 2021) Brazilian Communication Minister Fabio Faria will discuss potential 5G network supply to Finland on the eve of an auction of 5G frequencies made by the Latin American Nation, the Finnish foreign ministry said on Friday.

The visit of the Brazilian minister is part of a five-country tour to analyze the potential 5G suppliers in the world.

From the Brazilian point of view, Finland is among the more natural and reliable partners for digitalization projects. Finland's strengths include high technological expertise as well as digital safety, reliability and transparency. Security and legislative matters concerning 5G networks are among the main topics of the visit," the ministry said in a statement.

According to the ministry, Brazil has a constructive and solid relationship with Finland being its biggest trading partner in Latin America and offering many opportunities to Finnish companies.

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The heartbreak of families being torn from loved ones who are locked in prison and deported is being explored in an exhibition by Queensland photographer Tammy Law.

Fractured Dreams & Indefinite Scars at the Museum of Brisbane focuses on how immigration laws and processes affect families.

Photographer Tammy Law, whose exhibition at the Museum of Brisbane explores immigration.

Nothing has really changed in terms of processing, Law said. It hits home that its a recurring process of the larger bodies of power.

Its not about people, its more about numbers. Its quite horrifying.
A small California town with a tourism industry hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic is offering visitors $100 to come and stay.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Visit Santa Maria Valley program is providing $100 vouchers, which can be used at the town's wineries, breweries and restaurants, to tourists who stay for at least two nights at hotels there.

The promotion, which launched Thursday, runs through March 31.

"Santa Maria Valley has so much to offer," Jennifer Harrison, director of the Santa Maria Valley Visitors Bureau, told CNN. "We have beautiful beaches, hotels and wineries that are such a great option for budget-conscious travelers during a time of economic rebound."

Harrison said the town is a safer travel location than many other California destinations, as the area is less crowded and social distancing can be more easily enforced.

"Visit Santa Maria Valley is calling on visitors to discover the region in a safe, responsible way," Harrison said.

"Our wine-tasting rooms, outdoor spaces, restaurants and hotels have worked together to evolve health and safety protocols so that visitors can experience the charm of the area."
Next Story : Meet The 7YO Environmental Activist Rashtriya Bal Puraskar Awardee

Manipurs Hanjabam Radhe Devi, fondly known as Potloi Setpi, has been conferred with the Padma Shri, the country's fourth-highest civilian award, this year. She is a traditional bridal wear designer who has been working in this industry for the past 58 years. So far, Radhe Devi has designed over a thousand Manipuri bridal wear outfits, also called potlois. The traditional Manipuri potloi comprises a cylindrical skirt, a blouse, a woven belt around the waist, and a delicate muslin shawl.Radhe Devi learnt the art of potloi making from a lady in her neighbourhood who was involved in this business. Owing to financial restraints, Radhe Devi, then in her 20s, introduced herself to the art of dressmaking and tailoring. What started as a mere means to earn livelihood soon became her passion and she became the go-to person for bridalwear in the area. She got the confidence of pursuing dressmaking as a profession when she designed an outfit for her daughters play in just five days.After starting a business, Radhe Devi initially earned Rs 500 per outfit. Currently, she sells each outfit for anywhere between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000, depending on the complexity of the handiwork.Besides bridal wear, Radhe Devi also designs costumes for the Khamba-Thoibi dances, which are based on a Manipur legend. The outfit for this dance is very elaborate. Along with a top made from velvet, there is a skirt made from printed cloth and handloom fabric, a thin muslin cloth tied around the waist, elaborate headdress and garlands.Radhe Devi is associated with local organisations to support women empowerment. She has also created awareness on social issues like womens employment in the state and drug addiction.
(Natural News) An uninhabited island in the South Atlantic Ocean is surprisingly covered in plastic bottles. Scientists are inclined to believe it means ships are dumping plastic litter far from its origin.

Researchers from South Africa and Canada monitored volumes of plastic litter that have drifted to Inaccessible Island. This remote island sits in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean and is no stranger to plastic litter, having been surveyed previously for plastic pollution in the 1980s.

But this time around, the researchers found that single-use plastic bottles were the most common form of debris to wash up along the islands shores over the last three decades, indicating a fast growth rate compared to other forms of debris. Some 75 percent of the plastic bottles are from Asia, with most made in China.

Initial inspection of the bottles also showed labels indicating recent manufacture dates. Most of the bottles had also been crushed with their caps screwed on tight. This is a space-saving practice often observed onboard ships. Its inescapable that its from ships, and its not coming from land, said lead author Peter Ryan, director of the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology at the University of Cape Town.

Their full findings appeared online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Merchant ships could be dumping bottles in the ocean

For their research, the team made three visits to Inaccessible Island  one in 1984, one in 2009 and again in 2018  to assess plastic debris accumulating there. The island is in the middle of the South Atlantic Gyre, a large system of circulating ocean currents. Like other oceanic gyres, it collects vast amounts of floating debris that merge to create large garbage patches.

During the first trip, the team deduced that two-thirds of the plastic bottles came from South America, some 2,000 miles to the west, based on their labels. The oldest piece of debris was a canister manufactured in 1971. But when the team visited again in 2009, the tide had shifted. Upon inspection of more than 3,500 pieces of washed-up jetsam, it appeared that Asia overtook South America as the top source of plastic litter. In 2018, 75 percent of the plastic bottles that have drifted to the island came from Asia, with 83 percent made in China. Moreover, 90 percent of the bottles that traveled from Asia were produced within the last two years.

This finding is relevant because it rules out the possibility that the bottles traveled from land via strong ocean currents. This process typically takes about three to five years. Interestingly enough, the number of Asian fishing vessels has remained stable since the early 1990s. However, the number of Chinese cargo vessels in the Atlantic Ocean has increased. Taken together, these findings provide strong evidence that the plastic debris is not coming from land but merchant ships tossing them overboard in the middle of the ocean.

A certain sector of the merchant fleet seems to be doing that, and it seems to be largely an Asian one, said Ryan.

This form of plastic disposal also violates regulations set by the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). In 1989, MARPOL banned the dumping of plastic litter into the sea.

Given these findings, the researchers concluded that urgent action is needed to curb illegal dumping by all marine vessels. These findings also undermine the assumption that most of the plastic litter floating in the ocean came from land-based sources. (Related: Plastic BAN List highlights the 9 top sources of plastic pollution.)

Read more articles about the environmental impact of marine plastic pollution at Environ.news.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

Phys.org

PNAS.org
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly's office has poured cold water on suggestions the medically vulnerable could be vaccinated earlier due to the AstraZeneca vaccine not being administered to the over-70s.

The Government has decided to only vaccinate those in the vulnerable over-70s group with Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines after being advised that AstraZeneca could be less effective in older people, due to lack of data on the effectiveness for that age cohort.

The Taoiseach and Tanaiste both said on Thursday that due to the decision, others could see their vaccinations sped up.

Micheal Martin said: The good news in some respects with the decision on AstraZeneca for the other lower cohorts is they will now be brought forward.

Some of those, particularly also those who have illnesses which compromise their immunity, I think we have to look at those who are high risk.

However, a spokesman for Stephen Donnelly said it was "too early to say" that any group could see their inoculation moved forward.

"The key things are to finish cohort one and two," he said.

It was noted the vaccine roll-out plan is open for review, but is "entirely dependent on supply".

"If supply holds up into April/May, and we have no confirmation that it will, we may have to revisit that, but it's not on the agenda," the spokesman said in reference to moving people's vaccine date forward.

We're pretty much on schedule as planned, particularly in regards for the most vulnerable."

It's understood there are still four nursing homes who have not had any vaccines whatsoever due to the severity of virus outbreaks and medical advice stating that anyone who has Covid-19 must wait 28 days from recovery before they can be vaccinated.

There are about 100 homes who had not been fully vaccinated because some residents were infected with the virus.

Meanwhile, Mr Donnelly expressed confidence that 70% of GPs will be able to provide the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to patients in their own surgeries.

There were about 400 smaller practices who may have to provide local solutions, such as joining together with neighbouring practices or coming together in a centre or working from the premises of larger practices.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is confident that 70% of GPs will be able to provide the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to patients in their own surgeries. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

A deal with GPs is not signed, however, the department says the doctors have "readily engaged".

It's expected the deal and a plan for the GP roll-out will be put forward in coming days.

The minister said that 21,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were expected to arrive in the country this weekend from a total of 190,000 doses for the month of February.

It remains unclear how much of the final quantity of the scheduled 600,000 doses for the first quarter would arrive.

The doses arriving this weekend would be administered to frontline workers early next week.

"This situation had always been a possibility so plans were in place," added Mr Donnelly.
Rep. Annette Glenn, R-Midland, introduced a legislative plan that revises criteria for a county veteran service fund helping local offices across Michigan deliver services  changes necessary because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The plan would waive certain maintenance of effort spending level requirements on county veteran programs and provide more flexibility on how grant money can be spent.
Rock legend Dave Grohl has revealed how when he first came to Ireland as drummer with Nirvana he thought all the women looked like his mam.

Grohl, who is now front man of Foo Fighters, recalled arriving in Cork in the early 1990s.

"I remember the first time I came to Ireland was actually with Nirvana, I guess it was 1991, and we were on tour opening up for a band called Sonic Youth, he told Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy.

"I have a little bit of Irish heritage in my family on my mother's side, my mother's maiden name is Hanlon. The first time we came to Ireland, I remember arriving at night, going to sleep, I think we were in Cork and I woke up and decided to walk around town before the show.

As I was walking around, I realised that all the women looked like my mother. I immediately got on the phone and called her and said 'Mom you have got to come here, everybody looks like you, you have to see this.

Read More

She had never been to Ireland, so the next year, Nirvana were headlining the Reading Festival, and I brought my mother and my sister over for a good week of driving around the country before we went over for the Reading Festival. We just did this nice little loop down south and over to Dingle and we were staying in Bed and Breakfasts.

We capped it off staying at Adare Manor, and we had never stayed in a castle before, so this was really a huge moment. Of course, for years with Foo Fighters coming over we have dear friends there, we have had amazing shows there, it's one of my favourite places in the world, it's beautiful."

He added: The thing about Ireland, when you play a show there, there is a sense of joy...it's a really rowdy bunch, it is this collective feeling of joy. When I'm on stage, I like to really connect with the audience."

Grohl has huge respect for his mother Virginia, a teacher, and he explained how, being inspired by her, he ended up performing for the inauguration of President Joe Biden.

"It really did start with an article I wrote for a magazine, The Atlantic, called 'In Defence of our Teachers'. Throughout the pandemic, I have been talking to my mother about the reopening of schools.

Teachers are generally these altruistic people that put you before themselves...what they do all day long is they make plans. Unfortunately, at the time, nobody was giving our teachers a plan.

I wrote that article and Dr Jill Biden, our First Lady, read it and contacted us and said, 'I really love the article, we would like to connect' and so we did. The first thing we did was that Jill Biden, my mother, and I had a Zoom call. When you see two teachers get together and talk, it's like two drummers getting together and talking. Dr Biden turned to me and said 'so Dave, I heard you were a terrible student', which I was...

Then, when the inauguration came around, we were asked to perform our song Times Like These. I am an American kid, I grew up in a tiny house in a suburb of Washington DC, with my mother trying to raise two kids on a teacher's salary. When I'm called upon by the new President to perform at the inauguration... it's an honour for me to perform. I voted for the guy, I'm really thankful he's President now."

Read More

The guitarist was told how grateful he was to Irish physio, Freddie Murray, got him back on his feet again when he suffered a serious injury falling off stage.

It's funny, well it's not funny, I fell off stage and broke my leg and couldn't work for eight months, he explained. After the surgery that I had, I was assigned this world-class physical therapist. They said 'He's a great guy, Freddie Murray, he's Irish'.

He came out on tour, loves rock music, sweetest person you have ever met in your life... and we became best friends. First of all, he was the most handsome man you have ever seen in your life, so all of the women on tour, the wives and the crew would say 'Freeeeeedie'. I spent every day with him.

I'm not kidding, if it weren't for Freddie, I would not be able to walk right now. He really took me from being completely broken to running. I wouldn't be there if it weren't for him."




President Joe Biden said Friday he did not want to provide "too little" relief for the coronavirus pandemic and that Republicans are "just not willing to go as far as I think we have to go."

Biden said Friday that he wanted to pass a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 legislative proposal "with the support of Republicans" -- but that so far, they had not met the urgency and need of the moment.

"I've met with Republicans -- theyre some really fine people, wanting to get something done," he said during remarks at the White House. "But they're just not willing to go as far as I think we have to go."

The president said that it was becoming clear he would likely have to proceed without Republican support.

"If I have to choose between getting help right now to Americans who are hurting so badly and getting bogged down in a lengthy negotiation or compromising on a bill that's up to the crisis, that's an easy choice," he said. "I'm going to help the American people who are hurting now."

Biden had said earlier in the day that his perspective was shaped by lessons he learned that the Obama administration's approach to the 2008 recession did not go far enough.

In an Oval Office meeting with House Democrats on Friday, Biden recounted how as vice president, then-President Barack Obama had tasked him with pushing through legislation on Capitol Hill to address the recession.

"It was hard as hell to get the votes for it to begin with, and then it was hard as hell to get even the number we got," Biden said at the start of the gathering. "But one thing we learned is, you know, we can't do too much here; we can do too little. We can do too little and sputter."

PHOTO: President Joe Biden, speaks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the Oval Office of the White House, Feb. 5, 2021, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP)

The president's comments echoed those of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who has insisted Democrats cannot repeat what he views as the mistakes of 2009: paring down the recession recovery act and scaling back the Affordable Care Act during negotiations with Republicans, only to see the GOP not support the final bills.

Story continues

Biden told House Democrats in his Friday meeting with them that he appreciated "the urgency with which you're moving" and that they had given Americans "a lot of hope."

MORE: Biden's 1st 100 days live updates: Senate approves budget resolution to pass $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package

"This is about peoples lives," he said. "This is not just about numbers; this is about peoples lives. People are -- I dont have to tell any of you, they're really hurting."

PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks with House Democratic Leaders in the Oval Office of the White House, Feb. 5, 2021, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP)

Biden has said he would like bipartisan congressional support for his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief proposal, but Republicans have largely balked at the high price tag and several of the plan's components.

While Biden hosted moderate GOP members at the White House earlier this week to discuss their alternative proposal -- which was about a third of the size as his -- he and the White House have indicated they are largely sticking with their original plan.

"What Republicans have proposed is either to do nothing or not enough," the president said during his Friday remarks. "All of a sudden, many of them have rediscovered fiscal restraint and the concern for the deficits. But don't kid yourself. This approach will come with a cost. More pain for more people for longer than it has to be."

The White House has indicated some potential areas of compromise, though, such as a willingness to target direct payments and a recognition that a proposal to include a federal $15 minimum wage requirement might not make it into the final version.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden, accompanied by Vice President Kamala Harris, speaks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Whip James Clyburn, right, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, seated second left, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP)

But at the same time, the president has supported a parallel track to push his legislation forward that would not require the regular 60 votes -- including 10 Republicans -- in the Senate. That process, known as budget "reconciliation," would need a simple majority in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

MORE: Congressional Democrats propose up to $50,000 in debt cancelation, Biden not sold

Early Friday, the Senate approved a measure that would let Democrats pursue that route; Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote, her first in her current role.

Biden said during his Friday remarks that he was "so grateful to the House and the Senate for moving so fast."

ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky and Karen Travers contributed reporting.

Biden: 'We can't do too much' on COVID-19 relief, GOP 'not willing to go' far enough originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Lerner and Rowe Gives Back spreads light and love by sponsoring a pre-Valentines Day Hearts United Community Distribution event in Las Vegas. We are grateful for the opportunity to take part in the Hearts United Community Distribution event that will hopefully brighten the lives of our neighbors. Glen Lerner, Esq.

The Las Vegas Lerner and Rowe Gives Back team is pleased to spread some light and love by sponsoring the Hearts United Community Distribution pre-Valentines Day contactless drive-through event on February 13 from 9:00 a.m. to noon at Valley High School (2839 Burnham Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89169) in the west parking lot. Their outreach team, in addition to several local charities, the University Medical Center (UMC), and Clark County School District Police, pooled resources to provide FREE personal hygiene kits and other essential items, car booster seats, and a Valentines Day gift. Items will be handed out on a first-come-first-served basis, while supplies last.

Personal hygiene kits will contain such items as: toothpaste, lotion, soap, socks, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, and much more.

What better way to kick-off 2021 than with an event that provides essential items gathered and given away out of a genuine affection for the love of community? We are grateful for the opportunity to take part in the Hearts United Community Distribution event that will hopefully brighten the lives of our neighbors, shared attorney Glen Lerner.

To learn more about Lerner and Rowe Gives Backs involvement with the Hearts United Community Distribution, please contact Guy Williams at (702) 858-9941, or email him directly at gwilliams@lernerandrowe.com.

More About Lerner and Rowe

Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys is a powerhouse law firm in representing personal injury clients. Attorneys Glen Lerner and Kevin Rowe have grown their law firm into one of the largest personal injury firms in the country, with over 50 attorneys and nearly 400 support employees located in Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Arizona, California, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, and Tennessee. The law firms continuous exalted levels of success can be attributed to the high levels of respect and dignity shown to victims and family members hurt in an accident.

For those injured outside one of the previously listed states, Lerner and Rowe has an established network of attorneys across the country, ready to help. The firm takes pride in nourishing these relationships as they know a personal injury attorney can make all the difference in obtaining fair compensation for the pain and suffering inflicted upon the victims of tortious conduct.

For more information about Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys in Las Vegas, please call 702-877-1500. To connect with the law firm socially, follow Lerner and Rowe on Twitter and Instagram, or become a fan of its Facebook page. Also, visit lernerandrowegivesback.com to learn more about the many other community services that the lawyers and legal support team of Lerner and Rowe actively support.

###


TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The Inspection Directorate at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism conducted three inspection campaigns against street vendors in Manama, Salmabad and Ras Zuwayed.

The joint campaigns were conducted on Friday in cooperation with specialists from the Interior Ministry, the Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs (NPRA), the Works, Municipalities and Urban Planning, the Health Ministry, the Labour Market Regulatory Authority and the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The campaigns aimed at reducing repeated violations of street vendors, especially during the current exceptional circumstances requiring concerted efforts to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic, said Assistant Undersecretary for Resources and Control at the Industry Ministry, Abdulaziz Al-Ashraf.

During the campaigns the Works Ministry detected 350 violating vendors, who were selling fruits, vegetables, foodstuffs, birds and clothes, illegally and without commitment to the health precautions, blocking the flow of movement.

Illegal street vendors also harm the businesses of legal shops who pay rent and taxes.

The Health Ministry also closed 15 shops for failing to meet the necessary health requirements.

The other entities also recorded various violations, including unlicensed shops and not wearing face masks.

Al-Ashraf affirmed that the campaigns will continue to clamp down on the phenomenon of street vendors, extended thanks to all the entities that cooperated with the Industry Ministry in ensuring the success of the inspection campaigns.
In a shocking incident, Gopichand Malineni, director of the blockbuster film Krack has lodged a complaint against its producer, reportedly over non-payment of pending remuneration.

Lodging a complaint against Tagore Madhu, Gopichand alleged that the producer is refusing to pay a pending remuneration of Rs 30 lakh, which the former had promised to pay post the release of the film. The celebrated director has filed the complaint with the Telugu Film Directors' Association.

Earlier, the Ravi Teja-starrer made it to the headlines for its FDFS (First-day first show) and matinee shows cancellation, after a few financiers took legal action against Tagore Madhu demanding settlement of dues.

On a related note, Krack released on January 9, 2021, ahead of the harvest festival Sankranti. In the high-voltage action-thriller, Ravi Teja plays the role of a stylish upright cop who is on a mission to fight the baddies. Upon its release, the film received huge appreciation for Mass Maharaja's acting chops, his whistle worthy dialogues and songs.

Shruti Haasan essays the role of Ravi Teja's ladylove in the film. Krack marks the duo's second collaboration after the 2013 action-comedy film Balupu, which is also directed by Gopichand Malineni. Featuring Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Samuthirakani, Ali, Chirag Jani, Devi Prasad, Mouryani, Sudhakar and Vamsi Chaganti in key roles, the film is backed by Madhu under his home production banner Saraswathi Films Division.

With songs composed by 'Butta Bomma' fame Thaman, Krack's director of photography is GK Vishnu.

Also Read: Krack Worldwide Closing Collection: Ravi Teja Starrer Is A Double Blockbuster Hit!

Also Read: Krack Twitter Review: Here's What Netizens Have To Say About The Ravi Teja Starrer!
1. Yes. The public must have assurances that ethical standards are met by everyone.

2. Yes. As long as an independent board hears the grievances, its a worthwhile idea.

3. No. The concept is too broad. It should be limited to the citys elected officials.

4. No. There are plenty of stipulations in place already. An ordinance is a waste of time.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say without seeing how it would be structured and applied.

Vote

View Results
US President Joe Biden has withdrawn the nomination of Indian-American advocate Vijay Shanker to be an Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

The withdrawal notification was sent to the Senate along with over 30 such names, mostly judicial appointments announced during the last months of the Trump administration.

Shanker was renominated for this top judiciary position by former President Donald Trump on 2 January, two months after he lost the presidential elections and just a little over a fortnight before Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States on 20 January.

In a communique to the Senate earlier, Trump said the nomination of Shanker is for a period of 15 years.

Trump had first announced his nomination last June. At present, he serves as Senior Litigation Counsel in the Department of Justice, Criminal Division, and as Deputy Chief of the Appellate Section.

Before joining the Department of Justice in 2012, Shanker was in private practice with the Washington, DC, offices of Mayer Brown, LLC and Covington & Burling, LLP.

Upon graduation from law school, Shanker served as a law clerk to Judge Chester J Straub on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Shanker completed his bachelors, cum laude, from Duke University and his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served as a Notes Editor for the Virginia Law Review and was inducted into the Order of the Coif.

With agency inputs

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A man was shot dead early Saturday at an apartment complex in north Harris County, officials said.

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez reported shortly after 8:30 a.m. that deputies were responding to a fatal shooting at 505 Wells Fargo Drive, located near Interstate 45 and FM 1960.

The victim, who has not been identified, was found dead from a gunshot wound near the front gate of the apartment complex, Gonzalez said.

Homicide and crime scene investigators were en route to the scene.
Axios

Southwest and American airlines won't yet resume in-flight alcohol service as planned after a flight attendant was recently assaulted by a passenger and other in-flight incidents.What they're saying: Southwest had initially planned to resume the service in June, but Sonya Lacore, the airline's head of in-flight operations, said in a memo obtained by CNN that "based on the rise in passenger disruptions in flight, I've made the decision to re-evaluate the restart of alcohol service on board."Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free"Given the recent uptick in industry-wide incidents of passenger disruptions in-flight, we have made the decision to pause the previously announced restart of alcohol service onboard,'' Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz told USA TODAY. Catch up quick: Last Sunday, a female passenger allegedly struck a flight attendant during a flight from Sacramento to San Diego  Southwest said two of the attendant's teeth had been knocked out. The passenger was then arrested on suspicions of battery causing serious bodily injury. The flight attendant was taken to a hospital once the plane landed, according to a police report. Southwest said Friday it banned the female passenger from flying with the airline again.The big picture: The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it had received approximately 2,500 reports of unruly passenger behavior since Jan. 1, with about 1,900 reports being of passengers refusing to follow federal mask mandates.Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.
Shared Housing Invest, get a return, but serve, is their business motto. Within our society, theres always been a need, and this is the way to do it, said Frank Candelario. Training is now available to students nationwide at the Shared Housing Academy at a discounted amount.

SHARED HOUSING -- With 70 million Americans facing housing challenges, investors are learning how to meet the demand and make significant returns on their investment.

Shared Housing Academy is training potential business owners on how to start group homes.

Instructors Frank and Sherri Candelario own 6 group homes in Seattle, Washington, called Kates House.

They are conducting a free training webinar on February 10th and a discounted 3-day virtual training from February 19th-21st.

The two experts are using their experience to teach others their proven business model for success.

In addition to the previously existing housing crisis, 11-million people have also been affected by the pandemic, said Sherri Candelario.

As a result, theyve designed a unique investment curriculum for shared housing opportunities. This roadmap helps students through the process of purchasing a home, gaining certification, helping marginalized people, and receiving a return on investment.

The Shared Housing Academy business formula shows students how to access a pot of government funding of over $29 billion.

Shared housing encompasses a variety of homes to include:



Veterans homes

Student housing

Recovery homes

Foster homes

Golden girls and boys

Special needs and autism

Temporary Workers

Transition from prison

Corporate housing

Shared journey of any kind

Working-class people have already started registering for the upcoming sessions with hopes of learning how to double and triple their work wages with passive income.

Invest, get a return, but serve, is their business motto.

Within our society, theres always been a need, and this is the way to do it, said Frank Candelario.

Virtual training is now available to students nationwide at the Shared Housing Academy, with discounted courses available for newcomers posted online.

REGISTER TO GO:

WEBINAR

Wednesday, February 10th, 2021

http://www.SharedHousingAcademy.com

OR

3-DAY DISCOUNTED VIRTUAL TRAINING

February 19-21, 2021

Register at: http://www.SHA3DAY.com
On Wednesday, the World Economic Forum (WEF), along with Russias Sberbank and its cybersecurity subsidiary BI.ZONE announced that a new global cyberattack simulation would take place this coming July to instruct participants in developing secure ecosystems by simulating a supply-chain cyberattack similar to the recent SolarWinds hack that would assess the cyber resilience of the exercises participants. On the newly updated event website, the simulation, called Cyber Polygon 2021, ominously warns that, given the digitalization trends largely spurred by the COVID-19 crisis, a single vulnerable link is enough to bring down the entire system, just like the domino effect, adding that a secure approach to digital development today will determine the future of humanity for decades to come.

The exercise comes several months after the WEF, the international organization for public-private cooperation that counts the worlds richest elite among its members, formally announced its movement for a Great Reset, which would involve the coordinated transition to a Fourth Industrial Revolution global economy in which human workers become increasingly irrelevant. This revolution, including its biggest proponent, WEF founder Klaus Schwab, has previously presented a major problem for WEF members and member organizations in terms of what will happen to the masses of people left unemployed by the increasing automation and digitalization in the workplace.

New economic systems that are digitally based and either partnered with or run by central banks are a key part of the WEFs Great Reset, and such systems would be part of the answer to controlling the masses of the recently unemployed. As others have noted, these digital monopolies, not just financial services, would allow those who control them to turn off a persons money and access to services if that individual does not comply with certain laws, mandates and regulations.

The WEF has been actively promoting and creating such systems and has most recently taken to calling its preferred model stakeholder capitalism. Though advertised as a more inclusive form of capitalism, stakeholder capitalism would essentially fuse the public and private sectors, creating a system much more like Mussolinis corporatist style of fascism than anything else.

Yet, to usher in this new and radically different system, the current corrupt system must somehow collapse in its entirety, and its replacement must be successfully marketed to the masses as somehow better than its predecessor. When the worlds most powerful people, such as members of the WEF, desire to make radical changes, crises conveniently emergewhether a war, a plague, or economic collapsethat enable a reset of the system, which is frequently accompanied by a massive upward transfer of wealth.

In recent decades, such events have often been preceded by simulations that come thick and fast before the very event they were meant to prevent takes place. Recent examples include the 2020 US election and COVID-19. One of these, Event 201, was cohosted by the World Economic Forum in October 2019 and simulated a novel coronavirus pandemic that spreads around the world and causes major disruptions to the global economyjust a few weeks before the first case of COVID-19 appeared. Cyber Polygon 2021 is merely the latest such simulation, cosponsored by the World Economic Forum. The forums current agenda and its past track record of hosting prophetic simulations demands that the exercise be scrutinized.

Though Cyber Polygon 2021 is months off, it was preceded by Cyber Polygon 2020, a similar WEF-sponsored simulation that took place last July in which speakers warned of a coming deadly pandemic of cyberattacks that would largely target two economic sectors, healthcare and finance. Cyber Polygon 2020 was officially described as international online training for raising global cyber resilience and involved many of the worlds biggest tech companies and international authorities, from IBM to INTERPOL. There were also many surprising participants at the event, some of whom have been traditionally seen as opposed to Western imperial interests. For example, the person chosen to open the Cyber Polygon event was the prime minister of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Mishustin, and its main host, BI.ZONE, was a subsidiary of the Russian-government-controlled Sberbank. This suggests that the overused Russian hacker narrative may be coming to an end or will soon be switched out for another boogeyman more suitable in light of current political realities.

Aside from Mishustin, WEF executive director Klaus Schwab and former UK prime minister Tony Blair participated in the Cyber Polygon 2020 event, which is due to be repeated annually and bears many similarities to 2019s Event 201. Rather than preparing for a potential medical pandemic, Cyber Polygon 2020 focused on preparing for a cyberpandemic, one that mainstream media outlets like the New Yorker claim is already underway. Given the WEFs recent simulations, powerful billionaire business owners and bankers appear to be poised to use both physical and digital pandemics to reform our societies according to their own design and for their own benefit.

The Architects of Cyber Polygon

According to Russian cybersecurity firm BI.ZONE, 120 organizations spread over twenty-nine countries took part in the two scenarios that were simulated at Cyber Polygon 2020, with as many as five million people allegedly having watched the livestream in over fifty-seven countries. Like many events that took place in 2020, the Cyber Polygon simulations were conducted online due to COVID-19 restrictions. Together with the World Economic Forum, BI.ZONE, a subsidiary of Sberbank, manages the Cyber Polygon project. Sberbanks largest shareholder, as of last year, is the Russian government, and it is thus often described by English-language media outlets as a state-controlled bank.

The 2020 event was launched with an address from the prime minister of the Russian Federation Mishustin, who has a history of courting Western tech companies prior to entering politics. In 1989, Mishustin graduated from Moscow State Technological University (generally known as Stankin) with a qualification in systems engineering. During the 1990s, he worked at the International Computer Club, a nonprofit organization with the goal of attracting Western advanced information technologies to Russia. Between 1996 and 1998, Mishustin was the chairman of the board of the ICC, but the company was liquidated in 2016. Between 2010 and 2020, he served as head of the Federal Taxation Service of the Russian Federation. Even though he had never shown any previous political ambitions, on January 16, 2020, he was appointed prime minister of the Russian Federation by an executive order issued by President Putin.

During Mishustins welcoming remarks at the WEFs Cyber Polygon 2020, the Russian PM warned of the need to create public policy to strengthen the digital security of critical activities without undermining the benefits from digital transformation in critical sectors that would unnecessarily restrict the use and openness of digital technology. The statement suggests that unnecessary restrictions could become seen as necessary in time.

Mishustin goes on to explain that Russias post-COVID economic recovery will be based on the increasing digitalization of that economy and government, adding that we will drastically increase the number of available digital public services and introduce fundamentally new support measures for digital businesses. He also stated that Russia has developed a common national system for identification and the prevention of cyberattacks with the government agencys information systems linked in the system. He also addressed the Cyber Polygon audience about the international community needing to come together to prevent a global cyberfraud pandemic.

Sberbank, the largest Russian banking institution and former Soviet savings monopoly, which was originally founded by Nicholas I, was an official host of the Cyber Polygon 2020 event alongside the World Economic Forum. As reported in the Economist in January 2021, the Russian banking giant has begun to reimagine its business in an effort to become a consumer-technology giant. Sberbank has spent around $2 billion on technology and acquisitions, including the acquisition of internet media group Rambler, which it fully acquired in 2020. As late as December 30, 2020, Sberbank acquired Doma.ai, which describes itself as a convenient real estate management platform. On June 15, 2020, Sberbank bought 2GIS, a map, navigator, and business directory with over 42 million monthly active users. Sberbanks twenty-two investments, eleven as the lead investor, include some of the most used services in Russia, and its clear intention is to become a one-stop digital shop for all services. The bank also became the owner of one of the largest data-processing centers in Europe when the South Port data-processing center opened in November 2011, replacing the existing thirty-six regional data centers. Sberbank is set to be the worlds first bank to launch its own cryptocurrency, Sbercoin, and digital finance ecosystem this March. It notably announced the coming Sbercoin, a stablecoin tied to the Russian ruble, just a few weeks after the Cyber Polygon 2020 exercise.

Sberbanks alliance with the WEF and prominence at Cyber Polygon 2020 was underscored at the event during the welcoming remarks delivered by Klaus Schwab. Schwab gave special thanks to Herman Gref, a member of the board of trustees of the World Economic Forum and Sberbanks CEO and also issued the following dire warning:

We all know, but still pay insufficient attention to, the frightening scenario of a comprehensive cyberattack which would bring to a complete halt to the power supply, transportation, hospital services, our society as a whole. The COVID-19 crisis would be seen in this respect as a small disturbance in comparison to a major cyberattack. We have to ask ourselves, in such a situation, how could we let this happen despite the fact we had all the information about the possibility and seriousness of a risk attack. Cybercrime and global cooperation should be on the forefront of the global agenda.

Similar warnings were heard at a 2019 simulation that was also cosponsored by the World Economic Forum, Event 201. Event 201, which simulated a global pandemic just months before the COVID-19 crisis, presciently warned in its official documentation: The next severe pandemic will not only cause great illness and loss of life but could also trigger major cascading economic and societal consequences that could contribute greatly to global impact and suffering. In contrast to similar simulations conducted in the past, Event 201 championed a public-private partnership approach to combatting pandemics, with a focus on engaging the private sector in epidemic and outbreak preparedness at the national or regional level. The WEF is, among other things, a major evangelist for the merging of the public and private sectors globally, describing itself as the international organization for private-public cooperation. It is thus unsurprising that their latest disaster simulation, which focuses on cyberattacks, would promote this same agenda.

The Speakers at Cyber Polygon 2020

Aside from Schwab and Mishustin, twenty others took part in Cyber Polygon 2020, including some big names from the top echelons of the political elite. First off, Herman Gref engaged in discussion with former UK prime minister Tony Blair, who has been pushing for digital identity systems for decades. Blair straightforwardly told the CEO of Sberbank that biometric digital identity systems will inevitably be the tools that most governments will use to deal with future pandemics. Blair, discussing the coronavirus pandemic with Gref, advocated the harshest of lockdown measures, saying the only alternative to biometric digital identities is to lockdown the economy.

Next, Sebastian Tolstoy, Ericssons general director for Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Russia and current chairman of the Tolstoy Family Foundation in Sweden, dialogued with Alexey Kornya. Kornya is president, CEO, and chairman of the management board of Mobile TeleSystems. He previously worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers and AIG-Brunswick Capital Management at North-West Telecom. Tolstoy and Kornya presented a segment at Cyber Polygon 2020 entitled Building a Secure Interconnected World: What Is the Role of the Telecom Sector? in which they discussed the importance of digital communication and connectivity to our modern way of living.

In the next segment, Nik Gowing, BBC World News presenter between 1996 and 2014 and founder and director of Thinking the Unthinkable, spoke with Vladimir Pozner, journalist and broadcaster, on the subject of fake news in a conversation that was actually somewhat refreshing in its arguments and approach.

Stephane Duguin, the CEO of the CyberPeace Institute, a Geneva-based company that describes itself as citizens who seek peace and justice in cyberspace, then gave a talk to the millions of viewers watching the simulation. The CyberPeace Institute, funded by Microsoft, Facebook, Mastercard, and the Hewlett Foundation, among others, claims to help their customers increase digital resilience and the capacity to respond to and recover from cyberattacks. The core backers of the CyberPeace Institute are also among the top backers of the Global Cyber Alliance, which unites the public sectors of the US, UK, and France with multinational corporations and intelligence-linked cybersecurity firms, employing a coordinated approach and nontraditional collaboration to reduce cyber risk.

Duguin, who is also on the advisory board of the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise, recently launched the Cyber4Healthcare initiative, a free cybersecurity service to healthcare providers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cyber4Healthcare initiative includes as its main partners BI.ZONE as well as Microsoft and the Global Cyber Alliance. This is yet another suspicious Microsoft-linked free cybersecurity service currently being pitched to and adopted by healthcare providers around the world at a time when warnings of a coming cyberattack on healthcare systems globally are becoming more public.

Dhanya Thakkar, senior vice president of AMEA at Trend Micro, who advertises himself online as a top ASEAN LinkedIn cybersecurity influencer, and Wendi Whitmore, vice president of IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence, next discussed the topic Know Your Enemy: How Is the Crisis Changing the Cyberthreat Landscape? IBMs presence is notable due to the companys longstanding relationship with the CIA, dating back to the early Cold War. The company has become so entrenched that the CIA recently recruited their chief information officer directly from IBM Federal. Before joining IBM, Whitmore held executive positions at California-based cybersecurity technology companies CrowdStrike and Mandiant, the latter acquired by FireEye in a stock and cash deal worth in excess of $1 billion. Whitmore was responsible for professional services. Notably, both CrowdStrike and Mandiant/FireEye are the key organizations leading the investigation into the recent SolarWinds hack, which US intelligence has blamed on a Russian hacker without providing any evidence. Whitmore began her career as a special agent conducting computer crime investigations with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

Jacqueline Kernot, the Australian partner in cybersecurity for Ernst and Young, and Hector Rodriguez, senior vice president and regional risk officer for Visa, next discussed how to prepare for cyberattacks. Kernot worked for over twenty-five years as a military officer for the Australian Intelligence Corps and spent two years working at IBMs Defence|Space|Intelligence for Tivoli Software in the UK with international responsibilities within the UK Ministry of Defence, Defence Primes, and NATO. Ernst and Young and Visa, alongside other WEF-linked corporations such as Salesforce, are well represented on the Vaticans exclusive Council for Inclusive Capitalism. The Council, like the WEF, calls for the reconstruction of the economic system to be more sustainable, inclusive, and dynamic by harnessing the power of the private sector.

Troels rting Jrgensen , chairman of the advisory board of the World Economic Forums Centre for Cybersecurity, and Jurgen Stock, the Danish secretary general of INTERPOL, also spoke together at Cyber Polygon regarding the changes in global cybercrime over the course of the previous year. A few months after appearing at Cyber Polygon, the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority announced in an official statement that Troels rting has notified the Ministry of Business Affairs that he is resigning from the Danish Financial Supervisory Authoritys board. Citing unnamed sources, Danish financial news service FinansWatch reported that during the time between 2015 and 2018, when he was employed as head of security at Barclays bank, rting had been a key figure in the hunt for a whistleblower who had exposed the same criminal activity rting railed against at Cyber Polygon.

The man speaking alongside rting, Jurgen Stock, is a former German police officer, criminologist, and lawyer. He was elected for a second term as secretary general of INTERPOL in 2019, a term that generally lasts for five years. Craig Jones, the cybercrime director at INTERPOL, also joined the discussion at Cyber Polygon 2020. The New Zealander spent twenty-seven years in law enforcement and is considered an expert in cybercrime investigations. He previously held several senior-management positions in UK law enforcement, most recently at the National Crime Agency.

Petr Gorodov and John Crain were briefly interviewed at the Cyber Polygon 2020 event. Gorodov is head of the General Directorate for International Relations and Legal Assistance of the Prosecutor Generals Office of the Russian Federation and also sits on the Commission for the Control of INTERPOLs files. He is on the Requests Chamber of INTERPOL, which examines and decides on requests for access to data as well as requests for correction and/or deletion of data processed in the INTERPOL information system. John Crain is chief security, stability, and resiliency officer at ICANN, the nonprofit internet security corporation. He is currently responsible for the management of the L-Root server, one of the internets thirteen root servers, making his inclusion at the simulation particularly notable. At Cyber Polygon 2020 he promoted a long-term solution of working together in the cybersecurity community.

The final word at Cyber Polygon 2020 was delivered by Stanislav Kuznetsov, deputy chairman of the executive board at Sberbank. He is also a board member for the Sberbank charity foundation Contribution to the Future, a project that seeks to get Russian schoolchildren from grades seven through eleven interested in AI (artificial intelligence), machine learning, and data analysis and to help them develop math and programming skills. Kuznetsov studied at the Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.

The Main Event: Enter the Polygon

Participants in the Cyber Polygon 2020 event, Source: https://cyberpolygon.com/

The simulation component of Cyber Polygon 2020 saw 120 teams from twenty-nine countries take part in the cybersecurity technical simulation. During the online event, participants exercise[d] the actions of the response team in a targeted attack aimed at stealing confidential data and thus resulting in damage to the company reputation. Two teams, the Red and the Blue, went head-to-head in the simulations where the Red Team, made up of the training organizers from BI.ZONE, simulated cyberattacks and the Blue Team members attempted to protect their segments of the training infrastructure. The actual simulation was made up of two scenarios in which the various subgroups making up the teams could gain points.

The first scenario, called Defence, made the Cyber Polygon participants practice repelling an active APT (advanced persistent threat) cyberattack. The scenarios objective was stated as being to develop skills for repelling targeted cyberattacks on a business-critical system. The simulations fictional organizations virtual infrastructure included a service that processes confidential client information. This service became the subject of interest to an APT group that planned to steal confidential user data and resell it on the darknet to financially benefit and damage the companys reputation. The APT group studied the target system in advance and discovered several critical vulnerabilities. In the scenario, the cyber gang plans to attack on the day of the exercise. The participants involved were judged on their ability to cope with the attack as fast as possible, to minimize the amount of information stolen, and to maintain service availability. Blue Team participants could apply any applications and tools to protect the infrastructure and were also allowed to fix system vulnerabilities by improving the service code.

In the second scenario, called Response, the teams had to investigate the incident using classic forensics and threat hunting techniques. Based on the information gathered, participants had to compose a dossier that would help law enforcement agencies locate the criminals. The second scenarios objective was to develop skills in incident investigation using the scenario in which cybercriminals gained access to a privileged account through a successful phishing attack.

When the BI.ZONE team released the results of the simulation they intentionally avoided using the real names of the organizations so as not to set off a competition between the participants and keep their results confidential. However, the teams could later compare their results with the others by using a basic scoreboard, and the hosts could analyse the crucial data showing various organizational weaknesses of each of the participating teams/institutions.

The final report states that the results showed that banks and companies from the IT industry demonstrated the highest resilience. Security assessment expertise in these sectors is quite well developed, with classic forensics and threat hunting widely applied. In lay terms, the teams from banks and the IT industry seemed to be better prepared than most other sectors for investigating and hunting down threats. However, all the teams involved proved to be less than able when it came to the initial defense from a cyberattack, with the BI.ZONE report stating that 27% of the teams had difficulties earning points for the first scenario, which allows us to conclude that some of the team members lack or have insufficient expertise in security assessment and protection of web applications. On the subject of threat hunting, the report goes on to say that 21% of the teams could not earn a single point for the second round of the second scenario. This was attributed to Threat Hunting being a relatively novel approach and the majority of organisations lacking experience of applying its techniques in practice.

The Cyber Polygon 2020 event revealed the weakness in human-led defensive response and resilience as it relates cyberdefense. This outcome is convenient for hi-tech cybersecurity companies like BI.ZONE that wish to highlight the superiority of AI-driven cybersecurity products in comparison to inefficient human workers. Also, it should be noted that BI.ZONEs gaining knowledge of global institutional weaknesses through cyberdefense training could be useful intelligence for their parent company, Sberbank, and in turn the largest shareholder of Sberbank, the Russian government.

Bringing Russia in from the Cold?

Although Russian Federation authorities are quite used to being out in the cold both politically and physically, there appears to be a change in the usual order of nations. Russias inclusion as the leader in such an important global cybersecurity initiative is a bit surprising, especially after Russia has been the scapegoat of choice for any cyberattack committed against any Western power for several years, most recently with the SolarWinds hack in the US. Yet, there was no outcry in the West over Cyber Polygon 2020, in which a company that is majority owned by the Russian government was able to gain direct knowledge of the cyberdefense weaknesses of major global institutions, banks, and corporations through their hosting of the exercise.

The complete absence of the Russian hacker narrative at Cyber Polygon as well as Russias leadership role at the event suggests either that a geopolitical shift has taken place or that the Russian hacker narrative commonly deployed by intelligence agencies in the US and Europe is mainly meant for the general public and not for the elite figures and policymakers in attendance at Cyber Polygon.

Another possibility for Russia no longer being treated as the perpetual enemy of cyberspace is that it is entirely on board with both the official coronavirus narrative and the allegedly imminent cyberpandemic. Cyber Polygon 2020 appeared, in part, to be a Russian charm offensive that was welcomed by the powerful elite. Tony Blair, who once held out the hand of false reconciliation on behalf of the international community to Colonel Gaddafi, has often been involved in these exercises of international diplomacy on behalf of the elites in the years since he left public office. His involvement in the exercise may have been meant to facilitate support among Western WEF-aligned governments for even greater Russian inclusion in the Great Reset. Part of this is due to the WEF-led effort to bring BRICS nations like China and Russia into the Great Reset fold because it is essential for their agendas success on a global scale. Now, Russia is pioneering this new model of supposedly national finance systems that the WEF supports through Sberbanks creation of a digital monopoly not only of financial services but all services within the Russian Federation.

Cyber Polygon 2020 was both an ad for pro-Russian relations and a promotional exercise for Klaus Schwab and the World Economic Forums Great Reset. Some of the people who took part and supported the Cyber Polygon event are involved at the highest levels of cyber intelligence; some may have even been unofficial representatives of their national state intelligence apparatus. The decisions of several national governments to participate directly in the WEF-led Great Reset is no conspiracy theory. For instance, the incoming Biden administration sent its climate envoy, John Kerry, to the WEF annual meeting last month, where Kerry underscored the US commitment to the Great Reset agenda and the associated Fourth Industrial Revolution that seeks to automate most jobs being currently performed by humans. With the governments of Russia, China, the US, the UK, Israel, Canada, and India, among others, on board with this transnational agenda, it becomes deeply unsettling that high-ranking operatives in both the public and private sectors joined the WEF to conduct a simulation of a crisis that would clearly benefit the Great Reset agenda.

As previously mentioned, the WEF cosponsored a simulation of a coronavirus pandemic just months before the actual event. Soon after the COVID-19 crisis began in earnest last March, Schwab noted that the pandemic crisis was just what was needed to launch the Great Reset as it served as a convenient catalyst to begin overhauling economies, governance, and social society on a global scale. If the destabilizing events simulated at Cyber Polygon do come to pass, it will likely be similarly welcomed by the WEF, given that a critical failure in the current global financial system would allow the introduction of new public-private digital ecosystem monopolies such as those being built in Russia by Sberbank.

This effort by Sberbank to both digitize and monopolize access to all services, both private and public, may be appealing to some because of its apparent convenience. However, it will also be emblematic of what we can expect from Schwabs Great Resetmonopolies of fused public- and private-sector entities disguised by the term stakeholder capitalism. What the general public does not realize yet is that they themselves will not be included among these stakeholders, as the Great Reset has been designed by the bankers and wealthy elite for the bankers and the wealthy elite.

As for the Cyber Polygon 2020 event, the coming cyberpandemic is being prophetically thrown in our faces just as the pandemic exercise was prior to the actual diseases appearance. Such prophetic warnings are coming not only from the WEF, however. For instance, the head of Israels National Cyber Directorate, Yigal Unna, warned last year that a cyber winter of cyberattacks is coming and coming faster than even I suspected. In the cyber directorate, Unna works closely with Israeli intelligence agencies, including the infamous Unit 8200, which has a long history of electronic espionage targeting the US and other countries and which has been responsible for several devastating hacks, including the Stuxnet virus that damaged Irans nuclear program. Israeli intelligence is also poised to be among the greatest beneficiaries of the Great Reset due to the strength of the nations hi-tech sector. In addition, last month saw the UAEs central bank following Cyber Polygons lead by conducting its first-ever cyberattack simulation in coordination with the Emirati private-finance sector. Corporate media outlets, for their part, began this year by claiming that cyberattacks may trigger the next crisis for banks and, as of February 1, that the next cyberattack is already underway.

Some will say that a cyberpandemic is an inevitable consequence of the quickly developing hi-tech world in which we live, but it still fair to point out that 2021 is the year that many have been predicting for the financial destruction of big institutions that will lead to new economic systems that align with the Great Reset. The inevitable collapse of the global banking system, resulting from the off-the-charts corruption and fraud that has run rampant for decades, is likely to be conducted through a controlled collapse, one that would allow wealthy bankers and elites, such as those that participated in Cyber Polygon, to avoid responsibility for their economic pillaging and criminal activity.

This is especially true for Cyber Polygon participant Deutsche Bank, whose inevitable collapse has been openly discussed for years due to the banks extreme corruption, fraud, and massive exposure to derivatives. In late 2019, months before the COVID-19 crisis began, the CEO of Deutsche Bank warned that central banks no longer had tools that could adequately respond to the next economic crisis. It is certainly telling that entirely new banking systems, such as Sberbanks soon-to-be-launched digital monetary monopoly, began to be developed just as it began to be publicly acknowledged that central banks traditional means of responding to economic calamities were no longer viable.

A massive cyberattack, such as that simulated at Cyber Polygon 2020, would allow faceless hackers to be blamed for economic collapse, thus absolving the real financial criminals of responsibility. Furthermore, due to the difficult nature of investigating hacks and the ability of intelligence agencies to frame other nation states for hacks they in fact committed themselves, any boogeyman of choice can be blamed, whether a domestic terror group or a country unaligned with the WEF (for now, at least) like Iran or North Korea. Between the well-placed warnings, simulations, and the clear benefit for the global elite intent on a Great Reset, Cyber Polygon 2020 appears to have served not only its publicly stated purpose but its own ulterior motives.
Library books that have been pre-ordered await pick-up at the Westminster Library in Westminster, Calif., on Sept. 22, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Millions of Aussie Adults Have Poor Literacy

A federal parliamentary inquiry has been launched in a bid to address the intergenerational cycle of poor adult literacy in Australia.

Imagine being unable to read a book to your children, fill out important forms or decipher ingredient labels on food or medicine.

Thats an unacceptable reality for a shocking amount of Australian adults, literacy experts said.

The exact number struggling with literacy across the nation is unclear, but the most recent, reliable survey, conducted in 2012, found more than 14 per cent have very low literacy skills.

That equates to more than 2.8 million people.

People that are in that bottom percentage group would have trouble reading the back of a medicine box, Australia Reading Writing Hotline Manager Vanessa Iles said. Theyd certainly have trouble reading to their children and helping them with their homework.

Reading online bills, getting a drivers licence, writing a resume, signing up for volunteer workeven applying for bushfire assistanceare near impossible tasks for people in that category.

Im talking about people who were schooled in Australia, and they would find it difficult to fill in more than their name and address, Iles said.

The scale of the issue has prompted the federal parliament to launch an inquiry into adult literacy levels, which will look at the broad ways it impacts people and their families.

We know from research that people that have lower levels of literacy have lower health outcomes, theyve got higher incarceration rates, they end up in lower skilled jobs, Iles said.

Their kids health and literacy also suffer.

The Hotline once received a call from a nurse, concerned about the literacy levels of the young mums she worked with, she recalled.

They werent signing immunisation forms because they couldnt read them, and they didnt trust what was in the form.

Their kids didnt get immunised.

Nowhere near enough is being done to address the problem, Iles said.

President of the Australia Council of Adult Literacy (ACAL) Jo Medlin agreed that any real improvement in adult literacy in the past decade would be a shock.

I dont know if its necessarily gone backwards, but I dont think its gone anywhere, she said.

Programs to improve literacy for jobs seekers are fairly accessible, Medlin said, but if youre already in work, or retired, or a stay-at-home parent, affordable opportunities are scarce.

The government funding is focused only on adult literacy for work or employment, she said. Theres no conversation at government level about the other areas of literacy that are so important, like family literacy, health literacy, financial literacyall the things that basically underpin your everyday functioning in society.

Compounding the problem is an increasingly dire shortage of adult literacy educators.

Most of the teachers in adult literacy are nearing retirement age and are leaving the sector, and at the same time were not retraining new teachers, Iles said.

Both the Reading Writing Hotline and the ACAL will be making a submission to the parliamentary inquiry to call for more funding to establish literacy programs for the broader Australian public.

Specialised programs for Indigenous Australians are also desperately needed.

However, with little movement towards reducing or eliminating the problem, the next generation will inevitably suffer from poor literacy too, they say.

But with the right policy settings, Ms Iles is optimistic the trend could be bucked.

People that have been seeking help have just not been able to get it, she said. If everybody that wanted literacy could access free literacy classes, it would make an enormous difference, just in one generation.

By Tiffanie Turnbull
President Joe Biden speaks with reporters after stepping off Air Force One at New Castle Airport in New Castle, Del., Friday (local time). Biden is spending the weekend at his home in Delaware. AP-Yonhap



President Joe Biden's administration is moving to revoke the designation of Yemen's Houthis as a terrorist group, citing the need to mitigate one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters.



The administration of President Donald Trump had branded the Iranian-backed Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization, a move that limited the provision of aid to the beleaguered Yemeni people, who have suffered under a years-long civil war and famine.



A senior State Department official confirmed the move after members of Congress were notified of the administration's plans. The official, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the removal changed nothing about the Biden administration's views of the Houthis, who have targeted civilians and kidnapped Americans.



''Our action is due entirely to the humanitarian consequences of this last-minute designation from the prior administration, which the United Nations and humanitarian organizations have since made clear would accelerate the world's worst humanitarian crisis,'' the official said.



The move comes a day after Biden announced an end to military support to Saudi Arabia's campaign against the Houthis.



The Obama administration in 2015 gave its approval to Saudi Arabia leading a cross-border air campaign targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels, who were seizing ever more territory, including Sanaa. The Houthis have launched multiple drone and missile strikes deep into Saudi Arabia. The U.S. says the Saudi-led campaign has entrenched Iran's role in the conflict, on the side of the Houthis.



U.S. targeting assistance to Saudi Arabia's command and control was supposed to minimize civilian casualties in the Saudi-led airstrikes. But bombing since then has killed numerous Yemeni civilians, including schoolboys on a bus and fishermen in their boats. Survivors have displayed fragments showing the bombs to be American-made.



Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut praised the Biden administration's move, saying, ''The designation did not impact the Houthis in any practical way, but it stopped food and other critical aid from being delivered inside Yemen and would have prevented effective political negotiationS." (AP)


Bitcoin climbed toward $40,000 in a rally that helped the market value of digital tokens scale a new peak.

The largest cryptocurrency rose as much as 5.6% to $39,959 on Saturday, taking it closer to early Januarys all-time high of almost $42,000. The value of more than 6,000 tokens tracked by CoinGecko hit about $1.23 trillion.

The jump comes after another volatile week in cryptocurrencies marked by Elon Musks support for Bitcoin and a record runup in Ether, the second-largest token. Billionaire Musk also posted tongue-in-cheek tweets about Dogecoin -- a Shiba Inu-themed unit that began as a joke -- stirring buying that drove its market capitalization past $6 billion.

The developments provide more evidence of the way the casino-like gyrations of digital coins are seeping into the mainstream. High-profile proponents of Bitcoin like Musk say its winning broader acceptance in the finance community. Regulators, meanwhile, are stepping up warnings of volatility that could wipe investors out.

Investor perception is at an all-time high at both the retail and hedge fund levels," said Jehan Chu, managing partner with blockchain advisory firm Kenetic Capital in Hong Kong.

Even so, many investors still view digital coins as a treacherous sector. That was underlined in the US, where the 24-year-old founder of two New York-based cryptocurrency hedge funds with more than $100 million in investments pleaded guilty Thursday to securities fraud.

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, is up about 22% this week. The token may be consolidating before heading toward $50,000, which would imply a market value for it of about $1 trillion, said Mike McGlone, commodities strategist with Bloomberg Intelligence.

Meanwhile, Ethers eightfold rally over the past year faces possible turbulence from the impending launch of CME Group Inc. futures next week. The contracts may open the door for bearish investors. The digital coin was at $1,680 as of 10:32 a.m. in London on Saturday.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit West Bengal tomorrow to launch key infra projects ahead of the state elections. This is Modi's second visit to the state in a matter of two weeks. He visited the state capital on January 23 to celebrate Parikrama Diwas commemorate Netaji's birthday.

"These projects are in line with Prime Minister's vision of Purvodaya, of driving growth of the eastern India," the PMO said.

On Sunday, Modi will inaugurate an LPG import terminal built by the state-run BPCL. "It will cater to the growing requirement of LPG in West Bengal and other states in eastern and north-eastern India."

"It is an important step towards realising the vision of the Prime Minister to provide clean cooking LPG to every household," the Prime Minister's Office said.

He will also dedicate to the nation the 348-km Dobhi-Durgapur natural gas pipeline section, which is part of the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga Project. Constructed at a cost of about 2,400 crore, the pipeline will help the revival of HURL Sindri (Jharkhand) fertilizer plant and in supplying gas to Matix Fertilizer Plant in Durgapur (West Bengal).

"It marks an important milestone towards achieving 'one nation, one gas grid' project of the government, the PMO said.

Modi will lay the foundation stone for a crucial project for the Haldia refinery of the Indian Oil Corporation.

Another project to be inaugurated by the prime minister is a four-lane ROB-cum-flyover at Ranichak in Haldia on NH 41. It has been built at the cost of 190 crore, the PMO said.

The flyover will result in uninterrupted movement of traffic from Kolaghat to Haldia Dock Complex and other surrounding areas, resulting in substantial saving in travel time and operating cost of heavy vehicles plying in and out of the port.





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The agreement between the US and the Taliban has no element of peace and is basically a withdrawal pact for American troops from the war-torn Afghanistan, a former Pakistani diplomat has said. As a longtime critic of the US and Taliban agreement, I see it as a withdrawal agreement with no elements of peace. The Taliban were made to commit to only one thing, that they would enter intra-Afghan talks, not that they would agree to peace, Husain Haqqani, the former Pakistani Ambassador to the US, said on Friday during a virtual event The Afghan Peace Process: Progress or Peril? organised by the Hudson Institute think-tank.

The Trump administration signed the peace deal with Taliban in February last year in Doha. The accord drew up plans for withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in exchange for security guarantees from the insurgent group. As part of the deal, the US committed to withdraw its 12,000 troops within 14 months. There are currently only 2,500 American troops left in the country.

The Taliban committed to prevent other groups, including al Qaeda, from using Afghan soil to recruit, train or fund raise toward activities that threaten the US or its allies. Haqqani said the definition of peace for the Taliban is very different from the US.

"Talibans definition of peace is very different from that of the US or the Afghan government. The Taliban believes that once their Islamic Emirate is restored, peace is restored, said Haqqani, who currently is Director for South and Central Asia at Hudson Institute.

The Afghan government and the people of the country would welcome the predictability and discipline that might come with change of administration in the US, he noted. When state actors and non-state actors negotiate, usually there is a ceasefire as part of the deal. That hasn't been done in Afghanistan? I dont understand what reduction in violence is, does it mean 2 people instead of 10 being killed or 10 instead of 20? he asked.

Bill Roggio, a senior fellow and editor of The Foundation for Defense of Democracies Long War Journal, observed that to understand what Taliban wants one needs to read their statements. The only acceptable outcome is the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. They have not fought all these years to take a silly ministerial post. What Taliban has been doing in the meantime is hollowing out Afghan civil society. All signs that Taliban is using these talks to run out the clock. It is not going to agree to give up violence, he said.

The Taliban promised before 9/11 that they will not host Al Qaeda and they lied. Why should we believe them today? Roggio asked.

Javid Ahmad, Afghanistans Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and a Senior Fellow (non-resident) at the Atlantic Council, noted that Afghanistan at the end of the day is complicated. The US presence has now effectively become a part of the Afghan power dynamics. Probably remain so for foreseeable future, he said.

There is a need for clarity in purpose, policy, and approach. We need clarity not just on Afghanistans future but also Americas future in Afghanistan. Previous administration drew a moral equivalence between Taliban and Afghan government and so outcome was one big mess, Ahmad said.

Responding to a question, Roggio said that the Taliban survives because of Pakistan. The Taliban may be small minority, but you only need a fervent minority. They have control in many rural areas. Taliban are still indoctrinating people, he said. According to Ahmad, Pakistan wants to dictate the talks and in the process bypass the Afghan government.

Pakistans main audience has been Washington not Kabul. So difficult to come to terms with them on any bilateral agreement. The terms they are pushing for is a direct say in Afghanistans foreign and security policy and so Pakistan has traditionally treated us as a half state, he said.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Jerry ORiordan is a well known musician/singer around his native Kanturk and further afield. He has been a huge influence in fostering a love of music in the ORiordan home, whether it be singing, playing an instrument or just appreciating music in general

The earliest documented gospel music can be traced to the 17th Century. Hymns and sacred songs were part of the repertoire of many spiritual communities and many churches relied on hand clapping and foot stomping as rhythmic accompaniment.

However, Gospel music gained momentum during the second major African-American migration that occurred at the turn of the 20th Century, when many people moved to the large urban areas of North America. By the 1930s, the African-American community was experiencing changes in religious consciousness. New geographies, realities and expectations became the standard of both those with long-standing residence in the north and those who had recently arrived. The new arrivals still welcomed the jubilant fervour and emotionalism of spiritual gatherings where gospel music was an integral element of the ceremonies.

Urban/contemporary gospel derives primarily from traditional black gospel music and strongly influenced many forms of secular pop music. In addition, chart success by artists during the '70s and '80s were significant catalysts for the continued popularity of the genre today.

In modern times, many top music artists across the world include a set of gospel songs in their shows, and some have enjoyed significant success with these spiritual numbers.

Locally, we are blessed with the fabulous Lorraine O'Riordan Gospel Choir in Kanturk, boasting 27 members from the town and surrounding areas. Director Christine O'Riordan explained how the choir got its name:

"My sister, Lorraine, like all her family, was a natural performer. She could sing and dance, and her moves and grooves on the dance floor at events were famous!

Expand Close The Gospel Choir is named in honour of the late Lorraine ORiordan who passed away in 2010 at the age of 29 from ovarian cancer / Facebook

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Whatsapp The Gospel Choir is named in honour of the late Lorraine ORiordan who passed away in 2010 at the age of 29 from ovarian cancer

"Tragically, Lorraine died of ovarian cancer in 2010 at the tender age of 29. Undoubtedly, she would be very proud of the gospel choir that we set up in her honour," Christine said.

Keyboard player Louise Curtin took up the story: "In 2011, a group of friends sang for Lorraine's first anniversary mass. After mass, the curate in Kanturk at the time, Father Pat Linehan, spoke to the group and asked would we be willing to meet with a view to forming a gospel choir. Since then the choir has grown from strength to strength."

The choir is directed by Lorraine's sister, Christine O'Riordan, with her dad Jerry on guitar, Louise Curtin on keyboards and Cian Daly on drums.

It's fair to say 'the apple never falls far from the tree' and it's easy to see where the younger O'Riordans got their talent. Jerry O'Riordan plays accordion and guitar, and is well known all over Duhallow and beyond for both his wonderful singing voice and prowess as a musician.

"Dad has played music all his life. He is a self taught musician who grew up in a musical family and some of his siblings are also members of the gospel choir. There was always music in our house growing up. Dad was constantly learning new songs and practicing new material for ballad sessions. It always amazed me how he could play a tune having heard it just once!" Christine O'Riordan told The Corkman, adding that her dad's musical ear is an absolute treasure, not to mention his powerful voice. "We never tire of listening to dad's renditions of Elvis Presley classics - Dixieland, The Wonder of You and This Time You Gave me a Mountain, to name just a few. He has been a huge influence in fostering a love of music in our home, whether it be singing and playing an instrument or just appreciating music in general. His guitar is always close at hand in our home!" Christine added.

The gospel choir, now in its 10th year, has achieved much, including numerous performances that have raised thousands of euro for charities such as Kanturk Hospital, Cork Mental Health, Cope Foundation and Cancer Research. The concerts feature many themes including Christmas Carols, May - the Month of Mary and the most recent 'Shine A Light' show which highlighted positive mental health.

The talented group presents a varied repertoire which includes many toe tapping favourites such as This Little Light of Mine, Ain't No Mountain High Enough, Put Your Hand in the Hand and Love Shine a Light.

Pre-Covid, the choir regularly performed during the Saturday Vigil Mass at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, and always enjoyed regaling the congregation with gospel music on Christmas morning. However, unfortunately this year in unprecedented times, the choir is taking a short break; they will however, be back in the latter half of 2021 with music aplenty for people to enjoy.

"In light of the current pandemic the title of the choir's most recent show 'Shine A Light' seems most appropriate," keyboard player Louise Curtin said. "Music is a celebration of our God-given sacredness - that light - that is within us all.

"We also remind ourselves that, although life can be tough at times, the tough times won't last forever. It's ok not to be ok and always remember that although it may feel like you're alone, you are never alone," she added.

Meanwhile, although the gospel choir is currently in lockdown, like all of us, music continues to thrive in the O'Riordan household, even in the next generation. "Lorraine's daughter Anna will definitely keep her memory alive and is already showing similar talent at such a young age, and I've no doubt Lorraine continues to sing along with the celestial choir up there in the skies," Christine O'Riordan said.

Cardi B was spotted jetting out of LAX as she made her way to the Super Bowl on Saturday morning.

The WAP hitmaker was escorted by an assistant as she strolled through the airport's terminal; at one point, she stopped to speak to several attendants before hopping onto her plane.

The 28-year-old rapper's trip comes just one day after she was accused of ripping off the work of several musicians for her recently released single Up.

Up, up and away: On Saturday morning, Cardi B was spotted arriving at LAX as she prepared to catch a flight to the upcoming Super Bowl

Getting away: The hitmaker's trip comes just a day after she was accused of ripping off the work of other musicians for her newly released single Up

The songwriter was dressed in a beige-colored sweatshirt, which she contrasted with a simple pair of black leggings.

She was also seen wearing a pair of pink Crocs featuring multiple charms attached to each shoe's exterior.

The Bodak Yellow rapper allowed her long red hair to cascade outwards from under her hood, which she kept up during her trip through the airport.

Cardi wore a large white face mask to keep herself protected from any potential exposure to COVID-19.

Flying in comfort: The rapper was seen wearing a beige sweatshirt and black leggings before catching her flight

Staying safe: Both Cardi and her assistant were spotted wearing white facial coverings during their time at the airport

While the artist appeared to be without a care in the airport, she is currently dealing with controversy regarding the composition of her latest single, entitled Up.

A music video was also posted to the songwriter's official YouTube account a day before its official release on Friday.

Shortly after Up's premiere, New Jersey-based rappers Mir Pesos and Mir Fontaine called Cardi out on Twitter and alleged that she had ripped off their track Stuck, which was released last September.

Mir Pesos also posted a side-by-side video of the two songs in an attempt to show the similarities in musical form they shared.

The caption for his post read '@iamcardib we want my money.'

Controversy: On Friday, New Jersey-based rappers Mir Pesos called the WAP hitmaker out on Twitter over the assumption that she had ripped off his track Stuck, which he collaborated on with Mir Fontaine

Big release: Cardi posted a music video for Up to her official YouTube channel ahead of the single's official debut

While the I Like It songwriter's representatives did not immediately comment on the allegations, she directly responded on an Instagram Live video.

Cardi expressed anger over the accusations during the broadcast and encouraged Mir Pesos and Mir Fontaine to consider legal action.

She stated, 'If youre feeling a certain type of way, we can take it to court. I dont give a f***.'

The hitmaker also noted that any 'drama' surrounding her musical output 'doesnt even bother me.'

Not having it: Yesterday, Cardi went on Instagram Live to deny the accusations of musical plagiarism and expressed that the controversy over Up 'doesnt even bother me'

She also posted a video to her Instagram story to further express her denial of the accusations.

The clip showed her and WAP collaborator Megan Thee Stallion dancing together; she also claimed the video dated back to August 7th, prior to the release of Stuck.

In the caption for the video, she wrote 'From AUGUST 7TH now check when the other n**** posted his song. I BEEN WORKING ON THIS.'

The songwriter later took to Twitter to explain her feelings on the situation and responded to a fan who was worried about Up's originality.

'If i get inspired by a song I wouldnt mind giving a percentage or couple of thousand but I never Hurd if this man .Im glad while I was recording this song in August I was playing wit the hook on this live,' she partially wrote.

Evidence: Cardi posted a video to her Instagram Story which showed her and Megan Thee Stallion working on Up well before the September release of Stuck
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - US President Joe Biden, has greeted the 34th session of the African Union Heads of State and Government, saying Washington is willing to re-engage international institutions after the global experience with the coronavirus pandemic
Mr. Michael B. Ataogye, the Western Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) Chief Director has retired from the Local Government Service after 31 years of meritorious and dedicated Service.



He is succeeded by Mr. Frederick Agyemang.



Mr. Ataogye expressed extreme delight at the cooperation he enjoyed from the Regional Minister and other members of management that aided the successes that were chalked during his tenure.



The retired Officer, haven worked with his successor previously, was positive of the qualities of his successors competences in pursuing the vision for the Region.



He further charged heads of departments and by extension, staff of the RCC to lend to Mr. Agyemang similar support he enjoyed.



Let me also take the opportunity to say that I appreciate all the support, all the encouragement that you have given for us to work together. You cannot get this from everybody. There has been no friction while we worked together, he said.



The Western Regional Minister Designate, Mr. Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah was appreciative of Mr Ataogyes contribution to the current achievement of the Region.



 We also thank God that He gave us Mr. Michael Ataogye to work with us and make history. I have been in office for just about one and half years, yet, I was adjudged the 2nd best Regional Minister in Ghana, and I believe that it is because of the hard work of Mr. Ataogye and his team, he said.



Prior to his appointment to the Western Regional Coordinating Council in February 2019, Mr. Ataogye had served as Coordinating Director for the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Obuasi and Asokore Mampong Municipal Assemblies, the then, Asante Akim North District , Ejura -Sekyedumase Municipal and the Asante Akim South Municipal Assemblies, all in the Ashanti Region from August 2003 to February 2019.



Earlier, he served as Assistant Director-Deputy Director of Administration at the Ahanta West, Wassa West (now Tarkwa-Nsuaem & Prestea Huni Valley Municipal Assemblies) and was the Coordinating Director at Aowin-Suaman and the Bibiani-Anwiaso Bekwai District Assemblies in the then Western Region from May 1990 to August 2003.



His tenure as Regional Coordinating Director was characterized by improved cooperation between the Assemblies and other state entities, as well as improved coordination among the security agencies attributable to his astute and results orientated nature and team building spirit.



With his lets fix it cache, Mr. Ataogye demonstrated strategic and transformational leadership in his career.



He is an experienced Coordinating Director of high repute and is very affable with effective communication, negotiation, human/public relations and conflict resolution skills.



Mr. Ataogye is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Administrators and Management Consultants Ghana; a Chartered Professional Administrator (ChPA) and a Chartered Management Consultant (CMC).



It is expected that his store of knowledge and experience honed over the years will be put at the disposal of society while on retirement.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Seb Guilhaus was innocently enjoying a day at the beach with a brunette friend in Adelaide on Thursday.

The 31-year-old looked relaxed as he strolled along the sand with the woman by his side.

Seb dressed down in a pair of denim shorts and a fitted white T-shirt that showed off the personal trainer's muscles.

Out and about: On Thursday, Married At First Sight's Seb Guilhaus was spotted at the beach in Adelaide with a brunette friend. Both pictured

He added a pair of sneakers with white socks and shielded his face with reflective sunglasses.

His female friend was kitted out in activewear, including a black tank top that clung to her slender form.

She added a pair of tights and running shoes, wearing sunglasses atop her dead-straight caramel stresses.

Happy days: The 31-year-old looked relaxed as he strolled along the sand

A look: His female friend was kitted out in activewear, including a black tank top that clung to her slender form

Seb's companion carried a takeaway cup in her hand, as did Seb, after the pair grabbed coffees.

They walked along chatting before leaving the beach and heading off down the road together.

The sighting comes after his split from his Married At First Sight bride Elizabeth Sobinoff in January.

Drinks: Seb's companion carried a takeaway cup in her hand, as did Seb

Looking good: Seb dressed down in a pair of denim shorts and a fitted white T-shirt that showed off the personal trainer's muscles

Wandering: They walked along chatting before leaving the beach and heading off down the road together

Lizzie and Seb found love on season seven of the show last year, before announcing their split in January.

They appeared on the Married At First Sight Grand Reunion special, which was filmed in December and aired last week.

In an Instagram post, the pair said they had 'mutually decided to end' their relationship.

Over: Lizzie (right) and Seb found love on season seven of the show last year, before announcing their split in January

Special: They appeared on the Married At First Sight Grand Reunion special, which was filmed in December and aired last week

'We are both respectful of each other and are still involved in each other's lives. We both have cherished each other and have grown together,' Lizzie wrote.

Seb explained how a string of setbacks led to the pair growing apart after he moved from Adelaide to Sydney.

He said that despite being kept apart from Liz due to the Covid-19 pandemic for six months, they tried their best to make the long-distance romance work.

Bye: In an Instagram post, the pair said they had 'mutually decided to end' their relationship

Having relocated to Sydney, Seb explained he 'immediately felt totally isolated'.

Seb was then left heartbroken after learning his cat, Little Savage, had died in Adelaide.

Meanwhile, the Covid-19 crisis continued to take a toll, forcing Seb to cancel his wellness seminar.

Unfortunately for Seb, he also fractured his leg and damaged three ligaments after his first game for his new footy club, the Inner West Magpies.

Difficult: Seb explained how a string of setbacks led to the pair growing apart after he moved from Adelaide to Sydney

He then had a traumatic near-death experience while driving back to Adelaide when his car exploded in flames.

At the time, the car was filled with thousands of dollars worth of equipment and belongings, which were destroyed.

Upon his return to Adelaide, the couple announced their split.
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He wanted to document, not riot.

The North Adams, Mass., man arrested Thursday for entering the U.S. Capitol without lawful authority Jan. 6 says he got caught up in the moment when a crowd at the White House walked to the seat of Congress, morphing into a mob along the way, and temporarily halted ratification of the presidential election results.

Quote I turned in what I had because it is evidence of individuals who were destructive. Evidence of individuals attempting to incite others into destructive action. Both inside and outside the Capitol building. It was the right thing to do.  Brian P. McCreary, of North Adams, who has been charged with being unlawfully inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6

My story is of, for the most part, a bystander, being in the wrong place at the right time, Brian P. McCreary told The Berkshire Eagle in an email, in response to questions about his arrest and his presence at the scene of the insurrection, which led to a second impeachment of former President Donald Trump and quickened a national debate about the resiliency of American democracy.

McCreary, 33, says he felt called to document what rioters were doing inside the Capitol. Once he reached the Capitol from the White House, McCreary acknowledged in interviews with the FBI, he entered the building. Once inside, McCreary began shooting video on his cellphone in an effort to provide witness to the violence being committed by his political fellow-travelers, he told The Eagle.

I found myself suddenly surrounded by individuals who were equipped to break into the Capitol building  and immediately began recording them in action. I followed these people inside the Capitol while continually recording various moments, he said.

North Adams man, self-styled 'peacemaker,' arrested for presence inside Capitol This story has been updated

McCreary said he shared what he recorded with authorities within hours. By 1:30 a.m. on Jan 7th  all my clips were uploaded to the FBI  and I effectively turned myself in as being present in the building, he said.

McCreary says he was spurred by the mayhem he saw, as well as his professed love of country, to try to help hold people to account. I turned in what I had because it is evidence of individuals who were destructive. Evidence of individuals attempting to incite others into destructive action. Both inside and outside the Capitol building. It was the right thing to do.

Nature of charges

In a narrative released Thursday, the FBI said McCreary had failed to heed instructions to stay out of the Capitol, where violent clashes between rioters and police resulted in several deaths on the grounds. McCreary told investigators he was nearby when a police officer shot a woman who had been part of a mob trying to break through a door leading to the floor of the U.S. Senate.

McCreary said he initially was unaware that it was unlawful to be inside the Capitol. According to the FBI, McCreary told investigators that, once in, he was with a group that was confronted by a police officer. He told the FBI that he remained in the building, moving with the group, but later decided to leave the Capitol.

In the process of that, he was stopped by an officer, the FBI said Thursday, who asked whether he was a member of the press  and demanded that he produce a form of media identification.

McCreary provided his drivers license, stated he was not a member of the press and was ordered to leave the building, the FBI said in court papers.

But, the government alleges that he went back inside, despite knowing it was illegal to do so. The charge: Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority.

McCreary left the building and then admitted to re-entering the U.S. Capitol through a different door that was kicked in just moments before he re-entered, the FBI said. The agency says that, in its interview with McCreary, he admitted to that. He says that is accurate.

McCreary said in emails to The Eagle on Friday that he was mistaken to think he could go back in without facing consequences.

At the time, I had no idea it was illegal simply being in the building, he wrote. Even so I would turn over these clips regardless ... as they depict people who rightfully deserve punishments.

The government says McCreary told investigators he tried to be a moderating influence inside the Capitol as he observed and recorded violence.

McCreary stated he directed people inside the building not to harm police officers or commit any acts of violence. McCreary further stated that he understood going into the building might not have been legal but he made a personal choice at that point, the FBI said.

McCreary admits he did go back in. After leaving initially, he says, he used his phone to take outdoor crowd shots, including of people singing on stairs leading up to the building. Then, wanting to get a higher perspective of the crowd, he says, he went up stairs on the left side of the building. While there, a door was broken open by rioters. He said he was amazed.

A moment of Are you kidding me? he said. He entered the building again and kept recording events on his phone.

I did not know being inside was illegal  at the time. It is much different when handed papers depicting which law to look up. Being instructed to leave is not the same as being told, Leave, and by the way, being inside is illegal.

McCreary said that he believes there are shadings to his presence inside the Capitol on the day of the insurrection. Nonetheless, he said he will accept the legal consequences for what he did.

He also is charged with three counts of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, according to a complaint filed by FBI Special Agent Emily Eckert.

Like any situation, there is much nuance [in the] events surrounding Jan. 6, he told The Eagle. I have and will continue to fully cooperate with officers working on this case. I love our country and will accept the judgment passed from our judiciary system.

Wanted vote audit

Unlike the majority of those who entered the Capitol, McCreary does not think Trump won. But, he had questions about the November vote. He says he attended the Jan. 6 rally because he believed then, and now, that the integrity of the voting process warranted further review.

I went to D.C. to support the idea behind having audits. In no way to support an insurrection, or that Trump was the rightful winner of the election. Just audits, he said.

The results afterwards would have been an undisputed, settled matter, he said. I do believe  still  that there were plenty of examples of fraudulent  activity surrounding the November election.

And yet, he said he does not believe that a widespread conspiracy or coordination influenced the outcome. Rather, individuals acting as individuals, McCreary said. I cant help but believe that fraud is similar to cockroaches. If we see one, there are probably 100 we did not see.

He added, I believe we as a country set a dangerous precedent in the 2020 election cycle. One that makes it OK for fraudulent activity to take place. That we as people do not have the right to question results or demand audits of our elected officials. That our government does not have to hand over evidence to the people.
'It's crucial to find equitable solutions with due respect to human rights for all,' the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said

Geneva: The UN human rights office on Friday called on Indian authorities and farmers protesting against the new agriculture laws to exercise maximum restraint, emphasising that it is crucial to find "equitable solutions" with due respect to human rights for all.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in a tweet said the rights to peaceful assembly and expression should be protected both offline and online.

"#India: We call on the authorities and protesters to exercise maximum restraint in ongoing #FarmersProtests. The rights to peaceful assembly & expression should be protected both offline & online. It's crucial to find equitable solutions with due respect to #HumanRights for all," it tweeted.

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at three Delhi border points  Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur  for over 70 days, demanding a complete repeal of three central farm laws.

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of the farmer unions protesting the farm laws, on Friday said there would be no ''chakka jam'' in Delhi on 6 February even as it asserted that peasants in other parts of the country will block national and state highways for three hours but in a peaceful way.

The SKM had earlier this week announced this nationwide chakka jam on Saturday, saying that farmers would block national and state highways for three hours in protest against the Internet ban in areas near their agitation sites, harassment allegedly meted out to them by authorities, and other issues.

Multiple rounds of talks between the Government and the farmer unions have remained deadlocked. The protests at the Delhi borders for repeal of the three contentious agri laws that was enacted in September last began on 28 November.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said any protests must be seen in the context of India's democratic ethos and polity, and the ongoing efforts of the government and the concerned farmer groups to resolve the impasse.

"The Parliament of India, after a full debate and discussion, passed reformist legislation relating to the agricultural sector. These reforms give expanded market access and provided greater flexibility to farmers. They also pave the way for economically and ecologically sustainable farming," the MEA said in a statement on Wednesday.

In a strong response to the remarks made by foreign individuals and entities, the MEA on Wednesday said the "temptation" of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments is "neither accurate nor responsible".

A Birmingham man who left troubling letters and packages at businesses and churches across the state has been identified and interviewed in relation to the case.

The mans identity will not be released, authorities said, because he is not expected to face any criminal charges. Officers from multiple agencies spoke with the man Friday afternoon. AL.com has learned he worked in eastern Birmingham.

Investigators with Tuscaloosa Police Departments Behavioral Health Unit were assigned to investigate after the department received numerous reports of disturbing letters left at the locations around the city. Surveillance photos of the man and his vehicle were captured at some of the locations.

Police said they have identified a man who authored racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic letters hand-delivered to businesses and church across Alabama.

A suspect was identified thanks to TPDs Cyber Intelligence Unit and their use of advanced camera technology, said Tuscaloosa police spokeswoman Stephanie Taylor. Tips from the community confirmed his identity.

The department first received reports of the letters on Jan. 23, and over the next few days investigated a total of 16 left in Tuscaloosa. The investigation progressed quickly from there, as we learned that agencies in at least nine other jurisdictions across the state were investigating similar reports.

These agencies, along with the FBI-Birmingham Field Office, the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit and the Jefferson County Probate Court provided invaluable assistance in resolving this case,' Taylor said. There was no basis for criminal charges in our jurisdiction, however the matter is being further evaluated through the appropriate channels.

Police said they have identified a man who authored racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic letters hand-delivered to businesses and church across Alabama.

The letters were left at multiple businesses in Homewood, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Jasper and even in north Alabama. Surveillance video sent to AL.com showed him delivering the letters to an office in north Alabama.

The rambling letters contained racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic statements.

There have been a further 55 deaths and 827 cases of Covid-19 in Ireland, the Department of Health has confirmed.

Of today's recorded deaths, 36 occurred in February, 18 in January, and the date of one death remains under investigation.

The median age of those who died is 86 years and the age range is 49-100 years. There has now been a total of 3,674 Covid-19 related deaths and 202,548 cases in Ireland.

Of the cases notified today 63pc are under 45 years of age. 297 are in Dublin, 76 in Cork, 56 in Galway, 46 in Wexford, 37 in Kildare and the remaining 315 cases are spread across all other counties.

Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said: There are a few old habits that collectively we have to break in order to suppress COVID-19 together. We know that people who feel unwell typically avoid calling their GP over the weekend, and wait to see if they improve. You should no longer do that  you must phone your GP at the first sign of anything like COVID-19 symptoms. Do not adopt a wait and see approach.

Similarly, do not leave your house or go to work if you have any cold or flu like symptoms at all. Breaking these habits will limit COVID-19s opportunity to spread from person to person.

Meanwhile, more than 21,000 doses of the long awaited AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Ireland this afternoon.

The consignments of the Covid-19 vaccines arrived from Belgium and were immediately placed in the national cold chain store in Dublin.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly tweeted a video of packages being unloaded from a van. He stated that the first doses of the vaccine will be given to frontline healthcare workers on Monday.

His statement about the vaccinations taking place on Monday immediately drew criticism from others on Twitter who urged him to order the vaccines be administered to people this evening or tomorrow.

The HSE stated that another batch of the vaccines containing a similar amount of AstraZeneca vaccine would be delivered to Ireland next weekend.

HSE chiefs have agreed a plan with the Irish Medical Organisation for the administration of two other vaccines for the over 70s. From Monday week next, almost 500,000 people aged over 70 will be able to get the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines from their GPs.
Hundreds protested and a public building was burned down in a southern Chilean town Friday in reaction to the fatal police shooting of a street artist.

The incident took place in Panguipulli after the juggler refused to cooperate with a police search by two uniformed men.

The check resulted in a dispute that ended with one of the agents firing at the street artist, according to a video widely circulated by local channels and on social media.

"We regret the loss of this young juggler. I hope that justice is done," Ricardo Valdivia, Panguipulli's mayor, told Radio Cooperativa.

Witnesses of the incident started to shout at the officers, leading to violent demonstrations and the burning of the building.

Protesters set fire to several other buildings and set up barricades in streets around the town before riot police fired tear gas and water cannons, according to images from local media.

A video posted on Facebook by local official Carlos Duran showed several fires burning across the town and smoke rising above its skyline.

The local police force backed the officer who shot the artist.

Boris Alegria, lieutenant colonel of the Panguipulli police, said in a video that the officer used his weapon to "safeguard his own life" in "legitimate self-defense."

The Chilean government ordered the force to hand over all records of the incident to the Public Ministry, which has launched an investigation.

Panguipulli, which has a population of 32,500, is located 850 kilometres south of the capital Santiago, where residents banged pots and pans in anger over the killing.

Chileans took to social media to call for reforms and condemn the shooting.

"In a police force with a minimum professional level this should not have happened," tweeted writer Pedro Gandolfo.

"A shameful act with a tragic result."

bur-jfx/axn
Egypt detected 540 new coronavirus cases on Friday, bringing the total infections toll in the country since the outbreak of the pandemic last year to 168,597.

The health ministry reported 48 deaths, bringing the fatalities from the virus to 9,560.

421 patients have been discharged from hospitals after recovering from the virus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 131,632.

Egypt began its COVID-19 vaccination roll-out in late January, with priority to the countrys medical staff who are on the frontline battling the outbreak.

The roll-out would see each person receiving two shots administered 21 days apart.

Minister of Health Hala Zayed said in a press conference on Wednesday that the ministry has concluded the vaccination of medical staff in 22 isolation hospitals nationwide.

The ministry began vaccinating health staff in 86 chest and fever hospitals nationwide as a second phase of the immunisation program, according to the minister.

Egypt is looking to boost its supply of coronavirus vaccines to face the outbreak in the overpopulous country which many fear could overwhelm the countrys health system.

It is currently awaiting on new deliveries of coronavirus vaccines to expand the vaccinations' access to more categories, especially to top priority groups which include patients suffering from chronic diseases and elderly citizens.

Egypt received the first batch of the Chinese vaccine - 50,000 doses - in December from the UAE. The ministry approved the vaccine in early January and is expecting a second batch.

China said it will provide Egypt with 300,000 doses of its Sinopharm vaccination soon, according to statements by Beijings ambassador to Cairo on Thursday.

The Chinese vaccine is one of three vaccines planned for use in inoculation by the country in innoculating citizens along with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine.

On 31 January, Egypt received the 50,000 doses as a first batch of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine from the British-Swedish companys branch in India.

The batch, which consists of 50,000 doses, is part of a UPA's agreement that includes 20 million doses of the British AstraZeneca's vaccine  which is developed by India's R-pharma and Serum Institute following their deal to transfer the vaccine manufacturing technology from the British company.

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The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye has said that the issue of terrorism and other se...

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye has said that the issue of terrorism and other security challenges confronting the country and other parts of the world, would come to an end sooner than later.

Adeboye made the revelation on Friday night during the churchs February edition of Holy Ghost Service titled, GOD BLESS YOU 2 at the RCCG headquarters in Lagos.

The 78-year-old preacher who declared end to every crisis in the lives of worshippers, said there is hope for Nigeria.

I dont know the kind of crisis you have, in the Name that is above every other name every crisis in your life will end tonight.





This gives me hope for my nation Nigeria because terrorism has a beginning, it will come to an end.

I can say with all confidence that sooner than later, terrorism will be forgotten in Nigeria. In all other nations of the world where there are terrorist, l want you to have hope, it had a beginning, it will end.

According to Adeboye, kidnapping, banditry and other forms of insecurity confronting the nation currently would soon be a thing of the past.

Contrary to Gov. Kate Browns recent assertion that all senior care residents have been able to get a shot of the coronavirus vaccine, more than 1,200 care homes arent even in line.

We have gone through and vaccinated every senior whos wanted a vaccine that lives in assisted living, that lives in congregate care and in skilled nursing, Brown said in an interview with KGW Jan. 29. Theyre going to go back and do their second doses over the next couple of weeks.

Brown meant to refer only to nursing homes, her office later said, adding that she made an incorrect reference.

State officials confirmed that residents in each of the states approximately 130 nursing homes have been offered the vaccine. But as many as 307 of the states 558 assisted living homes statewide have not been offered a first round of vaccines. Assisted living facilities provide less medically intensive care than nursing homes.

David Gannett, already frustrated that the governor had prioritized educators over seniors, was shocked when he heard Brown say that all seniors in congregate care had been able to get a shot of the vaccine. Gannett knew first-hand that wasnt true.

Gannetts father has been living in a Portland memory care home since November. Since then, the care home has had so many lock-downs due to coronavirus cases that Gannett has only been able to see his father, who is 80, once.

I just want her to be straight with us, Gannett said earlier this week.

Things have changed in the week since Browns comments, and residents at the facility  Touchmark in the West Hills  have been offered vaccines, including Gannetts father.

Ill give her the benefit of the doubt, Gannett said of Brown.

Browns erroneous statements last week also did not take into account small homes for seniors that arent enrolled in the federal program to get the vaccine to people in congregate care. Called adult foster homes, the care settings can house no more than five residents, are run by private families and are dispersed in neighborhoods across the state.

As of last week, more than 1,200 of the states 1,400 adult foster homes were not signed up.

The state has asked local health agencies to reach out to adult foster home providers and has teamed up with companies such as Safeway to get mobile vaccine clinics to the homes.

The state remains focused on working with unenrolled facilities and matching them with clinic opportunities by connecting them with local health agencies and coordinated care organizations, Oregon Health Authority and Department of Human Services officials said in joint statement.

The vaccination challenges extend beyond seniors, because the pool of people eligible under the federal vaccination program extends to people with mental illness and people with disabilities.

Most care settings for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and those for people with mental illness arent signed up for vaccine clinics, either. Roughly 1,370 of the states 1,719 homes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are not enrolled to get residents and staff vaccinated through the program.

Case management companies, coordinated care organizations and other entities serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities have been trying to connect the homes with clinics to get vaccines, the Department of Human Services said.

Meanwhile, roughly 290 out of 333 settings for people with mental illness or substance use disorders werent registered to get vaccines through the federal program, according to data provided by the state. The health authority said it has told those facilities they can get vaccinated through local health agencies and state-run clinics, and that the agency will try to find the resources necessary to get people in these settings inoculated.

Of all the nursing home, assisted living, adult foster homes, retirement communities, federally subsidized homes, homes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and homes for people with mental illness or substance use disorders that have signed up for vaccinations, 51% have received first shots.

The pharmaceutical companies giving the shots have told state officials they expect to be done with the first round of vaccines by Feb. 15, state officials said.

-- Fedor Zarkhin

fzarkhin@oregonian.com; 503-294-7674


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MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  Authorities say a 1-year-old boy who was in the back seat of an SUV that was stolen in Minneapolis Saturday has been found safe.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension canceled an Amber Alert for DaMerion Nimer White. Minneapolis police say Brooklyn Center officers told them they located the stolen SUV and missing toddler about 2:40 p.m., which is approximately two hours after the vehicle was taken. A citizen spotted the vehicle and called Brooklyn Center police.

Authorities say the SUV was left running outside the entrance to a church and the suspect fled.
A man dubbed the Hollywood Ripper, Michael Garguilo, appeared in court in Los Angeles in a last ditch effort to avoid being sentenced to death after having been found guilty of the murder of two women.

Garguilo, 44, was found guilty at his 2019 trial of murdering 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin in 2001 and 32-year-old Maria Bruno in 2005. He was also found guilty of the 2008 attempted murder of Michelle Murphy.

At the time, the jury recommended the death penalty but on Friday a hearing was held on behalf of Garguilo with his attorney arguing that he should be spared execution.

A man dubbed the Hollywood Ripper, Michael Garguilo, has appeared in court in Los Angeles in a last ditch effort to avoid being sentenced to death

Gargiulo appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court having been found guilty of the murder of two women at his trial in 2019

Gargiulo, hardcuffed, sporting a long white beard and wearing prison overalls and a facemask, was led in to the court room by a court officer

Gargiulo was found guilty of murdering 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin (left) in 2001 and 32-year-old Maria Bruno (right) in 2005. Ellerin was actor Ashton Kutcher's then-girlfriend and Bruno was a mother-of-three found stabbed to death at her home

Gargiulo appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday as his attorney made the case that the new LA County District Attorney, George Gascon, is opposed to the death penalty and that the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, has placed a moratorium on executions.

Garguilo's attorney, Dale Michael Rubin, argued that his client should be spared execution because at the age of 44, if given a life sentence, he would eventually die in prison.

During the hearing Gargiulo, head shaven and sporting a lengthy white beard which protruded beneath his face mask, spoke only once when the judge asked him if he understood what was happening, to which Gargiulo replied yes.

Gargiulo will finally be sentenced by the judge at his next hearing in July 2021, nearly two years since the conclusion of his trial.

Gargiulo noted how the new LA County District Attorney, George Gascon, left, is opposed to the death penalty and California Gov. Gavin Newsom has placed a moratorium on executions

Michael Gargiulo appears in Los Angeles Superior Court after being convicted of killing actor Ashton Kutcher's girlfriend as attorney Dale Michael Rubin pleads his case to be spared the death penalty

In this photo from Gargiulo's trial he can be seen sporting a vastly different look from the present

Gargiulo has grown a beard since being locked up. It has grown so long it is protruding out of the bottom of his mask

At the time, prosecutors called Gargiulo 'The Boy Next Door Killer' because he lived near all of the victims.

He committed his first murder in 1993 when he killed Tricia Pacaccio, 18, outside of her home in Glenview, Illinois.

Gargiulo was 17 years old at the time and was a friend of Pacaccio's brother. In fact, he lived just around the corner from the family.

After the murder, he moved to Los Angeles, where he met Ashley Ellerin.

Gargiulo lived less than a block away and, on the day they met, asked if she needed help changing a flat tire.

During his trial, prosecutors called Gargiulo 'The Boy Next Door Killer' because he lived near all of the victims

Slides were shown that detailed how close Gargiulo lived to his victims

He became 'obsessed' with Ellerin, showing up to her home announced and surveying her from a parked car across the street.

Ellerin was found stabbed to death in her home in February 2001, hours before she had plans to go out on a date with Ashton Kutcher.

The young woman was allegedly stabbed so brutally that her head was almost completely severed from her body.

Gargiulo is pictured in court during his August 2019 murder trial

At the time, Kutcher was a rising star of the Fox series That '70s Show but not yet the household name he is today.

Kutcher testified that the pair last spoke at 8.24pm when he told Ellerin he was running late and she told him she had just gotten out of the shower.

When he arrived at her Hollywood home very late, he said he got no answer when he knocked on the door.

Kutcher testified that he looked inside and saw what he thought were wine stains. He said he left thinking she had gone out without him in frustration.

'I remember the next day, after I heard about what happened, I went to the detectives and said, 'My fingerprints are on the door,'' Kutcher said.

'I was freaking out.'

Kutcher testified at Gargiulo's trial because Ellerin was found dead hours before she and Kutcher had a date planned. Pictured: Kutcher testifies in May 2019

When Ellerin didn't answer the door, Kutcher assumed she had stood him up and left. Pictured: Ellerin, center, with friends in 2001

Photos of the victims of Michael Gargiulo (from left to right): Tricia Pacaccio, Ashley Ellerin, Maria Bruno and Michelle Murphy. Gargiulo has not yet been tried for Paccacio's murder

Gargiulo moved, yet again, this time to a gated apartment complex in El Monte - 16 miles away - where he murdered his neighbor, Maria Bruno, in December 2005.

Then, in 2008, he attempted to murder Michelle Murphy, then 26, at her home in Santa Monica by stabbing her 17 times.

Murphy was a fitness buff and fought off her attacker, which caused him to cut himself and leave a trail of blood.

This set off the chain of events that led to the arrest and charges against Gargiulo.

The physical evidence against him was so overwhelming that defense attorneys conceded that it was him.

In 2008, Gargiulo attempted to murder Michelle Murphy, then 26, at her home in Santa Monica. Pictured: Murphy's defensive wounds on her hands from fighting off her attacker

Murphy was a fitness buff and fought off her attacker, which caused him to cut himself and leave a trail of blood. Pictured: Blood in Murphy's bathroom where she tried to clean herself up after the attack

The trial of blood set off the chain of events that led to the arrest and charges against Gargiulo. Pictured: Murphy's blood when she fell down in the hall and her bloody hand prints.

They offered, as their only defense, that Gargiulo suffers from split personalities and did not know he was in Murphy's apartment. They noted that he said 'sorry' as he fled.

Prosecutors praised Murphy during their closing arguments, saying her resistance against Gargiulo led to his arrest in all of the other cases as they grew increasingly cold.

'Michelle Murphy, because of her strength and courage, allowed investigators to work backwards,' the prosecutor said.

'This case begins and ends with Michelle Murphy.'

Gargiulo is still awaiting trial in Illinois for the 1993 killing of Tricia Pacaccio when he was 17 and friends with her younger brother

Murphy testified during the trial's penalty phase that she lived in fear for years after the attack.

The killer has since been linked to the murder of a third woman. He is currently awaiting trial in Illinois for the 1993 killing of Tricia Pacaccio.

Prosecutors were allowed to present evidence of the case in his California trial to help establish a pattern between the killings.

Pacaccio's father found her fatally stabbed on their family's doorstep with her house key still in hand.

Gargiulo was a close friend of Pacaccio's brother and detectives had long suspected him in the killing.

But they could never put together enough evidence to charge him with Pacaccio's murder - until the attack on Murphy 15 years later.

Her father discovered her body on the back doorstep the next day.

'It's been 26 years,' he mother, Diane, said on the stand. 'Every single day I think about her. Her room is the same. The bedspread is the same, drapes are the same. And my grandkids go in there to play, and that's how I introduce them to Tricia.'
Highly anticipated: Reports concerning an upcoming electric vehicle developed by Apple have reached fever-pitch in recent weeks, with Hyundai identified as a likely manufacturer for the Cupertino company to work alongside. However, following a flurry of rumors, reports, and retracted comments, Apples talks with Hyundai are now said to have paused.

Hyundai had confirmed that it was in early talks with Apple to develop an electric car, before backing away from further comments when a subsequent report claimed a deal could be inked as early as March 2021.

From there, we heard that Hyundai executives remained divided over a possible deal with Apple, partly due to the controlling role Apple would take in terms of development, marketing, and release. We are not a company which manufactures cars for others. It is not like working with Apple would always produce great results, one executive said.

Now, Bloomberg reports that Apple-Hyundai talks have effectively paused, according to people familiar with the matter. This not only suggests that a March deal is likely unrealistic, but could indicate that any deal between the two companies is off the table. Apple is said to be unhappy with recent reports sharing details about the project.

But thats not all. Bloomberg writes, there are other hitches, too. One is a dispute within the Hyundai group over which of its two brands, Hyundai or Kia, may get to manufacture a car for Apple, one of the people familiar with the situation said. If talks end up resuming, Kia is seen as more likely and is seeking to build an Apple car at its plant in Georgia, said the person.

For now, at least, an Apple-developed electric, autonomous car seems firmly parked in the development phase. Apple could sign with the Hyundai group, or it may end up taking the Apple Car in a whole other direction.
Tackling mental disorders before they arise in pregnant women and new mothers is an approach that could be scaled up online and would aid the overall health of populations. 

The latest NASEM call to action2 is so all-encompassing, it is hard to know where to begin. I propose that initial efforts focus on preventing depression in pregnant women or in women who have recently given birth (perinatal depression). There is substantial evidence for the effectiveness of providing such women with basic skills in mood management5. These interventions could have an impact across generations, because better maternal mental health is linked to babies' healthier development2. And if researchers and health-care systems were to monitor and compare the epidemiology of depression in thousands of mothers and their children in areas that have or have not deployed preventive interventions, stakeholders could measure their effect on entire communities.Ultimately, massive open online interventions will need to be created (similar to the massive open online courses that are delivered on the Internet for free). These would allow anyone to obtain information and tools to help them stave off depression, at times and places that are convenient to them.In the United States, nearly 15% of men and around 26% of women experience a major depressive episode at some point6. People are diagnosed with this if they report experiencing five of nine symptoms over at least two weeks. These must include either feeling depressed or being unable to feel interest or pleasure, as well as problems sleeping, changes in appetite, fatigue or having suicidal thoughts.Numerous psychological, pharmacological and physical treatments are effective, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, antidepressant drugs and electroconvulsive therapy. But many people who are depressed are not receiving treatment7 because they fear stigma, can't get to clinics or afford treatment, or because there aren't enough psychologists and psychiatrists to meet their needs.Given these challenges  and especially given the scale of the problem  societies worldwide need to take steps to stop depression from taking hold in the first place.The number of randomized controlled trials testing preventive interventions has greatly increased since 1995 (see 'Mounting data'). Two approaches have been studied the most: cognitive behavioural therapy and interpersonal therapy. The first involves teaching people how to use the natural relationship between thoughts, behaviours and mood to increase those thoughts and behaviours that lead to healthy mood states  and to reduce or modify those that elicit sadness, helplessness and hopelessness. (People might be asked, for instance, to predict how their mood would change if they undertook certain activities, such as seeing a friend  and then to record how their mood actually changed following the activity.) The second approach, interpersonal therapy, helps people to communicate better with others, and so to obtain more support from friends and family.In the early 2000s in California, for example, my colleagues and I at San Francisco General Hospital (now the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center) conducted a pilot study funded by a US National Institute of Mental Health grant. The study involved 41 Spanish- and English-speaking women, most of whom were in their 16th week of pregnancy. These women were not clinically depressed but were deemed to be at high risk because they scored 16 or more on a depression scale, or had a history of major depressive episodes. The preventive intervention we used in this case involved psychologists teaching a cognitive behavioural 'Mothers and Babies/Mamas y Bebes' course in 2-hour sessions once a week for 12 weeks. Only 14% of the women taking the course had a depressive episode in the following year, compared to 25% in the control group8.A meta-analysis of 32 studies in 2014 showed that, in all sorts of groups that are at risk  from expectant and new mothers to individuals who'd experienced a stroke  such preventive interventions reduce the onset of major depressive episodes by 21%, on average9. In the same year, my colleagues and I found that 15 of 42 randomized trials reported reductions of 50% or more in the incidence of depression10.Then, this year, the US Preventive Services Task Force reviewed 50 randomized controlled trials testing preventive interventions specifically for perinatal depression. This has shown that, on average, such interventions reduce the incidence of major depressive episodes by 39%. However, one interpersonal approach, called ROSE, reduces the incidence of episodes by 50%, and the Mothers and Babies intervention reduces the incidence of episodes by 53%5.In short, the data suggest that if we implement interventions that seem to be the most effective in clinical trials, we could halve the new cases of major depression.So why focus on expectant or new mothers? I propose an initial focus on perinatal depression for four reasons. The evidence is strong. The window of risk is clear (during pregnancy and for a year after giving birth). Education and mood-management skills could be wrapped into the prenatal classes or home visits many pregnant women already receive, lowering cost and stigma  as was done in a 2010 study involving more than 2,000 women in the Trent area of England11. Most importantly, interventions could benefit multiple generations. A mother's depression is associated with lower than average birthweight and preterm deliveries, as well as problems in children such as impaired cognitive development2. Conversely, the healthy development of babies and children could result in their having healthier, planned pregnancies when they themselves reach childbearing age.
Northeast Portland should ready itself for endless days of wine and roses. A new wine and flower shop named Dogwood is set to bloom in the Alberta Arts District.

Dogwood is located adjacent to the Alberta Rose Theatre at 4932 N.E. 30th Avenue. For the past several years, the storefront was home to Bristlecone, a vintage clothing store.

Dogwood is the dream of recent San Francisco ex-pats Brant Ozanich and Gabriella Gabby Terracciano. They plan to open Dogwoods doors in April, the same month they are getting married.

Well place a sign in the window that says, we know we just opened, but were getting hitched now, Terracciano said.

Ozanich and Terracciano each spent time studying in France while attending San Francisco State University. They hope to bring a little of that Old World vibe to Dogwood.

We want the shop to feel like a place youd stumble upon in the back streets of Paris or a village in Provence. A place where you can grab a bottle of wine and flowers for your kitchen table, Ozanich said.

Ozanich brings considerable experience to Dogwoods wine program. For the past few years, Ozanich worked in the San Francisco market as a sales representative for Chambers & Chambers Wine Merchants, a fine wine importing and distribution company.

Before that, Ozanich worked with Italian and French wines as a certified sommelier and wine buyer at Bay Area restaurants, including A16 and The Morris. He also owned Vino Promiscua, an online wine store showcasing obscure wines from places like Croatia and Georgia.

While Dogwoods focus will reflect his experience with European wines, Ozanich says wines from his new home will be well represented.

I got to know several Oregon producers while working in San Francisco, and I especially love Brick House, Ozanich said. Ozanich also worked the 2020 harvest for ROCO Winery in Newberg.

Ozanich says his Oregon section will showcase what he describes as up and coming grape varieties like gamay noir, aligote and Gruner Veltliner.

Ive also been speaking with Sam Parra about his tempranillo and albarino wines, Ozanich said.

Dogwoods wine sales will initially be limited to off-premises, meaning customers will be limited to buying bottles for home consumption. As COVID-19 regulations ease, Ozanich and Terracciano plan to apply to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission for the licenses needed to offer in-store wine tastings, classes and on-site consumption.

On the flower side of Dogwood, Terracciano also brings quite a bit of experience to the table. Terracciano has been making wedding bouquets, baby shower arrangements, boutonnieres and the like for friends and family since she was 16-years old.

Flowers have always been a symbol of life for me. They are here to be adored, loved, taken care of, but only for a short time. I find that so beautiful and romantic, Terracciano said.

For the past five years, Terracciano created custom floral arrangements for her San Francisco clients while working as a human resources coordinator and benefits specialist for a primary care provider. Describing her personal style as a bit wild and whimsical, Terracciano says her favorite thing to do is learn what clients like by taking them flower shopping.

My dream with Dogwood is to work with locally grown, women-owned flower farms. I want to encourage my clients to learn more about where the flowers come from, how and when they grow, what they look like in good health, and how to tend to them when they make it home. I think education is the greatest part of being a florist, Terracciano said.

Terracciano also plans to eventually offer in-store floral arrangement classes that Ozanich hopes will occasionally overlap with wine drinking.

Although some people might question the wisdom of opening a retail store in Portlands current pandemic climate, Terracciano and Ozanich see it as an opportunity.

Building a place for the community to interact safely with one another is more important than ever right now. If we can open during this time, we will hopefully thrive during normal times, Ozanich said.

I wouldnt bet against Ozanich. With very little money and a lot of extra motor oil, he once managed to drive a 33-year old Yamaha XJ 650 Maxim motorcycle from San Francisco to New York City and back again. Thats the kind of tenacity that comes in mighty handy in retail these days.

-- Michael Alberty writes about wine for The Oregonian/OregonLive. He can be reached at malberty0@gmail.com. To read more of his coverage, go to oregonlive.com/wine.
(Natural News) Public distrust regarding the COVID-19 vaccine is already quite high, and the way that some areas are handling the vaccines administration is not doing much to quell fears. Some vaccination sites are being very secretive about their location, only providing their address to people who have appointments. In some cases, they are not revealing where they are until just 15 minutes ahead of patients appointments.

CBS 13 Sacramento recently reported that UC Davis Student Health Services is keeping the location of some of its vaccination sites a secret as demand outstrips supply. Dr. Cindy Schorzman, who works for the health services, said: We say we have your dose ready, get here within 15 minutes. That doesnt give recipients much time to prepare, but perhaps they are worried that too much time for reflection may give people second thoughts about moving forward with the risky vaccine.

Sutter Health System is only revealing the addresses of its three vaccination clinics in Sacramento Valley to people who have appointments. Nevertheless, they say they still have to turn people away who try to drop in without an appointment.

Dr. Schorzman told reporters: We do have security on-site and were appreciative of them for anyone who has difficulty understanding the tier system and is really insistent.

Convincing people to get the vaccine wont be easy

Of course, not everyone is willing to get this vaccine, with more than half of Americans saying that they either want to wait and see how the vaccine performs and what kind of side effects people experience before getting a vaccine of their own, or that they plan to refuse it altogether. In fact, it wouldnt be surprising if stories like these are an attempt to get more people on board with the idea of vaccination by making it seem as though the COVID-19 vaccine is in such high demand that security guards are needed to turn people away and health systems are forced to keep their location secret because so many people will be clamoring for the shot.

In a poll carried out by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation, just 41 percent of the Americans surveyed said they were eager to receive their shots as quickly as possible. Thirty-one percent said they wished to wait to see further results from the vaccines, while 13 percent said they were not going to get the shot under any circumstances. Meanwhile, 7 percent said they would get the COVID-19 vaccine if they were absolutely required to do so  for example, if it was a prerequisite for keeping their job.

The study also explored the concerns of those reluctant to receive the vaccine. Sixty-eight percent of those who have not been vaccinated said they were worried about the potential long-term effects of the vaccine on their health, while 59 percent said that they were concerned about serious side effects from the vaccine. Meanwhile, 55 percent said they felt the vaccines are not as safe as authorities are claiming, while 53 percent doubt that they are as effective as they are said to be. Thirty-one percent worried that they may contract the disease itself from the vaccine.

Even those who say they are eager to get the jab and those who have already received at least one dose have also expressed concerns. Half of the people in these two groups have said they are at least somewhat concerned about the fact that the long-term effects of the vaccine are still unknown.

This widespread skepticism regarding the safety of a rushed vaccine with so many unknowns may make it challenging for the country to meet President Joe Bidens target of giving 100 million Americans their first dose by April. It wont be surprising to see more attempts to convince people that the vaccine is somehow desirable or that individuals will be doing something good for society by submitting to this risky experiment.

Sources for this article include:

Sacramento.CBSLocal.com

KFF.org
Parler, the social network that is popular among members of the far-right, was well aware that having then-President Donald Trump as a user was going to do wonders for its popularity. And it was ready to woo him with a strategy that appealed to the president who often touted his supposed ability to close business deals. As part of talks to make Parler Trumps primary social network, the company ended up offering the Trump Organization a 40% stake in the company, reports BuzzFeed News. As part of the deal, Trump would commit to posting everything on Parler first and waiting at least four hours before posting it on any other platform.

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Its unclear how much the former president got involved in the negotiations but the reporting by BuzzFeed makes it clear these werent one-off, casual conversations. Talks between the Trump Organization and Parler began last summer. It seems former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale played a key role as he had considered creating an account for the president on the site as far back as 2019. Parscale was the one who, along with campaign lawyer Alex Cannon, later met with Parler CEO John Matze and two sharholders to discuss the idea. Matze said earlier this week he was fired from the company.

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As soon as it got word of the negotiations, the White House counsels office immediately put the brakes on the talks, warning that any deal would violate ethics rules. But the discussions restarted after Trump lost reelection. All talk apparently stopped after the Capitol riot and both Google and Apple removed Parler from their app stores. It was later taken offline when Amazon decided to stop hosting it. Parscale told BuzzFeed that Trump was never part of the discussions and they were never that substantive. Still, some experts at least say that the mere negotiations and subsequent offer would warrant an investigation. While then-president Trump bragged that ethics rules didnt apply to him, bribery laws do apply, and courts have held that Trumps social media posts constituted official business while he was in office, said Scott Amey, general counsel at the Project on Government Oversight, a watchdog group.

Last month, Matze said in a court filing that Trump had considered creating an account on Parler under the pseudonym Person X. Matze claimed Amazon Web Services knew of that possibility and stopped hosting the site as a way to deny Trump a social media platform. Amazon denied the allegation, insisting the suspension had nothing to do with politics.

The first stage of reforming the Armed Forces of Ukraine within the framework of the defense reform has brought it significantly closer to becoming compatible with the NATO requirements, Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andriy Taran said.

"Now there is a process of legal regulation of the division of responsibilities between the Ministry and the General Staff in accordance with democratic principles: the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine should formulate policy, while the General Staff of the Armed Forces should be responsible for its implementation and report about it to the Defense Ministry," Taran said.

According to him, the Defense Ministry is transforming the vision of the political leadership into clear steps aimed at acquiring maximum compatibility with NATO.

"Our further plans will be set up, in particular, taking into account the results of the current comprehensive functional review of the defense management system. In addition, the necessary conclusions will be drawn based on the results of an inspection of the state of readiness of military command and control bodies, formations and military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine taking part in the Joint Forces Operation on the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions to fulfill the tasks," the minister said.

He also said that Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic choice is the best way to implement national interests, which open up new prospects for cooperation with the developed countries of the world, and provides opportunities for security and economic development.

The ministry said that as part of the first stage of reforming the Armed Forces of Ukraine, new military command and control bodies were created: the Joint Forces Command, the Medical Forces Command, the Support Forces Command, the Logistics Forces Command and the Command of the Communications and Cyber Security Forces.

A Trenton police officer has been criminally charged with improperly accessing a law enforcement database, the city police department confirmed.

Kanifah Wood, 30, was served by the New Jersey State Police with a complaint summons on Tuesday, Feb. 2, and released pending court appearances, a city police spokesperson said. The charge is a third-degree indictable crime, or felony.

The six-year officer, who lives in Willingboro, was suspended from duty with pay pending the outcome of the investigation.

The criminal complaint against Wood says she accessed the database on Sept. 14, 2019. The personal identifying information was knowingly or recklessly disclosed, a State Police detective wrote in the document.

The state Attorney Generals Office, which is investigating the case, supplied the complaint, but declined to comment beyond its contents, a spokesperson said.

Police Director Sheilah A. Coley and The Trenton Police Department take allegations of wrongdoing very seriously. We have cooperated fully with the NJSP investigation and will continue to do so, Trenton police spokesman Capt. Peter Weremijenko said in a statement.

As with all criminal charges, Officer Wood is innocent until proven guilty, however, she has been suspended pending the outcome of those charges, Weremijenko said.

Wood was hired in late 2014, graduated from the police academy in early 2015 and has served as a patrol officer her entire career. She was awarded a command citation in May 2016 during the departments annual awards ceremony.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com
ByteDance's TikTok unit is said to have identified five possible locations for a new headquarters in Dublin with space for about 2,000 workers, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The Chinese tech firm is seeking about 200,000 sq ft (18,580 sq m) of space initially, according to the source, who asked not to be identified as the information is private.

TikTok plans to move staff into the new location before the end of this year, the person said, with the exact timing influenced by the progress of the coronavrus pandemic.

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Whatsapp Space: Offices at Heuston South Quarter, Dublin

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said last month he had recently met with representatives from TikTok, and the company was still keen to locate a headquarters in Dublin.

Among the locations under consideration are the newly constructed North Dock complex in the city's financial centre, as well as the Heuston South Quarter development. It is also assessing the Sorting Office in the south docklands.

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The two other locations under consideration are currently occupied, but those tenants are preparing to leave, the person said.

If the TikTok leasing goes ahead, it will be a boost to the Dublin's office market, which struggled in 2020 under Covid-19 restrictions.

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Alphabet's Google had planned to occupy the Sorting Office before abandoning the deal in September.

TikTok has sought space for as many as 5,000 staff in Dublin eventually.

This letting, if it goes ahead, would be the first phase, the person said.

A spokesman for the social media company couldn't immediately comment.

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Dublin has become a magnet for technology firms in recent years. Google and Facebook have their European bases in the capital, while numerous other companies including Twitter and Microsoft also have significant presences.

The Business Post previously reported TikTok's interest in the Sorting Office.
The Joe Biden-led administration has ended months of deadlock over the next head of World Trade Centre (WTO) by expressing its "strong support" for Nigerias ex-Finance minister. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was leading the race till Donald Trump said it wanted Yoo Myung-hee, South Koreas finance minister as the head of the global organisation. However, with Myung Hee withdrawing he candidacy now, experts believe that Okonjo-Iweala could be the next WTO Chief.

The World Trade Organisation elects its Director general after every four years. In October 2020, the global lender had asked all its 164 members to appoint Okonjo-Iweala as a replacement to outgoing chief Roberto Azevedo. However, all except one had agreed to it, BBC reported citing WTO spokesperson. US lead by the then-president Donald Trump has expressed support for the South Korean lawmaker.

'Grateful for support'

Okonjo-Iweala is a Nigerian-American economist and international development, expert. If elected Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala could become the first woman and first African to lead the organisation. Opining on the same, Okonjo-Iweala, in a Twitter post, thanked the US for their support and also congratulated Myung-hee for "a hard-fought campaign".

Grateful for the expression of support from the US today for DG @WTO. Congratulations to Madam Yoo of Rep. Korea for a hard fought campaign.Thank You President Muhammadu Buhari @MBuhari &all Nigerians for your unflinching support.Thank you friends. Love to my family.Glory to God.  Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (@NOIweala) February 5, 2021

Read: Explainer: How Will Donald Trump's Impeachment Trial Take Place?

Read: President Biden Cancels Trump's Nomination Of Indian-American As Judge

Meanwhile, undoing another nomination by his predecessor, Biden withdrew the nomination of Indian-American Attorney Vijay Shanker to be an Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Former President Donald Trump on January 2 had renominated Shanker for this top judiciary position, two months after he lost the presidential elections.

Shanker's nomination was first announced in last June by Trump. At present, he was serving as Deputy Chief of the Appellate Section, and as Senior Litigation Counsel in the Department of Justice, Criminal Division. Along with the 30 names, the withdrawal notification was sent to the Senate. Mostly, judicial were appointed during the last months of Trump's administration. Shanker was in private practice with the Washington, DC, offices of Mayer Brown, LLC and Covington & Burling, LLP, before joining the Department of Justice in 2012.

Read: WTO Members Laud India's 'active Efforts' To Improve Trade And Economic Environment

Read: South Korea's Trade Minister Drops Bid To Become WTO Chief
Originally published at The Last American Vagabond

Shortly before he took office, President Joe Biden announced that he would be elevating the director Office of Science and Technology Policy to a cabinet-level position, meaning that his nominee to lead that office, geneticist Eric Lander, would require confirmation by the US Senate. Lander is currently serving as director of that office, but has yet to serve in cabinet-level capacity as he awaits confirmation.

Mainstream media reports described Bidens move to place Lander in his cabinet as meant to highlight his commitment to science, which has been used to contrast his approach with that of Trump, who was accused of second-guessing authoritative voices from academia and the medical establishment. Lander is deemed to be one such authoritative voice, having previously served as external co-chair on former President Obamas Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

However, Biden placing Lander in this role begs the question of exactly what type of science he will promote in his new position, as eugenicist and intelligence-linked pedophile Jeffrey Epstein bragged on his website about having had the priviledge [sic] of sponsoring Landers research via the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation. Landers spokesperson told the New York Times in 2019 that Mr. Epstein appears to have made up lots of things and this seems to be among them, regarding whether or not Lander had indeed received funding from Epstein.

In addition to the issue of funding from Epstein, Lander, who is also a biology professor at MIT, is known to have met with Epstein at least once, as he was pictured taking part in a 2012 meeting with Epstein at the office of Harvards Martin Nowak, a mathematical biologist who received millions in funding from Epstein. After Epsteins 2019 arrest, Lander claimed that he had been invited to the meeting by Nowak and had been unaware of who was set to attend the event. He additionally stated that he later learned about [Epsteins] more sordid history and denied having had a relationship with Epstein.

An image from an archived website of Jeffrey Epstein that shows him meeting with Eric Lander at Harvard in 2012

Yet, there remains the issue that Epstein himself included Lander in a list of scientists he sponsored, with the other scientists on that list having indeed been supported by Epstein in some fashion. If we are to believe Lander, it remains unclear why Epstein, before he became so infamous, would falsely claim to fund Lander and why Lander would wait to deny any association until only after Epsteins arrest. Given that the other scientists listed alongside Lander on Epsteins website did receive funding from his foundation, it seems unlikely that Epstein would deceptively throw in Landers name among a list of several other scientists he was funding at a time, particularly when he was not yet publicly controversial and did not present such a grave risk to his associates reputations.

However, Landers denials seem to have been more than sufficient for some mainstream media outlets following his nomination to serve in the Biden administration, with some outlets now claiming that Lander was not reported to have received funding from Epstein, despite Epsteins own claims to the contrary. For instance, BuzzFeed wrote on January 19, 2021 that Lander has not been reported to have received any money from Epstein.

The Broad Institute, Silicon Valley and Intelligence

Despite Landers denials of a personal relationship, Epstein also had very close ties to Landers employer, MIT. Epstein donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the institution and Epstein was also used as a channel for making donations to MIT by billionaire Bill Gates. Gates has yet to explain why he would funnel his donations through Epstein as opposed to publicly donating via his well-known philanthropic foundation. Epsteins funding of the MIT Media Lab in particular led to the resignation of its former director Joi Ito in September 2019 following Epsteins arrest and subsequent suicide.

In addition, Epstein was particularly close to one of the biggest names at MIT, the late artificial intelligence pioneer Marvin Minsky. Minsky once organized a two-day symposium on artificial intelligence at Epsteins private island in 2002 and Epstein victims have alleged that they were forced by Epstein to engage in sex acts with Minsky. Both Minsky and Eric Lander were corporate fellows of the Thinking Machines corporation, a DARPA contractor that made supercomputers in the late 1980s and early 1990s. That companys various components were acquired by a web of intelligence-linked companies like CIA-linked Oracle and IBM while many of its former engineers left for Sun Microsystems, where future Google CEO Eric Schmidt was then serving as Chief Technology Officer.

Lander, more recently, has again become closely associated with tech companies deeply tied to the US national security state as the founding director of the Broad Institute, an independent genomic research institution partnered with both MIT and Harvard. Incidentally, MIT and Harvard are the two academic institutions most closely linked to Epsteins philanthropy, particularly in the field in which the Broad Institute specializes.

The Broad Institute depends heavily on private philanthropy according to its website and its board of directorsincludes Apple chairman, Arthur Levinson; chairman of the McKinsey Global Institute, James Manyika; current chairman and former CEO of IBM, Louis Gerstner Jr; and former Google CEO and current chair of the National Security Commission on AI, Eric Schmidt. Also on the board is Seth Klarman, owner of the Times of Israel and a major donor to the DNC last election cycle. Klarmans family foundation has donated heavily to the Broad Institute. In addition, Klarman announced his rejection of former President Trump in a coordinated PR push alongside Leslie Wexner, Epsteins main backer who was integral to his intelligence activities and sex trafficking operation, in 2018. More recently, he was outed as the main financing source for the dysfunctional Iowa Caucus app in the most recent DNC primaries.

Right before Lander joined the Biden administration, the Broad Institute announced a new partnership with tech giants Microsoft and Google subsidiary Verily, further reflecting the Broad Institutes ties to Silicon Valley. As part of that partnership, Microsoft and Google will share the companies cloud data and AI technologies with a global network of more than 168,000 health and life sciences partners to accelerate the Terra platform. Terra, originally developed by the Broad Institute and Googles Verily, is an open data ecosystem focused on biomedical research, specifically the fields of cancer genomics, population genetics, and viral genomics. The biomedical data Terra amasses includes not only genetic data but also medical-imaging, biometric signals, and electronic health records.

In the case of Google, the data accessed via this partnership will likely inform their obvious AI healthcare ambitions, some of which are being pursued in partnership with the US military. Google recently announced a partnership with the Pentagon to predictively diagnose cancer and COVID-19 using AI. Googles ties to the US military have become overt in recent years and the company is well represented on the National Security Commission on AI (NSCAI), which is chaired by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. In the case of Microsoft, the company was recently awarded the massive JEDI cloud contract by the Pentagon, though litigation may soon change that. Microsoft also recently launched a new secret cloud service for US intelligence and classified government data systems and, like Google, are also well represented on the NSCAI.

In addition, Microsoft as well as former Google CEO Eric Schmidt have ties to Israeli intelligence, particularly Israels Unit 8200. Microsofts ties to Start-Up Nation Central, Unit 8200 fronts, and Isabel Maxwell (Ghislaine Maxwells sister) have been discussed at length in previous articles. Eric Schmidt, among other connections, helped finance and launch Team8, the start-up accelerator for Unit 8200 alumni set up by the units former commander Nadiv Zafrir. Team8 controversially hired Mike Rogers, former director of the US intelligence agency the NSA, and is also associated with the private company IronNet Security of another former NSA director, Keith Alexander.

These US-Israel intelligence ties are notable given the Epstein connections explored earlier in this article, as many of Epsteins activities  from sex trafficking and sexual blackmail to money laundering  were done on behalf of both US and Israeli intelligence agencies, specifically factions within both intelligence communities that share ties to the same organized crime syndicate.

Those same factions are as intimately involved in the activities of Silicon Valley, making it no coincidence that, following his first arrest in 2007, Epstein attempted to rebrand as a hi-tech investor and patron of transhumanist-related sciences, showing that the interest of his benefactors had moved from sexual blackmail and human trafficking to the electronic forms of blackmail and the trafficking of data.

Just months before his 2019 arrest, Epstein would brag about having blackmail on prominent Silicon Valley figures and is known to have entertained LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and Google co-founder Sergey Brin. Epsteins close associate Ghislaine Maxwell had similarly directed her attention at Silicon Valley following Epsteins first arrest and her sisters, Isabel and Christine, have been intimately involved in Silicon Valley and hi-tech contractors for US intelligence for decades.

Praising Eugenicists for pushing the frontiers of science

Aside from the intelligence connections via Silicon Valley and Jeffrey Epstein, Lander has also courted controversy for a controversial toast he led in honor of eugenicist James Watson in 2018. On Watsons 90th birthday, Lander praised Watson for inspiring all of us to push the frontiers of science to benefit humankind. Watson, though best remembered as the co-discoverer of the DNA double helix structure, was also a notorious eugenicist who stated his belief that people of African descent have genetically inferior intelligence on numerous occasions. Watson first began to retreat from public life in 2007, when he told the BBC that Western government projects in Africa were likely to fail because all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours  whereas all the testing says not really.

After offering the toast, Lander was later forced to apologize for his public praise of James Watson. Yet, since his nomination to serve in the diversity-focused Biden administration, some former critics of Landers praise of Watson have now warmed up to the MIT geneticist, citing the fact that his deputy, Alondra Nelson, is an African American woman.

Landers relationship with James Watson goes back to Landers extensive work as part of the Human Genome Project, a project in which Watson was also intimately involved. Though the Human Genome Project is normally credited to three scientists that independently all had the same idea in 1990, the original call for the Human Genome Project was first published in 1986 by geneticist Walter Bodmer. Bodmer joined the Eugenics Society, today called the Galton Institute, as a young man back in the 1960s and soon after went to work with Stanford biologist/geneticist Joshua Lederberg. Lederberg was a key scientific advisor to US presidents and the US military during the course of his decades-long career. Bodmer then served as the Eugenics Society/Galton Institute president from 2008 to 2014. One of the organizations current officers, David J. Galton, wrote that the Human Genome Project that Bodmer originally proposed had enormously increased . . . the scope for eugenics . . . because of the development of a very powerful technology for the manipulation of DNA.

Once the Human Genome Project was underway, James Watson was placed in charge of the US government-funded effort backing the project, via National Center for Human Genome Research. Watson would use that position to fund seven genome centers involved in large-scale gene mapping projects, including at MIT. Much of the sequencing for the Human Genome Project was done by the MIT-affiliated Whitehead Institute, where Lander workedon the gene sequencing project and other projects up until the Broad Institute was spun off from the Whitehead Institutes Center for Genome Research and formally launched in 2004.

The Whitehead Institute was co-founded by David Baltimore, who served as its founding director and went on to be President of Rockefeller University. Baltimore is currently on Landers Broad Institute. As an aside, Joshua Lederberg was another past President of Rockefeller University and Jeffrey Epstein had previously served on the universitys board after being personally appointed by David Rockefeller. The Rockefeller familys ties to eugenics are discussed at length in this documentary and Epsteins obsession with eugenics has been detailed in several reports since his 2019 arrest and suicide.

Given the associations with eugenicists like Jeffrey Epstein and James Watson, it is essential to spread awareness of these ties as Lander awaits Senate confirmation, as the Senate could be pressured by the public to raise these issues at Landers upcoming confirmation hearing. Yet, the fact that Lander was even nominated for this position at all, particularly following the Epstein scandal, is stunning as he should have been investigated and, at minimum, blacklisted from serving in public office. Landers nomination to such a prominent post is unsettling confirmation of the continued influence and power of the network that not only created Jeffrey Epstein, but financed and protected his nefarious activities, for decades.
Christian leaders fear proposed Denmark sermon law to root out Islamic extremism will harm all faiths

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Christian leaders in Denmark fear that a draft law aimed at monitoring the growth of Islamic extremism would restrict their religious freedom because it would require all sermons to be translated and submitted to the government.

The Danish government says the proposed law, which is scheduled to be reviewed this month in parliament, is required to curb Islamic extremism because imams in mosques deliver their sermons in Arabic, not Danish, according to La Croix International.

CBN News quoted sources as saying that churches had been included in the measure because Europe likes to be politically correct and cannot put restrictions only on mosques. There are about 270,000 Muslims in Denmark.

The law would seek to enlarge the transparency of religious events and sermons in Denmark when these are given in a language other than Danish, according to The Guardian, which also reported that the Church of Englands bishop in Europe, Robert Innes, has expressed his concerns in a letter to Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, whos from the Social Democratic Party.

I am sure it comes from a genuine concern about the security of the estate and the monitoring of all religious minorities who might be perceived as a security risk, Innes told the British newspaper. I share the ambition of the Danish government to ensure safety and security and the desire that all religious organizations in Denmark conduct their act peacefully but to require translation of sermons into the national language goes too far. It goes in a concerning anti-liberal direction.

Innes further explained that not all Christian clergy prepare the full text of their sermons and may prefer to write just some notes. They might preach extempore as the archbishop of Canterbury sometimes does and there are questions of idiom and nuance which requires a high level of skill in translation of course. It is a high bar. It is a skilled art and it is an expensive skill as well.

Thomas B. Mikkelsen, chairman of Evangelical Alliance Denmark, argued that radical groups tend to establish themselves on the margins, in a parallel society, and never apply for official recognition. I do not think a new law will affect them in any way, according to Evangelical Focus Europe.

The law will have negative consequences for many religious groups, such as evangelicals, moderate Muslims, and other officially recognized communities who now have to spend time and money on translations, Mikkelsen added. I do not consider the law a direct breach of international standards on freedom of religion or belief, but it is still a significant step in the wrong direction.

German-speaking churches, which have been using their language in churches for eight centuries in Denmark, are also concerned.

There is much concern, Rajah Scheepers, the main pastor of German-speaking St. Petri church in Copenhagen, was quoted as saying. We do not only hold services on Sundays, but also baptisms, weddings and funerals, throughout the week. It is not realistic to expect that we simultaneously translate all these gatherings or that we translate them in advance.

Roman Catholics are also opposed to the proposal.

All church congregations, free church congregations, Jewish congregations, everything we have here in Denmark  40 different religious communities  will be placed under general suspicion by this law... Something is happening here which is undermining democracy, General Secretary of the Nordic Bishops Conference, Anna Mirijam Kaschne, was quoted as saying.

However, there appears little likelihood of a Danish backlash, if this bill becomes law, because it affects so few citizens, wrote the Rev. Ben Johnson, on Action Institute Powerblog.

Nearly three out of every four Danes (72%) say religion is not too or not at all important in their lives, Johnson, executive editor of the Acton Institutes Religion & Liberty journal, pointed out. Only 68% of Danes who call themselves Christians believe in God, according to the Pew Research Center. Regular church attendance plummets to the single digits.
Super Bowl safety

Its Super Bowl weekend, and ahead of the big game, public health officials are asking people not to host big parties that could turn into super-spreader events.

Dr. Anthony Fauci urged people to watch the game at home, pointing to coronavirus spikes that followed celebrations and holidays like Christmas and New Years. You dont want parties with people that you havent had much contact with, he said this week. You just dont know if theyre infected, so as difficult as that is, at least this time around, just lay low and cool it.

The game, a highly anticipated matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs at Tampa Bays Raymond James Stadium in Florida, will be very different. The stadium will be only about one-third full, with about 7,500 of the 25,000 seats filled by vaccinated health care workers. All 25,000 or so attendees will be given masks and hand sanitizer as they enter.

The Weeknd is headlining the halftime show, but for the first time in the 55-year history of the game, the main act will perform on a stage set up in the stands under strict coronavirus protocols intended to limit contact with the players and coaches.

If you still want to celebrate, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends hosting a virtual Super Bowl party or an outdoor gathering  although even outside its important to wear masks the entire time (except when eating).

The C.D.C. also said to try to avoid shouting, cheering loudly or singing around people from outside of your household, which can increase the amount of respiratory droplets in the air. Instead, clap, stomp your feet or use noisemakers. If you attend a gathering, the agency recommends bringing your own food, drinks, plates, cups and utensils.

One team is virus free. During the N.F.L.s season, more than 700 players, coaches and other team personnel tested positive for the coronavirus. Only the Seattle Seahawks remained untouched by the virus. How did they do it?
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Seven caimans escaped an overflowing lagoon in Paraguay, invaded a nearby town center and terrified residents for hours before being captured in a risky operation by volunteer firefighters, officials told AFP Thursday.

The toothy reptilians, between 1.5 and two meters (4.9-6.6 feet) long, took to the commercial center of Ita in south Paraguay, ambling down the streets after their watery home broke its banks in a rainstorm.

Some of the creatures -- cousins of alligators and crocodiles -- looked in at shop doors, scaring passers-by who called the authorities.

The caimans got out Wednesday after a retaining wall of the Ita Lagoon, where they are an attraction, collapsed in heavy rains, said fire brigade spokesman Francisco Platon.

The creatures "left to seek refuge on dry ground and to rest," he told AFP.

"Luckily it happened at night," said Diego Caputo of the Ita municipality.

Even so, several people got close enough to take photos or videos of the animals, which they posted on social media. Some even dared touch the scaly giants.

"The caimans are an attraction of the city park but they are a danger when things like this happen that are beyond our control," added Caputo.

A local NGO that goes by the name of 'Let's save the Ita Lagoon,' says the body of water has an overpopulation of caimans, known locally as yacares /  AFP

Paraguay has seen heavy downpours since last week, causing damage to homes and streets and triggering power cuts.

The weather office is predicting more rain for the days to come.

A local NGO that goes by the name of "Let's save the Ita Lagoon," said in a statement that the body of water has an overpopulation of caimans, known locally as yacares.

"In time they could pose a danger to people. For lack of food they could attack," it said, and warned people not to try to touch the animals.

The fire department, for its part, urged citizens on Twitter to call the emergency number "if anyone sees another yacare in the street."

Ita is a town of some 75,000 inhabitants 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) south of the Paraguayan capital Asuncion.
Egypt's Ambassador to Juba Mohamed Qaddah affirmed Cairos support of the peace treaty entitlements in South Sudan during a meeting with the new governor of South Sudans Upper Nile state Abudhok Kur on Friday.

In 2018, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir signed a landmark agreement with rebel factions in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa to end the decades-long war that claimed the lives of tens of thousands.

During the meeting, Qaddah affirmed Egypts support of the efforts to consolidate security and stability in South Sudan.

Qaddah reviewed Kurs vision for stability, social reconciliation, and reconstruction and development efforts in the Upper Nile state.

The two sides discussed cooperation between Egypt and the state in various fields, including the management of water and irrigation sources, water treatment, education and energy.

Egypt has been a major supporter to the peace agreement in South Sudan.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi visited Juba in November last year, where he reiterated Cairos "full and unlimited support for the efforts exerted by Sudan's government to achieve peace and stability nationwide.

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Scotland's food and farming businesses are facing 'damaging delays, huge costs and devastating losses' since the UK left the EU, the Scottish government has warned.

In a statement to parliament, Europe and External Affairs Secretary Michael Russell said exporting companies had been left toothless following Brexit.

He said they faced new customs controls and IT system failures, leading to stock delayed and spoiled at ports in the UK and EU.

Estimates by the Scottish government suggest as much as 1 million a day is being lost by the seafood industry alone.

Elsewhere, the country's seed potato farmers, who will no longer be able to export to Europe, face an estimated 11 million of losses.

Mr Russell said the UK had been left a third country with a 'more distant, more expensive and less advantageous' trading arrangement with the bloc.

It is an incontrovertible fact that four weeks into the new trading arrangements, the problems for businesses are not diminishing, but multiplying and spreading across different sectors of the economy," he said.

The disruption has resulted in the damaging delays, huge costs and devastating losses which we feared would be the outcome of becoming an EU third country and dealing with new and untested processes.

A whole new category of prohibited and restricted goods has been created meaning Scottish exporters can no longer trade their produce freely with the EU."

He added: The UK government has now admitted that these are not teething issues  they are a permanent exclusion from the single market that leaves many businesses toothless in a competitive modern economy."

Mr Russell said the Scottish government was now looking at calls from the industry for a six month grace period to allow companies more time to cope with the changes.

He also urged the UK government to improve the information it shared on emerging issues at ports.

It comes as Defra has agreed to hold an urgent meeting with pig sector bodies to discuss the 'perfect storm' currently impacting producers, namely the effects of Brexit and Covid-19.

The National Pig Association (NPA) warned that the current issues facing the sector, which include new Brexit checks and paperwork, could 'rapidly turn into a crisis'.

Last week, the CBI and the British Chambers of Commerce also issued a statement setting out the difficulties faced by firms adapting to the new customs processes.
Well-known Egyptian actor Sayed Ragab revealed earlier this week on his Facebook page that he tested positive for the COVID-19 virus according to a recent PCR test.

As the creative field began wishing him speedy recovery, Ragab underscored that his condition is not worrying and that he is following the coronavirus protocol, taking medication and isolating himself in a room at his home.

Ragab is currently working on the Moussa television series which is scheduled to air during the upcoming month of Ramadan. The actor is taking two-weeks off from shooting. Ragab also has a few other films in the pipeline.

Born in 1950, Sayed Ragab has become one of the best-known Egyptian film actors. He began his acting career in theatre, where he still occasionally performs, while his film career launched with Small Dreams ('Ahlam Saghira'), a 1993 film directed by Khaled El-Hagar and starring Mervat Amin along with Salah El-Saadany.

His unique talent, theatre and onscreen character helped Ragab move fast from secondary to leading roles, becoming one of the most sought-after actors of his generation.

Ragab continued to collaborate with El-Hagar, including in his award-winning 2011 film Longing (El-Shou'), to which Ragab wrote the script for and acted in alongside Sawsan Badr.

Ragab appeared in many other movies and television series collaborating with well-known directors and actors. His most recent works include acting in the short film Habib (2019), featuring film Sons of Rizk 2 (2019), television series Nasr El-Saeed (2018) and Crossroads (2020).

The actor is currently working on a Ramadan 2021 television series, Moussa, starring Mohamed Ramadan. It also features Tara Emad, Somaya El-Khashab and Sabry Fawwaz.

Moussa is directed by Mohamed Salam, who also worked on last year's The Thief series.

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A federal judge said on Friday that a florist from Texas who has been charged with taking part in the riot at the U.S. Capitol last month may travel to Mexico for what she had described as a work-related bonding retreat.

The judge, Trevor N. McFadden of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, granted the woman, Jenny Louise Cudd, permission to take the prepaid trip this month, saying she had no criminal history and there was no evidence she was a flight risk or a danger to others.

Judge McFadden also said that Ms. Cudds pretrial services officer and prosecutors had not objected to her request to travel. Ms. Cudd must provide her itinerary to her pretrial officer and follow any other instructions the officer gives her, the judge said.

Ms. Cudd, who was charged with violent entry and being in a restricted building or grounds, said in a court filing that she had planned and prepaid for the retreat with her employees in the Riviera Maya, south of Cancun, from Feb. 18 to Feb. 21.


Kabul, Feb 6 : A police officer was killed and six civilians were injured in two separate bombings in Kabul on Saturday, the latest in a string of explosions to hit the Afghan capital in recent months.

The police officer died in the line of duty when a police pick-up truck struck an IED in Khairkhana neighbourhood, Police District 11, at around 9.40 a.m., a source from the Kabul police told Xinhua news agency.

The vehicle was destroyed and several shops were damaged by the force of the blast.

Earlier in the day, another IED exploded outside a shop in Shorbazzar locality, PD 1, injuring six civilians, Kabul police spokesman Ferdaus Faramarz told reporters.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks so far.

On Tuesday, four blasts took place in different parts of Kabul, leaving three people dead and six others wounded.

Kabul has seen a recent spate of bomb blasts and killings.

In December 2020, at least 23 people were killed and 70 others injured in security incidents in the capital city.

Most of the magnetic IED blasts targeted security vehicles and were near police headquarters buildings in various areas of the city.
In cushioning the psychological effects of the Boko Haram insurgency, the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), has embarked on provision of psychosocial support to 50,000 school children in both primary and secondary schools in Borno State.

Speaking to newsmen on Friday in Maiduguri while, handing over a remodelled primary school to Borno State government, Phuong Nguyen, UNICEF chief of field Maiduguri office, said the impact of the psychosocial support on the school children is to have a generation of children who have skills, knowledge, who can grow up and develop for the nation

She noted that the impact is going to be in magnitude in the years to come.

She said UNICEF had already provided psychosocial support to the teachers, because teachers need psychosocial support for themselves, adding that when teachers are trained on how to detect emotional trauma on the type of anxiety that children had, due to conflict like insurgency, the school children will be healthy emotionally, physically and mentally.

In his remarks, Borno State governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, described the UNICEF gesture as a welcome development, saying that as government coupled with dwindling resources at hand, it cannot put in all the deficits especially, when it come in the area of education.
BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- China and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have agreed to strengthen cooperation on global taxation issues, the State Taxation Administration (STA) said on Friday.

The consensus came at a meeting held via video link between Wang Jun, head of the administration, and Pascal Saint-Amans, director of Center for Tax Policy and Administration of the OECD, the STA said in a statement.

The two sides had an in-depth exchange on issues such as the cooperation mechanism for tax collection and management under the Belt and Road Initiative and the reform of electronic invoicing, it said.

China and the OECD will jointly participate in the global tax governance for the digital economy, according to the meeting.

The two sides will also help developing countries enhance tax collection and management capabilities and keep pushing forward bilateral taxation cooperation.

China will work with the OECD to meet challenges stemming from the digitalization of the economy, and tackle issues including the lack of international taxation professionals, Wang said.

Saint-Amans expressed the hope that the two sides will establish platforms for information and experience sharing. He hoped the two sides will jointly find solutions in the taxation field to fight the pandemic and facilitate development, and build a growth-friendly taxation environment together.
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OPPOSITION leader Douglas Mwonzora has now appointed a formal MDC committee to work on a strategy to engage the ruling Zanu PF and other key stakeholders in the country, as his push for all-inclusive national dialogue moves a gear up.

The Daily News was informed yesterday that when the main oppositions standing committee met virtually on Wednesday, a six-member committee led by the partys secretary-general and former deputy Labour minister in the inclusive government, Paurina Mpariwa, was set up to examine strategic options for the much-talked about national dialogue.

At the same time, MDC spokesperson Witness Dube has once again reiterated the partys commitment to inclusive national dialogue.

Dialogue must be inclusive, genuine and unconditional. To that end, a committee to look at the dialogue strategy, as well as the main issues for the dialogue has been set up, he said.

While Dube did not divulge the members of the committee, a national standing committee member who had spoken to the Daily News earlier said former Economic Planning minister and MDC treasurer general, Tapiwa Mashakada; as well as his deputy Chief Ndlovu; deputy national chairperson Giles Mutseyekwa and Masvingo senator Tichinani Mavetera are among the members of the committee.

The Daily News is also reliably informed that the partys former interim leader, Thokozani Khupe  who has not yet officially taken up her new role as the MDCs vice president  is slated to be the committees sixth member.

Their mandate is to identify concessions that the party intends to extract from the dialogue, not for itself only, but for the generality of Zimbabweans, as well as those it is prepared to sacrifice inorder to get what it wants.

The committee will also examine specific issues upon which the dialogue will be premised as well as the specific position of the party on certain things.

After it is done, the committee will report to the president and ultimately to the national council before formally approaching Zanu PF and other stakeholders, the senior party official said.

Meanwhile, the dialogue committee members are set to be officially announced tomorrow, after ratification by the MDCs national council.

This comes as many of Zimbabwes top clerics are scheduled to meet next week, in a bid to help kick-start the much-talked about national dialogue involving President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the opposition and other key stakeholders.

Speaking to the Daily News on Wednesday, the executive secretary of the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations (ZHOCD), Kenneth Mtata, confirmed the planned meeting  which will also work out the modalities for stakeholder negotiations.

This comes after Mnangagwa, Mwonzora and MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa recently signalled their preparedness to end Zimbabwes toxic politics of the past two decades, in the interests of the country and its long-suffering citizens.

Mtata said after their crucial meeting, the clerics converging under the ZHOCD banner would also seek to involve the regional Sadc bloc in a bid to nudge Mnangagwa and the opposition to work together.

The Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations executive is meeting next week, on a date yet to be agreed on, and the issue of dialogue and the possibility of engaging Sadc are high on the agenda in view of the prevailing political climate in the country.

The meeting will discuss how, as the Church, we can go about ensuring that the talks become a reality, rather than mere talk.

This is because the position of the Church has not changed since we brought up this idea way back in 2016  The challenges facing the country can only be resolved through a broad-based national dialogue.

While I cannot preempt what will come out before the meeting has been held, we will have a definitive position next week after the ZHOCD executive meeting, Mtata told the Daily News.

ZHOCD is made up of the leaders of most of the influential churches in the country, which include the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC), the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ).

On its part, the ZCBC said in addition to being part of the ZHOCD initiative, it was also working on a separate process to help thaw the frosty relations between Mnangagwa and Chamisa  which stemmed from the disputed July 2018 presidential election.

We have been working on bridging the gap between President Mnangagwa and Chamisa. We have, however, not been able to do much as of now because of the Covid-19 pandemic and its attendant restrictions on meetings.

Given this reality (the parties latest apparent willingness to talk), we will probably have to ramp up our engagement through online forums, ZCBC secretary-general, Frederick Chiromba, told the Daily News.

This comes after the outspoken leader of the Zimbabwe Divine Destiny church, Bishop Ancelimo Magaya, exhorted his colleagues earlier this week to utilise the thawing of relations between Mnangagwa and the opposition to push for national dialogue.

The fact that political parties are warming up to the idea that no transition can be achieved without dialogue is welcome.

Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations has since last year been pushing for dialogue and has even met some of the political leaders, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

While we have not been able to make headway in that direction, I can confidently say that the Church, given the latest indications, will be spurred into action and is going to take up the initiative through the ZHOCD.

We are sure this will succeed as long as there is political will, Magaya said.We emphasise that the talks must, however, not be limited to political players, but must include the people.

We have had dialogues before involving Zanu and Zapu, MDC and Zanu PF which had their successes, but were short-lived because they did not involve the people  which are partly why we are here today, he added.

Before this, analysts had suggested that the clergy would most likely be acceptable as mediators for the talks, if the leaders of the ruling Zanu PF and the MDC were not currently speaking in forked tongues on the urgent need for dialogue.

University of Zimbabwe political scientist, Eldred Masunungure, was among the analysts who told the Daily News earlier this week that the Church needed to step in again to engage all key local stakeholders, as well as Sadc to kick-start the talks.

It is encouraging that the protagonists are showing signs of willingness to engage. So, a combined effort of the Church and Sadc taking the lead in bringing the relevant parties to sit down should see us through as a country.

The Church should initiate the talks because someone has to take the lead in shepherding the dialogue.

They must approach the protagonists, as well as the Sadc region to set up the parameters for the talks, because on its own the Church may not have the necessary gravitas to tackle political organisations.

We only hope that Zanu PF and the two MDCs are not speaking in forked tongues and have a genuine appetite for the talks, Masunungure told the Daily News.
The action of the Holy See, in the entire world and, in particular on the African Continent, expends all its efforts to promote the dignity of every person in every place and situation. So stated Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin in the Lectio Magistralis held on Monday, 1 February, at the Catholic University of Central Africa in Yaounde, Cameroon, on the theme The Holy Sees presence in Africa: a bridge between the idea of peace and the realization of justice.

The Cardinal, who was on a visit to Cameroon from 28 January to 3 February, emphasized that it is no coincidence that the one who governs the universal church is called Pontiff, in other words, the builder of bridges between God and man and consequently bridges among men. The ultimate aim of these bridges is the harmony among peoples and nations that the Holy See promotes on every occasion, reiterating respect for fundamental human rights: It is not a matter of merely declaring peace, but rather it calls for tangibly building peace through sound and serious work, as patient as it is tenacious, sustained by the unconditional choice of justice. Cardinal Parolin recalled the establishment in 1967, by Paul vi, of the Pontifical Commission Justitia et Pax, with the intention to awaken in the People of God full awareness of their mission today, and in 2016, by Pope Francis, of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. The Secretary of State then highlighted the collaborations with the un to accomplish this mission, always oriented according to an order of justice for which there can be no true development without considering an improvement of the life of every human being.

In particular  the Secretary of State observed  the long history of the Holy Sees diplomatic action in Africa shows how the policy of the Church is the very bridge that connects the idea of peace and solidarity with concrete attention toward the needs of each person. Three guidelines identified by the cardinal help read the Holy Sees contribution to the life of Africa: greater justice, stable peace and sincere cooperation.

With regard to the first, the significance of Justice lies in the capacity to offer the proper value to every thing, finding the measure in solidarity and in sharing so that Justice may take the short but challenging step that leads from word to fact.

The term stable peace  he continued  means true peace, which is long-lasting and rooted in the social fabric. A peace that cannot be simply declared but sought in the heart of man and in the conscience. A peace, moreover, that is not separated from the duties of justice, but fuelled by ones sacrifice, by clemency, by mercy and charity. Peace, intended as a possibility for mankind to accomplish itself, is never an objective achieved once and for all, but an edifice to be built up daily with the protection of human dignity, with respect and also with love.

Lastly, sincere cooperation, two simple words  he said  wherein lies the secret of the life of the international community and of every single continent, nation or people: Sincerity recalls the necessity of placing on the table of negotiations and of various discussions the reality of problems, without veiling situations with private interests, but courageously declaring the need to work to safeguard fundamental human rights. Cooperation proves to be an inevitable factor if we wish to achieve effective respect for fundamental rights, for peace, and therefore for security. Collaboration, today, assumes a moral value, in the sense that it calls for overcoming different political rivalries in view of the common good.

The Holy See  the cardinal stated  proposes a cultural change and a change of thought that is able to create an authentic society of love based on God, because when man loses God, he loses himself as well. A mission advanced through many men and women of good will, young people, lay people, priests and consecrated persons who defend and promote fundamental human rights, carrying out a pervasive and widespread work of information and awareness raising to help every subject of the international community to better understand the value of human dignity and the social obligation to defend and protect every life. Indeed, the Holy See works to spread a humanism capable of looking at life as the loftiest gift God has given to man.

In the current global panorama, marked by the complexity and diversity often raised as a sign of pride and dignity to distinguish oneself from the rest of the world  Cardinal Parolin concluded  the Holy See, in the international Community as in each particular Nation is committed to building a world that is able to assume the concrete responsibility to protect the dignity of each person. A responsibility based not only on the effort to deal with problems, but on the courage to safeguard and promote humanity and its dignity by seeking a balance whose boundary is not the need for security but the life of man where it happens.
In a dramatic 3 a.m. water rescue, Hoboken Police officers saved a young woman who fell through a snow-covered hole in a Hudson River pier and nearly drowned.

The unnamed victim, 23, of Berkeley Heights, was out with friends and her brother near Pier 13 in Hoboken when she decided to get a closer view of the New York City skyline to take pictures. She hopped over a railing but didnt see a hole in the pier because of the snow, dropping down ten feet into the icy river.

After her brother unsuccessfully tried to rescue her, he called 911 at 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Once he waved them down, an officer hopped over the railing and onto the pier to find the victim holding onto a piece of metal, submerged to her waist.

The officers first stabilized the victim with two water rescue bags. Then, in order to loop a life preserver ring around the victim, two officers had to lower half their bodies into the hole while three other officers held onto their legs.

It took a collaborative effort with all officers putting their safety at risk to save the victim from drowning, said Lt. Danilo Cabrera.

Once they were able to pull her out, she was taken to the Hoboken University Medical Center by Hoboken EMS. Police did not have an update on the victims condition nor would they release her name.

The pier was likely decrepit, Chief Ken Ferrante wrote on Twitter, and that area of the pier is closed off to the public.

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Josh Axelrod may be reached at jaxelrod@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
Britons trying to pay overseas direct debits and send money to banks and companies in Europe are having their transactions blocked as Brexit continues to cause hurdles and headaches.

Those trying to send money abroad now have to provide an additional layer of detail when making payments as the UK is now classed as a 'third country' under European payment rules.

Meanwhile, This is Money also understands that existing rules designed to stop European firms from blocking payments from UK banks may no longer apply now the UK is no longer part of the EU.

Blocked: Brexit has led to some European merchants putting up walls to UK customers by blocking payments from British bank accounts

This potential 'grey area' means those sending money from the UK may not be able to claim they are victims of so-called 'IBAN discrimination' if their payments are blocked by European companies after Brexit.

The problem was first publicly reported by Starling, which offers a euro account aimed at those who are paid in euros or wish to send or receive them for free.

However, customers of all UK banks could potentially be affected. Banking trade body UK Finance said it was working with European regulators to address the problems, which it said affected a 'small number' of people.

Starling said it had noticed that 'a few companies across Europe are refusing to accept direct debit payments from a very small number of Starling euro accounts because they contain the country code "GB".'

This country code comprises the first two digits of an International Bank Account Number, or IBAN, which is required when sending money across borders. Britons can find out their IBAN, which can be up to 35 characters in length, using their account number and sort code.

'IBAN discrimination', where banks and companies refuse to accept cross-border payments due to the sender's country code, is not a new problem, with the practice made illegal among the 36 members of the Single Euro Payments Area in 2014.

SEPA includes 27 EU member states along with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, the UK and some other European nations.

European banks including Klarna, N26, Revolut and Transferwise wrote a letter to the European Commission last December complaining customers were 'often told their non-local IBAN is not accepted for bank transfers or direct debits', despite the fact the right to send money between the 36 countries is enshrined in EU law.

However, Britain's departure from the European Union has complicated things, with Starling telling customers in an email that 'some EU companies have been claiming account details can't be used to set up direct debits in the EU since Brexit'.

Blocked payment? Here's what you should do In its email to customers, Starling gave those affected the following advice if their payments are being blocked. 1. First, make sure that the service provider  for example, a utility company  has the right UK address on file; the one that's registered to your Starling account. Let them know that your Starling account supports SEPA direct debits and that they now need to send your address to their bank in order for the direct debit to work. 2. If the provider still refuses, and says it's because the IBAN contains the country code GB, they're committing IBAN discrimination, which is against the law. You should raise a complaint with the provider and read up on your rights. 3. If you don't get a satisfactory response to your complaint, you can report the alleged breach to the relevant competent authority.

While the UK remains a member of SEPA, it is classed as a 'third country'.

This means those sending money now have to provide extra details when paying businesses in the EU.

A Starling spokesperson told This is Money: 'Since Britain's exit from the EU, such payments require UK customers to give the merchant their full UK address, when setting up a direct debit.

'The merchant can then send it on to their own bank when they are requesting the payment.

'We're advising our euro customers to provide their address should they have any problems with such payments.'

But while Starling said such payments should still be accepted, This is Money has been told by some experts that following Brexit, laws prohibiting IBAN discrimination could no longer apply to banks issuing GB IBANs, like Starling.

If that is the case then it could prove only the latest headache for those with UK bank accounts who live in the EU who have already had to deal with their bank accounts being closed and European banks hiking international payment fees.

Banks in Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain are all charging customers higher fees to receive money from the UK after rules limiting the cost of cross-border payments ceased to apply after Brexit.

Meanwhile customers of the likes of Barclays, Lloyds and Nationwide Building Society who live in countries including Italy and the Netherlands have also had their bank accounts closed.

Jonathan Watson, the director of cross-border payment firm Foreign Currency Direct, said the problems were the latest example of how 'many countries and banks are still finding their feet over the UK's new relations with the EU'.

A spokesperson for UK Finance said: 'The UK remains a member of the SEPA, which helps ensure timely and cost-effective euro payments between the UK and EU.

'We are aware of a small number of cases where despite the UK's continued membership in SEPA, companies in the EU are apparently preventing customers from paying via UK bank accounts.

'We are working with the European Payments Council, which manages the SEPA payment schemes, on what Payment Service Providers and customers can do to address this issue and minimise disruption for customers.

'We would encourage any customers who are experiencing difficulties paying with their UK account to contact the individual company in question.'
A mother has copped a $500 fine after exploding into an abusive rant at McDonald's staff because her meal allegedly took too long to cook.

The mother, 28, launched into a verbal attack at a McDonalds restaurant in Kempsey on the New South Wales Mid North Coast on Wednesday evening.

The woman yells at staff behind the counter after they tell her to settle down.

A woman has been fined $500 after verbally abusing staff at a McDonald's restaurant (pictured) in Kempsey, New South Wales

'Everyone here is fed up with this f***ing restaurant', she said.

Despite the woman's child telling her to stop, she continues to scream at staff.

'No don't tell me to f***ing settle when you can't even cook a fresh f***ing meal,' she said.

The woman voluntarily attended the Kempsey Police Station on Thursday afternoon.

Police handed the woman a Criminal Infringement Notice for offensive behaviour with an on-the-spot fine of $500.

The Mid North Coast Police District confirmed in a statement that the woman engaged in verbal attack against McDonalds employees.

A 28-year-old man screamed 'everyone here is fed up with this f***ing restaurant' to staff at a McDonalds in Kempsey

Staff at the McDonald's restaurant in Kempsey New South Wales (pictured) have been offered support by their manager

'The incident involved reports of a female aggressively abusing (several) staff, including teenage employees, over a dispute on the time it was taking for her order to be processed,' police said.

'During the incident, the female was alleged to have used extremely offensive and abusive language towards the employees.'

The Kempsey restaurant manager was notified of the charges and has provided support to the staff involved.
has announced a documentary on filmmaker that will look into the story behind the sexual abuse allegations against him involving his daughter Dylan Farrow.

Titled "Allen v Farrow", the four-part documentary hails from investigative filmmakers Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering and Amy Herdy, said in a statement.

It will premiere on on February 21.

The documentary has been meticulously piecedtogether throughintimate home movie footage, court documents,police evidence,revelatory videotape and never-before-heard audio tapes.

It will also feature in-depthinterviewswith Mia Farrow, Dylan Farrow, Ronan Farrow, family friend Carly Simon, prosecutor Frank Maco, relatives,investigators,experts and other first-handeyewitnesses many of them speaking publicly about the events for the first time.

Dick, Ziering and Herdy are known for films such as "The Hunting Ground" and "On the Record", which explored longstanding allegations of sexual assault against the hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons.

"Allen v Farrow" has been directed by Dick and Ziering with Herdy producing it alongside Jamie Rogers.

The series is presented by HBO Documentary Films in association with Impact Partners and Chicago Media Project, a Jane Doe Films Production.

In the recent years, Allen has been a subject of discussion over the resurfacing of the sexual assault allegations against him by his step-daughter Dylan Farrow.

The accusations, which Allen has repeatedly denied, caught steam in the wake of the #MeToo uprising.

(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.)
I doubt that the Trump sign will be taken down in the near future through a revised ordinance. But signage, by nature, is temporary, dependent on the viability of the business operating on site. Having left office with a 29% approval rating, the Trump name and brand have been further tarnished, weakening hotel occupancy and condo values, compounded by the pandemics effect on the economy. The market is stronger and more ruthless than any municipal ordinance to pressure change. If business interests do not prompt a building de-brand, then the considerable loans the Trump Organization needs to repay in the next few years to Deutsche Bank just might force a wholesale change of ownership.
The 5,800 workers at the BHM1 Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama, will soon vote on whether to accept representation by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), an affiliate of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). Mail-in voting will start February 8 and end March 29 with the tally expected the next day. On Friday, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rejected a motion by Amazon to delay the vote.

Amazon workers protest unsafe working conditions in Staten Island, New York, on March 30, 2020 (Credit: AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

The International Amazon Workers Voice (IAWV) has been at the forefront of exposing the ruthlessness of the online retail and logistics giant, which is notorious for demanding inhuman levels of productivity, putting its workers at high risk of injury and keeping them under constant surveillance. Last year, Amazon doubled its annual profit to $21.3 billion and owner Jeff Bezos added another $68 billion to his $184 billion personal fortune. At the same time, more than 20,000 Amazon workers were infected with COVID-19 last year and an unknown number have died.

Among workers there is enormous anger over these appalling conditions and a strong desire to organize to fight for improved wages and conditions and to stop management abuse. If the RWDSU was such an organization, the International Amazon Workers Voice (IAWV) would encourage workers to vote for it. But it is not. Long and bitter experience has shown that workers cannot take a single step forward in the fight for decent wages and conditions through organizations like the RWDSU, the UFCW and others which have spent decades practicing labor-management collusion and subordinating the interests of workers to the profits of the corporations. If the RWDSU is voted in, it will not fight for workers demands and workers would quickly find themselves in a fight not only against the company, but the union too.

The way forward for Bessemer and all Amazon workers is to form rank-and-file warehouse committees, controlled democratically by workers themselves, that are committed to a collective struggle to break managements dictatorship over the workplace, fight for a significant increase in wages and benefits, and extend the democratic control of workers over line speed, safety conditions and COVID-19 protections. This committee should affiliate with the growing national and international network of rank-and-file committees in factories, schools and other workplaces.

Amazon attempted unsuccessfully to block mail-in ballots, largely borrowing Trumps claims that such votes would be suspect and invalid. It demanded in-person voting, even as the state has a staggering 21 percent COVID-19 positivity rate, so that management could continue to intimidate workers and pressure them during the voting process itself. The company has conducted a relentless campaign, posting signs inside toilet stalls and sending as many as five texts per day to workers at the facility, warning workers not to abandon the winning team. Workers have also been required to attend meetings where managers seek to browbeat them.

The IAWV opposes management harassment and upholds the democratic right of workers to vote as they choose in the union election. Whichever way the vote goes, however, the task confronting workers will be the same: the building of an independent rank-and-file committee to lead the fight of workers to defend themselves.

Amazons opposition to unionization is not driven by any fear that the RWDSU will interfere with its unilateral control over the workforce and conditions, let alone significantly raise labor costs. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has a business model in which it directly oversees the exploitation of the workforce without having to deal with a middleman like the RWDSU.

If the RWDSU or any other union were brought into Amazon facilities, management would quickly adapt to the new arrangement and collaborate with the union leadership to keep labor costs down and productivity up. That has been the fate of Amazon workers in Germany, Spain and other European countries, where many Amazon facilities are unionized and the conditions for workers remain poor, with low wages, job insecurity and continued high rates of exploitation.

While Amazon points to the corruption of union officials for its own purposes, the RWDSU and UFCW executives are certainly guilty of using workers dues money to fund their lavish lifestyles rather than fight the corporations. Marc Perrone, the president of the RWDSUs parent union, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), made $340,000 in union salaries and disbursements in 2019, about 10 times the average wage of a UFCW meatpacking or grocery worker. RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum is not far behind, pocketing $337,000 in 2019.

At the same time, the UFCW spent just three-quarters of one percent of its nearly $400 million in assets on benefits for striking workers in 2019.

Amazon workers are rightfully outraged over the companys criminal indifference towards their safety during the pandemic, but the RWDSU and UFCW have done nothing to protect workers in the industries they cover. As of February 3, 57,164 meatpacking workers have tested positive for COVID-19, and 278 have died, according to the Food and Environment Reporting Network. At the Tyson plant in Waterloo, Iowa, where managers were betting on how many workers would be infected, workers denounced the UFCW Local 431 for being in bed with management.

This corruption exposed in unions like the United Auto Workers (UAW)whose officials have been jailed for taking bribes from Fiat Chrysler to cut the wages of workersis only the most grotesque expression of the collapse of the trade unions, which once covered 35 percent of the US workforce and today cover only 6.3 percent of private sector workers, and their transformation into arms of corporate management.

Under the pressure of increasing globalization and the ability of giant corporations to shift production to any part of the world for cheaper labor, the unions were transformed in the 1980s and 1990s from organizations that once pressured the corporations to improve the wages and conditions of workers into organizations that pressure workers for concessions to make the corporations more competitive. After decades of union-backed pay cuts, wages in the auto industry are so low that GM, Ford and other UAW-organized companies find it hard to compete with Amazons $15-an-hour wage to attract workers.

By accepting the unchallenged right of the capitalist owners to do as they please with the giant factories, warehouses and industrial facilities, the unions have sat by as tens of millions of workers saw their factories and steel mills closed and cities like Detroit and Birmingham transformed into industrial wastelands.

Politically, the unions are also aligned with the Democratic Party, which defends the wealth and power of the corporate owners just like the Republicans. The Biden administration and local Democrats are spearheading unsafe school reopenings in cities like Chicago, San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Montgomery, Alabama. Figures like Sanders, who is backing the unionization campaign at Amazon, provide a left cover for the unions, which in turn peddle the false claim that the Democrats represent workers.

The stand taken by the Chicago teachers to protect their lives and the lives of their students is part of a growing wave of working-class resistance in the US and around the world against the pandemic profiteersand their political mouthpieceswho have sacrificed the lives of 2.3 million people in the world, and nearly half a million in the US, to enrich themselves. In the coming months, Amazon and other logistics workers will be involved in immense struggles.

Amazon workers should reject the attempt by the unions and the Democratic Party to hijack and disrupt their struggles. The International Amazon Workers Voice calls on Bessemer workers to lead the fight to build new, independent organizations, which will truly defend the interests of Amazon workers: rank-and-file committees, democratically controlled by workers themselves and based on what workers need, not what the giant corporation says is affordable must be built.

This committee should fight for:

 An immediate 40 percent raise and fully funded health care and pension benefits

 An end to company spying and managements dictatorial control of the workplace

 For workers control over production, including rates, safety and COVID-19 protection

 State-of-the-art personal protective equipment, ventilation and social distancing protocols

 The right to halt production when conditions are unsafe, with no retaliation against workers or whistleblowers

 Full transparency, with weekly reports of the number of infections and work locations

 Full pay for all workers on medical leave or for quarantining

These demands cannot be secured without a united and independent struggle of the working class, which begins with what workers and their families need, not what the billionaires and their flunkies in both corporate-controlled parties and unions claim is affordable.

To carry forward their initiative to organize and fight back against one of the most powerful corporations in the world, a BHM1 rank-and-file committee must connect its struggle with the growing movement among educators, autoworkers, transit workers and fellow Amazon workers against the pandemic and social inequality. This movement includes the Alabama Educators Rank-and-File Committee and the Baltimore Amazon BWI2 Rank-and-File Safety Committee.

We urge all those interested in learning more and joining this fight to contact us directly at iawv@wsws.org, or by signing up at wsws.org/workers.
Royally interesting! Prince Harry stepped back into the spotlight on Friday, February 5, as he filmed a TV segment alongside James Corden.

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The pair were seen smiling while chatting and sharing a few laughs on top of a double-decker bus in L.A. alongside a film crew.

According to TMZ, Prince Harry, 36, and Corden, 42, boarded the bus in the CBS lot with the team in tow. They were joined by a full crew with three cameras and a police escort. The British royals wife, Meghan Markle, was not in attendance.

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MEGA

The Duke of Sussex and Late Late Show host are good friends. Corden and his wife, Julia Carey, attended Prince Harrys wedding to the California native in May 2018. He gushed about the experience during an episode of his late-night show.

Ive had quite the weekend, Corden shared at the time. Ive known Prince Harry about seven years now and it was wonderful. It was one of the most beautiful ceremonies Ive ever been to. It was gorgeous, the whole affair, it was happy and it was joyous. It was uplifting.

Corden gave viewers a glimpse inside Prince Harry and the 39-year-old Suits alums big day, showing a photo of himself at the wedding. I couldnt have been having a better time, he said, noting that the photo might suggest otherwise. In my defense, what face do you make whilst youre watching a cellist in a church?

Prince Harry and Markles lives have changed drastically since then. A source told Us Weekly in January they are settling into life as private citizens after stepping down as senior members of the royal family in March 2020. The couple and son Archie, 19 months, moved to the United States, settling in Montecito, California, in July.

Harry doesnt have any regrets about leaving the royal family whatsoever and is really happy in Montecito, the insider said. He and Meghan are enjoying their new life in California  being a normal family and having the freedom to make their own decisions without anyone watching over them.

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Since leaving the United Kingdom, the British Army veteran and California native have been focusing on other projects. They launched the Archewell foundation in April 2020 and a new Spotify podcast, Archewell Audio. The first episode was released in December 2020.
In Washingtons respectable circles, Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser, is a discredited and dishonored ex-general, a once-esteemed military intelligence officer who went off the rails ideologically and then was fired a mere 24 days into the Trump administration for lying to the F.B.I. about contacts with the Russian ambassador.

As if he cared.

Where others see disgrace, Mr. Flynn, 62, has found redemption. Recast by former President Donald J. Trumps most ardent supporters as a MAGA martyr, Mr. Flynn has embraced his role as the man who spent four years unjustly ensnared in the Russia investigation.

He was one of the most extreme voices in Mr. Trumps 77-day push to overturn the election, a campaign that will be under scrutiny as the former presidents second impeachment trial gets underway next week. Mr. Flynn went so far as to suggest using the military to rerun the vote in crucial battleground states. At one point, Mr. Trump even floated the idea of bringing Mr. Flynn back into the administration, as chief of staff or possibly F.B.I. director, people familiar with the conversations told The New York Times.

And now, safely pardoned and free to speak his mind, Mr. Flynn has emerged from the Trump presidency much as he entered it  as the angry outsider who pushes fringe ideas, talks of shadowy conspiracies and is positioning himself as a voice of a far right that, in the wake of the Capitol riot, appears newly, and violently, emboldened.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin at a regular press briefing in Beijing, China, February 5, 2021. /Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday shared "some solid data and detail-rich stories" about northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which "pointedly debunked typical rumors and lies about Xinjiang like the BBC reports."

"This reality check really comes at a good timing," Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said during the regular press briefing. "Xinjiang is a wonderful place where 56 ethnic groups are tightly united like seeds within a pomegranate as they work together for a better life. Currently, the region enjoys social stability, people enjoy their life and work and unprecedented achievement has been made in socioeconomic development and livelihood improvement."

On Wednesday, China released the report "Fact Check: Lies on Xinjiang-related issues versus the truth" to bust all the lies fabricated by western media.

Wang pointed out: "For quite a while, some anti-China forces in the West, including the United States, have been fabricating and spreading a large amount of groundless disinformation about Xinjiang by distorting facts to smear China's image, vilify its Xinjiang policy and meddle in its internal affairs in an attempt to fool the world and disrupt Xinjiang's stability and development."

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, for example, once reported that Azmat Omar, a Chinese citizen living in Australia, claimed that he had lost contact with his family in Xinjiang. But the report found out that his familiy is living a normal life in China.

Another false allegation is that Xinjiang suppresses ethnic minorities under the pretext of fighting terrorism. However, in fact, incomplete statistics show that from 1990 to 2016, ethnic separatists, religious extremists, and violent terrorists plotted and conducted thousands of violent terrorist acts.

In response, Xinjiang government has been acting swiftly in accordance with law and United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy to curb the infiltration of terrorism and extremism. As a result, Xinjiang has reported no violent terrorist cases for more than four consecutive years.

"Lies will never become truth, even if repeated a thousand times," Wang added. "We welcome more interested foreign friends to visit Xinjiang to see with their own eyes all the changes and development that are truly happening there."
The Chinese government, according to experts, sees the coup as a moment of opportunity to undercut the inroads the United States and other Asian nations made during Myanmars halting democratic opening

Less than three weeks before Myanmars military overthrew its elected government, Chinas foreign minister, Wang Yi, made a hastily scheduled visit to the country and heaped praise on its generals.

During a meeting with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the army chief now in charge, the Chinese official expressed support for the militarys deserved role in the course of national transformation and development.

The coup detat this week has thrust China back into the uncomfortable position it held for years with Myanmar: as the principal defender of a military dictatorship facing an international firestorm of criticism.

The coup has complicated a geopolitical struggle over a country that had only recently emerged from diplomatic isolation. China has sought to make it a pliant neighbor, while the United States has searched for the right mixture of pressure and encouragement to nurture a transition to democratic rule. It is also unclear how much any outside influence, from east or west, will sway the generals, whose bunkered mentality cut Myanmar off from the world for half a century.

The United States and others have called on the generals to reverse course, respect the result of falls elections and release the leaders they have detained, including Aung San Suu Kyi. We will work with our partners to support restoration of democracy and the rule of law, and impose consequences on those responsible, US President Joe Biden vowed Thursday.

The United States, however, is not the dominant moral arbiter in world affairs that it once saw itself to be, and other forces in Myanmar could test Bidens ability to forge coalitions to tackle foreign policy challenges, as he has promised to do.

While China remains Myanmars largest trading partner, its biggest foreign investor last year was Singapore. Japan, South Korea, and Thailand have also poured money into the country, making it much less isolated than it was during the decades of military rule.

Japan joined the United States and other Group of Seven nations in condemning the coup, but it appears unlikely to support new sanctions against Myanmars military rulers, which the Biden administration is considering.

Its not just China and the West, said Richard Horsey, a political analyst based in Yangon, Myanmars commercial capital. Theres another world out there, and that makes it much more complicated to figure out how to move forward.

China, for now, has more leverage to shape events than the United States and other nations do.

The Chinese, along with the Russians, have so far blocked significant action on Myanmar by the United Nations Security Council, and Wednesday they complained about leaks detailing the deliberations there. A day later, the Security Council issued a statement that expressed deep concern at the declaration of the state of emergency in Myanmar and called for the release of those arrested.

In their public statements, the Chinese have gone to extraordinary rhetorical lengths to avoid even a hint of criticism, with the state news agency, Xinhua, referring to the coup as a major cabinet reshuffle. Chinas refusal to denounce the generals could shore up their grip on power by deflecting some of the global condemnation.

They consider it their sphere of influence, no doubt about it, said Derek Mitchell, a former US ambassador to Myanmar who is now president of the National Democratic Institute, an organisation that promotes democracy. Theyre very wary of American influence in the country.

The Chinese government, he added, sees the coup as a moment of opportunity to undercut the inroads the United States and other Asian nations made during Myanmars halting democratic opening.

The coup poses challenges of its own for China. The countrys leader, Xi Jinping, had cultivated closer political ties with Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy. As Myanmars civilian leader, Suu Kyi visited China more than any other foreign country.

Xi went to Myanmar in January of last year  his last foreign trip before the coronavirus pandemic froze most travel  and signed a flurry of agreements, including railroad and port projects that are part of Chinas Belt and Road programme to expand its economic corridors to the Indian Ocean.

The fates of such projects are now shrouded in uncertainty, and the Chinese loathe uncertainty, said Bilahari Kausikan, a former Singapore diplomat who is the chairman of the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore.

They spent considerable energy, time cultivating Aung San Suu Kyi  with some success, he said. Now they have to start again with a new bunch of generals, and these generals are not just difficult for the West. Theyre difficult for everyone.

Although China defended Myanmars junta for decades, the relationship has been far from cordial.

Many of the generals spent their formative years battling communist rebels, who received generous, if covert, funding from Beijing. While ethnic insurgents are no longer part of the socialist brotherhood of that era, they still receive weapons and tactical support from China, according to senior members of ethnic armed groups.

When Xi visited Myanmar last year, the military complained to him about Chinas financing of those rebel armies. The military justified its first coup, amid ethnic insurrections in 1962, as necessary to hold the country together, and ethnic strife in Myanmars borderlands has flared in recent months.

As Western sanctions hurt Myanmars economy in the 1990s, the military began to plan economic liberalisations that would free it from dependence on Chinas largess, and it has defied its powerful neighbor in recent years.

In 2011, Thein Sein, a former junta member who headed a transitional government, suspended the construction of a Chinese-backed dam that would have flooded a holy site while sending almost all the electricity it generated to China. The project remains suspended.

By contrast, Suu Kyi defended a Chinese-invested copper mine project that had been tainted by human rights abuses.

If the military would make China the economic partner China wants to be, it would have done that before 2011, said Yun Sun, director of the China Programme at the Stimson Center in Washington. But under international isolation, the junta always felt China was exploiting them because they had no other options. Thats why they chose reform over China.

When those reforms began, the United States saw an opportunity to show that democracy could flourish even in authoritarian soil. That led to high-profile diplomacy, including visits by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2011 and by President Barack Obama in 2012 and 2014.

Those headlines soon faded. Suu Kyi, once an international human rights icon, generated outrage by refusing to condemn the militarys ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims.

Veterans of that starry-eyed US outreach now hold prominent positions in the Biden administration, including Secretary of State Antony J Blinken and Kurt M Campbell, a former assistant secretary of state who now leads China policy at the National Security Council.

Myanmar, meanwhile, has changed significantly. China is no longer the only economic alternative to the West for the generals, as it was during the years of diplomatic isolation. Myanmars reforms led to economic  and, increasingly, political  links with other countries in Asia, especially Japan.

They have a very good relationship with all sides in Burma, Mitchell, using Myanmars former name, said of the Japanese.

A Japanese special envoy has been mediating between the military and an ethnic armed group in the western state of Rakhine, raising hopes that Tokyos delicate approach with the generals might get more results than sharp criticism from the West. Japan could also bring its economic influence to bear. Kirin, the Japanese beer maker, announced Friday that it would end its joint ventures with two companies in Myanmar over the coup.

China, for its part, has called for calm and stability in recent days, emphasising that other countries should not interfere in Myanmars internal affairs.

It is not clear if Wang, the foreign minister, picked up any signals that a coup was in the works when he visited 11 and 12 January.

As Xi had a year earlier, he met with both military and political leaders, reflecting the fragile balance of power before the generals retook full control.

During their meeting with Wang, held in a large, gilded room, Hlaing and other commanders complained about the elections in November that expanded the civilian governments power, citing mistakes and inaccuracies that could have led to electoral fraud, according to a statement by the military.

Despite the economic agreements it reached with Suu Kyi, China has not signaled support for her. It appears to be calculating that there is little chance the coup will be reversed.

Chinas relationship with Myanmar is not dependent on who is in power, said Sun of the Stimson Center. Whoever in power will always need to work with China. The difference is with the quality of the partnership and the costs that China has to carry for it.

Steven Lee Myers and Hannah Beech c.2021 The New York Times Company
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Claiming the Aam Aadmi Party was the best alternative for Gujarat, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday said the AAP government in Delhi has revolutionised the health care system as well as the education system in just five years and has achieved what the BJP government in Gujarat has not been able to do in its 25-year rule.

Sisodia was in Gujarat to campaign for AAP candidates for the local body elections slated at the end of this month.

Talking to the media, Sisodia said, "The five-year period is also a very long period and in just 2 years, the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi, by creating 'Mohalla clinics' revolutionised the health care system in such a manner, that not only from national but also from abroad, people came to see how the health care system can work for the common man. Whereas even after 25 years of BJP rule, the common man anywhere in Gujarat cannot feel confident about receiving good health care in the government-run health facilities."

"Similarly, the education system is also a total failure in the BJP-led governance in the state, whether it be the state government or the local body-run systems. The role of early child care education and the primary education is very vital in forming the personality of a citizen in his or her career. The BJP, in its 25 years of being in power, has not been able to set up a proper education system in Gujarat. Whereas, the Kejriwal government has set up primary schools in Delhi and the education is far better than that in primary private schools," Sisodia added.

"So these are the two models of governance, which people have to choose from - one is that of 25 years of BJP-led governance in Gujarat, versus the five-year rule of AAP in Delhi," said Sisodia.

"People in Gujarat are tired and frustrated due to the corruption in the local body administrations and they have to run from pillar to post in getting their work done. The AAP government in Delhi revolutionised the way government administration works by coming out with historic initiative of Doorstep Delivery. Now the people in Delhi don't have to go to any office, but the administration goes from house to house and provides the citizens all that is required," added Sisodia.

"The people in Gujarat are fed up with the BJP government, and are looking for an alternative which they don't find in the Congress. We don't see Congress as an alternative. The people in Gujarat even when they vote for the Congress, they get disappointed when the same Congress leaders thereafter join the BJP," said the Delhi Education Minister.

The AAP launched its election campaign for the local body elections in Gujarat on Saturday, holding roadshows in Ahmedabad and Rajkot. Sisodia, as the star campaigner of this roadshow, started by visiting Nagarvale Hanuman temple in Hatkeshwar area of Ahmedabad.

Sisodia will lead a roadshow in Rajkot on Sunday.

Along with Sisodia, AAP MP Sanjay Singh is also in Gujarat to campaign and hold roadshows in Surat. Besides them, 10 AAP leaders will be campaigning in the coming days for the AAP candidates contesting the local body elections for the municipal corporations, municipalities, district and tehsil panchayats in Gujarat.
Washington, Feb 6 : The UN has called for the reversal of the US' designation of the Houthi militia in Yemen as a terrorist organisation, the spokesman's office of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

This request is based purely on humanitarian grounds, amid a growing risk of famine in Yemen, the Office said in a note to correspondents on Friday in response to queries about Yemen.

"We welcome the decision of the US to strengthen its diplomatic engagement in support of the UN-led efforts to find a negotiated, comprehensive political solution to end the conflict in Yemen," Xinhua news agency quoted the note as saying.

"This is a positive development that could create further momentum for dialogue." UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths looks forward to working constructively with all parties at this critical time for the Yemeni people, it said.

On January 11, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US will designate Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels as a foreign terrorist organisation over its role in the ongoing conflict in the impoverished country.

Also on Friday, the UN also welcomed all decisions seeking to create further space for dialogue and to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people.

Last week, new US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week that his team was reviewing the designation.

President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the US is ending its support for offensive operations in the Yemen conflict and that his country would step up diplomacy and support UN-led initiative to end the war.

"We are ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales," the President said in his first major foreign policy speech since taking office last month.

According to figures released by the UN in December 2020, more than 230,000 Yemenis have died in the six-year-old war, mostly because of a lack of food, health services and infrastructure.

The Houthi militia has intensified attacks on the Yemeni government-held cities in the past year that killed and injured hundreds of people, according to the government of the war-torn country.

Yemen has been mired in civil war since late 2014, when the Houthi rebels seized control of northern provinces and forced the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict in 2015 to support Hadi's government.
PM Modi addresses Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Gujarat High Court, releases commemorative postage stamp

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

New Delhi, Feb 06: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday addressed the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Gujarat High Court and virtually released a commemorative postage stamp on Gujarat High Court as part of the institution's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. The Gujarat High Court has completed sixty years of its establishment on May 1, 2020.

Though the Prime Minister was supposed to personally attend one of the events and scheduled to release the stamp as part of the Diamond Jubilee, the celebrations were postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak in Gujarat.

Drones in the skies, enhanced security on ground as India braces for chakka jam

Addressing the gathering through video conference, PM Modi said, "Our judiciary has always interpreted Constitution positively and creatively to strengthen it further. Be it safeguarding the rights of people of the country or when any situation arose where national interest needed to be prioritized, judiciary has always performed its duty."

Delhi metro stations to avoid amid farmers Chakka jam | Oneindia News

Earlier, an official press release said, "The Prime Minister has kindly consented to grace the function and do the honours of releasing the commemorative postage stamp of Diamond Jubilee of the High Court of Gujarat at 10.30 am on February 6, 2021."

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Story first published: Saturday, February 6, 2021, 11:39 [IST]


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Before COVID struck last year, Perth filmmaker Zak Hilditch, best known for his 2013 end of times breakthrough These Final Hours, had a new film project titled Airborne pre-sold and ready to shoot. Unfortunately, it was about a deadly pandemic that rips through an international flight.

It was ultimately my decision to pull the pin on the film because what was happening [with COVID] was way scarier and more relevant than what I had written four or so years before it, he says.

A scene from new Amazon Prime film Greenland, starring Gerard Butler. Credit:Amazon

If the film had already been made and was getting released during this crazy time, then thats one thing. But to start filming this particular story within the context of COVID just didnt feel right and actually quite redundant.

To most of us, thats sensible thinking. But oddly enough, even as the worlds population remains mired in our own ongoing disaster-film scenario, viewers have bizarrely gravitated to the genre.
Soon, a preliminary mission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) may leave for Nagorno-Karabakh, liberated from the Armenian occupation, and the adjacent regions of Azerbaijan, the representative of the organization's press service said.

"Discussions on the organization of the trip continue. We hope that the mission will be deployed in the near future," TASS quotes the UNESCO spokesman as saying.
Investigations editor

Larry Parnass, investigations editor, joined The Eagle in 2016 from the Daily Hampshire Gazette, where he was editor in chief. His freelance work has appeared in the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Hartford Courant and CommonWealth Magazine.
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Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
On Friday (Feb. 5), Standardbred Canada elected its Officers and Executive Committee for 2021.

Bill McLinchey of Ayr, Ont. was elected as the Chair of Standardbred Canada. McLinchey will serve his first term as SC Chair, replacing Ann Straatman.

McLincheys first involvement in the Standardbred industry started as a teenager, by assisting his father and grandfather race a small stable at all Southwestern Ontario racetracks. He began working in the Mohawk Race Office in 2004, and later became the Manager of Racing Operations in 2010. Bill is currently leading the Standardbred Racing Department at Woodbine Mohawk Park as the Director of Standardbred Racing.

Bill has been a Standardbred Canada Director since 2017, and in that time has been a part of the Strategic Planning Committee, Governance Committee, By-Laws/Regulations/Rules/Licensing Committee and has also served as the Chair of the By-Laws Committee and OBrien Awards Committee.

McLinchey is a member of the Unified Racing Rules Committee for both Standardbred Canada and the United States Trotting Association.

The 2021 Executive Committee was also elected to serve a one-year term:
Virginia Governor Calls on Schools to Offer In-person Learning by Mid-March

Schools in Virginia should provide some form of in-person learning by March 15, Gov. Ralph Northam said Friday.

By that date, I expect every school division to make in-person learning options available in accordance with the guidance, the Democratic governor said at a press conference. They also need to plan for summer school options. This wont be mandatory, but it definitely needs to be an option.

The announcement comes as leading officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that schools reopen with safety measures, such as face coverings and social distancing. The agencys director, Rochelle Walensky, told reporters on Wednesday that vaccinating teachers is not a prerequisite for safe reopening of schools and that there is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen.

Weve seen more data now, and it suggests that schools dont have the kind of rapid spread that weve seen in some other congregate settings, Northam said. That tells us its time to find a path forward to in-person learning.

Schools in Virginia scrambled to close their buildings in March 2020 when the state was first hit by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, and have been predominantly relying on remote learning ever since. Virginias Fairfax County, one of the nations most well-funded public school systems, was repeatedly called out by then-Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for only allowing students to learn in classrooms for two days per week.

Northam, who is a pediatric neurologist, said his colleagues have reported writing more prescriptions for anti-depressants and stimulants as children have developed more behavioral problems, mental health issues, and even substance abuses since the school closure, which has also led to a decline in academic performance.

I know this has been hard on everyone. It has been a school year like no other, Northam said. Its been hard on children, and its been hard on our teachers. But we also know this plain fact: Children learn better in classrooms, and thats where they need to be.

The state will provide funding to help implement the safety measures the schools need to reopen safely, Northam said. Those funds will come from state revenue as well as federal dollars allocated through last years CARES Act.

Recent weeks have seen several Democrat-run states and cities joining Republican states in pushing to bring students back to classrooms, as President Joe Biden remains committed to reopening Americas schools in the first 100 days of his presidency. Those efforts, however, are usually met with opposition from powerful teachers unions.

In Chicago, thousands of public school teachers have refused to return to in-person work, as the negotiation between the school district and teachers union make little progress. In Los Angles, the teachers union joined the school board to push against California Gov. Gavin Newsoms proposed school reopening plan, under which only schools that reopen for in-person learning could get their share of $2 billion in extra funding.

Posted Friday, February 5, 2021 5:15 pm

Washington states efforts to vaccinate its population against COVID-19 appears to be growing, as state leaders say that the capacity is there to meet their goals for administering doses, as long as federal allotments increase.

During a Thursday, Feb. 4 press conference, Gov. Jay Inslee said that as of that day more than 770,000 vaccinations had been administered in Washington state, roughly a 10th of the statewide population. He said vaccinations in the state were averaging about 28,000 daily, adding it was about twice the number of daily vaccinations from two weeks ago.

Inslee said that the state has the capacity to vaccinate 45,000 individuals a day, a goal previously set by the state. That rate of vaccination was dependent on having enough supply of the vaccine itself to administer, however, which has proven an issue for Washington as the vaccine has rolled out.

Both the governor and Washington State Secretary of Health Dr. Umair Shah were hopeful that federal allotments would be increasing as time goes on. Shah said mass vaccination sites have been a driver for the states ability to meet its goals, noting he and Inslee had visited the site at the Clark County Fairgrounds in Ridgefield the week before.

Please have patience, Shah said. We know it is difficult right now.  Its a numbers game in terms of the numbers of vaccines that are coming into the state  but your turn is coming.

Inslee said the state has made progress in the past few weeks on how many vaccine doses have been administered in Washington based on population compared nationwide, going from 37th place among states and the District of Columbia as of Jan. 19, to 14th as of the day of the press conference.

Washington State Department of Health Deputy Secretary for COVID Response Lacy Fehrenbach said the state had a request approved for mass vaccination efforts by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for $550 million, with $274 million upfront. Inslee said that the state was addressing equity in its vaccination process through efforts such as popup vaccination clinics and funding for ample communication to communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

Inslee said those communication efforts include having information available in 41 different language groups, and have already been funded by $1 million, with an additional $2.3 million expected through June.

The state is also committing to cracking down on preferential vaccinations by healthcare providers who prioritize certain individuals over others to receive their doses, Inslee said. He added the state Department of Health has communicated they will reduce dosages for providers who show such preferences among recipients.

Its just wrong to offer special privilege in this regard. Everyone deserves fair access to this vaccine, Inslee remarked.

Shah said the state has required providers to administer 95 percent of its vaccine allocations within a week, or also face reductions in subsequent allocations of doses. Acknowledging that some providers have already seen those reductions, he said the vast majority of them have just been fantastic with administering vaccines according to the states schedule.

We dont want to be punitive about this. Its just that we have found some providers dont have the capability of doing the rate of vaccination that we need, Inslee later added.

Alongside vaccination efforts, the state has also made moves on reopening of shuttered activities and businesses as a result of Washingtons COVID-19 response, which Inslee acknowledged in the press conference. He addressed criticisms of the states Healthy Washington program, which has switched to a region-based approach, as opposed to the states old county-based reopening plan, remarking there were 10,000 legitimate criticisms of how the states plan has been crafted.

Inslee defended the aspects of Healthy Washington, explaining that the decision to have a regionally-based approach was due to the interdependence of hospital systems across county lines, and that basing the phasing-in of reopening on smaller units  such as counties compared to regions  had the potential of nonuniform application. He gave an example of businesses operating close to county lines where one was allowed to reopen and the other was not.

If you did (reopening) on a countywide basis I can assure you that we would be criticized for that, Inslee said.

The governor added that the decision to re-evaluate regions eligible to move to the next phase on a two-week basis was acknowledging that in some cases a county might have a bad week when it came to the metrics used in determining that progression, both for moving forward a phase and for moving backward if enough metrics arent maintained.

Inslee also touched on schools returning to in-person learning for K-12 public education, regarding which he said that 220,000 elementary students in the state have been able to return in some form. The governor said there had been very minimal in-school transmission of COVID-19 for districts returning some students to buildings, adding that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Wallensky has backed the type of reopening of schools that Washington state has taken.

I think what were seeing is the justified and understandable concern about safety (for school reopening) early in the pandemic being replaced with confidence-builders of schools and educators and bus drivers and clerks who have demonstrated the ability to use these protocols in a way that is safe, Inslee said.
Gandhinagar, Feb 6 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the possibility of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being examined to improve the efficiency and speed of the judiciary in the country.

Modi was virtually addressing an event in Ahmedabad, marking the diamond jubilee of the Gujarat High Court. The Prime Minister also released a commemorative postage stamp marking 60 years of the Gujarat High Court.

He said that along with the country the judicial system of India also stood up in the fight against Covid and improved. "I thank the Supreme Court of India for giving legal sanctity to video conferencing and teleconferencing which has speeded up the e-proceedings in all courts. We are proud to say that our Supreme Court has become the largest Supreme Court in the world with maximum hearings through video conferencing. Our high courts and district courts are also hearing cases through video conferencing even during the difficult times like Covid." "It is a matter of satisfaction for us that the Law Ministry, under the E-Courts Integrated Mission, by setting up the digital infrastructure has helped our courts to work virtually. The Digital India Mission is rapidly modernising the judicial system of the country. More than 18,000 courts in the country have been computerised," said Modi.

Commenting on the possibilities of using Artificial Intelligence in the judicial system, Modi said, "To make our judicial system future-ready, the use of AI is being explored. The use of AI will not only improve the efficiency of the judiciary but will also speed up the entire system. In all these efforts, the 'AtmaNirbhar Bharat' campaign will play a major role." The Prime Minister said, "Working with the National Informatics Centre (NIC), the e-committee of the Supreme Court is working towards improving the efficiency of the judiciary. While maintaining tight security, work is on to develop cloud-based infrastructure." "The Gujarat High Court has been the first state court to livestream court proceedings in the country and a long held discussion on the concept of open courts has been materialised. The e-filing of cases in the courts across the country has also brought about a new paradigm shift in the judicial system. The unique identifier code, the QR code given to each cases, has strengthened the National Judicial Data grid and through that the ease of justice is improving. Through this, not only is the ease of living improving but the ease of business is also improving. The ease of business has given confidence to foreign investors who are assured that their judicial interests will be secured," he added.

"To help the common man get speedy justice, e-Seva centres are being opened in the high courts and the district courts of the country. The e-Lok Adalat is now the new normal. Junagarh had the first e-Lok Adalat." Modi released a commemorative postage stamp marking the completion of 60 years of the establishment of the Gujarat High Court.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani were also virtually present at the event along with Judges of the Supreme Court and Gujarat High Court and members of the law fraternity of Gujarat.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Motorola is expected to announce a bunch of new smartphones soon, two of which are the Moto E6i and Moto E7i Power that have been Bluetooth SIG certified.

The listing on Bluetooth SIG's website reveals the Moto E6i has model designations XT2053-5 and XT2053-6, while the E7i Power has three model numbers - XT2097-12, XT2097-13, and XT2097-14.



Moto E6i, Moto E7i Power, and Lenovo K13 Bluetooth certified

The listing also includes the Lenovo K13 bearing model code XT2097-15, suggesting it could be a rebranded E7i Power for the Chinese market.

Bluetooth SIG doesn't detail these smartphones' specs, but we expect the E7i Power to pack a battery no smaller than 5,000 mAh.

More details about the Moto E6i, E7i Power, and Lenovo K13 should surface soon.

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Bangkok: The Australian government has serious concerns about Sean Turnell, an Australian economic adviser to Myanmars former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained by police.

Suu Kyi was overthrown in a military coup days ago and, in a message sent to the Reuters news agency on Saturday, he said he was being detained.

Dr Sean Turnell an associate professor in economics at Macquarie University, Sydney, Credit:File

I guess you will soon hear of it, but I am being detained, he said. Being charged with something, but not sure what. I am fine and strong, and not guilty of anything, he said with a smile emoji. He couldnt be contacted again.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said the Australian government was deeply concerned about reports of Australian and other foreign nationals being detained arbitrarily in Myanmar.
Fairbanks Memorial Hospital Nursing Supervisor Manuela Hitz, left, receives the first COVID-19 vaccine in the city on Thursday at the hospital. It was the first of 975 vaccines the hospital received Wednesday. RN Nancy Spencer, a 40 year employee of Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, administered the vaccine. Courtesy Foundation Health Partners
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A state senator has introduced a bill to repeal Floridas controversial Stand Your Ground law, which allows people to use guns and other deadly force in public in self-defence without first trying to retreat, as the country nears the 9th anniversary of Trayvon Martins death, which helped inspire Black Lives Matter protests.

George Zimmerman, a white Hispanic man, shot Martin, an unarmed Black teenager, in 2012 in, Florida, and was acquitted of second-degree murder under the law.

"We know for a fact that Stand Your Ground promotes vigilantism, it allows people to shoot first and ask questions later," Shevrin Jones said during a press conference on Thursday, introducing the bill, known as the Self-Defence Restoration Act. "More important, it puts black people and other people of color at a greater risk of gun violence.

Announcing the proposed law, SB 1052, Mr Jones pointed to statistics from Everytown USA, a gun-control group, which found that Stand Your Ground-type laws across the country contribute to an extra 150 gun deaths each month, and that white shooters with black victims were deemed justified five times more often than the reverse.

In 2012, Mr Zimmerman, a neighbourhood watch volunteer with a history of frequent 911 calls, reported spotting Martin as a suspicious person, before ignoring police instructions and leaving his car. A scuffle ensued, with Mr Zimmerman and Martins family claiming they acted in self-defence.

The senator previously tried to repeal the bill in 2019 without success, and todays effort is unlikely to make it through Floridas Republican legislature and governor.

Floridas Stand Your Ground policy was signed into law in 2005 by Republican governor Jeb Bush, and political debate around the idea has not really changed since.

The National Rifle Association, an influential gun advocacy group, was a strong backer of the bill, and governor Bush said to retreat and put yourself in a very precarious position defies common sense."

John F Timoney, Miami's police chief at the time, slammed the policy as an unnecessary step giving people total immunity.

"Whether it's trick-or-treaters or kids playing in the yard of someone who doesn't want them there or some drunk guy stumbling into the wrong house," he told The New York Times, "you're encouraging people to possibly use deadly physical force where it shouldn't be used."

Since its passage, local law enforcement in Florida have complained of the laws overuse, with gang members and bar fighters claiming Stand Your Ground protections.

Prior to the introduction of such policies, American self-defence rules were largely based on English common law, which held a right to defence inside the home, though legal historians have pointed out that such self-protections usually only applied to property-owning white men, as many states long outlawed Black people from owning guns and didnt consider domestic violence against women grounds for self-defense even within the home.

Joe Biden has pushed to use his slim majority in Congress to ban certain assault weapons, strengthen background checks and federal red flag laws, and restrict high capacity magazine, though that effort will also face an uphill political battle.
Three prison guards face misconduct charges stemming from a violent attack on at least six female inmates, including one who was punched 28 times, New Jerseys attorney general said Thursday.

Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said prosecutors found that the guards tried to cover up the attack at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women by filing false reports. He said the attack happened early Jan. 11 and involved about two dozen guards.

Dozens of corrections officers at the Clinton prison  New Jersey's only women's prison  were placed on paid leave last month, following allegations that staff brutally beat and sexually assaulted inmates there.

One woman, Ajila Nelson, told NJ.com that officers on Jan. 11 handcuffed her and others, before punching, kicking, stripping and dragging her to a shower, after which she says an unidentified male officer got on top of her and groped and sexually assaulted her.

A transgender woman incarcerated at the facility was beaten by a group of officers and three officers stomped on her head, her mother, Trimeka Rollins, told the newspaper. Her daughters knee was so badly damaged that shes now using a wheelchair, Rollins said.

Grewal said Thursday the criminal investigation was still in its early stages.

Last week, Gov. Phil Murphy named former state comptroller Matt Boxer as an independent investigator into the allegations.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
National Youth Organizer for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Lawyer Henry Nana Boakye says the lead Counsel for former President John Dramani Mahama in the 2020 election petition, Mr Tsatsu Tsikata is not helping the case of the petitioner.



According to him, he would have fired Mr Tsatsu Tsikata as the lead Counsel if he was in the shoes of the petitioner, claiming that the renowned private legal practitioner is destroying the case for Mr John Dramani Mahama with his constant verbal attacks on the judges.



Speaking on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show, lawyer Nana Boakye maintained that Mr Tsatsu Tsikatas abusive words on the Justices of the Supreme Court presiding over the 2020 election petition is making it hard for the petitioner to appeal to the discretional powers of the Judges of the Supreme Court.



I have said that if I were former President Mahama and Tsatsu was my lawyer, I would have fired him a long time, because the same judges presiding over your petition, you are always fighting them . . . it is their case but if it were to be me, I would have fired him; he is destroying the case for John Mahama, he opined.



He, however, told Mr Tsatsu Tsikata to be mindful that inasmuch as there are laws in court, the judges also have descretional powers to pass judgment over any case per their understanding of what is before them.



He was of the view that no lawyer can fight Judges as they have the discretionally powers to interpret the law in the court differently from the interpretation that might emanate from lawyers; hence, they are lords over every case.



If the judges are the lords over your case and you are showing arrogant posture because you are the don and probably older and more knowledgeable in the law than the judges on the case, then it is up to John Mahama and the NDC to keep him as their lead Counsel. I would have fired him if I were Mahama, he posited.

Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The United Kingdom, already the cradle of the well-known, more contagious variant of the virus that causes COVID-19, has discovered a new mutation affecting certain strains of the disease, same as the one found in South Africa and Brazil, further complicating the European epidemiological landscape.

As if it wasnt bad enough, the more-contagious UK variant of COVID-19 just got worse.

British health authorities announced on February 2 that they had detected, on the outskirts of Liverpool and in Bristol, a limited number of strains presenting the E484K mutation in the UK variant. A total of some 40 cases were reportedly detected.

Its the same S protein E484K mutation in the UK variant as the other South African, Brazilian and Japanese variants, Julian Tang, a virus expert at the University of Leicester, told FRANCE 24.

But this time, the cases were not imported from one of those three countries, according to Jonathan Stoye, a virologist and head of research at the Francis Crick Institute in London. What happened in Liverpool is that the UK variant independently developed the E484K mutation, Stoye told FRANCE 24.

The E484K mutation has caught the attention of the scientific community because of the possibility that it could make current COVID-19 treatments, including existing vaccines, less effective. But it does not necessarily mean that the new form of the virus will spread more quickly.

Resistance to antibodies

The 501 change [in the first UK variant], enhances the binding of the virus to the cell, therefore making it easier to spread; and the 484 enhances the resistance to the antibodies, Stoye explained.

There remains the thorny question of the viruss resistance to antibodies and, by extension, to vaccines, which stimulate the immune system so that it produces natural defences against the disease.

When it was discovered in early January, the E484K mutation raised concern among immunologists because it changes the shape of the spike protein (which allows the virus to bind to the cells and contaminate them), which could complicate the task of the antibodies.

The mutation is very likely to make the virus variant better able to evade the bodys blocking antibody response. It may also reduce the ability of current vaccines to protect from infection Lawrence Young, a virologist and professor of molecular oncology at Warwick Medical School, told FRANCE 24 by email.

This could account for the recent results from the Novavax vaccine trials [that showed] while the vaccine had 95.6% efficacy against the original coronavirus and 85.6% against the UK variant, it had an efficacy of only 60% against the South Africa variant, he added.

Researchers and pharmaceutical companies have been working to better understand the implications of the E484K mutation.

Initial findings show that vaccines might be a little less potent, but the bottom line is that in people with a good immune reaction, the protection against the virus should still be effective, said Stoye, of the Francis Crick Institute.

But he added that the mutation was of particular concern for the elderly who have a lower immune response and produce smaller amounts of antibodies.

This is why it is essential to get the vaccine injections close together, Stoye warned. The second dose enhances the production of antibodies, which can be decisive in combating these new variants. One shot is not enough, people must understand there are still at risk after one shot with these variants, he said.

The discovery in the UK of strains carrying the E484K mutation could weigh on the heated debate in Europe surrounding the waiting period between two shots. Moderna and Pfizer recommend three weeks to one month between the administration of the two doses, but several countries, including the UK and Germany, have suggested spacing them out further.

Extending the period would make it possible to vaccinate more people at least once without having to set aside too many doses for the booster. It comes down to a political decision, at a time when there is public pressure on European governments to speed up vaccination campaigns.

But scientifically, it is risky: BioNTech has made it clear that its vaccine is 52 per cent effective after administration of the first dose. This is just barely sufficient according to European recommendations (which require a minimum efficiency of 50%)  but this applies only to the Sars-CoV-2, without any significant mutations.

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The British variant could very well take advantage of governments efforts to calm their impatient constituents and spread.

This article was translated from the original in French.



France 24 is Premium Times syndication partner. We have permission to republish content.
A breast cancer surgeon who was redeployed to the Covid frontline at the onset of the pandemic has spoken of the guilt she feels for not seeing her mother for six months before she died.

Rebecca Lewis, 40, of Battersea, south west London, told how her mum, who lived in Essex, went into hospital before the first national lockdown after being diagnosed with rapid onset dementia, and was moved to a care home in June.

Not wanting to risk spreading the virus if she visited, Rebecca stayed away, unaware that her mother was so close to the end of her life.

She passed away in early August, and Rebecca - who has continued to work full-time since - admitted she doesn't feel she's been properly able to grieve; a feeling she believes is shared by many healthcare workers who have lost people during the pandemic.

Rebecca Lewis, 40, of Battersea, south west London, was redeployed to the Covid frontline at the onset of the pandemic and has spoken of the guilt she feels for not seeing her mother for six months before she died

Speaking to FEMAIL, Rebecca said she feels 'massively' guilty about not seeing her, adding: 'Because she was very confused, she just thought I'd abandoned her.

'She knew there was a virus around and she was listening to the news, she was able to understand that something weird was happening, but usually when I spoke to her she used to beg me to come and get her, which I obviously couldn't do.

'It made it much worse that she was really confused and she didn't know what to do, and neither did I.'

Rebecca last saw her mother in February 2020, just before she went into hospital, and said she would have turned up on the doorstep of the care home had she known she was dying.

'It was horrible, I hadn't seen her in six months, which was very odd for me because before she became ill we spoke every day and we were very close,' she said.

Rebecca told how her mum, who lived in Essex, went into hospital before the first national lockdown and was moved to a care home in June before she passed away in August. Pictured: Rebecca (right) with her mother (centre) and sister

'They moved her to get her out of hospital, not because they thought she was going to die - that wasn't expected.'

Asked if she feels she hasn't had time to properly grieve, Rebecca said: 'I would say so, yes. I've been working full time since then; I think in some ways that's a good thing for me because I don't really want too much time to think about it.

'But I think definitely yes, and I think that's happened to a lot of my colleagues who have lost people, colleagues and members of their family in the last year, and we've just had to carry on.'

Rebecca added that she is convinced the pandemic will leave a devastating impact on mental health and the treatment of other diseases, particularly cancer.

'I think when we are allowed to mix, it will be more obvious who's missing. It will be very odd and I definitely think there will be some mental health issues that come out of this for everybody,' she said.

Rebecca said she is convinced the pandemic will leave a devastating impact on mental health and the treatment of other diseases, particularly cancer

'I also think people are missing out on diagnoses because they're scared to come to the hospital. Most of the cancer surgery has been postponed again.

'We've been trying to do a lot of work on getting ladies to come and reassure them as best we can that the clinic is a safe place. But we're seeing that a lot of people have left it later than they would normally.'

Rebecca, who now works in a hospital which only treats cancer patients, said this lockdown feels 'worse than last time' because the medical profession 'saw the second wave coming'.

'We tried to warn the government how to avoid it and they ignored us, so now we're stuck in this again,' she said.

One thing that's helped Rebecca and her husband Frederico, 44, get through this immensely difficult time is a childcare app called Bubble, which she said has been incredibly helpful for finding people to look after their two-and-a-half-year-old son Sebastian.

One thing that's helped Rebecca and her husband Frederico, 44, get through this immensely difficult time is a childcare app called Bubble, which she said has been incredibly helpful for finding people to look after their two-and-a-half-year-old son Sebastian (pictured together)

Bubble is the UK's biggest on-demand childcare platform, with more than 100,000 users. Parents can use the app to find, book and pay local sitters who come recommended from their friends and other parents in their area.

'It's been really helpful,' Rebecca explained. 'My husband works as a barrister so his schedule can be extremely hectic, so childcare responsibilities are challenging. Without any outside support I would not have been able to continue working.

'We were running out of options, and I needed to find a solution so I could do my job and help save people in the fight against the virus.

'It was a very scary time, everything blurred into one and I often didn't know what day it was. I had to mentally prepare for my job in a short space of time as well as arrange childcare for Sebastian that I was comfortable with.'

Rebecca described Bubble as like 'online dating for nannies', adding: 'Girls put their profile on there and then they match you up, and you say yes or no based on their reviews. We've used a few and they've all been really good.

Rebecca said she is grateful for the extra time she has spent with her son since the onset of the pandemic, and knows her mother would be proud of what she has achieved in the battle against Covid

'A couple of months ago our nursery fell through, and the main girl we have on Bubble, who is just wonderful, dropped everything and came and babysat for us.

'Without that me or my husband would have had to have taken emergency annual leave for a week, so it's made a big difference having her around.'

To support the NHS during Covid and help parents within the health service get to their shifts, Bubble modified its app to enable NHS workers to find free local childcare.

Rebecca said she knows her mother would be proud of what she has achieved in the battle against Covid.

'Never did I expect that I would be faced with the loss of a loved one in the midst of a global pandemic,' she said. 'However, I knew I had to carry on and I've seen first-hand that as a team the NHS is adaptable, and we can adapt at speed.

'I've learnt that in these changing times flexible childcare is a must, and we can't always rely on the old format. There has been many a Sunday where my husband and I wonder if the nursery is going to be closed when we wake up and if we need to make a contingency plan.

'It's been an extremely stressful time. But having Bubble essentially enabled me to save lives.'

For more information about Bubble, visit: www.joinbubble.com
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President Joe Biden has said Donald Trump should not be allowed to receive classified intelligence briefings, a courtesy that historically has been granted to outgoing presidents.

Asked in an interview with CBS News what he feared if Mr Trump continued to receive the briefings, Mr Biden said he did not want to speculate out loud but made clear he did not want Mr Trump to continue receiving them.

I just think that there is no need for him to have the intelligence briefings, Mr Biden said. What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said earlier this week the issue of granting Mr Trump intelligence briefings was something that is under review.

President Joe Biden says there is no need to allow Donald Trump to continue to receive intelligence briefings (Patrick Semansky/AP)

Some Democratic politicians, and even some former Trump administration officials, have questioned the wisdom of allowing Mr Trump to continue to briefed.

Susan Gordon, who served as the principal deputy director of national intelligence during the Trump administration from 2017 to 2019, in a Washington Post op-ed last month urged Mr Biden to cut off Mr Trump.

His post-White House security profile, as the professionals like to call it, is daunting, Ms Gordon wrote days after a pro-Trump mob laid siege to the US Capitol as legislators sought to certify his defeat in last Novembers election.

Any former president is by definition a target and presents some risks. But a former president Trump, even before the events of last week, might be unusually vulnerable to bad actors with ill intent.

Whether to give a past president intelligence briefings is solely the current officeholders prerogative. Mr Biden voiced his opposition to giving Mr Trump access to briefings as the former Republican presidents second impeachment trial is set to begin next week.

On Friday, however, Mr Biden said his hesitance to allow Mr Trump access to the briefings was due to the former presidents erratic behaviour unrelated to the insurrection.

Theres no circumstance in which this president should get another intelligence briefing Democratic Representative Adam Schiff

Ms Gordon also raised concerns about Mr Trumps business entanglements. The real estate tycoon saw his business founder during his four years in Washington and is weighed down by significant debt, reportedly about 400 million dollars (291 million).

During the election campaign Mr Trump called his debt load a peanut and said he did not owe any money to Russia.

Trump has significant business entanglements that involve foreign entities, Ms Gordon wrote. Many of these current business relationships are in parts of the world that are vulnerable to intelligence services from other nation-states.

Democratic Representative Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, also urged Mr Biden to cut off briefings for Mr Trump.

Theres no circumstance in which this president should get another intelligence briefing, Mr Schiff said soon before Mr Trump ended his term last month.

I dont think he can be trusted with it now, and in the future.
Bhopal: Officers of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized more than one lakh smuggled foreign-brands cigarettes sticks worth Rs 20 lakh, the DRI said on Saturday (February 6).

Acting on specific intelligence, the DRI sleuths on Thursday searched various premises in Bhopal and found more than 1 lakh foreign origin cigarette sticks of various brands like Djarum Black, Esse, Pine, Mond, and Gudang Garam.

"The cigarettes were illegally smuggled into India and the packs do not carry the cancer awareness images and pictorial warnings as mandated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare," the DRI said.

According to DRI, the goods were seized under Customs Act 1962, Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003, as amended, and Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules, 2020.

During the investigation, it was found that these cigarettes had been smuggled into India and arrived in Bhopal via Delhi. These smuggled cigarettes are popular among the youth and are sold at the local pan shops to the trusted customers only.
European researchers are working on a novel hybrid device to better understand the metastatic process of cancer cells traveling from breast to bone and fast screen new drugs against it.

The spread of cancer cells to other parts of the body, known as metastasis, is the main cause of cancer-related deaths. According to the US National Cancer Institute, in 2018 there were 9.5 million deaths caused by cancer worldwide, and a high percentage of those involved tumors that had spread across the body.

However the metastatic process remains one of the most enigmatic aspects of the disease. To understand it, we have to take a step back and look at the biology of the primary tumor.

Roger Gomis, head of the group growth control and cancer metastasis at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, in Barcelona, explains: "Essentially what you have in a tumor is an original cell or a small group of cells that receive oncogenic signals, such as tobacco or UV light. Those inputs induce alterations known as mutations, which make the cells start proliferating in a dysregulated manner. The tumor mass starts growing and expanding and, in order not to run out of supplies and collapse, some cancer cells spread to other organs. Cancer cells spread not because they are encoded to the metastasis but just because it's crowded."

What we observe in cancer is an accelerated process of evolutionary species, trying to leave one site to grow on foreign soil. The site where tumor cells metastasize is not random, it rather follows a specific tissue pattern based on the Darwinian theory of evolution.

Gomis uses the Galapagos Islands as an example to explain. "You have a population of birds that have flown from Ecuador. They reach the islands and they adapt to the conditions of each island, forming new bird species. Why did birds colonize the Galapagos Islands and not dogs or reptiles? Because they could fly! So the genetics made them the candidates. But then, there is a process of adaptation that is imposed by the characteristics of the destination; for example the latitudes and where the food is," he says.

In terms of metastasis, it is the same. The fact that metastatic cells metastasize on a particular site depends on the genetics of the cells, the characteristics of the metastatic tissue and the ability of the tumour cells to adapt to and grow in the new environment. A great example of this is breast cancer.

The bones are the most common place where metastatic breast cancer cells tend to go. Although the research on tumors has exponentially grown in the past years, the major hurdle to decreasing mortality is to find out where the cancer cells will spread. To understand the process, scientists need relevant cancer models, which are lacking.

The main reason why it has been so difficult to translate the findings into the clinical settings is that the models of the laboratory sometimes do not factor in everything we have in the clinics. The laboratory mice, in terms of metastasis, do not always recapitulate what we see in the patients. For example, the breast cancer that we generate in the mouse tends to metastasize to the lung but it's rare to see it in the bones." Roger Gomis, Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Barcelona

Providing better models to shed light on the bone metastatic process is the aim of the B2B project, supported by the EU Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) programme. Its interdisciplinary consortium are creating a cutting-edge device that mimics the spontaneous metastasis process from the breast to the bone.

Their innovative technology includes a patient-derived breast cancer lesion connected to a reconstructed bone via a complex vascular network. "The fluidic system mimics the features of human blood vessels feeding and connecting living tumour cells from breast cancer to the target metastatic tissue, which is the bone," explains Silvia Scaglione, group leader of the CNR-IEIIT Bioengineering laboratory of Genoa, and coordinator of the project.

The level of physiological complexity of the project is really high but this is necessary if we are to capture all the key elements of the metastatic process. "Usually cancer is studied either using in vitro static models or in vivo animal models. However, both approaches fail to recapitulate the metastatic process for different reasons. The static model can't mimic the fluidic connections between the breast cancer and the metastatic side, while the animal model doesn't resemble the spontaneous breast metastatic onset," she says.

If successful, the B2B device will be an in vitro alternative that features three new complementary technologies. The first is clinically relevant-sized organoids that are able to resemble what is happening in vivo. "If you miniaturize too much the cancer tissue, as in some other in vitro approaches, you lose some biochemical and molecular features such a hypoxic core within the tumor tissue," Scaglione explains.

The second is the generation of the ossicle, the bone tissue containing the target of metastasis, in vitro. "We started using mice models to make the ossicle, since it is impossible with our knowledge in the world to create the bone marrow, which is the target of the metastatic cancer cells. In parallel, the partner involved in this task is working on a novel in vitro approach using patient-derived stem cells to create bone tissue and thus by passing completely the animal step," says Scaglione.

The third is the fluidic system that connects the breast and bone tissues, which is entirely based on human physiology. The system consists of a micro-vascular capillary network, which is formed spontaneously around the tumour tissue, connected to a functional bioprinted macro-vascular tree.

Scaglione sees a future whereby any crosstalk between organs can be studied using the B2B platform, reducing the need for animal models and supporting scientists in advancing knowledge on tumors. "We have selected the breast metastasis as a case study but, of course, our platform will be adapted for many other diseases," she says, "Not necessary for cancer, but, for instance, fibrosis or other cases where you have an interaction between different tissues that are vascularised and fluidically connected. Also, the platform will be useful for studying the pharmacokinetics of any type of drugs."

Scaglione also believes that this technology will accelerate the identification of metastasis-suppressing therapies for breast cancer patients and will help pre-screen novel personalized cancer therapies, which will ultimately have a high impact for oncological patients.
(CNN)  You might be among the more than 26.6 million people in the United States who have had COVID-19  and when it comes to coronavirus vaccines, emerging variants or the risk of re-infection, you might have a lot of questions.

"We are continuing to learn a year into the pandemic," Dr. Becky Smith, medical director of infection prevention and control and an infectious diseases specialist at Duke University Hospital, told CNN in an email.

Yet there are still some answers to questions that doctors say COVID-19 survivors should know.

How much of a risk is reinfection?

The risk of reinfection "seems to be quite low" and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "states the risk of reinfection is 'low' within the first 90 days of having a Covid infection," Smith said. Although rare, the risk exists.

"Based on what we know from similar viruses, some reinfections are expected," the CDC notes on its website.

"The risk of reinfection remains low, but we have to be vigilant with the emergence of the new variants," Dr. Antonio Crespo, medical director of infectious diseases at the Orlando Health Medical Group Infectious Disease, told CNN.

The novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19 has changed over time, as all viruses do, and through these mutations, variants of the virus have emerged.

Scientists are not surprised to see the coronavirus changing and evolving  it's what viruses do, after all. And with so much unchecked spread across the United States and other parts of the world, the virus is getting plenty of opportunity to do just that.

So far, three variants circulating around the world have been identified and getting a lot of attention: variant B.1.1.7 was first identified in the United Kingdom, variant B.1.351 was first identified in South Africa and variant P.1 was first identified in Brazil.

The coronavirus variants circulating globally are projected to become more dominant in the United States by the spring, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during a White House news briefing last week.

At the same briefing, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said that every Covid-19 case in the United States now should be treated as if it is caused by one of the newly identified coronavirus variants.

Another reason why the risk of reinfection remains somewhat a mystery is because it remains unclear for just how long Covid-19 antibodies might last in your body.

How long will my antibodies last?

Antibodies are proteins your body makes soon after you've been infected. They help to fight the infection and can protect you from getting that disease again.

"What we know is that when somebody gets infected with Covid-19, they do get antibodies that can last," Crespo said. "But now the new science that is emerging is that some of the coronavirus variants could evade the antibodies and could potentially be infectious for somebody who had already been infected with a well-known variant of Covid-19."

Smith said that in one large study of more than 12,000 health care workers at Oxford University Hospitals in the United Kingdom, very few with Covid-19 antibodies became infected a second time during a six-month period. That study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in December, suggests that antibodies are associated with "a substantially lower risk of reinfection."

"Those who developed reinfection had asymptomatic infections," Smith said in her email. Smith added that anecdotal evidence from her hospital's experience in managing Covid-infected health care workers suggests that antibodies are likely protective against reinfection.

"To date, approximately 0.5% of health care workers have experienced reinfection events, though we acknowledge have not systematically checked for Covid antibodies as in the Oxford study," said Smith, who was not involved in the study.

People who have been infected with Covid-19 are likely to be protected against catching it again for at least five months, according to a new study led by Public Health England.

The study -- which has not yet been peer reviewed -- found that past infection was linked to an 83% lower risk of reinfection, compared to people who have not been infected before.

But researchers warned that the protection was not absolute, meaning some people do catch the virus again, and that it was unclear how long any immunity lasts. It is also possible that those who have a degree of immunity against the virus may still be able to carry the virus in their nose or throat and therefore transmit it to others.

Do I need to get the vaccine if I've had Covid-19?

Health officials and doctors encourage people who have had Covid-19 to still get vaccinated. Late stage clinical trial data suggested the vaccines are safe and helped protect people with past Covid-19 infections from reinfection. This was regardless of their past case being mild or severe.

"Even if someone had a natural Covid-19, my recommendation is to get vaccinated as soon as vaccine is available to you," Smith said.

"It is very clear that the two available vaccines afford a high level of protection as measured in neutralizing antibody titers. This may be particularly important for people who had an asymptomatic or mild infection," she said. "Having a higher level of antibody titers to begin with will protect you for a longer amount of time."

Smith added that the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, authorized for emergency use in the United States, appear to provide some protection against the emerging coronavirus variants circulating around the world.

"We are not sure if natural immunity will protect someone from getting infected with the new strains," Smith said.

A person who is currently sick with Covid-19 should, however, wait to get the vaccine after their symptoms have cleared up and they can come out of isolation. There's no recommended minimum time between infection and vaccination.

Also there is no safety data on people who have been given an antibody therapy or convalescent plasma to treat a Covid-19 infection. Since reinfection seems to be uncommon in the 90 days after the initial infection, as a precaution, the CDC recommends the person wait at least 90 days.

There's no data that shows a vaccine would protect someone who has been recently exposed. A person isn't fully protected until one or two weeks after they get the second dose of the vaccine.

Do I need both doses of the vaccine?

The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines authorized for emergency use in the United States are administered in two doses, 21 and 28 days apart, respectively.

It's currently recommended for people to follow that vaccine schedule until more research is conducted and health officials recommend otherwise.

"The concept of giving just one booster vaccine to those who have had natural infection has been raised as a way to preserve the limited supply of vaccine and make it available to those who never developed Covid infection," Smith said.

Some emerging evidence in a pre-print paper, posted to the online server medrxiv.org on Monday, found that after getting just one shot of a Covid-19 vaccine, people who were previously infected with the virus tended to have antibody levels that were at or above those of people who had gotten both doses but never been previously infected. The study does not specify which vaccine participants received.

"Logically, people who have had Covid infection are likely to start with a baseline of some detectable neutralizing antibody so you are not starting from scratch like you would be for individuals who never had Covid," Smith said.

"However, the amount of neutralizing antibodies decreases over time so this needs to be carefully studied before rolling it out," she said. "We would need data to determine the optimal timing of the booster from natural infection and whether the duration of protection is equivalent to the protection you get from two doses of vaccine."

Smith added that coronavirus variants would also remain a risk.

"We also are unsure about variant strains and how well antibodies developed from natural infection protect someone against a new strain. Vaccines have been tested and afford protection based on limited data," Smith said. "Finally, this approach would require patients to get antibody tested before vaccination and this may not be readily available for everyone."

Could I still be experiencing lingering effects Covid-19?

Many survivors of Covid-19 may experience symptoms for weeks or months.

"Patients may experience persistent severe fatigue, headaches, 'brain fog,' mild cognitive impairment/difficulty thinking or concentrating, joint pains, cough, shortness of breath, intermittent fevers, alterations in taste and smell among other symptoms," Smith said. "These lingering symptoms may last up to 12 weeks and many say the symptoms wax and wane or come and go during that time."

Whether you suffer lasting Covid-19 symptoms may depend on the severity of the disease that you have.

"Some people have mild symptoms and they recover quickly and they don't have major problems. One of the side effects that we've seen very often is chronic fatigue," Crespo said.

"It seems that with patients with Covid-19, it's one of the common symptoms that can linger for several months," he added. "Also if patients have had significant lung involvement with severe pneumonia, they may have difficulty recovering from that persistent shortness of breath, cough and getting easily tired."

Crespo added that, even if you have lingering effects, it's still important to get the Covid-19 vaccine when it is your turn.

"They should get the vaccine," he said. "I don't see that having lingering effects would have a particular effect on the response to the vaccine."

This story was first published on CNN.com If you've had Covid-19, here's what you should know about vaccines, variants and more

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi Friday that the U.S. will stand up for human rights and democratic values, and "hold Beijing accountable for its abuses of the international system."

The big picture: Blinken's phone call with Yang comes just days after President Biden said the U.S. would confront Beijing over its "economic abuses," "coercive actions" and "attack on human rights, intellectual property and global governance."

Support safe, smart, sane journalism. Sign up for Axios Newsletters here.

Biden argued that the keys to confronting China would be getting our own house in order, working with allies, strengthening multilateralism and "reclaiming our credibility and moral authority, much of which has been lost," Axios' Dave Lawler wrote.

What he's saying: "In my call with my counterpart in Beijing, Yang Jiechi, I made clear the U.S. will defend our national interests, stand up for our democratic values, and hold Beijing accountable for its abuses of the international system," Blinken tweeted Friday night.

In a readout of the call, the State Department also said, "Blinken stressed the United States will continue to stand up for human rights and democratic values, including in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, and pressed China to join the international community in condemning the military coup in Burma [Myanmar]."

The readout added that Blinken "reaffirmed that the United States will work together with its allies and partners in defense of our shared values and interests to hold the PRC accountable for its efforts to threaten stability in the Indo-Pacific, including across the Taiwan Strait, and its undermining of the rules-based international system."

The other side: China-US relations are now standing at a key moment and the Chinese government has taken a stable and consistent policy toward the United States, Yang told Blinken, per the South China Morning Post.

Story continues

Yang also said Taiwan is the most important and sensitive issue to China, and that Washington shouldn't interfere with Beijing's affairs in Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong, SCMP reported.

Go deeper: Biden sets his sights on China

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Q

uick, who wrote The Queens Gambit? Even though the 1983 novel  the basis for the hit Netflix miniseries  has recently become a paperback bestseller, the name of its author isn't half as well known as it should be. Yet Walter Tevis was more than a one-hit wonder.

Teviss first book, The Hustler (1959), is the classic novel about professional pool players, and was made into an equally classic film with Paul Newman as Fast Eddie Felson and Jackie Gleason as the dapper Minnesota Fats. Published a quarter of a century later, Teviss final novel, The Color of Money, revisits the now middle-aged Felson as he cues up against a new, younger generation of pool players. Newman again starred in the film, which this time bore only the faintest resemblance to the novel. But then, as Tevis admitted, he only wrote it for the money since his previous book  about a female chess player  never even reached a second printing during his lifetime. Today, a fine first edition of The Queens Gambit would cost you 500 or more.

Born in 1928, Walter Tevis was a sickly, unhappy child, confined for many months to a hospital bed and dosed with addictive phenobarbital because of rheumatic heart disease. This experience  and his sense of being unloved  scarred him for life. Two shocking, obviously autobiographical fantasies in his 1981 short story collection, Far From Home, chillingly probes that family dynamic: A Visit From Mother circles around incestuous desire and Daddy deals with ruthless Oedipal rivalry.

Growing up in Louisville in Kentucky, Tevis regularly sought refuge in the local pool hall, so his early stories naturally concentrated on what he knew best. Once The Hustler was optioned by Hollywood, though, he used the cash to underwrite an MA in creative writing from the University of Iowa. Afterward, Tevis settled with his wife and two children in Mexico, where he started to drink heavily while finishing his second novel, The Man Who Fell to Earth.

It appeared in 1963 as a Gold Medal paperback original since, astonishingly, no hardcover publisher wanted this brilliant tale of loneliness, alcohol dependency and despair. In it, a gentle, apprehensive alien secretly arrives on Earth, where he passes for human and assumes the name Thomas Jerome Newton. Anthea, the extraterrestrial's home planet, is dying, its water and other natural resources almost depleted, and he is the last hope for its 300 surviving inhabitants.

Newton may also be the last hope for Earth, as he races to complete his life-or-death mission before the outbreak of global nuclear war. Do you realise that you will not only wreck your civilization, such as it is, and kill most of your people; but that you will also poison the fish in your rivers, the squirrels in your trees, the flocks of birds, the soil, the water? There are times when you seem, to us, like apes loose in a museum, carrying knives, slashing the canvases, breaking the statues with hammers.

Profoundly, cosmically alone, Newton discovers a modicum of solace in wine, then gin. As he drinks more and more, he feels himself losing his sense of purpose, sinking to the level of the creatures he now dwells among. And then disaster strikes in the form of the FBI.

Forlornly beautiful, The Man Who Fell to Earth explores existential and moral themes familiar from Conrads Heart of Darkness, Camus The Stranger and the old science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still. It, too, was made into a movie, starring David Bowie, whom Tevis thought perfectly cast, though he found the film itself overly artsy and confusing. His own writing is invariably clear, his prose tautly built on nouns and verbs.

Along with these two novels about acquiring or losing self-mastery, Tevis published 19 short stories between 1954 and 1963, many of them clever what if? tales, sometimes ending with an ironic Twilight Zone-esque twist. He could type one in an evening, revise it the next night and send it off. He never did any research.

Toward the end of the 1970s, Tevis got sober, fell in love with his agents assistant, left his wife and moved into an expensive New York apartment. There, he determined to relaunch his stalled literary career

In 1965, Tevis accepted a job at Ohio University, where he taught for the next 13 years. Grading papers, family obligations and serious drinking left him without much inclination to write. To relax, he would often play chess with another faculty member, Daniel Keyes, author of the heartbreaking science fiction masterpiece Flowers for Algernon. There are times I wish OU hadn't been my second choice when I applied to college.

Toward the end of the 1970s, Teviss life changed dramatically. He got sober, fell in love with his agents assistant, left his wife and moved into an expensive New York apartment. There, he determined to relaunch his stalled literary career.

What came next was Mockingbird, a 1980 novel set in a decaying future where robots do all the work. Drugs keep the docile human population in chemical serenity, glued to pain and sex shows on television. No books have been published since 2189. Society's mantras are don't ask, relax and quick sex is best.

The novel focuses on three characters, each chafing for something more from existence. Robert Spofforth looks like a black man in the prime of life, but is actually the most sophisticated android ever built. The de facto ruler of the United States, he longs to recover any scrap of the human intelligence that was used to form his own. Otherwise, the weary-hearted, long-lived Spofforth simply yearns to die.

According to former Doubleday editor Patrick LoBrutto, he and Tevis worked and tirelessly reworked this dystopian vision of drugs and television as escapes from real life. Like all Teviss work, Mockingbird is certainly, if obliquely, autobiographical, a parable about freeing oneself from addiction and striving for self-realisation. It is also a paean to literacy. As Paul says, at a desperate moment: Whatever may happen to me, thank God that I can read, that I have truly touched the minds of other men.

Besides the books I've already mentioned, Walter Tevis brought out one more science fiction novel, The Steps to the Sun (1983), which Im saving for another day. He died in 1984 of lung cancer at the age of 56  a cruel loss for readers and American literature.

 The Washington Post


PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa, rattled by the recent loss of three ministers to Covid-19, is considering a cabinet reshuffle that has sparked fierce jostling in Zanu PF and government.

Foreign Affairs minister Sibusiso B Moyo and his Transport and Infrastructural Development counterpart Joel Biggie Matiza and Manicaland Provincial Affairs minister Ellen Gwaradzimba died last month from Covid-19-related complications.

Mnangagwa, insiders said, was under pressure from Zanu PF, the military and close business associates who are lining up their proxies for ministerial posts.

He will need to deploy the skills to walk a fine line between balancing interests of the opposing fronts and bringing in competent personnel to help steer the country out of the current economic and diplomatic mess.

The Zimbabwe Independent is reliably informed that Mnangagwa has already started the consultation process for suitable candidates.

Sources said the President instructed Zanu PF secretary for administration Obert Mpofu to collect curriculum vitaes (CVs) from members of the National Assembly and the Senate.

Mpofu then delegated Zanu PF parliamentary chief whip Pupurai Togarepi, who on Tuesday, sent SMS and WhatsApp messages to MPs, demanding the CVs.

The message reads: Attention all members, very urgent: May you send summarised CVs on the following e-mail address (e-mail address supplied). This is an instruction from the secretary for administrations office. Its very urgent and confidential, of course.

In an interview yesterday, Togarepi confirmed calling for MPs CVs.

I think that is an internal party issue which I would normally not respond to, but I will just tell you that this was done to assess our legislators skills, qualifications and competencies for future tasks. This may have to do with moving them to different committees of parliament or other appointments; so I will keep the information in my database, he said.

Pressed on why party leaders demanded the CVs, he said, Oh, of course, yes, that is true. I was acting on instructions from my superiors. I draw my authority from the leadership of the party. They now have that information, but I dont know what they will use it for.

Efforts to get comments from Mpofu were fruitless as his mobile phone was on voicemail. Questions sent via SMS went unanswered.

It is understood that legislators are jostling to take up ministerial posts by angling to gain favour with Mnangagwa. Some MPs even engaged consultants to prepare attractive CVs.

Its not a secret that there will be a cabinet reshuffle soon. The President, though keeping his cards close to his chest, has given a clear indication that he is not going to appoint gap fillers, but wants a cabinet reshuffle. He also appears to be frustrated by the incompetences of some ministers, an official said.

A Zanu PF politburo member chipped in: I havent seen this level of interest in ministerial appointments. People have been running around trying to fix things and lining themselves up for posts. As we speak, not one MP failed to submit his or her CV.

The final line-up of possible new cabinet members is unknown, but sources indicated that Mnangagwa has lost faith in Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation minister Kirsty Coventry. She is likely to be replaced by her deputy, Tinoda Machakaire.

Machakaire  a close associate of the influential business tycoon Kuda Tagwirei  is angling for the top job.

The issue here is that although the President liked Coventry in terms of the Sport and Arts portfolio, she is seen to have been found wanting in terms of the youth portfolio. Machakaires advantage is that he is more robust. He is seen as having the capability to mobilise youths and bring them over to the party.

This is being done with 2023 general elections in mind, a source said. There is uncertainty about who will get the Foreign Affairs and International Trade portfolio although its touted that Mnangagwa is weighing up four options, including Coventry.

Checks are being made, at Mnangagwas behest, on the suitability of former African Union (AU) representative to the United States, Arikana Chihombori-Quao  a medical doctor and ultra-pan-Africanist.

Some members of Mnangagwas inner circle expressed reservations about her appropriateness given that she has frosty relations with the West because of her unbridled attacks on Frances continued milking of Francophone Africas resources.

In fact, she lost her ambassadorial post in 2019 after Western governments pressured the AU Commission to recall her over her strong views against France.

As such, sources said, consultations are underway with ambassador and permanent representative of Zimbabwe to the United Nations in New York, Frederick Shava. There are also suggestions to bring back former Foreign Affairs minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi.

This is proving to be a real issue now given the options being weighed. At the end of the day, the President will make his choice, added another source.

Mnangagwa is facing problems in replacing Matiza and has reportedly made consultations with Gokwe-Nembudziya legislator Justice Mayor Wadyajena.

However, questions of conflict of interest arose since he runs a transport business and has interests in some companies involved in road construction.

The National Oil Infrastructure Company (Noic) chair Daniel Mckenzie Ncube is said to be under consideration.

Zanu PF stalwarts are pushing for former finance minister Patrick Chinamasa to take over as Information minister from the passive Monica Mutsvangwa.

Mnangagwa, although relishing the idea because of Chinamasas highly abrasive approach to things, is unsure of what to do with Mutsvangwa, sources said.

The dilemma here is that, basically, there are candidates for all the other ministries and although some have suggested she can be moved to replace Gwaradzimba in Manicaland. At the same time, it would not appear too well to just drop her from cabinet, an official said.

The military command element is pushing for the ouster of Defence and War Veterans minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri. She, however, remains one of Mnangagwas key factional allies.

The only ministers who appear safe are those at Industry and Commerce, State Security, Womens Affairs, Lands and Agriculture, Home Affairs, ICT and Tourism, another source said.

Presidential spokesperson George Charamba said there will be no cabinet reshuffle. Zimbabwe Independent
Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State has cautioned Islamic scholars to desist from making inciting statements, which are capable of breaching the peace, while preaching.

Ganduje made the call on Thursday in Kano when he met with Imams of Juma'at Mosque and other Islamic clerics in the state.

He reminded the clerics of their roles in the society, saying that they should always strive to be shining examples both in words and in deeds.

He also appealed to the Imams to fashion out ways that would propagate genuine teachings of the religion.

"Prophet Muhammad preached peace, love and unity and as true followers of Islam, we are to emulate same so that we can enjoy both here and in eternity," he explained.

The governor urged Nigerians to tolerate one another, live in peace with one another, irrespective of religious, cultural and ethnic differences.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Kano State Government has banned an Islamic cleric, Sheikh Abduljabar Nasir-Kabara, allegedly over his inciting preaching.

A statement by the government directed all broadcast stations and social media platforms to stop airing preaching, sermons and any other religious discussions likely to cause a breach of the peace of the state.

It also directed security agencies to ensure full compliance and take decisive action against erring persons or groups found flouting the order. (NAN)

NAN
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After being upgraded on several occasions with new-generation technology, the Chinook ended up featuring an advanced digital cockpit with more information on the surroundings and advanced autopilot systems, a flight control feature to deal with limited visibility, such as in desert storms, a new airframe for better stability, and advanced cargo handling to carry pretty much everything.And speaking of carrying everything, a sling-loaded Humvee is what the creator of the toy model you see embedded below has thought of when building a Chinook replica that looks impressive, to say the least.While its basically just a Chinook model, the attention paid to details is what deserves all the praises, especially thanks to the spinning rotors.And in case you think the whole thing is rocket science, well, its not, and this is the reason we said this fits the DIY model description. Sure, it wont be easy, but its totally doable because it all comes down to one secret little thing.The ropes that are supposed to be used for dropping off the Humvee are very likely made of metal wire, so in theory, they are not only sustaining the helicopter, but also providing the power for the rotors. So whoever created this model used a very smart approach to hide all the wires needed to put the rotors in motion, all while keeping the entire build as clean as possible.Of course, there are things that need to be improved, theres no doubt about that, but on the other hand, its one of the coolest models of a Chinook we can actually build at home with the right skills and resources. And eventually, dont be too surprised if such a toy ends up selling at a pretty hefty price, so if youre into such projects, nothing stops you from becoming an entrepreneur.
Larry Fink's 'Dear CEO' letters are an annual event in the corporate world.

The Blackrock chief executive's yearly missive to his counterparts around the globe is closely read, if not quickly acted on.

That's because Blackrock is the world's largest investment manager with nearly $8.7trn (7.2trn) in assets under management. And those assets are mostly in the form of shareholdings in listed companies.

For instance, Blackrock is a top 10 owner of Dublin-listed companies CRH, Kerry Group and Smurfit Kappa  to name but three.

So when Larry Fink has something to say, corporate bosses are obliged to listen. After all, he controls a lot of money.

For more a decade, Mr Fink has been extolling the virtues of sustainability, becoming in the process a leading voice for putting environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues at the forefront of corporate decision-making.

His inspiration came from the ideological shock of the financial crisis. Blackrock had a front-row seat to the massive destruction of shareholder value in 2008, and Mr Fink decided to turn away from mere profits and towards a concept of more durable value for all stakeholders.

He embraced the fight against global warming, persuasively arguing that "climate risk is investment risk" and began badgering companies to make concrete plans to cut carbon emissions to "net zero" by 2050.

Blackrock was surprisingly successful. Where the money men led, people followed.

Mr Fink said the pandemic was "an existential crisis" and a "stark reminder of our fragility".

Then the pandemic happened. Mr Fink described it in this year's letter, published last week, as "an existential crisis" and a "stark reminder of our fragility". He's not too happy about wildfires, hurricanes and droughts either. 2020 was a tough year all round.

But there was a silver lining: the reallocation of capital Mr Fink had been pushing for accelerated. The potential for capitalism to save itself from capitalism with more capitalism was being realised.

It is necessary at this point to mention that this is a very American approach to problem-solving. It's not necessarily a bad approach, but it is particular.

While the pandemic and climate change are global issues that require coordinated responses between states, civil society and industry, the Blackrock approach is to deploy financial leverage to achieve goals that are important to Blackrock. In other words, investment risk management. As long as Blackrock's fiduciary objectives match up with generally good outcomes, fine.

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But this approach can create odd distortions.

Blackrock's competitors in the asset management industry have followed Mr Fink's example and are pushing their investee companies to incorporate ESG values into their corporate strategies.

The CEO of State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), a fund manager with $3.15trn in assets under management, wrote to the boards of all FTSE100 and S&P500 companies last month about racism. He warned that SSGA would vote against their directors at AGMs if they didn't improve the racial diversity of their boards.

But SSGA's idea of "underrepresented minority" has an American flavour and is not readily applicable worldwide in that it focuses on black representation first and foremost.

Everything we do is about value, not values.

Rob Walker, SSGA's global co-head of asset stewardship, told the Irish Independent that the company wasn't trying to impose an American version of diversity on the world.

"The conversation in US and UK markets is better defined and allows us to have this dialogue about racial and gender make-up on boards," he said. "It's not about imposing a point of view. Everything we do is about value, not values. We think diversity will improve the performance of companies we own."

There it is again  a convergence of investment outcomes with social benefits. It makes sense as an incentive structure. The real impact of SSGA's approach may become more obvious next year when the company starts "looking below the board level" at hiring for diversity at all levels of a company.

But it's also hard not to be sceptical about how some companies may decide to implement these directives from powerful fund managers.

Here in Ireland it's fair to say the boards of listed companies are not very diverse. Pale, male and stale is the pejorative, but directors do tend to be white, male, Irish and about 60 years old.

Still, there is some visible progress. Research published this week by recruitment firm Merc Partners Spencer Stuart showed that nearly half of all new board appointments to top Irish companies last year were from outside Ireland.

But this is "diversity", not diversity. Most of those appointments are, again, white guys from Anglophone countries, plus the odd Swede, Spaniard or Colombian.

How ESG goals are achieved might be more important than if they are achieved.

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Let's state the obvious: The Biden administration is eager to reverse various Trump administration policies. There is one area, however, where they should restrain that undo-button impulse: The Biden administration ought to honor and build upon the diplomatic deals brokered in the Middle East and Africa.

It is easy to be cynical about these agreements, including deals between Israel and the UAE, Sudan, Morocco, and Bahrain. But those who have spent time in the region know the importance of any forward momentum and U.S. engagement in this part of the world, however notional.

As a Navy SEAL, I served in Mauritania in Northwest Africa. I was there to train Mauritanian special operations forces to counter the threat of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which had recently destabilized the neighboring country of Mali. That experience showed my fellow service members and me the power of U.S. engagement in Africa.

Then and now, the Sahel region in which I served is awash with anti-American sentiment, and the American military presence helped strengthen counter-terrorism operations. But even more important than our military work was the mere fact that my fellow service members were building relationships with our African counterparts. We trained, lived, and broke bread together, and in doing so, we sent a small signal that America was committed to Africas future.

Such signals matter, and its why the diplomatic deals reached with Sudan and Morocco matter too. The timing of these U.S. efforts in Africa couldnt be more important. There is more optimism in Africa than ever, and African countries are liberalizing their politics and economics. Both the growth rates in population and economic activity are encouraging.

America can help this along, and one place to begin is by brokering more accords like the ones struck with Israel, Sudan, and Morocco. Agreements of this kind are a proof point: They demonstrate the U.S.s willingness and ability to lead the global world order. They remind the planet that the U.S. can unite countries in peace and commerce in a way that no other superpower can.

Other African countries may be open to such agreements, too. The Republic of Congo is one such example. While lesser known than its neighbor, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo is an oil-rich nation that has maintained friendly relations with the United States. Republic of Congos President, Denis Sassou Nguesso, has met with American Presidents and Secretaries of State in the past, including both Presidents Bush as well as Secretary of State John Kerry.

Though more complicated in its internal politics and on its human rights record, the Democratic Republic of Congo may be open to a U.S.-backed Israeli agreement as well. Just this past spring, they announced the appointment of a Congolese ambassador to Israelthe first in two decades. The appointment made news not just in Africa circles but in the Israeli press. Congos President also announced that he would be making an official visit to Israel in the near future.

Another African country to add to the mix is the one I served in: Mauritania. The history helps here: Mauritania normalized relations with Israel in 1999 during the Clinton administration but severed them in 2010. Mauritania has strong ties to the UAE, and with Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv at least on speaking terms, the time is right to see if the same could be done in Mauritania.

These are but three examples; there are countless others. The point is that a diplomatic window like this opens rarely, and when it does, the United States must act and lead. That is doubly true in Africa, where the United States has been woefully unfocused and unresponsive in recent decades. Outside of post-9/11 counter-terrorism missions, Africa was rarely in the U.S. news or in the minds of upper-level policy-makers. When it was, the headlines focused on strife or sanctions.

Meanwhile, as the U.S. shrunk back in Africa, China has surged forward. Its no state secret that China has poured people, money, and resources into the continent. Youre as likely to hear Chinese in the streets of certain African capitals these days as you are a local tongue. Chinas imprint on Africa is felt in everything from dollars flowing to universities to maritime lanes secured by Chinese might. China has set its foothold in virtually all sub-Saharan Africa seaports, observes one maritime journal, leading flagship port development projects running into billions of dollars.

Chinas not just building things in Africatheyre influencing people as well. The Chinese governments state-owned-and-operated CGTN has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Africa and has a bureau of over 100 people in Nairobi, Kenya, alone.

Despite all this, China may hit the limits of its influence. While Africans have accepted the $60 billion in Chinese aid, theyre also wary: Unsurprisingly, Chinas anti-democratic politics dont accord with the views of Africans. The U.S. should see that disconnect as an opportunity, and it can start by ramping up efforts to normalize relations between African countries and Israel, among other initiatives.

Already, we see reports of the fruits of the Abraham Accords in the form of investment dollars traded between the UAE and Israeli Arabsa sign that these agreements are more than just expensive photo opportunities. Just this past week, the Israeli foreign minister visited Sudan's capital. Now is the moment to capitalize and for the U.S. to turn to countries like Congo, the DRC, and Mauritania and invite them to do the same. They are both wise ends and sound meansthe world order wins, and the U.S. does as well.

The Biden administrations stated ambition is to restore American standing abroad. The first step in that process is the simplest: Accept the agreements brokered by the Trump administration, and find new African countries open to agreements. Such a move would send a clear signal about American engagement in Africaand it would prove a welcome one at a time of growing concerns about Chinas outsized African ambitions.

Kaj Larsen is an award-winning American journalist, correspondent, and producer. Prior to his journalism career, Kaj spent five years on active duty serving as a U.S. Navy SEAL and led a team of special warfare personnel in covert operations overseas in support of the Global War on Terrorism.
Californians whose unemployment benefits lapsed late last year before a federal cutoff now must wait until March before they can even apply to have them extended, state officials told lawmakers Friday.

Even though the federal government extended the benefits on Dec. 27, just one day after they expired, Californias Employment Development Department said that a programming issue prevented it from reinstating them immediately for people whose benefits had run out before Dec. 26. It will send emails, texts and mail next week to notify affected people that they need to certify for benefits starting March 7.

Im just appalled, said state Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park. A lot of people will just get a letter out of the blue saying, We cant process you until March 7. Californians rely on benefits for food and shelter, and now this group will have to wait (at least) two and a half months.

The revelation is the latest in a string of missteps at EDD, which has struggled to pay claims to an unprecedented surge of people made jobless during the pandemic, while losing at least $11 billion and possibly up to $30 billion to fraudsters. On Thursday state lawmakers proposed a raft of bills to reform the troubled agency.

December was also when EDD froze 1.4 million accounts to guard against fraud, an action that swept up many legitimate claimants. It has been notifying those with frozen accounts in batches over time that they need to go online to verify their identities. Many people whose benefits stopped in December may have thought they were part of the fraud-related freeze, instead of the newly revealed issue with lapsed federal money.

The road block to getting money to massive amounts of people who need it desperately is the same old problem  dinosaur technology, said Assembly Member Jim Patterson, R-Fresno.

People affected by the latest revelations were getting unemployment under two programs created under the federal Cares Act. Many were receiving a benefit created under the act called Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which covered self-employed people normally ineligible for unemployment insurance. Others were receiving Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, which provides up to 13 weeks of additional federal benefits to laid-off employees who have used up their regular state jobless benefits. State unemployment benefits end after 36 weeks in California.

EDD detailed the issues in a Friday call with lawmakers, as well as in an email to lawmakers reviewed by The Chronicle. It sent out a news release late Friday discussing the December extension of benefits that did not acknowledge the lengthy delay.

Were all so exhausted by the deluge of bad news from EDD, and this Friday night news adds insult to injury, said Assembly Member David Chiu, D-San Francisco. Im not sure how EDD can imagine that people can just go without income for months at a time.

Those who will experience the gap are people who ran out of either PUA or PEUC before Dec. 26, EDD said in the email.

EDD has been working on the programming needed to essentially establish new claims incorporating the up to 11 additional weeks of benefits payable for weeks beginning December 27, the letter said.

Its not clear how many Californians are affected. Between 750,000 and 1.6 million state residents were receiving PUA and PEUC in December, according to two outside analyses. The California Policy Lab put the number at 750,000, while the Century Foundation estimated it at 1.6 million. However, not all of those people will have to wait until March, only those whose benefits had lapsed before Dec. 26.

EDDs Friday email to lawmakers said it had completed phase one of adding new benefits for those who still had time left on their claims on Dec. 26. This implied that those people may have been without benefit from Dec. 26 until very recently.

Interactive Vaccine Tracker: Latest developments Detailed information about the coronavirus vaccines as it becomes available.

Becker said his office is working with a separate group of people who had funds in their account on Dec. 26, but had their accounts closed because the original Cares Act had sunset. These people should have had their accounts reopened automatically and extended, but many had not.

We have been helping them reopen their claims and get their benefits paid out, he said.

On Dec. 24, EDD put out a news release saying it was preparing for the extension of the two Cares Act unemployment programs. The agency cannot implement the new programs until it receives guidelines from the U.S. Department of Labor ... describing how the states will be required to follow the law, it wrote. However, EDD is making program adjustments with what information is available so when federal guidelines and details become available, EDD can complete the necessary programming to make these new benefits available as soon as possible.

Congress extended the benefits by adding 11 weeks to PUA, allowing people to receive it for up to 57 weeks. It also extended PEUC by 11 weeks, giving it up to 24 weeks in total.

The agency gave an update on the 1.4 million claims it suspended in December due to fraud concerns. It said 367,749 claimants have successfully verified their identities and almost all of them had payments processed, after the agency took another 7 to 10 days to check on other eligibility requirements. About 200,000 were told they were disqualified and directed to appeal or complete a new questionnaire, while 100,000 others were mailed paper requests for identity verification because they didnt have online accounts.

The agency will email and text those affected again to tell them they need to verify identities. Those who do not respond will be disqualified and notified of appeal rights, it said.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid
A documentary about the everyday lives of women on a halting site, an animated film about life, death and rebirth, and a dark comedy about bereavement, have been chosen as the successful applicants for Screen Wexfords Short Film Fund Initiative.

The three projects, all featuring local filmmakers, will now receive 2,500 in funding for production costs, as well as equipment support from lighting company Teach Solas to the value of 1,500, and a professional mentor to support them throughout the process.

The fund is an initiative of Wexford County Councils Arts Office in conjunction with Bodecii Film and is run by Screen Wexford, the countys agency for promoting Film and TV production and training.

Robert Tyrell and Joanne Heffernan both graduated from the National Film School in IADT, Dun Laoghaire in 2013, and are passionate about creating a film culture within their home county.

They will use their funding to produce Halted, a short documentary project about the lives of traveller women in Wexford, exploring the everyday lives of a community with little mainstream representation.

We are both delighted and excited to be chosen for the film award and receiving the support of Screen Wexford for Halted is fantastic, said Joanne. The travelling community is a significant part of the population in Co. Wexford and its time that film in Ireland celebrated this part of our national culture.

Mirona Mara and Jonathan Murphy are Unity, a collaborative artistic duo based in Light and Shadow studio in Selskar Street. They plan to make an animated short about the cyclical nature of life, death and rebirth, Samsara.

The story opens with the birth of a seed into a plant which in turn incubates and gives birth to a non-descript character, the pair explain. We follow him on his journey in search of something. At first like him we are unsure of what it is but later find it to be a sense of self through life and experience. Along the way at key moments he is presented with choices, to go one way or the other, to act or not to act, to run and hide or stand and fight, all in the search for who he is through the experiences of life.

The third project to receive funding under the initiative is Sonny, Mammy and Patch the Dog, a dark comedy by Sinead OQuigley, Richard Deering and Adam Hart.

Explaining its premise, Sinead said, Sonny lives a simple life, along with his beloved Mammy and Patch the dog. They are his rock, his reason for living and the centre of his universe. Once a death hits his family however, Sonny is forced to try to stitch his life back to normal any way he can.

Sinead, Adam and Richard have worked together on a number of projects over the last few years with a range of styles including music videos and short films after graduating from IT Carlow with degrees in TV and Media Production.

Theyre hoping the unique style theyve developed together can breathe new life into everyday, relatable stories.

Speaking about the three successful teams and their upcoming films, Screen Wexfords coordinator Linda Curtin said that although the benchmark for choosing projects was the potential to make a great short film, we also wanted to represent a diversity of subject matter, culture and ethnicity.

According to Curtin, the selection panel which also included playwright-actor Michael Cristofer and writer-director Conor Morissey, was excited by the quality of projects selected, but overall it had been a tough process given the surprisingly high standard of submissions. She added that we hope to repeat this process in future given the level of talent and creativity in the county.
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PARIS  The French city of Toulouse is to be NATOs new center for excellence in military space. The decision was taken by NATO on Jan. 28 but was officially announced Feb. 4.

Germany had also lobbied to host the center, which will be set up at the CST (Centre Spatial de Toulouse), which is also to be the headquarters of Frances Military Space Command, on the site of Frances national space studies center known as CNES.
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As COVID-19 test positivity rates in Omaha, Nebraska hit over 25 percent and deaths approach 600, Omaha Public Schools (OPS) Superintendent Dr. Cheryl Logan recently announced that schools will resume fully in-person learning this month.

Students in an Omaha classroom [Credit: Omaha Public Schools Facebook]

OPS is Nebraskas largest school district, with over 50,000 students. A smaller school district adjacent to Omaha, Ralston Public Schools (RPS), will resume fully in-person schooling this month. These moves force educators and students into deadly working conditions coincides with the news that Nebraskas teachers are not likely to get vaccines until as late as April, according to WOWT 6 News.

OPS was remote at the beginning of the semester in August, but since September the district has been following a hybrid model. Groups of students come to school based on their last names, with Wednesday being an alternating day for the two halves of the alphabet. The model is not based on numbers of students, so if the first or second half have an especially large number of students, this is not taken into consideration.

The district began its second semester virtually and went back to this hybrid model on January 19. Within the first two weeks of this semester, the dashboard of COVID-19 cases on the OPS website reported 38 staff and 60 students with active cases, and 110 staff and 354 students in quarantine. This only accounts for the cases that get reported and documented and is likely a significant undercount.

In the 2020 fall semester, COVID-19 outbreaks were severe enough to temporarily shut down multiple schools. The Omaha World Herald reported that at least three of OPS schools had to close due to major outbreaks. As a district, OPS serves some of the poorest and most vulnerable students in the city, with 75 percent receiving free or reduced lunch.

RPS followed a similar hybrid model, but the Omaha World Herald reports that Superintendent Mark Adler wrote to parents that the district decided to return to full classroom learning for several reasons, among them to improve upon student academic performance and growth.

The reopening of Omaha and Ralston schools has been pushed forward despite enormous opposition and protests from students and teachers since last summer, including some who put together an open letter and a petition clearly stating the dangers posed.

In the open letter, which has been signed by hundreds of students and educators, they note the long-term damage of COVID-19 and concerns for educators and students safety. One of the student signatories, senior Micah Gilbert, states, Ive thought about the school districts plans to reopen school and what the results may be. Theres a simple fact that I dont really think I had internalized until today: Teachers will die.

One teacher says in the letter, I miss my kids. I miss my classroom. I miss my colleagues. But going back to school puts my kids, my colleagues, and myself at risk. I am immunocompromised, and Im scared Im going to die. In preparation for my return to school, I have filled out a Living Will as well as a Medical Power of Attorney. These things should not be on my Back to School list We are teachers, not martyrs.

The petition by students and teachers has over 3,400 signatures. The letter and petition were released in August, before the schools opened for the hybrid model and before a vaccine was on the horizon. Since then, the test positivity rate has increased precipitously. In the neighboring school district of Millard, which has implemented fully in-person learning since the beginning of the school year, one custodian lost his life to COVID-19.

A similar petition has been created more recently by students in Ralston, with 200 signatures and growing. The students rightly state, In this current climate, the vaccine will be a form of protection from the virus and is the first step to eliminate the spread of COVID-19. However, you must be 16 and older or are considered high risk making eligibility for the vaccine a very small proportion of the student body. To make matters worse, new strains of the virus have been found across the country.

Much like the Millard school district, many of Nebraskas school districts have been fully in-person for several months. A student in one of those districts, Sky, was interviewed by the World Socialist Web Site recently. Sky commented, I had COVID-19. I got it from being in school because I havent gone anywhere else. Its hard to feel safe. Students are out with COVID all the time. The administration has only done the bare minimum. They separated some of the lunch tables and masks were optional. Only students with serious medical conditions are online. The administration is claiming that its safer to be in school because they can supervise mask wearing. Its misleading and its dangerous.

The huge spike in cases in Nebraska came within two months of schools reopening, with cases reaching an all-time high in November of 3,340 in one day.

Nebraskas Republican Governor Pete Ricketts has said from the beginning of the pandemic that his concern is not the lives and safety of workers in Nebraska, but rather hospitals hitting capacity. His thinly veiled disregard is par for the course and the Omaha World Herald reports that he is pushing spending cuts for schools in the midst of the pandemic.

The drive to fully reopen schools in Nebraska follows the same pattern seen throughout the US and internationally. In Chicago, educators are currently in a direct conflict with the Democratic Party and the Biden administration, which aim to send teachers and workers back to work as the pandemic rages across the country.

There is enormous opposition among rank-and-file educators in Chicago and across the country to such policies. In contrast, the teachers unions are brokering unsafe school reopenings, including the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA).

The teachers unions in Omaha and across Nebraska have done nothing to protect teachers or other school staff. In November, the Omaha Education Association (OEA) pleaded for the governor to pass a mask mandate, and more recently they issued a statement that teachers should be vaccinated before entering the classrooms, but they have issued no calls for collective actions or strikes.

Commenting on this lack of support from the local unions in Nebraska, including the Lincoln Education Association (LEA) and the Nebraska State Education Association (NSEA), a teacher wrote on Facebook, Its terrible how teachers are being treated and our lack of support from LEA or NESA. There is no priority for teachers.

Scientific studies prove that vaccinations for teachers alone are not sufficient to prevent the spread of the virus, as children can transmit the virus asymptomatically, especially with new mutations of the virus that are less effectively treated by the vaccines. The science on the dangers of reopening schools is clear and yet educators across the US and all over the world are being told they need to go back into unsafe classrooms for the children.

The only way to fight back is for Nebraska educators and parents to follow the lead of teachers across the globe and form educators rank-and-file safety committees, independent of the unions and both big business parties, in order to organize for their safety and the safety of the entire community. Sign up to learn more today.
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A gunman is on the run after a targeted shooting in the early hours on Saturday morning.

Emergency services were called to a house in Killarney Vale on the New South Wales Central Coast just after 4am - where they found found Patrick Spencer, 29, with a gunshot wound to his abdomen.

Police suspect the man might have been shot elsewhere and then taken to the address.

The 29-year-old man was transported to John Hunter Hospital where he is in a stable condition after being shot in the stomach

Detectives trying to determine where the man was shot are scouring a nearby Coles for clues

The man was treated by ambulance crews at the Main Street residence before being flown to John Hunter Hospital by helicopter, where he is in a stable condition.

Detectives are now racing to track down the gunman and believe he may have been known to the victim - but he has refused to tell police.

Along with the Main Street house, where a crime scene has been established, officers are also scouring a nearby Coles supermarket and a house on Chappel Crescent for clues as to where the man was shot.

'We believe it is targeted, but anytime a gun is used and a person has been shot we are concerned,' Detective Acting Inspector Shannon White told reporters on Saturday.

'There could be dashcam out there so if anyone does have anything, that could help us,' she said.
The global shortage of semiconductor chips that has been plaguing the automobile industry since last year has now hit the electronics industry as well.

Automakers alone could face a $61 billion hit in sales due to chips shortage, Bloomberg reported. While the impact on the electronics industry cannot be quantified yet, the report said it could be much larger.

Semiconductors are used to manufacture a number of electronic items, such as laptops, smartphones, cars and TVs.

Cristiano Amon, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Qualcomm, said the shortage in the semiconductor industry is "across the board", as quoted by the business news website.

"The virus pandemic, social distancing in factories, and soaring competition from tablets, laptops and electric cars are causing some of the toughest conditions for smartphone component supply in many years," Neil Mawston, an analyst with Strategy Analytics told Bloomberg.

Qualcomm, the world's biggest supplier of mobile phone chips, designs semiconductors and outsources manufacturing to companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

Smartphone maker Apple, a customer of Qualcomm, had also recently flagged supply constraints. On January 28, Apple CEO Tim Cook told Reuters that sales of Macs, iPads and the iPhone 12 Pro model had faced constraints.

He added that "semiconductors are very tight", but other parts of the supply chain also contributed to the constraints.

On February 3, Japanese electronics major Sony Corp it was struggling to build enough PlayStation 5 consoles due to shortage of semiconductors.

"It is difficult for us to increase the production of the PS5 amid the shortage of semiconductors and other components," Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki said at a press briefing, as quoted by Reuters.
The winners of the 3rd Edition of the Port Adriano Photography Contest have just been announced.

The concept this year was Contact and 800 photographers submitted their snaps for the competition.

The three winning images are:

Autumm Lovers by Silvia Mus (@silviamusfotosub)

Eternal Caresses by Miquel Planells (@miquelplanells)

Hello Dad! by Philip Rogan (@philip_rogan).

Silvia Mus splits her time between Mallorca and Santiago de Compostela and her award-winning photo Autumn Lovers captures the waters of a cenote in Tulum, Mexico, in 2018.

"The protagonists of the photo are friends I met when I lived in Mexico and that image inspires serenity in the perfect union of the love between them and towards nature, she explains.

Philip Rogan, who lives in Mallorca, has been awarded for his photo Hello Dad!

The protagonists are my cousin Ramona, and her daughter Eva who live in a small fishing village called Greystones near Dublin in Ireland, he says. The image is a photo that defines the right moment for me."

Miquel Planells featured his parents in his award-winning photo Eternal Caresses.

I was inspired by the direct contact of the elderly, who are the most affected during this pandemic; I saw a contact of deep love.

The prizes include 1,000 euros each for the three winners who will also receive a licence to install the Photopills App, and one course taught by the EDIB school and 20 finalist photos will be showcased in an exhibited in Port Adriano throughout 2021.
The Delhi Police intensified security at all border points of the city to deal with any situation emerging out of the nationwide 'chakka jam'.

Issuing an ultimatum to the central government, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on February 6 said the Centre had till October 2 to repeal the three farm laws.

Addressing the agitating farmers at Gazipur border after the three-hour nationwide 'chakka jam', Tikait said the farmers would not return home until the laws were repealed.

He also said the protest would continue till October 2 and the government had time till then to repeal the laws, failing which the farmers would plan further protests.

Track this LIVE blog for latest updates on farmers' protest

"We will not return home unless our demands are met," Tikait said as protestors blocked roads at several places on the call given by the farmers' unions for a nationwide 'chakka jam'.

"We have given time to the government till October 2 to repeal the laws. After this, we will do further planning. We won't hold discussions with the government under pressure," he said, as quoted by ANI.

Farmer unions staged 'chakka jam' protest between 12 noon and 3 pm to protest against the internet ban in areas near their agitation sites, harassment allegedly meted out to them by authorities and other issues. Supporters blocked roads and highways in several states, including Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Farmers' protest | Internet snapped again at Delhi borders

The Delhi-Jaipur Highway was completely blocked as the lane passing through the Shahjahanapur border (Alwar) was also closed around 11 am. The protests started around 12 noon. In Jaipur, tractors were parked on roads to jam the traffic, while in Alwar, stones and thorny shrubs were placed on roads.

In Delhi, around 50 people were detained near Shaheedi Park for allegedly holding a protest in support of the 'chakka jam' call given by the farmers agitating against the Centre's new agri laws.

In Karnataka, farmers blocked highways in different parts of the state, to express solidarity with the ryots. In response to a call given by various farmers' associations led by Kuruburu Shanthakumar, peasants in the

state swarmed all highways leading to and out of Bengaluru to block them.

The demonstrations took place in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Kolar, Koppal, Bagalkote, Tumakuru Davangere, Hassan, Mangaluru, Haveri, Shivamogga, Chikkaballapura, and other places.

Roads were blocked in Punjab and Haryana as well. Protesting farmers owing allegiance to different farmers' bodies blocked state and national highways at several places, causing inconvenience to commuters.

Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) General Secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said they held road blockades at 33 places in 15 districts including Sangrur, Barnala and Bathinda in Punjab.
Photo: City of Kitimat

For the second time in a week, provincial health minister Adrian Dix has been asked to look into how the Kitimat General Hospital handled a case in which someone subsequently died.

Terrace resident Naomi Bracken said in a Feb. 4 letter sent to Dix that her son, Joshua Benson, 39, passed away Aug. 31, 2020 after he was told to leave the hospital while experiencing chest pains.

He was at the hospital for about eight hours, Bracken wrote in the letter. He was told they could find nothing and were unable to help him and asked him to leave.

I believe racism killed my son.

Bracken, who is Gitxsan, said that she spoke with her son on the phone as he was walking to his truck.

He said that they kicked him out and there was nobody there that would speak and get a hold of even, he didnt have a taxi number, he couldnt get a hold of his bosses and friends and that so he had to walk, she said.

He was walking up the hill when I was talking to him and he was halfway up and thats where [the RCMP] found him, he must have died right after I had said goodbye.

Bracken said she asked for her sons hospital files several weeks ago, but has yet to receive anything. She said she is planning to follow up with the hospital again on Monday and that she has not yet received a response from the Ministry of Health as of Feb 5.

The BC Coroners Service said that the case is still under investigation.

In the letter to Dix, Bracken said she was originally going to contact the Ombudsman and Human Rights Commission, but in light of another recent incident it seems more logical to send this directly to you.

Last week, the family of Sarah Morrison said that her daughter was delivered stillborn at Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace after being told there was nothing that could be done for her at Kitimat General.

There have now been accusations of racism stemming from this incident.

The Northern Health Authority is now reviewing the quality of care that was provided to Morrison, who is Haisla.

I just hope that there is an investigation that goes on about all the things that are happening, Bracken said.

B.C. Ministry of Health confirmed that it has received the letter and is looking into the situation.
Oswego, N.Y.  The judge overseeing the New York 22nd Congressional District case suggested Friday that Democrat Anthony Brindisis attorneys were not convincing enough in their effort to delay the certification of the race for Republican Claudia Tenney.

State Supreme Court Justice Scott DelConte is deciding whether to wait until a higher court rules on a pending Brindisi appeal before he orders counties to certify their election results in the race. Tenney is currently ahead by more than 100 votes of more than 316,000 cast for the two candidates. Its the last undecided House race in the country.

In a hearing Friday morning, DelConte spent most of the time questioning Brindisi attorney Bruce Spiva. The judge turned to Tenneys attorney primarily just to summarize Tenneys argument against Brindisis motion, and then returned to Spiva.

Spivas team is arguing that if DelConte orders the results to be certified, Tenney will be seated in Congress regardless of what happens in the state appellate case. That, in their argument, makes an appeal irrelevant.

Once Tenney is seated, only Congress itself can remove her, even if the state court determines that DelConte made a mistake in his earlier rulings and that Brindisi is the actual winner. Because the appellate courts ruling is irrelevant, Brindisi argues, the court might decline to hear Brindisis appeal at all.

So he said the judge should wait and let the appeal play out.

Brindisis attorneys intend to appeal DelContes rulings on several hundred contested ballots, his team announced in a filing earlier Friday. DelConte ruled that the votes were not legally cast, over Brindisis objections.

DelConte questioned Spiva about whether certifying the results would really cause Brindisi irreparable harm, one of the hurdles required in law to justify that decision.

The judge pointed out that Brindisi can contest the results directly to the House of Representatives under the Federal Contested Elections Act after Tenney is certified as the winner.

Youve asked me to stop public bodies from doing their job. Thats what youve asked me to do: Stop an election, he said. And thats a very, very high burden. You must show irreparable harm.

Spiva acknowledged that his client has the ability to contest the race in the House. But he reiterated that Brindisi could lose his right to an appeal in state court if Tenney goes to Congress, and that would make it harder to honor the will of the voters if Brindisi is deemed to have won more lawful votes.

Yes, we would have a different remedy, a separate authority to essentially appeal to, Spiva said. But Mr. Brindisi would have lost his appeal to New York State courts, he said.

DelConte said he would issue a ruling shortly, though its not clear when.

The judge also mentioned that Oneida County had submitted unofficial vote counts following its final review of contested ballots, and that Tenneys lead had decreased slightly as a result.

Tenney was up by 123 votes as of last week, but she is now up 110 votes, DelConte said. Official numbers have not yet been provided on the courts electronic filing website.

Contact reporter Patrick Lohmann at PLohmann@Syracuse.com or (315)766-6670, and follow more #NY22 updates on Twitter: @PatLohmann.

More on the NY 22nd race:

Amid errors and delays, a lesson from New York 22nd race: How not to run an election

Judge delays NY 22nd race another week after last-minute Brindisi effort

In NY 22nd, judges suggests there are no great options to fix Oneida County mistake

Whats next in Brindisi-Tenney House race? Appeals, recount, could delay decision for months

700 votes were tossed in Oneida County. Officials ignored state law in latest mess up

Oneida County botched 2,400 voter signups, preventing their votes in Brindisi-Tenney race
The Delhi Police has turned the Red Fort into an impregnable fortress with barricades and trucks loaded with mud to stop any surprise intrusion by protesters on Saturday. Cranes were used to place boulder barricades as a precaution in the wake of the farmers' call for a nationwide 'chakka jam'.

Senior police officers supervised the security arrangements at Red Fort.

Delhi Police Commissioner S.N. Shrivastava also visited Shahidi Park and reviewed the security arrangements. He spoke to senior police officers and was briefed about the preventive measures undertaken.

More than 55,000 policemen have been deployed at various strategic points in the national capital.

The Delhi Police is also geared up to tackle any surprise elements, including 'flash mob' tactics and protest call on social media on Saturday as the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and other farmer organisations are set for a nationwide three-hour 'chakka jam'.

Despite the agitating farmers' assurance that the 'chakka jam' would not be implemented in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi, the Delhi Police as a precautionary measure have intensified security arrangements with special focus on border areas where the farmers have been protesting since November 26 last year.
Despite its relatively low case numbers, the state of Hawaii is on the verge of a major COVID-19 outbreak which is just weeks away. The Healthcare Association of Hawaii warned Hawaii Public Radio on January 8 that by February 19 hospitals would reach full capacity, noting that hospitalizations were up by 77 percent in the previous two weeks. The warnings about a coming wave of cases has faced a near media blackout as the state pushes to reopen schools.

Front view of The Queen's Medical Center (Wikimedia Commons)

The site Covidactnow.org, which tracks statistics, has labeled Maui as being on the verge of an outbreak with zero ICU capacity available. The Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) reported 92 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the statewide total to 26,187.

Significantly, Hawaiis effective reproduction rate (Rt) was 1.12 according to data gathered from rt.live on January 27the second highest within the United States. This means that every infected person is spreading the virus to 1.12 other people. The data collection site rt.live is owned by Instagram, and recently stopped publicizing data. It projects a message on its page arguing that with the administration of vaccines, the Rt figure is no longer of value and that one should never rely too heavily on a single metric. The suspension of this aggregated data raises concern, particularly since the virus is still spreading out of control throughout the United States, and it remains undetermined to what degree the vaccineswhich have so far only been administered to a small segment of the populationslow the spread of infection in the population.

Adding to the concern is the February 2 announcement by DOH officials that analysis pointed to the possible spread of the highly transmissible B.1.1.7 UK variant in Hawaii. The DOH says it will release definitive proof by the end of this week once the genome sequencing is completed. However, state officials and the media have sought to downplay the news and insist that no changes to current health and safety protocols are necessary at this time.

Just last week, Hawaii acting epidemiologist, Dr. Sarah Kemble, announced that scientists have also detected a variant associated with California outbreaks among seven patients on Oahu, one on Maui and one on Kauai, proving that opening travel to and from the mainland has resulted in increased infections. In mid-October, Hawaii arbitrarily reduced its quarantine period from 14 to 10 days, allowing travelers with a 72-hour-old negative coronavirus test to bypass quarantining altogether. Traveling to Oahu from another Hawaiian island requires no test nor a quarantine. Significantly, all four COVID-19 deaths reported on Wednesday were from Oahu.

Acting in the interest of the ruling class and tourist industry, Hawaii state officials have refused to adopt the lockdown measures needed to curb the spread of the virus and have pushed the reopening of tourism while downplaying the degree of community spread. Maui, which has a population of 167,417 has a test positivity rate of 7.1 percent, far above the 5 percent guideline outlined by the World Health Organization for coming out of a lockdown.

Maui only has a total of 31 ICU beds and 38 ventilators, meaning that even a moderate surge in cases will easily overwhelm the system. With the threat of a major outbreak looming, the situation facing medical workers remains dire throughout the state where hospitals are already nearing capacity. Across Hawaii there are a total of 339 ICU beds, and 196 of them are currently occupied. Lanaithe island owned by Oracle billionaire Larry Ellisonhas a single hospital with just four critical care beds.

It is under these conditions that the Hawaii Nurses Association (HNA) Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 50, forced a contract on nurses at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children, averting a strike.

Significantly, none of the nursss' demands were met in the contract, which the union pushed through and nurses were unable to read before the vote. The major concers of nurses, including a lack of access to new N95 masks, an end to the multi-use of masks, and the dangerous policy of caring for both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients on a single shift remain unresolved.

A nurse from the Kapiolani Medical Center spoke with the WSWS and expressed dissatisfaction on how OPEIU Local 50 quickly pushed the sellout contract as a victory to the nurses. The Union said the nurses won, but nurses didnt feel that way at all! The hospital has continued to run out of equipment since the beginning of the pandemic. A nurse got COVID-19 and they said it was community acquired. The hospital showed massive disrespect toward nurses. The outcome of the vote tally has not been made public. Ninety-three percent of nurses voted in favor of authorizing the strike out of concern for the safety of patients and staff.

While the coronavirus continues to spread, Hawaii Governor David Ige is pushing to return to in-person teaching by offering to vaccinate school employees as essential front-line workers. Although 18,200 school employees have signed up for vaccinationshalf of the teacher worker forcereports show that only a small percentage have actually received the first dose of the vaccine. The Hawaii State Teachers Association has enthusiastically endorsed this plan, stating that teacher vaccinations will open up safer opportunities to increase in-person learning options. The necessity of vaccinating the entire population, including students, and the families of teachers and students has not been raised by the union.

Meanwhile, data continues to reveal that school openings facilitate the spread of COVID-19. On August 20, around the time that many K-12 schools were returning for classes in the US, child cases totaled 442,7859.3 percent of the 4.76 million total cases for all ages. By November 12, the number of total cases had risen by 87.5 percent to over 9 million. Child cases, in turn, had risen by 135 percent to 1.04 million.

The WSWS is warning the teachers of Hawaii that they must not allow Ige and the trade unions to force them back to the classroom while the virus continues to spread out of control. Teachers must join forces with nurses, doctors, emergency medical workers and other workers to demand their safety be placed as the prime concern over profits and the dictates of the capitalists. The disaster facing Hawaii can only be reversed by the united action of the working class. We urge all workers to form independent rank-and-file action committees, to take the conduct of this struggle to end the pandemic into their own hands and fight for a socialist transformation of society.
Military Extremism Purge May Lead to Communism: Former Navy Lt. Commander

Former U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Steven Rogers said on Thursday that an order by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin for the military to stand down to address extremism is unprecedented, unnecessary, and a dangerous road that leads to communist China.

This to me, dangerous, it looks like a political litmus test, and its a road that you would only find in communist China or in the former Soviet Union, former Lieutenant Commander Rogers told NTD.

Austin ordered a DOD-wide stand down to address extremism in the ranks on Wednesday.

Secretary of Defense Retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin answers questions during his confirmation before the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington, on Jan. 19, 2021. (Greg Nash/Pool via Reuters)

Rogers said that the United States military has been a role model in addressing discrimination, extremism, radicalism, which has made the U.S. military the greatest on the earth.

He expressed concern about whether conservatives would be singled out.

I believe its the Defence Secretary under the Biden administration. Are they now going to purge conservatives? Are military members who have conservative views and valuesare they the ones that are going to be targeted? Rogers asked.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby noted on Wednesday that some of the extremists who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 were active duty service members and others were military veterans.

Austin said during the meeting with military leaders that while the number of extremists may be small, No matter what it is, it is  not an insignificant problem and has to be addressed.

Rogers noted that communist China has infiltrated U.S. colleges, schools, corporations, and the political system.

Now my concern is that they are gripping  an agenda that is leading them into the ranks of our U.S. military. Now, thats not to say that our military members are being influenced by the Chinese Communist Party, but the politicians who oversee our military are being influenced, Rogers said.

Rogers said that the censorship on the internet and purging of people with conservative beliefs across the country is extremely disturbing.

Now we have the Defence Secretary, which appears to be giving military members a litmus test and maybe purging those individuals who supported President Trump from the military, he said. Its very dangerous. Its going down a very, very dangerous road.

Rogers said the upcoming vetting or litmus test in the military is going to have a tremendous negative impact on the morale of our men and women in the military. They will be concerned about being reported, about losing their career, or even being prosecuted.

Down the road, he said it would lead to the United States becoming a socialist country.
Myanmar saw its largest anti-coup protests yet on Saturday with young demonstrators spilling on to the streets to denounce the country's new military regime, despite a nationwide internet blackout aimed at stifling a growing chorus of popular dissent.

As many as 1,000 demonstrators marched on a road near Yangon University, most holding up the three-finger salute that has come to symbolise resistance to the army takeover.

"Down with the military dictatorship!" the crowd yelled, many donning red headbands -- the colour associated with ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party.

A large police contingent blocked nearby roads, with two water cannon trucks parked at the scene, according to AFP reporters at the scene.

The march came as Myanmar was plunged into its second nationwide internet blackout this week, similar in magnitude to an earlier shutdown that coincided with the arrest of Suu Kyi and other senior leaders on Monday.

Those dawn raids brought a sudden halt to Myanmar's brief 10-year experiment with democracy, and catalysed an outpouring of fury that has migrated from social media to the streets.

The dawn arrests of de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior leaders this week brought a sudden halt to Myanmar's brief 10-year experiment with democracy /  AFP

Online calls to protest the army takeover have prompted increasingly bold displays of defiance against the new regime, including the nightly deafening clamour of people around the country banging pots and pans -- a practice traditionally associated with driving out evil.

Some have shown their opposition by gathering for group photographs with banners decrying the coup and flashing a three-finger salute earlier adopted by democracy protesters in neighbouring Thailand.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said a special envoy to the country had made "first contact" with Myanmar's deputy military commander to urge the junta to relinquish power to the civilian government it toppled.

Anger has grown in Myanmar since the coup that overthrew the country's civilian leaders this week /  AFP

"We will do everything we can to make the international community united in making sure that conditions are created for this coup to be reversed," he told reporters on Friday.

State media in Myanmar reported Saturday that junta figures had spoken with diplomats the previous day to respond to an international outcry and asked them to work with the new leaders.

"The Government understand the concerns of the international community on the continuation of Myanmar's democratic transition process," International Cooperation Minister Ko Ko Hlaing said in the meeting, according to the report.

- 'Freedom from fear' -

As protests gathered steam this week, the junta ordered telecom networks to freeze users out of access to Facebook, an extremely popular service in the country and arguably its main mode of communication.

Protesters in Myanmar have flashed the three-finger salute borrowed from Thailand's democracy movements and the 'Hunger Games' film and book franchise /  AFP

The platform had hosted a rapidly growing "Civil Disobedience Movement" forum that had inspired civil servants, healthcare professionals, and teachers to show their dissent by boycotting their jobs in civil service and hospitals.

The military widened its efforts to stifle dissent on Friday when it demanded new blocks on other social media services.

Twitter, one of the targeted platforms, said the move was an attack on "the rights of people to make their voices heard."

An immensely popular figure despite a tarnished reputation in the West, Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since the coup /  AFP/File

Norway-based Telenor said its local phone company had been instructed to cut access to the platform late on Friday, adding it had "challenged the necessity" of the directive.

An apparent ministry document ordering the blockade -- seen by AFP but not verified -- said Twitter and Instagram were being used to "cause misunderstanding among the public".

Some internet-savvy users have managed to circumvent the social media block by using VPN services.

By Saturday morning, trending hashtags like #WeNeedDemocracy, #HeartheVoiceofMyanmar and "Freedom from fear" -- the latter a famed Suu Kyi quote -- had millions of mentions.

An immensely popular figure despite a tarnished reputation in the West, Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since the coup, but a party spokesman said Friday she was under house arrest and "in good health".

US President Joe Biden was among world leaders this week to demand the generals "relinquish power... release advocates and activists and officials they have detained, lift the restrictions in telecommunications, and refrain from violence".
It became draining for Rubin to watch the news on TV and hear each days statistics of people dying from the virus. The specter of mortality, ever-present since the pandemic first swept the country, hit home as she thought about her parents who, despite rarely going outside or seeing people beyond their caregiver, could be next. Shes left unsure how her parents contracted the disease.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken concludes his first press briefing at the State Department in Washington on Jan. 27, 2021. (Carlos Barrisa/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Blinken Presses China on Human Rights Abuses in 1st Call With Chinese Diplomat

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi in a phone call on Friday that the United States will stand up for human rights and democratic values in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, the State Department said.

Blinken also pressed China to condemn the military coup in Burma (also known as Myanmar), and he reaffirmed that Washington will work with allies to hold China accountable for threatening the stability of the Indo-Pacific, including across the Taiwan Strait, the department said in a statement.

Following disturbing reports of systematic rape and sexual abuse of female detainees in Xinjiang, the State Department issued a statement on Wednesday, saying that the United States is deeply disturbed by the reports and said there must be serious consequences for the atrocities.

A BBC report earlier on Wednesday said women in the camps were subject to grave abuses, with the British broadcaster reporting that, Several former detainees and a guard have told the BBC they experienced or saw evidence of an organized system of mass rape, sexual abuse, and torture.

Chinese officials have denied those reports, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin saying in a Feb. 5 press conference that the BBC report was rumors and lies.

On the call with Blinken, Yang said that the United States should correct its recent mistakes and that both sides must respect each others political systems and development paths, according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry. Yang, speaking in an online forum on Tuesday, also called on the United States to stop interfering on issues of Chinese sovereignty, including Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Tibet.

Yang, in a Feb. 1 speech, warned the Biden administration not to cross Beijings red line, while taking aim at the Trump administration, saying that its misguided policies had led the bilateral relationship to its most difficult period since the two countries established diplomatic ties.

Washington ended its diplomatic ties with Taipei in favor of Beijing in 1979 but has maintained a robust relationship with the island based on the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA). Under the Trump administration, the Taiwan-U.S. relationship warmed considerably, most evident by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeos decision to lift restrictions on how U.S. officials should interact with their Taiwanese counterparts.

Wang, meanwhile, built on Yangs remarks in a Feb. 5 press conference, at which he was asked about a statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Guyana welcoming the establishment of a Taiwan Office in Guyana.

Relevant U.S. officials have made seriously wrong remarks in breach of the principle of international law and norms governing international relations, to which China is firmly opposed, he said. We urge the U.S. side to correct its mistakes, take concrete actions to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, and act in a prudent manner.

The one-China policy and the joint communiques are diplomatic arrangements under which the United States formally recognizes Taiwan not as a separate country, but as part of China, while still maintaining separate diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which includes security guarantees and support through arms sales, which in 2020 totaled around $5 billion.

President Joe Biden on Thursday described China as our most serious competitor and said Washington would continue to confront what he described as Chinas attack on human rights, intellectual property, and global governance.

But were ready to work with Beijing when its in Americas interest to do so, he added, suggesting a policy of greater engagement.

The Global Times, a tabloid run by Chinese Communist Party paper the Peoples Daily, said in an editorial on Saturday that it expected the Biden administration to keep talking tough while improving cooperation in some areas.

This is obviously different from the later period of Trumps administration, which had only hyped up antagonism between China and the U.S., it said.

The Trump administration confronted China on its human rights violations against Falun Gong adherents, Hongkongers, Muslim minorities, Tibetans, and Uyghurs by imposing visa restrictions and sanctions against Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials responsible for the abuse.

Additionally, Pompeo designated the CCPs persecution of Uyghurs and other majority-Muslim ethnic minorities as genocide and crimes against humanity last month.

The Chinese regime has often deflected international criticism against its own policies by claiming that certain issues, including its militarization efforts in the South China Sea and coercion tactics against Taiwan, are internal affairs.

Under the Trump administration, the Justice Department brought more indictments related to Chinas trade secrets theft and related crimes in 2019 than during the eight years of the Obama administration.

U.S.-based China affairs commentator Tang Jingyuan said in a phone interview that the Chinese regime was using both soft and hard tactics to pressure the Biden administration, in the hopes of restarting official talks with the United States.

Yangs speech was an example of a soft approach, while recent incursions into Taiwans airspace and sanctions on former U.S. officials were hawkish tactics.

His speech could be read as an indication that the Chinese regime would be willing to make concessions if the United States would promise not to cross the red lines.

Ultimately, Tang believes the Chinese regime wants to revert back to a time when human rights and commerce were decoupled from each other during negotiations, so that the regime could continue to do business with the United States, while ignoring human rights issues.

Frank Fang, Nicole Hao, and Reuters contributed to this report.
Jakarta: More than 100 volunteers who helped victims of last months earthquake in Indonesias West Sulawesi province have contracted COVID-19 due to poor implementation of health protocols.

Although accurate and official data is not available, local media reports say as many as 105 out of 150 volunteers have tested positive to the illness.

The 6.2-magniture earthquake on January 15 killed 116 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes and buildings in Mamuju, Mamasa and Majene districts, according to the provincial government. More than 90,000 people are still living in camps for the displaced.

Police officers and a sniffer dog search for earthquake victims in Mamuju, West Sulawesi, in January. Credit:AP

Kompas newspapers reported that test results on February 4 showed a 70 per cent positivity rate among those tested in the earthquake areas.
AS the white pirogue drifted in the waters just off Belle Garden in Tobago early yesterday morning, fishermen working nearby knew something was wrong.

What they saw in the small vessel stunned them.

Fourteen bodies, all of them male, along with a skull and other skeletal remains, were piled inside the vessel as it floated four miles off Belle Garden, police confirmed.

The bodies were all clad in tracksuits and green rain jackets and were severely decomposed, police investigators said.
Paxton, IL (60957)

Today

Clear skies. Low around 40F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies. Low around 40F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.
I can't stand Oprah Winfrey. It's a credit to her talent and drive that a poor girl from Mississippi could parlay her gifts into a $2.5-billion personal fortune. What's wrong about her is that her gift is to make emotional slop and drivel seem important. Given that modern Americans are emotionally weaker, less rational, and more clinically narcissistic than past generations were, I blame the Oprah influence, which turned these bad traits into virtues. All these modern "virtues" were on display Thursday on the House floor, when Nancy Pelosi granted House Democrats an hour in which to share their collective trauma from January 6.

I have a few certainties about January 6:

First, Trump was not responsible. (See here for data points about that.)

Second, if it's indeed true that the FBI knew in advance that radicals intended to try to enter the Capitol, and neither the Capitol Hill police nor Pelosi and her team did anything to beef up security, any blood that was spilled is on their hands.

Third, I am opposed to political violence, whether it comes from the left or the right.

Fourth, I'm unaware of evidence that any congresspeople were near the Capitol breach, nor were they at risk.

Fifth, AOC's narrative about her experience on January 6 shows either that she entirely lacks courage and common sense or that she is embroidering her narrative almost to the point of dishonesty.

Sixth, the Democrats are using what happened on that day as a Reichstag Fire moment  that is, they're taking an isolated event; crafting an overly broad, false narrative about it; and then using that narrative to destroy their political opponents. It is profoundly un-American and, indeed, evil.

The latest act in the public trauma that our nation's Democrat "leaders" suffered occurred on Thursday, when Nancy Pelosi granted AOC an hour on the floor so she and her fellow House members could treat America to their psychic anguish.

As I said earlier this week, my story of the attack on our Capitol is not the only story,nor is it the central story.



It is just one of 100s of stories.



Tonight, we will start to hear more on the House floor.



I invite all colleagues who wish to share to join our special order. https://t.co/O4rVIA4R95  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 4, 2021

Once upon a time, Americans were proud of their backbone and courage. Thanks to the Oprahfication of America, though, leftists show their strength through irrational emotional spillage in front of the world.

Don't be fooled into thinking AOC is a moron. A college graduate, she understands the manipulative power of victimhood. The mantra of leftist victimhood is that you must believe the victim  that is, if the victim is a Democrat. And since it was Democrats who were literally weeping on the House floor, AOC insisted that no one could challenge their stories:

AOC is on the floor of the House saying that anyone who questions the claims of "survivors" -- because everyone in Congress is apparently a "survivor" now -- is guilty of exacerbating the "trauma" of ALL "survivors" everywhere in the country. Again, this is insanely manipulative  Michael Tracey (@mtracey) February 5, 2021

Rep. Cori Bush echoed this sentiment: there is no longer absolute truth, she said. Instead, there is only emotional truth, which is something no one can deny. Oprah would be proud:

"Everybody's experiences must be validated," says Cori Bush. Sorry, you are no longer allowed to "invalidate" the "experiences" of politicians -- that's "harm" pic.twitter.com/TunvQ0A9uY  Michael Tracey (@mtracey) February 5, 2021

In his opening monologue when subbing for Tucker Carlson, Mark Steyn, with his inimitable style, discusses some of what happened during that Oprah hour in the once mighty and at least somewhat dignified deliberative body:

If the Steyn video is unavailable, here's footage of the whole event. My favorites are Dean Phillips from Minnesota, who desperately tries to twist himself  a white male  into a good victim, and Rashida Tlaib, who breaks down completely even though she wasn't even there but gets a comforting back rub from AOC as she sobs while reciting the diversity bona fides of her large staff:

It is impossible for me to imagine what our geopolitical enemies in Iran, China, Russia, North Korea, and other warlike and totalitarian places think when they witness these emotionally incontinent displays. Do they think we're weak, or do they respect these leftists for using emotional manipulation for their political advantage?

After all, the dramatic approach these young socialists are taking to January 6, which they call a "coup," has given them enormous power. They've used it to deploy the military to D.C.; turn law enforcement on ordinary Americans for the "crime" of supporting Donald Trump; and give corporate America, which is entirely in the bag for the left, the opportunity to "de-person" all Trump-supporters.

Image: Rashida Tlaib cries about the riot she missed. YouTube screen grab.
New Delhi:

A group of scientists from US have recently discovered the reason behind brain freeze which caused a quick and intense headache after we consume ice creams or other such chilly treats too quickly.

"A brain freeze is what happens when cold food touches a bundle of nerves in the back of the palate," said Stephanie Vertrees, assistant professor at the Texas A&M University in the US.

Moreover, researchers have further found that the sphenopalatine ganglion, which is considered to be an important bundle of nerves, is the actual reason behind brain freeze and all types of headaches.

"The sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG) is a group of nerves that are sensitive to cold food, and when theyre stimulated, they relay information that stimulates a part of the brain to have a headache," said Vertrees.

"This is the same ganglion that is responsible for migraine headaches and cluster headaches," Vertrees said.

"There has been a lot of research done on this bundle of nerves, but mostly for trying to prevent these more serious and longer-lasting headaches," she said.

Also Read: Dubai: Bakery claims of having most expensive cake of USD 25,000

"We now have two different kinds of devices for the SPG. One device blocks the nerve with a numbing agent, and the other that stimulates it electronically with the goal of eliminating or preventing migraine or cluster headaches from occurring," she added.

Obviously, that approach is a bit extreme for treating a brain freeze, but these links between the different types of headaches can help people who suffer from migraines.

"Many people will try to give themselves a brain freeze to try to break a migraine headache," Vertrees said.

"It may not work for everyone or work every time, but giving yourself a brain freeze can possibly alleviate a migraine," she said.

There are several (obvious) ways to avoid a brain freeze, but fewer ways to treat one.

"To avoid brain freeze, eat the cold food much more slowly so that your mouth can warm up the food - dont inhale it," Vertrees said.

"Keep it in the front of your mouth: the further-back stimulation is what triggers the brain freeze," she said.

However, if you find yourself a victim to an ice cream headache, there is a trick you can do to try and warm your way out of one, researchers said.

If you begin feeling a brain freeze coming on, press your tongue to the roof of your mouth. The heat from your tongue will warm up the sinuses behind your nose and then warm the ganglion that caused the brain freeze, they said.

"Brain freezes are not dangerous and very self-limiting," Vertrees said.

Also Read: Eating french fries on a regular basis? Death is not far away!

"Its about slowing down and being patient and aware of the likelihood of getting a brain freeze if you eat or drink too fast," Vertrees was quoted while interacting with reporters.

(With PTI inputs)
 Flash

China is ready to deepen cooperation with Indonesia on COVID-19 vaccines and help with its domestic anti-epidemic fight, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday.

Wang made the remarks in a phone conversation with Indonesia's Coordinator for Cooperation with China and Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.

Wang recalled his meeting with Luhut in Indonesia not long ago, saying it consolidated mutual trust and deepened friendship between the two sides.

Both sides earnestly implemented a series of important consensuses reached by the two heads of state and achieved positive progress, Wang said.

China is willing to make joint efforts with Indonesia to promote cooperation in various fields to achieve more tangible results and better benefit the two countries and their people, he added.

China supports Indonesia in exploring a development path suited to its own national conditions and in playing a greater role in the international and regional arena, Wang said.

As long as the Chinese and Indonesian people come together, they will surely make greater contributions to the development of Asia and the progress of mankind, Wang said.

Both President Joko Widodo and Luhut have received the shot of the COVID-19 vaccine made by China, which has demonstrated their trust in China, Wang stressed.

The Chinese side attaches great importance to Indonesia's need for vaccines and supports Indonesia's efforts to build the center for vaccine production in Southeast Asia, Wang said.

The two sides should accelerate maritime cooperation, convene a new round of maritime cooperation committee and technical committee meetings on maritime cooperation at an early date, and give full play to the role of the Maritime Cooperation Fund, Wang said.

The two sides should also set up a working group on trade as soon as possible to expand the scale of bilateral trade, and press ahead with the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project to ensure that it is completed and opened to traffic as scheduled.

For his part, Luhut said the Indonesian government and people appreciate China's timely offering of vaccines, and hope to continue to learn from China's experience in epidemic prevention and control and push forward anti-virus cooperation with China.

Indonesia expects more investment from China, and stands ready to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with China in such fields as trade, maritime affairs and sports, speed up the joint construction of the Belt and Road, and jointly make headway in such major projects as the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway and the "Two Countries, Twin Parks" project, Luhut said.

With the 1.7 billion people of both countries going hand in hand, the world will become a better place, he added.
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Supreme Court to Consider 2020 Election Challenge Lawsuits in February Conference

The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 5 scheduled several high-profile contest-of-election lawsuits, including ones brought by attorneys Sidney Powell, Lin Wood, and the Trump campaign, for consideration at its Feb. 19 conference.

According to a case listing, the lawsuits include Powells Michigan case (20815), the Trump campaigns Pennsylvania lawsuit (20845) and Wisconsin lawsuit (20882), the Pennsylvania lawsuit brought by Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) (20810), and Woods Georgia case (20799).

All cases allege some form of unlawful election-related conduct affecting the results of the election, including expansion of mail-in balloting by elections officials, changing rules in contravention of state election laws, lack of adequate security measures around mail ballots, issues with machine vote tabulation, and denial of meaningful access to poll watchers.

The Supreme Court declined to grant relief or fast-track the cases as requested in respective petitions filed ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration of President Joe Biden.

Powells Michigan petition (pdf) sought emergency declaratory relief avowing that the presidential election results certified by Michigan officials were unconstitutional and otherwise contrary to law, together with injunctive relief de-certifying those results.

Woods Georgia petition (pdf) asked the Supreme Court to enter an emergency order instructing Respondents to de-certify the results of the General Election for the Office of the President.

The Kelly petition (pdf) asked the court for an injunction that prohibits the Executive-Respondents from taking official action to tabulate, compute, canvass, certify, or otherwise finalize the results of the Election.

The Trump campaign suits similarly called for emergency injunctive relief in the form of expedited hearings and blocking certification of the electoral college votes for Biden.

Some of the lawyers in the cases said that seeing the challenges through is important as they could have an impact on long-term election fairness.

Our legal issue remains important in need of the courts review, attorney John Eastman told the Washington Examiner, referring to Pennsylvanias conduct during the 2020 election.

Greg Teufel, Kellys lawyer, told the Washington Examiner that the congressman has no intention of dropping the suit.

The Supreme Court has kept its distance from Trumps election challenges. In December, it rejected a lawsuit filed by the Republican attorney general of Texas and backed by Trump seeking to decertify the election results in four states.

If, at the Feb. 19 conference, the Supreme Court decides to take up any of the election lawsuits, they most likely wont be heard until October.

In a sweeping report on the integrity of the 2020 election, Trump adviser Peter Navarro concluded that the allegations of irregularities surrounding the vote in key battleground states were serious enough to warrant an urgent probe and substantial enough to potentially overturn the results.

If these election irregularities are not fully investigated prior to Inauguration Day and thereby effectively allowed to stand, this nation runs the very real risk of never being able to have a fair presidential election again, Navarro warned in his report.
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-05 20:01:56|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, talks to villagers who are participating in festive activities, and extends his New Year's greetings to people of all ethnic groups across the country, on a public square in Huawu Village, Xinren Miao Township of Qianxi County, Bijie City, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 3, 2021. Xi on Wednesday inspected Guizhou Province ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

GUIYANG, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping has sent New Year's greetings to Chinese people of all ethnic groups, wishing happiness and good fortune for the people and prosperity for the nation.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, extended the greetings during an inspection trip in southwest China's Guizhou Province prior to the Chinese New Year, which falls on Feb. 12 this year.

The trip took Xi to places including the city of Bijie and the provincial capital Guiyang. He visited a village, a residential community and a supermarket from Wednesday to Friday.

On Wednesday, Xi arrived in Bijie, once a typical poverty-stricken area. After over 30 years of effort, the city completed the poverty alleviation task in 2020.

Xi visited a section of the Wujiang River, one of the biggest tributaries of the upper Yangtze River. Checking the ecological environment and water quality of the river, he emphasized blazing a new path that prioritizes ecological conservation and green development.

Xi later went to Huawu Village in Xinren Miao Township. The once extremely impoverished village has eliminated poverty through crop and animal husbandry as well as tourism. Xi visited the home of a villager and a Miao embroidery workshop, urging efforts to promote ethnic and traditional cultures.

"This year, we will secure the great victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, achieving the first centenary goal," Xi told villagers at a public square. "No ethnic group should be left behind."

On Thursday, Xi paid a visit to a supermarket in Guiyang, checking the supply of goods for the Spring Festival holiday and demanding strengthened COVID-19 response measures and food safety supervision.

While visiting the Jinyuan community, Xi learned about issues including primary-level Party building and public service and required building communities into the safest havens for the residents.

Xi also warned that epidemic control remains a formidable task, urging local authorities to improve services for residents since people are encouraged to stay put for the holiday this year.

"The past year was an extraordinary one. Faced with a violent storm, we fought it with courage and triumphed. Each and everyone of us has experienced it together, and each and everyone of us is remarkable," Xi told local residents at the community's public square. Enditem


GARDAI are again appealing to motorists not to leave valuables in cars and to make sure they are locked properly when parked up.

There have been several incidents, across the city and county in recent weeks, which gardai say is a concern.

In one case, a man parked his jeep at Mountcollins, Abbeyfeale overnight. When he came out in the morning he realised that his phone had been taken, he had left his jeep unlocked.

In another incident, a lady left her handbag in her car overnight in the Athea area. "She did lock her car but in the morning she discovered that a thief had smashed the car window and had taken her handbag," said divisional crime prevention officer Sergeant Ber Leetch.

In the city, a car was broken into in the middle of the day while parked for a short time.

"A lady in the Castletroy area had locked and alarmed her car but she left her handbag on the front seat. She was gone for ten minutes and on her return she could hear her car alarm going off and could see that her car window was smashed and her handbag gone," explained Sgt leetch.

"I understand that people dont leave property on display in their cars deliberately but that property is what attracts thieves. Always check the door handle of your car to ensure that it is locked and never ever leave any property on display in your car," she added.

Gardai are warning that thieves are not always seeking valuables.

"A man who lives in the Wolfe Tone Street area of the city discovered that a thief had entered his unlocked car during the night and had taken his tax disc, his insurance disc and his NCT disc. This gentleman now has to go through the difficult process of replacing all of these items, this could have been avoided if the car had been locked," said Sgt Leetch.
MCKINNEY, Texas, Feb. 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bayestree Intelligence is delighted to announce General Availability of its Enterprise AI product - Sainapse 1.9 today.

With virtually zero code, minimal data pre-work, pre-built REST API connectors, Sainapse 1.9 ensures under a month go-live, delivering 80% reduction in resolution time and 50% reduction in support ops cost. Sainapse 1.9 powers up enterprise CX workflows end to end and offers multiple capabilities that are critical for enterprises striving to provide differentiated customer experience.

Sainapse 1.9

automatically converts incoming messages from any channel into cases/tickets in a CRM/Service Management data store classifying and routing appropriately without coding a single rule (Impact - no human triaging)

partitions knowledge sources into information channels, enabling intra as well as cross channel inferencing (Impact - single instance of Sainapse supporting transaction processing and decision support needs of multiple departments while maintaining their operational nuances)

learns about possible solutions ingesting sources of knowledge on-prem or web, analyses attachments including images that's typically used or referenced to resolve such tickets and assists service engineer/agent by recommending solutions (Impact - search time reduction by >80% and sets up for autonomous)

optionally, ingests solution recommendation directly to requester/end user (impact - self-help and reduction of expensive contact centres)

triggers, schedules and orchestrates remedial action via script/RPA and calling the appropriate transaction in enterprise systems such as SAP/Oracle/SF/Pega (Impact - instant resolution, higher NPS, lower ops cost)

Spots emerging themes before it becomes frequent (Impact - opportunity to take proactive action well before the issues snowball)

Includes a powerful real time de-duplication feature that identifies duplicate suspects in real time (Impact - rationalize customer database across divisions to serve better)

Privacy feature, when activated, identifies names, addresses or any other entity of choice from data and blank them out in real time (impact - zero risk of PII getting exposed)

Language agnostic Esperanto feature, when activated, processes any number of left to right languages concurrently including mixed-language situations (impact - pain-free global rollout and no need for language desks)

Therefore, customers can think of Sainapse as 'intelligence inside' their CRM or Service Management landscape and dramatically drop MTTR and cost of ops without making any changes to their process, landscape, data, or people skills.

Partha Ghosh, co-Founder and Chief Scientist of Bayestree says, "Sainapse design is deeply rooted on the principles of dynamic learnability, extensibility as well as the ability to self-heal ingesting data from heterogenous, non-stationary sources at scale. It enables diverse business use cases by offering rich extensibility of native platforms and thereby empowering its ecosystem partners and customers immensely."

Nischay Mittal, Principal & Global Head - Automation/AI, Zinnov, said, "The automation space is evolving at a remarkable pace and Customer Success is emerging as one segment with high automation potential. In our latest Zinnov Zones for Hyper Intelligent Automation, Sainapse's ability to manage cross-channel and cross-language queries with context-rich recommendations made us rate it as a Customer Success automation product to watch out for."

Girish Koppar, co-Founder and COO of Bayestree mentions, "We have addressed all core AI adoption challenges via Sainapse 1.9. With the latest release, Sainapse goes a step further to free up enterprises from the 'maze of rules.'"

Leveraging the approach of 'model only once', Sainapse 1.9 ensures continuous online learning and real time ability to assimiliate new sources of data to deliver prediction accuracies that far surpass incumbent solutions.

Available both on-prem and on cloud, the latest release adheres to enterprise standards ranging from data security, privacy, accessibility while meeting stringent performance benchmarks at scale.

Sainapse 1.9 is custom built for reimagining CX and is equally effective across industries, geographies and external or internal customer context. Sainapse 1.9 is already live and being piloted across customers in US, Continental Europe, Latin America and India. Sainapse 1.8 customers have a clear upgrade path and Bayestree plans to move them all to 1.9 by first half of 2021.

Bayestree Intelligence is an Enterprise AI product startup out of McKinney, Texas and Bangalore, India that's redefining enterprise customer support across digital, voice and social channels.

For more information on Bayestree Intelligence and Sainapse 1.9 click www.bayestree.com

All Trademarks belong to respective parties.

Media Contact:

Prashanth Rai

Phone: 201.282.9820

Email: [email protected]

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United Nations, Feb 6 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the agreement on a new interim executive authority for Libya.

"Today we have very good news in our search for peace. I welcome the selection by members of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) of a unified, temporary executive authority," he told reporters here on Friday.

He called on all members of the dialogue and the Libyan and international stakeholders to respect the results of Friday's vote, reports Xinhua news agency.

He congratulated the three new members of the Presidency Council and the Prime Minister-designate on their selection, and wished them every success in their mandate to lead Libya for the remainder of the preparatory phase, leading up to the national elections in December this year.

"I welcome the pledges made by the new executive authority to form a government, reflecting political pluralism, geographical representation; and its commitment to include no less than 30 percent of women in executive positions, as well as to ensure the participation of youth.

"I also call on the new executive authority and all concerned Libyan stakeholders to approve the principles and timelines set out in the Tunis roadmap," the Secretary-General said.

After the ceasefire that was agreed, the selection that took place shows that Libya is moving in the right direction, he added.

The UN's commitment to supporting the Libyan people in their efforts to build a peaceful and prosperous country will continue, said Guterres.

Members of the LPDF on Friday voted for a new Prime Minister and a Presidency Council in the UN-sponsored talks in Geneva.

Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah was selected as the nPrime Minister and Mohammad Younes Menfi as President of the Council.

Mossa Al-Koni and Abdullah Hussein Al-Lafi were selected as members of the Council.

The new authority will present a new government to the House of Representatives within 21 days.
A renewed influx would put pressure on immigration courts already straining under a massive backlog of asylum cases. Those who favor more restrictive immigration policies say that migrants who lose their cases could go underground, choosing to remain in the country unlawfully and adding to the estimated 10 million undocumented people already in the United States.

It was predictable that there would be virtually no honeymoon for the Biden administration on the multiple crises that are displacing persons in the Northern Triangle states of Central America and elsewhere, said Donald Kerwin, executive director of the Center for Migration Studies, a nonpartisan think tank.

These include the two hurricanes that destroyed many livelihoods and homes in Guatemala and Honduras; the devastating effect of the pandemic on economies across Latin America; and continued gang control of many communities, often accompanied by extortion and violence.

The Biden administration should be credited with its commitment to address the conditions uprooting Central Americans, Mr. Kerwin said, but this will be a very long-term process, and, in the meantime, people have been forced to flee.

Before former President Donald J. Trump took office, it had been the longstanding practice through several administrations to allow people facing persecution in their home countries to enter the United States and submit petitions for asylum. Some new migrants were held in detention until their cases were decided while others went free.

But Mr. Trump derided such policies as catch and release, and in 2019, he imposed a requirement that applicants wait in Mexico until their asylum requests were approved or denied. In March of last year, his administration invoked a health emergency law to effectively seal the border during the pandemic except to citizens and legal residents of the United States. Those who attempted to cross were summarily expelled back to Mexico.

But Mexico in recent days has begun enforcing a law passed in November that bars holding children under 12 in government custody. As a result, it has stopped accepting Central American families with young children back into Mexico, at least along some stretches of the border with Texas, forcing the United States to keep them. In order to avoid holding large numbers of people in shelters or immigration detention centers during a health crisis, Border Patrol has been releasing some of them to join family and friends across the United States.
A MAN convicted of what a judge said was an outrageous assault walked free from Tullamore court last week after lodging an appeal against a 10-month sentence.

Tullamore District Court heard Michael Lynch, Bells Well, Daingean, knocked out two of his victim's teeth and fractured his face in an early morning attack fuelled by alcohol and cocaine.

Mr Lynch, a 33-year-old father of three, pleaded guilty to assaulting Leon Delaney, causing him harm, at Bells Well on November 24, 2019.

Sergeant James O'Sullivan said when gardai came on the scene at 4.30am they saw that Leon Delaney was being attended to by paramedics and was missing two teeth.

Judge Catherine Staines was told the assault occurred when Mr Delaney, his wife, and another woman were walking home after a night out.

They met Mr Lynch who was shouting abuse in his girlfriend's face and when Mr Delaney told him to calm down, the defendant punched the victim a couple of times in the face and head and kicked him in the face when he fell to the ground.

In an interview with the gardai, Mr Lynch said he had punched Mr Delaney from behind and when the victim turned around they both fell to the ground.

Mr Delaney sustained multiple fractures to the side of his face and in a victim impact statement, he said his teeth had to be wired, he had developed a lisp, and he had to get dentures and eat pureed food for weeks.

He also had to cancel a family holiday planned for Christmas and the hardest thing he had to do was to try to explain to his children what had happened to his face while not being able to protect them from seeing his face.

Sergeant O'Sullivan said Mr Lynch had 33 previous convictions, most of which were for public order offences but he did have one conviction for assault dating from 2011.

He had received a six-month suspended sentence for that offence.

The defendant's solicitor, Donal Farrelly, said his client accepted it was an horrific assault on Mr Delaney and Mr Lynch himself was devastated by what he had done.

He had been using drink and cocaine at the time and that extremely toxic mixture led to him committing the assault when he was exchanging words with his partner and when Mr Delaney had interfered.

He had brought 1,000 to court which he had saved despite being on the Covid payment after losing his secure employment as a maintenance operator.

Mr Farrelly said Mr Lynch had also written a genuine letter of apology, was extremely saddened and ashamed, and would pay more money if given time.

Judge Staines said it had been with extreme reluctance that she accepted jurisdiction in the case but she knew the injured party was anxious that the matter be concluded.

From reading the victim impact statement she said the assault had occurred when Mr Delaney was minding his own business and then asked Mr Lynch to calm down when he was shouting and threatening to kill his girlfriend.

It was lucky for Mr Delaney that he was still alive, added the judge, saying that drink and cocaine were not an excuse.

Imposing the 10-month sentence, she noted his previous convictions and said she was giving the defendant credit for his guilty plea and his payment of compensation.

She directed the payment of a further 1,000 from the court poor box to Mr Delaney.

Judge Staines fixed recognisances for an appeal and those were taken up by Mr Lynch shortly after he was sentenced.
Hunter Biden, President Joe Bidens son, still maintains a 10 per cent holding in a Chinese investment firm despite pledging to divest himself of the funds before his father's January inauguration.

Hunter Biden had said he would offload his stake in Bohai Harvest RST (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Co.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed the pledge during a press briefing Friday and said that Hunter was 'working to unwind his investments.'

Hunter Biden still has not divested the 10 per cent stake he owns in a Chinese-run investment firm

Hunter Biden, far right, pledged in October 2019 that he wouldn't serve on any foreign boards if his father won the 2020 presidential election

'He has been working to unwind his investment but I would certainly point you  he's a private citizen  I would point you to him or his lawyers on the outside on any update,' Psaki said in response to a question on the topic.

In the final month of his election campaign, President Biden pledged that his family would be free of foreign dealings.

'No one in my family will have an office in the White House, will sit in on meetings as if they are a cabinet member, will, in fact, have any business relationship with anyone that relates to a foreign corporation or a foreign country,' Joe Biden said in the run up to November's election.

'My son, my family will not be involved in any business, any enterprise, that is in conflict with or appears to be a conflict, with the appropriate distance from, the presidency and the government,' he said during a CNN sit-down interview.

Then President-elect Joe Biden promised that his son, Hunter, would not be involved in any business dealings that could present a conflict of interest

Hunter Biden's business dealings in Ukraine, where he sat on the board of energy company Burisma, and also China had opened up his father to political attacks.

During the race for the White House, Hunter's relations with the equity company funded by the Bank of China and with Ukrainian energy company, Burisma Holdings, saw his father pushed over the issues as to how he came to serve on the board of Burisma, one of the largest private natural gas producers in Ukraine.

Hunter Biden pledged in October 2019 that he wouldn't serve on any foreign boards if his father won the 2020 presidential election.

The statement stopped short on pledging full divestment from foreign entities but he did resign from the BHR board at that time after his father received increased scrutiny during his presidential bid.

He also emphasized that his involvement with the company began after Joe Biden was no longer vice president under the Obama administration.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed during a press briefing Friday that the presidents son continues to own a 10 percent stake in the Bohai Harvest RST (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Co. (BHR Partners)  despite President Bidens October pledge that his family would be free of foreign dealings

'Hunter neither played a role in the formation or licensure of the company, nor owned any equity in it while his father was Vice President,' attorney George Mesires, said in a 2019 statement.

'He served only as a member of its board of directors, which he joined based on his interest in seeking ways to bring Chinese capital to international markets. It was an unpaid position,' he added.

When BHR was formed in 2013, Hunter Biden joined on as an unpaid director.

BHR was funded by the Bank of China, a state-owned entity, as well as other Chinese government financial firms.

In October 2017, after his father left office, Hunter Biden became a shareholder in BHR, according to regulatory filings in China.

He invested $420,000 and also attained a 10 percent equity position in BHR Partners.

'Under a Biden Administration, Hunter will readily comply with any and all guidelines or standards a President Biden may issue to address purported conflicts of interest, or the appearance of such conflicts, including any restrictions related to overseas business interests,' Mesires stated. 'In any event, Hunter will agree not to serve on boards of, or work on behalf of, foreign-owned companies.'

An investigation from the Republican-led Senate during the Trump administration found no evidence that Joe Biden had influenced U.S. foreign policy to benefit his son.

But a December announcement from Hunter Biden that he was under investigation by the federal government over his taxes put renewed attention on his foreign deals.
President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies in Congress forged ahead with their $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package on Friday as lawmakers approved a budget outline that will allow them to muscle Biden's plan through in the coming weeks without Republican support.

By a party line vote of 219-209, the House of Representatives passed the budget plan, after the Senate approved it in a pre-dawn vote. Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate for the first time.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi predicted the final COVID-19 relief legislation could pass Congress before March 15, when special unemployment benefits that were added during the pandemic expire.

Meeting at the White House, Biden and top Democrats said they wanted to enact the massive aid package as quickly as possible to beat back a pandemic that has killed more than 450,000 Americans and left millions of jobless.

Biden said he was open to compromise with Republicans as long as they did not slow things down.

"If I have to choose between getting help right now to Americans who are hurting so badly and getting bogged down in a lengthy negotiation ... that's an easy choice. I'm going to help the American people hurting now," he said.

Continued weakness in the job market, underscored by data released on Friday, proved the need for aggressive action, Biden said.

Republicans have floated a $600 billion aid package, less than a third the size of the Democratic plan. Even some Democrats, like Larry Summers, an economic adviser to former President Barack Obama, have warned that Biden might be spending too much.

Republican Representative Michael Burgess said Congress should wait until all of the previous $4 trillion in pandemic relief has been spent. He said $1 trillion has yet to go out the door.

"Why is it suddenly so urgent that we pass another $2 trillion bill?" Burgess demanded.

The budget resolution enables Democrats to pass Biden's plan by a simple majority in the 100-member Senate instead of the 60 votes required for most legislation. That means Democrats, who control 50 seats in the 100-seat chamber, might not need Republican votes. Democrats have a 10-seat majority in the House.

In its overnight session, the Senate voted to oppose an immediate increase of the federal minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $15 per hour. Senators also backed a motion calling for direct payments of up to $1,400 to be tailored to low-income earners. The White House says it is open to that idea.

The House vote Friday incorporated the Senate's changes. The approved amendments do not carry the force of law in a budget blueprint, but can serve as guidelines for developing the actual coronavirus aid bill in coming weeks.

Also read: Iran rescues 2 border guards from Pakistan terror outfit
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, extends his New Year's greetings to people of all ethnic groups across the country, on a public square of Huawu Village, Xinren Miao Township of Qianxi County, Bijie, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 3, 2021.(Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

GUIYANG, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping has sent New Year's greetings to Chinese people of all ethnic groups, wishing happiness and good fortune for the people and prosperity for the nation.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, extended the greetings during an inspection trip in southwest China's Guizhou Province prior to the Chinese New Year, which falls on Feb. 12 this year.

The trip took Xi to places including the city of Bijie and the provincial capital Guiyang. He visited a village, a residential community and a supermarket from Wednesday to Friday.

On Wednesday, Xi arrived in Bijie, once a typical poverty-stricken area. After over 30 years of effort, the city completed the poverty alleviation task in 2020.

Xi visited a section of the Wujiang River, one of the biggest tributaries of the upper Yangtze River. Checking the ecological environment and water quality of the river, he emphasized blazing a new path that prioritizes ecological conservation and green development.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspects the ecological environment of a major tributary of Wujiang River in Qianxi County, Bijie City, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 3, 2021. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Xi later went to Huawu Village in Xinren Miao Township. The once extremely impoverished village has eliminated poverty through crop and animal husbandry as well as tourism. Xi visited the home of a villager and a Miao embroidery workshop, urging efforts to promote ethnic and traditional cultures.

"This year, we will secure the great victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, achieving the first centenary goal," Xi told villagers at a public square. "No ethnic group should be left behind."

On Thursday, Xi paid a visit to a supermarket in Guiyang, checking the supply of goods for the Spring Festival holiday and demanding strengthened COVID-19 response measures and food safety supervision.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, checks the supply of goods for the Spring Festival holiday and their prices at a supermarket in Guanshanhu District of Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

While visiting the Jinyuan community, Xi learned about issues including primary-level Party building and public service and required building communities into the safest havens for the residents.

Xi also warned that epidemic control remains a formidable task, urging local authorities to improve services for residents since people are encouraged to stay put for the holiday this year.

"The past year was an extraordinary one. Faced with a violent storm, we fought it with courage and triumphed. Each and everyone of us has experienced it together, and each and everyone of us is remarkable," Xi told local residents at the community's public square.

On Friday morning, Xi met with the project leaders and core scientists of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), the world's largest single-dish radio telescope.

Stressing the importance of science and technology in China's pursuit of building a modern socialist country, Xi called on scientists to scale the heights of global science, and make new and greater contributions to the construction of China's scientific and technological strength at a faster pace, and realizing the country's self-reliance and self-improvement in science and technology.

Also on Friday morning, after hearing the provincial Party committee and the provincial government report their work, Xi stressed efforts to further integrate big data with the real economy, foster and strengthen strategic emerging industries, and accelerate the development of a system of modern industries.

More should be done to stimulate consumption demand and develop new consumption models, so as to unleash the consumption potential to the full, Xi said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits local residents and learns about issues including primary-level Party building and public service at Jinyuan community in Guanshanhu District of Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

He also demanded an effective transition from consolidating poverty alleviation achievements to promoting rural vitalization.

An excellent ecological environment is Guizhou's biggest development strength and competitive edge, Xi said, emphasizing that priority should be given to ecological conservation and green development.

Highlighting common prosperity as an important goal of socialist modernization, Xi urged active efforts to resolve issues including the regional development gap, the urban-rural gap and the income gap to ensure tangible changes and benefits for the people.

Xi underlined the special importance of Guizhou in the Long March in the Party's revolutionary history.

Of all the places the Red Army reached, it spent the longest time and had the most extensive presence in Guizhou, leaving later generations an enduring spiritual legacy, Xi said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, talks to local residents at Jinyuan community in Guanshanhu District of Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

He also noted that while in Guizhou, the CPC convened the Zunyi Meeting, which established Comrade Mao Zedong as the leader of the CPC Central Committee and the Red Army.

"The Party, the Red Army and China's revolution were saved at the most perilous moment," Xi said, adding that the Zunyi Meeting's distinct features, including the establishment of the correct leadership of the CPC Central Committee as well as innovative formulation and implementation of strategies that suited the Chinese revolution's characteristics, still have significance today.

Xi called on Party members to develop a deeper understanding of the Party's original aspiration and founding mission from the spirit of the Long March and the spirit of the Zunyi Meeting, consider people's improved lives as their greatest accomplishment, and resolutely fight undesirable conduct and corruption to continuously purify the political ecosystem.

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Hong Kong: Govt responds to vaccine reports

The Department of Health has been actively following up with Sinovac Biotech (Hong Kong) to obtain relevant information of its vaccine to commence approval procedures as soon as possible.

The Government made the statement in response to media reports on the submission of phase 3 clinical data of Sinovacs vaccine to the Department of Health.

In accordance with the guidance of the Advisory Panel on COVID-19 Vaccines, the Department of Health had previously requested Sinovac to have the relevant clinical data published in medical journals.

However, Sinovac indicated that it has considerable difficulties compiling the relevant information for publication in a short period. Having regard to the urgency for vaccination, the department has requested Sinovac to provide its phase 3 clinical data submitted to the World Health Organization (WHO) for assessment.

The Government stressed it did not set today as the deadline as reported in media reports.

Up till now, Sinovac has provided the Department of Health with its phase 1 and phase 2 clinical data submitted to the WHO and drug regulatory authorities of other jurisdictions, among other information.

Sinovac has also provided to the department a set of its phase 3 clinical data of trials conducted in Brazil that it had submitted to drug regulatory authorities of other jurisdictions.

Furthermore, Sinovac indicated that it could provide to the department as early as this week the phase 3 clinical information of its trials conducted in Brazil and Turkey, etc that it submitted to the WHO.

After compilation of all the information, the Department of Health will submit the documents to the advisory panel next week for review and arrange a meeting for the panel to assess and put up a recommendation as soon as possible to make sure the relevant vaccine satisfies the criteria of safety, efficacy and quality.

The Government added it will continue to adhere to the principles of openness and transparency so that the public can obtain the latest information on vaccines.

This story has been published on: 2021-02-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.

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Mumbai: The fire-fighting operations, which began after a massive fire broke out at the Mankhurd scrapyard in Mumbai on Friday, still continue on Saturday. As many as 19 fire tenders were deployed to the site and fire brigade personnel continue to battle the blaze, which had not yet been doused till the early hours of Saturday.

Maharashtra: Firefighting operation continues at the godowns in Mumbai's Mankhurd where a fire broke out yesterday. pic.twitter.com/ddGkHbH705  ANI (@ANI) February 6, 2021

The fire incident took place in a godown of Mandalay Parishra West in Mankhurd.

#WATCH I Maharashtra: Firefighting operation continues at the godowns in Mumbai's Mankhurd where a fire broke out yesterday. pic.twitter.com/ttN2qarzaI  ANI (@ANI) February 6, 2021

The locals of the area said that no causality has been reported.

"The fire still has not been doused. Fire authorities are attempting to extinguish the flames but they`re still struggling. Nobody has died but there are damages to property. This is also not the first time that this place has caught fire," said Vinod Gupta, a local.

Another resident Nandlal Gupta said that there were numerous godowns in the area that store used oil, that act as fuel for fires.

"We don`t know how the fire started but there are a lot of godowns in the area that are used to store burnt oil. This area is mostly inhabited by daily wage labourers who ran away once the fire began," said Nandlal.

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This week the Missouri House quickly approved a "nullification" of any federal gun legislation by way of a bill that would punish a police department through civil lawsuits if an officer enforces federal gun laws that conflict with 2nd Amendment rights.

Of course, police departments hated this measure that leaves A LOT of leeway for interpretation. A similar bill is racing it's way through the MO Senate.



Here's a roundup of the Missouri preemptive push back against the Biden Administration:
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WKTV -- After 93 days of counting, canvassing and court orders, Oswego County Supreme Court Judge Scott DelConte has ordered the certification of results in the 22nd Congressional District race. With Republican Claudia Tenney leading Democrat Anthony Brindisi by 109 votes  she will be the certified winner, barring any further action in court.

Brindisi had filed a motion to hold off on certifying votes until a ruling is made on his appeal to further review certain ballots. In his order Friday, DelConte denied Brindisis motion and granted Tenneys earlier motion to certify results from all eight counties in the district.

DelConte ordered the Oneida County Board of Elections, the only uncertified county remaining, to immediately certify their results, and send them to the state board of elections for official certification.

Tenney released the following statement after the judge's ruling:

"Im honored to have won this race. It was a hard-fought campaign and I thank Anthony Brindisi for his service. Now that every legal vote has been counted, its time for the results to be certified. The voters need a voice in Congress, and I look forward to getting to work on behalf of New York's 22nd Congressional District.

The Brindisi campaign released an email statement as well, reading:

"I am shocked and surprised by this decision because of the countless errors and discrepancies that have occurred throughout this initial count," said Anthony Brindisi. "I believe a full audit and hand recount is the only way to resolve this race. With the margin so thin, the ever changing tally, and the countless errors that have occurred arriving at todays final number we cant afford to wonder here. We have to get it right. Because this is not a raffle, this is a congressional election. The law that took effect January 1 says we should abide by hand counts whenever the margin is 0.5% or less its even closer right now. Lets follow that rule, get this right for our constituents and count all the 325,000-plus votes. Its shocking, right now, no one knows who actually won this race. My opponent and I deserve true clarity.

After countless errors and attempted remedies, the initial count was completed. The race is within 109 votes or .04 percent. With a seesawing margin, both campaigns and the court have expressed frustration with errors made by the County Boards of Elections during the initial canvass and re-canvasses. The New York Daily News editorial board called for a hand audit as well.

A New York State law, enacted for elections starting in 2021, requires a hand recount if the margin is less than .5 percent. A separate, existing statute provides that the court may order a hand audit when there is a likelihood of a material discrepancy between the results of a hand tally and the results of a voting machine tabulation, which creates a substantial possibility that the discrepancies may have impacted the apparent outcome of the election.

In addition to well reported errors across nearly every county, evidence before the court highlights an error rate from the Oneida County machine count versus hand count of .8 percent. Across all ballots cast, that same error rate could mean an error on nearly 2600 ballots.

Rep. Brindisi remains committed to ensuring an accurate result to the contest.

According to court documents, Tenney received 156,098 votes on the Republican and Conservative party lines, and Brindisi received 155,989 votes on the Democratic, Working Families and Independence party lines.

If the Court of Appeals grants Brindisis motion, and the vote totals for this race change in his favor, he will have to present the evidence to the House of Representatives for review.

NYGOP Chairman Nick Langworthy released the following statement congratulating Tenney:

Congratulations to Congresswoman-elect Claudia Tenney and to all of the residents of New Yorks 22nd congressional district who will finally have their voices represented in Washington during this critical time for our nation and New York. This was a long and frustrating process, but at the end of the day, both candidates were heard in court and every legal vote was counted. Its time for Anthony Brindisi to concede and for Nancy Pelosi to recall her henchmen back to Washington. The voters and the courts have spoken, and the will of the people must not be delayed or denied any further.
Its the annual jaunt all Irish politicians dream of. The annual trip to Washington to be wined and dined by the President and to rub shoulders with the most powerful and influential figures in the United States.

For one day every year much of the planets attention is focused on our little island and the many great contributions our emigrant diaspora have made to society and the world.

It is also an ideal occasion to promote our country and advance our case on the many issues  Brexit immediately springs to mind  that afflict us or which could be set to cause us some trouble down the road.

There can be little doubt, for example, that US Government efforts to have Ireland declared a tax haven  a designation we have miraculously managed to avoid despite meeting or exceeding just about every criteria  have been stymied in large part thanks to St Patricks Day lobbying in Washington.

Similarly, the plight of the, so called, undocumented Irish typically receives some welcome attention from the upper echelons of US politics in mid-March.

The IDA would also argue, and often do, that the St Patricks Day visit is also invaluable when it comes to attracting foreign investment. Quite how beneficial the trips are is a matter for debate, but they are certainly useful.

Thanks to St Patricks Day, the Taoiseach is one of the only world leaders  from a smaller nation  that is guaranteed an annual audience with the Leader of the Free World.

It is access other leaders would give their right arm for, a fact the Irish Government is well aware of and they are, understandably, loathe to give it up, even for a year.

For all these reasons one can see why Taoiseach Micheal Martin is eager for the US trip, and others to go ahead, but there is one extremely simple reason why they absolutely should not 

Covid-19, the virus that has and continues to kill tens of thousands across the world every week while playing merry havoc with our day to day lives.

The Covid crisis will, hopefully, have eased considerably by St Patricks Day, allowing an easing of the lock-down that has incarcerated most of us in our homes since Christmas.

Even so, tough restrictions will still be in place and likely will be for many months afterwards.

Amid those circumstances, the notion that the Government is still planning an all expenses paid; tax-payer funded junket to Washington beggars belief.

While most Irish people will probably still be barred from straying too far from home or seeing loved ones, the Taoiseach will jet 5,439 kilometres to hand Joe Biden a bowl of Shamrock.

It is a ludicrous exercise that will do little more than infuriate people and rip the Governments trite were all in it together message to shreds.

The Toaiseach seems to be charging head long into a PR and communications disaster that is as avoidable as it is predictable.

Its time the Government followed the advice theyve been offering us for almost a year now. Stay at home.
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For seven days, citizens held their breaths, hanging on to hope and praying that Andrea Bharatt would be found alive.

That hope dissolved in tears yesterday afternoon when her body was found down a precipice along a road in the forested Heights of Aripo, Arima.

The decomposing body of 22-year-old Andrea was identified by the clothing she was wearing on her last day at work on Friday by her father, Randolph Bharatt.
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration is maintaining the previous administrations tough line against NATO member Turkeys purchase of a major Russian missile-defense system.



"Our position has not changed," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said at a briefing on February 5. "We urge Turkey not to retain the S-400 system."



Turkey bought the S-400 system from Russia in 2019 after failing to agree terms with the United States on the purchase of U.S. Patriots, the air-defense system of choice for most NATO member states.



The purchase strained ties between Washington and Ankara and prompted U.S. warnings that such military cooperation with Moscow was incompatible with NATO. The United States also warned that it would endanger the security of U.S. military technology and personnel as well as that of Turkey.



After Turkey moved ahead with the purchase, the United States suspended its participation in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program while it continued to negotiate with Ankara.



Turkey further angered the United States in October 2020 by testing the Russian-made system. The Pentagon said at the time that the test risked serious consequences for the U.S.-Turkish relationship, and the State Department said the test was unacceptable and a clear step in the wrong direction.



Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said then that the tests would continue without Ankara asking Washington for permission.



In December 2020, the United States announced sanctions, including a ban on all U.S. export licenses to the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) as well as an asset freeze on its president, Ismail Demir, its vice president, and two employees.

Russia called the sanctions another example of "illegitimate, unilateral coercive measures" by the United States.

Turkey is a long-standing and valued NATO ally, but their decision to purchase the S-400 is inconsistent with Turkey's commitments as a U.S. and NATO ally," Kirby said.



Turkey has had multiple opportunities over the last decade to purchase the U.S. Patriot system and instead chose to purchase the S-400, which provides Russia revenue, access, and influence," he said.



Erdogan had expressed hope in January of reaching a compromise with Biden that would allow Ankara to be reintegrated into the F-35 fighter jet program, but contacts between the new American administration and Turkey have been limited.



While Ankara said earlier this week that Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin and U.S. national-security adviser Jake Sullivan had expressed wishes for greater cooperation, Biden has not yet spoken with Erdogan since becoming president.

With reporting by AFP
New Delhi:

Seventy firefighters rushed to the spot after a massive fire broke out at a building in Londons famous Camden Lock Market in the wee hours of Monday morning, the London Fire Brigade said.



However, it was put under control soon by the fire brigade. The fire is now under control, London Fire Brigade said. There were no reports of any casualties.



Ten fire engines were sent to the spot, which was near a nightclub and a covered market, the emergency service said.



The first, second and third floors, plus the roof, of a building within the market are alight, the London Fire Brigade tweeted earlier.

ALSO READ: After Grenfell fire, five London towers evacuated over safety fears



The Brigades 999 Control Officers have taken multiple calls to the highly visible blaze and people are asked to avoid the area, the brigade said in a Facebook post.



The fire was moving very fast, the Press Association quoted an eye witness as saying. The eye witness further said that the fire was flying through the air to the surrounding areas.



A London Ambulance Service spokeswoman said they were called to a fire at 00:07 am (local time). We sent a clinical team leader and our Hazardous Area Response Team to the scene. We have not treated any patients, and we remain at the scene, she said.



With PTI inputs.

ALSO READ | London fire: Death toll rises to 30; feared to climb over 100



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For months New Zealand has been the envy of the world when it comes to winning the war on Covid-19. But closer to home, just 15 minutes' flying time from Belfast, the Isle of Man is celebrating its own victory.

This week the island, which has a population of 85,000 people, became the first place in the British Isles to completely end its coronavirus restrictions.

The lifting of the rules came less than a month after several new cases were detected on the island, prompting a 25-day 'circuit breaker' lockdown.

After more than six months without social distancing measures, a cluster of positive coronavirus tests was detected and the Isle of Man went into its second lockdown on January 7.

The island has not had any "unexplained" community cases of the virus for over 20 days and that means its 50 pubs, schools and shops have now reopened, people are able to leave their homes with social distancing and the wearing of face coverings scrapped.

In total it has had just 434 cases since the outbreak of the pandemic and 25 deaths.

Lockdown rules were strictly enforced, with people jailed for breaching the regulations.

Restrictions have been entirely lifted, after what the country's Chief Minister Howard Quayle called its "supportive, patriotic" public.

He has praised islanders for their "collective determination" and "community spirit" in helping eliminate Covid-19.

The island has long been a popular venue with Northern Ireland travellers, especially the road racing fraternity who flock there every year for the biggest event in the sporting calendar, the Isle of Man TT.

For those from Northern Ireland who have chosen to make the island their home, there is a sense of euphoria but also a feeling of sadness when they look to home and see that it is nowhere near that same point.

While life has now returned to normal on the island, its borders remain closed to outsiders, so the chance of a trip back across the Irish Sea for people like retired businessman Robert Saunders is some way off yet.

Robert (71), who is originally from Bangor and moved to the island 43 years ago, is among those living close to its capital city, Douglas.

He says he is "elated" that his adopted homeland has eliminated Covid for a second time.

The father-of-two believes sticking to the rules has been key to the island's success

"I feel sorry for bigger nations that aren't out of the woods yet and for people who flaunt the rules," Robert told the Belfast Telegraph.

"Here if you didn't do what you were told, you went to jail.

"There is real elation on the island this week and almost everybody feels that our government has done a really good job in getting us to this point.

"We're just missing not being able to get away as we're not allowed to leave for the moment but it's better to stay safe.

"It's great to be able to go to places like the supermarket without a mask and feel normal again. Now we're just focused on getting our vaccines because the roll-out hasn't been as quick as Northern Ireland."

Mary Moody (61) and her family made the move to the Isle of Man from Magilligan outside Derry 34 years ago.

"Like many people, it was for work because the place was booming," Mary explained.

"Before that I never even knew where the Isle of Man was and my family were in a bad way about us moving away but looking back it was the right choice."

Life might be back to some normality for the mother-of-two, a manager at Lloyds Pharmacy, but she says her heart goes out to those in Northern Ireland who have some way to go yet.

"It's terrible that things aren't going quite so well back home in terms of conquering the virus," Mary added.

"The key for us has been closing the borders and keeping people out. We all stuck to our guns too and now we're lucky that life has returned to normal.

"People in Northern Ireland just need to take a leaf out of our book and knuckle down, stick to the rules and they'll get there too.

"Everyone is in great spirits here this week and looking forward to getting out this weekend. For me, the best thing was getting to see my family again last night. I've really missing not seeing my three grandchildren, especially as another one is due in June."

For Belfast native Patrick Moloney (56), getting his hands on an Ulster fry is first on his list when he gets back home again.

Now running his own electrical company, the father-of-three says making the move 30 years ago was the best decision he has ever made.

"While things were grim in Northern Ireland when I left, I still like getting back to see my brothers and sisters. As soon as I get off the boat next time I'll be straight into one of the city centre cafes for a fry-up and a big mug of tea.

"But things seems to be very bad there at the minute and I really don't think it has been drilled into people enough how serious a situation it is." Like his fellow islanders, Patrick praised how the government there got a grip on the virus.

"Everyone has done an excellent job and people were on the ball the whole time so we know we've been very lucky here," he added.

"For anyone who stepped out of line, there was no such thing as a fine - it was straight to prison for up to six weeks and I think that was the only way to deal with them."

The government said Saturday it will begin supplying Celltrion's COVID-19 antibody treatment to medical facilities in mid-February. Yonhap



The government said Saturday it will begin supplying Celltrion's COVID-19 antibody treatment to medical facilities in mid-February.



Celltrion's CT-P59 won government approval Friday on condition that it submits the results from its Phase 3 clinical trial. It is the first locally made treatment for COVID-19 to be granted the authorization.






YPSILANTI, MI  Whether Ypsilanti families need clothing or food, Jessica Ashmore finds a way to give.

The 42-year-old mother began volunteering while growing up in the Middle East. While living in the United Arab Emirates, she tutored young Bosnian refugees each week in English, and from there, her efforts carried over to the United States, where she eventually settled in Ypsilanti as a probation officer and court case worker.

In 2019, Ashmore started The Giving Room, in Estabrook Elementary School. The organization provides necessities to Ypsilanti families, especially those with kids Ypsilanti schools, with such things as food, clothing, sanitary and hygiene items, houseware, bedding and shoes.

We live in a resource-rich area. We have tons of nonprofits, but sometimes access to the resources has a number of obstacles, Ashmore said.

Ashmore recognized the gaps and obstacles in fulfilling family needs while working on a case to help a housing-insecure mother and her five children find a home. It was outside of the realm of her job description, she said, but she dove in anyway.

The barriers to getting her housed were really surprising, Ashmore said. You have to have a paper copy of a birth certificate and social security for everyone housed. It was just so traumatizing for me to have this front, birds eye view of what so many people with less resources and not necessarily the same experience have to navigate.

The lack of resources includes reliant transportation, which many families she works with are without access, Ashmore said. But to alleviate those concerns, she and volunteers of The Giving Room deliver everything to peoples doors and notify them when items arrive, a service that makes the organization a little different from others, she said.

(Maintaining) respect and dignity for everybody we work with is No. 1. Im extremely protective of everyones information, Ashmore said.

Volunteers include Ypsilanti community students, who organize the space as a retail site, take inventory, process referral requests and prepare boxes. Families seeking items are referred by school staff and select community partners within the district through an online system. Once theyre through, families can request items.

The referral form is not open to the public. You can get really overwhelmed and I dont want a capacity I cant meet, Ashmore said.

Before running The Giving Room, Ashmore by accident started another organization for children. The Secret Santa Society of Ypsilanti collects and wraps donations to deliver to Ypsilanti families on Christmas Eve.

She met a young boy in 2018 who told her Santa doesnt frequent his Superior Township neighborhood, Sycamore Meadows.

I said Santa is going to come, and he said, dead serious, Santa doesnt come here. He never has and hes not going to start now, Ashmore said. That really struck me in terms of this 7 year old, who has accepted this thing that is widely accepted by all these kids wouldnt even think that it was possible that its just not something thats for him.

In response, she and her family, and other community members showed up to buy or donate items to deliver to families. In 2019, she put it out on social media and the community came through to support at least 52 families, containing 206 people, with food donations.

I have always believed since I was a kid that it is our jobto bring each other along. I have always been inherently compelled to do what I can to meet the needs, Ashmore said.

Those cute chalk characters you see all over Ann Arbor sidewalks, walls come from this artist

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Tribute to Tafa Adeoye

The Yoruba Armoury lies in its supernatural myths, pantheons, mores and history.

Conventionally, an armoury is a place, where weapons are kept. But an armoury can also be things or qualities, that can be used to achieve a particular aim.

The Agbekoya Revolt of 1968/1969, establishes Yoruba core values of resistance, defiance, determination, boldness, assiduity and doggedness.

The Agbekoya Revolt is perhaps the best known peasant driven revolt in Western Nigerian history, and the great example of collective action against unpopular government policies.

In the early 50s, the Western Region Government, established local community depots, to serve as off takers for farm produce. The managers of these depots, before buying from farmers, would examine, grade, bargain and agree at a price.

Farmers were subjected to arbitrary standard in the examination of their farm produce and a substantial amount of their farm produce- cocoa, was discarded as unfit for sale and the low prices they subsequently received was a great disincentive. Depot Managers, became local tyrants.

The farmers complained about the neglected infrastructure of roads, they had to travel to reach the depot and a hefty flat tax rate imposed on them became worrisome and burdensome

Farmers were battling with a tax rate of 1:10 (1Pound 10 shilling.)

As a result of the collapse of the first Republic, on the 15th of January, 1966, General Thomas Auguyi Ironsi, became the Head of state of Nigeria and was succeeded by General Yakubu Gowon, on the 29th of July, 1966 after a successful Military putsch.

In the Western Region, Lf Col. Adekunle Fajuyi also became the Governor of the Western Region, after the assassination of the Premier of the Western Region- Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola on the 15th of January 1966. Fajuyi was equally assassinated, alongside- Aguyi Ironsi, in Ibadan, on the 29th of July 1966 after attending a traditional rulers conference, he conveyed, to explain the veracity of the new Decree no. 34, to our Traditional Rulers.

The duo of Ironsi and Fajuyi, after being murdered in the government House, Agodi Ibadan, by some rampaging soldiers, buried their bodies in a shallow grave in Lalupon, in Iwo Road, Ibadan.

Col. Robert Adeyinka Adebayo succeeded Adekunle Fajuyi, his friend and towns folk i. e. both Ekiti men, from contiguous cities of Ado Ekiti and Iyin Ekiti, respectively.

Adebayo was governor of the Western Region from 1966 until 1971. He was later Chief of Staff of the Nigerian army and later Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna from where he retired. The civil war broke out in Nigeria in 1967 and did not end until January 1970.

States needed resources to run the operations of government. Chief Jeremiah Oyeniyi Obafemi Awolowo, had now become the Federal Minister of Finance and Vice Chairman of the Federal Executive Council, after his release from the Calabar Prison, by the Federal Government of General Yakubu Gowon.

Adebayo met a very prosperous and robust economy, through Agrarian populism in the Western Region. A sizable population of its citizens were farmers, who were very successful.

Adeyinka Adebayo, looking for opportunities to booster the revenue of the Western Region, imposed a new tax regime on the populace and increased taxable adult tax, from 1:10  (One Pound Ten Shillings) to 8 (8 Pounds).

As a resentment, against this obnoxious increase, the farmers formed a union called Agbekoya  (The Union of farmers who reject suffering.)

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The Agbekoyas revolted against this arbitrary increase and on the 11th of November, 1968, the Agbekoya Crisis came out full blown when thousands of agitators matched to the Mapo Hall Ibadan armed with sticks, cudgels, weapons and charms, to express their rejection of the new tax as announced by the Governor.

Singing-

Oke mefa l a o San

Oke mefa l a o San

Bi o gba kuma

Yi o gba ori bi be

Oke mefa l a o san.

Meaning-

We are paying only 30 shillings.

If it cannot be achieved by the application of cudgels,

it would be achieved

by the application of cutting of heads.

We are paying only 30 shillings.

The government apparatus were equally singing 

Dan Dan lowo ori je

Dan Dan lowo ori je

Tu la si laso ibora

Owo Ori l a fi ko Mapo

Meaning-

The payment of tax is compulsory,

Just as night cover clothe is compulsory

It is the tax payers funds, that were used to build Mapo hall.

A combined team of the Army and the Police opened fire on the rampaging demonstrators in Mapo, killing about 20 of them.

This was a calamitous error, characteristic of the Military Government. The Crisis spread spontaneously, to other parts of the Western region.

In parenthesis, payment of tax had always been Ibadans albatross and deep cause for community anger, anguish and angst.

It was so great in the early 20th century, that taxable Ibadan adults, were usually arrested, hounded in tax custody in Mapo.

It was so grave until the intervention of Sanusi Adebisi Idikan- first Ibadan notable entrepreneur and philontropist. He was an enigmatic personality, that traversed Ibadans landscape in commerce, philanthropy and humanness, until his death in 1938.

Ibadan had become then, the most cosmopolitan city in Nigeria and perhaps black Africa.

Sanusi Adebisi Giwas acts of philanthropy, were demonstrated in his first tax rescue effort in Ibadan. Payment of tax by every male adult was made compulsory by the Colonial Government. Most Ibadan adults were subsistent farmers, who could not afford the payment of tax and thus evaded tax payment. The punishment for tax evasion, then was detention in Mapo, which also served as the Treasury Office. A detained tax defaulter usually found it difficult to get someone to bail him out, because most adults were tax evaders, and an attempt by a tax evader, to bail a tax evader, would certainly land the rescuer in detention.

Thus tax problem, became such society anguish, that a Balogun of Ibadan,-Balogun Ola, son of Baale Orowusi, committed suicide in protest of the detention of Ibadan young men for tax evasion.

This valiant self murder, was recognized by the Ibadan people, who named him Kobomoje (the one who displayed gallantry against timidity)

The payment of tax, became a social symbol and tax defaulters were usually mocked and despised by the popular song-

Owo Ori ti d ode o, o oode o baba wa loko san

Meaning-

Payment of taxation has come,

our fathers were the first to pay,

the idiots and lazy ones who have not paid

are in detention in Mapo

Adebisi was displeased with the tax situation in Ibadan. His philosophy had always been(the rich must help the poor who are vulnerable) Adebisi had at this time, been one of the first set of Ibadan elites, perhaps if not the first person, to ride a car, apart from his stable of horses.

For effect, he had his horse dispatch riderLadimeji to ride in front of his car, on his way to Mapo, to see the Chief Tax Officer for the Ibadan Colonial Office.

In his meeting with the officer, in the Colonial office, he brokered an understanding 

I want to be paying tax on behalf of every taxable adult in Ibadan.

The officer was dumb founded, shocked, nonplussed and asked him if he knew the financial implication of his gesture, but Adebisi still insisted.

Henceforth, the Colonial officer would calculate the amount of tax expected from all Ibadan taxable adults and would go to Adebisi Idikans residence to collect the money.

The Agbekoya group was led by Mr. Tafa Adeoye- a renowned farmer/hunter from Akanran in Ibadan.

His able lieutenants were  Mustapha Okikirungbo, Tafa Popoola, Adeniyi Eda, Adebavo Kobiowu, Rafiu Ishola, Mudaashiru Adeniran, Adegoke Akekuejo, Alhaji Lasisi Lalekan Akekaka, Waheed Baba Ijebu from Ajibode.

These leaders decided to set an organisational target as follows-

The removal of local government officials pillaging their villages.

The removal of some Baales

A reduction of the flat Tax rate from 8 An end to the use of force in tax collection

An increase in the prices of cocoa

An improvement of the roads leading to many villages.

The peasants- shouting the oke mefa slogan, marched through the villages, to dissuade the farmers, not to pay any taxes to the Military governor of the Western States.

Mayhem, pandemonium then descended on the capital city of Ibadan and many other towns and villages of the Western Region.

The theatre of war started from Akanran at Olorunda junction, specifically at Ogunsola area and Akinyode Village, in Akanran Area, in present day Ona-Ara Local Government of Oyo State.

Governor Adeyinka Adebayo had insisted on using his power, to curtail the crises. Armed police men stomed the villages.

According to Alhaji Lalekan Lasisi Akekaaka, one of Adeoyes formidable lieutenants,-

when they came, our leader Baba Tafa Adeoye was at Akanran while we stayed at Olorunda junction. Baba has said we must not do anything to respond to whatever the government did to us until he was around personally. He said we should not talk until after he must have responded to whatever they asked him. As the police were marching towards us, they were singing that we were stubborn people, who were playing with death. Immediately they got to Olorunda Junction, they shot at two of us. Once they shot two among us, the rest of us went into hiding because Baba Tafa had instructed that we must not respond.

The news got to baba and so he came to Olorunda. The news got to him through Aroko (the Yoruba traditional GSM). As soon as he got to the police men, one of his guards standing beside him, saw that someone beside him had been felled by the police bullet, he said, so you people indeed came to fight, baba Tafa was not weilding any gun then, so he commanded a gun in the air and shot at the police.

It was that single shot that triggered the unrest making many of the police men to start falling that day.

That was how it went and it set up an up roar and its effect resonated through all Yoruba towns and villages.

At Isara, the Palace of the Odemo- Oba Adeniran Akisanya was torched and his esteemed library was burned. His Mercedes Benz car was equally burned to ashes. Oba Akisanya was a foremost Nigerian Nationalist. He had contested election to the legislative council in 1943 on the platform of National Youth Movement, against Ernest Ikoli.

Akisaya managed to escape to Lagos.

At Ijebu Igbo, the Orimolusi- Oba Adetayo Sami, woke up on December 16,1968, to find out that his Palace had been taken over by demonstrators, who were armed with cudgels, charms and dane guns. His Palace was burnt as well as his cars.

How he escaped, was unknown. Three days later, when he came back to the Palace, the demonstrators regrouped but couldnt find him. He escaped again.

The Agbekoya Revolt was equally serious in major prominent towns and villagesEde, Oshogbo, Oyo, Ikire, Gbongan, Iwo, Ile Ogbo, Ejigbo, Ikirun, Ila-Orangun,Ilesha and so many others.

The most violent of the revolt and rampage, was in the city of Ogbomoso- the city of late Samuel Ladoke Akintola, former Premier of the Western Region and that of the raving war impresario  Brig. Benjamin Adekunle, popularly called Black Scorpion and Commander of the third marine commando in the Biafra war- Olusegun Obasanjo succeeded him. Benjamin Adekunle had just been given the chieftaincy title of Asipa of Ogbomoso, by the Soun,- the weekend before the crisis.

Samuel Lodoke Akintola was the previous holder of that title. The rampaging protesters, and tax agitators, mounted a road block at the entrance of the town of ogbomoso, raided the Palace and demanded for Soun Olajide Olayode.

The Soun was seized and killed. His body was dismembered and his head, displayed on the street by the agitators. It was alleged that a traditional native broom, filled with charms, was used to cut his head.Five of Souns chiefs, one of his wives and a son were equally slaughtered.

A number of civilians also were killed and wounded as Police and Army units moved in to take over.

As a method of protest, against the military government, the Agbekoya attacked major symbols of power, including court houses, setting free thousands of prisoners.

The Agodi Prison in Ibadan, was emptied. Several arrests were equally made.

Tafa Adeoye had now become Agbekoyas most prominent leader and symbol of the struggle. A folk hero.

In October 1969, chief Obafemi Awolowo who had recently been released from Calabar Prison and now Minister of Finance and Vice Chairman of the Federal executive Council, had to travel to Akanran Ibadan, to meet with Tafa Adeoye. Awolowo made a well publicised trek through the Bush- about Two kilo meters, and consequent upon this visit, many of the demands of the Agbekoya were met.

An armistice was reached. The hitherto flat tax rate of 1 Pound 10 Shillings increased to 8 Pounds, by the Adebayo Government, was reduced to (2)Two Pounds a year.

An amnesty for tax defaulters was declared and Agbekoya members were soon out, helping local tax officials in the task of collection.

The Adebayo Government, still baffled at the enormity of Tafa Adeoyes power, and needed to arrest him, to find out the myth surrounding his power. In plotting these, a pretty Police detective was detailed to get the job done. She was an Inspector of Police. She approached Tafa, who was reputed to be all charms, to make friends with him.

The war lord fell in love with this pretty lady and married her. A trap was set and appeared to have caught a big prey. After two weeks of the dalliance, romance and marriage, plain clothes Police men stormed Tafa Akanrans residence, and arrested him, for the offence of organising tax agitation against the government.

This perhaps may sound like the popular Samson and Delilah story in the bible.

Delilah, a beautiful lady had seduced Samson, (a soldier chosen by God to destroy the Philistines); in order to know the secret of his strength and destroy him.

After Tafa Adeoyes arrest, Lasisi Lalekan Akekaaka, his second in command, was invited to the government secretariat Ibadan, to attend a meeting of Yoruba groups who had assembled to find solutions, that would ensure a lasting peace. Akekaakas, followers escorted him as usual to this meeting.

His followers were hailing him, to the annoyance of soldiers, who had prevented them from following their leaders.

To ensure orderliness, a soldier guard, slapped one of the Agbekoya boys.

The Agbekoya boy slapped him back, because he felt he should not be treated like a common criminal, and also when he did not fight with him.

The soldier felt embarrassed that a civilian slapped him, and he brought out his gun and he shot at the Agbekoya boy about five times, but nothing happened to the boy. The bullets could not just penetrate.

In Yoruba land, in the midst of warfare, any object could be commanded to serve a different purpose.

In 1983 in Akure, as an aftermath of the election of Michael Ajasin of the UPN and Michael Omoboriowo of the NPN, the people of Ondo State and Akure felt cheated by the unjust announcement and declaration of Akin Omoboriowo as the winner of the gubernatorial election.

They went on rampage and caused mayhem and violence. Properties were destroyed. The buildings of Chief Agbayewa and Hon. Olaiya Fagbamigbe were burnt to ashes, when a piece of egg, was thrown at their houses and the eggs became a combustible instrument. Some mobile police officers deployed to quell the violence, found it difficult to put off their clothes.

Conventionally, and in science, a combustible material is something that could easily be ignited and burned, but an egg had served this purpose in the Akure Crises.

. Tafa Adeoye, despite being captured by the luscious power of women, like in the Samson and Delilah story, still remains, a folk hero of the Agbekoya struggle, May his soul and those of his comrades who rescued the Western Region from unjust taxation, continually find peaceful repose with the Lord.

Article by-

Hon (Barr) Femi Kehinde

Former Member, House of Representatives

National Assembly Abuja, representing Ayedire/Iwo/Ola-Oluwa Federal Constituency of Osun State, (1999-2003)

&

Principal Partner

Femi Kehinde & Co (Solicitors)

Ibadan, Lagos and Abuja.

A day after he was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in a case for allegedly hurting religious sentiments by passing objectionable remarks about Hindu deities during a show, comedian Munawar Faruqui was not released from the central jail here on Saturday with officials citing execution of a warrant issued by a Prayagraj court. The top court had also stayed the Madhya Pradesh High Court order of January 28, which had refused to grant Faruqui the bail noting that to "promote harmony" is one of the constitutional duties.

It also stayed the production warrant issued against Faruqui by a trial court in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh in connection with the FIR lodged in the state. Counsels of the comedian on Saturday submitted the order of the apex court in the Indore court, which directed that comedian be released on a bond of Rs 50,000 and the similar amount of security.

Asked why Faruqui was not released from the jail, an officer of the Indore Central Jail said a court in Prayagraj had ordered Faruqui's production in a similar case on February 18. Citing the jail manual, he said an order from the Prayagraj court or a competent government officer is needed to release Faruqui. According to the jail manual, a stay on a production warrant has to be communicated to the jail authorities by the same court which had issued the production warrant in the first place.

The officer said Faruqui will be taken to Prayagraj on Sunday morning if they don't get the requisite order. Before that, a COVID-19 test will be conducted on him, he added.

Meanwhile, Faruqui's cousin Zaid Pathan said they are disappointed with the stand of the jail administration. "Our belief in judiciary was strengthened after the Supreme Court order," he said.

Faruqui, who was in jail for over a month without concrete evidence on passing allegedly objectionably remarks about Hindu deities during a show as claimed by the police, had previously challenged a Madhya Pradesh High Court order denying him bail.

Faruqui and four others were arrested on January 1 following a complaint by a BJP MLA's son that alleged objectionable remarks about Hindu deities and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were passed during a comedy show at a cafe in Indore on New Year's day. One more person was arrested subsequently. The high court, in its order passed on January 28, had refused to grant him bail noting that to "promote harmony" is one of the constitutional duties. It had also turned down the bail plea of another accused in the case.

In its order, the high court had said it would not comment on merits of the case, but based on the material seized, the witnesses' statements and considering the fact that probe was going on, no case was made out for grant of bail.

"The evidence/material collected so far suggests that in an organized public show under the garb of stand-up comedy at a public place on commercial lines, prima facie, scurrilous, disparaging utterances, outraging religious feelings of a class of citizens of India with deliberate intent, were made by the applicant," it had said.

There was a possibility that "more incriminating material" would be collected, and further, a similar case has been registered against Faruqui in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, the high court had noted.

(With inputs from PTI)

Posted Friday, February 5, 2021 4:54 pm

Like the Emerald City in the classic movie The Wizard of Oz, our state Capitol in Olympia makes a great first impression. When you initially visit the state Legislature at our Capitol, you are struck by the buildings opulent appearance, from the grand marble and granite architecture to the decorum and pageantry when the Legislature is in session.

However, once the curtain is pulled back, like Dorothy found out when she saw who the great Oz really was, you quickly discover Washingtons Legislature isnt quite what you first think. While the campus is amazing to see, you eventually realize our states legislative body is composed of a lot of regular people.

As normal people from different backgrounds and different communities throughout Washington, legislators bring a wide variety of skill sets, education and life experiences with them to Olympia. Yet legislators are regularly expected to make decisions on topics and issues that have a dramatic impact in areas far beyond their knowledge base. Even though not intending to do so, such decisions often create unexpected consequences.

A good case in point this legislative session is Senate Bill 5051, which affects law enforcement.

Law enforcement in our state has been under a microscope for several years now, and changes to oversight and procedures are both inevitable and overdue. Needed changes include greater civilian involvement in statewide law-enforcement policy setting. However, a check-and-balance system must also be maintained to tether policymaking to the realities of police work. So how do we accomplish this?

Our federal and state constitutions both provide for a separation of governments powers. This was intentionally done to make sure that separate but equal branches of government have the ability to balance the possible excess of any one branch and continue as a government based in law. In other words, a check-and-balance system.

Washington state government has adopted this model in many different aspects over our states history, including in oversight of law enforcement. Historically, law-enforcement training, policy and oversight has been provided by our states Criminal Justice Training Commission. This reasonably can be seen as a legislative function. These policies as established are put into practice by the officer on the street, which is an executive function. Sheriffs and police chiefs determine whether the officers on the street are following established policy, which is an adjudicative function. This separation of authorities provides that needed check and balance in oversight of our states law enforcement officers. Even more importantly, it provides direct involvement of all parties involved in the criminal-justice system.

However, Senate Bill 5051 would change everything.

This proposal, which recently was passed by the Senate Law and Justice Committee, would expand the authority of the Criminal Justice Training Commission far beyond the training and policy group it was originally intended to be. This bill aims to consolidate, in one agency, the power to define officer certification, the choice of who qualifies for certification, the authority to investigate officers from all departments, and the ability to revoke certification from any officer from any department. All of this power would be consolidated within the CJTC, in addition to its authority to set statewide training and policy standards for law enforcement.

As a move is made toward statewide control of police departments, local input and decision-making as to what type of a police department a community desires may well be lost.

Passing Senate Bill 5051 is that first step in losing control of our local police agencies. This bill concerns me and should concern people throughout Washington.

If you really support local police, dont support SB 5051.



Sen. Jeff Holy, R-Cheney, is an attorney and retired Spokane police officer. He represents the 6th Legislative District.
tvN is one of the leading Korean broadcast networks in producing top-tier contents in the global market.

This year, tvN aims to expand their connection to a wider audience by giving a lot of interesting and exciting projects that the international consumers can enjoy watching anytime and anywhere.

L.U.C.A.: The Beginning

On the first day of the love month, action-chase thriller "L.U.C.A.: The Beginning" kicked off. Kim Rae Won plays the role of a man being chased for his special abilities, while actress Lee Dae Hee returns with a strong character as a violent crimes detective.

Vincenzo

Not gonna lie, we're all ecstatic to witness the drama comeback of Song Joong Ki!

Known as the much-awaited drama in the first half of 2021, "Vincenzo" will be airing its pilot episode on Feb. 20. Song Joong Ki is expected to portray the character of Vincenzo Cassano, an Italian lawyer and a Mafia consigliere, who decided to fly back to South Korea after having a conflict with his previous organization.

Joining him in the drama are actress Jeon Yeo Bin and 2PM's Taecyeon. Viewers are already looking forward to their onscreen chemistry.

Mouse

Lee Seung Gi will be conquering the month of March with his suspense drama "Mouse." His role is a rookie and kind-hearted police officer named Jang Ba Reum.

Lee Hee Joon will be joining him as a fearless detective named Go Moo Chi, who is up for revenge against the murderer who killed his parents when he was still a child.

This drama will mark Lee Seung Gi's first drama project after two years. "Mouse" is scheduled to air on March 3.

Here are More Dramas to Anticipate in the First Half of 2021!

Hospital Playlist Season 2

We really can't miss this medical drama that will be returning for a new season. The famous series "Hospital Playlist," starring actors Jo Jung Suk, Yoo Yeon Seok, Jung Kyung Ho, Kim Dae Myung, and Jeon Mi Do, is ready to serenade the viewers with their beautiful voices and share with us lots of good memories with their solid friendship.

Navillera

Webtoon-based series "Navillera" is about a man named Duk Chool, in his seventies, who starts to learn ballet, and a young ballerino Chae Rok who is having a hard time in pursuing his dream. "Love Alarm" star Song Kang will be part of the main cast alongside Park In Hwan, Na Moon Hee, and Hong Seung Hee.

Frightening Cohabitation

Another webtoon-based creation is about to dominate the first half of 2021 with the drama "Frightening Cohabitation." It is a fantasy romantic-comedy series that will revolve around the story of a male gumiho named Shin Woo Yeo (Jang Ki Yong), who is already 999 years old and a female university student Lee Dam (Hyeri), who accidentally swallows the marble of the gumiho. Part of the cast are "Start-Up" stars Kang Ha Na and Kim Do Wan, and actor Bae In Hyuk.

Doom at Your Service

This fantasy-romance drama about a man named Doom. He has the power that everything he touches can vanish in just a matter of seconds.

He will meet a woman who puts her life on the line to avoid her fate. The main cast for this series are actors Seo In Guk, Park Bo Young, Lee Soo Hyuk, Kang Tae Oh, and Shin Do Hyun.

Mine

Kim Seo Hyung and Lee Bo Young will be working together to lead the drama "Mine," a story about strong and independent women who tries to change the ordinary perspectives of people who are judging them and they are about to show off their true selves. VIXX member N is also confirmed to star in the drama.

Wait, 'Cause There's More! Check out These Dramas to Air in the Second Half of 2021

You Are My Spring

Starring in the healing romance drama are actors Seo Hyun Jin, Yoon Park, Kim Dong Wook, and Nam Gyu Ri. It is about the stories of different individuals who live in a building where a murder incident occurs. The cast will also be showing their inner innocent childlike personalities as they started to overcome the challenges in their adult lives.

Devil Judge

The writer of the legal drama "Miss Hammurabi" will be returning with another masterpiece, another legal drama, "Devil Judge," starring actors Ji Sung, Kim Min Jung, GOT7's Jinyoung, and actress Park Gyu Young.

This will be a series set inside the court and will try to solve the different injustices present in the society.

Mount Jiri

The star-studded cast of "Mount Jiri" is one of the highly anticipated dramas in 2021 as it will be penned by the celebrated writer Kim Eun Hee, who also wrote the Netflix's original series "Kingdom" and "Signal." Prominent actors in the industry are about to work together in this drama: Ju Ji Hoon, Jun Ji Hyun, Song Dong Il, and Oh Jung Se.

Which tvN drama are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments!

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars.

Kdramastars owns this article.

Written by Shai Collins
The Czech Republic could become the second European nation to acquire the COVID-19 vaccine from Russia after Prime Minister Andrej Babis visited Hungary on Friday to enquire about the acquisition process. Hungary became the first European country last month to approve and acquire Russia's Sputnik-V COVID-19 vaccine. Babis visited Budapest on Friday to know more about Hungary's purchase of Sputnik-V and the acquiring process outside the EU's procurement framework.

Read: Face Mask Sparks Scuffle In Czech Parliament

Babis, after meeting with his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban, said that the acquisition of COVID-19 vaccines should not be seen with a political lens, calling it is a matter of health, adding his country is ready to procure any vaccine that is considered safe regardless of their origin. Babis was accompanied by his adviser and former Health Minister Roman Prymula. Hungary has also approved a vaccine developed by China's Sinopharm.

Read: Czech Republic Hits New High Of COVID-19 Cases

The European Union has not approved the Russian and the Chinese vaccines for use in the region. However, Hungary granted an emergency use authorization to Sputnik-V and received its first batch of 40,000 doses on Friday, which it says will start administering soon. Hungary approved the Chinese vaccine last week and is expected to receive the doses soon. Both Hungary and Czech Republic have criticized the EU's vaccine rollout process, which has been hit by production and distribution delays.

Read: Czech Republic Tightens Coronavirus Restrictions

COVID-19 in the Czech Republic

The small European nation of Czechia has recorded more than 1 million COVID-19 cases and over 16,800 deaths so far. There are currently 95,196 active cases in the Czech Republic, of which 995 patients are under critical care. Although the daily infection rate in Czechia has dropped from its peak in early January, it is still relatively high and poses a significant risk to the health infrastructure. The new emerging variants of COVID-19, which scientists say are highly contagious, are making the situation worse in the country of over 10 million people. The country has administered more than 3,27,000 doses of vaccines to date.

Read: Czech Republic Becomes 20th Nation To Record 1 Million COVID-19 Cases

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A Wexford man who blindfolded his younger half-sister when they were both children and sexually assaulted her has been jailed for a year.

Bernard Maguire (29), of Allenwood Drive, Gorey, pleaded guilty before the Central Criminal Court to two charges of orally raping his half-sister at their father's home on dates between September 2006 and September 2008.

She was aged between six and seven at the time and he was aged between 15 and 16. His half-sister, Bethany Maguire, now aged 20, waived her right to anonymity so Maguire could be named.

A local garda detective told the court that the man put his penis into her mouth during a game in which he persuaded her to wear a blindfold and put different objects in her mouth.

On another occasion, he didn't blindfold her but told her to close her eyes, the court heard.

The offences came to light when the woman went to gardai in 2018. After his arrest the man made full admissions to gardai, the court heard.

Mr Justice Michael White said sentencing in an offence committed by a juvenile was not straight forward. He had earlier noted that as the man was a child at the time of the offence but is now being sentenced as an adult, certain case law and sentencing guidelines need to be considered.

He said the aggravating factors included the serious nature of the offending, the breach of trust by an older brother and the age gap between the siblings.

He noted in mitigation that Maguire made immediate admissions and pleaded guilty. He took into account Maguire's youth and immaturity at the time of the offending and his remorse.

He said this did not minimise the seriousness of the offending or the impact on his half-sister.

Mr Justice White imposed a two-year sentence with the final year suspended on conditions including that Maguire attend for assessment for the Better Lives program in prison.

Mr Gerard Clarke SC, prosecuting, told Mr Justice White on Thursday that Ms Maguire wished to waive her right to anonymity.

He told the court, as both parties were children at the time of the offending, he was required to make an application under section 252 of the Children Act to allow anonymity be waived.

Mr Justice White said he was of the view that it was in the interests of justice that the court would not interfere with Ms Maguire's wish to waive her right to anonymity and made the orders pursuant to the act allowing the parties names to be published.

In a victim impact statement which she read out in court at the previous sentence hearing, Ms Maguire said: 'When I remember what my brother did to me I feel worthless. The thought that my own blood could abuse me as a child, makes me think...surely I'm better off dead and buried.'

She said she has struggled throughout her life with not wanting to leave her home, go to town in the fear she might see her half-brother, or go to school with teenage boys who were the same age as her abuser.

'I frequently have nightmares about him and what he did,' she said. 'He is never far away from my mind.'

The accused told gardai that he knew what he was doing was wrong, the court heard. He said he had watched a video and been excited by it. He said his little sister didn't tell him to stop, but he knew she didn't like it.

Paul Murray SC, defending, said his client has pleaded guilty to the offence but still maintains he was younger than the charges reflect.

'He is convinced that he was 11 or 12 years old at the time, but challenging that would have meant that he would have had to cross-examine her (the victim) and he was insistent that this would not happen,' Mr Murray said.

He asked the court to take into account various reports before the court which demonstrates Maguire's remorse, the fact that he has addiction issues and the possibility that he has cognitive functioning issues.

Mr Murray said Maguire has written a letter of apology to his half-sister and she has received it, but she doesn't accept it.
Foreign ambassadors, military attaches and heads of international organizations accredited in Azerbaijan arrived in the city of Jebrail, where they got acquainted with the consequences of the war crimes committed by the Armenian armed forces. In particular, they visited the destroyed House of Culture and the cemetery.

Diplomats and military attaches were accompanied by Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Head of the Foreign Policy Department of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the First Vice President Elchin Amirbekov and others.

World-renowned photographer Reza Degati briefed the diplomats on the previous state of the House of Culture and the ruins. Then, for the first time in many years, the music sounded on the ruins of the House of Culture.

Commenting on what he saw, Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Erkan Ozoral noted that in Jabrayil he witnessed the same picture as in other regions of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation.

"We saw a city razed to the ground, the destruction of all monuments, including cultural ones. Here we witnessed the plundering of graves. The graves were opened, the bones of the deceased are scattered around. All this is inhuman, real barbarism. Criminals should answer for their crimes, the ambassador said.

In turn, British Ambassador James Sharp noted that this was his first trip to the Azerbaijani lands liberated from occupation. Coming here and seeing the destruction, I got a clear idea. Of course, we will inform our country about the situation in the territories liberated from the occupation, in Jebrail, the diplomat emphasized.

In his opinion, in the future, British companies will be able to invest here in tourism, agriculture and renewable energy. "For example, as you can see, the weather here is sunny. In the future, a solar power plant may be built on these territories. However, all this will happen in the future as the restoration of these territories is a long process. The territories still have to be cleared of mines," AZERTAC quotes the ambassador as saying.
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Around one in three working-age adults (29%) surveyed in France in July 2020 would refuse any COVID-19 vaccine

Around one in three working-age adults (29%) surveyed in France in July 2020 would refuse any COVID-19 vaccine.

Willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccination depended upon its country of origin, effectiveness, rate of serious side effects, and site of vaccination.

Although attitudes may have changed since July 2020 with the approval of several vaccines and a second wave of COVID-19, the findings suggest that communicating the collective benefits of herd immunity reduced people's hesitancy about being vaccinated.

Nearly one in three working-age adults in France (29%) surveyed in July 2020 - when lockdown restrictions had been eased - were outright opposed to being vaccinated against the virus, according to new research published in The Lancet Public Health journal.

Researchers found that more than two-thirds of people (71%) could accept a vaccine depending on its characteristics, with their decision based largely on its effectiveness and country of origin.

Based on their findings, the authors recommend that mass vaccination strategies in France would be most successful if they use vaccines with robust evidence of high levels of effectiveness, especially vaccines produced in the USA or the European Union, and emphasise the collective benefits of herd immunity.

While the study was conducted in France - where vaccine skepticism, in general, is high -highlights potential hurdles that widespread distrust of new vaccines could pose to a vaccine rollout strategy to achieve herd immunity. The authors also note that the study was undertaken before the development of highly effective vaccines, which may have altered people's attitudes.

To date, three COVID-19 vaccines have been approved for use in the European Union. Reaching herd immunity - when upwards of 60% of a country's population is immune due to infection or vaccination - will likely involve the need for mass vaccination, as physical distancing measures aim to prevent people from becoming infected. However, recent evidence from opinion polls suggests that COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is increasing worldwide. [1]

The authors of the new study surveyed a representative sample of 1,942 adults in France aged 18-64 years using a two-part online questionnaire. The first section sought background information such as participants' past vaccination behaviour and their risk of having a severe case of COVID-19.

In the second part, participants selected from a range of options relating to scenarios involving several hypothetical vaccines. These differed on four characteristics: efficacy (50%, 80%, 90%, or 100%); risk of serious side effects (1/10,000 or 1/100,000 vaccinated people); country of manufacturer (European Union, USA, or China); and site of vaccination (GP practice, local pharmacy, or mass vaccination centre).

Analysing survey responses using a behavioural model enabled researchers to distinguish between people who would accept a vaccination with certain characteristics (known as vaccine hesitancy) and those who would always refuse one - a distinction that is usually not explored using opinion poll data.

Dr Verity Watson, of the University of Aberdeen, UK, said: "We used a study design that allowed us to separate people into two groups: those who will accept vaccination depending on its characteristics, and those who would always refuse one. This information is important for designing mass vaccination campaigns because it shows how sensitive uptake is to the design of the campaign. Opinion polls are rarely able to separate people in this way."

The authors found that nearly one third (29%, 650/1,942) of the French working-age population would refuse any COVID-19 vaccine. Among participants who would not outright refuse a vaccine (71%, 1,382/1,942), hesitancy mainly depended upon the effectiveness of vaccines and the country where they were made.

Vaccine hesitancy was minimised - resulting in a 61% acceptance rate overall - in a scenario using a vaccine manufactured in the European Union that was 90% effective and had a low risk of serious side effects (1/100,000 people vaccinated). Vaccine hesitancy was at its highest - an acceptance rate of only 27% overall - in a scenario involving a Chinese-made vaccine with 50% effectiveness and a risk of serious side effects of 1/10,000.

Survey responses also indicated that a reduction in hesitancy for a vaccine with 90% efficacy (compared with a vaccine with 50% efficacy) was entirely offset if it was made in China rather than the European Union. The authors suggest that hesitancy based on country of origin may be due to perceived rushed development and safety concerns about vaccines made in countries outside the European Union.

The collective benefits of herd immunity should be emphasised as part of mass vaccination strategies, the authors suggest, as communicating these was associated with significantly less COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

Both hesitancy and outright refusal to be vaccinated were more likely among women, people with lower educational achievements, and those who had previously chosen not to receive other recommended vaccinations. People aged 18-24 years and 55-64 years were less likely to outright refuse or be hesitant about accepting a vaccine than people aged 25-54 years.

Dr Michael Schwarzinger, of Bordeaux University Hospital, France, said: "Understanding the factors that determine whether or not working-age people will accept a COVID-19 vaccine is vital. Like France, the majority of the population in most high-income countries is made up of working-age people, which means that reaching herd immunity through a mass vaccination campaign can only be achieved if they are willing to take part."

"Our findings suggest that vaccine hesitancy, alongside other factors including limited vaccine supplies and the emergence of new COVID-19 strains, continues to pose major challenges to getting the pandemic under control. With evidence indicating that hesitancy to receive a COVID-19 vaccine is growing worldwide, studies such as ours are important for helping to inform the development and rollout of national vaccination strategies that people are likely to support." [2]

The authors acknowledge that the main limitation of the study is the timing of the survey. In July 2020, stringent physical-distancing measures had been lifted following the first wave of infections, and information on COVID-19 vaccination was limited. People's attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination may have changed since then in response to a resurgence of the virus, reintroduced physical distancing measures, and the development of highly effective vaccines.

Writing in a linked Comment, Pierre Verger and Patrick Peretti-Watel from Observatoire Regional de la Sante Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur and Aix-Marseille University, France, respectively, suggest the results may be important for informing mass vaccination strategies, saying: " ...this study shows that most people are probably not absolutely for or against COVID-19 vaccines. Depending on their own profile and preferences, and on the characteristics of the vaccines available, vaccine-hesitant individuals might consider taking the vaccine or delay it to get another vaccine. Health authorities must anticipate these behaviours, especially since the characteristics that influence them could change over time."

Publication of this research coincides with two other new studies in The Lancet Public Health journal assessing different aspects of the pandemic in France. One sought to better understand common factors associated with in-hospital COVID-19 cases and deaths across the country, while the other investigated prevalence of the virus among homeless people in Paris.

###

Peer-reviewed / Survey / People

** Paper published as part of a collection of three papers assessing different aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic in France**

NOTES TO EDITORS

This study was funded by the French Public Health Agency. It was conducted by researchers from Bordeaux University Hospital, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Aix-Marseille University), Sante Publique France, and University of Aberdeen, UK.

The labels have been added to this press release as part of a project run by the Academy of Medical Sciences seeking to improve the communication of evidence. For more information, please see: http://www. sciencemediacentre. org/ wp-content/ uploads/ 2018/ 01/ AMS-press-release-labelling-system-GUIDANCE. pdf if you have any questions or feedback, please contact The Lancet press office pressoffice@lancet.com

[1] Lin C, Tu P, Beitsch LM. Confidence and Receptivity for COVID-19 Vaccines: A Rapid Systematic Review. Vaccines 2020; 9(1).

[2] Quote direct from author and cannot be found in the text of the Article.
In the wake of the Bergen County Prosecutors Office taking down an international human trafficking ring that forced victims into sexual slavery, many of the more than 50 victims are now being provided with shelter and counseling as they wrestle with severe trauma.

On Thursday, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced charges against 22 people allegedly involved in running a human trafficking ring that lured young Mexican women into the country before forcing them into prostitution. The four-month long sting, dubbed Operation Hope In Darkness, nabbed 21 people, with one of the ring-leaders still on the run in Colombia.

The trafficking ring victimized more than 50 people, who are now being helped back into a life free from shackles and systemic abuse, officials said. Coordinating with law enforcement, Covenant House, an organization that provides shelter and support services for victims of abuse and human trafficking, has helped provide temporary housing for some victims, along with mental health counseling, said Jim White, executive director for Covenant House New Jersey.

With victims of long-term abuse, the most crucial step in recovering was to find them a place they feel safe, said White.

First of all making sure that we can get them safe, White told NJ Advance Media. Thats really key. A place where they can be safe. And then that they have the needed services.

For as many as six years, the human trafficking ring operated in northern New Jersey and New York City, running a highly organized operation to force victims - mostly Mexican immigrants - into prostitution. The trafficking ring would recruit mostly young Mexican women between the ages of 18 and 30, luring them with the possibility of coming to the United States and getting jobs, only to force them into sexual slavery, authorities previously said.

In local apartments and condominiums across New Jersey and New York, the women were paid to service as many as 40 clients a day for 12 hours at a time, keeping only 50 percent of the money they made, authorities said. Much of that money would end up back in the hands of the ring-leaders to pay back alleged debt for bringing the victims to the United States.

The sustained trauma of human trafficking often leaves victims skeptical of their newfound safety, taking a long time to trust anyone, said White. Many of the more than 50 victims declined services from Covenant House, he said.

Others accepted services that include temporary housing and one-on-one mental health counseling, said White. The mental health counseling will continue for victims as long as they seek it, said White, with the hope that victims will gradually trust counselors.

Its pretty much one-on-one counseling in that were trying to build a relationship and trust, said White. You can imagine that often going through this traumatic experience, itd be a challenge and struggle with trust issues.

It can be really haunting, he added.

For safety and security reasons, White declined to say how many victims had sought shelter and counseling or where they had been relocated. As of Friday, none of the victims had been helped in getting back to Mexico, though Covenant House has coordinated the safe return of victims to their homes in the past, he said.

Really the key is sanctuary, said White. How do we get them to a place where they feel safe? Because sometimes home isnt safe.

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. Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon.

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A multi-millionaire used to the finer things in life is forced to spend a week at a rainy campsite as he and his friend swap holidays with two unemployed single mothers in Channel 5's Rich Holiday, Poor Holiday.

Sunil, 32, who splits his time between the UK and Dubai, is joined by best friend Nilesh on the 780 getaway in Wiltshire, while friends Suzanne and Ursula, who usually have to count the pennies at home in London, enjoy a lavish 8,000 trip to Portugal.

Sunil and Nilesh try to stay positive after struggling to pitch their tent in a muddy field but end up cheating with a night in a nearby hotel after failing to start a fire while spending a night in the woods on a survival course.

Meanwhile, Suzanne and Ursula are shocked that their 'boring' stay in a luxury manor house with a wine tasting experience and gourmet seven-course meal costs nearly 9,000, and say they could have put that money to better use.

Sunil, 32, from Kingston, left, made his millions in the car business and while he grew up in poverty, he and his best-friend Nilesh, right have grown accustomed to expensive tastes. However, the pair swap their expensive holiday for a camping trip in Wiltshire, where they attend a survival course

The two men are using to five-star hotels, but Sunil's scrambled eggs under the rain will have to do on their skint trip where they have a budget of 130 for the week

Meanwhile, South Lonson besties Ursula, left and Suzanne, right, enjoy fine dining and cocktails during a Portugal getaway

Introducing himself, Sunil explains he is like an eagle who 'flies in his own lane, never flies with the chickens.'

Having lost both his parents at a young age, Sunil had to step up and learn how to pay the bills, which taught him resilience that stood him in good stead as he built a career in the car industry.

He and Nilesh explain they think nothing of spending 10,000 on a week away and say they have forgotten how to slum it on a budget holiday.

'I can be reminded of the holidays I used to go with my mates, 20, 30 years ago when they were low budget,' he admits while preparing for the trip.

Ahead of his getaway, Sunil says his worst holiday would be to be 'stuck in the rain, having chores to do, like camping.'

Unfortunately for him, his nightmares come true. The pair drive Sunil's Bentley to a campsite in Wiltshire, where they are given a budget of 130 to entertain themselves for the week.

'We just need some good weather, it'll be a laugh,' Sunil says, trying to be optimistic.

Nilesh, left and Sunil, right, are more used to three-piece suits than pitching their tents in the wilderness

Sunil and Nilesh spend four hours trying to pitch their tend in a field, but the tent end up falling overnight

The businessman, pictured, who had a tough upbringing, rises to the challenge and compares himself to Rambo

Sunil and Nilesh struggle with their camping trip, even though they try to keep a positive attitude throughout and even befriend the local animals

The two men start to pitch their tents as it starts to get dark but are not successful, and after four hours, the tents are still nowhere near ready.

Finally, the pair settle for the night, with Sunil saying: 'Even the Egyptians who built the pyramids would be proud of those two tents.'

However, the next day, he admits the tents fell on them overnight. Sunil's prayer for good weather is not answered, and the friends wake up to the rain and are forced to eat breakfast outside in the drizzle.

They are not impressed with the muddy field, with Sunil saying, 'hippos and pigs would love it.'

Things go from bad to worse when the pair head to the woods for a survival course. They are shown how to build a shelter out of scavenged materials and light a fire to survive the night.

Ursula laughs her way through an evening of fine dining with a seven-course taster menu that leaves her 'peckish'

Suzanne and Ursula, who hate extreme sport, struggle through some extremely fast driving in the Portuguese hills

After several tries, neither Sunil nor Nilesh managed to light a fire without a match, and the pair decide to retreat to a comfortable hotel nearby

However, after a sound night and a hearty English breakfast, the pair decide to head back to their campsite to finish the experience.

'Everything I do, I finish strong,' a determined Sunil tells a less convinced Nilesh.

Upon returning to their campsite, Sunil is dismayed to find animals found their way into his tent overnight.

At the end of the trip, Sunil says: 'I'm definitely proud of the achievement we've done as a team. We made a life-long memory, the best we could have done with the resources we've had.'

AUrsula admits she is born by a wine-tasting course during the expensive 9,000 holiday, and says she'd rather get a drink with the locals

Meanwhile Nilesh adds: 'The most I enjoyed in this holiday is the company of my brother Sunil.'

But best-friends Suzanne and Ursula are less impressed with their expensive Portugal getaway, which amounts to 8,995.

The two women, who are currently unemployed, came together after dating 'bad boyfriends.

Ursula lost her job in March last year due to the coronavirus pandemic and has been applying to jobs ever since. Meanwhile, Suzanne explains she went from being with the same partner for 14 years and holding a good job in the city to being a single mother scraping for cash.

The two friends are used to small getaways and say they love to experience the local culture.

Ursula is scared of heights and struggles through a hot air balloon trip. After an emergency landing due to adverse winds, the two friends land in Spain and laugh the whole thing off

The view is incomparable, but Ursula and Suzanne admit they would have rather spent their holiday doing something else than their hot air balloon trip

They are put up in a five-star manor hotel in Portugal and say they love the 'amazing' view but find an exclusive wine tasting class they attend 'boring,' and admit they'd have had more fun getting a drink with the locals at the nearby village.

The pair, who don't enjoy extreme sports, are put to the test on a driving quad course in the hills and later sample a seven-course tasting menu that leaves them feeling 'peckish' and longing for more 'authentic' cuisine.

The pair are also left dissatisfied with a hot air balloon trip which results in an emergency landing on the other side of the Spanish border and a taxi back to the hotel.

Their favourite moment of the trip, however, is when they encounter a group of traditional dancers around the hotel, and get to enjoy an impromptu show.

When the price of their Portugal trip is revealed, Ursula is not impressed.

'I wouldn't pay eight grand, I could put that money to a lot more use,' she says.

However, in spite of their set-backs, the two women head back to London feeling 're-energised' and motivated to get back on the job market, with Ursula saying she's taken 'a lot of positivity' from the experience.

Rich Holiday, Poor Holiday airs on Sunday at 9pm on Channel 5.

Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 00:14:48|Editor: huaxia

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Staff members of Sinovac Biotech, a Chinese biopharmaceutical company, pose for a photo in the quality inspection lab in Beijing, capital of China, March 16, 2020. China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) on Friday granted conditional market approval to CoronaVac, an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech, the company said on Saturday. The Sinovac vaccine, produced by the Beijing-based Sinovac Life Sciences Co. Ltd., affiliated with Sinovac Biotech, was approved for emergency use in China last June. The vaccine started being used for emergency inoculation among some special groups in the country from July last year. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)

BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) on Friday granted conditional market approval to CoronaVac, an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech, the company said on Saturday.

The Sinovac vaccine, produced by the Beijing-based Sinovac Life Sciences Co. Ltd., affiliated with Sinovac Biotech, was approved for emergency use in China last June. The vaccine started being used for emergency inoculation among some special groups in the country from July last year.

From this January, countries including Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay and Laos successively approved the emergency use of the Sinovac vaccine locally.

These countries recognize the clinical research results of the vaccine, believing it has obvious effects on reducing the medical treatment, hospitalization, critical cases and deaths caused by COVID-19, and is of great importance to pandemic prevention and control, Sinovac Biotech said in a press release on its website.

Sinovac Life Sciences Co. Ltd. on Feb. 3 filed an application for conditional market approval of CoronaVac, which was granted on the basis of the vaccine's overseas phase-3 clinical trials for two months, it said.

The NMPA requested the company to continue to carry out relevant clinical trials, fulfill the conditional requirements, and submit the follow-up research results in time.

"We expect to provide more safe and effective vaccines as soon as possible and help control COVID-19 ultimately by increasing inoculation rates, enabling social and economic development to return to the normal track," said Yin Weidong, chairman and CEO of Sinovac.

According to the company, the vaccination procedure includes two shots with an interval of 14 to 28 days, and each dose is 0.5 ml.

In China, the vaccine has completed its phase-1 and phase-2 clinical trials for adults aged over 18 and the elderly, and the enrollment of volunteers aged 3 to 17 has been completed. The volunteers in China has reached more than 2,200 people and the results showed that the vaccine has good safety and immunogenicity in all age groups.

Since July 2020, Sinovac has conducted phase-3 clinical trials in four countries including Brazil, Chile, Indonesia and Turkey, involving more than 25,000 volunteers altogether.

As of December 16, 2020, 12,396 medical workers aged over 18 were enrolled in Brazil and 253 infection cases were collected during the observation period. Clinical studies in Brazil suggested that the vaccine was 100 percent effective in preventing hospitalized, severe, and fatal cases, 83.7 percent effective in preventing cases requiring medical treatment, and has a general efficacy rate of 50.65 percent.

Clinical trials in Turkey involved both health care workers aged 18-59 who are at high risk and the general population at normal risk. Results in Turkey showed that the vaccine has an efficacy rate of 91.25 percent.

The vaccine production quality management system has passed GMP inspections in many countries including China, Brazil, Indonesia and Chile. Hundreds of batches of large-scale production have proved that the vaccine production process is controllable and the quality is reliable.

Sinovac's first production line which went into operation in August 2020 has an annual production capacity of 500 million doses. The company has constructed a second production line, which will start operation in February, increasing its annual production capacity to 1 billion doses.

Sinovac will also export semi-finished jabs to some countries with filling and packaging capabilities such as Brazil, Indonesia and Turkey.

The supply of vaccines in the form of both finished and semi-finished products will help fill the gap of the company's filling and packaging capacity, save the international transportation cost, and improve the accessibility and affordability of vaccines, the company said.

It is China's second self-developed COVID-19 vaccine that has got conditional market approval in the country. The vaccine developed by China National Biotec Group affiliated with Sinopharm was approved in December last year. Enditem
The former head of the CIA Counterterrorism Center has suggested that counterinsurgency tactics used by the military in Iraq and Afghanistan should be applied to domestic extremists inside the US.

NPR reports that Robert Grenier, who directed the CIAs Counterterrorism program from 2004 to 2006, declared We may be witnessing the dawn of a sustained wave of violent insurgency within our own country, perpetrated by our own countrymen.

In an op-ed for The New York Times last week, Grenier suggested that extremists who seek a social apocalypse  are capable of producing endemic political violence of a sort not seen in this country since Reconstruction.

Grenier, also a former CIA station chief in Pakistan and Afghanistan, grouped together the Proud Boys, the Three Percenters, the Oath Keepers, Christian national chauvinists, white supremacists and QAnon fantasists and claimed they are all committed to violent extremism.

Grenier labeled dissenters an insurgency and called for them to be defeated like an enemy army.

In further comments to NPR, Grenier stated that as in any insurgency situation, you have committed insurgents who are typically a relatively small proportion of the affected population. But what enables them to carry forward their program is a large number of people from whom they can draw tacit support.

Grenier also stated that insurgents may emerge from groups who believe that the election was stolen, or those who dont trust NPR or The New York Times.

The most violent elements that we are concerned about right now see former President Trump as a broadly popular and charismatic symbol, the CIA spook added, before comparing Trump to Saddam Hussein.

You know, just as I saw in the Middle East that the air went out of violent demonstrations when [Iraqi leader] Saddam Hussein was defeated and seen to be defeated, I think the same situation applies here, he proclaimed.

Grenier suggested that Trump should be convicted at the upcoming impeachment trial as a national security imperative because So long as he is there and leading the resistance, if you will, which he shows every sign of intending to do, he is going to be an inspiration to very violent people.

Grenier then compared Americans to Al Qaeda and the Taliban, noting that in Afghanistan the thrust of our campaign there was, yes, to hunt down al-Qaida, but primarily to remove the supportive environment in which they were able to live and to flourish. And that meant fighting the Taliban.

I think that is the heart of what we need to deal with here, he added.

Listen:

Linking to Greniers comments, journalist Glenn Greenwald quipped that wedding guests throughout America should watch out for drone missiles:

The call to treat Americans as terrorist insurgents comes on the heels of a Department of Homeland Security warning that those dissatisfied with the election result may rise up and commit acts of terrorism in the coming weeks.

Information suggests that some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence, stated the bulletin issued last week through the DHS National Terrorist Advisory System  or NTAS.

The bulletin added that extremists may be motivated by a range of issues, including anger over COVID-19 restrictions, the 2020 election results, and police use of force.
Gary with his daughter Lily, and sister Patricia with son Corey and daughter Caitlyn in 2004

The sister of the late Gary Moore has said she cannot believe the love that still exists for her guitar legend brother as a campaign to erect a statue in Belfast gathers pace.

The project has now received political backing from the Green Party and Alliance for the Wild Frontier Memorial Project 10 years after Moore's death in 2011 following a heart attack, aged just 58.

He had enjoyed a chequered career in rock, playing with bands such as Thin Lizzy, Skid Row and G-Force, and as a solo artist collaborating with BB King among others.

Gary's sister Patricia (48), herself a musician, said she was taken aback by the support for the campaign after a concert to fundraise for the statue sold out in 2019.

It is thought the statue, for which almost 5,000 has been raised by fans, could become a feature of a major cultural celebration in the city being planned for 2023. Further concerts have been postponed because of the pandemic but she said the family and fan-led campaign will press on as soon as possible.

"We'll get there, we're not going to stop," she told the Belfast Telegraph.

"There are so many people who bought tickets to the gig last year. We couldn't believe the love for him."

Ms Moore, who was 20 years younger than her famous brother, said she was his biggest fan.

"My main memories are of gigs, watching him play, which was just magical. I was eight years old when I first saw him play at Colston Hall. He was walking around holding my hand afterwards and it was just magical. I was in awe and people were asking for his autograph and he was signing people's arms," she said.

Although Ms Moore was born in Weston-super-Mare in England, she said she has great memories of a close-knit family of five children.

"He was so good to me as a brother, he used to phone me up when I was down and cheer me up," she said.

Gary's death came as a shock to his entire family, particularly his mother, she added.

"It will always hit a raw nerve. I listen to him every day, which my sister found hard for a long time but now she listens and that's why we want the statue."

Although Gary left Belfast at a young age, he had a great love of the city and his family there, she said.

Green councillor Brian Smyth said he would welcome a statue of one of Belfast's most famous musical sons. "[He] has left a lasting legacy not only in Belfast, but across the planet.

This is also a timely reminder of how important music is and how we value our musicians, when there is a real challenge to the arts sector in Northern Ireland."
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The broad outage followed Friday's government order to block Twitter and Instagram that said some people were trying to use the platforms to spread what it deemed fake news

Yangon: Myanmars new military authorities appeared to have cut most access to the Internet on Saturday as they faced a rising tide of protest over their coup that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi's elected civilian government.

Numerous internet users noted a slow disappearance of services, especially from mobile service providers, that accelerated sharply late Saturday morning. The broadband connection also later failed, while there were mixed reports on whether landline telephone service was still working.

Netblocks, a London-based service that tracks internet disruptions and shutdowns, said Saturday afternoon that a near-total internet shutdown is now in effect" in Myanmar, with connectivity falling to just 16 percent of normal levels.

The broad outage followed Friday's government order to block Twitter and Instagram that said some people were trying to use the platforms to spread what it deemed fake news. Facebook had already been blocked earlier in the week  though not completely effectively.

The communication blockages are a stark reminder of the progress Myanmar is in danger of losing after Monday's coup plunged the nation back under direct military rule after a nearly decade-long move toward greater openness and democracy. During Myanmar's previous five decades of military rule, the country was internationally isolated and communication with the outside world strictly controlled.

Suu Kyis five years as leader since 2015 had been Myanmar's most democratic period despite the military retaining broad powers over the government, the continued use of repressive colonial-era laws and the persecution of minority Rohingya Muslims.

The blockages are also adding greater urgency to efforts to resist the coup, with Saturday seeing some of the largest street protests against the takeover. In what appeared to be the main one, about 1,000 protesters  factory workers and students prominent among them  marched Saturday morning down a main street in Yangon, the countrys biggest city, and were met by more than 100 police in riot gear.

Members of the crowd shouted Military dictatorship should fall and Down with dictatorship. They marched with their hands in the air, formed into three-fingered salutes, a symbol of defiance adopted from protesters in neighboring Thailand, who borrowed the gesture from the Hunger Games movie franchise.

The demonstration ended peacefully with no clashes reported. It dispersed around the time communications were cut, and it was unclear if the marchers later regrouped.

Telenor Myanmar, a major mobile operator, confirmed it had received Friday's order to block Twitter and Instagram. In a statement, Twitter said it was deeply concerned about the order and vowed to advocate to end destructive government-led shutdowns.

It undermines the public conversation and the rights of people to make their voices heard, its spokesperson said.

Since the coup, social media platforms have been major sources of independent news as well as organizing tools for protests.

For the fourth night Friday, those opposed to the coup and the arrests of activists and politicians that have accompanied gathered at windows and on balconies around Yangon to make a cacophony of noise in protest.

Earlier Friday, nearly 300 elected lawmakers from Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party declared themselves as the sole legitimate representatives of the people and asked for international recognition as the countrys government.

They were supposed to take their seats Monday in a new session of Parliament following the November elections when the military announced it was taking power for a year.

The military accused Suu Kyi and her party of failing to act on its complaints that last Novembers election was marred by fraud, though the election commission said it had found no evidence to support the claims.

In New York, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pledged Friday that the United Nations will do everything it can to unite the international community and create conditions for the military coup in Myanmar to be reversed.

He told a news conference it is absolutely essential to carry out the Security Councils calls for a return to democracy, respect for the results of the November elections, and release of all people detained by the military, which means the reversal of the coup that took place.

Guterres said Christine Schraner Burgener, the UN special envoy for Myanmar, had a first contact with the military since the coup and expressed the UNs strong opposition to the takeover.

According to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, she reiterated to Deputy Commander-in-Chief Vice General Soe Win the secretary-generals strong condemnation of the militarys action that disrupted the democratic reforms that were taking place in the country.

In addition to 134 officials and lawmakers who were detained in the coup, some 18 independent activists were also held, said the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Myanmar, which added that some have been released.

The office of Australia's foreign minister said in a statement Saturday that the government was deeply concerned about reports of Australian and other foreign nationals being detained arbitrarily in Myanmar.

The statement said the government was concerned in particular about one Australian who was detained at a police station. The statement did not provide details on the identities of those being held or the reasons for their detention.

On Friday, Suu Kyis senior aide, Win Htein, was picked up in Mayangone township. He told BBC in a phone call earlier that he was being arrested for sedition, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Suu Kyi and President Win Myint are also under house arrest and have been charged with minor offenses, seen by many as merely providing a legal veneer for their detention. Suu Kyi was described by her party as being in good health.
Cheyenne, WY (82001)

Today

Thunderstorms likely. Low 43F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely. Low 43F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
London: The COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford protects people against a new, more contagious coronavirus variant at similar levels to the protection it offered against other lineages of the virus, Oxford researchers said in a paper released on Friday (Saturday AEDT).

The paper, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, said that the vaccine had 74.6 per cent efficacy against the new variant, which was first detected in Britain and is known as B.1.1.7. That was similar to, though potentially slightly lower than, its efficacy against other lineages of the virus.

The encouraging, albeit preliminary, findings suggest that all five of the leading vaccines may offer at least some protection against new variants of the virus spreading around the globe. Still, the mounting evidence suggests that mutant viruses can diminish the efficacy of vaccines, increasing the pressure on countries to quickly vaccinate their populations and outrace the variants taking hold across the globe.

The vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca has also been shown to substantially slows the transmission of the virus. Credit:AP

In clinical trials, the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine protected all participants against severe illness or death.


Children in Amber Alert found safe near Mitchell

The missing children were recovered and are safe, according to the Davison County Sheriff's Office.
The vaccination against COVID-19 must be carried out with the consent of the person by special teams that have already passed the relevant certification.

The vaccination against COVID-19 in the Armed Forces of Ukraine will start in late February.

"During the first stage of vaccination in the Armed Forces, military personnel deterring Russia's armed aggression in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as persons who are to be rotated soon, servicemen participating in international peace and security operations, and medical personnel will be vaccinated," Commander of the Medical Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel Serhiy Khalik told the ArmyInform news agency.

The vaccination against COVID-19 must be carried out with the consent of the person by special teams that have already passed the relevant certification.

COVID-19 in Armed Forces

The number of COVID-19 coronavirus cases registered in the Armed Forces of Ukraine rose by 51 as of the morning of February 6. Of those newly-infected, 14 people have been hospitalized, the press service of the Medical Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine wrote on Facebook on Saturday.

Read alsoCOVID-19: Over 4,300 new active cases reported as of Feb 6As of 10:00 Kyiv time on February 6, some 664 people in the Armed Forces of Ukraine had acute respiratory illness COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Some 62 servicemen are now isolated (including self-isolation).

COVID-19 vaccination in Ukraine

On December 30, Ukraine signed a contract with China's Sinovac for the supply of 1.9 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine.

On January 30, 2021, Ukrainian Deputy Health Minister, Chief Medical Officer Viktor Liashko said Ukraine would receive 117,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine within the COVAX (the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility) in February.

From the middle of February to the end of June 2021, Ukraine will obtain 2.2 million to 3.7 million doses of an AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine.

First to get vaccinated will be healthcare workers, the elderly, and seriously ill patients.

In December 2020, the Health Ministry's coronavirus task force approved a COVID-19 immunization plan under which at least 50% of Ukrainians (20 million people) are to be vaccinated during 2021-2022.

On January 29, the National Commission for technology-related and environmental safety and emergencies approved a schedule for vaccination against the coronavirus in Ukraine in 2021.

On February 4, Ukrainian Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said the vaccination against COVID-19 in the country would start on February 15.

Reporting by UNIAN

Two Cork-based charitable organisations are to benefit to the tune of almost 47,000 under the first tranche of funding under the Government's Strengthening Disability Fund.

The fund, announced as part of Budget 2021, set aside 20million for one-off grants to reform disability services and bolster the capacity of disability organisations, with the ultimate aim of improving the quality of life for those who rely on these services.

Under the first round of the initiative, the St Joseph's Foundation in Charleville has been allocated 38,720 for IT-related developments and upgrades.

Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind has been allocated 8,170 for building works and refurbishments to its headquarters on the Model Farm Road in Cork.

Announcing the funding, Anne Rabbitte, Minister for State with responsibility for Disability Services, said the money would help recipient organisations improve their services "in a real and tangible way".

"We sought projects that help further embed a culture of person-centred practice, which is key to how disability services operate," said Minister Rabbitte.

"We saw the impact the closure of day services had last year, but we've collectively worked together to keep them open, ensuring support for service users and their families, while all the while operating safely within public health guidance."

Cork North West Fianna Fail TD Michael Moynihan, who is the chair of the Oireachtas committee on Disability, warmly welcomed the news that the St Joseph's Foundation is to benefit under the initial tranche of the scheme.

Since its foundation in 1968, the Foundation has provided services and supports to both children and adults with special needs. It currently provides these services to more than 1,000 people and their families across the north Cork and south Limerick regions.

Deputy Moynihan pointed out the Strengthening Disability Services Fund was in addition to the 100million delivered in budget for disability health services.

"It further highlights the Government's commitment to enhancing supports for people with disabilities. Further grants are currently being assessed and will be announced later in the month," he said.

"Disability services have continued to operate during the current Level 5 restrictions, and this is credit to the staff and service providers. This funding will help improve services being offered at St Joseph's Foundation during these difficult times."
An inconvenient truth for the chattering classes who scorn Michael OLeary  the Ryanair boss is right.

We needed a good blast of fresh air on the first day of February, so I was delighted to wake up to a cathartic rant from Mick on Morning Ireland.

Is he still allowed to talk on national radio? I thought he might have been banned off it, under some cultural version of Section 31. Or for calling RTE a rat-infested, North Korean union shop a few years back.

Not yet, apparently, so the offensive, free-speaking, foul-mouthed, anti-establishment, anti-liberal, un-PC  but endlessly entertaining and down-to-earth  Michael OLeary was on RTE last Monday morning. Mostly to criticise RTE, along with Nphet. Yay for democracy.

Its funny though, how those who parade themselves as liberals were quick to denigrate what he had to say. Perhaps because it made far too much sense.

The Mullingar man blasted Nphet for drumming up mass hysteria with their scare stories and said chief medical officer Tony Holohan should be holding daily press conferences announcing how many people have been vaccinated instead.

Vaccination is the way out of this crisis, not failed lockdowns he said. We need some optimism in Ireland, instead of the daily doses of pessimism delivered by Nphet and RTE.

In a later interview with Ciara Kelly on Newstalk  I still hadnt enough of listening to him and tuned in to that one too  he pointed out that our public health experts were not beyond reproach, having got it wrong on mask-wearing, nursing homes and meat factories. He said he was fed up of Nphet being eulogised on RTE.

Weve been in lockdown for a year, people want to get away. We need to get away from the misery of Nphet and this Government and vaccines are the way to do that.

I hadnt fully realised the UK was so significantly far ahead of us on the vaccine roll-out, until he brought it to national attention. Britain is on course to have 50pc of its population vaccinated by March.

He believes we need to get the finger out. If Europe and Ireland get their act together and catch up, we should be out of these lockdowns by June, and RTE will have to move on and talk about something else.

He might be one of Irelands wealthiest businessmen, with a Trinity College degree in economics, but as hes not the right sort, he must be discredited.

Read More

Right-thinking, respectable people dont perceive any bias on the national broadcaster; never question Nphet. That would make you mad; a conspiracy theorist, attention-seeking or agenda-setting. Such dissenting speech could possibly be dangerous or labelled disinformation. To criticise Holohan is practically heresy.

Luckily, OLeary doesnt care  or as he once said himself: I dont give a s**t if no one likes me  and so he is free of the fear that has made most in public life afraid to say what they think.

So for everyone who sneered at OLeary for having the audacity to have an opinion on Covid without being a doctor, there were many more who cheered at the wireless.

After hearing the Taoiseach, the Tanaiste and the CMO all advise against a holiday abroad this year, it was a release to finally hear some good news from someone in the know. He used uplifting phrases like remarkably optimistic, hopeful and looking forward to a better future and dramatic recovery by June. Time will tell if he is proven correct. Lets hope so.

This pandemic is about society and economy as much as it is about public health  and OLeary knows about business.

The air travel industry has been arguably the worst affected of all, with Ryanair losing nearly 1bn because of it this year. If he has constructive criticism and solutions to suggest  as well as reasons to be cheerful  I want to hear them.

It is his duty  and in his own interest  to be fully informed about the virus and government responses to it.

The potency of our leaders should not be exalted at the cost of everything else; but thats what can happen if youre locked down in Ireland, only getting messaging from the State, its broadcaster, and what he called a pandering media.

Its vital we hear from the likes of him. The fact hes not an epidemiologist doesnt make his view null and void. Now that really would be a hierarchical, unequal society.

No matter what you think of OLeary, its hard to escape the conclusion he made some very good points.

He delivered a kick up the backside to consensus thinking, and gave voice to those of us who believe in finding more expansive solutions, as social harms begin to outweigh public health benefits.

Hes right. Get the finger out.
The reversal was widely expected. Last week, on his first full day in office, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said a review of the terrorist designation was the priority in my book.

Officials said the terrorist designation was lifted before it could have a widespread effect. Had it remained in place, the relatively decentralized rebel movement would have been denied financial support and other material resources that are routed through U.S. banks or other American institutions.

But the Houthis main patron is Iran, which has continued to send support despite being hobbled by severe U.S. economic sanctions, rendering the effect of the designation on the Houthis more symbolic than searing.

As part of its pressure campaign against Iran, the Trump administration sought to curb Tehrans military reach in Yemen, where it had sent weapons and other assistance to Houthi fighters. Mr. Trumps crackdown on the rebels also firmly planted the United States on the side of Saudi Arabia and its allies in the war in Yemen, providing intelligence and billions of dollars in weapons over the objections of Congress.

On Thursday, Mr. Biden said he would end U.S. support for Saudi Arabia in its intervention in Yemen, following accusations of indiscriminate bombings that have killed civilians and other military atrocities that could amount to war crimes.

Mike Pompeo, who oversaw the terrorist designation as Mr. Trumps secretary of state, has accused the Houthis of a Dec. 30 attack on the civilian airport in the Yemeni city of Aden, which killed 27 people, as evidence of the Houthis capability for terror. No one had claimed responsibility for that attack, and both Al Qaeda and the Islamic State are active in the area.

But the terrorist designation was rushed out before the Trump administration could enact clear-cut legal protections for importers and aid workers to ensure that goods could continue to reach Yemen. The vast majority of food in Yemen is imported.
Molly Shannon cant be late to school.

When the Central Catholic High senior arrives for her first class of the day, a student leadership session on Thursdays and Fridays, shes one of three or four students who meet s at one of four entrances and have their temperature taken before entering the building.

The students follow a predetermined path to their first class, no deviations. And they all have to stay together.

You kind of get your heart racing when youre getting ready in the morning, like, I hope I dont have a high temperature, Shannon said.

Shes one of about 140 students on Central Catholics Southeast Portland campus at any given time. And shes one of the few Portland-area high schoolers sure to take part in classes inside their school before the end of the school year.

When Gov. Kate Brown dialed back the states role in reopening schools for in-person instruction last December, she told Oregon Department of Education officials she was doing so with the goal of getting more students into classrooms by mid-February.

Within weeks, school districts across the state announced plans to phase younger students into hybrid learning  a mix of virtual and in-person instruction.

In the Portland area, some even offered families firm dates.

District officials in West Linn-Wilsonville say theyre aiming for a Feb. 22 start for the districts kindergartners. In Lake Oswego, Superintendent Lora De La Cruz wrote in a note to families that the district is shooting for the following day.

In Hillsboro, its March 29. And in Portland Public Schools, the states largest district, officials say they hope coronavirus infections remain on a downward trajectory so they can offer in-person instruction to kindergartners starting April 8.

Reopening plans for Portland-area districts.

Five of the 10 largest metro districts have announced a timeline for middle schoolers to return, nearly all in April. And only three  Hillsboro, Lake Oswego and West Linn-Wilsonville  have given families dates for when they think high school students may do so.

By contrast, the Evergreen district in Vancouver announced Friday that it plans on bringing sixth graders back into classrooms Feb. 18.

An analysis of school reopening plans from 10 Portland-area districts shows its likely few of the regions public high school students will see the inside of a classroom before the end of the academic year.

District officials across the region say the states tight restrictions on how many people students can interact with on a weekly basis and requiring 35 square feet of space for every person in a classroom makes offering in-person instruction to a large number of high schoolers nearly impossible.

State schools chief Colt Gill said those two measures are critical to ensure classrooms dont contribute to community spread. Smaller classes also make it easier to trace all contacts of any person who tests positive and minimize the number of students who would have to quarantine in the event of an outbreak.

The smaller we can keep those groups, the better, Gill said.

Meanwhile, private schools like Central Catholic have invited most students into classrooms after operating under the states exception for limited in-person instruction for months. Some rural high schools have also held in-person classes for just as long.

Central Catholic Principal Danyelle Ramsey, right, addresses students in the school gym. About one in five families opted to stick with virtual learning after school officials invited students to return to classrooms.Photo courtesy Central Catholic High School

PUBLIC SCHOOLS FACE BARRIERS

Central Catholic Principal Danyelle Ramsey knows public schools face higher barriers for reopening than their private counterparts. Districts must negotiate reopening plans with their teachers unions, for one.

How it all happens is just a completely different process, Ramsey told The Oregonian/OregonLive. They are facing insurmountable challenges that are different than ours because of governance.

The states largest districts have almost universally faced pushback from teachers unions upon announcing plans to reopen. Most recently, Portland Public Schools and the union representing its educators came to loggerheads over its announcement of an early April start for elementary and possibly middle schoolers.

Multiple studies have also shown schools are not the hotbeds of infections health experts feared they could be in the early stages of the pandemic.

The Oregon Health Authority reported that among the more than 100,000 students in public and private schools who spent some time in the classroom in January, 94 tested positive for coronavirus that month, or fewer than one tenth of a percent.

Vale High in Malheur County temporarily shut down in-person classes in late January due to an outbreak.

But agency officials say they rarely trace coronavirus cases back to classrooms  more often than not, its an instance of a student contracting the virus from the community and requiring a two-week quarantine before returning to the school.

The Centers for Disease Control also recently announced teachers do not need to be vaccinated before they return to the classroom.

Still, educators have expressed concern that a return to in-person instruction may bring with it an increase in community infections. A recent survey by the Portland Association of Teachers found only 1 in 3 of its educators would show up for work if they were ordered to return to the classroom.

Nine percent said they would go back without objection.

Another 40% said theyd either refuse to return or take some other sort of direct action while 28% said they would use sick leave to keep from returning.

Union President Elizabeth Thiel said she and other educators worry the district hasnt done enough to prepare buildings for students to return.

It is very important to educators to know that reopening schools to live instruction will not contribute to community spread of COVID-19, Thiel told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Ramsey said educators at Central Catholic voiced similar concerns ahead of the school offering limited in-person instruction in the fall. She provided teachers training and walkthroughs of the schools safety protocols to put them at ease, but she concedes shes not sure they all feel safe quite yet.

Portland-area middle school reopening plans.

Central Catholic officials also limited the number of students allowed on campus at a time. For the first few weeks of hybrid instruction, the building is capped at 25% capacity.

The school currently enrolls about 800 students. One in five chose to learn fully remotely for the remainder of the school year.

There is still a lot of anxiety around coronavirus, Ramsey said. I think one of the best ways to address it is exposure therapy. I dont think everybodys there but I think theyre closer.

She said teachers became more comfortable the longer they worked without incident. Central Catholic hasnt appeared in the Oregon Health Authoritys tallies of school-based coronavirus cases since the agency began regularly publishing those reports.

SOME FAMILIES ALSO WARY OF A RETURN

A recent survey of more than 2,200 Reynolds district families with high school-aged students found 15% would refuse a return to in-person instruction. Another 27% werent sure whether they would.

Nearly 300 parents provided reasons why they did not want their children back in the classroom.

Most were worried about coronavirus infection, some citing fear over the spread of new variants. Others questioned the benefit of rearranging their personal schedules for two days of in-person instruction.

One day a week is a waste of time and effort, one parent wrote.

Some parents wondered whether teenagers are capable of following safety protocols.

I dont think kids are taking this pandemic seriously and are not taking the right measures to be safe, one said.

Shannon, the Central Catholic senior, said she hasnt noticed any of her peers breaking such rules. She rarely sees students without their masks and the most she sees other classmates is during lunch.

You even have to put your mask on when youre chewing, Shannon said.

Reynolds district officials have not announced firm plans for a large-scale return to classrooms, saying they hope elementary students can do so after spring break. Parkrose and David Douglas district officials have similarly said theyre eyeing a March 29 return for some students without specifics.

Reynolds district spokesperson Steven Padilla told The Oregonian/OregonLive officials are keeping an eye on coronavirus infections as they develop their plans. Theyre trending in the right direction for now, but a surge may force Reynolds to alter its course.

Were always going to be looking at the numbers, Padilla said. Weve said we want to open for hybrid learning on March 29 but that does not mean that its when we get to open.

RURAL SCHOOLS RETURN

While Portland-area hybrid reopenings for high schools have been limited to private institutions, some rural Oregon districts invited those students back into classrooms months ago.

In Douglas County, the Winston-Dillard district opened its high school for hybrid instruction in October. High schoolers in the Crook County district have been learning in-person for about as long.

Most recently, Jackson Countys Eagle Point High has invited students back into the classroom. Students and educators told the Oregon School Boards Associations education reporter the first week of in-person learning went better than expected.

Still, schools that have been open for some time have faced their share of challenges since allowing older students back into classrooms.

Teachers in the Winston-Dillard district threatened to call in sick after officials announced they planned on opening Douglas High School for hybrid instruction back in October. A positive coronavirus case shuttered the school for a day soon after.

A Central Catholic student gets her temperature taken ahead of the morning's classes. The school has had students learning in-person since the beginning of the academic year but invited more to return since Gov. Kate Brown eased reopening metrics in December.Photo courtesy Central Catholic High School

The Crook County district also returned to virtual learning full-time ahead of winter break when much of its workforce had to quarantine as coronavirus cases spiked in the region.

While districts in the Portland area are far behind their rural counterparts in offering an in-person return to academic settings, some have signaled theyre looking for ways to let students interact with one another via extracurriculars.

Portland Public Schools has allowed student athletes to train in small groups since October. And district officials say they will soon offer socially distanced band and choir practices outdoors.

Ramsey said the run up to Central Catholics hybrid reopening required her to manage parent and student expectations of what the classroom experience would look like in the midst of the pandemic. Thats why she sent weekly notes to parents, hosted community meetings via Zoom and provided daily text reminders to families on mornings their teens were scheduled to be in class.

Our leadership has really been in partnership with the community in building what that return looks like, Ramsey said. Maybe everyone didnt get everything they wanted but they all got a little bit of what they wanted.

Shannon, the Central Catholic senior, says the experience has been worth it.

Shes only inside a classroom on Thursdays and Fridays. On Mondays and Tuesdays, Shannon attends school virtually, watching her teacher instruct four or five of her peers inside the same classroom shell sit in later in the week.

She misses choosing the route to her next class and bumping into fellow students in the hall. But the limited interactions she has with peers under Central Catholics hybrid reopening plan beat going fully virtual.

I wanted that social experience again, Shannon said. Even though the classes are smaller, its fun to see people you were only seeing over Zoom.

--Eder Campuzano | 503-221-4344 | @edercampuzano | Eder on Facebook

Eder is The Oregonians education reporter. Do you have a tip about Portland Public Schools? Email ecampuzano@oregonian.com.

It's been a tough winter in Uzbekistan thus far with unusually cold temperatures and heavy snow that put the country's aging energy infrastructure to the test.

It failed, resulting in an unusual number of protests by cold people living in dark homes who have heard government excuses for power outages for too many years.

The Protests

On January 21, amid a heavy snowstorm, the lights went out in parts of six of Uzbekistan's 12 provinces.

For those in the Khorezm, Navoi, Bukhara, Kashkadarya, Syrdarya, and Andijon provinces who were affected, it was hardly a surprise.

The Uzbek Energy Ministry had warned on November 1 that natural-gas rationing would be necessary for some industries but for those in Uzbekistan who over many years had grown accustomed to winter electricity and gas problems, it was a sign that there were tough times on the horizon.

On November 20, 2020, more than 50 people in the Gusar district of Kashkadarya Province gathered outside the office of the local electricity and gas provider, demanding to know when power would be restored in the homes.

Similar scenes were replayed in late November in districts in the Andijon, Namangan, and Ferghana provinces, where people vented their frustration at the loss of heat and electricity to city and provincial officials.

But they received the grim message that more outages would be forthcoming and it would be smart of them to stock up on coal and firewood.

By that time the media -- including several local outlets -- were already reporting on short supplies of coal and firewood. Such reports drowned out the official assurances that there would be ample stocks of both and that gas canisters would be abundantly available to the public.

Those local media outlets were then warned by government officials who oversee the media that they should stop reporting on the cold weather and angry responses from citizens.

But Uzbekistan's people did not need to read about cold weather and power outages or watch reports about it on television. They were well aware of the problems they were experiencing firsthand.

On December 9, 2020, crowds of people in two districts (Bukhara and Karakul) in the western Bukhara Province blocked the main roads in their areas, demanding gas be restored to their homes.

In the eastern city of Andijon the next day, residents blocked the road to protest the suspension of gas supplies to their homes.

It was only the beginning.

Residents of the Muzrabay district in Syrhandarya Province blocked part of the road in the area on December 27 and burned tires by the side of the road to protest a gas cut-off in their area.

A group of women in the city of Jizzakh blocked the road on January 11 to demand the restoration of gas and electricity to their homes.

By coincidence, President Shavkat Mirziyoev was visiting the area that day, though it appears he did not cross paths with the protesters.

The Oxus Society website has a tracker that lists the areas in Uzbekistan where there have been protests over problems with utilities since November 2020, showing, for example, that there have been four protests over the suspension of electricity and gas in Andijon alone since November 18.

Protests over the suspension of gas and electricity supplies are nothing new in the winter in Uzbekistan. There are usually a few almost every winter.

In most cases, gas and electricity are restored within a few days and often officials offer up gas canisters or discounted coal and firewood to help see people through the days without electricity and gas.

But the problem is worse this year and the number of protests has already been far more than usual for an Uzbek winter.

And there is a spillover effect.

Blocking roads has proven an effective way to obtain quick, if not lasting, solutions to the problems of power outages and others have been using the same tactic to get concessions for their grievances.

On December 17, 2020, a group of women in the western city of Nukus blocked the road to protest unpaid salaries.

On January 10, workers at the oil refinery in Ferghana started a protest against planned cuts to the workforce that included blocking the road. It lasted for more than a week.

Three days later, residents of the Buyuk Turon neighborhood in the southern city of Karshi blocked the road to protest plans to cut down trees in the area.

Added to that are the economic losses.

A report from November 23, 2020, noted that in the Yakkabagh district of Kashkadarya Province some 6,000 chickens had died during the three days electricity was cut off, and in Samarkand Province, greenhouses were left without power and vegetables grown there for the winter had died.

At the start of December 2020, UzDaily.com reported low gas pressure had halted the operations at two cement factories -- Kuvasaycement and Akhangarancement -- the latter claiming on its website to be "the largest cement producer" in Uzbekistan.

The UzDaily.com report offered a cause-and-effect explanation for the suspension of operations.

"A decrease in the ambient temperature below zero led to an increase in gas consumption by the population, which in turn affected a decrease in the pressure of gas supplied to cement producers," it claimed.

The electricity shortages have caused another problem.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many schools in Uzbekistan switched to online teaching. But without reliable supplies of electricity, once the winter break ended, children at many of the approximately 10,000 schools in Uzbekistan were forced to return to the classrooms that are inadequately heated by coal and firewood.

And of course the use of coal to heat homes is taking its toll.

RFE/RLs Uzbek Service, known locally as Ozodlik, said that as of January 16, at least 106 people had died of carbon monoxide poisoning and another 190 had to be taken to hospitals after breathing the noxious fumes.

The Power Problem

On February 6, 2020, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev held a meeting with officials from the oil and gas sector and representatives of the Energy Ministry to discuss plans for the year.

Mirziyoev told them: "Last year [in 2019], there was a lot of talk about shortcomings in the oil and gas sector. Either we help the leadership of the sector and pull it out of the swamp or it will drag our economy down and ruin all our plans for economic recovery."

Mirziyoev ordered the Energy Ministry to ensure there was enough gas to meet the needs of the population and industry by producing an additional 4.3 billion cubic meters (bcm) for domestic use in 2020.

Months later, on December 16, as the energy crisis deepened, Mirziyoev said more than 1,000 areas in Uzbekistan were seeing reduced deliveries of gas and the country needed an extra 20 million cubic meters of gas daily to meet its needs. He ordered gas exports to be slashed so that the gas could be redirected for domestic use.

It was actually a meaningless statement.

Figures released in late January 2021 showed Uzbekistans gas exports had fallen dramatically in 2020. In 2019, Uzbekistan sold 7.6 bcm of gas to Russia's Gazprom but, in the first nine months of 2020, Uzbekistan sold just 20 million cubic meters of gas to Gazprom.

In March 2020, China announced a force majeure on gas imports carried by pipeline and Uzbekistans gas exports to China, which Uzbekneftegaz said were 10 bcm in 2019 fell in 2020 by nearly 70 percent.

Uzbekistans gas exports in 2019 brought in some $2.2 billion, but in 2020 that figure fell to some $478.1 million.

At the same time, Uzbekistans gas imports more than doubled in 2020 with the country paying some $50.4 million for it.

In November 2020, it was reported that Uzbekistan planned to import some 18 million kWh of electricity from Turkmenistan and 5 million kWh from Kazakhstan.

Uzbekistan's gas production fell from 60.5 bcm in 2019 to 49.7 bcm in 2020, a drop of 17.8 percent.

To put that in perspective, according to the BP Statistical Review of Energy, that is the lowest gas production figure for Uzbekistan since 1998 when total annual output was 49.6 bcm. That was also the last time the country produced less than 50 bcm in a year until 2020.

Also according to BP, Uzbekistans proven gas reserves are some 1.1 trillion cubic meters, so the problem is not a lack of gas.

But part of the problem has certainly been the struggle to increase gas production.

Uzbekistans gas output fell steadily from 2010 until 2018 and 2019, when it jumped up toward 60 bcm. BP reported from 2008-2018 that Uzbekistan's gas production growth rate per annum was minus 0.7 percent.

LUKoil is the largest investor in Uzbekistans gas sector and has been since 2004 when the Russian company signed deals with Uzbekneftegaz, some of which run through 2039.

Mirziyoev's predecessor, first Uzbek President Islam Karimov, repeatedly said Uzbekistan was satisfied to sell its gas to Russia and it was not until after China built its first gas pipeline from Turkmenistan across Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan a little more than a decade ago that any other foreign company could get a foothold into Uzbekistans gas industry.

Some of the deals with LUKoil are now being criticized in Uzbekistan as being disadvantageous for the country.

Between 2007 and spring 2017, LUKoil produced 40 bcm of gas in Uzbekistan.

However, some of this gas was strictly for export. Some of it went to Russia and, starting in 2013, some of it went to China as part of the 10 bcm of gas Uzbekistan was allotted to export to China via the pipeline network running from Turkmenistan.

Much of that gas was produced at the Kandym-Khauzak-Shady group of fields in Uzbekistans Bukhara Province. Under the terms of the 2004 deal, LUKoil owns 90 percent of that project and Uzbekneftegaz the remaining 10 percent.

On March 5, 2019, Russia's TASS news agency reported that Uzbekistan owed LUKoil $600 million for gas. LUKoil said some of the gas it produced in Uzbekistan that was intended for export was used instead for Uzbekistans domestic needs.

The Russian company assured officials that Uzbekistans domestic market would continue to annually receive some 5 bcm of the gas LUKoil produced in Uzbekistan at a discount of 12.5 percent the usual cost of export gas.

Uzbekneftegaz chief Bahodirjon Sidikov said in an interview in June 2019 that the diversion of the gas for Uzbekistans domestic needs was necessary.

It was connected to the increased demand for natural gas both from the population and also from the new enterprises that are being created today as part of the development of our state, he said.

LUKoil produced some 14 bcm in Uzbekistan in 2019, but reduced gas production in Uzbekistan by some 40 percent after February 2020 in connection with the drastic reduction in exports to China. Levels did not return to normal until almost the end of 2020.

So when President Mirziyoev orders an increase in gas production, that does not mean all the companies extracting gas in Uzbekistan are obliged to heed his demands.

Pipes And Powerlines Past Their Prime

Alisher Sultanov is Uzbekistans current energy minister and a former head of Uzbekneftegaz.

In late November 2020, he gave a lengthy video interview in which he bemoaned the lack of attention the state had paid to Uzbekneftegaz for decades.

When I became deputy chairman of Uzbekneftegaz in 2013, one of the deputies there at that time showed me a presentation that claimed by 2017 Uzbekneftegaz would be bankrupt, Sultanov said. The balance sheet is approved every year. Every year, a balance was drawn up for the oil and gas industry with falling production; that is, deliberately falling production was already provided for in the balance.

While noting the situation had changed for the better since Mirziyoev took over as Uzbekistans leader in late 2016, Sultanov also said no money had been allotted for exploration, so the country was left dependent on existing fields and the work of the few foreign companies contracted to carry out surveying work to find new sources of gas for Uzbekistans future.

Sultanov said that Nothing has been invested [from the state] in the oil, gas, and power industries in the last 30 years.

But that has actually started to change.

On April 4, 2020, the presidential resolution On Priority Measures to Improve the Financial Stability of the Oil and Gas Industry was adopted that envisions Uzbekistan attracting some $650 million in credits.

In November 2020, a subsidy of 400 billion soms (about $38 million) from the Finance Ministrys anticrisis fund was approved for Uzbekneftegaz, though not without some criticism from parliamentary deputy Doniyor Ganiev, who questioned why a subsidy, rather than a loan, should be made to an entity that oversees what should be one of the most lucrative sectors of the economy.

Ganiev is from the Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan, which has won the most seats in parliament since its debut as a party in the 2004 elections and is also the party which nominated Karimov and later President Mirziyoev as its candidate in every presidential election since 2007. So his criticism is difficult to brush aside as it probably is supported by someone high up in government.

On January 13, Ganiev called for Energy Ministry Sultanov to be sacked.

The Future

The low pressure in gas pipelines and blown transformers on electric power lines are symptoms of a power infrastructure that is badly in need of overhaul and modernization.

Uzbekistan has been receiving aid for many years from international organizations towards these goals, which raises the question as to why the country finds itself in its current predicament.

Uzbekistan also needs to open up new gas fields on the terms that are more beneficial to the country.

As recently as May 2017, Uzbekneftegaz was saying it would secure investments of some $30.4 billion for the gas and oil sector by 2021 and would double production, adding a further 53.5 bcm to the countrys annual output.

Now that 2021 has arrived, it seems neither of those goals is possible anytime soon.

Uzbekistan has been implementing plans for greener sources of energy, as Mirziyoev promised in 2017, and the first wind farms, solar power plants, and new hydropower plants have already began operating, though many more are needed to meet the needs of the country's some 35 million people.

With Mirziyoev as leader, Uzbekistan has embarked on a regional policy that aims to bring the Central Asian countries and Afghanistan closer together.

Despite Uzbekistans drastic drop in gas production, the country was still able to export small amounts to neighbors Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in 2020, and despite Uzbekistans electricity problem, the country was still able to export electricity to Afghanistan.

Uzbekistan was the hub for the Soviet-era unified energy grid. At a meeting in Tashkent of energy ministers from nine Central and West Asian countries in September 2019 to discuss a common energy strategy under the aegis of the Asian Development Banks CAREC program, Uzbek representatives proposed Tashkent as the center for regional gas distribution.

Confidence in Tashkents ability to perform that role no doubt suffered a setback when an "unplanned" shutdown of power transmission lines occurred in Uzbekistan on January 5, which not only cut power by about half to at least five power plants in Uzbekistan, but also affected the unified grid, reducing electricity to areas in southern Kazakhstan and in Kyrgyzstan.

It now appears Mirziyoevs call to pull the energy sector out of the swamp will require a lot more effort than was believed just one year ago. It is likely the people protesting this winter will be blocking roads again next winter.
Cancer, the second leading cause of death globally, is the uncontrolled growth of a group of cells in the body. It can occur at any age and if not detected at the right time and is not treated, it can increase the risk of death.

Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that develops in a womans cervix (the part of a womans body that connects the uterus or womb and vagina).

In this interview with Premium Times Nike Adebowale to commemorate the World Cancer Day, Amina Isah, an expert in obstetrics and gynaecology, explains why women are at higher risks of having cervical cancer.

Ms Isah is also a Fellow in Reproductive Health, working with NISA Premier Hospital in Abuja.

The World Cancer Day (WCD) is celebrated on February 4 every year to raise awareness about cancer and advocate for governments and individuals globally to take action against the disease.

The theme for this years WCD is I am and I will, marking the endpoint of a three-year campaign which sought to reduce fear, increase understanding and change behaviours and attitudes around cancer.

Below are excerpts from the interview:

PT: The number of cancer patients, especially breast and cervical cancer, has doubled over the years. What do you think can be done to end this scourge?

Ms Isah: Yes, the cancer scourge has actually increased especially in the developing world and Sub-Saharan Africa like Nigeria. Lets start with discussing what cancer is. Naturally, God Almighty has designed our body such that cells have their programmed time and lifespans. Once the lifespan is reached, the cells die and new cells are produced and that is what happens in every day to day life. So what happens in cancer cells is as a result of this cell timing not occurring. The DNA continues telling the cells to keep producing outrageously and they do not die. So as a result of this, those cells accumulate together, forming a mass or tumour. These are called cancer cells. However, it is not all tumours that are cancerous.

Lets come back to breast cancer and cervical cancer. These are the topmost important cancers of females worldwide. Breast cancer is the commonest, then the second is cervical cancer. The problems we are having in the country are lack of awareness, lack of standard cancer screening programme and lack of vaccines for cervical cancers. The Nigerian government is supposed to include cervical cancer vaccines in the countrys vaccine polity. That is, it should be incorporated into the National Immunisation Programme so that it can be free and be readily available for both females and males, especially in the rural communities where we have the most population and the less-educated ones.

Another problem is that Nigerians, especially those in the rural communities, and to some extent, those in the urban centres, have poor health seeking behaviour such that when they have some symptoms, they dont go to the hospital early. This boils down to lack of awareness on the disease.

Late case presentation is thus another problem in Nigeria. By the time they present to the hospital, most of the time, there is already full-blown cancer, to the extent that it has spread to other tissues of the body. At this point, doctors just go ahead and do supportive treatment or what we call palliative treatment to ease the pain and at the end of the day, the patient dies.

PT: It is said that all women face the risk of developing cervical cancer. What are the factors that may increase the risk for some people?

Ms Isah: Being a female is a risk factor for both breast and cervical cancer. Well, you may ask what the causes of cancers are. Most of the time, the causes are actually unknown. But for that of cervical cancer, sexually-transmitted Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) has been implicated in the causation of the cancer. What this does is that it invades the cells of the cervix when infected through either anal, oral or vaginal sex.

So once that happens, it goes to the cells and cause what we call continuous DNA replications. But it is not all those that are infected with HPV that eventually end up with cervical cancer. Besides, HPV has over 100 types and the ones that have been implicated in the causation of cervical cancer are Type 16 and Type 18, and to some extent Type 33.

The increased risk for cervical cancer is having multiple sexual partners or those that have partners with multiple sexual partners. Number two is starting sexual activities at an early age. And then smoking is a risk factor for cervical cancer too.

PT: Despite the availability of preventable vaccines for cervical cancer, most women still suffer from this disease. Why is this so?

Ms Isah: This is so because it is not readily available, it is not accessible and it is not affordable. Most of the institutions that have this vaccine in Nigeria are private institutions. It is not in our National Immunisation Programme and that is why we are pleading to the government to take this into consideration.

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The World Health Organisation (WHO) has a target to reduce cervical cancer by at least 80 to 90 per cent in Nigeria by 2030. So if the government includes this in the national immunisation policy, it becomes readily available and affordable, because you dont need to pay much to get vaccinated.

Awareness campaign should never stop and there should be sensitisation of community and religious leaders about cancer. By so doing, the people get screened and get vaccinated and, to a large extent, reduce the burden of cervical cancer in Nigeria and the entire world. Awareness can also be created through the electronic media like television and radio. Cardboard papers can also be used as a form of enlightenment of the people.

PT: How often should women get screened for cervical cancer?

Ms Isah: WHO and the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology recommend that women of reproductive age group  15 to 49 years  should have a pap smear done every three years, provided the previous result was fine. Once the patient gets up to 50 years, it is now every five years till 65 years. So this helps us to detect any pre-cancerous legion. The legion raises a red flag that you need to either follow up such patient or you treat at that time before it becomes invasive cancer.

PT: What are the symptoms of cervical cancer and is it curable once a person is diagnosed?

Ms Isah: The symptoms include abnormal vaginal discharge, which a lot of women experience at a time and they think it is a toilet infection. What I am advocating now is for every woman that has abnormal virginal discharge to visit the health facility to get a pap smear done or even evaluate the discharge. If it is other infections, it will be treated and if pre-cancerous legion is detected, it will be treated. Others symptoms are bleeding after sex (post coital bleeding), postmenopausal bleeding, lower abdominal pain etc.

PT: What are the challenges associated with treating cancer in Nigeria?

Ms Isah: It is enormous because we dont even have a cancer institute in Nigeria. We dont have a centre where if one has cancer, they can just walk in there for treatment. But the teaching hospitals are there. It is just that the problem they face is late case presentation, so there is little or nothing they can do about it. They only give palliative treatment or surgery.

If it is already far gone into the persons body, they do what we call radiotherapy and chemotherapy and, of course, less of surgery. But if it hasnt spread to other organs, of course, the womb and the cervix can be removed totally.

Unfortunately, these radiotherapy machines are not always available in the country. The few that are available are non-functional so most people go to the National Hospital where they are given long appointments. At times, they say the machines has broken down when some patients visit the hospital. So there is little or no government contribution in those areas and we are pleading to the governments to please give attention to health because health is wealth, especially to our women. The health of a woman is the health of the world, it is the health of the state and it is the health of the family.

Once a woman is healthy, her child is healthy because she is there to cater for the child. The husband is happy and everybody is happy. But once a family loses their mother, things are no long the same.
News

Washington, DC - The Justice Department announced its participation in a multinational operation involving actions in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom to disrupt and take down the infrastructure of the malware and botnet known as Emotet. Additionally, officials in Lithuania, Sweden, and Ukraine assisted in this major cyber investigative action.

The Emotet malware and botnet infected hundreds of thousands of computers throughout the United States, including our critical infrastructure, and caused millions of dollars in damage to victims worldwide, said Acting Deputy Attorney General John Carlin. Cyber criminals will not escape justice regardless of where they operate. Working with public and private partners around the world we will relentlessly pursue them while using the full arsenal of tools at our disposal to disrupt their threats and prosecute those responsible.

According to an unsealed search warrant affidavit, Emotet is a family of malware that targets critical industries worldwide, including banking, ecommerce, healthcare, academia, government, and technology. Emotet malware primarily infects victim computers through spam email messages containing malicious attachments or hyperlinks. Emails were designed to appear to come from a legitimate source or someone in the recipients contact list. Once it has infected a victim computer, Emotet can deliver additional malware to the infected computer, such as ransomware or malware that steals financial credentials. Ransomware, in particular, has increased in scope and severity in the past year, harming businesses, healthcare providers, and government agencies even as the country has struggled to respond to the pandemic.

The coordinated disruption of Emotet was a great success for the FBI and our international partners, said FBI Director Christopher Wray. The FBI utilized sophisticated techniques, our unique legal authorities, and most importantly, our worldwide partnerships to significantly disrupt the malware. The operation is an example of how much we can achieve when we work with our international law enforcement partners to combat the cyber threat. The FBI remains committed, now more than ever, to imposing risk and consequences on cyber criminals to put an end to this type of criminal activity.

The computers infected with Emotet malware are part of a botnet (i.e., a network of compromised computers), meaning the perpetrators can remotely control all the infected computers in a coordinated manner. The owners and operators of the victim computers are typically unaware of the infection.

Cybercrime transcends physical and political boundaries and costs U.S. citizens and businesses billions each year, said U.S. Attorney Matt Martin of the Middle District of North Carolina. That was certainly true with Emotet. Now, more than ever, international collaboration is an imperative as we employ a technically and legally sophisticated approach to thwart cybercriminals in whatever corner of the globe they are found. This investigation will be a paradigm for effective international law enforcement cooperation directed at global cybercrime, and we applaud the FBI and the international law enforcement partners who contributed to the effort to take down this global threat.

According to the affidavit, in 2017, for example, the computer network of a school district in the Middle District of North Carolina was infected with the Emotet malware. The Emotet infection caused damage to the schools computers, including but not limited to the schools network, which was disabled for approximately two weeks. In addition, the infection caused more than $1.4 million in losses, including but not limited to the cost of virus mitigation services and replacement computers. From 2017 to the present, there have been numerous other victims throughout North Carolina and the United States, to include computer networks of local, state, tribal, and federal governmental units, corporations, and networks related to critical infrastructure.

The Emotet malware quickly elevated to one of the top cyber threats in the world, said Special Agent in Charge Robert R. Wells of the FBI Charlotte Field Office. The strong relationships with international law enforcement partners were critical to the success of this FBI investigation which began with a small North Carolina school system that did the right thing and quickly contacted their local FBI office for help.

According to the U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Emotet infections have cost local, state, tribal, and territorial governments up to $1 million per incident to remediate. More information about the malware, including technical information for organizations about how to mitigate its effects, is available from CISA here: https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/alerts/TA18-201A.

According to the affidavit, foreign law enforcement agents, working in coordination with the FBI, gained lawful access to Emotet servers located overseas and identified the Internet Protocol addresses of approximately 1.6 million computers worldwide that appear to have been infected with Emotet malware between April 1, 2020, and Jan. 17, 2021. Of those, over 45,000 infected computers appear to have been located in the United States.

Foreign law enforcement, working in collaboration with the FBI, replaced Emotet malware on servers located in their jurisdiction with a file created by law enforcement, according to the affidavit. This was done with the intent that computers in the United States and elsewhere that were infected by the Emotet malware would download the law enforcement file during an already-programmed Emotet update. The law enforcement file prevents the administrators of the Emotet botnet from further communicating with infected computers. The law enforcement file does not remediate other malware that was already installed on the infected computer through Emotet; instead, it is designed to prevent additional malware from being installed on the infected computer by untethering the victim computer from the botnet.

The scope of this law enforcement action was limited to the information installed on infected computers by the Emotet operators and did not extend to the information of the owners and users of the computers.

According to the affidavit, in coordination with foreign law enforcement officials, FBI personnel also gained lawful access to an Emotet distribution server located overseas and identified several servers worldwide that were used to distribute the Emotet malware. These servers were typically compromised web servers belonging to what appear to be unknowing third parties. The perpetrators uploaded the Emotet malware to the servers through unauthorized software applications. Victims who clicked on spam email messages containing malicious attachments or hyperlinks would then download the initial Emotet malware file from a distribution server.

In addition, according to the affidavit, FBI personnel notified more than 20 U.S.-based hosting providers that they hosted more than 45 IP addresses that had been compromised by the perpetrators associated with the Emotet malware and botnet. FBI Legal Attaches further notified authorities in more than 50 countries that hosting providers in their respective jurisdictions hosted hundreds of IP addresses that were compromised by Emotet.

The U.S. Attorneys Office for the Middle District of North Carolina, the FBI Charlotte Division, and the Criminal Divisions Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) conducted the operation in close cooperation with Europol and Eurojust who were an integral part of coordination and messaging, and investigators and prosecutors from several jurisdictions, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Frances National Police and Judicial Court of Paris, Germanys Federal Criminal Police and General Public Prosecutors Office Frankfurt/Main, Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau, Netherlands National Police and National Public Prosecution Office, Swedish Police Authority, National Police of Ukraine and Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, and the United Kingdoms National Crime Agency and Crown Prosecution Service. The Justice Departments Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Department of the Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) also provided significant assistance. CCIPS Senior Counsel Ryan K.J. Dickey and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric Iverson and Anand Ramaswamy of the Middle District of North Carolina led the U.S. efforts.

BERRY CREEK, Calif. - A Berry Creek man was found guilty of sexual acts on minors, according to Butte County District Attorney.

On Friday, jurors decided Andrew Thomas Hrenko, 42, was found guilty of four offenses he committed between 2017 and 2019 on three different girls who were 6-years-old, 11-years-old and 14-years-old.

Deputy District Attorney Leah Sears, the trial prosecutor, said two of the girls took the stand to confront their abuser.

The four offenses committed by Hrenko were attempted forcible rape of a minor, forcible rape of a minor, lewd acts on a minor, and annoying or molesting a child.

In 2014, Hrenko was acquitted by an Alameda County jury for lewd acts.

Hrenko is in custody with no bail and will appear on March 3 at 9:30 a.m. for sentencing. He faces a maximum exposure of 20 years and six months in state prison.
Cast members of the hit musical, 'Hamilton' are joining locals in Balbriggan to celebrate the visit to the North Dublin town of Frederick Douglass, a famous American abolitionist.

African-American Douglass was born into slavery before he escaped and became a national leader of the abolitionist and social reform movement.

He became famous for his oratory and anti-slavery writings, visiting Ireland for four months in 1845, during which time he travelled the country giving lectures.

The visit, which coincided with the onset of the Famine, was said to have inspired him in his campaign for social justice.

Douglass is believed to have passed through Balbriggan on his way from Dublin to Belfast and was likely to be one of the first American tourists to pass over Balbriggan's iconic viaduct, constructed the year before.

Now Balbriggan filmmaker Aidan Whelan of Wildflower Pictures is working on a documentary to mark the visit of the famous American, teaming up with the Irish Institute of Music and Song (IIMS), based in the town's Church Street.

'I think it is a very nice link to Balbriggan to suggest that Douglass travelled by rail across the Viaduct in late 1845 on his way to Belfast', Mr Whelan said.

'I think the legacy of Douglass' visit is more than about the man himself. It is about community, inclusion, diversity, racial understanding and acceptance.'

As luck would have it, the Irish Institute of Music and Song is currently hosting two members of the US National Touring cast of the hit Broadway musical, 'Hamilton' - Nikhil Saboo and Paul Oakley Stovall - who have been staying in the Institute's guesthouse in recent weeks.

They are completing an artists in residence programme with IIMS, which is set to see a 10 million investment over the next few years, and the development of a 400-seater auditorium, among many other facilities.

The two actors, with Michael Dawson and Donal Kearney of IIMS, are writing a song for the documentary, an endeavour which has attracted a grant from the Fingal County Council's Our Balbriggan Placemaking Fund.

'The song is a work in progress at the moment and we are hoping to record it this week' said Mr Dawson.

During their time in Balbriggan, the two 'Hamilton' stars have been engaging with schools from all over Ireland, as well as with choirs attached to IIMS, working on some music from the famous musical, which tells the story of American founding father Alexander Hamilton.

Nikhil Saboo and Oakley Stovall will travel to Cork next week for the Douglass Week, an event that celebrates Douglass' visit to Ireland with a variety of events, creative installations and critical discussion.
The first delivery of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Italy on Saturday.Italy's Ministry of Defence said that 249,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived at the Pratica Di Mare military airport, about 40 kilometers (24 miles) south of the capital Rome.The base functions as a national hub for vaccine distribution across Italy.

The Ministry said that the doses will be distributed to the country's regions by the army in the coming days.The health ministry predicted that Italians could receive their AstraZeneca vaccinations from as early as next week.

But despite welcoming the imminent arrival of the vaccine, the government expressed disappointment at the number of doses received from manufacturers so far.Initial expectations were that Italy would receive 28 million doses of the vaccine in the first trimester of 2021, or nine million a month.Only two million doses arrived in January, far less than those expected.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
India's vaccine diplomacy has reached around 15 countries after the Centre promised to supply one lakh doses of Covishield doses to Cambodia.

The Indian embassy in Cambodia said on Saturday, February 6, the decision is a testament to India's appreciation for Cambodia as an important partner and its concern for the health and prosperity of the people of Cambodia.

"The India Embassy in Phnom Penh is pleased to announce that the Government of India has approved the supply of one hundred thousand doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the Kingdom of Cambodia on an urgent basis," the embassy said.

"The supply has been assured through the Serum Institute of India despite innumerable competing requests from partner countries and our commitment to our domestic population," it added.

Cambodia has so far registered over 470 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

As of February 2, India has supplied a total of 56 lakh doses as grant assistance and 105 lakh jabs as contract doses to 15 nations, Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan informed Lok Sabha on Friday, February 5. These countries include Bhutan (1.5 lakh), Maldives (1 lakh), Nepal (10 lakh), Bangladesh (20 lakh), Myanmar (15 lakh), Mauritius (1 lakh), Seychelles (50,000), Sri Lanka (5 lakhs), Bahrain (1 lakh) and Oman (1 lakh).

The health minister also informed that India has received requests for the supply of COVID-19 vaccines from 22 countries. Additionally, commercial exports have taken place to Brazil, Morocco, Bangladesh, South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Kuwait, and the UAE.

Besides, India is also planning to gift five lakh doses of coronavirus vaccine to CARICOM countries (Caribbean Community) and another two lakh doses each to Nicaragua and the Pacific Island states.

As part of the GAVI-COVAX alliance, India will further supply one crore doses to Africa and 10 lakh to UN health workers.

Meanwhile, more than 54 lakh people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the country, according to the health ministry.

Of the 54,16,849 beneficiaries inoculated, the highest number of people were vaccinated in Uttar Pradesh at 6,73,542, followed by Maharashtra at 4,34,943, Rajasthan at 4,14,422, and Karnataka at 3,60,592.

India started its biggest vaccination drive against coronavirus on January 16.

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WASHINGTON  President Biden said on Friday that he would bar his predecessor, Donald J. Trump, from receiving intelligence briefings traditionally given to former presidents, saying that Mr. Trump could not be trusted because of his erratic behavior even before the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

The move was the first time that a former president had been cut out of the briefings, which are provided partly as a courtesy and partly for the moments when a sitting president reaches out for advice. Currently, the briefings are offered on a regular basis to Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

Mr. Biden, speaking to Norah ODonnell of CBS News, said Mr. Trumps behavior worried him unrelated to the insurrection that gave rise to the second impeachment of Mr. Trump.

I just think that there is no need for him to have the intelligence briefings, Mr. Biden said.

What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? Mr. Biden added. What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?
Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy have reached a temporary truce on Friday amid their ongoing legal battle, according to reports on Friday.

The legal team for the WAG, 34, are said to be 'working around the clock' to find a resolution between the pair, after peace talks between them broke down earlier in the day.

It has now been reported that Coleen and Jamie Vardy's wife, 38, have agreed to have further negotiations together in a few weeks, in an attempt to avoid their case going to the High Court.

Update: Coleen Rooney 'came to a temporary truce with Rebekah Vardy after reaching out to find a resolution as peace talks to end their court battle broke down', it was reported on Friday

A source speaking to The Sun said: 'After no resolution was found on Thursday, both parties agreed to roll over the talks into another meeting in the coming weeks.

'But just a few hours later one of Coleen's legal team had a brainwave and called Becky's legal team for a late meeting to discuss their thoughts.

'It came to nothing but it shows how keen Coleen is to settle. Her team is working round the clock to find a resolution. But as she won't apologise, it's not going to be an easy negotiation.'

MailOnline has contacted Coleen and Rebekah's representatives for comment.

Progress? Coleen's legal team are said to be 'working around the clock' to find a resolution between the pair, who reportedly agreed to have further negotiations together in a few weeks

Decision: A source claimed, 'After no resolution was found on Thursday, both parties agreed to roll over the talks into another meeting' (Coleen and Rebekah pictured in 2016)

Earlier in the day, it was revealed by MailOnline that Coleen was under pressure from close friends to 'call it quits and apologise' to Rebekah and help end their bitter 'Wagatha Christie' battle.

The wife of former England captain Wayne Rooney has until Monday to agree to a deal with her rival or face a costly battle in the High Court.

Peace talks between the WAGs broke down during a face-to-face meeting with their legal teams, leaving both women frustrated at the impasse.

Oh no! Earlier in the day, it was revealed by MailOnline that Coleen was under pressure from close friends to 'call it quits and apologise' to Rebekah (stock picture)

Now Coleen is being pressed by her inner circle to say sorry and say she regrets accusing Rebekah of leaking stories about her to the press.

She has already offered Rebekah a make or break offer to 'agree to disagree' over the pair's row.

However, sources said that Rebekah is demanding an apology from her rival and unless one is received the case is likely to result in a costly High Court case.

Rebekah, who is appearing in TV's Dancing on Ice, has told Coleen and her legal team that she did not leak stories and her rival has no proof.

Talks breaking down: Coleen has already offered Rebekah a make or break offer to 'agree to disagree' over the pair's row, however, sources said that Rebekah is demanding an apology

But Coleen is finding saying sorry to Rebekah a difficult move and the pair have been told they must inform a judge after the weekend whether mediation has worked.

A source said: 'Rebekah is digging her heels in and wants Coleen to say sorry.

'But Coleen has refused and she has been told by her best friends that if she does say sorry, it could lead to a resolution and bring the dispute to an end.

'A judge has to be told after the weekend whether the peace talks they had in mediation meetings has worked.

Where it all began: Rebekah was accused by her former friend of leaking false stories about her personal life to the media last year

'If they haven't  and Coleen has been told she holds the key  then the two women's lawyers will have a case management conference on March 26 which will be a big step towards it all going to the High Court.'

On Thursday, Rebekah and Coleen met in an intense face-to-face mediation on Zoom as they attempted to settle their high-profile dispute, but failed to come to a resolution.

Proceedings began with both sides reading out a statement and then breaking off into separate virtual rooms as the mediator spoke to them and their legal representatives independently.

However the meeting ended with both sides failing to come to a resolution.

The mediation was ordered by a High Court judge at a hearing last November, with both women given a deadline of February 8 to try and reach agreement.

Drama: Passions remain high between the two Wags, with Rebekah adamant that Coleen should apologise and delete her accusatory post (pictured with Jamie in 2017)

If they remain in deadlock, then the matter will be settled at a full trial expected to take place later this year.

Rebekah launched a 1m High Court libel action after Coleen accused her in an October 2019 Instagram post of being the source of leaks to the media.

Going into the crunch talks, it was revealed that Coleen has handed Rebekah an 'olive branch' and made her an offer to 'agree to disagree' as they head into mediation.

The row between the high-profile WAGS erupted after Coleen revealed that she had set a trap to see who was responsible for them, which earned her the nickname 'Wagatha Christie' as the row between the two Wags simmered, culminating in legal action.

In November, the High Court ruled Coleen's post 'clearly identified' Rebekah as being 'guilty of the serious and consistent breach of trust' - but minutes later she hit back with a statement via her representative, saying she was 'keen' to hear what her rival has to say in court.

Ongoing: Coleen (pictured with Wayne in 2016) said she discovered the alleged betrayal by carrying out a months-long 'sting operation'

The ruling related to the wording in the final sentence of the post, with the former reality star claiming she simply referred to Rebekah's Instagram account.

But the judge said an ordinary reader would not take the word 'account' to 'indicate that she remains in doubt about who the wrongdoer was'.

He also disagreed with her claim that using multiple ellipses in the final line diluted the meaning.

This means the court has no doubt as to who the accusation was made against  Rebekah - which will be a consideration if the libel case goes to trial this year.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Warby said Coleen's message was 'a considered post, using wording composed with some care', adding: 'It would be clear to the ordinary reader from the outset that it was meant seriously and intended to convey a message of some importance.'

He wrote: 'Indeed, the element of suspense introduced by the multiple dots seems to me designed to raise expectations of a dramatic revelation.

'It tends to emphasise the importance of the name that is then provided. It would be a poor denouement if all that was being said was that the named individual was to be suspected of the wrongdoing but it might be someone else.

'The reader is told straight away that the message is about bad behaviour by 'someone who I trusted'. The post then takes the form of a 'whodunnit'.'

He added: 'I certainly do not think that the ordinary reader would take that single word (account), albeit repeated, to indicate that Mrs Rooney remains in doubt about who the wrongdoer

'There is nothing in these words, apart from the word 'account', that in any way suggests that the behaviour of which Mrs Rooney is complaining might have been carried out by anyone other than the account holder, Mrs Vardy.'
SRINAGAR, India - India ended an 18-month-long ban on high speed internet services on mobile devices in disputed Kashmir, where opposition to New Delhi has deepened after it revoked the region's semi-autonomy.

FILE - In this Jan. 30, 2020, file photo, Kashmiri journalists browse the internet on their mobile phones inside the media center set up by government authorities in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir. India ended an 18-month-long ban on high speed internet services on mobile devices in disputed Kashmir, where opposition to New Delhi has deepened after it revoked the region's semi-autonomy. The order late Friday, Feb. 5, lifted the ban on 4G mobile data services However, the order issued by the regions home secretary, Shaleen Kabra, asked police officials to closely monitor the impact of lifting of restrictions. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File)

SRINAGAR, India - India ended an 18-month-long ban on high speed internet services on mobile devices in disputed Kashmir, where opposition to New Delhi has deepened after it revoked the region's semi-autonomy.

The order late Friday lifted the ban on 4G mobile data services However, the order issued by the regions home secretary, Shaleen Kabra, asked police officials to closely monitor the impact of lifting of restrictions.

A blanket internet ban, the longest in a democracy which rights activists dubbed as digital apartheid and collective punishment, came into effect on August 2019 when India stripped Kashmir of its special status and statehood that gave its residents special rights in land ownership and jobs. The region was also divided into two federally governed territories.

The move accompanied a security clampdown and total communications blackout that left hundreds of thousands jobless, impaired the already feeble health care system and paused the school and college education of millions. Months later, India gradually eased some of the restrictions, including partial internet connectivity.

In January last year, authorities allowed the Indian-controlled territorys more than 12 million people to access government-approved websites over slow-speed connections.

Two months later, authorities revoked a ban on social media and restored full internet connectivity but not high speed internet. In August, 4G services were allowed in two out of the regions 20 districts.

Officials have said the internet ban was aimed at heading off anti-India protests and attacks by rebels who have fought for decades for the regions independence or unification with Pakistan, which administers another portion of Kashmir. Both countries claim the landlocked territory in its entirety.

Officials have also argued that such security measures were necessary to better integrate the region with India, foster greater economic development and stop threats from anti-national elements and Pakistan.

Many Kashmiris, however, view the move as part of the beginning of settler colonialism aimed at engineering a demographic change in Indias only Muslim-majority region.

Digital rights activists have consistently denounced the internet restrictions and said they represented a new level of government control over information. They were also criticized by lawmakers in Europe and the U.S., who called on the government to end the curbs.

Omar Abdullah, the region's former top elected official who was jailed for several months in 2019, welcomed the internet restoration. "Better late than never, he tweeted.

Others criticized such voices, saying the internet is among the basic rights.

I actually see some going out of their way to thank govt functionaries for 4G restoration, Anuradha Bhasin, executive editor of the Kashmir Times, said in a tweet. Theyre not offering us charity. We should be asking for compensation for our deprivation and losses.

India often snaps mobile internet services in parts of the region as a tactic during counterinsurgency operations and anti-India protests.

According to the London-based digital privacy and research group Top10VPN, India ranked at the top in internet shutdowns in 2020.

The group in its January report said internet shutdowns in 2020 caused a loss of $4.01 billion globally and India was the most impacted while suffering a loss of $2.8 billion.

Most of Indias internet shutdowns have been enforced in Kashmir. But they also have used elsewhere by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Authorities have cut the internet at protest sites outside New Delhi, where tens of thousands of farmers for over two months have camped out against new agriculture laws. The move attracted global attention after pop star Rihanna on Tuesday tweeted a link of a CNN news report about India blocking internet services at the protest sites. It angered government ministers and Indian celebrities, who urged people to come together and denounce outsiders who try to break the country.
The House of Representatives has approved a budget measure from the U.S. Senate towards fast-tracking President Joe Bidens $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, including a third round of stimulus checks worth up to $1,400.

The Senate passed the resolution, 51-50, after Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote, her first, on Friday morning. The budget then went back to the House for approval due to changes, and the Democrat-controlled House quickly voted 219-209 in favor of it on Friday afternoon.

The bill will next be drafted by several congressional committees with a goal of being approved by March, when the current round of unemployment assistance and other pandemic relief expires. The reconciliation can pass the Senate with a simple majority, bypassing a possible GOP filibuster, according to The Hill.

Biden first proposed the $1.9 trillion relief package last month and shot down recent efforts by 10 Republican senators to reduce it to $618 billion. Bidens proposal included $400 in weekly unemployment benefits; $70 billion towards vaccination centers and Covid-19 testing; $130 billion to help schools reopen safely; $15 billion in small business grants; $350 billion in emergency funding for state, local and territorial governments; raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour (from the current rate of $7.25 an hour); reinstating paid sick leave; expanding the child care tax credit; and $15 billion to help states subsidize child care for low-income families along with a $25 billion fund to help child care centers in danger of closing.

Bidens plan also includes $1,400 stimulus checks that, combined with the $600 direct payments issued in late December, will provide $2,000 to help Americans affected by the pandemic.

A lot of folks are losing hope, Biden said at the White House Friday. I believe the American people are looking right now to their government for help, to do our job, to not let them down. So Im going to act. Im going to act fast. Id like to be doing it with the support of Republicans... theyre just not willing to go as far as I think we have to go.

Fewer Americans may qualify for the $1,400 payments, which could start phasing out for individuals earning over $50,000 or married couples earning up to $100,000 (instead of $75,000 and $150,000 in the previous rounds). Final details have not been announced.

Married couples could receive $1,400 per child, though, and the third round of checks is also expected to include eligible adult dependents for the first time. The previous two rounds were limited to children under age 17, so parents with college-age students can expect more money.

The first round of stimulus checks, which gave qualifying American adults a one-time direct payment of $1,200 plus $500 for each child under the age of 17, was part of Congress $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed in March. A second round of stimulus checks worth $1,200 was approved in the HEROES Act in May, but legislation stalled for months and the December package cuts those direct payments in half.

When will I get my stimulus check? After the second round was approved and signed by President Donald Trump, payments started going out within days. The first round of checks took weeks to begin arriving, even via direct deposit, but millions could receive the third round as soon as March if they already verified their information on the IRS Get My Payment site and if Congress finalizes the new bill this month.

We have been focused like a laser on getting this done, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after a meeting with Biden Friday. We hope to be able to put vaccines in peoples arms, money in peoples pockets, children safely in schools and workers in their jobs. Thats what we are doing now.
Imagine having the problems of Sophia Loren.

In her new autobiography, Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow (the name of one of her films), the screen idol recalls having to fend off the advances of both Cary Grant and Marlon Brando.

Loren, 80, first worked with Grant on 1957 film The Pride and the Passion. He was 30 years older than her and married to his third wife, while she was on the verge of marrying film producer Carlo Ponti, who would later become her husband of 40 years until his death in 2007.

But none of this deterred Grant, who sent letters begging Loren to leave her partner for him, as well as sending daily flowers.

Youll be in my prayers, he wrote. If you think and pray with me, for the same thing and purpose, all will be right and life will be good.

Forgive me, dear girl. I press you too much, read one note from Grant. Pray  and so will I  until next week. Goodbye Sophia. Cary.

Instead, she chose her mentor and director, Ponti, who was 22 years older than her and also still married to his first wife, who he left for Loren.

Her autobiography was prompted by the discovery of a box found in the actress Swiss home, containing souvenirs and mementos collected throughout her life, the Guardian reports.

She also relays the occasion she was forced to rebuke Marlon Brando for being too amorous.

The pair met while filming 1967 film A Countess from Hong Kong.

All of a sudden he put his hands on me, she recalled. I turned in all tranquillity and blew his face, like a cat stroked the wrong way and said, Dont you ever dare to do that again. Never again!

As I pulverised him with my eyes he seemed small, defenceless, almost a victim of his own notoriety. He never did it again, but it was very difficult working with him after that.

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow is released on 4 November.
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Mumbai, Feb 6 : Thousands of peasants, workers, tribals, political and social activists, including many women, took to the roads and highways across Maharashtra as part of the nationwide 'Chakka Jaam', to demand scrapping of the three farm laws and express solidarity with the farmers' protests in Delhi, here on Saturday.

Activists blocked prominent roads, state or national highways and other important thoroughfares in 34 of the state's 36 districts - including Mumbai and excluding Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg - squatted and halted traffic, waved banners and placards, shouted slogans and sang devotional or patriotic songs, amid tight police security, according to All India Kisan Sabha spokesperson P.S. Prasad.

Barring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the agitation saw the participation of all major parties like Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party, Congress, the Left parties, farmers' organisations like All India Kisan Sabha, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, Bharatiya Kisan Sena, etc.

"The agitation was near-total in places like Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Pune, Kolhapur, Solapur, Nashik, Ahmednagar, Osmanabad, and others with farmers, workers and political activists participating peacefully in huge numbers," Prasad told IANS.

After the scheduled three-hours, the agitation was called off peacefully with activists and participants returning to their homes and normal vehicular traffic resumed at all the affected sport, said officials.

Earlier this afternoon, police detained farmers' leader and Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission President, Kishore Tiwari, who is accorded a MoS status, while leading a 'chakka jam' protest on the national highway in Yavatmal.

Leading an agitation in Kolhapur, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) President Raju Shetti said that the so-called celebrities speaking in favour of the BJP-ruled central government forget that it is the "crores of ordinary masses" who have raised them to their celeb status.

"These people are doing a lot of 'teev-teev' (referring to the tweets), but once the people dump them, even a dog won't sniff at the celebs," Shetti warned.

He warned that the farmers agitation would be intensified by laying siege to the income tax and GST offices if the government fails to revoke the three farm laws.

While All India Kisan Sabha leaders like Ashok Dhawale, Ajit Nawale, led the protestors in different districts, CPI(M) legislator Vinod B. Nikole led the blockade by hundreds of farmers and labourers on the highway in Ahmednagar.

Expressing support to the farmers in Delhi, NCP State President Jayant Patil said this is the first time in Independent India that a central government was "hiding from the people" in such a manner.

"The government is scared to face the people, the farmers and the workers. Hence it is resorting to tactics like hammering nails and barricades on roads" Patil said.

In Nashik, SSS state president Sandeep Jagtap spearheaded the 'chakka jam', Buldhana SSS leader Prashant Dikkar led the protestors on the highways.

'Chakka jam' were organised in other districts like Jalna, Beed, Latur, Nagpur, Nanded, Washim, Parbhani, Nandurbar, Dhule, Jalgaon, Aurangabad, Gadchiroli, Amravati, by various leaders, affecting traffic movement to Union Territories of Daman, Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, states of Goa, Karnataka, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat.
PEORIA, Ill.  The name of Nance Legins-Costley could resonate amid the likes of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and other abolitionist figures.

But her story is hardly known. Not in Illinois, where  despite anti-slavery laws  she was born into bondage. Not in the city of Pekin, where  despite anti-Black attitudes  she became a beloved community figure. And certainly not in Peoria, where  despite her impressive life  she is buried in ignominy.

Perhaps her story is more subtle than those of high-profile abolitionist leaders, yet her fortitude was astounding. Barely a teen, she first stood up for her civil rights in a court of law that was stacked against Black people. Even amid legal defeats, she kept seeking the most basic of rights: freedom.

This 1892 undertaker's report, by the Peoria Health Department, records the April 6 death of Nance Legins-Costley, about half-way down the page on the left. The entry has several errors, including her name listed as "Nancy Costly." Also, though she was born in Kaskaskia in 1813, the ledger lists her birthplace as Maryland and her death age as 104.

She was a very impressive lady, says Carl Adams, a historian who has spent more than a quarter-century researching the struggles of Legins-Costley.

She eventually won her freedom, thanks to Abraham Lincoln. But her victory came in 1841, long before the attorney became the nations president and more than 20 years before the Emancipation Proclamation.

Thus, Legins-Costley became the first Black person freed from bondage by Lincoln, to eventually be followed by 4 million others. Moreover, Adams and other historians say, the case pushed a theretofore ambivalent Lincoln toward an anti-slavery stance.

This was the first time Abraham Lincoln first gave serious thought to these conditions of slavery, Adams says.

And for all that, not only is her story relatively unknown  Legins-Costleys final resting place is marked with no honor. Rather, it's not marked at all. Decades ago, her graveyard in Peoria was paved over with asphalt.

Legins-Costley lies somewhere amid a muffler shop, union hall, auto garage and other commercial buildings, mostly forgotten by the march of progress, under a tombstone of asphalt.

This paved area around 3915 SW Adams is believed to be the final resting place of Nance Legins-Costley of Pekin, Ill., the first slave legally freed by Abraham Lincoln. The area was once known as Moffatt Cemetery before the city paved over it.

A free state's slaves

Illinois, the Land of Lincoln, was once the land of slavery.

Story continues

After losing the Revolutionary War, Britain ceded a vast chunk of land  including what would become Illinois  to the United States. Established in 1787, the Northwest Territory forbade slavery per the federal Northwest Ordinance. When Illinois became a state in 1818, its constitution prohibited slavery.

But legislation is one thing. Reality is another. And slavery already had traction in Illinois.

In 1752, when France ruled the area, Black slaves were held by 40% of Illinois households, according to The Randolph Society, a historical organization in Randolph County in southern Illinois.

Despite the institution of the Northwest Ordinance, the territorial government did not enforce the slavery prohibition, nor did the state immediately after joining the union in 1818. What were known as French slaves, descendants of the areas original slaves during the 1700s, were kept in subjugation into the mid-19th century. Meanwhile, slaves could legally be brought to Illinois from slave states for one year (but renewable) work contracts.

The territory and state also permitted a system of indentured servitude. The lengths of servitude varied by age but could extend as long as 99 years  essentially, a lifetime. Though the law implied the need for consent by the servant, the system was essentially slavery by another name. Indeed, indentured-servitude contracts (and thus the services of the servant) could be sold just like any sort of property, and without any consent necessary.

Amid this era of bondage came the arrival of a baby who would grow up to be Nance Legins-Costley.

To a large degree, her story remained unknown until the mid-1990s, when Adams first noticed a mention of her life. Adams, who recently lived in North Pekin, gradually unpeeled layers of her life, a process he continues today.

"It is a short, simple story compared to most Lincoln books, but it has made a bigger impact than I ever imagined, says Adams, who in 2016 published "Nance: Trials of the First Slave Freed by Abraham Lincoln."

In 2016, Carl Adams, a historian who until recently lived in North Pekin, Ill., published "Nance: Trials of the First Slave Freed by Abraham Lincoln." The book traces the life of Nance Legins-Costley, who gained her freedom from indentured servitude in 1841 while living in Pekin, thanks to the help of lawyer Abraham Lincoln.

Nance was born in 1813 in Kaskaskia, which briefly served as Illinois' first capital. She likely was the daughter of Randall and Anachy Legins, who had been bought as indentured servants (along with two others) by Col. Tom Cox for $770.

By laws of the time, Nance could be held (or sold) as an indentured servant until age 28.

By 1820, Nance, 7, and sister Dice, 5, were already working at Coxs Columbia Hotel. Though the state capital already had moved to Vandalia, boarders  including businessmen and other bigwig travelers  routinely would discuss issues of the day, including slavery.

And Nance, though illiterate for a lack of schooling, listened intently.

A Black girl's boldness

In 1822, the Cox household (including indentured servants) relocated to Springfield, which would not become the state capital until 1839. In 1827, with Cox awash in debt thanks to bad land speculation fueled by drunkenness, a Sangamon County court ordered the sale of all of his possessions, including his indentured servants.

In what amounted to the only legal slave auction in Illinois history, Dice was sold for $150 to a man named Taylor, while Nance was sold for a dollar more to Nathan Cromwell.

Dice went quietly. Nance did not. She did not want to leave the only household she ever had, says historian Adams.

Nance resisted relocation with Cromwell, her stance remarkable for a Black girl not yet 14 years old. In return for her boldness, she was locked inside a windowless salt house  essentially solitary confinement  for a week. After that, Cromwell forcibly took her from Springfield to his home in Sangamotown.

But Nance still had plenty of fight left.

Despite the court-ordered sale, Cox kept filing petitions in an attempt to keep hold of his possessions, including his indentured servants. During a hearing in Sangamon County Court, Nance testified that (despite auction records otherwise) she had given no consent to the sale of any contract: It is not true that I, Nance, voluntarily and of my own free will, agreed to go with Cromwell to his house in Sangamotown, nor is it true I still live with Cromwell by my own choice.

The case went to the Illinois Supreme Court. But justices ignored her plea and ruled against Cox: Her consent made no difference, as the sale had been legal.

Still, Cox kept up the fight with repeated appeals regarding Nance and the court-forced sale.

Thomas Cox went to the Illinois Supreme Court more than anyone in history, Adams says with a chuckle. And he lost every time.

So, Nance remained with Cromwell. In 1829, he and his wife, Ann Eliza, took Nance along as they moved to Tazewell County, where they helped found a new city. Ann Eliza Cromwell gave the town its name, Pekin  the French spelling of the Chinese city Peking, thought at the time to be directly on the opposite end of the globe.

But after his wife died a couple of years later, Nathan Cromwell decided in 1836 to move to Texas, hoping to strike it rich in land speculation. Nance, 23, objected to moving again: She already had one baby, with another on the way.

As Nance resisted a move to Texas, Cromwell had his own reasons to leave her behind. At 65 years old, such a companion could spark scandal along the way to Texas, Adams says.

Cromwell didnt want to take a single, pregnant Black woman with him because it would attract attention, Adams says.

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A bargain for freedom

Cromwell approached a merchant named David Bailey, a former business partner, to suggest Nance stay behind and work at his store. Bailey was amenable for two reasons, moral and pragmatic.

Bailey was an abolitionist whose father-in-law had been a conductor on the Underground Railroad. He thought helping Nance would be a step toward breaking her indentured servitude.

From a former business deal, Bailey already owed $400 to Cromwell, Adams says. Cromwell offered to essentially cancel that debt if Bailey were to take in Nance for $400. Bailey agreed to sign a promissory note for that amount, but only upon the condition that Cromwell produce documentation of her indentured servitude.

But Cromwell left for Texas without providing the paperwork. In St. Louis, far from his destination, he died. Immediately, Nance declared herself free, left Baileys service and lived independently.

On Oct. 15, 1840, in Pekin, she married a free Black man named Benjamin Costley, thus becoming Nance Legins-Costley. In addition to two girls, Amanda and Eliza Jane, the household would include a son in 1841: William Henry Costley.

But Nance wasnt yet free in the eyes of the law.

A relative of Cromwell went to court in Tazewell County, suing for Baileys $400 in the deal. Bailey claimed he owed no money: The sale had been nullified by the lack of the agreed-upon indentured servitude documents. When a judge disagreed and deemed Nance a possession, Bailey took the case to the Illinois Supreme Court in Springfield.

For legal help, Bailey contacted an attorney friend there with whom he had served in the Black Hawk War: Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln, 32, was serving his fourth term in the state Legislature. His stance on slavery was ambivalent at the time, Adams says.

Lincoln was wary of extreme abolitionists, some of whom would burn flags and decry the constitution, Adams says. Lincoln did not want to be seen as an anarchist.

Burning flags did not go over well with veterans and others, Adams says.

Still, in principle, Lincoln opposed slavery. In addition to wanting to help his friend Bailey, he saw merit in the case, especially as it related to Legins-Costleys long fight for freedom. She and Lincoln would discuss matters of the case, which in time would push him toward a firm anti-slavery stance.

It helped solidify Lincolns ideas about slavery, Adams says.

On July 9, 1841, Lincoln appeared before the states high court, his arguments leaning heavily on anti-slavery language of the Northwest Ordinance and the Illinois Constitution. Justices agreed and ruled in favor of Bailey and Lincoln: It is a presumption of law, in the State of Illinois, that every person is free, without regard to color. ... The sale of a free person is illegal.

Legins-Costley was freed from indentured servitude, as were her children. In that way, infant son William Costley was the first male freed from bondage by Abraham Lincoln.

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Legins-Costley and her husband remained in Pekin, where they would have five more children. Though bereft of an education herself, she made sure all of them attended school.

The family lived in a log cabin along the Illinois River. Even before the high courts ruling, she had become a valued, contributing member of the Pekin community. In the mid-1830s, Pekin got walloped by a triple whammy of cholera, malaria and scarlet fever. One of the first victims was the lone doctor, leaving medical care mostly to townsfolk. Nance, despite no medical training, rose to the occasion and helped care for the ailing, with little regard for her own safety.

Nance was always willing to help, Adams said.

She enjoyed that reputation the rest of her days in Pekin, says Jared Olar, a Pekin Public Library assistant who has written multiple articles about Legins-Costley. Considering the color of her skin, her good standing was especially noteworthy.

Her reputation in Pekin was only one of praise, Olar says. Considering the prejudice against Black (people) there, they had respect for her.

The 1870 Pekin city directory recognized Legins-Costley with an entry among notable citizens: With the arrival of Major Cromwell ... came a slave. That slave still lives in Pekin and is now known, as she has been known for nearly half a century ... (as) Black Nancy. She came here a chattel. ... But she has outlived the age of barbarism, and now, in her still vigorous old age, she sees her race disenthralled; the chains that bound them forever broken, their equality before the law everywhere recognized and her children enjoying the elective franchise.

The family served at the forefront of another key event in the fight for racial equality.

William Costley, at about age 23, left Pekin in 1864 to join the 29th Illinois Regiment of U.S. Colored Troops, the only Black regiment from Illinois and the largest of all the state's regiments. After battles elsewhere, the regiment was sent to Texas in June 1865. Though Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee had surrendered April 9, Union troops never had invaded Texas, leaving 250,000 slaves there still unfreed.

On June 19, with Costley and his regiment among federal troops sent into Galveston, Gen. Gordon Granger announced, The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the executive of the United States, all slaves are free.

A celebration followed, one that continues annually today on what is known as Juneteenth.

What to know about Juneteenth: Holiday marking Emancipation Proclamation takes on extra importance in 2020

After the war, William Costley returned to Pekin. There, in 1870, he was at the center of another racially connected court case. On a Pekin street, a white resident (and convicted rapist) was brutally assaulting a woman. When the man refused Costleys demand to stop the attack, Costley shot him dead. Though charged with murder, Costley was acquitted by an all-white jury, which called his actions justifiable homicide by protecting a woman in need.

He left the area for Iowa before moving to Minneapolis in the 1880s. In 1888, while still suffering shoulder pain from a shrapnel injury during the war, he was admitted to Rochester State Hospital in Rochester, Minn. He died there that same year.

In 1883, Legins-Costley's husband, Ben Costley, died of unspecified injuries. After that, Legins-Costley went to live with daughter Amanda and her husband in Peoria. She died in Peoria at age 79 on April 6, 1892.

This is likely the grave of William H. Costley of Pekin, Ill., the son of Nance Legins-Costley. The marker, in Rochester, Minn., incorrectly cites his name as well as his year of birth.

A tombstone of asphalt

As historian Adams discovered more and more about the story of Nance Legins-Costley, there was speculation about her burial. The mystery headed toward a solution in 2017, when amateur researcher Bob Hoffer of Peoria found the site of Moffatt Cemetery. While tracing family roots, he delved into records showing that the graveyard had thrived in the late 19th Century. But by 1905, the city shuttered the cemetery, possibly for overcrowding.

This 1896 Peoria County plat map shows Moffatt Cemetery at South Adams and South Griswold streets. The site, which is the resting place of Nance Legins-Costley, was later paved over.

Abandoned, the site fell into disrepair and became almost unrecognizable by the 1930s. Later, the city announced plans to develop the area, promising to move the graves and remains to other cemeteries.

That was far from the truth, Hoffer says. It was absolutely criminal what happened.

His research shows that maybe 100 graves were relocated. The rest  as many as 3,000 graves, including those of 48 Union soldiers  were covered by asphalt. At a ceremony there in 2017, Hoffer and others placed a sign on a chain-link fence to recognize the names of the soldiers buried there.

A large sign lists the names of 48 Civil War veterans believed to be buried under the pavement in the area around 3915 SW Adams in Peoria. Also buried there is Nance Legins-Costley, the first slave legally freed by Abraham Lincoln.

Noticing his work was Deb Clendenen of Pekin, a retired nurse and genealogical researcher. Reviewing those records, she discovered that Nance Legins-Costley had been buried in Moffatt Cemetery. She declined comment for this story. But Hoffer says no records have been found to show that Nance Legins-Costley was among the citys few grave relocations. Her husband also is likely buried there.

These days, Hoffer, Adams and others are working on plans to create a permanent marker to recognize Moffatt Cemetery. In part, it will honor Nance Legins-Costley.

Adams continues with research, in part to seek descendants of Nance Legins-Costley. Now 69 and living in Maryland, he still marvels at how long history seemed to bypass her story.

He says with a laugh, How was this missed?

Follow Phil Luciano of the Peoria Journal Star on Twitter: @LucianoPhil

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This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Nance Legins-Costley of Illinois: First Black person freed by Lincoln
Invest NI boss Kevin Holland has played down concerns over a shortfall in its funding due to the loss of EU funds.

Economy Minister Diane Dodds and her department's permanent secretary Mike Brennan told the economy committee in December that the loss of European Regional Development Fund support would leave a shortfall of tens of millions of pounds.

She said the department usually got about 100m a year from EU sources and that indications were that the UK Prosperity Fund, set up to replace EU funding in regions, would provide about 11m.

Mrs Dodds had said the block grant for 2021/22 was in real terms a 15% cut to her department budget from April - a 124m shortfall.

But Mr Holland said this week he had a "more positive outlook".

"The Executive has a budget consultation paper out. We've not been given an indication of our budget next year and we don't anticipate that until a few weeks' time," he said.

"We are very active in discussions around the importance of innovation and export sales, developing skills and supporting investment, next year and beyond. I think there is a more positive outlook than some of the statements we saw at the end of last year.

"We're still welcoming businesses and talking to businesses, and I anticipate working as closely with business next year as in the past, but it is critical to economic recovery that businesses take charge of the recovery map from next year onwards."

The agency pivoted during the pandemic to distribute emergency funds to businesses in need. It had dispersed 51m through 8,700 payments to businesses in Northern Ireland.

Mr Holland said the pandemic would lead to longer-term change in how the agency deals with companies. While its website and systems are geared up for laptop access, younger entrepreneurs expected mobile-compatible systems.

He said new US President Joe Biden, famed for his Irish roots, would not necessarily increase the chances of US investment into here.

"The world is a very competitive place in 2021 and because there's been an economic downturn that competition will be more ferocious," he added.

"But President Biden has talked about 'buy American', which in some ways isn't that different to President Trump's promotion of American business. Some countries are becoming more domestically-focused and we have to face that and it's another reason for Northern Ireland to work on innovation and technology."

He said he hoped Mr Biden or some of his team would visit the island of Ireland in 2021.

The UK's hosting of the G7 summit in June and the COP26 climate change conference in November could present the opportunity.

"It would be great if some of those senior officials can come to the island of Ireland as part of those big events and it's an opportunity to engage with them," he said.

Mr Holland said Northern Ireland's economic cooperation with Great Britain in areas such as research and innovation was "incredibly powerful". There were also "interesting" co-operations across the island of Ireland in areas including medicine and healthcare.

Before joining Invest NI in late 2019, Mr Holland worked as director for Life Sciences, Health and Social Care at the British Embassy in Beijing. He also worked for 15 years for global company Baxter Healthcare.

He explained: "I worked on vaccines for H5N1 (swine flu) and various permutations back when there were a serious global health threat and I worked with Public Health England in China looking at how we help countries prepare for it.

"I've been really stunned at the science which has gone into how we generate vaccines and diagnostics for Covid-19. With Oxford University and AstraZeneca bringing mass vaccination within 12 months of finding the coronavirus, it is scientifically and clinically spectacular and I don't think we would have anticipated that back in March when the first cases were being identified."

Mr Holland said 2020 had been a year of major change. Every level of the organisation had become involved in administering emergency funds, such as the Covid Restrictions Business Support Scheme and the micro-business hardship fund.

Since this week, it is also running a microbusiness e-commerce grant.

Mr Holland has been engaging with overseas companies over Northern Ireland's dual market access under the NI Protocol as a selling point to come and set up here. Such potential investors would not be perturbed by political controversies, he said, adding: "I think when investors look where they will set up, they will look at local media and talk to and listen to national and local politicians, and the more we try and set up a welcoming business environment and talk about a welcoming business environment, the better that is."

As the music composer behind the popular kids phenomenon Bluey, Joff Bush might be the most successful local musician youve never heard of.

Last week the 35-year-old claimed a record that even global successes The Wiggles havent managed, when Bluey: The Album  a musical tie-in to the hit ABC cartoon  became the first childrens album to ever top the main ARIA albums chart.

Im sure people say, Come on, its Bluey, of course itd go to number one, but we didnt expect it, especially off the back of the Hottest 100 with all those great artists charting again, Bush says. Wed actually booked in to move house last weekend, thats how little we were expecting around it.

Joff Bush, composer for Bluey, in his studio in Brisbane. Credit:Paul Harris

Originally a piano student at the Queensland Conservatorium, Bush was swayed towards composition after his piano mentor noted he was spending most of his time writing and hanging out with film students.

VICE-PRESIDENT and Health minister Constantino Chiwenga has dissolved the National Pharmaceutical Company (NatPharm) board, while ministry principal director Gibson Mhlanga is in trouble over a Covid-19 material tender scam which sucked in Deputy Health minister John Mangwiro.

Legally, a parastatal board is appointed and dissolved by the minister.

The board, which was chaired by renowned medical practitioner Billy Rigava, comprising anaesthetist Northburga Harunavamwe Chifamba, procurement and supply specialist Johnson Shonhe, lawyer Rachel Chibaya and banker Gerald Gore, was kicked out during the first week of December last year.

Approached for comment, Rigava declined to discuss the matter, while Mangwiros mobile phone went unanswered several times yesterday.

Health ministry acting permanent secretary Robert Mudyiradima wrote the letters of dismissal, leaving the pharmaceutical company without a board at a time when the country is battling to contain Covid-19 which has to date killed over 1 200 people, including four ministers.

A seasoned medical practitioner, Mhlanga, who was Health ministrys preventative services principal director, was caught in the crossfire as he was acting permanent secretary when the US$3,5 million Covid-19 materials tender raised questions.

Investigations show that Mhlanga was suspended, pending dismissal over alleged issuance of Covid-19 re-testing directive for travellers from Tanzania. However, the real bone of contention is said to be the Covid-19 tender in which Mangwiro allegedly influenced the granting of a tender to a company he had an interest in.

Former NatPharm acting managing director Zealous Nyabadza  suspected to be the Covid-19 materials scandal whistleblower  lost his job on January 6, 2021, after serving the company for 15 years.

Efforts to get Nyabadza to comment were futile as he also refused to entertain questions.

But details gathered by the Zimbabwe Independent show that as soon as the tender debacle exploded, Nyabadza was replaced by Air Commodore Gibson Dumba on October 1, 2020, as he was re-appointed acting operations manager. He was later re-assigned to his full-time role of information technology (IT) manager in December 2020.

Dumba was seconded to NatPharm from the Women Affairs, Community, Small-and-Medium Enterprises Development ministry, where he was principal director. He has no medical background fit to run a drug manufacturing entity.

As the NatPharm drama unfolded, on December 30, 2020, Dumba wrote a letter to Nyabadza re-appointing him IT manager. The firms Mutare branch manager Kudakwashe Chimbarara then took over as operations manager.

Things came to a head on January 6, 2021, when Dumba terminated Nyabadzas contract on three months notice. Labou r experts say the contract termination without valid reasons could be a clear violation of the Labour Act.

Nyabadza is likely to contest the dismissal at the Labour Court, in what could be a bruising legal battle.

It also emerged that after over a decade of loyal service at the pharmaceutical manufacturer, Nyabadza was forced out empty-handed.

Nyabadzas exit came several weeks after the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) opened an investigation file  Examination of Procurement Procedures for Tender Number  International Nat ITCB FWWK 04/2020  Laboratory Equipment, Reagents and Consumables for Covid-19 Management at NatPharm (31 August-4 September 2020).

A Zacc official report implicated Mangwiro in alleged mishandling of a tender through issuing directives contrary to public procurement regulations.

Mangwiro has denied interfering with the Covid-19 materials tender describing the allegations as malicious and mischievous. Zimbabwe Independent
The Georgian Military Highway connecting Russia and Georgia was open today for heavy trucks for less than nine hours, the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of North Ossetia reports.

From 18:30 Moscow time, trucks were again banned from driving on the Vladikavkaz-Lars section in the direction of the exit from the Russian Federation due to the deterioration of weather conditions in Georgia, Interfax reports with a reference to the EMERCOM.

Vestnik Kavkaza previously reported that restrictions on the movement of trucks were lifted today at 11:10 Moscow time.
There are plans and blueprints for the memorials dome and facade as well as designs for the doors to the Hall of Memory and the chain on the parapet above the main entrance. The memorials senior curator of official and private records, Margaret Farmer, says the Crust collection is a find of national importance. Construction of the Australian War Memorial. Credit:Australian War Memorial John Crust made a singular contribution to the memorial and therefore to the nation, Farmer says. Its quite remarkable that the material has survived all this time. It was put away in disused parts of the house, perhaps as long ago as the 1940s.

A quiet and unassuming man, Crust was born in the Yorkshire city of Leeds in 1884 and showed a talent for drawing from a young age. He left school at 13 to work for the architect and surveyor Thomas Edward Marshall in nearby Harrogate. In 1904, Crust was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Advised to give up architecture and live an outdoor life, he spent the next six months on a Yorkshire farm before migrating to Australia. That was his one-way ticket to health, and a life, King says. Crust celebrated his 20th birthday on board the ship and spent his first six months in Australia working on a farm near Temora in country NSW. In his diary, he meticulously records how he spent his days planting cabbages, harrowing fields, threshing grain, working the cart and dray, and cooking and peeling potatoes. Difficult times: the designers of the Australian War Memorial, John Crust and Emil Sodersten, in 1928.

I was not very happy there, he later wrote in a letter. But it built me up again, which was what was required [and] by that time my health was quite restored. He was offered a job as a draughtsman in Tasmania in 1905, and went on to work in Sydney and later Melbourne, where he collaborated with John Smith Murdoch, who became chief architect of the Commonwealth of Australia and designed Old Parliament House in Canberra. Murdoch praised Crusts work as being of an exceptionally high quality and wrote that the young man was entrusted with the best class of work. John and Irene Crust. Credit:Courtesy Australian War Memorial When World War I broke out Crust tried to enlist but was rejected on medical grounds. His younger brother, Lance Corporal William Crust, served with the 1st/5th Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales Own) and was killed near Thiepval in France on September 3, 1916. It must have been awful, King says. He couldnt go, and now he had lost his brother, so I think that when the idea for the memorial came up, it meant a lot to him. It was a tribute to his brother, and to all the fallen, and to his country.

Crusts brother had died during the darkest days of the war, just as the idea of a memorial was conceived by Australias official war correspondent, Charles Bean. Bean had seen first-hand the devastation of the war at Gallipoli and on the Western Front and was determined that the men and their deeds should not be forgotten. He envisioned the memorial as a shrine to their memory, a museum to house their relics, and an archive to preserve their thoughts and records of their deeds. John Crusts younger brother, Lance Corporal William Crust, served with the 1st/5th Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment and was killed in France in 1916. Credit:Courtesy Australian War Memorial Crust entered the international competition to design the Memorial in the 1920s, and his entry was the only one of 69 to come in under budget. He was asked to submit a joint design with another entrant, flamboyant Sydney architect Emil Sodersten. The two men were very different and their relationship was difficult; Sodersten resigned from the project three years before the memorial opened on Armistice Day in 1941.

Crusts diaries document it all from his perspective, as he experienced it, Farmer says. His personal papers record the events and work that shaped him and made him the architect who could suggest the elegant solution of placing the Roll of Honour within cloisters, solving the problem of meeting the memorial competition specifications within budget. A collection of John Crusts diaries and notebooks detailing his time working on the Canberra memorial. Credit:Courtesy of Australian War Memorial It is this commemorative area that is the most beloved part of the memorial, and where so many Australians have participated in the Last Post ceremony. On that Armistice Day, Crust travelled to Canberra for the public opening with his wife, Irene, intending to stand quietly among the crowd gathered for the occasion. When the memorials director, John Treloar, realised the oversight, he insisted Crust and his wife be seated on the dais with the other dignitaries. The man whose designs for the memorial had become a reality sat quietly at the back, out of the limelight.

Almost 80 years later, King feels a special connection to her grandfather whenever she visits. She was only eight years old when he died in 1964, but has fond memories of him and the building he devoted so much to. A photograph from Crust of the Australian War Memorial under construction. Credit:Courtesy of Australian War Memorial I love it and Im extremely proud, she says. The Australian War Memorial was his gift to the country that had been very good to him. It was enough for him that the building was as good as it could be. Personal aggrandisement was not in his nature. He was just prepared to put one foot in front of the other and get the job done to the best of his ability. He loved it and he followed it until the day he died.
Some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week include this one. Its not legit, even though it was shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:

CLAIM: People may be more susceptible to serious COVID-19 illness after they have been vaccinated.

THE FACTS: An Instagram post with more than 4,000 likes falsely claims that people who receive the COVID-19 vaccine may experience more severe symptoms if they are exposed to the virus.

Studies have warned COVID-19 vaccines may result in more serious disease when exposed to the virus by way of pathogenic priming and immune enhancement, reads the post, which was shared by Joseph Mercola, a doctor who runs a natural health website.

But scientists told The Associated Press that such effects simply havent shown up in the data. Research has shown that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been proven to be 95% effective in preventing COVID-19 illness. It is true that some vaccines can, on rare occasions, cause more serious illnesses later, but scientists say that effect  known as antibody-dependent enhancement  has not been seen with COVID-19 vaccines.

Such enhancement happened with older shots and more recently with a dengue virus vaccine. There is abundant evidence that immunization-enhanced disease will not be a problem with the COVID-19 shots, Dr. Paul Offit, director of a vaccine education center at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, wrote in a report to the National Institutes of Health.

The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were tested on thousands of people, some of whom were later likely exposed to the virus. The effect wasnt seen in the trials.

The AP asked to see the studies mentioned in Mercolas claim, and his organization responded with links. All the studies were published before Pfizer and Moderna had released data from their late stage trials, and some of the studies specifically contradicted his claim.

Dr. Timothy Cardozo, an associate professor at NYU Langone Health, was the author of one of the studies Mercola cited.

The Pfizer and Moderna data that came out after he published his study greatly reduced his concern about antibody dependent enhancement, he told the AP in a statement. He also noted that his paper made no statement on whether COVID-19 vaccines should be taken or avoided.

Mercola did not respond to a request for a response. If Mercolas post were accurate, vaccinated people would have had more infections than the unvaccinated, said Dr. Matthew Woodruff, an immunologist at Emory University. That hasnt been the case.

We are now six months out of vaccinating those people, with continued exposure, and no emerging evidence of enhanced disease, Woodruff said.
After a rally last Sunday night in the campaign for this months legislative and mayoral elections in El Salvador, gunmen attacked a Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) truck, killing two campaigners and injuring five.

As seen clearly in CCTV videos presented by the General Prosecutors Office (FGR), the attackers drove past the truck decorated with FMLN flags and with an open cargo area full of supporters and children. The attackers cut across the trucks path, stepped out of their car, and riddled the back of the truck with bullets, walking around it. They then returned to their car and fled the scene.

The attackers step out of their vehicle, January 31 (Credit: Federal Prosecutor's Office of El Salvador)

The three suspected attackers were soon arrested and identified as a police officer of the Protection of Important People Division (PPI), a private security guard and a driver, all assigned to the Health Ministry.

The shooting has shocked the population due to its brazenness and openly political character. This type of assault has not been seen since the civil war. The attack was clearly planned, with the gunmen intercepting the truck near the FMLNs offices in downtown San Salvador after a scheduled rally.

While the political ties of the attackers have not been established, President Nayib Bukele, who formerly belonged to the FMLN, first characterized the killings as a staged self-attack, a claim used by the Latin American fascist dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s to blame their bloody crimes on the victims of repression.

It looks like the dying parties have launched their last plan, tweeted Bukele immediately after the attack. What a desperate move to avoid losing their privileges and corruption. I thought they couldnt reach those depths, but they did.

He later changed his narrative to portray the attackers as the victims. He tweeted that the police had captured two FMLN members suspected of shooting at the PPI, adding that the PPI officer was being treated for gunshot wounds. The FMLN members, who were unarmed, were released later without charges.

Bukele has consistently sought to exploit mass opposition against both the ex-guerrilla FMLN and far-right ARENA parties, which had shared power and controlled the Congress since the war ended in 1992, to advance his own turn toward dictatorship. This has frequently involved instigating violence against his political opponents, particularly by cultivating loyal and fascistic layers in the security forces.

On Wednesday, the National Police published a series of additional videos in defense of the attackers. While it is not clear in the videos, they claimed that an FMLN supporter being shot at pulled out a gun. The National Police then wrote in a statement that prosecutors are misinforming the population and hiding that there were shots fired from both sides.

The General Prosecutor Raul Melara responded by insisting that, based on an analysis of the videos and crime scene, no shots were fired from the truck. He then warned the National Police against discrediting itself.

In response to the attack, the secretary general of the FMLN and former vice president, Oscar Ortiz, mildly criticized the president for turning the tables and blaming the victims. While indicating that it was not an isolated incident, Ortiz has vaguely attributed the attack to a dynamic of sowing division.

At the same time, he praised General Prosecutor Melara for his management of the case and called on his supporters to respect whatever Melara says.

This was despite the refusal of Melara, who is particularly close to the US Embassy and a former director of the main Salvadoran business association, the ANEP, to investigate the attack as political violence, which would imply examining who hatched the plot.

On Wednesday, Melara presented the FGR case to a meeting of political party chiefs that Bukeles Party, New Ideas, refused to attend. There, without any objection from the attendants, Melara explained:

We are categorizing this as an act of intolerance. We are obviously in times of political campaigns, but we want to see it as an act of intolerance that should go no further.

This is nothing but an operation to cover up the possible direct involvement, not to mention the moral and political culpability, of the Bukele administration.

Last week, Bukele called the UN-sponsored 1992 peace accords a farce and the beginning of a stage of greater corruption, social exclusion and fraudulent enrichment by the same sectors signing the accords. Such sentiments are widely shared among Salvadorans given the right-wing policies of Bukeles predecessors. Polls show that over two-thirds of respondents plan to vote for New Ideas.

Under the cover of such anti-establishment rhetoric, however, Bukele seeks to rally his fascistic supporters to respond with armed violence to any opposition from below as he seeks to enforce policies that only further social inequality and defend the interests of the same ruling class represented by his predecessors.

The morning of the attack, as reported by El Faro, Vice President Felix Ulloa told a meeting of civil war veterans that a new war, with new actors, has already begun. And we began winning it on February 3, 2019, the day of Bukeles election.

Throughout his term, Bukele has sought to rule by decree and criminalize opposition, constantly amalgamating other political parties with gangs and calling them plagues. On February 9, 2020, he led armed troops into the Congress to force it to approve at gunpoint a loan for military expenditures. Then he gave a blood-curdling speech outside Congress in front of thousands of supporters threatening to press the button, i.e ., dissolving Congress and declaring a dictatorship.

The shift toward authoritarianism by the ruling classes is an international process that has been greatly accelerated as class tensions grow during the pandemic. At the heart of this process, Donald Trump and the Republican Party spearheaded a fascist coup attempt on January 6, while the Democratic Party, whose legislators were threatened with kidnappings and killings, has responded with appeals for unity with the coup plotters.

Similarly, the Salvadoran FMLN has responded to the killing of its members by denouncing the divisiveness of the president instigating such fascistic attacks.

In response to the pandemic, the Bukele administration concocted an anti-constitutional state of emergency with special powers to enforce a lockdown between March and May 2020, accompanied by a botched distribution of a meager $300 stipend for impoverished households. By July, under pressure by transnational corporations and Wall Street, nonessential activities and social austerity were gradually resumed, including the textile maquiladora sweatshops.

Bukele provocatively decreed the reopening without approval by Congress, but was forced to backpedal when the Supreme Court ruled the move unconstitutional. Basically, they are taking away our power to reactivate the economy, Bukele declared at the time, even though the opposition parties also backed the economic reopening.

Confirmed active cases and the weekly death toll have both doubled since late November. El Salvador has reported 55,623 cases and 1,646 deaths since the pandemic began. While the UN has selected El Salvador for the first round of the COVAX rollout of vaccines for poor nations, no date has been announced for the beginning of vaccinations.

Meanwhile, the FUSADES think-tank has estimated that another 100,000 households will fall below the poverty line, measured as the cost of a basic basket of goods and services. This will increase the poverty rate to over half of the population.

The FMLN, the trade unions and the entire Salvadoran ruling class are utterly subordinated to imperialism. In order to facilitate the imposition of social austerity and contain the class struggle at the behest of the transnational corporations and financial vultures, the FMLN administrations advanced a hard fist strategyostensibly against the gangsthat built up the armed forces and turned a blind eye on their pervasive extrajudicial executions.

While Bukele seeks to rekindle a counter-insurrectionary war, the former left-wing guerrilla FMLN and the far-right ARENA have been attempting to approve an amnesty bill for war crimes during the civil war.

The transformation of the FMLN, from a nationalist, petty-bourgeois left guerrilla movement into a right-wing capitalist party, demonstrates that the working class needs to intervene independently of all pro-capitalist and nationalist forces. Fighting the threat of fascism requires the building of a revolutionary party in the working class on the basis of a socialist and internationalist program.

I was struck by this passage in the New York Times article quoted by Steve in his Liberalism Meets Reality post:

More progressive and technocratic countries  with both center-left and center-right leaders, like Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea  were doing a better job containing the pandemic [than countries with populist, right-wing governments like Brazil, Britain, Russia and the U.S.].

What, exactly, does the Times mean by more progressive and technocratic countries with both center-left and center-right leaders? If a country has center-right leadership, can it be progressive? I guess it depends on the meaning of that term. But the Times would never refer to a center-right American leader as progressive.

My impression is that the Times is trying to carve out a nebulous category of countries it can cast as the antithesis of the U.S.  one that can be stretched to include nations with relatively low rates of death from the Wuhan coronavirus.

But the Times description of these countries, to the extent it carries meaning, also applies to countries that did not do a better job containing the pandemic. Belgium has the worlds highest per capita death rate from the virus, according to Worldometer. Its government is progressive under any fair definition.

France also has a high per capita death rate. Its a progressive and technocratic country with a center-right leader, if there can be such a thing.

Note, too, that the Times wants to label the U.S. and Britain in such a way as to place them with Russia and Brazil. Thats absurd.

In 2020, under President Trump, we were much more like the progressive and technocratic nations the Times lists than we were like Russia and Brazil. Moreover, our response to the pandemic  lockdowns in most of the country  closely resembled the approach of those progressive and technocratic countries.

The Times is on firmer ground when it compares progressive and conservative states within the U.S. And, as Steve noted, the Times was forced to admit that, so far, the former are doing a worse job than the latter in getting people vaccinated.

The Times didnt bother to compare the performance of progressive and conservative states in dealing with the pandemic in 2020. The omission seems significant, given that the first half of its article is devoted to arguing that progressive nations did better than populist ones in this regard.

What about progressive vs. populist states?

If one goes by deaths per capita, states run by progressive did no better than states run by conservatives and/or populists. In fact, no state did worse than New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts, by this measure.

Measuring the performance of states based on per capita deaths can be quite misleading, given demographic and other relevant considerations. But the same is true of measuring the performance of nations in this way. Yet, that seems to be how the Times measured performance when it concluded, dubiously, that progressive and technocratic countries outperformed populist ones in limiting the health effects of the pandemic.

My take is this: nations (and states) were largely, though certainly not entirely, helpless in stopping the Wuhan coronavirus from killing people. Form of government and type of leader didnt matter much. As a friend put it to me, the virus was like an alien invader with vastly superior technology to ours. We had no answer.

But now that we have developed technology that seemingly can effectively combat the invader, form of government and type of leader seems to matter in how well we deploy it. And that shouldnt be surprising.

One would expect that some ways of organizing and/or leading a government are better than others when it comes to the task of organizing a mass vaccine program. And one would expect that, when everyone is operating in the dark against a new virus, form of government and type of leadership may be less important than luck.
The US has moved to delist Yemen's Houthi rebels as a terrorist organization, removing a block that humanitarian groups said jeopardized crucial aid as the country's warring sides cautiously welcomed a push for peace by President Joe Biden.

The grinding six-year war in Yemen has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, triggering what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

A State Department spokesperson said Friday they had "formally notified Congress" of Secretary of State Antony Blinken's intent to revoke the terrorist designations.

The move, which will take effect shortly, comes a day after Biden announced an end to US support for the Saudi-led offensive operations in Yemen.

"This decision has nothing to do with our view of the Houthis and their reprehensible conduct, including attacks against civilians and the kidnapping of American citizens," the spokesperson said.

"Our action is due entirely to the humanitarian consequences of this last-minute designation from the prior administration," they said, adding the US remained committed to helping Saudi Arabia defend its territory against attacks by the rebels.

Blinken's predecessor Mike Pompeo announced the designation days before leaving office last month, pointing to the Houthis' links to Iran, an arch-enemy of Trump, and a deadly attack on the airport in Yemen's second city of Aden in December.

Aid groups say they have no choice but to deal with the Houthis, who are the de facto government in much of Yemen, and that the terrorist designation would put them at risk of prosecution in the United States.

According to the UN, more than three million people have been displaced and close to 80 percent of Yemen's population of 29 million people need of some form of aid for survival.

Cautious optimism

Biden on Thursday announced the withdrawal of US support for the Saudi-led war in his first major foreign policy speech since replacing Donald Trump.

Yemen's internationally recognised government, which is backed by a Saudi-led military coalition, welcomed his remarks and stressed the "importance of supporting diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis".

It hailed the appointment of Timothy Lenderking as US envoy, describing it as "another important step" taken by the US to "end the war caused by the Iran-backed Houthis".

The Houthi rebels also welcomed the approach of the new US administration.

"We are cautiously optimistic," Houthi official Hameed Assem told AFP on Friday.

But he also warned that "our missiles will not stop until there is a ceasefire... they are the ones who started the war, and they are the ones who should end it."

Saudi Arabia -- which has led a military intervention against the Houthis since 2015 -- reacted by reasserting its commitment to a political solution in Yemen.

The kingdom welcomed Biden's "commitment to cooperate with the kingdom to defend its sovereignty and counter threats against it," according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

But for Yemenis, talk of a solution is very far from their reality.

"The war won't end; no one wants it to end. This is just propaganda," said Huda Ibrahim, a 38-year-old housewife from the port city of Hodeida said.

"I'm not optimistic and I don't believe anything about ending the war. How will it end when clashes don't stop even for one night."

Short link:


Former concentration camp prisoners attend a previous memorial service on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. (Dave Thompson/PA)

Last Wednesday (27th) was a special anniversary that reminds the world of unspeakable evil. On January 27, 1945 an advance group of scouts who broke away from their unit in Oswiecim in Poland, arrived at the gates of Auschwitz.

It was the day that the advancing Red Army began the liberation of the remaining living skeletons at the German death camp.

And these first days of February celebrate another important date in the history books. On February 2, 1943 the Germans surrendered to the Red Army at Stalingrad on the River Volga. It was that great victory that allowed the Russians to move west, eventually arriving in Berlin in May 1945.

The world is always a dark place when we lose our freedom. I have just read a powerful book about the impending doom of what it means to have our bodies and minds incarcerated by evil.

Robert Seethaler's novel 'The Tobacconist' tells the story of a young man, who has the innate goodness and courage to stand up to the all-powerful invading German thugs who arrived in Austria in 1938.

Seethaler weaves a story of so many parts around 17-year-old Franz Huchel, who leaves his sleepy Austrian village and moves to Vienna to work in a kiosk that sells newspapers and magazines. It's owned by Otto Trsnjek a former friend of his mothers.

Franz grew to respect Otto. He listened to him, picked up tips of the trade and began reading newspapers and magazines.

The world-famous neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud bought his newspaper and cigar at the kiosk.

On one occasion Franz runs after him to give him his hat which he had left at the Kiosk and so begins a wonderful friendship between 17-year-old Franz and 81-year-old Sigmund Freud.

Franz meets Anezka at a fair in the city and instantly falls in love with her, or at least so he thinks.

He turns to Freud to discuss his love troubles, who tells him that having worries about women are usually unwise but never unimportant.

In a letter he writes to his mother he tells her about his friendship with Freud and that it does not bother him that he is a Jew.

All the time in the background there is the ghost of the arrival of German troops in Austria. It's not long before the Nazis turn up at the kiosk and take away Otto.

It's the last that Franz sees of him.

While most of Vienna is now giving the Heil Hitler salute, Franz refuses, indeed, lets people know his opposition to the growing darkness.

He is broken-hearted when he discovers that his old fragile friend Sigmund Freud is leaving for London.

Unbeknownst to Freud, Franz stands at the back of the railway station the day that Freud is boarding his train for his journey to London.

Goodness and courage stay with Franz Huchel right to the end. In the midst of Austria's overwhelming enthusiasm for the Nazis, the young idealistic man stays loyal to all that is good and right.

'The Tobacconist' is a great read. I strongly recommend it.
Catholicism in the Philippines is believed to have arrived in 1521 when renowned Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan first set foot in what is now Cebu province.

By Robin Gomes

The Philippine Church is set to kick off celebrations to mark 500 years of Christianity in the country. Two Philippine dioceses have anticipated the celebrations ahead of the national inauguration in April.

Easter Sunday launch

Dioceses across the Philippines will designate jubilee churches for the 500th anniversary celebrations. Archbishop Romulo Valles, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines will formally inaugurate the jubilee year at the national level by opening the pilgrim churches holy door on Easter Sunday, April 4. This, he said, is to recall that on this day, the first recorded Eucharist was celebrated in the land.

The year-long celebration will conclude on April 18 to 22 in 2022, to coincide with the 2nd National Mission Congress in Cebu City.

The designation of pilgrim churches was among the key topics of the recent bishops virtual plenary assembly. Archbishop Valles said the celebrations would keep in line with the health protocols.

Manilas 442 years

Manila Archdiocese on Saturday formally kicked off the celebration with a special Mass on Saturday in the city Cathedral. The Mass, streamed live, was presided over by Apostolic Administrator, Bishop Broderick Pabillo, who was joined at the altar by Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, Archbishop Charles Brown, and priests from the archdiocese.

Manila City Mayor Francisco Isko Moreno Domagoso and Vice Mayor Ma. Sheilah Honey Lacuna-Pangan, together with fellow local government officials in the National Capital Region, joined the morning Mass.

In keeping with Covid-19 protocols, arrangements were made for the faithful to follow the Mass on LED screens outside the cathedral. On Sunday, February 7, the celebrations will kick off at the parish levels.

Also on February 6, Manila Archdiocese marked the 442nd anniversary of its establishment as a diocese, the first in the country, with jurisdiction over the whole land.

Missionary mode

In his homily, Bishop Pabillo recalled that it was raised to the rank of an archdiocese in 1595. Gradually, other dioceses were established in the country.

The 65-year old bishop urged Catholics in the archdiocese to continue the expansion of the mission Ad gentes making known to others that Jesus is Lord. This mission, he said, should urge us to come out of the maintenance mode of being just antiques, museums and artefacts in our comfort zones, and go out in missionary mode, in order to reach out to the peripheries in need of the light of the Gospel.

Speaking about the pandemic and its repercussions on the poor, he urged Catholics to prioritize to evangelize those in the peripheries reaching out to the needy. He commended the charity outreach of the archdiocese, which he said, has brought the faithful closer together.

Bishop Pabillo also urged all, including the elderly, to use digital and social media to reach out to people with the message of the Gospel.

Borongan Diocese

Meanwhile, Borongan Diocese in Samar province will launch its commemorations on March 17 with a lecture about Christianitys arrival, its spread to the province and how it grew there and beyond.

People from Samar were among the first Filipinos to meet the renowned Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan shortly before he was killed in a skirmish on April 27, 1521.
San Francisco, Feb 6 : Amazon's bid to postpone a union vote at a warehouse in the US state of Alabama has been rejected by the country's National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), clearing the way for 6,000 workers to decide whether to form a union.

Amazon appealed last month to prevent a mail-in vote by the warehouse workers on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.

The NLRB, in its ruling, said that Amazon's appeal raised "no substantial issues warranting review," CNBC reported on Friday.

"The Employer's Motion to Stay the Election Pending Review is also denied as moot," the board said.

The voting is being closely watched as it is the first major unionisation effort within Amazon since 2014 when similar efforts by repair technicians at a warehouse in Delaware failed as they could not get enough votes required for joining a union.

However, several events including the response to the Covid-19 pandemic and protests tied to Prime Day have sparked new unionisation efforts by the workers of the e-commerce giant.

The NLRB decision paves the way for the workers at the Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse to start voting by mail starting Monday.

NLRB's regional office needs to receive the ballots by March 29, and counting will start the following day.

In what appears to be a bid to discourage the union drive, Amazon has also set up a website reminding workers that joining a union will cost them money in the form of membership dues.
Delhi Police has sought details of the 'toolkit' on farmers' agitation shared by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg from Google and other social media companies. In a letter sent to Google and other entities, it has asked for more clarity on details like email IDs, URLs, and other information mentioned in the PowerPoint presentation.

The Delhi Police Cyber Cell has already lodged an FIR against Canada-based "pro-Khalistani" creators of the 'toolkit' for waging a "social, cultural and economic war against the government of India". The toolkit was prepared by 'Poetic Justice Foundation', a Khalistani outfit co-founded by Mo Dhaliwal.

Also read: Farmers' stir: UN human rights body urges govt, protestors to show restraint

An unconfirmed video of a man reportedly addressing the members of the PJF in Canada's Vancouver is also going viral on social media. The man in the video talks about ongoing farmers' agitation in India for over two months.

When asked about the probe, Delhi Police's deputy Commissioner Anyesh Roy said that they suspect an "element of conspiracy". According to Delhi Police, the 'toolkit' was curated to coordinate a "digital strike through hashtags on or before January 26, tweet storms on January 23 onwards and physical action on January 26."

Also read: Farmers' Chakka Jam today: Delhi Police tightens security, on high alert to avert Jan 26 repeat

This PowerPoint presentation, shared accidentally by Greta, listed an array of tasks aimed at India. Some points mentioned in it were about organising on-ground action in front of the Indian embassies while others talked about "unified global disruption in the disruption on January 26" and "repeal of farm laws".
In the first round of stimulus payments, individuals earning less than $75,000 in adjusted gross income qualified for the full $1,200 payment, and married couples filing a joint return with income of less than $150,000 qualified for $2,400. The federal government offered $500 per dependent child to certain taxpayers. People who made more qualified for smaller amounts, and it was phased out for individuals whose income exceeded $99,000 or $198,000 for joint filers with no children.
Peshawar: The owner of the legendary actor Dilip Kumar's ancestral house in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has refused to sell it at a rate fixed by the government, saying he would demand Rs 25 crore for the prime location property which is severely undervalued by the authorities.

The provincial government last month fixed the price of the four marla (101 square metre) house, declared as a national heritage, in Peshawar at Rs 80.56 lakh. Marla, a traditional unit of area used in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, is considered as equal to 272.25 square feet or 25.2929 square metres.

However, the owner, Haji Lal Muhammad, said he would demand Rs 25 crore from the provincial government for the property as and when approached by the Peshawar administration.

Muhammad said he had purchased the property in 2005 for Rs 51 lakh after completing all formalities required for transfer of the land and possesses all the documents of the house.

He said it is unjust on part of the government to fix the rate at Rs 80.56 lakh for the property after 16 years.

The property is very expensive in Mohallah Khudadad qissa Khwani bazar where the rate of one Marla land is above Rs 5 crore, he said, adding that he would demand Rs 25 crore through his lawyer from the authorities for the house.

"How can a four marla property be sold in the said area for Rs 80 lakh?" he asked.

Earlier, the owner of the ancestral house of Bollywood actor Raj Kapoor demanded Rs 200 crore for the six marla (151.75 square metre) property in Peshawar. The government had fixed the rate of the property at Rs 1.50 crore.

Raj Kapoor's ancestral home, known as Kapoor Haveli, is situated in the fabled Qissa Khwani Bazar. It was built between 1918 and 1922 by the legendary actor's grandfather Dewan Basheswarnath Kapoor.

Raj Kapoor and his uncle Trilok Kapoor were born here. The building, which is in shambles, has been declared a national heritage by the provincial government.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister's special assistant on information Kamran Bangash said last month that he is hopeful that the provincial government would reach an amicable settlement with the owners of both the buildings for their purchase to convert them into archaeological museums as both structures have already been declared as national heritage buildings.

In January, the provincial government approved the release of Rs 2.35 crore to purchase the ancestral houses of the two legendary actors located in the heart of this city.

The owners of the two buildings have made several attempts in the past to demolish them for constructing commercial plazas in view of their prime location but all such moves were stopped as the archaeology department wanted to preserve them, keeping in view their historic importance.




By Ju Chan-yang







There once was a nine-year-old girl who had no idea that she would ever meet you. That's because she was born in North Korea. If not for her father's decisions, she would not be here today talking to you, she would still be a prisoner of North Korea.







I don't know what you were doing at the age of nine, but I know what I was doing. At that time, my father began to prepare me to escape to freedom.







I made it to freedom because of my father and foreign media. Can you imagine, a nine-year old girl getting ready to risk her life to get to freedom? Looking back, I can see how well prepared my father was.







To make sure I grew up as an open-minded person, my father introduced me to foreign radio. In North Korea, that was a criminal act. I was listening to "FEBC Christian Broadcasting," "Sound of America Broadcasting," "Free Asia Broadcasting" and "KBS Seoul Broadcasting." My father wouldn't allow me to be brainwashed by the Kim dictators.







To get me ready physically, he taught me how to swim. Most people around the world learn to swim for fun or for exercise. In my case, my father taught me so I could be ready to swim across the Tumen River from North Korea to China, to get to freedom.







I didn't know it, but my father was preparing me for the day that I could meet you.







At last, it was time for us to escape.







Escaping from North Korea is not easy, especially when an entire family is planning to escape. For a decade, my father prepared his family for this escape. By the time I finally escaped, I had already spent more than half of my life getting prepared to leave North Korea. Sometimes people ask me if I was brainwashed by North Korea. How could I be brainwashed when I had been preparing to leave from the age of 9?







My father was the first to leave, in 2008. My mother and two younger siblings left next. I tried to escape next, but I got caught. As the last of the family, the North Korean police were watching me closely, investigating me. I tried again, three years later. That time, I made it out of North Korea.







I arrived in China, but I was caught almost immediately by Chinese security. I was on the verge of being repatriated to North Korea and it was going to take a miracle for me to get to freedom. My four family members had escaped, so I could be tortured or executed if I was sent back to North Korea. Acquaintances and NGO groups prayed for me and rallied around me, raising money to bribe Chinese officials. It worked. At last, I made it to Seoul.







People often want to hear North Korean refugee escape stories, but it seems they often don't realize there is also the "rest of the story." Our lives don't stop once we escape. I am now living well with my family and so happy to be the mother of a beautiful boy. I learned English, mainly thanks to FSI. Despite these many changes, the media is still with me.







The media opened my eyes to the world when I was still in North Korea. Media changed the perceptions that my family had about the world. It can wake people up from the brainwashing attempts of the Kim regime.







Now in South Korea, I am majoring in media at Korea University in Seoul. We must tell the truth to North Koreans who are still in North Korea. I have been assisting in sending various information via the radio for several years now. If you are interested in learning how you can help, please contact FSI.







I was once a young girl in North Korea who started learning about the world. There are so many young and old people in North Korea who will never get to experience freedom. Even this kind of online meeting is impossible with North Koreans. North Korea is a land of dictators. We need more people to get involved so we can improve the level of human rights.







Some people ask me why I talk about these things. That is like asking me, "Why should I live?"







I'm here with you today because of "freedom."







I'm alive.







So I am free.







I used to live in a place where there was no freedom.







Thanks to my father and media, I risked my life to escape from North Korea. No matter what challenges I face in South Korea, my conscience tells me not to forget about others who are in the situation I was in before.







My conscience tells me to be part of the movement helping North Koreans to learn about freedom and to experience it. North Koreans are victims of religious persecution, human trafficking, propaganda, brainwashing, information restrictions, labor exploitation, concentration camps, and travel restrictions. We have to change all of this.







There once was a nine-year-old girl who had no idea that she would ever meet you. That's because she was born in North Korea. If not for her father's decisions, she would not be here today talking to you, she would still be a prisoner of North Korea. Let's work together so more North Koreans can experience the freedom to watch the media according to their wishes, to talk to anyone around the world, and to enjoy their lives as they see fit. My father and the media prepared me for the day I would meet you, and I hope that I can help free the minds and bodies of North Koreans who want to get to freedom.











Ju Chan-yang is a Member of One-K missions, owner of Seoune water pearl jewelry, and a Keynote Speaker with Freedom Speakers International based in Seoul.







The article was assisted and edited by Casey Lartigue Jr., the editor of "

."


u ALTAY Ana Muharebe Tanki



Ilk uretilen Altay tanki. pic.twitter.com/PwLXh9qs08  Turan Oguz (@TyrannosurusRex) January 23, 2021

As it usually happens with war machines, the Leopard has a great number of versions, depending on a variety of factors, including the country using them and the purpose for which they are deployed. And new interpretations of the tank keep popping up.Turkey, for instance, has over 350 of them enlisted, some of which got their share of action in 2016, when they were sent into battle in Syria to fight ISIS. Their Leopard variants are called 24A, and sport vertically-faced turret armor, a digital ballistic computer, and a better fire extinguishing system.Yet weapons systems can always be improved, and earlier this year local company BMC showed a variant of the 24A no longer sporting its original turret, but one taken from Turkeys own Altay  the Altay is a variant of the K2 Black Panther made by South Korean Hyundai Rotem.The Turks called this hybrid machine an upgraded version of the Leopard. The new turret comes with a 120 mm (4.7-inch) smoothbore gun, and home-made protection and laser systems.The tank was shown for the first time in the last week of January, and the company making the conversion says it is ready to start modifying more than 300 Leopard tanks, should the Turkish government approve the move.If the military command decides to order mass production, we will start the work immediately, a BMC official was quoted as saying by Defense News , adding that the idea could be used for export purposes as well.That will pave the way for similar upgrades on hundreds of Leopards in different parts of the world. Export potential is bigger than the Turkish contract.
Lucknow, Feb 6 : The worries of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh have started to increase due to the farmers' agitation getting longer. Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held in April after a High Court order. This has raised the anxiety levels of BJP leaders. Now some BJP leaders have started saying that a solution needs to be found to end this agitation.

The impact of this agitation has been felt more in western Uttar Pradesh. The effort to create an atmosphere against the BJP is strong even in the mahapanchayats taking place these days. The leadership of the mahapanchayat is being handled by Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) national vice president Jayant Chaudhary himself.

At present, there appears to be no solution in sight to the farmers' agitation. In such a scenario, the worries of the BJP leaders fighting the panchayat elections have increased. They are thinking that the agitation against the farm laws may have a detrimental effect villages.

On the other hand, speaking in favour of RLD Chief Chaudhary Ajit Singh at the Muzaffarnagar mahapanchayat, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) President Naresh Tikait said it was our mistake to defeat Ajit Singh in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. "We are guilty of this. This family [Ajit Singh's] has always fought for the rights of farmers. We should not repeat such a mistake from now on." After this statement, the BJP feels that Jat votes in the western part of the state may slip from their hold. Its effect is likely to be felt in the upcoming 2022 state Assembly elections, to be held along with the panchayat elections.

Requesting anonymity a BJP leader said that apart from the growing solidarity of the Khap panchayats, a more active presence by RLD's Jayant Chaudhary would have an impact in the upcoming state panchayat elections. The government must find a solution to this protest and end it. Otherwise, its effect would be seen in the upcoming state Assembly elections, in addition to the state panchayat polls.

In western UP, the Jat community decides victory or defeat on about 20 Assembly seats. About 17 Lok Sabha constituencies of these are in west UP, so keeping this vote bank intact is a big responsibility.

The BJP does not want to let the Jat votes slip from its hold at any cost. It has deployed its leaders to deal with this challenge. Senior BJP leaders of western Uttar Pradesh have been asked to clear misconceptions about the Union farm laws. State government ministers would also try to convince farmers through a dialogue.

Senior political analyst Ratan Mani Lal says the farmers' protest would have an impact on panchayat elections. "This protest is also being widely discussed in western UP. It will be discussed in elections as well. Let us see to what extent does the BJP prevent this discussion from going against it." Before 26 January, a group of BJP leaders were describing the pros and cons of the law among the farmers. The BJP is alert about the impact of these laws. It knows that the farmers' protest can have an impact not only on the panchayat elections, but also in the state Assembly elections. BJP has prepared its own team to deal with the protest.

BKU state vice president Harnam Singh Verma says,"The BKU is an apolitical organisation. We are not concerned with the poll results regardless of who wins or losses the panchayat elections. The way the farmers helped form a government with absolute majority in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, in the same way, they would take a decision based on their gains and losses." BJP spokesperson Harish Chandra Srivastava says, "Some political parties are trying to mislead the farmers' protest. The Central government is positive towards the farmers. The doors for dialogue are open. The effect of protests is not going to have an bearing in any election. BJP workers are working with full commitment. "
February 06 : Ananya Panday has stunned all in her latest glamorous photoshoot. The Pati Patni Aur Woh actress soared the temperature high when her stylist Tanya Ghavri shared some drool-worthy pictures of the young actress on her social media.

In the pictures shared by celebrity stylist Tanya Ghavri, the Student of the Year 2 actress looked sultry in a tiny white dress by fashion brand NastyGal. Ananya looked edgy in the off-shoulder mini silk dress and her look was accentuated with a touch of glamour.

The young actress styled the sweet-but-sultry number with wavy open tresses and toned makeup. She skipped all accessories and let the main focus be her sultry dress that bore an asymmetric hemline. The actress let the sleeves fall off her shoulder to shell out the NastyGal vibes. Tagging Ananya in the post, the stylist captioned the post as, Edgy, with a touch of glamour! @ananyapanday, raising temperatures soaring high in @nastygal.

Ananya complemented her outfit with a dash of colour on her eyelids, glossy lips in the same shade, and a dose of highlighter. To go with the line of the NastyGal brand, she opted for a sultry look with her mane flowing on the sides. The playful and high-on-trend ensemble like Ananyas makes a great choice for a romantic date on Valentines Day.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Ananya was last seen in Maqbool Khans Khaali Peeli opposite Ishaan Khatter. The dive recently went on a trip with him to the Maldives for the New Year. The actress has recently completed the Goa schedule for Shakun Batra's untitled film, which also stars Deepika Padukone and Siddhant Chaturvedi. The actress will also be seen in a multilingual project with Vijay Deverakonda. The film will mark her debut in the South Indian film industry. Helmed by Puri Jagannadh, the flick Liger will be released in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam. It is being jointly produced by Karan Johar, Charmme Kaur, Apoorva Mehta, and Puri Jagannadh.
Protests against the putsch expanded in the country, while the global response grew more critical.

Students arrested for protests against the military a day earlier are brought to court in Mandalay, Feb. 5, 2021.

Updated at 10:00 EST on 02-05-2021

Myanmar's ruling junta ordered the suspension of Twitter and Instagram on Friday after a day of spiraling nationwide protests against the military coup that has spooked some investors and brought increasing criticism from the international community.

Days after the regime shut down Facebook, the most popular social media site, the Ministry of Transport and Communications ordered Twitter and Instagram shut off to restrict posting and sharing of inciteful news and disinformation that could damage the stability of the state and undermine the interest of the people," said the directive.

The tightening clampdown on information on day five of the military takeover came as hundreds of government employees from various sectors joined a protest campaign dubbed the "Civil Disobedience Movement" in the capital Naypyidaw. They demanded the release of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and other detained leaders and called on the military to respect the results of the countrys November 2020 election, which saw her National League for Democracy (NLD) party win in a landslide.

Staffers from the Ministry of Social Welfare and Relief and Resettlement, the Ministry of Electric Power and Energy, the Ministry of Construction, and the Ministry of Ethnic Affairs joined the protests, while doctors and nurses from the citys 1,000-bed hospital joined the protests, dubbed the Civil Disobedience Movement, demanding an end to military rule.

We are here to show our support for the people, Thet Lwin Oo, assistant director of the Ministry of Ethnic Affairs, told RFAs Myanmar Service. We worry for our future because we are government employees.

On Monday, the military dissolved parliament, citing allegations of voter fraud in a bloodless coup that gave it control of the country. Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmars de facto leader, was taken into custody along with other NLD leaders in the putsch, which saw army chief General Min Aung Hlaing declare a one-year state of emergency. The 75-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest.

Raucous street protests and criticism of the coup on social media have since been met with arrests in cities across Myanmar, drawing condemnation from Western governments. In New York on Thursday, the U.N. Security Council expressed deep concern at the declaration of the juntas state of emergency and the arbitrary detention of Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and others. As of Friday morning, 134 NLD members had been detained, according to the Irrawaddy online news website.

In addition to Fridays protests in Naypyidaw, more than 300 academic staff members and 200 students from Dagon University in Myanmars economic center of Yangon held a protest in front of the schools Convocation Hall, displaying a three-finger salute borrowed from Thailands democracy movement to condemn the militarys actions.

Nyi Nyi Lwin, a professor at Dagon Universitys International Relations Department, told RFA that academic staff took part in the protests of our own volition and without any outside pressure.

We want the elected leaders to be released and we condemn the military takeover, which shouldnt have happened at all, he said.

Min Han Htet, president of the Dagon University Students Union, said students would go on fighting to ensure that Mondays coup would be the countrys last military takeover.

There will be more public demonstrations throughout the country in the coming days and I believe this kind of movement will have to be led by us students, he said. With the help of the entire population, we must take down this military dictatorship so that it wont be a threat to future generations.

Dagon University staff and students were joined by staff from the Yangon Institute of Education, who launched a red ribbon campaign in support of the color of the NLDs flag and to signal their condemnation of military rule.

Medical staff at Yangon University Hospital also held a red ribbon protest Friday.

In total, thousands of government and medical staff, as well as students and academics at 91 government hospitals, 18 universities and colleges and 12 government departments in 79 townships across the country were on strike in protest of the coup, according to the Civil Disobedience Movement Facebook page.

Teachers take part in the Civil Disobedience Movement in Sittwe, Rakhine state, Feb. 5, 2021. RFA

Regional cities see protests

Similar protests were held by academics and students at universities in the seats of Myanmars Magway region, and Kayin, and Kachin states; while red ribbon campaigns were launched in Mandalay, Ayeyarwaddy, Taninthayi and Yangon regions, as well as Chin and Rakhine states.

Anti-coup protests also spread Friday to the townships of Sittwe in Rakhine state, Lashio in Shan state, Dawei in Tanintharyi region, Loikaw in Kayah state, Kalemyo in Sagaing region, and Chauk and Pakokku in Magway region.

The protests at educational institutes came a day after Cho Yu Mon, the dean of the Hpa-an Technological High School in the seat of Kayin state, was detained by police for promoting civil disobedience during a protest at the school.

Cho Yu Mon has been charged with defamation of the state under article 505(B) of the penal code and is being held without bail at Hpa-an Central Prison, fellow teacher Naing Say, who recorded a video of the arrest that has since gone viral on social media, told RFA.

The main reason for her arrest is that we held a civil disobedience movement campaign at our school, Naing Say said, adding that her case is set to be heard in court on Feb. 17.

Meanwhile, military authorities in several townships on Friday began arresting people who have taken part in a nightly nationwide pot-banging campaign to signal their frustration over the coup.

On Friday, authorities detained six people in Mandalay regions Chan Mya Tharzi township, bringing to 30 the number of people arrested in the region since the beginning of the campaign on the evening of Feb. 2. Arrests have also been made in Myingyan, Magway, Maypyidaw, and Yangon.

Several people in both Mandalay and Yangon regions were detained for banging pots but released after police were surrounded by angry residents.

Most pot-bangers are being detained and charged under section 47 of Myanmars Police Act, which allows the authorities to arrest those who disrupt safety and security in public spaces without warrants. Others are being targeted under article 27 of the Civil Administration Act, which carries a fine of 5,000 kyat (U.S. $3.65) or up to seven days in prison.

Shortly after the launch of the pot-banging campaign began, police nationwide were ordered to monitor and file reports on participants. The directive was posted to social media earlier this week and has since gone viral.

Plastic crates containing Kirin brand beer bottles are seen at the Kirin Brewery factory in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan, June 11, 2019. Reuters

Military business partners

Human Rights Watch condemned the information controls Friday, saying that international human rights standards require internet restrictions to be "provided for in law and be necessary and proportionate and pursuant to a legitimate aim,"

"Internet shutdowns fail to meet these standards and hinder access to information and communications needed for daily life, which is particularly vital during times of crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic," it added.

On Friday, foreign firms began distancing themselves from partnerships with Myanmars military, which is involved in a myriad of sectors, including banking, breweries, buses, telecoms, tobacco and media.

Kirin Holdings of Japan announced it had ended its relationship with the Tatmadaw, prompting the International Campaign for the Rohingyawhich advocates on behalf of the Muslim ethnic group that endured a brutal military-led crackdown in 2017to suggest it had finally stepped too far in orchestrating the coup.

Simon Billenness, executive director of the International Campaign for the Rohingya, said in a statement that Kirin had finally acknowledged its grievous mistake in choosing to do business with Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company Limited, a military-owned conglomerate, and called on corporations around the globe to also cut ties with the military.

In particular, he called out Facebookwhich the junta blocked access to on Thursdayfor providing a platform that the military uses to recruit soldiers and conduct business, as well as jewelers that buy gems the military uses as a substantial source of revenue.

Billenness also called on governments to hold the Myanmar military accountable for its actions through sanctions against Myanmar military leaders, the army's extensive business empire, and the military's business associates.

Kirins announcement came as Myanmars former student leaders Ko Min Ko Naing and Ko Jimmy of the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society urged the public to take a variety of approaches to oppose military rule, including a boycott of its businesses.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the State Department in Washington, Feb. 4, 2021. AP Photo

US lawmakers weigh in

In Washington, Senators Edward J. Markey, Jim Risch, Bob Menendez, and Marco Rubio called on President Joe Bidens administration to take steps to preserve Myanmars fragile democratic transition following Mondays coup.

In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the senators called on the White House to press for the immediate release of all political prisoners detained in association with the coup, impose targeted sanctions on the senior leadership of the Tatmadaw, and organize multilateral economic and diplomatic pressure with global allies.

They also urged the administration to use the U.S. position on the United Nations Security Council to push for a quick and serious U.N. consideration of the situation in Myanmar, remain engaged with partners in the country, and to call for protections for the roughly 600,000 Rohingya who still live in Rakhine state.

Given the Tatmadaws long history of human rights violations and suppression of democracy, there is no reason to believe Burmas military leaders will return the country to democratic rule without strong and sustained international pressure, the Senators wrote, using the British colonial name for Myanmar.

The United Nations headquarters in New York, Sept. 21, 2020. AP Photo

UN condemnation

The lawmakers call for action came a day after U.N. Special Envoy for Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener spoke with Myanmars Deputy Commander-in-Chief Vice-General Soe Win, condemning the military action and calling for the immediate release of all detained government officials, according to U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

[The Special Envoy] had a virtual meeting with the deputy commander in chief of the armed forces of Myanmar, Dujarric told reporters on Friday.

She reiterated the Secretary-General's strong condemnation of the military action that disrupted the democratic reforms that were taking place in the country. She also reiterated her call for the immediate release of all detained and emphasized the need to advance progress on key areas in regards to a safe, dignified, voluntary and sustainable repatriation of the Rohingya refugees.

Attorney Khin Maung Zaw, who is representing Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, told RFA Friday that he had been unable to meet with his clients, who are both under house arrest. Aung San Suu Kyi was charged under the Section 8 Import & Export Law for ownership of illegal walkie-talkies, while Win Myint was accused of violating Section 25 of the Natural Disaster Prevention Law.

Pyi Pyo, an elected member of parliament for the NLD, said he expects the military to bring charges against additional party members.

This coup was launched by a small group of senior officers and we are hoping to see good decent Tatmadaw officers who would stand on the side of the people, he said.

Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung and Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

Prince Harry Rolling and Recording with James Corden in Hollywood https://t.co/m3Wp4tjFrZ  TMZ (@TMZ) February 6, 2021

For what is believed to be Prince Williams first public appearance since the move, hes been shooting scenes with James Corden, presumably for Carpool Karaoke. The Duke and his old pal Corden have been spotted pulling out of the CBS Studios parking lot, on top of a double-decker. You can see video at the bottom of the page.Considering the ongoing health crisis, it makes sense for Corden to want to add a twist to his popular segment Carpool Karaoke. TMZ points out that it also makes sense for him to bring out the big guns, since its February Sweeps, so he needs the high ratings.Either way, the two were seen engaged in deep conversation on the upper, open deck of a Los Angeles tour bus, with a police escort and no less than three cameramen in tow. Assuming this is for Carpool Karaoke, chances are the Duke wont be doing any singing with Corden but focus on more serious stuff.On the other hand, the choice of a double-decker will, at long last, put an end to conversations about whether Corden is doing all the driving in the segment, or how hes a con for not doing it This was one of the big controversies of early 2020, back when we could still afford to be outraged by the silliest things: a video showed Cordens Range Rover being towed on a platform, while he pretended to be driving it and was, at the same time, entertaining Justin Bieber in the passenger seat. The world was shook  and many laughs were had.
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Posted Saturday, February 6, 2021 9:55 am

WASHINGTON  In an unprecedented move, the House of Representatives voted Thursday largely along party lines to remove freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from two committees over the controversial words and actions of the Georgia Republican who has espoused conspiracy theories and harassed mass shooting survivors.

Northwest Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Russ Fulcher, Dan Newhouse and Jaime Herrera Beutler were among the GOP lawmakers who opposed the action, all but 11 of the party's House members. The vote forced Republicans to go on the record supporting or opposing Greene's removal from two panels after GOP leaders rebuffed Democrats' demand to strip Greene of her assignments in a private vote.

The GOP steering committee's decision to appoint Greene to the Education and Labor Committee drew attention to a comment she made on Facebook in 2018 agreeing with a user that the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, that year was a "false flag" operation staged by supporters of gun control .

Greene is also shown in a video following David Hogg, who became a gun-control activist after surviving the Parkland massacre, calling the then-teenager a "coward" and asking him, "Why do you use children as a barrier?"

Reflecting on the incident in a 2019 interview, she called Hogg, now 20, "an idiot" who is "trained ... like a dog."

Northwest Republicans sought to distance themselves from Greene but objected to the vote, wary of the precedent it sets for the party in control of the House to unseat a member of the minority party from committees, one of the primary ways lawmakers can influence policy and advance legislation.

"I completely disagree and disavow many of the statements and videos that have come out about Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene," McMorris Rodgers, a Spokane Republican, said in a statement. "Many of her comments are beneath the dignity of the office for which she has been elected."

"I also believe it sets a dangerous precedent to allow members of the opposing party to hand down punishments that impact an elected representative's ability to serve their constituents based on statements that were made prior to being elected."

Stripping a lawmaker of committee assignments as a punishment isn't entirely without precedent, but it had never been done by members of an opposing party. In 2019, GOP leaders removed former Rep. Steve King from all of his committees after the Iowa Republican lamented that "white nationalist" and "white supremacist" were considered offensive terms. King was ousted in a primary election last year.

Some Republicans argued Greene should not face the same standard for actions on social media before she was elected, but others in the party made their disapproval clear. In a statement Monday, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said the Georgia lawmaker's embrace of conspiracy theories and "loony lies" was "a cancer for the Republican Party."

In posts on social media, Greene has embraced QAnon, a conspiracy theory in which former President Donald Trump is seen as a messianic figure who would save the country from a satanic cabal of Democratic cannibals and pedophiles. She liked Facebook comments suggesting prominent Democrats should be hanged and, in the case of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, killed with "a bullet to the head."

Speaking before Thursday's vote, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., held up a large print of an image Greene posted on Facebook during her campaign showing herself holding an assault-style rifle next to three Democrats known as "the Squad." A caption on the photo reads, "Squad's worst nightmare."

"They are people, they are our colleagues," Hoyer said, addressing the Republicans in the chamber. "This is an AR-15."

The Georgia lawmaker has suggested Muslims should not be allowed in Congress and the election of Muslims in 2018 was part of "an Islamic invasion of our government."

Liberal media watchdog group Media Matters for America has also unearthed statements from Greene suggesting no airplane crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, that mass shootings in Las Vegas and Sandy Hook, Connecticut, were staged, and that a Jewish cabal used a laser in space to start the 2018 Camp Fire in California in order to clear a path for a high-speed rail project.

Herrera Beutler, a southwest Washington Republican, sharply criticized Greene's statements but called the full House voting to punish her "a route to madness."

"Marjorie Taylor Greene has espoused and amplified views that are not just objectionable, but insane," Herrera Beutler said. "I'm sorry, but an airplane really did hit the Pentagon on 9/11. There is no cabal of celebrities and Democratic politicians running a satanic pedophile ring out of a pizza parlor. School shootings are not 'false flag events.' California wildfires were not ignited by a space laser. And the presidential election was NOT stolen.

"It is a national shame that politicians who know better, and maybe unfortunately a few who don't know better, nurture wrongheaded and dangerous beliefs and coddle the voters who hold them. People deserve the truth."

Under pressure from GOP leaders, Greene reportedly apologized in a private meeting Wednesday. Speaking on the House floor Thursday, she stopped short of issuing a public apology but expressed regret for her past statements while decrying the effort to punish her as an example of "cancel culture."

"I was allowed to believe things that weren't true," Greene said. "And I would ask questions about them and talk about them, and that is absolutely what I regret."

Greene emerged on the political scene in 2020, originally running in a moderate district in the Atlanta suburbs. When former Rep. Tom Graves announced his retirement in the far more conservative 14th district, Greene transplanted her campaign operation to the northern Georgia district.

Several prominent Republicans distanced themselves from Greene before the 2020 election over her statements, including a campaign email that referred to Pelosi as "that (expletive)." House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana called her comments "disgusting" and endorsed her Republican opponent, but other GOP stars, including Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, endorsed Greene.

Thursday's vote came just a day after 61 House Republicans reportedly voted via secret ballot to remove Rep. Liz Cheney from GOP leadership after the Wyoming lawmaker and third-ranking Republican voted to impeach Trump over his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

The back-to-back votes cast light on the divide among Republicans, who ultimately decided to keep both women under the party's tent. An Axios-SurveyMonkey poll conducted Monday and Tuesday found Republicans and GOP-leaning voters favor Greene at a far higher rate than Cheney.
President Donald Trump's name is seen on a stimulus check issued by the IRS to help combat the adverse economic effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, in San Antonio, Texas, on April 23, 2020. (Eric Gay/AP Photo)

Bipartisan Senators Push for Stimulus Checks Focused on Lower Income Families

An amendment to the budget, sponsored by a bipartisan group of 16 senators led by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Susan Collins (R-Mass.), to focus stimulus checks on lower-income families was passed in the Senate on Thursday.

The amendment did not detail the threshold for the stimulus checks but said it would establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to targeting economic impact payments to Americans who are suffering from the effects of COVID19, and ensure upper-income taxpayers are not eligible.

Senators Susan Collins and Joe Manchin. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images  Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The amendment was passed with a vote of 58-42. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee voted in favor.

The measure was proposed and passed in a procedure Thursday afternoon that was set up for proposals of any amendments to the budget bill that is still under debate.

White House officials have said they are willing to compromise on the threshold of the income but not the amount on the check.

The amendment was proposed by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Angus King (I-Maine), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Bill Cassidy (D-La.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), and Mitt Romney (R-Utah).

Ten Senate Republicans released a $618 billion proposal hours before they met President Biden on Monday evening. Many of those senators are also among the bipartisan group that sponsored the amendment.

One of the most striking differences between Republicans plan and Bidens plan is the size of the stimulus check and the threshold for receiving them.

Biden pushed for $2,000 checks. His plan includes $1,400 checks (on top of the $600 checks in Decembers package) for Americans with an income of $75,000 or less, and smaller checks for those with an income of less than $99,000.

The GOP instead offered $1,000 checks to a smaller group of Americans. Instead of phasing out checks for those earning more than $75,000, Republicans would do so for individuals with an income of more than $40,000, and would not go to anybody with an income of more than $50,000.

Some Democrats are looking forward to a new budget plan with stimulus checks of $1,400 directed to people with an income of $50,000 and less and couples with income of 100,000 and less.



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Over the weekend of February 13, the community in Mourne Abbey will remember the 1921 ambush there

While Covid restrictions have had a huge impact on organised events since last March, communities have still been recognising the events of a century ago that have shaped the Ireland that we know today.

Over the weekend of Feb 13 the community in Mourne Abbey will recall one such event, an ambush that was to cost the lives of six IRA volunteers whose sacrifice is enshrined on a monument at the ambush site.

On February 15, 1921 more than 50 volunteers under Commandant Jack Cunningham, 43 of whom were from Mourne Abbey occupied a position roughly one-mile from Mourneabbey with the intention of ambushing British army convoy.

However, the planned attack went awry after Crown forces were made aware of the ambush and sent out troops and a section of RIC who engaged in a pincer movement and surrounded the volunteers.

During the ensuing fire-fight three volunteers; Patrick Flynn (25), Monee; Paddy Dorgan (22), Island and Edmond Creedon (20), Clogheen; were shot dead. Another man Michael Looney (30) Island; died days later from his wounds.

Were it not for a mistake or intentional decision for two lorries of troops to line the road from the railway bar to the Creamery rather than from the creamery to Monaparson Cross many would have died.

Patrick Ronayne, Tomas Mulcahy, Con Mulcahy, Batt Riordan, and Michael Creedon were arrested, charged and tried by Court Martial. Patrick Ronayne (24) of Grenhill and Tomas Mulcahy (18), Toureen were found guilty and executed on April 29, 1921, while the others were found not guilty due to lack of evidence.

Within a short time, it was obvious that there was an informer somewhere, after many enquiries it was believed that a man known as Shields was the likely culprit.

Extensive research in the past couple of years indicates that this man was a William Shields who emigrated from England in 1922 to Australia where he began a new life, ending up in prison for the manslaughter of his wife the mother of his eight children.

Another casualty of the Mourne Abbey ambush was Major Compton Smith of the British army who was kidnapped in Blarney and held in exchange for IRA prisoners. He was executed following the executions of Patrick Ronayne and Tomas Mulcahy.

In line with the Covid restrictions the centenary of the ambush will be marked virtually over the weekend of February 12-14, with the national flag being flown at half mast from dawn to dusk across the three days.

A wreath will be laid at the War of Independence monument and it is intended that a lighted candle will be placed in window of every house in the parish.

The centenary commemorations will also coincide with the publication of 'The Story of the Mourne Abbey Ambush', which gives a detailed of the lead up to the ambush, the engagement and subsequent events.

The book is the result of extensive search By John O'Regan, with the assistance of Michael Looney and other relatives of those involved in the ambush.

The research also included the British army units involved and other details from the public records office in Kew, Surrey.
Four New Orleans bars were forcibly closed overnight for violating City Hall's coronavirus restrictions, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said Saturday.

She announced the enforcement action of New Orleans' current modified Phase 2 public health rules one day after saying her administration will, beginning late next week, ban all bar service and limit access to popular streets in the final days of Carnival.

All New Orleans bars closed for Mardi Gras, access restricted to major streets under new rules Bars will be closed, people will have to pass through checkpoints to get to major Carnival gathering spots like Bourbon and Frenchman streets,

"Yesterday, we spoke directly to those bars [that] continue to break every guideline put in place by this administration to protect our residents," said Peter Bowen, the deputy chief administrative officer who oversees code enforcement, safety and permits, "We said we knew who you were, what you were doing and how you were trying to hide what you were doing, and what we were going to do if you continued.

"This is what we mean, and we're not done yet."

Cantrell said authorities closed these bars overnight:

Cadi Corner, 2802 Cherry St.

TJ Quills, 7600 Maple St.

The District, 711 Tchoupitoulas St.

The Red Eye, 852 S. Peters St.

Fines were not immediately levied, a City Hall spokesperson said, but the bars might be subject to fines, suspension or revocation of their alcohol beverage outlet permits - or imprisonment of their owners.

In some cases, Cantrell said, inspectors found the bars locked to outsiders but patrons inside, unmasked and being served past the mandatory 11 p.m. closing time. She distributed photographs of a large gathering inside The Red Eye and a barricade being used to prop open an entry door.

City Hall had received complaints about all four bars, a spokesperson said. They must remain closed until they submit a compliance plan to the safety and permits director.

Red Eye owner Albert Bowes said Saturday he's already done so.

Bowes said a big crowd had arrived Friday night and things got out of hand. He was present when police arrived.

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But balancing restrictions with paying employees has been difficult for the entire restaurant industry, he said.

"Everybody is doing what they have to do to survive," said Bowes, 37. "If it comes down to you losing your business or breaking the rules a little bit, what do you think they're going to do?"

Bowes said his business will abide by the compliance plan he submitted to City Hall. But he's not sure how much longer the industry can stand to operate at a reduced capacity, particularly after losing the final five days of Carnival - a period when Redeye usually pulls in more than a month of business.

"I don't think anyone thought it would last this long," Bowes said of the public health restrictions. "Six weeks, well get through. Two months, no big deal. Twelve months later, everyone is hanging on for dear life."

Under New Orleans' modified Phase 2 restrictions, bars must close at 11 p.m. and service is allowed only in outdoor areas.

But for the five days from Feb. 12 through Fat Tuesday, Cantrell has expanded the restrictions:

All bars must close, including those operating as restaurants

Go-cup liquor sales are forbidden

Entertainment destinations such as Bourbon Street, Frenchmen Street and Decatur Street will be closed to pedestrians as well as vehicles from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m.

The Claiborne Avenue corridor beneath Interstate 10 will be fenced from access.

New Orleans Mardi Gras restrictions: Here's where you can't gather under new city rules Mardi Gras and the weekend leading up to it will look quite different in New Orleans this year amid the lingering coronavirus pandemic.

The announcement of these restrictions came as the Louisiana Department of Health confirmed additional cases of a coronavirus variant that is as much as 50% more infectious than the original virus. Dr. Joe Kanter, the state's leading coronavirus response official, predicted Thursday that the variant will surge infections again before widespread vaccinations take effect.

There are five confirmed variant cases in Louisiana and 20 awaiting confirmation, but Kanter said the known cases are just the "tip of the iceberg." At least one confirmed case is a Tulane student; others are in the New Orleans area and southwest Louisiana.

Lowering the number of cases before the next surge is paramount, Kanter said.

"The more we can suppress transmission now, the better prepared we will be to weather that storm, which is likely headed our way," he said.
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News Thousands Take to Streets of Myanmar to Protest Military Takeover

Yangon, Mandalay and Naypyitaw all saw large but peaceful protests as police began moving onto the streets in force; Internet access cut off nationwide by 11 a.m.

Residents of Myanmars largest city, Yangon, took to the streets on Saturday morning to protest peacefully against the military coup, with demonstrations spreading to Mandalay and the capital Naypyitaw in the afternoon.

From early in the morning, protesters in Yangon and later in Mandalay called for the release of the countrys detained elected leaders and an end to military rule. The marches, initially numbering hundreds of protesters including students and workers from 14 unions, eventually swelled into the thousands.

Ko Wai Yan Tun, a 23-year-old university student in Yangon, told The Irrawaddy he was protesting peacefully to show his opposition to the military dictatorship. It is for our future and our countrys future as well, despite the risk, he said.

Yangon resident Ma Htet Htet, 27, said she was participating in the protest because This is the peoples struggle. She repeated the call for the release of democratically elected leaders including State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint and others who have been detained by the military since Mondays coup.

When the protesters arrived in Hledan, near Yangon University, police prevented them from marching further. Bystanders showed their support with three-finger salutes and applause, and passing vehicles sounded their horns in solidarity.

The protesters shouted the slogans Let the military dictatorship fall!, Restore democracy! and Abolish the 2008 Constitution! They also sang the national anthem and urged the police to protect the people.

Prior to the demonstrations on the streets, many netizensstaying home due to the COVID-19 pandemicshowed their defiance of the coup in various ways online. A nightly ritual in which citizens beat pots and pans and honk car horns at 8 p.m. has also emerged as another form of protest.

Since Wednesday, thousands of government employees across Myanmar have joined a civil disobedience campaign in opposition to the military takeover.

Parts of the country started losing Internet access at 9 a.m., and connectivity continued to decline nationwide even as the protesters marched. Facebook, Twitter and Instagramthe countrys most popular social media platformshave now all been blocked, after the Ministry of Transport and Communications on Friday ordered mobile and internet service providers to take down Twitter and Instagram until further notice, according to the Telenor group. The military regime ordered Facebook blocked on Wednesday.

Connectivity had collapsed to 16 percent by 2 p.m. on Saturday, down from 54 percent at 10 a.m., according to Netblocks.

With a full Internet blackout imminent, media outlets and civilians tried to livestream the protests, but online contact with the outside world was lost for most citizens by 11 a.m.

The Internet blackout was expected to be in force on Sunday as well, and possibly beyond, staff at a shop selling SIM cards in Yangon told The Irrawaddy, citing information from telecom operator Telenor Myanmar.

In the afternoon, more protesters joined the movement, traveling in to some of Yangons most famous locations including Shwe Gone Dai, Sule, Hledan and elsewhere from nearby townships.

The Irrawaddys reporting team on the ground on Saturday afternoon witnessed police trucksbeing moved in and trucks carrying water cannons being prepared in Hledan, as well as police preparing barricades in Sule.

Mandalay residents staged several marches in various locations to protest against the military coup, starting at 1 p.m.

The demonstrators urged the police to be the peoples police. They vowed to continue protesting in whatever way they could, and at 4 p.m. protesters could be seen riding motorbikes and driving around the city. By 6 p.m. police had secured the old city area.

In Naypyitaws Pyinmana Township, meanwhile, residents also staged peaceful protests calling for an end to the military dictatorship and the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the other detainees.

Myanmars Medics Launch Civil Disobedience Campaign Against Coup

Biden Urges Myanmar Military To Relinquish Power and Free Detainees

Myanmars Legally-Elected Lawmakers Denounce Coup, Call for Release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
WOODLAND PARK  The City Council on Thursday deadlocked on a resolution branding Colorado Gov. Jared Polis' COVID-19 restrictions on businesses and gatherings as unconstitutional, unable to break a tie vote because the mayor is hospitalized with the virus.

Mayor Pro Tem Hilary Labarre announced at the beginning of the councils regular meeting that Mayor Val Carr was absent because he had been hospitalized after contracting COVID-19.

Labarre said she would not provide further details on Carr's condition and asked that the public respect Carr's, and his family's, privacy.

A draft resolution asking the governor to minimize the harm of the unconstitutional orders and reclassify every business as an essential business stalled on a 3-3 vote. The tie vote will bring the item back to the council, who are expected to reconsider it at the next meeting on Feb. 18.

The resolution, which has no effect on state mandates or restrictions, mirrored one Monument trustees approved unanimously on Jan. 11.

All businesses, places of worship and governmental meetings are essential to the exercise of individuals fundamental rights and it is discriminatory for the state to treat some, but not all, establishments with preference by labeling them as essential, Woodland Parks draft resolution states.

It also states councilmembers do not support COVID-19 restrictions that would shut down businesses in the city, and Woodland Park will not follow any executive orders limiting attendance of and free speech at public meetings within the city.

The City Council understands that, notwithstanding their unconstitutional nature, state authorities might attempt to pressure businesses to comply and may threaten their livelihoods, part of the resolution reads. The city of Woodland Park does not have the ability to preclude state enforcement actions. The City Council therefore calls on each business and individual to determine for themselves the level of which they desire to comply, in their best interest, with the governors unconstitutional orders.

Businesses should evaluate their own establishments and their capacity to safely accept customers, and individuals should use their best judgment when entering any store, according to the resolution.

I believe we need to take COVID seriously. People are being greatly harmed when they get it, so we should all respect one another and help one another deal with this serious virus, Councilman Jim Pfaff said. What we dont need is the government telling us how to deal with it.

Some councilmembers and residents said the resolution could cause unintended consequences, legal or otherwise.

If this resolution is passed, it will be seen as a consent by council for businesses to disobey directives of the state department and the governor, resident Bob Volpe said. Even if the resolution is nonbinding, the result of the passage may backfire on business.

It could draw more scrutiny to city businesses and the county Public Health department, and additional, more infectious, variants of COVID-19 make passing the resolution an even more poorly timed action to take at this time, he said.

Councilwoman Stephanie Alfieri, who sponsored the resolution, said it was clear the council has no authority to overturn these mandates. (The resolution) provides no protection to individuals or businesses who choose to negate those mandates. What it does do is send a very clear message that everyone has the right to live their lives as they choose, operate their businesses as they choose and do with their personal property as they choose.

When asked about pushback to his statewide COVID-19 regulations in a news conference in early January, Polis said the courts have upheld health restrictions as constitutional.

These extraordinary steps have saved the lives of thousands of Coloradans, and we have sought since the beginning to balance the need for economic activity, the need for social and emotional fulfillment, with the need to save lives, prevent agony and loss, and we have done that in Colorado, Polis said.

Resident Elijah Murphy said he supported the resolution, arguing state mandates and business restrictions were discriminatory because they forced small businesses to close while large businesses remained open .

How counterintuitive is all this? Murphy asked. Lets close all the small businesses and make everybody gather up at the same spots at Walmart and Lowes and Home Depot.  It defies the common-sense test when dealing with diseases.

I never signed anything as a citizen giving up my rights, resident Kelli Kane said. Ive been made to do things that I shouldnt have to do. I would do them for my neighbor, but the government doesnt have the right to tell me not to do certain things.

The council is expected to reconsider the item at its regular meeting at 7 p.m. Feb. 18. Visit bit.ly/2MGZZTU to participate via Zoom.
Over the years some women who married into the British royal family were given nicknames by the press and sometimes they werent flattering. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex was labeled Duchess Difficult after sources told the tabloids that she wasnt easy to work for. Prince Andrews ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York was given an even worse nickname when the press dubbed her the Duchess of Pork after she gained weight.

Many have wondered about Princess Diana and if the media ever gave her a nickname. The answer is yes and that name she got was not accurate. Heres how the press referred to Diana before she and Charles tied the knot and why they were incorrect.

Lady Diana Spencer (later Princess Diana) | Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images

The media called Diana this name when she and Charles were dating

When 19-year-old Lady Diana Spencer was introduced to the public after getting involved with the future king, the press nicknamed her Shy Di.

However, according to Queen Elizabeth IIs former press secretary, Dickie Arbiter, Diana wasnt shy at all. So why was she referred to as such? Its because she kept her head down while talking to people. But Arbiter explained that the only reason for that had to do with how tall she was.

There was nothing shy about her, he told Vogue. What she was conscious of was her height5 foot 10. She used to keep her head down when talking to people to not make them feel uncomfortable and to talk to them at their own level.

Princess Diana and Prince Charles engagement photo | Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images

RELATED: Princess Diana Really Didnt Want to Dance With John Travolta Because She Was Hoping This Star Would Ask Her

The nickname Camilla Parker Bowles had for Princess Diana

After Diana and Charles said I do, the Princess of Wales got another nickname few ever knew about because it was given to her by her husbands mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles.

Royal biographer Tom Bower claimed that the now-Duchess of Cornwall had an unflattering nickname for Prince Charles first wife. Bower said Camilla called her a mad cow after Diana did her Panorama interview.

He added that Camilla told people that the princess had little right to complain about her affair with Charles, since she had been working her way through the lifeguards.

The name that stuck after the princesss death

In 1997, Tony Blair was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and was tasked with giving a speech to a shocked nation after learning that Princess Diana had died. It was in that speech that Blair called Diana a name no one would ever forget when he said she was The Peoples Princess.

You know how difficult things were for her from time to time, Im sure we could only guess at, but the people everywherenot just here in Britain, everywherethey kept faith with Princess Diana, Blair told reporters gathered that day. They liked her, they loved her, they regarded her as one of the people. She was the Peoples Princess. And thats how she will stay, how she will remain, in our hearts and in our memories, forever.

Few observers could have predicted that 2021 would begin with indie bookstores at the forefront of an unprecedented online shop local movement. But the temporary store closures of spring 2020 forced them to take a bold leap into the world of e-commerce. Their embrace of internet sales appears to have paid off, allowing them to meet surging demand spurred by the Black Lives Matter movement and the holiday shopping season, cementing the loyalty of longtime customers while reaching new ones, and succeeding in taking back dollars that were previously lost to online competitors.

At the Gibson's Bookshop in Concord, N.H., owner Michael Herrmann took on the stores e-commerce operations by himself at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, but given the large order volume, he soon realized this was unsustainable. Over the weeks and months, it became a process of me giving up one element at a time until, by the end, we had six people who are trained on how to do it, he said.

While Herrmanns team was scaling up, the American Booksellers Association was adding staff to its IndieCommerce team, which provides the backbone to Herrmanns site. In turn, their support created opportunities for Herrmann and his team to continue to manage the flood of orders. Meanwhile, in the store, e-commerce overtook the entire cafe space and the former employee break room.

Herrmann also tapped into a network of booksellers who were sharing information and tips about how to handle the most critical aspect of the online sales boom: communication with customers about stores online options. Booksellers at Oblong Books and Harvard Book Store persuaded Herrmann to try changing the language for the shipping options on the site to mirror the shop local language that booksellers have mastered for in-person shopping. He switched the option for shipping to Im happy to contribute to the cost of shipping media mail, and sure enough, it worked.

The messaging shift dispelled the long-standing belief that customers would stop buying from local stores if they had to pay for shipping. Customers want to help you out, Herrmann said. Once you realize that, you dont feel like you have to give away the house when youre contemplating your shipping models.

Communication is key

Just weeks after returning from an intensive training session on IndieCommerce at last years Winter Institute, Avid Bookshops Luis Correa found himself at the helm of the stores transition to e-commerce. Nearly a year later, the doors to the Athens, Ga., store remain shut, while inside booksellers work to fulfill online orders that continue to stream in.

Correa, who will participate in a panel on managing online sales growth at this years Winter Institute, said customers have remained loyal because of the stores communication style. Owner Janet Geddis has led the way as the spokeswoman for the stores overall ethic. Its a mixture of empathy and honesty with customers, Correa said. There is an understanding that customers are going through a hard time, and theyre figuring out their own lives and their own crises. But also a message that if they want us to stay open and have our doors open once the dust settles, then its important that they think about us first before they shop at bigger competitors.

The messaging has succeeded. Avid has a team of booksellers handling e-commerce orders remotelyall of whom have previously worked in the storewhile another team prepares them in-store, and a third comes in each evening to ready them for shipping and prepare the space for the next day. The teams meet weekly to assess how employees are managing the stress of the job, and those sessions often give rise to new ideas.

One innovation is a YouTube tutorial for first-time customers. When a customer e-mails us, we send them the link to the website and include a link to the video that tells them how they can place the order, Correa said.

Avids approach to communicating has also helped lessen the impact of potentially serious, unforeseen problems. Last summer, a large shipment of orders was lost by the U.S. Postal Service in transit. Calls flooded the store, and booksellers quickly sent out replacement copies. With the books, Avid sent notes explaining what had happened, and respectfully asked customers to consider an optional payment for half the price of the book as well as shipping.

Correa said the vast majority of customers paid, and when the lost orders began appearing on doorsteps six months later, customers shipped the duplicates back, allowing Avid to recoup its losses.

Keeping the personal touch

Annie Philbricks three storesBank Square in Mystic, Ct.; Savoy Bookshop & Cafe in Westerly, R.I.; and the Title IX pop-up in New London, Ct.all share the same website, and online sales skyrocketed from less than $30,000 in 2019 to more than $300,000 in 2020. But though Philbrick has dedicated enormous employee time and resources to e-commerce, she still gets in her car every few months and drives 73 miles to Oxford, Ct., where she delivers boxes of books to two of her most loyal customers. To ship them would be a lot of money, she said. Its fine with me, and they are so appreciative.

Philbricks approach is not just limited to customers who place large orders, either. Independents are all about customer service, she said. If somebody wants a book and they live six, eight miles away, why dont I just bring it there? It often goes to New Jersey before it comes back to Connecticut if you ship it.

Philbrick has an e-commerce operation overseen by two employees that has steadily developed over the past year and now includes web pages meant to re-create the experience of browsing in the store. Their work has guided the enormous sales growth, and Philbrick is eager to continue refining the stores capabilities. Next on her list is taking up the complex challenge of merging the stores point-of-sale systems with ABAs IndieCommerce. Though each new step requires effort, she said it also opens up the chance to engage customers with the personal touch she values most.

E-commerce is here to stay

Many bookstores have books shipped from publishers to their stores and then send them out to customers, in order to add a note or other personal touches to each order, but Brooklyns Greenlight Bookstores flipped that approach on its head. Greenlight regularly sends digital communications to customers, which allows it to outsource much of the fulfillment process. The store entered the pandemic with a robust website and social media presence, which it deepened over the past year by adding high-profile online author events, offering signed books, and encouraging customers to preorder.

But while signed books are shipped directly from the store, and in-store pickup is available, all mailed orders go through Ingram. That approach frees up time for e-commerce manager Shauna Westgates direct-to-home team to keep track of orders, while the stores booksellers and social media team focus on bringing customers in with personalized engagement.

On the back end, the process is not without its challenges. The hardest part about it is the shipping costs, Westgate said, explaining that, for instance, if someone placed an order for five books, three might ship from one Ingram warehouse, while the other two ship from two different warehouses. But she was able to work that out, she said, because the store has a firm handle on its e-commerce operation.

Westgate believes e-commerce is now a permanentand significantpart of Greenlights long-term financial success. I think people are obviously going to come back to the store to shop, she says. People miss shopping and browsing. But I dont see the [online] numbers slipping. I think e-commerce is going to continue to be strong and probably grow.

Correction: An earlier version of this article mis-stated the name of Gibson's Bookshop.
Nine civilians and three policemen were killed on Saturday in an armed attack on a convoy of the former leading body member of Myanmar's self-administered zone, reported Xinhua.

At least nine civilians and three policemen were killed in an armed attack on a convoy of the former leading body member of Myanmar's self-administered zone, read a statement released by the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Service Office.

The convoy led by U Khin Maung Lwin, a former central executive committee member of Myanmar's Kokang Self-Administered Zone, was attacked by a group of 20 members from the National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) on the way from Lashio to Laukkai, capital of Kokang Self-Administered Zone in Shan state on Friday afternoon, according to the statement.

The statement also informed that the attack killed nine civilians and three police personnel, and injured eight civilians and five police personnel.

Meanwhile, the military recently extended the suspension period of its operation against the armed groups to February 28, reported Xinhua.

is already in turmoil since February 1 when the military staged a coup d'etat against Aung San Suu Kyi's democratically-elected government.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A murder investigation is underway in Eufaula where a man was killed in a shooting on Friday night.

Eric Russaw, a 48-year-old from Eufaula, was declared dead at the scene by Barbour County Coroner Chip Chapman, according to a press release from the citys police department. Chapman didnt immediately return a call for comment on Saturday morning.

The shooting happened outside a business on Wall Street around 10:30 p.m., according to the press release from Eufaula police Chief Steve Watkins. Russaw suffered multiple gunshot wounds, according to the release, but the chief didnt name the business where the shooting happened.

A person who answered the phone at the police department said the chief wasnt available to speak to a reporter on Saturday morning.

Eufaula is a small Alabama city located about 85 miles southeast of Montgomery, near the Georgia state line.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call police at 334-687-1200 or contact an anonymous tip line at 334-687-7100.
Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

After more than a month away from social media, Hilaria Baldwin returned to Instagram Friday with a mea culpa about that whole allegedly pretending to be Spanish fiasco in December. She did not, however, offer further thoughts on why she had occasionally adopted a fake Spanish accent, gave interviews for outlets like Latina and Hola!, played down her upbringing in Massachusetts while emphasizing her familys travels to Spain, or, when confronted with the wealth of publicly-available evidence of her obscuring her geographical origins, refused to acknowledge that its at least a little weird she spent years crafting the persona of a native-born Spanish person. Nevertheless, Baldwin does say now that she feels sorry about the whole thing.

Ive spent the last month listening, reflecting, and asking myself how I can learn and grow, her post, accompanying a photo with husband Alec Baldwin and their children, reads. My parents raised my brother and me with two cultures, American and Spanish, and I feel a true sense of belonging to both. The way Ive spoken about myself and my deep connection to two cultures could have been better explained - I should have been more clear and Im sorry. Im proud of the way I was raised, and were raising our children to share the same love and respect for both. Being vulnerable and pushing ourselves to learn and grow is what weve built our community on, and I hope to get back to the supportive and kind environment weve built together.
Mumbai, Feb 6 : Actor Manoj Bajpayee on Saturday shared the news that he has commenced the shoot of his upcoming film Dispatch. The thriller tells the story of what goes in the underbelly of crime journalism.

Manoj posted a picture on Instagram from the set and captioned it: "Back to where it feels like home. Despatch commences shoot." The film is directed by Titli fame director Kanu Behl, and will be released directly on a digital platform. It is produced by Ronnie Screwvala and will be shot in London, Delhi and Mumbai.

Besides this, Bajpayee will also be seen in the second season of The Family Man, which is set for a summer release this year. The web series was earlier scheduled to release in February but has been pushed owing to undisclosed reasons.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has come up with a new way to decide where and when it will make investments intended to prevent its power lines from starting more catastrophic wildfires.

PG&E leaders said Friday that theyve developed a model to calculate the risk that any portion of the electric system could start a fire and, if so, how much destruction the blaze would cause.

The model looks at the density and dryness of vegetation, the landscape surrounding power lines, the amount of homes nearby and the number of recent outages along a particular circuit, according to the company. Analyzing those and other factors will help PG&E figure out where it needs to focus most on tree trimming, equipment upgrades and inspections, said Matt Pender, director of the companys community wildfire safety program.

It allows us to target much better, Pender said. Our old model allowed us to target down to a county-level kind of concept, and now were at the city level. Its just that much more granular in terms of where the risk is.

PG&E announced the model as it unveiled its latest plan to avoid power line-caused wildfires, a document the state requires all investor-owned electric utilities to submit each year.

The plan must still be reviewed and approved by regulators at the California Public Utilities Commission, who are expected to make a decision by June. Commission spokesperson Terrie Prosper confirmed in an email that the regulatory agencys Wildfire Safety Division has three months to review and approve the plan, and it can extend that period if warranted.

Its an essential part of the states efforts to avoid more disasters like the ones PG&E repeatedly caused in recent years  a track record so deadly and destructive that it prompted the company to file for bankruptcy protection and plead guilty to 84 felony counts of involuntary manslaughter.

PG&E emerged from bankruptcy last summer, but its under suspicion of causing yet another deadly fire, the 2020 Zogg Fire that killed four people and destroyed more than 200 homes west of Redding. Authorities are investigating whether a PG&E power line started the fire.

The company touted its new risk model as the centerpiece of its efforts to prevent fires this year. But the plan includes other measures too, such as adding 300 more weather stations to monitor dangerous conditions and installing 135 additional high-definition cameras to spot new fires when they occur.

The utility plans to have 1,300 weather stations and 600 cameras by the end of next year.

Noah Berger / Special to The Chronicle 2020

PG&E also intends to conduct more rigorous tree-trimming efforts along 1,800 miles of power lines this year, aiming to create even more space between vegetation and electrical equipment in fire-prone parts of the state.

The company further plans to invest in costly upgrades  including stronger power poles and covered or buried wires  across 180 miles of line. Thats a little more than half the area PG&E covered in a similar effort last year, a change that Pender attributed to the company spending money more wisely thanks to the new risk model.

Our bang for the buck is much higher, he said.

But some critics are not convinced.

Focusing on tree trimming and preemptive power shut-offs is a fundamentally flawed approach, said April Rose Maurath Sommer, the executive and legal director of Wild Tree Foundation.

Their focus continues to be, as far as I can tell, what are the two least-effective techniques for decreasing wildfire ignitions from utility infrastucture, Sommer said. More effective and cheaper would be using covered conductors, or covering bare wires with plastic she added.

About 171 miles of high-risk wires and equipment were hardened in 2019 by putting them underground or adding insulation, the report said. The company plans to complete another 180 miles this year.

Sommer said the progress was far too slow to make a difference.

More important is if the preventative work is being done where it will have the most impact, said Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network consumer group.

We continue to have a concern that PG&E in particular has not done a sufficient job in cutting down or trimming the trees that need to be cut down in the locations that they need to be, Toney said.

In all, PG&Es fire prevention plan is projected to cost $10 billion over two years, according to the company. Pender said the core components of the plan cost about $6 billion of the total and the remainder reflects a change in what PG&E is required to report to its regulators.

Interactive Vaccine Tracker: Latest developments Detailed information about the coronavirus vaccines as it becomes available.

Prosper said the state PUC has made changes to its wildfire plan requirements, including guidelines to make them more consistent and easier to evaluate. She added that the agency does not direct utilities to pursue specific programs to prevent fires.

PG&E isnt asking for rate increases as part of the plan it submitted to the utilities commission. Some of the money will come from funds regulators have already signed off on; the rest will be included in future requests to the commission, Pender said.

The company will continue to turn off power this year when the weather is extremely dry and windy. Though such fire prevention shut-offs have been highly controversial, PG&E insists they are a necessary if last-ditch measure to prevent wind from damaging power lines and sparking yet another disaster on the companys watch.

PG&E has also been criticized for using diesel generators to keep the lights on during shut-offs. The company said it would be looking for other sources to provide power when it does shut-offs, but the plan did not offer many specifics on those alternatives.

The utility estimates that about a third of its overhead power lines and other equipment is in areas more prone to fire. The pandemic has pushed more people out of cities and into rural areas, a trend which PG&E said could mean more people living in fire-prone locations.

Last year, PG&E set out to make its fire prevention blackouts affect one-third fewer customers than they would have under the same conditions in 2019. The company exceeded its goal, narrowing the shut-offs by 55%, Pender said, adding that crews also restored power 40% faster.

He said the company does not currently have a similar goal for 2021. Though PG&E is still trying to improve the shut-offs, the opportunity for such a huge improvement is shrinking, he said.

PG&Es shut-off program may be affected by the actions of U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who oversees the companys probation stemming from the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion. In light of the Zogg Fire investigation, Alsup is considering imposing new probation conditions on PG&E that would force it to account for vegetation conditions near power lines when deciding whether to cut electricity.

Alsup held a hearing on the matter Wednesday but didnt make a decision. He followed up with orders Thursday and Friday that directed further responses from PG&E, including to new changes he proposed. Alsup scheduled another hearing for March 9.

J.D. Morris and Chase DiFeliciantonio are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com, chase.difeliciantonio@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris, @ChaseDiFelice
GARDAI are investigating a shooting incident at a halting site in Limerick city this evening.

Emergency services were alerted shortly before 8pm after a number of shots were fired. The area near the entrance to the halting site on Childers Road has been sealed off and full investigation is underway.

"Gardai at Henry Street attended the scene of shots fired at a location on Childers Road, Limerick this evening at approximately 7.45pm," confirmed a garda spokesperson.

"No damage was caused to any property and no persons were injured," she added.

There is a strong garda presence in the area this Saturday night and a motorbike has been seized and removed from the area.

Investigations are continuing.
Nokias 5.4 was reported this week to arrive to the US soon and the phone was already on sale in Colombia. A new listing on Flipkart confirms the 5.4 will be arriving to the Indian e-retailer soon. Two short teaser videos are hosted on the phones landing page as well.

The first video teases the 5.4s camera capabilities and attractive finished. The Nokia phone will feature quad-cameras consisting of a 48MP main camera, a 5MP ultrawide, a 2MP macro, and 2MP depth sensor. Just below the camera ring theres a fingerprint scanner. Theres also a 16MP selfie camera around front. At the front is a 6.39-inch IPS LCD screen with 720p resolution and a punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera.

The second video teases the phones battery life. Theres a 4,000 mAh battery here, combined with the phones power-efficient Snapdragon 662 chipset. The phone comes in 4GB and 6GB RAM configurations with either 64GB or 128GB storage options, but its still not known which will be available from Flipkart.

The Nokia 5.4 launched in December with a price of 189. In addition to North America, India, and Asia, the phone will also arrive to Middle East and African markets.

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In the cinematic world of "Space Sweepers," the universe is divided into two different worlds in 2092, when Earth is nearly destroyed by pollution. Courtesy of Netflix



What will Earth be like in 2092? Will everyone have fair access to cutting-edge technology that allows for a peaceful and pollution-free environment?



Director Jo Sung-hee, who has created fairy tale-like films such as "A Werewolf Boy" (2012) and "Phantom Detective" (2016), pictures a slightly pessimistic future of Earth and humanity in his fourth feature "Space Sweepers."



In the cinematic world of "Space Sweepers," the universe is divided into two different worlds in 2092, when Earth is nearly destroyed by pollution.



A group of upper class people live in a new clean habitable world in outer space, where key components that allow habitation, such as air and light, are sophisticatedly controlled by the UTS Corporation, a company that created and manages the artificial world.



On the other hand, the hopeless Earth remains home to the majority of people without the means to escape to UTS' new "island."



Hence some of the lower class "tellurians" go out into space and survive on scavenging space debris.



Among them, a junk collecting crew on board the shabby spaceship Victory  Captain Jang (Kim Tae-ri), pilot Tae-ho (Song Joong-ki), engineer Tiger Park (Jin Seon-kyu) and the humanoid robot Bubs (Yoo Hai-jin)  are outstanding in snatching crashed space shuttles or discarded satellites. They outperform rival junk collecting ships from other countries.



Captain Jang, a mysterious former pirate, is charismatic enough to lead the three other misfits who each have their own conspicuous past histories. Tae-ho, a former leader of UTS' special forces command, is a skillful, quick-thinking pilot, and Tiger Park is a fighter and former member of a drug trafficking syndicate. Bubs is a military robot that can think and act autonomously.



But the quartet's stellar quests hardly produce sufficient profits. Their peanut income is offset by spacecraft rental costs and repair and maintenance expenses.



During a routine space scavenging chase, the ragtag crew comes across a young girl who possesses sought-after mysterious powers and makes plans to use her as a bargaining chip to obtain a fortune. UTS also seeks out the girl for a confidential project to build a new habitable world on Mars.



From this point on, the storyline of "Space Sweepers" seems to follow a generic Hollywood sci-fi action film formula with a fairly predictable ending.



But its imaginative visualization of space battles and life in the artificial utopia and space stations succeeds in seizing the imagination of viewers.



In particular, big-budget visual effects technology effectively renders enthralling battles in space with speedy movements of spaceships and laser blasts filling the screen. Spectacles of space cruiser explosions, bursting into huge balls of fire, are depicted in intricate, high-definition imagery.



The computer-generated robot character Bubs, produced through motion capture acting by seasoned character actor Yoo Hai-jin, is also well developed with its own unique vibe, as if it really exists somewhere in outer space.



The overall acting of the cast is also well absorbed into what is arguably the country's first bona fide space blockbuster film, with no flaws in their performances.



Song is cast perfectly as Tae-ho, who lives in despair after losing his daughter and being fired from the UTS command. Kim appears to be in her element playing a spaceship captain, a role that is traditionally taken by actors with bigger and stronger physiques.



Given that the space blockbuster genre is traditionally dominated by Hollywood studios with Western actors, watching Korean astronauts playing a Korean card game and eating Korean soybean stew in space are uniquely entertaining minutiae in "Space Sweepers."



It is a shame though that eye-catching battle scenes and images of detailed spacecraft interiors can't be enjoyed on the big screen with well-rounded sound and music. Viewing is limited to smaller screens such as televisions or smartphones via Netflix.



The film was originally set for a theatrical release last summer, but its distributor decided to take it to Netflix after several delays due to the protracted COVID-19 pandemic. "Space Sweepers" is currently available on Netflix. (Yonhap)




Cordarius Stewart is one of the new names on the program at Cal-Expo and has made a nice impression with his drives, including back-to-back victories behind Velocity McSweets at the head of the filly and mare pacing ranks.

The 26-year-old explained that he actually drove his first winner at the tender age of 13 at the fair tracks in his native Mississippi.

You could say I was born into the sport through my father, Stewart related. There was a point where I would go to school and then head to the track to train and drive my horses.

Stewart eventually worked his way to Chicago when he was 19, recording his first recognized win when he guided Chili Beach to victory at Balmoral Park. Ill never forget that night, because it was 5 degrees (Fahrenheit).

Stewart was actually away from the sport from 2013 until 2017, when he returned to action on the Illinois circuit. He was competing at Hawthorne this winter when racing secretary Robin Schadt suggested he give California a try.



Cordarius Stewart guides Full Of Laughs to victory at Hawthorne Cordarius Stewart guides Full Of Laughs to victory at Hawthorne

I made the trip out here in my car not knowing what to expect, but its worked out pretty well so far and I plan to stay through the end of the meet and then go back to Hawthorne, which opens in early May.

Stewart has been teaming extremely well with the classy mare Velocity McSweets, who has roared from behind to account for the last two Distaff Opens. If you look, youll see I actually win most of my races from the off the pace, so I love driving this mare.

Top trotters, pacers clash at Cal Expo

Pondas Prospect, fresh from a smashing coast-to-coast score at the top rung, and the classy Allmyxsliventexas get another chance to settle the score in Saturday nights co-featured $7,200 Open Pace.

The outstanding program will also see track record holder Pridecrest and Silverhill Volo squaring off the in the $7,400 Open Trot, while Velocity McSweets set her sights on a third straight victory in the $7,200 Filly and Mare Open Pace.

A seven-year-old son of Shadyshark Hanover, Pondas Prospect competes for Dandy Farms Racing, Kouchis and Leonard with Luke Plano training and driving.

Nick Roland has been in the sulky for the last two outings for the Plano trainee, crushing a softer group two weeks ago as the odds-on choice and then coming back last time to put a similar shellacking on the best pacers on the grounds.

Sent off the 3-1 second choice in that affair, Pondas Prospect took immediate control of the contest, carved out the fractions without challenge and came home in :27.2 to seal the deal in a 1:52.2 tour that saw him prevailing by four and a half lengths.

Allmyxsliventexas will be gunning for some revenge after suffering his first loss in six appearances at this meeting while being parked the mile from his outside post and paying the price in the lane.

The eight-year-old Hi Ho Silverheels homebred carries the banner of Wayne and Rod Knittel with Bob Johnson the conditioner and Jacob Cutting will handle the lines from the outside post in the field of seven.

Allmyxsliventexas kicked off this meet with five straight trips to the winners circle, including a clear-cut victory in the December 11 Dave Goldschmidt Pace. In three of those scores, he was leaving from the demanding No. 10 post position.

(Cal-Expo)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 13:43:34|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- China's pivot towards domestic consumption-driven growth with the process of opening up will inject more growth momentum into global economic recovery, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday.

"China's recovery translates into positive spillovers, especially for economies that are connected through commodity exports and other avenues of global integration," Georgieva told Xinhua at a virtual media roundtable with Washington-based reporters, adding that it's a positive development for both China and the world.

China was the only major economy to register positive growth in 2020 with a rate of 2.3 percent, but its growth was "still not entirely balanced" because most of it was driven by public investments and other forms of support, Georgieva noted.

"So gearing its growth more towards domestic consumption is something that China will pursue throughout the years, and continuing with the process of opening up, especially in the financial services, will help China inject more growth momentum into the rest of the world," she said.

According to the latest update to its World Economic Outlook (WEO), the IMF projected China's economy to grow by 8.1 percent in 2021, amid a partial and uneven global recovery.

"This year we face the risk of great divergence. The path to recovery is uneven," and that unevenness can translate into substantial problems for the world in the years to come, Georgieva said, noting around 50 percent of developing countries will be diverging rather than converging, facing a risk to fall further behind.

"That would be not only a setback for living standards in these countries, but it would make it so much more difficult to bring stability and security for them and for the rest of the world," she warned.

The IMF chief stressed that the world faces "massive global challenges" and they do require all countries, including the United States and China, to work together.

"We just spoke about climate ... It has to be a collective effort," Georgieva said, welcoming China's commitment to striving to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

"China also can do a lot in its international engagements to support that same transition to climate resilience and low carbon in the rest of the world," she said.

As China has emerged as a major world creditor and developed its own vaccines, Georgieva believed that collaboration from China in the areas of debt sustainability and access to vaccines is also very important.

"It is very important that China joined the common framework, and together with everybody else in the G20, to make sure that we can prevent countries from virtually collapsing because of unsustainable debt levels," she said. Enditem


District 1 Councilman Roberto Trevino spent the night in his field office ahead of a planned abatement of a homeless encampment on the premises Friday morning.

Around 6:30 a.m. Friday, Dellview area residents and activists showed up at the office at 1310 Vance Jackson Road, expecting city crews to remove an encampment of unsheltered people. Earlier this week, the city cleared a homeless tent camp beneath Interstate 37 downtown displacing more than 80 people. The decision stirred controversy within the city which was evident Friday, but removal crews never showed up to the District 1 office.

Trevino said the abatement ordered by City Manager Erik Walsh was not coordinated with his office. Since he was unsure what time crews would show up, he decided to spend the night in his office Thursday to be prepared to advocate for the people allowed to camp on the property through an outreach program started last summer.

RELATED: Greg Brockhouse enters San Antonio's mayoral race

"I was already working late, I figured I'd just stay here to see if it happens," the councilman said.

Trevino said Walsh called to notify him of the cancellation. He said the encampment, which he estimates was made up of three to four people, did not warrant a work order. Trevino called the move a "serious waste of resources."

"I just think we can do better, these sweeps further point to the fact that we need to invest our resources into ways to help these people, not simply drive them out of an encampment and not knowing where they are going to go," Trevino added. "I think we need to put more in on this and address the emergency right in front of us."

RELATED: San Antonio residents raise a tidy financial gift for hardworking paleta man

The outreach program, with specialist Jaime Nicholson, at the helm, started in July and has helped find housing for 30-40 people. Trevino said his staff does not feel unsafe with homeless people on the property. Along with finding shelter for those seeking assistance, he said the initiative is a "tremendous success" in building a relationship with unhoused individuals, but change is not going to happen overnight.

Meanwhile, area residents have voiced their frustrations surrounding the encampment to local media and in online neighborhood groups. A Facebook page dedicated to Dellview Area Neighborhood Association is a running list of rebukes for Trevino's move to offer outreach at the office.

These neighbors are afraid, Ernesto Salinas, the president of the Dellview Neighborhood Association, told the San Antonio Express-News. This property is not suited for this.

Trevino has not yet filed for reelection. The deadline to file for the May 1 city election is Feb. 12.

Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye

The city of Sacramento is considering a proposal to install a large Black Lives Matter sign in a local park, the Sacramento Bee reported.

Local resident and woodworker Zach Trowbridge, who is white, designed the sign, which is 17 feet across and just under six feet tall. It features the names of hundreds of unarmed Black people who have been killed by police. Initially, there were 347 names painted on the sign, and over time, Trowbridge has had to paint more names.

The sign, which has moved around Sacramento, may see a temporary new home at McClatchy Park, located within the historically Black neighborhood of Oak Park.

Trowbridge created the sign last June, just after George Floyd was killed, as a way to honor him and those who were killed by police. He says that Floyds death inspired his push into anti-racism work, something he was not active in prior to the incident.

He eventually donated the sign to the Anti-Police Terror Project, an activist organization, which moved the sign around to different locations during the Black Lives Matter protests last summer. One location was Curtis Park, a predominantly white neighborhood. The sign's installation was an act of protest, said Asantewaa Boykin, a co-founder of the Anti-Police Terror Project.

There is an outpouring of community support to place the sign in McClatchy Park, even after the sign was damaged last July, when the word Black was broken into pieces. Support has come from city officials, including Councilman Jay Schenirer, who represents the area. He has been involved with the project since summer.

Sacramento overall is a progressive city. I think were thoroughly cognizant of the issues this represents, and I would hope that people would want to support it, said Schenirer. Its a political sign, no question about it, but I do think its important for the neighborhood itself.

Residents in the area were also enthusiastic. [Members] were absolutely ecstatic to have it placed in our park. Emphasis on our park, Gracie Phillips, president of the Oak Park Neighborhood Association, told the Bee.

Schenirer says that he hopes the City Council will review and approve the proposal by the end of February.

Read the full story here.
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Just over halfway through the school year, Meridian Public Schools Superintendent Craig Carmoney feels Meridian students are doing a remarkable job with their studies under the circumstances.

"Given the circumstances and the challenges that the students in this community have faced, theyve done an incredible job of maintaining focus," Carmoney said on Friday. "Our students are happy to be at school and have done very well this year despite the challenges. Students are resilient and they just seem to be moving along."

Nine months after the mid-Michigan dam failures and catastrophic flooding in the Meridian area, Carmoney noted that many residents in the Meridian school district are still a long way from recovering.

"We know several families are still displaced and living in temporary housing or with relatives," Carmoney said. "We certainly are a long way from being restored in the community. We lost almost 400 homes in this district, with 90 of those being completely destroyed. I dont think anybody would (doubt) that these are long-term issues for us."

Virtual learning update

The percentage of Meridian students learning virtually has decreased significantly since the start of the school year, the superintendent said.

"The good news for us is that we are down to probably just over 10% of our students that have not returned to in-person learning," Carmoney said, adding that this percentage was in the high teens in the first semester. "We've had almost half of the students that started the school year virtual return to in-person."

How big of a role virtual learning will play in the next school year remains to be seen, he said.

"We're still going to have to assess that as we get an idea of what our families are going to request down the road. It's too soon right now to make those decisions," Carmoney said. "But the hope that most schools have is that were going to serve most of our students through in-person learning."

In terms of first-semester grades for virtual students, Carmoney stressed that they don't tell the whole story.

"Grades tell us a little bit, but the skills that students acquire are often a lot more important than grades," he said. "If you were to ask educators what's more important, grades or skills, its the skills that are most important for students to acquire. And it's difficult to do that type of assessment (of skills) when youre not seeing students face to face."

With that being said, Carmoney acknowledged that grades overall for virtual students, as he had expected, were not as high as those for in-person students in the first semester at Meridian.

"It's safe to say that, as expected, the performances from virtual learning do not look like what we are seeing from in-person learning, especially at the secondary level," he said. "And what I've heard from my colleagues in other districts is that what were seeing is consistent with other schools."
WASHINGTON  President Biden, spurred on by a lackluster January jobs report and Democratic support for his $1.9 trillion economic aid proposal, said on Friday that the economy was in need of urgent help and that Republicans should either get on board with a robust stimulus package or expect his plan to pass without their support.

I believe the American people are looking right now to their government for help to do our job, to not let them down, Mr. Biden said. So Im going to act, and Im going to act fast.

His remarks at the White House came only hours after the Senate endorsed the presidents $1.9 trillion stimulus package along party lines, and over unified Republican opposition. Vice President Kamala Harris cast her first tiebreaking vote to approve a budget blueprint, 51 to 50, that will allow the proposal to move forward. The House quickly followed suit on Friday, passing the budget resolution 219 to 209.

House committee heads and Democratic leaders met on Friday morning with the president at the White House to discuss legislative strategy. Afterward, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it was her goal to have a bill approved and moved to the Senate within two weeks. Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, the majority whip, told reporters that the package absolutely had enough Democratic votes to pass the House.
Ford is embracing digital technology, and talking about it loudly, in an effort to catch up with both Tesla and General Motors. The new approach is boosting the stock, but rising expectations dont come for free.

The big news in Fords fourth-quarter results, reported after the bell Thursday, was a massive acceleration in technology investments. Just over four months into the job, Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley pledged $22 billion through 2025 to electric vehicles and the digital technology involved in connecting them to the internet, as well as $7 billion to autonomous driving. This was after the company on Monday inked a far-reaching partnership with Google also centered on connected" vehicles and the reams of data they will produce.

Mr. Farley promised more detail in the spring, but hinted that the company might invest in battery production, as GM has done through a partnership with South Koreas LG Chem. The car industry is currently struggling to produce as many vehicles as it would like because of a global shortage of semiconductors; Ford cannot afford" to face the same problems with batteries, Mr. Farley told analysts.

GM CEO Mary Barra shifted her primary focus from cost-cutting and efficiency to investment and growth last yearthe same move Mr. Farley is now making. The difference is that GM had already tidied up its once-sprawling global empire and improved profitability before changing gears. After years of cost problems, Fords core U.S. business is still in the repair shop, raising the question of how it will fund technology investments of $29 billiona sum equivalent to almost two-thirds of its market value.

The good news is that 2020 will almost certainly mark the trough for Fords profits, which have fallen for three consecutive years. The company has just started selling a new version of the F-150, its most important product, and a credible competitor to Tesla in the all-electric Mustang Mach-E. Later this year comes the much-anticipated new Bronco sport-utility vehicle. The company expects between $8 billion to $9 billion of adjusted operating profit in 2021, up from $2.8 billion last year, though its guidance excluded a potential hit of at least $1 billion from the current global chip shortage.

Ford stock is up 29% year to date, in line with GM after years of underperformance. Individual investors have been heavy buyers of both stocks this year, according to data provider VandaTrack. This weeks Google deal in particular prompted a wave of trades, suggesting Ford is starting to receive something of the tech halo accorded to GM last year. Even so, Fords valuation remains cheap relative to sales. As long as the new models deliver on their turnaround promise and Fords margins improve, there is probably scope for further gains.

The long-term picture remains much murkier. Detroit has as much to lose as to gain from the new automotive technologies. The Google agreement hints at the promise of a high-value data business in the distant future, but for now Ford has lots of real money to spend on innovations that are shaking up competition. The more excited investors get about Fords nascent EV business, the less room Mr. Farley has for missteps on a journey fraught with risk.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.)

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Oregon is poised to dramatically expand an addiction treatment system that already consumes millions of dollars each year with no clear results.

Oregonians passed Measure 110 last fall to take drug users out of jails and put them into clinics. That could move thousands of people into a system already clogged and lacking evidence its effective, an investigation by Salem Reporter found.

For years, Oregon has had among the highest rates of substance abuse in the country. Federal estimates indicate more than 332,000 Oregonians are substance abusers, based on surveys about drug and alcohol consumption.

Alcohol abuse accounts for the bulk of that, but Oregon ranks first among states in painkiller abuse and second in methamphetamine use.

State government spends about $236 million per year to prevent or treat substance abuse. About 63% of that is for addiction-related care through the Oregon Health Plan.

Last year, that meant some type of drug treatment for about 48,000 Oregonians. It doesnt include the total spent by individuals or private insurers.

Yet treatment providers, state policymakers and the ballot measures supporters agree too many Oregonians currently battle addiction on their own and too often die before they receive the treatment they need.

Local treatment providers and state policymakers say theres little data gauging whether the programs work. There is virtually no tracking to see if the Oregonians who get treatment reduce or stop their drug use, improve their health or achieve other goals.

Its really a black mark on Oregon, said John Fitzgerald, a licensed counselor and addiction specialist. He authored a 2019 state Criminal Justice Commission report for the Legislature about the states treatment system.

Of state spending on addictions, just 3% goes to preventing alcohol and drug abuse.

Oregon has one of the worst prevention systems in the country measured by dollars spent, said Mike Marshall, executive director of Oregon Recovers, which advocates for improving addiction treatment.

The cost to Oregon of substance abuse is staggering, with billions spent to deal with the effects of addiction such as children neglected or abused by their parents and law enforcement, court and jail costs for crimes triggered by drug use.

A state report last year put the annual cost at $6.3 billion dollars  equal to 16% of all state spending, or about $1,482 per Oregonian per year.

Helping people cut down or stop their drug use would cut those costs. It would mean fewer children placed into foster care because their parents cant care for them, fewer people treated in the emergency room for overdoses and fewer people killed in car crashes caused by impaired driving.

Three in five Oregon voters in November approved Measure 110 to make Oregon the first state to reduce penalties for the possession of small amounts of drugs and offer more people a way out of their addictions.

The new law designated a portion of Oregon marijuana tax revenues be spent on building a more robust treatment system. That share would be about $91 million a year based on a state forecast. The intent is to treat addiction as a health matter rather than a criminal concern, investing in grants to expand treatment and referral centers.

It would take the roughly 4,000 Oregonians each year arrested for possessing a controlled substance and refer them to a hotline and eventually an assessment center. They would face treatment instead of a criminal charge. Those who opt not to get assessed would face a $100 fine.

Although supporters of the measure want dollars released now, legislative leaders say they need time to craft an overhaul and expansion of the states current treatment system. That means Oregonians newly referred to treatment starting this week will flow into an already overburdened system.

The biggest success, I think, of 110 is decriminalization, said Reginald Richardson, director of the state Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission. But in terms of creating a system where people can get more treatment, which is what was advertised, thats absolutely not whats going to be happening.

Richardson and local treatment providers say any improvement in the treatment system depends on how legislators implement Measure 110.

Tera Hurst, executive director of Oregon Health Justice Recovery Alliance, which advocated for Measure 110, said Oregon hasnt seen what it looks like to have an adequately funded system to address substance abuse. She said many of the systems flaws stem from a lack of money and addressing that problem is the first step in fixing the system.

Hurst, whos in recovery, said there is some unfounded fear that the measure will in fact reduce addiction services.

I get frustrated because theres a lot of this talk: This isnt going to change everything, she said. Build it and be patient. Nobody is saying this is going to change everything overnight. Systems dont change overnight.

She said there are providers in the state who are having to lay off half their peer mentors or close recovery houses because of economic impacts due to Covid, so additional funding is an immediate need.

Hurst said theres ample evidence the current system of court-mandated treatment and criminal charges doesnt work, yet some fear what will happen if theres change.

We know one system, it doesnt work. But people like to feel like it works, because what does it mean if it doesnt? Hurst said.

Tim Murphy, executive director of Bridgeway Recovery Services in Salem, supported decriminalizing drugs but opposed the measure because it lacked specifics around treatment. He said, however, that turning legislators toward overhauling the states system where there has been little political will to do so in the past is positive.

Im really optimistic and hopeful, Murphy said.

How Oregon got here

When he worked at Bridgeways detox facility in Salem, Josh Lair got used to telling people to wait.

Clients, shaking with chills or feeling feverish, would tell him they wanted to stop using heroin or methamphetamine.

Lair knows what thats like.

Hes been sober for a decade after years of meth and alcohol abuse and spent three years at Bridgeway as a recovery mentor, helping others get treatment.

When someone walks into detox ready to change their life, he said its important they get help right away. Many live with family or friends who also are addicted to drugs or alcohol, so residential treatment, where they can get a clean break from their lifestyle, is best.

But Lair said every day, hed call treatment facilities around Oregon only to find there was no space available anywhere for a needy client.

I had to tell people, Hey, weve called every single treatment facility and youre on the waitlist, he said.

That wait was often months, he said, and it was common to see people back in detox.

Theyre still battling and struggling with addiction, Lair said. Theyre not able to be successful with stopping their use on their own. They need to gain the skills.

A decade ago, addiction treatment in Oregon and most of the U.S. was harder to find and less often covered by insurance.

Nicole Corbin, addiction treatment, recovery and prevention services manager at the Oregon Health Authority, said treatment services were scarce, particularly for people with public health insurance like Medicaid.

Addiction was largely seen by society as a moral failing rather than a health issue and was disconnected from the rest of the states health care system, she said.

Often, it happened in jail or it didnt happen at all, Corbin said.

That changed in 2014, when the state expanded Medicaid and health insurers were required to pay for treatment of mental health and substance abuse.

Suddenly, nearly all low-income Oregonians could get health insurance that until then they had gone without. By 2018, Oregons Medicaid enrollment had grown by 59%, adding 400,000 people, a large share of them adults.

Still, stigma about drug addiction shaped how treatment was provided. State reports say addiction care remains poorly integrated with other parts of the health care system, particularly mental health treatment.

While health care reform in Oregon has made earnest gains in the physical health sector, behavioral health services for substance misuse, (substance use disorders), and mental health have languished due to an inconsistent, fractured, and reactive funding environment that inhibits the development of a continuum of care, according to the strategic plan issued last year by the state Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission.

The most readily available service now is outpatient care, where a patient sees a counselor and attends group sessions.

Bridgeway Recovery Services treats more people struggling with addiction than any other organization in the Salem area, and operates the only local detox and residential treatment center.

Murphy said Bridgeways residential programs are suspended during Covid, but the detox center remains open, serving about 20 people each day.

There, people who have used drugs or alcohol in the past 72 hours can get both medical help and counseling as they manage symptoms of withdrawal. Its the most expensive and labor-intensive treatment option, with Medicaid paying about $810 a day.

The goal is for clients to leave detox after about a week with a plan for treatment, Murphy said.

During that time, counselors and mentors try to determine why people are abusing in the first place.

Its not the heroin youre using. Its Why are you using heroin? Its not the alcohol youre consuming. We can help you stop using alcohol but if we dont actually get to the root cause of why you are drinking at that level, youre going to find other ways to medicate that suffering, Murphy said.

He said about one in 10 clients come from the criminal justice system. The rest reach out to Bridgeway on their own.

Murphy said Bridgeway has a good relationship with the countys parole and probation department with mentors from his agency visiting prison to find out the needs of people getting released.

They meet that person on the day of release and bring them into the community, coordinate care with a parole officer, with housing, he said. Theres a lot thats going on between behavioral health and corrections thats really positive.

But Murphy said theres a growing understanding that people dont get better in jail if they have a mental health issue or chemical dependency. He said people are more likely to succeed in recovery when they are willing to go into treatment, rather than going to avoid prison.

The better option is to give people treatment of their own volition, he said.

Murphy said he doesnt yet know how that will change under the expanded system, but anticipates fewer people coming in for treatment initially because theyll no longer be sent through the judges mandating treatment. He said he doesnt know if the shift will lead to more people coming in over time.

Marion County is the other major local provider, treating about 1,360 people in 2020 through its public clinics, according to clinical supervisor Teri Morgan.

The county provides outpatient care, where people meet with counselors individually and in groups, and medication-assisted treatment for people addicted to heroin or other opiates. That program gives participants a controlled dose of methadone or buprenorphine, opioids that alleviate withdrawal symptoms for people physically dependent on the drugs, allowing them to work through their addiction in counseling at the same time.

Those programs typically have space available, Morgan said. If the county determines someone needs more extensive care, they are referred to Bridgeway or another provider.

But getting into that more expansive care can take weeks, and many programs have closed their doors or cut down on beds during the pandemic.

Residential beds are super limited, especially during Covid, and waitlists are super lengthy, Morgan said.

Another complicating factor is that even now, treatment centers face staffing shortages.

Addiction counselors on average earn less per hour than their counterparts in mental health, state reports have found.

That remains a barrier to expanding treatment.

Were competing with Starbucks and right now Starbucks is winning, Richardson said. He means the comparison literally. He said hes aware that some rural addiction treatment centers struggle to retain employees after the coffee chain opened a nearby store, where the pay and benefits are comparable or better.

We have people who are working in the addiction field who still get food stamps, Richardson said.

Lack of data

Two years ago, a state commission assessed the states treatment system  the one now braced for dramatic expansion. The findings werent good.

No reliable outcomes data exist ... on the effectiveness of treatment, or how well the services worked to reduce clinical symptoms and enhance quality of life, the state Criminal Justice Commission reported.

And, the report found, it was hard to document that treating addictions helped reduce crimes that had to be handled by police, jails and courts.

Without systems to track expenditures and measure treatment outcomes, the statewide plan will be challenged in knowing which intervention pathways will lead to the desired goals, the report said.

State Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said hed like better information so the state can identify models that work.

He said the 2019 report was the first step toward making improvements.

A lot of the stuff we want to get information on we just dont have the means to know where we stand because the data just isnt there, he said.

Richardson said there isnt agreement among treatment providers or people in recovery about what are the measures of successful substance abuse treatment. Programs have different goals.

Narcotics Anonymous, for instance, emphasizes abstinence from alcohol or drug use. Richardson said that theres a growing focus on reducing, not eliminating, harm as a goal, such as getting people to use less often or in lower amounts.

Bridgeway tracks how long clients stay in its programs and if theyve returned multiple times. Murphy said theres no way to track if a client relapsed and received treatment elsewhere.

Bridgeway recently started more deliberate tracking of patients who volunteer after treatment. Useful results are expected in about a year.

Last year, the Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission issued a five-year plan to fix gaps in the state treatment, prevention and data collection.

The plan recommended recruiting community organizers to work on reducing drug use, particularly among young people, training more health care providers on helping their patients reduce drug use and identifying which Oregonians are not receiving care now.

But there is no money to advance, Richardson said.

There has not been the will of leadership in our state to do that, he said.

He said the lack of progress stems from many factors: Oregons two-year budget cycle, which makes longer-term planning a challenge, and a treatment system spread between several government agencies.

Ultimately theres no one in charge. We dont have a czar and they have the final word, Richardson said.

Marshall with Oregon Recovers said the state needs more robust recovery plans.

He cited a federal report that found keeping someone in recovery for five years reduces their chance of relapsing to 15%.

Theres no other chronic health condition where you can make that level of investment and see that return, Marshall said.

Prozanski said he wants to consider treatment systems that work both in Oregon and other states, reform Oregons system, and then hold providers accountable for results.

He said Oregon needs to ensure people arent just in a revolving door and continue to commit criminal offenses based on an addiction.

The Legislature, he said, has to decide how to allocate the new funding for those results. He cautioned that will take longer than the measures Feb. 1 formal start date.

Everything isnt going to be able to happen with a flip of a switch, he said.

Hurst equated the coming infusion of cash for substance abuse programs with careful feeding of a starving person.

People are saying things like: Well we need to have a strategic integrated plan. You cant write a plan when youre starving. Lets feed the system a little bit as were getting up and running, she said.
The much-anticipated South Korea's first space blockbuster film "Space Sweepers" just launched on Netflix, giving viewers a one-of-a-kind a K-space adventure!

The film is made in a futuristic setup, where it's already in the year 2092. Here, the earth is no longer habitable. Small populations are starting a new life and builds home in outer space using high-end technologies. The human race was separated into two classes, which are the UTS and non-citizens in the working class.

The "Space Sweepers" Crew Launches Their Space Adventure

The story follows the crew of the spaceship named "Victory" who lives off salvaging space debris. These space workers are in the lowest class in the society and will do whatever, even dangerous tasks, just to earn money.

The spaceship crew includes the pilot Tae-ho (Song Joong Ki), ex-space pirate Captain Jang (Kim Tae Ri), spaceship engineer Tiger Park (Jin Sun Kyu), and reprogrammed military robot Bubs (Yoo Hai Jin).

While they are working in outer space, they discovered a child that they took from their spaceship. They eventually realized that she's a humanlike robot named Dorothy. She's known to be a weapon of mass destruction and she's the most wanted person by UTS Space Guards. The team then decided to ask for a big ransom in exchange for the girl. And their interesting space adventure starts here!

According to reports, it took 10 long years to conceptualize and produce the movie after director Jo Sung Hee heard a story from friends about space sweepers, that is, people who literally sweep debris scattered in outer space.

"Space Sweepers" Cast Members Share Their Thoughts about the Film

During the movie's virtual media conference for the Asian region, Director Jo Sung Hee expressed that there were plenty of things they needed to do during the pre-production of "Space Sweepers" compared to his other projects.

The director continued to reveal that the drama's main cast, Song Joong Ki, Kim Tae Ri, Jin Sun Kyu, and Yoo Hai Jin were all given their respective roles because of their huge interest in the overall uniqueness of "Space Sweepers."

In the interview, the main lead actor Song Joong Ki shared that he went on board the movie without even reading the whole script because of his close acquaintance with Director Jo Sung Hee. They have worked together in the blockbuster "A Werewolf Boy."

Kim Tae Ri also expressed his thoughts on the film and shared that, upon reading the script, she was instantly reminded of Hollywood SF films. So, for an outer space-themed movie to be made in Korea and be part of the cast is something she's very proud of.

For Jin Sun Kyu, on the other hand, who portrayed the role of an engineer of the spaceship, he had shot his scenes in a real engine room of a docked ship and he exclaimed that he was nervous and excited at the same time. The actor added that he feels like he's playing for the nation with the flag on his chest like an athlete. He feels like they are going out into space as representatives of Korea!

Lastly, Yoo Hai Jin, who had the most difficult part as Bubs the robot, expressed that he felt like they have done a great job on the movie.

"Space Sweepers" premiered on Netflix on Feb. 5. It streams across 190 countries on Netflix with English subs. So, what are you waiting for? Watch it now!

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: 6 Korean Movies to Anticipate in The Second Half of 2020

Kdramastars owns this article.

Written by Liza Parker
Uchechukwu Nweke, a 65-year-old hunter in Umuiyom, a community in Amanuke in Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State, has killed his 55-year-old wife, Patricia and son, Obinna, 29, and set his house ablaze.

Although the incident happened on January 28, 2021, the report came out hours after a man, his wife and daughter were shot dead in another part of the state.

Narrating the incident of the hunter, who also killed himself, Chief Charles Nnawude, chairman of the vigilante group in the community, said the hunter always had problems with his wife and children.

"I had intervened severally when the late Nweke brought cases of how his wife and children had been maltreating him.

"Sometime last week, he complained about how they beat him and chased him away from the house.

"I tried to reconcile them but it was not possible. The man left and went into the bush to stay.

He later showed me the wounds inflicted on him by his wife and children, using a knife. There were wounds all over him," he said.

According to Nnawude, when the man concluded the plan to carry out this act, he told his second wife to take her children and travel, but he did not give reasons.

It was when the woman left the community with her children that he executed his plan, he said.

Sampson Okoye, a neighbour, told Daily Trust Saturday that the man had been complaining about his wife and children.

According to Okoye, because of the severity of the last beating from them, Nweke sought medical attention as he sustained several injuries. He said the man had told him that he would do something disastrous.

"I heard gunshots about 3 am on Thursday, and a few minutes later, he came to me, complaining that his wife and children refused to release money for him to collect the lab test on the last beating they gave him.

"I appealed to him to go back to his house so that in the morning the issue would be resolved.

"I didn't know that he had killed his wife and son. The man also accused his son of saying bad things about him," Okoye said.

He added that he had also tried to reconcile them, but since it was a family affair, he could not do much.

"It was a family matter, so there is a certain level you cannot push. Sometimes you advise people and they will accept, but sometimes they won't.

"They always beat the man. My advice fell on deaf ears," he said.

He advised families to always settle problems amicably and urged children not to take side with any of their parents when there's a misunderstanding.

Confirming the incident, the police public relations officer, Anambra State command, CSP Haruna Mohammed, said they received a report that a hunter in Amanuke allegedly shot his wife, son, burnt his house and killed himself in a circumstance yet to be ascertained.

He said police detectives attached to Achalla division immediately visited the scene and took victims to Uche Hospital, Isuanocha, where they were confirmed dead by a medical doctor.

Their corpses were subsequently deposited in the hospital's morgue while an investigation is ongoing.

Also speaking on the matter, Dr Onukwube Alex Anedo of the Department of African and Asian Studies, Nnamidi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, told Daily Trust that in Igbo culture and tradition, killing oneself and others is highly abominable.

Anedo, who specialises in Sino/Afrio culture and anthropology said, "It is a sin for one to burn his house, another person's house or somebody's farm. It is also a sin to kill oneself or another person."

He said anyone who killed members of his household, burnt his house and killed himself was normally thrown into the evil forest because if he was allowed to live, he would still pay by hanging himself.

He said such action was normally induced, either through spiritual or physical means.

He further said there was the need to find out what was responsible for such action and do some cleansing, adding that if nothing is done about it, calamity will befall the family and the entire community.

"It is advisable for the family members to go into inquiry through divination to find out why the man took such a decision.

"If they don't find out the cause and do the cleansing before his burial, it might bring further calamities to the family and community," he said.

He also said that what happened could be as a result of what happened in the past in the family that was not properly appeased, insisting that the incident was not ordinary.

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"Nobody is happy to die, even at extreme pains and sickness. Something is wrong somewhere," he said.

Asked why adherents of Christianity would be expected to make inquires through divination, he said the system was commonly practised among the people, but many pretend about it.

"People don't openly practise divination, but most of the people who profess to be men of God visit various centres at night in disguise. People are seriously indulging in divination secretly," he said.

A psychologist and lecturer in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Mrs Amaka Okafor, said it was not normal for any person to behave in such a manner.

According to her, the man could have some mental issues that were not detected, and as such, he could choose to act like that.

She also said another possible reason for such action may be that somebody had charmed him.

"No normal person can take the lives of his wife and son, his own life, and at the same time, burn his house. It is not ordinary.

"The man may have equally acted under the influence of diabolic manipulation from evil forces," she said.
1. What innovation opportunities has COVID-19 brought to Anchorage?

2. Has the crisis changed circumstances for innovation work at all?

3. What are some of the advantages of doing innovation work in a unique city like Anchorage?

4. How have you seen innovation and civic tech work evolve during your tenure with Anchorage?

Brendan Babb has been the chief innovation officer in Anchorage, Alaska , for more than four years, coming to the city after being part of a local civic tech group. For the majority of his time there, Anchorage received a Bloomberg Innovation Teams grant, which has given Babb a team of four to work with, as well as access to bleeding-edge civic tech trends.caught up with Babb in November to discuss innovation work during COVID-19, the singular nature of Anchorage and trends hes seen during his time in the role.Early in the pandemic, we were worried about personal protective equipment (PPE) and having enough N95 masks. All cities were worried about that, but Anchorage is farther away so things take longer to get here. Our supply channels are more complicated. Our municipal manager was interested in innovative ways we could come up with PPE. I asked people on Facebook if they had a 3D printer and whether they would be willing to help make medical equipment with it.We had about 50 people sign up. Then a doctor got in contact with me. He had experience with 3D printing and he had experience with N95 masks. We started experimenting with different masks and were able to eventually make 250 for medical professionals. I was just kind of a figurehead in it, but it was amazing to see volunteers quickly iterate on 10 different designs.One thing that has been beneficial is that because of emergency operation centers and everyone just pulling together  people from different departments being in the same room collaborating, as well as working with the health department and the state of Alaska  weve been able to do things that might have been more challenging or taken longer in the past.Anchorage is about 41 percent of the population of Alaska. Its similar to New York City, which I believe is about 42 percent of New York, but we dont have a borough above us. Were a municipality and then above us is the state. If we make something better than is available at the state level, one out of two people will be in Anchorage, and it will benefit them. Theres a unique capability there.Ive been here a little over four years as the innovation officer, and weve had a Bloomberg Innovation Team since about six months after I got here. Its been interesting. Weve used a lot of human-centered design, and weve worked with behavioral insights. One change is that here in Anchorage people are thinking more about how to use a service. Everyone has good intentions when they get into government. They want to help people, but after theyve been there a while, they know things so well that they dont understand what it would be like to, for example, file for property tax extensions for the first time. We did a behavioral insights project with that.One thing Id like to do a better job with in civic tech  and Ive seen other cities do this  is list what types of problems were trying to solve with our open data. The early phase was open data for the sake of open data, which was good, but now I see an evolution where hackathons are targeted around data sets and a specific direction, like addressing COVID solutions or achieving equity.
JERUSALEM  The International Criminal Court on Friday determined that it has jurisdiction over the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, despite Israels insistence to the contrary, opening the way for an inquiry into allegations of Israeli, and Palestinian, war crimes in the region.

The ruling by the I.C.C. in The Hague came six years after the office of the courts chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, began a preliminary investigation of Israeli actions in the territories, including during the devastating 50-day Gaza war of 2014.

The precedent-setting decision, coming more than a year after Ms. Bensouda asked the court to confirm its jurisdiction in the area, was hailed by Palestinian leaders and human rights organizations as a step toward justice for the victims. It was excoriated by Israel as a contentious political move without valid legal basis.

Today the court proved once again that it is a political body and not a judicial institution, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said in a statement. The court ignores real war crimes and instead persecutes the state of Israel, a state with a firm democratic regime, which sanctifies the rule of law, and is not a member of the court.
Kate Jones is rumoured to be making a comeback to politics to help federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese recover from the partys trouncing at the 2019 election.

A veteran MP and former high-ranking minister in the Palaszczuk government, Ms Jones retired from state politics in the lead-up to the October election to spend more time with her young family.

Kate Jones, who retired from state politics in September, is rumoured to be making a comeback. Credit:Getty Images

Mr Albanese would not speculate on Ms Jones rumoured return during his visit to Brisbane on Saturday, saying it was a matter for her and the party.

Kate Jones is a friend of mine and I think she is an outstanding Queenslander, Mr Albanese said.
A man who imported over 19,000 of cannabis with the intention of using it himself as pain relief has received a fully suspended sentence.

Llyod Pennant (60) was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 2000 and is unable to take injections to treat his condition when his blood pressure drops below a certain level.

Pennant with an address at Bridge Street, Dundalk, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to importing drugs at Terminal 2, Alexandra Road, Dublin Port, on June 4, 2019.

He also pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis for sale or supply at the same address on the same date. He has 16 previous convictions, including convictions for deception, using a false instrument and possession of stolen property.

Garda Paul Osbourne told Michael Hourigan BL, prosecuting, that on the date in question, Pennant was stopped by customs officials having disembarked from a ferry and searched. The accused told the officials that he was carrying cannabis.

The cannabis was discovered in his hand luggage in two separate bags. The total value of the cannabis was 19,800.

Gda Osbourne agreed with Oisin Clarke BL, defending, that his client told customs officials that he collected the drugs himself in the UK and his intention was to use them himself. He agreed Pennant said he had MS and had gotten the cannabis for that reason.

Mr Clarke said his client was a UK national who was born in London, but has resided in Ireland for some time. He said his client has spent five months in custody on this matter.

Counsel said his client was diagnosed with MS in 2000, but his doctors believe he has had it for longer. Pennant also has kidney difficulties and his kidneys are currently operating at 17% efficiency.

Mr Clarke said his client had been receiving injections to treat his MS, but he cannot take them when his blood pressure drops below a certain level. He said his client had been using the cannabis to alleviate the pain and would have used up the cannabis he got from the UK in five or six months.

Judge Martin Nolan said it was 'reasonably believable' that Pennant was going to use the drugs for self-medication. He said his stay in prison would be 'very difficult' if he imposed a sentence.

Judge Nolan said this was "an exceptional case" principally because of the accused suffering from MS. He said he thinks Pennant needs "proper medical treatment in a non-stressful situation".

He sentenced Pennant to four years imprisonment, but suspended the entirety of the sentence on strict conditions.


Hilaria Baldwin broke her silence and apologized after the drama and controversy concerning her heritage unfolded in December.

In a recent social media post, Alec Baldwin's wife shared a picture of them and their kids, explaining how she has been "listening, reflecting and asking" herself how she "can learn and grow" since her absence.

On Instagram, Hilaria revealed that her parents raised her and her brother with two cultures, so she felt like she has "a true sense of belonging to both" American and Spanish cultures.

The bilingual mother of five apologized, hoping that she should have been "more clear" about having deep connections to both cultures.

She and Alec are raising their kids "with the same love and respect" for American and Spanish cultures.

Moving forward, Hilaria said, "Being vulnerable and pushing ourselves to learn and grow is what we've built our community on, and I hope to get back to the supportive and kind environment we've built together."

Hilaria Baldwin's Spanish Heritage

As it turns out, a few of Hilaria Baldwin's online profiles previously said that she was born in Mallorca, Spain.

Many social media users claimed that her birth name is Hillary Hayward-Thomas and that during her childhood, she didn't have a trace of an accent at all.

Hilaria Baldwin's Fake Accent Controversy

In December, the fitness instructor received backlash when social media users alleged she falsely claimed to have Spanish roots and a Spanish accent despite being born and raised in the U.S.

It only took one Twitter user calling her out, saying: "have to admire Hilaria Baldwin's commitment to her decade long grift where she impersonates a Spanish person."

From there, the 37-year-old's life imploded as numerous videos resurfaced, including one of her pretending to know what the English word for cucumber was on Today.

In an Instagram video, Hilaria first addressed the controversy, confirming that she was born in Boston and that her real birth name is Hillary.

"I was born in Boston and grew up spending time with my family between Massachusetts and Spain," she shared.

A few days after posting the said clip, she spoke in an interview with The New York Times, saying that those who are shaming her for being dishonest had been confused "in some ways by people misinterpreting" her.

She also admitted to being "a white girl," adding, "And let's be very clear that Europe, you know, has a lot of white people in them, in there."

Hilaria Baldwin's Husband

Meanwhile, 62-year-old Alec Baldwin stuck by his wife's side throughout the whole scandal.

A source revealed to People magazine that the actor has been "supportive and has tried to cheer her up."

Alec even took time off from social media because he was also getting a lot of hate for his wife.

The couple married in 2012 and they share five children.

See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles
(Global Times) Chinas Ministry of Education (MOE) issued a fresh warning on studying in Australia due to the recent anti-Chinese attacks in the country and the serious COVID-19 pandemic, a move that experts believe is prompt and necessary for the safety of Chinese students and also a result of the damaged and deteriorating China-Australia relations.





In the announcement issued on Friday, the MOE warned Chinese students to make a full risk assessment and consider carefully whether to go or return to Australia to study.

It noted that a series of vicious attacks on Chinese students that have happened recently in multiple places in Australia have posed a serious threat to their personal safety. The raging pandemic also makes international travel risky.

Australia once again became the first country that Chinas MOE warned against studying in for 2021, after the MOE issued its first warning for Australia in June 2020.

Experts said the move is an evident result of the recent China-Australia relations that have been poisoned by the Australian government and its media.

The Australian government's continuous attacks against China, which have been echoed by the media, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, has misguided the local Australian people to generate hostility toward the Chinese, Chen Hong, director of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University in Shanghai, told the Global Times on Friday.

There have been a growing number of reports of Chinese students being abused and beaten in Australia, apparently due to race, according to information provided by the China Education Association for International Exchange, a non-profit organization, to the Global Times.

In particular, there were such reports on three consecutive days in January. The attacks included physical abuse and verbal insults such as using racist words like "chigga."

The worsening discrimination problem that Chinese students face in Australia has reached an alarmingly high degree, Chen said, adding that the MOEs warning shows the responsibility of the Chinese government to ensure the safety of Chinese students studying in Australia.

He said that it can be foreseen that the Australian side might defend itself by saying that the reports of anti-Chinese attacks are only isolated cases in the country, and accused China of overreacting, just like what happened after China issued the warning in June 2020.

However, the intensity, frequency and severity of the discrimination that Chinese students are facing in Australia once again proves that it is necessary to warn the students and their parents to consider carefully going to the country to study, he noted.

About a dozen Chinese students in Australia reached by the Global Times also suggested Chinese applicants look at other countries considering the discrimination problem, the COVID-19 pandemic, visa restrictions and low-quality online teaching.

Education experts expressed support for the MOEs warning, saying that travel restrictions and an unfriendly China policy, as well as other uncertainties, have brought psychological pressure to Chinese students.

Qin Lin, an associate research fellow at China's National Institute of Education Sciences, told the Global Times that there are other alternatives for students to choose for overseas study, such as the UK and Canada.

She said the number of students going to Australia dropped sharply in 2020 and is not expected to improve much in 2021.

China is also the biggest source of international students in Australia. The data released by the Australian Department of Home Affairs shows that more than 220,000 mainland Chinese students were registered in Australia in 2020.


Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama will begin voting on unionization which would be a first for the e-commerce giant

Amazon workers at a large US distribution center will begin voting Monday on whether to unionize after labor regulators rejected a request by the e-commerce giant to delay the process.

Ballots will be mailed to workers at the fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama, and voting will continue through March 29, according to the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union conducting the drive.

Amazon had asked the National Labor Relations Board last month to reconsider allowing mail-in balloting, and instead require in-person voting.

"Amazon's blatant disregard for the health and safety of its own workforce was demonstrated yet again by its insistence for an in-person election in the middle of the pandemic," union president Stuart Appelbaum said in a released statement.

"Today's decision proves that it's long past time that Amazon start respecting its own employees; and allow them to cast their votes without intimidation and interference."

Amazon contended in NLRB filings that the bargaining unit of approximately 5,800 employees was "unusually large," arguing in-person voting would be more manageable.

"Our goal is for as many of our employees as possible to vote and we're disappointed by the decision by the NLRB not to provide the most fair and effective format to achieve maximum employee participation," Amazon said in response to an AFP inquiry.

Amazon had proposed an on-site election process, validated by specialists at guarding against Covid-19, so workers could vote before, after or during their shifts at the distribution center, the spokesperson added.

NLRB officials said in their order denying Amazon's request that there were no substantial issues in need of review and reasoned that the safety of all involved with the voting "is best served, at this time, by avoiding the type of in-person gatherings that a manual election entails."

Formation of a bargaining unit at Amazon facility in Alabama would be the first successful effort in the US to unionize workers at the major employer.

Amazon said it opened the distribution center in early 2020, offering health benefits and starting pay of $15.30 in a state where the legal minimum wage is less than half that amount.

Amazon is the second largest employer in the US with more than 800,000 employees, most of whom are "essential workers" who can't do their jobs from home, according to letter it recently sent offering to make its network part of the government's Covid-19 vaccination effort.

Explore further Amazon girds for challenge in warehouse union drive

 2021 AFP
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

A federal bankruptcy judge shot down a request by the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and its parishes to derail three lawsuits claiming church officials are shielding millions of dollars in assets to limit payouts to clergy sex abuse victims.

The green light by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma will allow the three lawsuits filed by attorneys for nearly 400 victims to proceed while church lawyers appeal directly to the 10th Circuit  a protracted process that could take a year or two and cost an estimated $5 million.

But it may not come to that.

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The mediation process is continuing and we hope this ruling will result in getting a consensual deal done (on a settlement of the case), said James Stang, a Los Angeles attorney representing the nearly 400 claimants who say they were abused as children by priests and other clergy in the archdiocese.

Archdiocese attorney Ford Elsaesser could not be reached for comment Friday.

But, at a hearing last week, Elsaesser told Thuma that four settlement offers had been exchanged in the past 60 days and were at the narrowest gap weve ever been between the settlement discussions that began approximately 14 months ago.

About two-thirds of the claims are fully or partially covered by insurance, he said, but there is no such coverage for the remaining 120 or so filed in the case.

Thumas ruling came more than two years after the archdiocese, the states largest, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization, citing financial losses from clergy sexual abuse cases and the prospect of more being filed.

Victims attorneys contend that, before the filing, the archdiocese transferred most of its property to its 94 parishes, with the intent to hinder, delay, or defraud its creditors (almost entirely sex abuse claimants), Thuma wrote in his ruling. Some of the assets were transferred to trusts or a savings and loan fund.

The victims in their lawsuits also are seeking determination that property to which the archdiocese still holds title, ostensibly for the benefit of the parishes, was in fact estate property subject to the bankruptcy action.

The archdiocese denies any fraud or ill intent in the transfers, which it contends was part of a reorganization effort. Last fall, an attorney for the parishes said the lawsuits had the potential, in many ways, to eliminate the Catholic church in northern New Mexico  a claim that victims attorneys deny.

But Thuma said in his ruling, the Debtor and the parishes have not carried their heavy burden of showing that they are entitled to a stay pending appeal.

He wrote that it didnt appear likely that the archdiocese would prevail at the appeals court in its attempt to reverse his decision last October that originally permitted the lawsuits to be filed.

Debtor and the parishes point to the expense of litigation as the irreparable harm they would suffer if the Court does not stay the litigation pending appeal, Thuma wrote. While the Court recognizes that the looming litigation expense is a real harm, the law is clear that litigation expense is not the kind of irreparable harm that justifies a stay pending appeal.

If the claims in the lawsuits have merit, they could be worth more than $150 million, making them by far the most valuable estate assets. If the claims lack merit, on the other hand, it would be an enormous waste of time and money to pursue them, Thuma wrote.

At last weeks hearing, Elsaesser said the parties agreed that Debtor has the cash needed to fund the litigation.

Thus, while litigation may diminish the value of the bankruptcy estate, it does not, at this point, threaten the assets of the estate, Thuma wrote.

At the hearing on whether the three lawsuits should be put on hold, Elsaesser said the sale of archdiocese assets have been slow, but thats not because the archdiocese is dragging its feet, as alleged by victims attorneys.

We understand that, in order to reach a settlement with the survivors, it will be necessary to sell virtually all Archdiocese real estate assets and virtually all of the non-essential assets of the parishes, Elsaesser said.

He added that there are properties that are not technically essential, in that they are not churches or schools, but they are properties upon which parishes depend for part of their income, and we recognize that in a resolution of this matter virtually all those properties must be sold.

Archbishop John C. Wester sent a letter last month to members of the St. Pius X High School community on Albuquerques West Side that the high school and nearby buildings used by archdiocesan staff may be sold to add to the amount available to victims in the bankruptcy case.

In its 2018 bankruptcy filing, the archdiocese said the ailing decades-old boiler system that heats the school and other buildings could collapse at any time, likely costing more than $3M to replace.
A 2019 Gallup poll found that though two-thirds of Americans believe global warming is caused by human activity, fewer than half of those polled worry a great deal about it or think it will pose a great threat in their lifetime. The reality of climate change may be accepted, but for many, the immediacy of the crisis is not.

Data-heavy, jargon-laden white papers on climate change hold little appeal for the average reader. Authors of forthcoming books meant for wider consumption, by contrast, are conveying the level of urgency through storytelling and real world examples meant to capture readers attention and inspire them to action.

Now, its personal

New books on the climate crisis seem less abstract, says Allie Merola, assistant editor at Viking Penguin, which is releasing Warmth by Daniel Sherrell in August. The writing is more grounded in how were coping with the reality, either on a personal level, a community level, or even a policy level.

Sherrells climate activism began when he was 18, and his work led to the passage of important legislation in New York, including the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019. In Warmth, he reflects on his decade-plus career, and ponders the feelings of ambivalence and burnout that he and others in the movement feel as their successes are dwarfed by the magnitude of the problem. He also discusses the quandaries faced by young people living in a warming world, including the ethical considerations around raising children who will bear the brunt of climate mistakes.

In Under the Sky We Make (Putnam, Mar.), Kimberly Nicholas, a scientist who specializes in climate and sustainability, discusses the fallacy that individual changes cant make an impact. Its not only businesses and corporations that have to take action and responsibilityindividuals who have high-emitting lifestyles also need to make personal changes, says Nicholas, who grew up in California and teaches at Lund University in Sweden. Like Sherrell, she addresses the emotional aspects of dealing with climate change: It can be scary and overwhelming, but facing those fears is important and empowering.

Icelandic writer Andri Snr Magnason, author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction, also finds the personal in the environmental. On Time and Water (trans. from the Icelandic by Lytton Smith, Open Letter, Mar.), his moving account, PWs review said, of the threat of climate change weaves in conversational anecdotes alongside facts about rising sea levels and ocean acidification.

Much of the book is about language, as Magnason wrestles with writing about a problem so great that it nearly defies description. He finds the best way to reach readers is by creating a story they can relate to, such as that of his grandparents, who were founding members of the Icelandic glacial research society. When you say the word grandmother, then peoples hearts open up, and they start thinking of their grandmother, he says. When people have become totally soft, then I can throw in the words ocean acidification when theyre off guard.

Eric Dean Wilson, an essayist and educator in Brooklyn, was prompted to write After Cooling (Simon & Schuster, July) when he learned that a college friend was making a living neutralizing CFC refrigerants, known commercially as Freon. In the book, a work of literary nonfiction, he traces the history of the once ubiquitous chemical and joins his friend on a road trip to learn where, and with whom, it ended up.

CFCs were used in a range of products including air conditioners and aerosols, and were later found to be the most prevalent cause of ozone depletion. Eventually, the Montreal Protocol of 1987 outlawed their production. Californias cap-and-trade program recognizes the process of neutralizing CFCs as a carbon offset credit, and those credits can be sold to companies that exceed their state-sanctioned pollution caps for the year.

Some of the last CFC refrigerants are found in vintage cars owned by hobbyists in rural America; Wilsons friend convinced the owners of these cars to sell them, and found that the connections he forged had a greater impact than simply neutralizing the CFCs. I realized that his real work was in talking to these people who are often seen as enemies of the environmental movement, Wilson says.

Weathering extremes

The impacts of climate change will be felt unequally across the globe, a theme emergency management expert Samantha Montano explores in Disasterology (Park Row, Aug.). Drawing from her experience managing disasters including Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, Montano highlights the impacts felt across communities. Regardless of the type of event, she says, we see disparities in who has the resources to prepare for disasters.

Montano emphasizes that climate isnt just a problem for the future; many places around the world, she says, are already becoming uninhabitable.

One acutely affected region is the Arctic, where, as a World Wildlife Federation study put it, Polar bears are the poster child for the impacts of climate change on species. In 2016, journalist Kale Williams wrote a feature for the Oregonian about Nora, one of the few polar bear cubs successfully raised in captivity. That story developed into The Loneliest Polar Bear (Crown, Mar.), which PWs starred review called an informative and heartfelt portrayal of the Arctic in distress.

In the book, Williams details how zookeepers at Ohios Columbus Zoo managed to raise the cub, an endeavor he compares to tackling climate changeboth are highly fraught processes, and theres no guarantee that the efforts wont be in vain. Fighting such a big amorphous problem is not going to yield quick and tidy results, he says of current threats to the environment. Despite that, if we dont do it, the consequences are going to fall on the shoulders of those who have historically been marginalized in our society.

In Paradise (Crown, Aug.), San Francisco Chronicle reporter Lizzie Johnson draws on her coverage of the 2018 Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in Californias history. It had the most profound effects on the town of Paradise. Neglected infrastructure caused the fire, and a flawed alert system contributed to the deaths of 85 people.

Life will never go back to normal, Johnson says of the surviving Paradise residents. They will never get their homes back, they will never get their town back, and their friends and family have moved far away. She urges readers to understand that the tragedy wasnt a one-off. As horrifying as it sounds, Paradise isnt going to be the last town that burns down like this.

The way forward

More people are interested in not just prevention of disaster but mitigation of it, says Priscilla Painton, editorial director at Simon & Schuster. Theres more of an acceptance that were going to have to live with a certain amount of chaos for some time.

Painton edited the recently released How to Prepare for Climate Change by CBS Sunday Morning science and technology correspondent David Pogue. Its a self-help guide for surviving in a changing environment, with tips on what to pack in a go bag, what kind of insurance to buy, and how to prepare for a drought, flood, or hurricane. More long-term, Pogue suggests the safest regions for permanent relocation.

Bill Gates, in How to Avoid a Climate Disaster (Knopf, Feb.), proposes changes not just at the individual but also at the policy level. Though not all of his ideas strike as politically feasible, PWs review said, he provides an accessible review of how global warming can be countered. Another policy-centered title, Overheated by New Republic staff writer Kate Aronoff (Bold Type, Apr.), delivers an urgent and persuasive study of the links between neoliberal economics and climate change, per PWs review. (See PWs q&a with Aronoff, The Time Is Now.)

Other authors focus on technological innovation, including Elizabeth Kolbert, whose Under a White Sky (Crown, Feb.) received a starred review in PW. The book surveys scientific interventions aimed at countering climate change. (See our q&a with Kolbert, Human/Nature.) Kolbert says that all forms of moving forward right now do involve some kind of technological change, a sentiment shared by Nathaniel Rich, author of Second Nature (MCD, Apr.).

In the future, people wont be scared of these new technologies, Rich says, in the same way we dont think about eating corn, rice, or other things that have been bred into their current form, and that dont exist in nature.

In what PWs review called a vividly reported survey, Rich asks readers to reconsider the idea of natural, and examines how nature can be manipulated to help sustain a world with rising temperatures and booming populations. One example he cites is lab-grown meat: Though many of us might recoil at the idea of eating a chicken breast grown in a test tube, he says, theres nothing natural about factory farming, and its one of the lead drivers of climate change. However, he cautions, many potentially beneficial changes will meet resistance from those who view intervention as inherently wrong. In a lot of these debates theres not a clear moral valence.

Rich and other authors acknowledge the difficult path ahead in adjusting to, and mitigating, a changing world. I dont think we will get to a place where we take on some of these larger questions politically, he says, until we grapple with them on a human level.

Zoe Ettinger is a writer in Brooklyn. Her work has appeared in the Independent, Insider, and elsewhere.

Below, more adult and childrens books on the environment & climate change.

Human, Nature: PW talks with Elizabeth Kolbert

In Under a White Sky (Crown, Feb.), the Pulitzer Prizewinning author discusses the technological innovations that just might be the planets salvation.

Money Isnt Always Green: Environment & Climate Change Books 2021

Forthcoming books examine the tension between environmental preservation and monetary gain.

Temperature Checks: Environment & Climate Change Books 2021

Less shopping, more sustainable action: authors urge the public to step up.

Small Acts, Big Impact: 2021 Environmental Books for Young Readers

We spoke with authors and editors of forthcoming biographies about the importance of narrative nonfiction to educate and empower kids and teens about environmental issues.

Teen Titans: PW talks with Loll Kirby

In Old Enough to Save the Planet, British primary school teacher and author Loll Kirby profiles 12 contemporary teenage climate activists from around the world, focusing on lesser-known stories and marginalized voices.

No Planet B: PW talks with Naomi Klein

Journalist and activist Naomi Klein discussed her new book, How to Change Everything, which aims to prepare children and teens to protect and reshape the planet they will inherit.

Speaking for the Trees: 'The Lorax' Celebrates 50 Years

To mark a half-century of publication, Random House and Dr. Seuss Enterprises are celebrating the environmental legacy of Seusss hero with special editions and more.
She officially confirmed her romance with new man Jack Padgett earlier this month.

And Ferne McCann has now made their relationship Instagram official as she shared a selection of loved-up snaps on Friday night.

The former TOWIE star, 30, put on a cosy display with her new beau as she dazzled in a stunning backless gold dress while lovingly gazing at her boyfriend.

It's official! Ferne McCann looked smitten as she shared loved-up snaps and made her relationship with Jack Padgett Instagram official on Friday

Another picture taken on her recent safari trip showed the reality star with her arms wrapped around Jack while they both posed next to a jeep.

Ferne exuded style in a pair of zebra print trousers and a tiny crop top which tied at the back in a bow while her love copied for a black vest and grey shorts.

The duo also showed off their playful sides as they posed in another snap holding out wine glasses, with Ferne flaunting her pert posterior in a semi-sheer trouser set.

She captioned her gushing post: 'Thank you for being the reason I smile'

Loved-up: The new couple looked besotted with each other as they posed for some snaps on their recent safari trip

Jack also returned the affections as he took to Instagram Stories, penning: 'It's official! Thank you for showing me what happy is...'

Ferne's reality star pals were quick to congratulate her on the new romance, flooding the comments with love hearts and kind words.

Leading the well wishes was TOWIE's James Argent, who wrote: 'This makes me smiles, you deserve this'

Love: Another image showed Ferne and Jack showing off their playful sides, with the former TOWIE star gushing 'thank you for being the reason I smile' in the caption

It comes after Ferne revealed on Wednesday that she and Jack are living together amid lockdown.

Speaking on Loose Women, the former TOWIE star detailed her experience of sharing her home with the model, telling the panel that it is 'strange and wonderful'.

Ferne had virtually joined Ruth Langsford, Brenda Edwards, Janet Street-Porter and Coleen Nolan to discuss her appearance on Celebrity Best Home Cook, but talk soon turned to her love life.

Explaining that Jack is now living with her and daughter Sunday, three, she said: 'We decided to do lockdown together which is a really big deal for me, ladies.

'I did lockdown one as a single woman and now I am living with a guy.'

Cosy: Jack returned his girlfriend's affections saying she's showed him 'what happy is'

Happy for them: Several of Ferne's reality star pals commented on the sweet snaps

Detailing her new experience, she explained: 'It is strange and wonderful and new all at the same time, so yeah, I am happy.'

The reality star also spoke about her having therapy and her initial 'embarrassment' at over seeing a therapist for the past few years.

She said: 'I always felt quite embarrassed to speak about the fact that I had been seeing a therapist for the best part of three years.

'I feel like there is a stigma in the UK attached to therapy, I almost felt ashamed, its like you have hit rock bottom or had a breakdown. For me that wasnt the case at all, I just wanted to better myself and speak to someone who was impartial.

Romance: It comes after Ferne revealed her relationship with Jack has stepped up a gear as she revealed on Wednesday that they are now living together amid lockdown

Exciting: Speaking on Loose Women, she detailed her experience of sharing her home with the model (pictured), telling the panel that it is 'strange and wonderful'

'It has been a really positive experience, especially in the lockdown. I committed to still having my therapy sessions over Zoom and I cant recommend it enough... If anyone is thinking about speaking to someone or having therapy I would say absolutely go for it because it has been a great experience for me.'

Last week Ferne confirmed her new romance with Jack and admitted that she's relieved to no longer go through the 'struggles of single life.'

The First Time Mum star told MailOnline she is officially off the market, after being pictured passionately kissing model Jack in South Africa last month.

In an exclusive interview, Ferne, revealed she's 'really excited' about her relationship and has enjoyed saying goodbye to life as a single woman in lockdown.

New experience: Explaining that Jack is now living with her and daughter Sunday, three, she said: 'We decided to do lockdown together which is a really big deal for me, ladies'

She told MailOnline: 'I have met someone. But it is early days and I don't want to divulge into too much information.

'We will see. I am excited, I am really, really excited about how this will go and how it will develop.

'Obviously I was single in lockdown so I knew the struggles of single life  it was like do you go on the apps? Am I going to meet someone randomly?'

Meanwhile, Speaking on FUBAR Radio's Access All Areas recently, Ferne admitted she and Jack have known each other for years and reconnected during lockdown.

'I am really, really excited': Last week Ferne confirmed her new romance with Jack and admitted that she's relieved to no longer go through the 'struggles of single life'

Chatting to hosts Bobby Norris and Stephen Leng, she said: 'I'm happy and it's very early days, although I've known him for years.

'I actually met him five years ago. In Marbs, would you believe it Bob. Of course, but yeah, it's early days and I'll just see where it goes.'

Ferne, who's a mum to daughter Sunday, three, has been single since May when she and New York-based boyfriend Albie Gibbs went their separate ways.

The former TOWIE star split from Sunday's father Arthur Collins, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for GBH and ABH, during her pregnancy.

Ferne told MailOnline in October last year she had been using celebrity-dating app Raya to meet her next partner  after turning 30 months earlier and asking herself: 'Am I going to be single forever?'

She said at the time: 'Turning 30 I had that whole moment where I'm still single as a female, when you're single at 30 you really start to question yourself and you think "am I ever going to find anyone?" This isn't what I planned.'
House Republicans are demanding Nancy Pelosi be given a taste of her own medicine and be fined $5,000 after she was allegedly seen breaking her own security rules at the Capitol.

The House Speaker is accused of ignoring the metal detectors she had installed outside the House Chamber in the wake of the January 6 riots, days after she fined two lawmakers for committing the same offense.

In a letter written to acting Sergeant at Arms Timothy Blodgett Friday, GOP members of the Committee on House Administration claimed Pelosi was seen entering the House Chamber Thursday morning 'without completing security screening.'

'What was observed was a clear violation of House Resolution 73 and you are required by House Rules to impose this fine,' they wrote, referring to the new House security rules.

'We are demanding she face the same fines as every other member of Congress,' they said in a tweet of the letter.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (pictured on Thursday) is accused of breaking her own security rules days after she threatened to fine lawmakers for the same offense

Republican members of the Committee on House Administration claimed Pelosi (pictured on January 12) on Thursday was seen ignoring metal detectors placed outside the House Chamber

A letter to acting Sergeant at Arms Timothy Blodgett was shared on Twitter by GOP members Friday. Republicans are calling for Pelosi be subjected to the same fines for the offense

The heightened security measures imposed at the Capitol building after the violent insurrection last month have become a point of contention between Democrats and Republicans after some members refused to comply with the rules.

On Tuesday the House voted to approve official regulations that would subject any lawmaker who refuses to go through the metal detectors placed outside the doorways of the chamber to hefty fines.

The resolution put into place fines of $5,000 for the first offense and $10,000 for the second. Every Republican lawmaker present voted against the measure.

Acting Sergeant At Arms Timothy Blodgett responded to the GOP's request Saturday saying he could not fine Pelosi without a report of the offense from Capitol Police.

'Only the USCP can determine whether an individual has failed to complete security screening,' Blodgett wrote in a letter shared by the committee on Twitter Saturday.

The House Republicans slammed the response saying: 'Just proves this new rule is being arbitrarily enforced & clearly does not apply to all members. It was put in place for political gain, not for safety.

'The SAA is appointed by Speaker Pelosi & once again, she is showing the American people that the rules do not apply to her.'

It comes after Republican representatives Louie Gohmert of Texas and Andrew Clyde of Georgia were reported this week to be the first members of Congress to be penalized for violating the rules.

The four-figure sum was docked from each of their $174,000 salaries, The New York Post reported.

Gohmert released a statement saying he plans to appeal the fine.

'Unlike in the movie, The Godfather, there are no toilets with tanks where one could hide a gun, so my reentry onto the House floor should have been a non-issue,' the congressman said.

'Since I had been complying with the metal detector requirement despite the Constitutional issue, I was surprised to receive a notice today stating that I had not complied with their policy and that I would be fined $5,000.

'I will be appealing the fine and taking whatever action is necessary, especially considering this policy is unconstitutional.'

Acting Sergeant At Arms Timothy Blodgett responded to the GOP's request on Saturday saying he cannot fine Pelosi unless he receives a report of the offense from Capitol Police

Reps Louie Gohmert (R-TX) (left) and Andrew Clyde (R-Ga) (right) became the first members of Congress to be penalized for breaking the rules

After the magnetometers were installed in building, several Republican lawmakers got into altercations with security officials as they pushed their way through the metal detectors, not stopping for an additional sweep after they set them off.

Lawmakers do not have to go through a security screening to enter the Capitol although staff and members of the public do so.

'It is beyond comprehension why any member would refuse to adhere to these simple, commonsense steps to keep this body safe,' Pelosi said in a statement Tuesday.

'It is sad that we have been forced to move forward with a rule change imposing fines on those who refuse to abide by these protections, but the People's House must and will be safe, so that we can honor our responsibility to do the People's work.'

Any lawmaker who violates the screening rule will be reported to the House Ethics Committee and has 30 days to appeal. The fine will be deducted directly from the lawmaker's paycheck.

Pelosi, in a letter to colleagues, called for greater security funding for lawmakers and said a 9/11 style commission would be needed to examine what happened the day of the riot.

Gohmert released a statement challenging the rules and said he plans to appeal the fine

Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene set off the detectors when she went through them and had to get wanded by U.S. Capitol Police on January 12

Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado has been adamant about wanting to carry her gun in the Capitol - above, left, Boebert goes through a metal detector outside the House chamber and, right, she speaks on the House floor

She also encouraged lawmakers, especially those in the House chamber on January 6, to record their experiences.

Pelosi wrote that she was 'establishing an opportunity for Members to tape their recollections through a video, especially those who were in the Chamber.

'It may be difficult for Members to share their stories, but it is important to facilitate an accurate personal record and for the healing process for our Congress and indeed, Country.'

The speaker berated armed Republican members of Congress last week as 'the enemy within' the House of Representatives.

Asked to specific who she meant by the enemy within, Pelosi forcefully responded: 'It means that we have members of Congress who want to bring guns onto the floor and have threatened violence on other members of Congress.'

She was referencing GOP Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who, before she was a member of Congress, liked Facebook posts that expressed support for executing top Democrats, including Pelosi.

The speaker also was referring to several Republican lawmakers who want to carry guns in the Capitol.

Republican Congressman Andy Harris of Maryland is being investigated for trying to bring a gun onto the House floor last week. Lawmakers are allowed to carry guns in their offices and on the Capitol grounds but they are forbidden from bringing firearms into the House chamber.

Republicans have objected to the new security measures and have argued they have the right to bear arms.
MUCH of the M20 Limerick to Cork motorway debate has been about which route will carve up County Limerick or is it better to upgrade the current N20.

However, one submission has been to reopen an existing stretch of road  and it can be done a lot faster than it will take a new road to be built.

Niall OCallaghan, chief executive of Limerick Enterprise Development Partnership (LEDP), has called for a reinstatement of an inbound access from the M20 Limerick Southern Ring Road to Carew Park Link Road.

In a detailed submission he writes of his concern at the continued absence and recognition with which the heretofore proposed M20 development ignores the urgent need for.

Mr OCallaghan supports the M20 because without a satisfactory motorway link Cork, Limerick and indeed the entire South West cannot realise their full potential. And the same can be said for the Southill area.

In giving the background, the former regional manager of IDA Ireland said in 2003, Carew Park Road was linked to the national roads network, but a new slip road built in 2007 linked Childers Road to the national network.

Although it was universally agreed at the time that this would be a short-term arrangement, the completion of the Limerick Tunnel in July 2010 resulted in this becoming permanent.

This has left Limerick City South regeneration communities effectively cut off from the national network. The Rosbrien Interchange (M7) in the southwest, in its current design, only allows for vehicular traffic coming from the west to access the Southill area.

Inbound access from the south (M20) or east (M7) to Southill is a crucial element of the regeneration process. This has severely restricted the viability and vitality of the Southill area. The Southill and Carew Park areas have been rendered invisible since, as a result of the introduction of the new Rosbrien Interchange to facilitate the Limerick Tunnel, wrote Mr OCallaghan.

The LEDP CEO says at a city-wide scale, Southill is a highly accessible location, strategically situated to present a new southern gateway to Limerick city. Mr OCallaghan said there is an opportunity to guide development towards the Childers Road.

All these future opportunities can only be realised with the first step of reintroduction of the inbound access from the M20. The loss of the inbound access has undoubtedly undermined the potential future viability of uses in the Regeneration area and contributed further to its severance, said Mr OCallaghan, who urged planners to make it a top priority.
Bangkok: The Australian government has serious concerns about Sean Turnell, an Australian economic adviser to Myanmars former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained by police.

Suu Kyi was overthrown in a military coup days ago and, in a message sent to the Reuters news agency on Saturday, he said he was being detained.

Dr Sean Turnell an associate professor in economics at Macquarie University, Sydney, Credit:File

I guess you will soon hear of it, but I am being detained, he said. Being charged with something, but not sure what. I am fine and strong, and not guilty of anything, he said with a smile emoji. He couldnt be contacted again.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said the Australian government was deeply concerned about reports of Australian and other foreign nationals being detained arbitrarily in Myanmar.

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Sinn Fein activists calling for a border poll stage a demonstration outside Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast in January last year. That debate, if and when it happens, must include a major contribution from border counties such as Louth, says John Mulligan

While most people have other priorities on their minds such as COVID, their job prospects and the education of their children, growing attention is being directed to the prospect of a border poll in Northern Ireland.

A number of factors have generated this interest within the political establishment and indeed newspaper publications with the 'Sunday Times' recently conducting a major opinion poll which showed that a majority of voters in Northern Ireland want a border poll to be undertaken in the next five years.

It is not an issue that consumes the population on this side of the border for people have a lot more pressing matters on their minds at present.

It is however an issue that is almost certain to surface in the next few years, particularly as there seems to be a growing problem surfacing in the UK concerning the future of the Union, with the spread of nationalist sentiment, particularly in Scotland and increasingly it seems in NI.

It may therefore by prudent for the Irish government if it can ever rid itself of the health and economic problems caused by the pandemic to start to put some plans together for dealing with the prospect of a border poll in the North.

That debate if and when it happens must include a major contribution from border counties such as Louth for there will be consequences in terms of political upheaval and economic factors that will directly impact on the people of this area.

The obvious consideration must be the reality that those in the North who favour breaking away from the rest of the UK would want not independence from London but a united Ireland.

But of course the Irish economy which is less than one seventh in size to the UK could not take the burden of the high spending where the population in NI enjoy the highest public spending per head in the UK, more than 15% above the UK average.

A united Ireland would therefore require a substantial dowry from the British Government to take on the financial burden of the North and that may not be easy to achieve.

These are just a few of the obstacles that would have to be cleared before any border poll can take place, but the interesting question remains: would the majority in the North vote to sever the links with London, and if such a poll is taken in the North should a referendum be held in the Republic at the same time to determine attitudes here to the prospect of a united Ireland.

Undoubtedly if an opinion poll was taken in the Republic tomorrow the majority would like to see their country united, but would it be reunification at any price ?

Interesting times, interesting questions.
It was a killing that shocked even those immune to bad news. Urantsetseg Tserendorj was leaving her job as a cleaner in Dublins financial district on January 20 when she was attacked. The mother-of-two died of her injuries on Wednesday. A 14-year-old boy has been charged with serious assault.

Her death came less than a fortnight after a 16-year-old schoolboy  who cannot be named for legal reasons  was fatally stabbed in nearby East Wall.

Then, in roughly the same north-inner city area, a doctor in his 30s was treated in hospital last week after sustaining several stab wounds in an afternoon attack. Gardai believe the assailant was attempting to steal his electronic scooter.

The harrowing effects of knife crime were also detailed in the Criminal Courts of Justice on Monday when a 28-year-old man was jailed for life for stabbing his 11-year-old nephew to death. The perpetrator cannot be named to protect the identity of the boy, despite the pleas of his mother for the law to be changed so that child victims can be properly remembered. The man inflicted 27 stab wounds on the child.

If knife attacks have been in the news with disturbing regularity in recent months, garda figures also show that knives are being used more frequently as weapons. Furthermore, many of those who carry blades are children and teenagers.

In the first half of last year, knife seizures increased by 13pc, despite lockdown. One in six knives were confiscated from children aged 12 to 17. The 2,145 knives seized by gardai in 2019  the most recent year for which figures are available  were up 33pc on 2017.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris met Justice Minister Helen McEntee on Tuesday to outline strategies to combat urban crime and knife culture. Tweeting that the commissioner had put a comprehensive policing plan in place in [Dublins] north inner city, McEntee confirmed that knife crime had been on the agenda.

We agreed that strong community engagement, increased community safety and youth services are a key element in preventing and reducing crime, she tweeted. We also discussed running outreach and information programmes in a number of different languages for all communities, as well as youth justice and other interventions.

The Irish Daily Star reported that a special anti-knife crime unit has been established and that it would operate from Store Street Garda Station. In response to questions from Review, the garda press office said We do not comment on material published by third parties. We can, however, confirm that, An Garda Siochana in the north inner city have initiated a policing operation in response to a number of recent incidents in the area. This will be led by gardai at Store Street station

The increase in knife attacks has caused considerable concern in north-inner city Dublin according to local councillors, inducing former Lord Mayor Nial Ring, who has called for more visible policing. But it is also a spectre that troubles community activists in other parts of the city.

Damien Farrell is concerned about significant anti-social behaviour in the Pimlico area of the Liberties where he lives. A lot of local people are intimidated by gangs of teens blocking stairwells in the flats. There have been fights happening. Delivery riders have been knocked off their bikes and robbed. Youve people who are afraid to walk down certain streets, he says.

Expand Close Community activist Damien Farrell. Photo by Mark Condren / Facebook

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Whatsapp Community activist Damien Farrell. Photo by Mark Condren

Although there has not been a knife crime in the area recently, Farrell says he has seen some teens carrying blades. I saw one young fella with a machete that was almost as big as he was. The worry is that if theyre carrying them, they could end up using them.

He says the changing language around violence suggests that knives are increasingly part of the culture. Before, if there was a row, someone would say Ill box the head off you, now its stuff like, Ill cut you, Ill slice you. Most of them dont even seem to be locals  this is a strong community  but theyre coming here from other parts of the city.

Fianna Fail justice spokesman Jim OCallaghan says an effective garda response to increasing knife crime is vital. Theres more violence, thats for sure, he says. I think a lot of boys and young men think that they need to carry a knife in order to defend themselves. Most of them who carry knives dont intend to use them but unfortunately, as weve seen in recent times, when a row develops, and if somebody has a knife, that knife is produced and with tragic consequences.

There are no simple solutions, but the first thing we need to do is to warn boys and young men about the dangers of carrying knives. If they were aware of the injuries suffered or the deaths caused by the use of knives, that would affect them in terms of the decision to carry a knife or not. We should be rolling out an education campaign on this to warn them about the danger.

Expand Close Former Fianna Fail justice spokesman Jim OCallaghan says an effective garda response to increasing knife crime is vital. Photo by Niall Carson/PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Former Fianna Fail justice spokesman Jim OCallaghan says an effective garda response to increasing knife crime is vital. Photo by Niall Carson/PA

OCallaghan says sentencing needs to be much more of a deterrent. I introduced legislation [a private members bill] to increase the maximum sentence that can be imposed for carrying a knife with the intent to harm. The present maximum sentence is five years; I propose it should be increased to 10 years. That in itself isnt going to stop the problem, but it would send out a strong message.

Fine Gael TD Neale Richmond says knife crime has become an unwanted phenomenon throughout Ireland. Its a major worry and its ever-increasing. The number of people being hospitalised by knife injuries is on the up too, he says. And there have been high-profile and very sad stories of people who have been victims of knife attacks, including in my own constituency [Dublin Rathdown].

Row over a bicycle

In May 2019, Azzam Raguragui, a local 18-year-old boy, died after being stabbed five times in a Dundrum park following a row over a bicycle. A 17-year-old boy was jailed for seven-and-a-half years last year.

In a victim impact statement, Azzams father, Abdul, said that he couldnt get the image out of his head of the killer on CCTV celebrating and high-fiving with friends after the fatal attack. In addition to losing my son in a heinous crime I also lost myself, my wife and two kids as we have never been the same, he said.

Richmond believes Ireland should look to Scotland for how to respond. Its a country similar in many respects to ours and they have had a lot of success in not just reducing knife crime but in changing the culture around carrying knives. A lot of it is to do with effective policing and knife amnesties, he says.

Limerick tried a weapons amnesty in the past, with some success, and its something we should certainly be looking at. Ive just had a conversation with Minister McEntee about how we can learn from Scotland.

In the early 2000s, Scotland  and Glasgow in particular  had an unenviable reputation as the most violent country in the developed world. A so-called booze and blade culture had resulted in several high-profile killings of teenagers. Young gangs took to carrying knives with them everywhere.

In 2005, Strathclyde Police set up a violence reduction unit with the express purpose of reducing knife crime. Stop-and-search operations were ramped up and prison sentences for knife-carrying more than trebled from four months on average to 13 months. The results were dramatic. Knife-carrying dropped by almost 70pc in a decade. While London became the knife crime capital of Britain, its incidence in Glasgow plummeted.

Dr Christine Goodall, a maxillofacial surgeon in Glasgow, co-founded Medics Against Violence in 2008. She had despaired of the number of young men and boys who were horrifically scarred by knife attacks. Too often, she says, children as young as 12 were on her operating table, and the slash wounds on their faces and neck would be there for life.

It was not a quick process, she says, but the main thing we did was to take a public health approach to the problem. That means its not just a problem that within policing or health or education or social services. Its something that everybody has to do together. The first thing you have to do is to acknowledge you have a problem  and some politicians, in particular, find that quite hard to do.

Gang problem

Goodall says primary prevention was key. Thats where youre trying to stop the problem from happening in the first place  so we did a lot of work in schools with young people. There was a terrible gang problem at the time and we were aware that young people were getting inducted into gangs from when they started secondary school. Many of them were coming from backgrounds where there was significant addiction and/or violence in their households.

We talked about the consequences of violence we had seen in hospitals. And were still going into schools to talk about those consequences  both physically and psychologically.

Other approaches were pivotal too. We realised that alcohol has playing a big part in this so we were trying to get people who had been hospitalised to cut down their drinking and not get into a violent situation again.

And we introduced a navigator programme  theyre support workers in hospital emergency departments  and they meet people who are really ingrained in complex social issues like addiction, violence and homelessness. The navigators worked with them intensively to move away from areas where there was a threat of violence.

Ultimately, she says, it was police, health, education and all these different factors coming together that helped reduce the problem, even if she is at pains to point out that knife culture has not gone away in Scotland.

James Doorley, deputy director of the National Youth Council, says it is concerning that knife carrying has been normalised among some young people. Anecdotally, you hear that they carry knives because they themselves feel unsafe. Its almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy: If everyone else is carrying one, I must too.

But while you can legislate and prosecute, you have to get to the root of the problem. Part of the reason there was so much success in places like Glasgow was because of the investment in outreach services. Ireland is crying out for more of that, but thats really challenging at the moment with Covid and a lot of youth workers at present are really struggling to engage with young people. Theyre doing really good work, but its much harder online.

Right now, he adds, everyone is out of the school environment and theres massive youth unemployment as well as no youth and sporting activities and those create extra challenges when it comes to trying to get to the root of knife crime.

Iain Brennan is a forensic psychologist from Mallow, Co Cork. He is professor of criminology at the University of Hull in England and has spent years studying trends including the increase in knife crime.

Theres a contagion effect, he says. The reasons people carry a knife are probably sown 10 years earlier in their lives  very often, kids involved in significant violence have seen violence early in their lives. And the research often contradicts the idea of fear as a reason for carrying a weapon. Its a symptom of the wider cultural violence in their lives.

Layer in peer influence at around 13 or 14  if theyre in the wrong peer group, its very hard to walk away from it.

Brennan says the easy, cheap availability of knives is helping to feed the problem. Sometimes these things just come out of nowhere and a sort of arms race develops. But availability is a real problem.

He says he understands calls from gardai to step up visibility and random frisking but he believes they have to do it very intelligently. He, too, uses the example of Glasgow as a model cities like Dublin can learn from.

They introduced [a style of policing known as] focused deterrence where they really targeted certain groups  in Glasgows case, gangs comprising teens. They brought them in for conferences with the police and basically said: If you dont stop, were going to pull every single lever we possibly can to make your life hell and you as a group of people need to work together to collectively pull out of this.

This focused deterrence  also called pulling levers  is one of the most effective strategies for violence reluctance in the United States. The thing is, you dont want to bring out focused deterrence until you need it. Its intensive and there possibly hasnt been a need for it in Ireland. Until now. But thats something the police will have to decide in light of the sort of things that have been happening in Dublin lately.
Microsoft on Friday announced that it will be suspending contributions for the duration of the 2022 election cycle to all members of Congress who voted to object to the certification of electors in the 2020 election.

The Redmond giant said that it will also be suspending contributions for the same period for state officials and organizations who supported such objections or suggested the election should be overturned.

We believe these steps are appropriate given the importance of these issues for the stability and future of American democracy, Fred Humphries, Corporate Vice President of U.S. Government Affairs, wrote in an email sent to the PAC community.

For those unaware, Microsoft had temporarily suspended some political contributions after the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th aimed to unsettle the certification of President-elect Joe Biden. The company said that it review whether to suspend further donations to individuals who voted against certification of the Electoral College and announce its decision by February 15th after completing discussions with its employees.

Microsoft on Friday said it decided to suspend PAC donations to Republican objectors after holding six listening sessions with employees to discuss the future of its political action committee.

The company also announced that its PAC, which is funded by donations from more than 3,000 employees, would create a new program called Democracy Forward Initiative to support organizations that promote public transparency, campaign finance reform, and voting rights. More details will be shared by Microsoft in the coming weeks on the creation of this fund and how employees can contribute to it.

Microsoft will also be promoting and joining a conversation with other businesses and organizations that want to strengthen democracy.

Recent events have raised issues of importance to PACs across the business community and companies across the nation, and we believe there is an opportunity to learn and work together, added Humphries.

Lastly, Microsoft announced that it would be renaming PAC [previously known as the Microsoft Political Action Committee (MSPAC)] to Microsoft Corporation Stakeholders Voluntary PAC (MSVPAC) to reflect the fact that it is funded exclusively by voluntary donations of Microsoft stakeholders  shareholders, employees, and family members  to support Microsofts business objectives.

Besides Microsoft, many other big companies such as Google, Facebook, AT&T, Amazon, Verizon, Comcast, Dell, Intel, Walmart, Disney, Airbnb, American Express, Best Buy, Marriott International, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Dow, MasterCard, and PricewaterhouseCoopers too have decided to indefinitely stop funding the members of Congress who sought to overturn the 2020 election.
Approximately 10 employees of retail outlets within Shaws department store in Wexford are to be made redundant, following the collapse of the UK fashion group Arcadia.

The staff are employed in Dorothy Perkins, Top Shop, Evans, Burton, Miss Selfridge and Wallis and are among approximately 490 Arcadia employees losing their jobs in Arcadia stores and concession outlets throughout Ireland.

The companies had been in liquidation since late November and had planned to continue trading while a buyer was being sought but Level 5 Covid-19 restrictions put paid to the plan.

'We had been involved in a consultation period with the liquidator and the hope would have been, that in that period, a buyer would have been found for some or all of the brands which would have allowed them to continue trading but regrettably that didn't happen,' said Betty Dillon of the Mandate trade union, representing the Wexford employees.

'There was no bricks and mortar buyer. There was speculation about online business and the brands being traded online but that would not have secured the jobs in the shops. It's very upsetting and very disappointing for the staff,' she said.

Due to the closure of the Irish retail sector during the ongoing lockdown, the employees are unable to apply for other jobs. 'It's the worst possible scenario', said Ms. Dillon.

The staff are due to receive two weeks statutory redundancy per year of service, with a number of the Wexford employees having worked for the company for many years.

The redundancy claims will be processed by the liquidator, Deloitte, and paid by the Department of Social Protection.

Following the appointment of a liquidator late last year, the companies had planned to continue trading, to maximise the value of the winter stock but that wasn't possible following Lockdown 3.

It was hoped that the Irish operations could be sold as part of an overall sale of the Arcadia group which employs more than 13,000 people in the UK.

The High Court was told that the Irish outlets relied entirely on Arcadia to trade and could not operate independently of the group as a whole.

The court heard the companies were unable to pay their debts for reasons including the insolvency of the Arcadia group . They had already encountered difficulties prior to 2020 for reasons including the shift to online sales, a high level of customer returns, increased competition and the Covid-19 pandemic, which had a catastrophic impact.

The Irish shops were closed for many weeks, seeing revenues plummet.

Because online sales were carried out through UK entities, they generated no income during the closures and made losses in the financial year to the end of August 2020.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pledged Friday that the United Nations will do everything it can to unite the international community and create conditions for the military coup in Myanmar to be reversed.

The U.N. chief told a press conference it is absolutely essential" to carry out the Security Councils calls for a return to democracy, respect for the results of the November parliamentary elections, and release of all people detained by the military, which means the reversal of the coup that took place."

It is absolutely essential that that moves forward, and for that, I believe, we need to have all possible areas of pressure to make it happen," Guterres said.

Myanmars military announced Monday on the eve of the meeting of the new parliament that it will take power for one year, accusing leader Aung San Suu Kyis government of not investigating allegations of voter fraud in the November elections, where its party did poorly. It detained State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party swept that vote, and other lawmakers, activists, journalists and members of civil society. The state Election Commission refuted the militarys allegations.

In its first statement on the militarys ouster of the government on Thursday, the Security Council stressed the need to uphold democratic institutions and processes, refrain from violence, and fully respect human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law." It also emphasized the need for the continued support of the democratic transition in Myanmar."

Guterres said Christine Schraner Burgener, the U.N. special envoy for Myanmar, had a first contact with the military since the coup on Friday and expressed the U.N.s strong opposition to the military takeover.

According to U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric, she reiterated to Deputy Commander in Chief Vice General Soe Win the secretary-generals strong condemnation of the militarys action that disrupted the democratic reforms that were taking place in the country."

Schraner Burgener also reiterated her call for the immediate release of all detainees and emphasized the need for progress on the safe and voluntary repatriation of the Rohingya refugees, Dujarric said, calling it an important conversation."

More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh since August 2017, when the military launched a clearance operation in response to attacks by a rebel group. The security forces have been accused of mass rapes, killings and the burning of thousands of homes. A year ago, the U.N.s top court, the International Court of Justice, ordered Myanmar to do all it can to prevent genocide against the Rohingya people, a Muslim minority.

Guterres said Schraner Burgener is also in contact with the Association of South East Asian Nations countries.

Brunei, which chairs the 10-nation regional group, including Myanmar, issued a statement Monday noting the blocs principles include the adherence to the principles of democracy, the rule of law and good governance, respect for and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms."

The statement encouraged the pursuance of dialogue, reconciliation and the return to normalcy in accordance with the will and interests of the people of Myanmar," but it made no mention of any action by ASEAN to take the lead in returning Myanmar to a democratic path.

On Friday, the leaders of Malaysia and Indonesia expressed concern about the military coup and asked ASEAN foreign ministers to hold a special meeting to discuss the issue.

Indonesia and Malaysia take the political situation in Myanmar seriously," Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said after meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Jakarta. This is a step backwards in Myanmars democratic transition. We fear the political unrest in Myanmar could disturb the security and stability in this region."

Widodo also said both countries remain concerned about the Rohingya issue, saying all ASEAN members must respect the organizations charter particularly rule of law, good governance, democracy, human rights, and constitutional government."

ASEANs members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Guterres said the U.N. is also in contact with the 15-member Security Council, which is in charge of international peace and security.

We will do everything we can to make the international community united in making sure that conditions are created for this coup to be reversed," the secretary-general said.

___

Niniek Karmini contributed to this report from Jakarta

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Some of my greatest insights  ideas that Ive been sure could expand our understanding of human nature and of our place in the world  have turned out to be, well, wrong.

Yet I persevere. Shortly, I will offer you a novel view of how the digital revolution has coarsened human interactions.

First, though, in the interest of transparency, Ill share a brief review of a couple of my favorite notions. I do hate to give up on some of these winning concepts.

Heres a good one: For many years, I espoused what I came to call the Theory of Constant Coolness. It has to do with my own demographic cohort, the Baby Boomers, who sort of took over the country due to our sheer numbers. People born from roughly 1946 to 1964 created the biggest population bulge America had ever seen; at the booms height, one of us was born every seven seconds.

For a while, everything was done to accommodate us. Schools were built, suburban neighborhoods expanded, black-and-white TV sets rushed off the assembly lines. At our insistence, youth culture was glorified: Our styles and tastes dictated what was cool, whether it was denim jeans (previously worn mainly by farmers) or long hair on mens heads and faces (which had been out of style for a century).

Grandly enjoying my place at the center of all this attention, and reasoning that Boomers would always be the dominant generation, I confidently asserted that whatever we did would always be considered cool. We had the numbers to dictate consumer trends, political choices and societal norms. We would be constantly cool because we could define cool.

This otherwise keen observation had but one flaw: It failed to recognize the inevitability of the Boomers offspring eventually being even more numerous than we were. Sure enough, Millennials surpassed Boomers last year as the nations largest living population group. Unsurprisingly, marketers are turning to them, and to Gen X, too. And cool is not always a function of numbers, it seems. My 25-year-old daughters hip musical tastes do not include anything created by anybody who remembers why The Ed Sullivan Show of Feb. 9, 1964, was huge.

So much for the Theory of Constant Cool. Even so, undaunted by the belated realization that my favorite original insight was flawed, I came up with another groundbreaking observation a few years later. It has been called the Mortality Reception Syndrome. Called that, of course, by the very few people who have ever heard of it until this moment.

Its based on the notion that with the rise of mass media  starting with televisions growth  the circle of people we might believe we know well would expand, owing to the many famous people in our faces constantly, thus changing some of our sensibilities. Among those: We would be less shocked and chagrined by human frailty, and even death, because it would confront us so routinely.

Consider this vital question: Ginger or Mary Ann? For a while, practically everybody knew that this referred to the female stars of Gilligans Island, a mid-60s sitcom. If you didnt need me to tell you that just now, you also know that Mary Ann, known in real life as Dawn Wells, died a few weeks ago. But everybody else on that show has also died, except for Ginger (Tina Louise, who is 86).

The Mortality Reception Syndrome posits that the demise of so many people weve come to know so well  know on screens, that is  would acclimate us to death in real life. You may debate whether or not thats a good thing. You know, maybe the fear of death makes us choose to live better. But the ubiquity of celebrity surely has changed things, dont you think?

Plus, the drama we see on screen constantly has rather inured us to the need to cope with its actual presence in our lives. Tragedy at hand? Next scene, please.

As you can tell, I havent quite given up on the Mortality Reception Syndrome, which may be why I was so intrigued by a recent letter from a reader that put forward a related notion.

Warren Garling, of Schenectady, suggested that its the fault of social media that we seem so dissatisfied with our lot these days. Whether its a Facebook post that suggests somebodys life is better than ours or an infuriatingly misinformed tweet, were nowadays confronted with more that might upset us, and were able to respond widely.

I submit that when we only had close friends or relatives to complain to prior to the internet, Warren wrote, society as a whole was much more civil. He didnt have a name for it, but Id say its the Digital Animosity Exacerbation Axiom.

Social scientists and psychologists who have studied the effects of social media use have tracked unhealthy outcomes ranging from excessive credit card debt to sleeplessness, low self-esteem and the so-called conformity effect  people changing behaviors to match what they see on Facebook. Id like to see if those researchers agree that it makes folks more grouchy outside the usual circle of friends and family who are just expected to put up with such behavior.

And while theyre at it, Id welcome a review of the Mortality Reception Syndrome. Im not quite done with it yet, even as Im forced to concede that my time to be cool has expired.

In late 2020 India conducted successful acceptance tests of MRSAM (Medium Range Surface-To-Air Missile) land-based air defense system. This weapon is based on the Israeli Barak 8 SAM (surface-to-air missile) system. MRSAM uses a mobile multimode radar similar to the one used for the Israeli Iron Dome. Each MRSAM battery contains one truck mounted command and control system, one truck mounted multimode radar and three 8x8 launcher vehicles each carrying eight missiles. The MRSAM missile has a range of 70 kilometers and the radar has a max range of 470 kilometers. MRSAM is being used by both the Indian Air Force for defense of bases and cities while the army is procuring MRSAM to operate with mobile units. The truck mounted launcher erects the missiles so they can be fired straight up, as does the Barak. The back blast of the launched missiles means components of the launcher exposed to this heat have to be replaced after about 60 launches. Launchers contain a communications mast which enables the launcher to be up to 20 kilometers from the radar vehicle. The launcher and command/control unit will be built in India while Israel will supply 2,000 missiles initially to equip army and air force batteries. Most of the missiles will go to the air force, which has to defend numerous urban areas and military bases from hostile jets, UAVs and cruise missiles. An advanced version of MRSAM is under development that will provide ballistic missile defense and the longer range (150 kilometers) missiles Israel has already developed for new Barak ER.

The 2020 acceptance tests came two years after the LRSAM (Long Range Surface to Air Missile) ship-based version of Barak 8 was accepted and put into production. This involved a $777 million contract to supply system equipment and missiles to install LRSAM on seven Indian warships. Each ship will receive the AESA radar, launchers and fire control equipment as well as an initial supply of missiles. Since 2016 India had placed two orders totaling over $1.6 billion for Barak 8 systems and missiles. More orders are expected because the Indian version of Barak 8 has proved effective and reliable, as did the Barak 1 India installed in 14 Indian warships since it was first ordered in 2000.

Barak 8 was developed from the Barak 1 missile which entered Israeli service in the mid-1990s as a short-range defense against anti-ship missiles and aircraft. The Barak 1 missile weighed 98 kg (216 pounds) each, with a 21.8 kg (48 pound) warhead. The missiles are mounted in an eight-cell container. The radar system provides 360-degree coverage and the missiles can take down an incoming missile as close as 500 meters away from the ship. The missile has a range of ten kilometers and is also effective against aircraft.

The basic Barak 8 is a larger 275 kg (605 pound) missile with a 60 kg (132 pound) warhead and a range of 70 kilometers. The warhead has its own seeker that can find the target despite most countermeasures. The missiles are mounted in a three-ton, eight cell, low maintenance container and also launched straight up. The compact fire control module weighs under two tons and was designed for easy installation on a ship.

Back in 2013 Israel first installed Barak 8 on three 1,075-ton Saar 5 class corvettes and had it operational by 2014. Thus Barak 8 was ready for action over a year before its scheduled 2015 service date. Israel is believed to have rushed this installation because Russia had sent high-speed Yakhont anti-ship missiles to Syria and Barak 8 was designed to deal with this kind of threat. Barak 8 is also Israels first air defense system equal to the American Patriot, and similar systems like the U.S. Navy SM-2, Russian S-300, and European Aster 15. An improved Barak 8 would be able to shoot down short-range ballistic missiles. And the Israeli manufacturer went ahead with that as well as the three different versions of Barak 8 as well as the Barak MX fire control system.

In 2014 India was still ordering Barak 1 for its ships and continuing work on its customized and much delayed versions of Barak 8. India had run into problems implementing changes for its naval version (LRSAM) and land version (MRSAM). Not surprisingly the LRSAM/MRSAM was behind schedule. This is the norm for Indian state-run defense firms. And theres not much India could do about it because Indian politicians and defense officials insist on Indians (mainly state-owned defense firms) doing modifications that Israel could have completed sooner and cheaper. It was all about India doing a minor bit of work on its version of Barak 8 that would enable Indian politicians to claim LRSAM and MRSAM are Indian developed and made. The Israelis go along with this because India is a big customer. A growing number of Indians, especially those in the military who are put at risk by all this, know what is going on and would prefer just getting it done as soon as possible. This is all about the persistent Indian problems with managing the development of military technology. The Barak 8 fiasco began in 2006 when India and Israel agreed to jointly develop and manufacture a customized (for India) Barak 8 variant; LRSAM and MRSAM. Both of these systems will replace older Russian weapons as well as Russian offers of new Russian made replacements.

While most (70 percent) of the Barak 8 development work was done in Israel, India is the major customer because it is buying $1.1 billion worth of LRSAM for their warships and even larger orders to replace older Russian SA-6 and SA-8 land-based systems. Since India has larger armed forces (and weapons needs), they will be the major user. The two countries evenly split the $350 million development cost for the Indian variant. The Indian delay was because of problems developing features that India wanted as well as setting up manufacturing facilities for the few Indian made LRSAM components .

While the Barak 8 was installed in Israeli ships in late 2013, Israel could not just install Barak 8 in Indian warships until the two countries resolved some differences over the transfer of some Israeli technology to India. This has also been a problem with other Western nations and the Indian government has not been willing to change Indian laws and patent protections to avoid these problems.

By 2010 Indian defense officials realized they had a major, and embarrassing, problem with LRSAM/MRSAM; they did not have enough engineers in the government procurement bureaucracy to quickly and accurately transfer the Israeli technical data to the Indian manufacturers. In addition, some of the Indian firms that were to manufacture Barak 8 components either misrepresented their capabilities or did not know until it was too late that they did not have the personnel or equipment to handle the job. In 2016 another self-inflicted problem arose when two state-owned defense manufacturing firms got into a dispute with each other and the government over which of them would be in charge of managing the Indian work on LRSAM/MRSAM. This dispute also involved efforts by state-owned defense firms to get more political support for increasing pressure on Israel to give ground on exporting defense tech to India. What no one wanted to say openly was that the corruption in India, especially in defense matters, was epic and most Western states do not trust the Indians unless there are strong (and embarrassing to Indian officials) legal guarantees about the security of exported tech.

Fortunately, Israel had a large (about 100,000 people) Indian Jewish minority, including many who continued doing business with India and were available to explain the intricacies of how things are done in India. While India had a Jewish community for over 3,000 years, most of them moved to Israel after World War II and prospered because they were no longer a tolerated religious minority, but part of the majority. The Indian Jews brought a lot of Indian culture with them as well as intimate knowledge of how things worked in India compared to Israel. This helped Israel survive the difficulties encountered working with India on the Barak 8 modifications.

Earlier in 2018 Israel announced that the Israeli version of the Barak 8 SAM system has been reorganized and expanded. There are now three Barak missiles, all variants of the Barak 8 that entered service in 2013 and was seen as a missile which could be easily reconfigured. The first customer for this was India, which wanted Barak 8 customized to operate from ships as well as land-based launchers. This collaboration was beset by many problems with Indian developers and manufacturers. Meanwhile, the Israeli manufacturer went ahead on their own and developed three versions of the Barak 8 missile. The Barak 8 was renamed Barak LRAD. A Barak 8 with a smaller rocket motor (and a range of 35 kilometers) was called Barak MRAD. Adding a booster rocket to the Barak 8 resulted in the Barak ER (with a range of 150 kilometers). All three versions retained the terminal radar guidance in the warhead.

But the major selling point is the new Barak configuration was the MX fire control system. This is a separate product customized to work with all three Barak missile types. Barak MX was designed to easily accept sensor (usually radar) data from numerous sources and then use threat assessment software to determine which Barak missile systems should be used against each target. This approach has long been used with the Iron Dome system, which ignores rockets or shells that are calculated to land in uninhabited areas and instead only fires missiles at incoming projectiles that threaten lives or valuable military or civilian structures.
Just northwest of Holly Beach, the once lush marsh of Cameron Meadows has been severely degraded over the past two decades by the combined forces of oil and gas exploration and hurricanes.

Now work has begun on a $32 million effort to restore 319 acres of the marsh. Louisiana expects the Houston-based Great Lakes Dredging & Docks to pump about 2.36 million cubic yards of sand, dredged from the Gulf of Mexico, into the site. Along with the restoration, the state will build about 2 miles of terracing to the east to knock down waves and allow more sediment to settle in the future.

As the region recovers from hurricanes Laura and Delta, Chip Kline, chairman of the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, stressed that this project will strengthen the natural buffer separating southwest Louisiana from the Gulf of Mexico.

"These large marsh creation projects not only increase protection for the parishes immediately along the coast, but they add acreage between the land and the sea, pushing it further away from heavily populated areas further inland such as Lake Charles," Kline said. "And the 2020 hurricane season further cemented this goal and our sense of urgency to increase protection for residents across Southwest Louisiana."

Lake Charles petrochemical industry to recover slowly, power outages and wind damage major headwinds Though initial assessments show limited hurricane damage to the petrochemical hub around Lake Charles, the area's port suffered significant da

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A hub for oil and gas exports, Lake Charles hosts numerous petrochemical industrial sites. But about 60 miles away, some 7,000 acres of Cameron Meadows have converted to open water. Oil and gas exploration caused the land to subside, and Hurricane Rita in 2005 and Ike in 2008 severely damaged the vulnerable marsh, letting saltwater intrude northward from the Gulf and changing the area's hydrology.

The restoration is the latest project to start in Louisiana's $50 billion, 50-year effort to save the southern third of the state from washing away. For this project, the state is using federal money from the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act.

Laurie Cormier, a planner and coastal zone manager in Calcasieu Parish, likened Cameron Parish to a barrier island for Lake Charles.

"This project will ... strengthen and protect us from future storms," said Cormier, who also is a member of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. "Anytime we create marsh and add terracing projects in Cameron Parish, we create additional protection for Calcasieu Parish residents."

A Sinn Fein Dublin Fingal TD has said that prospective first-time buyers in Fingal are now 'giving up' on owning their own home due to rising house prices.

Deputy Louise O'Reilly was speaking in the Dail last week during a discussion on the response of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to COVID-19.

She said: 'I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on housing, which unfortunately is a topic I deal with in my constituency offices on a daily basis. The Minister has responsibility for housing in the State but, like me, he is also a representative of the people of north County Dublin.

'As he is aware, we represent the fastest growing constituency in the country, one that has also has one of the youngest populations in Europe. Many of the people we represent are renting or looking to buy their own homes but the housing market across Swords, Balbriggan, Skerries, Rush, Lusk, Donabate and right across north County Dublin is broken.'

Deputy O'Reilly added: 'The daft.ie house price report for quarter 4 of 2020 showed that house prices in Fingal increased by 7.8%. In normal times that would be bad enough, but during the pandemic this is utter madness.

'Many people across north County Dublin have lost their jobs or have seen their wages cut.

'We know that from the workers in Aer Lingus, who have had their wages cut by 70%. Others have lost their jobs completely, their income is gone or they are on the PUP or EWSS. Nobody in Fingal saw their wages increase by 7.8%, so how can they be expected to afford a house when prices are increasing at this rate?'

Deputy O'Reilly said that it 'should not be beyond the aspiration' of young people to own their own home, but 'from what they tell me, they are desperate. They have lost hope. They do not believe that this is going to happen.'

The Sinn Fein Deputy said that when the Minister was appointed to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, 'he said he wanted affordable homes delivered at a cost of between 160,000 and 250,000.'

She asked the Minister: 'How many affordable homes costing, as the Minister outlined, between 160,000 and 250,000 will be delivered in Fingal by the end of the year and how many social homes will be built by the end of this year by the Government?'

Minister Darragh O'Brien TD replied: 'In the Deputy's constituency, which happens to be mine, which I know very well, we will be delivering affordable homes in Lusk and Rush this year.

'...There are more than 90 active sites in the area. I believe in home ownership, as does my party and the Government.'

Deputy O'Reilly said investment is also needed in Fingal to make up for a lack of house building in previous years.

She said a shared equity scheme put forward by the Minister would only result in higher house prices.
Srinagar, Feb 6 : A central reserve police force (CRPF) trooper was injured on Saturday when militants fired at a security force party in outskirts of J&K's Srinagar city.

Police sources said militants fired at CRPF troopers in Nowgam outskirts area of Srinagar city today afternoon.

"One CRPF jawan sustained an injury in his leg in this attack. He has been shifted to hospital and the area has been cordoned off for searches," sources said.

No militant outfit has so far owned responsibility for the attack.
Remember when you could pop into a nail salon, get a quick manicure, then continue with your day? Remember signs in salon windows that read Walk-ins welcome?

The coronavirus pandemic swiftly killed that kind of casual, spontaneous self-care. First, spring shutdowns shuttered salons, leading to a surge in clipper sales and undoubtedly thousands of ill-advised home haircuts. Then, as restrictions relaxed, spas and salons returned in creative outdoor incarnations. Finally in the fall, customers were allowed back inside a few at a time, with clients receiving facials under plexiglass shields and regular temperature and oxygen-level checks for the staff. Until the next shutdown, that is.

Now, after a month-long closure, salons are allowed to reopen again, as Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted the statewide stay-at-home order Jan. 25. But spas and salons are opening their doors differently than they did a year ago. Spaces have been redesigned to meet distancing requirements, new safety precautions are in effect and walk-ins have been largely eliminated. In the COVID-era, a pedicure, haircut, facial or massage requires careful planning, and a visit to the salon is a special treat. In the Bay Area, a crop of new beauty businesses is redefining how local salons look and feel in ways that seem tailor-made for the moment.

When GoodBody salon opened in Uptown Oakland in October, its striking design stood out immediately: the curvy millwork pedestals, the arched entryways, the cream and green color palette. Owner Brittany Barnes wanted to create a space dedicated to Black hair that felt modern and luxurious, and she succeeded.

With GoodBody, were positioning textured and Black hair care as self-care, Barnes told The Chronicle. I want it to not just feel like a place where youre getting your hair done, but a place where youre like, Oh yeah, I could be here for a few hours and feel really good about it.

Saunders & James

Also in Oakland, nail salon Saunders & James opened in January 2020 only to close temporarily a couple of months later with the first pandemic shutdown. Owner Michelle Saunders, who previously worked as a manicurist in Hollywood, envisioned a destination salon with a different ambiance than the typical mani-pedi spot. Instead of using the nail salon as a template, I used the materials youd see in a home, she says. Warmer tones, wooden stools, woven wall hangings, shades of deep green and gray make Saunders & James feel like someones living room, only with foot sinks.

As the salon has opened and closed over the past year in accordance with state and local orders, Saunders says about half the clientele comes from beyond the immediate area, traveling from all corners of the Bay Area drawn by the aesthetic and the service. A manicure used to be part of your errands, Saunders says. Now, you wake up in the morning and have to really rethink your routines. Scheduling an appointment to do nails is now much more intentional.

With the coronavirus pandemic, theres a little ambivalence about going inside, so the sense of a space being bespoke is important, says interior designer Jacqueline Sullivan, who worked on new skin care studio Monastery in Noe Valley. Upon walking in, customers are transported to Greece, where owner Athena Hewetts father grew up. There are curved stucco walls, glossy floors, an enormous mint green table commissioned from the Los Angeles brand Waka Waka and mementos from Greece, courtesy of Hewetts grandmother.

My previous studio down the street had a different feel, much more cottage-like, says Hewett. In the new location, everything  from the projections of travel footage on an empty wall to the curved rattan hangers in the treatment rooms  is very island chic.

Monastery

While a dose of escapism has always been part of the fun of self-care, in these new businesses it is playing a larger role than ever. That means not only deliberate and bold aesthetic choices, but also spaciousness to allow for natural distancing, surfaces that look pristine and easy to clean and, in the case of a new spa at the Rush Creek Lodge near Yosemite, more outdoor options.

With outdoor heated floors, lounging areas, a hot tub and rock beds you can lay in, the spa feels like its totally matching the current environment, says designer Anthony Laurino. Laurino started working on the project prior to the pandemic and had to adapt to the realities of the coronavirus. We discussed how we can make people feel comfortable and confident in the space, he says, adding that clients are looking for pandemic-friendly touches like attractive dividers between customers and harder finishes instead of carpets.

The rise of the atmospheric salon that offers a stylish, serene environment to match the services goes well beyond the Bay Area. In New York City, theres a COVID-era salon, made for social distancing. In Los Angeles, meticulously designed massage parlors and facial boutiques like the Now and Heyday, have been trendy for a couple of years. In the Bay Area, interior designer Hannah Collins of San Francisco firm Roy says this year has created demand for spaces that feel potentially more gender-neutral, almost residential, with new levels of comfort and cleanliness.

The nature of services is shifting as well. At Rush Creek Lodge, families and friend groups can book the spa for a private visit, using the facilities without interruption for $1,200 for 2.5 hours, with up to 15 people present. Teri Marshall, director of marketing at the lodge, says the option is extremely popular. At Saunders & James, Saunders says that new services like a no-polish manicure introduced during the pandemic are gaining popularity, and at Monastery, theres even a virtual offering  a Zoom session with an aesthetician giving instructions for a self-administered facial.

But, for the most part, people are just excited to be touched again, and hopefully, theyre also enjoying the vibe, says Monasterys Hewett. In the past, that vibe might have meant a stack of glossy magazines and mingling over sparkling water or wine in the waiting area. Now, its all about admiring design details that look safely stylish as you enjoy self-care at a comfortable distance.

Flora Tsapovksy is a Bay Area freelance writer. Email: Culture@sfchronicle.com
Hopefully the Government are better at tracking passengers coming into the country than they are at providing details of who is arriving here.

For starters, there is no centralised database of inbound passengers, their nationalities and their reason for travel. In fact, three separate government departments hold these figures and there does not seem to a system for collating the information.

Franz Kafka would be proud of the bureaucracy involved in seeking to establish how many people arrived here for non-essential reasons.

Despite this, Taoiseach Micheal Martin is able to declare half of people arriving into the country are arriving back from holidays.

Read More

How he arrived at this conclusion is a mystery based on the information provided to Independent.ie by various departments.

If you want to know where people are arriving from, you contact the Department of Transport, where they are now helpfully uploading online the figures for arrivals in the countrys airports.

The nationality of the individual passengers arriving here is held by the Department of Justice.

And just to make things extra difficult, the Department of Health is responsible for passenger locator forms. People are obliged to include their reason for travel on passenger locator forms and to say if they are coming into the country for essential or non-essential purposes.

The point of the exercise in seeking the figures is to establish how many people are arriving into this country unnecessarily and in doing so, will be forced into mandatory home quarantine. Of course, the word forced is being used loosely here as the rules will only be sporadically policed by gardai.

Lets start with details of flights arriving into the country. Last week, between January 25 and 31, some 14,308 people arrived in Dublin Airport.

The figures show there has been a steady decline in arrivals since the first week of the year, when more than 31,103 passengers arrived in the country. In total, more than 110,000 people have flown into the country since December 28. Last weeks figures show 2,116 passengers arrived from Britain, 2,036 from Spain, 1,358 from Netherlands, 1,228 from Frances, 981 from the United Arab Emirates, 818 from Portugal, 872 from Poland and 774 from Romania. These are final point of departure and do no take into account stop overs or where a person originally left before making their way to Ireland.

The Department of Justices statistics on the nationality of arrivals into Dublin Airport between January 26 and February 2 (yes, different time frame) reveals more about who is arriving into the country. Naturally enough, the vast majority (4,319) of passengers arriving were Irish. But interestingly, the second highest number of arrivals were Romanian nationals with 1,446 arriving in the country during that seven-day period.

In addition, the figures show there were 876 British passengers, 789 Polish, 368 Indian, 132 French, 271 Portuguese, 198 Italian, 473 Spanish and 155 Brazilians.

The Brazilian arrivals have residency in Ireland so were not impacted by suspension of visas for travellers from some South American Countries.

That leaves the burning question of how many of these arrivals were making non-essential journeys during a national lock down. The Department of Health was far less forthcoming in providing details.

But they said people arriving here are required to indicate if they are travelling for essential purpose on a passenger locator form. In January, just 39pc of passengers said they were travelling for an essential purpose. This means 67,000 did not indicate they were travelling for an essential reason. Thats a lot of people to quarantine in a month.
Emily In Paris star Lily Collins has found herself at the centre of a race storm after she was nominated for a prestigious Golden Globe award ahead of a black actress.

The 31-year-old was targeted by online trolls who felt Michaela Coel had been unfairly overlooked for her role in the ground-breaking BBC drama I May Destroy You.

In a barrage of social media posts, they claimed that Ms Collins was shortlisted because she is white, while Ms Coel missed out because she is black. Cyber-bullies also alleged that Ms Collins was nominated simply because she has a famous father  pop star Phil Collins.

Netflixs Emily In Paris is also up for best comedy series, but the critically acclaimed I May Destroy You did not receive any nominations. Within minutes of the Hollywood shortlists being revealed last Wednesday, Twitter users were alleging racism. One wrote: If you dont think white supremacy is real, Emily In Paris is nominated for a Golden Globe.

Emily In Paris star Lily Collins (pictured) has found herself at the centre of a race storm after she was nominated for a prestigious Golden Globe award ahead of a black actress

Another said: What people dont understand about racism is that its not a by-product. The globes panel didnt nominate I May Destroy You because they didnt think it was good because Michaela is black and thought Emily In Paris was good because Lily Collins is white. They KNOW which was better!

And another added that Lily Collins being here is pure nepotism and racism. One even outrageously made the false claim that Ms Collins had paid for her nomination.

Ms Collins has previously acknowledged her privilege. Amid protests over the death of George Floyd after he was restrained by police in Minneapolis last year, she wrote: I am white, I am privileged. I will never experience what black people in America go through every single day, but I am listening and I am learning. I march with you and will fight with you.

She is also a celebrity ambassador for Bystander Revolution, the anti-bullying organisation set up by MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

In an irony that may have been lost on the trolls, Ms Collins and Ms Coel would never have been vying for the same prize anyway as Emily In Paris is eligible in the musical or comedy categories, while I May Destroy You falls under the drama section.

Cyber-bullies also alleged that Ms Collins was nominated simply because she has a famous father  pop star Phil Collins (pictured)

Amid the backlash the actress stepped out with her fiance Charlie McDowell in Pasadena on Saturday

Lily wore a low-key tan jacket over a plain white shirt that was tied off above her midriff and high-waisted jeans

Meanwhile, Emily In Paris writer Deborah Copaken may have inadvertently fuelled the backlash against her own shows star when she also took to Twitter to tell of her own shock at Ms Coels failure to secure a nomination.

Addressing the actress, she said: I was a writer on Emily In Paris, but your show was my favourite show since the dawn of TV and this is just wrong. I loved I May Destroy You, and I thank you personally for giving us your heart, your mind, your resilience and your humour.

The ten-part Emily In Paris, which was hailed by some as the natural successor to Sex And The City, features an American who moves to the French capital to work for a marketing firm.

It was criticised for its lack of authenticity but has become one of Netflixs biggest hits.

An independent investigation was conducted by the Flight Safety Foundation.

Ukraine was not aware that civil aviation was in danger when Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 MH17 was shot down over Donbas in July 2014.

There is therefore insufficient evidence to hold Ukraine legally responsible for not completely closing the airspace, according to an independent investigation conducted by the Flight Safety Foundation, NU.nl wrote.

Read alsoReuters: MH17 judges reject request to investigate alternative crash scenariosDutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok said the Flight Safety Foundation report states that "insufficient facts have been established to indicate that the Ukrainian authorities at the time responsible for civil aviation safety over eastern Ukraine were aware of a threat to civil aviation above Ukraine, except that part of the airspace that was already closed."

Background

Malaysia Airlines' MH17 Boeing 777 heading from Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur was shot down on July 17, 2014, over Russia-occupied territory in Donetsk region. All 298 people on board who were citizens of 10 countries were killed in the crash. The majority of the victims, 196, were citizens of the Netherlands. The Dutch Safety Board October 13, 2015, issued a report on the causes of the accident. It was revealed that the plane had been shot down by a Buk anti-aircraft missile system.

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) in its report published on September 28, 2016, confirmed that the plane had been downed by a Russian-made Buk brought to Ukraine from Russia.

On June 19, 2019, JIT investigators accused four Russia-controlled military intelligence officers of involvement in a missile attack that shot down MH17. The first four suspects in the MH17 case are Russian terrorist Igor Girkin (AKA "Strelkov"), who in the summer of 2014 was the so-called "Minister of Defense of the Donetsk People's Republic" ("DPR"); Russian General Sergei Dubinsky (nom de guerre "Khmuryi"), who led the "DPR intelligence;" Oleg Pulatov (nom de guerre "Gyurza"), who in 2014 headed of "the 2nd division of the GRU of the DPR;" as well as Leonid Kharchenko (nom de guerre "Krot"), who was a leader of the "reconnaissance battalion" of Russia-led forces.

The MH17 trial process began on March 9, 2020.

Reporting by UNIAN
Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 15:20:26|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Jan. 22, 2020 shows an exterior view of the headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland. (Xinhua/Liu Qu)

- "There is no evidence that the virus originated there" but "hypothetically, there are all conditions for the spread of the virus there."



- "The laboratory (the Wuhan Institute of Virology) is perfectly equipped." "It is hard for me to imagine that something could have leaked from there."

MOSCOW, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Wuhan's Huanan seafood market may have made it possible for the novel coronavirus to spread, but it does not mean the virus originated there, a Russian expert has said.

"There is no evidence that the virus originated there" but "hypothetically, there are all conditions for the spread of the virus there," Vladimir Dedkov, a member of the World Health Organization's (WHO) expert team, was quoted as saying by Sputnik on Thursday.

The seafood market was linked to an early cluster of COVID-19 cases, but scientists have yet to come to an unequivocal conclusion regarding the role it played in the contagion.

Two nurses communicate with each other at a hospital in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, March 18, 2020. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Dedkov also refuted the theory of a virus leakage while visiting the Wuhan Institute of Virology along with nine other WHO experts on Wednesday.

"Of course, it was important for our mission to visit this facility, talk to our colleagues and see how everything is organized there," the expert said.

"The laboratory is perfectly equipped," he said. "It is hard for me to imagine that something could have leaked from there." 
Washington, Feb 6 : Rochelle Walensky, Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said the federal health agency will release a guidance on school reopening in the coming week.

"Our goal is to get children back to school. School should be the last places closed and the first places open," Walensky said at a White House briefing on Friday.

"Our goal is to make sure in getting children back to school that we do so both with the safety of the children and the safety of the teachers," she added.

Reopening schools in his first 100 days in office is an important part of US President Joe Biden's goals, reports Xinhua news agency.

However, the issue has sparked controversy across the country as many people were concerned whether it would be safe for teachers and children to return to classrooms if they have not been vaccinated.

"Among the things that we need to do to make sure that schools are safe is to make sure that the community spread of the disease is down," Walensky said.

"We are actively working on the guidance, the official guidance, which will be released in the week ahead," she added.

On Friday, the National Center for Education Statistics at the US Department of Education announced a new survey which is the country's first federal effort to track school reopening.

The survey will be administered to approximately 7,000 nationally representative elementary and middle schools across the country.
Hyde follows family tradition, takes home PIAA gold in shot put

"It's awesome," Hyde said. "It really feels like a tradition, now. It will be cool to see our names next to each other in the record books."

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 6)  Despite need for further action, the Philippines and the European Union reaffirmed their commitment to uphold and protect human rights.

In a joint statement, both countries said their commitment was reiterated during the launch of the first sub-committee on good governance, rule of law and human rights under their Partnership and Cooperation Agreement on Feb. 5. This body will serve as a formal platform where views and concerns on issues related to human rights will be raised and discussed.

The respect of human rights as laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and relevant international human rights instruments, to which the EU and its Members States and the Philippines are parties, is an essential element of the PCA, the statement read.

One of the issues raised was the Philippine governments controversial war against illegal drugs. Strengthening accountability and investigative measures regarding this issue, as well as on death penalty, were specially highlighted. The EU urged the Philippines to address extra-judicial killings, provide remedies to victims, and hold perpetrators accountable.

It also encouraged the Philippines to continue engagements and address issues raised by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, who said in a report that the anti-illegal drugs campaign of the administration is being carried out without due regard for the rule of law, due process, and the human rights of those who may be using or selling drugs.

RELATED: UN rights council approves 'technical assistance' to PH amid killings

For the part of the Philippines, it said efforts are being implemented to address and strengthen the fight against impunity, which includes the inter-agency panel tasked to investigate killings linked to thousands of anti-drug operations.

RELATED: Palace to UN human rights council: New panel to assure fair probe of drug war-linked deaths

Asked to comment, foreign policy expert Richard Heydarian said this could be the way of the EU to pave the road for the restoration of accountability and democratization under the next administration.

I think the European Union is playing the long game and at the same time they are encouraged that in America there is a new administration with a clear commitment to human rights and democracy in ways that we didnt have under the Trump administration, he told CNN Philippines.

Heydarian said the EUs focus might also be on capacity building, and long-term institution building through restoring accountability in the Philippine National Police and strengthening the Commission on Human Rights as well as safeguards to prevent further occurrence of extrajudicial killings and violent drug war policies come the next chief executive.

"I think the relationship with the current president is too fraught for any significant breakthrough, but things can dramatically change in the coming year or so as the Biden administration ramps up its foreign policy," he added.

Also discussed during the meeting was freedom of opinion and expression, media, and information, including the cases of journalists in the country like Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, as well as the case of Senator Leila de Lima, a known critic of the administration who has been detained since 2017 due to drug charges.

Both countries recognized their role in making sure that these freedoms are protected and promoted.

The sub-panel also highlighted and agreed to uphold the rights of human rights defenders, and to fight issues like human trafficking, and racial discrimination.

They will again convene in the Philippines in the first semester of 2022.

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A South Bound Brook woman has been arrested and charged with the murder of her young son, authorities announced on Saturday.

Elina Gutti, a 38-year-old South Bound Brook resident, is accused of killing her four-year-old son, Aiden Singhania.

Gutti called 9-1-1 just before 2:30 a.m. on Saturday to report she had unexplained injuries on her wrists, according to a release from the Somerset County Prosecutors Office. Responding officers from the South Bound Brook police department found the child with severe lacerations in his bedroom.

The officers and EMS first responders attempted life-saving measures on the boy, but were unsuccessful. Singhania was pronounced dead at 3:17 a.m.

Gutti, meanwhile, was found with injuries to her left wrist that authorities say required minor medical treatment. She was taken to a hospital and will be moved to Somerset County Jail once discharged.

Gutti has been charged with 1st degree Murder, 3rd degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose and 4th degree Unlawful Possession of a Knife.

The investigation is ongoing, authorities said, and an autopsy of Singhania will be done to determine the cause and manner of death.

Authorities ask anyone that may have information related to this murder to contact the Somerset County Prosecutors Office Major Crimes Unit at (908) 231-7100, or the South Bound Brook Police Department at (732) 356-0087 or via the STOPit app. Information can also be submitted anonymously to the Somerset County Crime Stoppers Tip Line at 1-888-577-TIPS (8477).

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Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com.
London, Feb 6 : Researchers at University of Cambridge have revealed a mechanism by which climate change could have played a direct role in the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the Covid-19 pandemic.

The new study published in the journal Science of the Total Environment revealed large-scale changes in the type of vegetation in the southern Chinese Yunnan province, and adjacent regions in Myanmar and Laos, over the last century.

Climatic changes including increases in temperature, sunlight, and atmospheric carbon dioxide -- which affect the growth of plants and trees -- have changed natural habitats from tropical shrubland to tropical savannah and deciduous woodland.

This created a suitable environment for many bat species that predominantly live in forests.

The number of coronaviruses in an area is closely linked to the number of different bat species present.

The study found that an additional 40 bat species have moved into the southern Chinese Yunnan province in the past century, harbouring around 100 more types of bat-borne coronavirus.

This 'global hotspot' is the region where genetic data suggests SARS-CoV-2 may have arisen.

"Climate change over the last century has made the habitat in the southern Chinese Yunnan province suitable for more bat species," said Robert Beyer, a researcher in the University of Cambridge and first author of the study, who has recently taken up a European research fellowship at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany.

"Understanding how the global distribution of bat species has shifted as a result of climate change may be an important step in reconstructing the origin of the Covid-19 outbreak," he added.

To get their results, the researchers created a map of the world's vegetation as it was a century ago, using records of temperature, precipitation, and cloud cover.

Then they used information on the vegetation requirements of the world's bat species to work out the global distribution of each species in the early 1900s.

Comparing this to current distributions allowed them to see how bat 'species richness', the number of different species, has changed across the globe over the last century due to climate change.

"As climate change altered habitats, species left some areas and moved into others -- taking their viruses with them. This not only altered the regions where viruses are present, but most likely allowed for new interactions between animals and viruses, causing more harmful viruses to be transmitted or evolve," said Beyer.

The world's bat population carries around 3,000 different types of coronavirus, with each bat species harbouring an average of 2.7 coronaviruses - most without showing symptoms.

An increase in the number of bat species in a particular region, driven by climate change, may increase the likelihood that a coronavirus harmful to humans is present, transmitted, or evolves there.

Most coronaviruses carried by bats cannot jump into humans. But several coronaviruses known to infect humans are very likely to have originated in bats, including three that can cause human fatalities: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) CoV, and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) CoV-1 and CoV-2.

The region identified by the study as a hotspot for a climate-driven increase in bat species richness is also home to pangolins, which are suggested to have acted as intermediate hosts to SARS-CoV-2.

The virus is likely to have jumped from bats to these animals, which were then sold at a wildlife market in Wuhan -- where the initial human outbreak occurred.

The researchers echo calls from previous studies that urge policy-makers to acknowledge the role of climate change in outbreaks of viral diseases, and to address climate change as part of Covid-19 economic recovery programmes.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Children in Amber Alert found safe near Mitchell

The missing children were recovered and are safe, according to the Davison County Sheriff's Office.

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A driver for four Chinese nationals who escaped a quarantine center in the central province Quang Tri earlier this month was discovered in Ho Chi Minh City.

Tran Xuan Thanh, head of police unit of Quang Tri Town in the namesake province, said on Thursday that the driver was found in a dorm room in Ho Chi Minh Citys Binh Tan District on Wednesday and was promptly sent to a nearby quarantine facility.

After completing the quarantine period there, the driver would be investigated for his action.

Earlier on Monday, he was caught driving four Chinese border jumpers through Tan Dinh Village in Quang Tris Vinh Linh District to evade the COVID-19 control post on the local section of National Expressway 1.

After preliminary inspection, it is revealed that the group of four departed Chinas GuangXi Province and crossed the border in Lang Son Province.

After landing in Vietnam, the driver, identified to be Le Minh X. from the southern Bac Lieu Province, drove them southwards before being busted in Quang Tri.

On Tuesday, X. fled Quang Tri after being transferred to a local quarantine facility. He was wanted by the local police.

Vietnam has reported 1,976 coronavirus patients as of Friday, with 1,465 recoveries and virus-related 35 fatalities, according to the Ministry of Health.

Most of the domestically-transmitted infections have been linked to Hai Duong and Quang Ninh, both located in northern Vietnam.

Vietnam is quarantining over 65,000 people who got into contact with infected patients or entered the country from virus-hit regions.

Rapid contact tracing is underway while authorities have managed to put a large number of direct and indirect contacts in quarantine to stem the pathogen.

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The Wyoming Republican Party voted overwhelmingly Saturday to censure U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney for voting to impeach President Donald Trump for his role in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Only eight of the 74-member state GOP's central committee stood to oppose censure in a vote that didn't proceed to a formal count. The censure document accused Cheney of voting to impeach even though the U.S. House didn't offer Trump 'formal hearing or due process.'

'We need to honor President Trump. All President Trump did was call for a peaceful assembly and protest for a fair and audited election,' said Darin Smith, a Cheyenne attorney who lost to Cheney in the Republican U.S. House primary in 2016. 'The Republican Party needs to put her on notice.'

The Wyoming Republican Party voted overwhelmingly Saturday to censure U.S. Rep Liz Cheney for voting to impeach President Trump

In addition to the vote, the party also announced that it was going to 'withhold any future political funding' from Cheney, CNN reports.

Added Joey Correnti, GOP chairman in Carbon County where the censure vote was held: 'Does the voice of the people matter and if it does, does it only matter at the ballot box?'

In addition to the vote, the party also announced that it was going to 'withhold any future political funding' from Cheney, CNN reports.

The motion also called for Cheney to repay donations from the state GOP and any county Republican parties that donated to her most recent campaign.

Cheney in a statement after the vote said she remained honored to represent Wyoming and will always fight for issues that matter most to the state.

'Foremost among these is the defense of our Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees. My vote to impeach was compelled by the oath I swore to the Constitution,' Cheney said.

Republican officials said they invited Cheney but she didn't attend. An empty chair labeled 'Representative Cheney' sat at the front of the meeting room

Republican officials said they invited Cheney but she didn't attend. An empty chair labeled 'Representative Cheney' sat at the front of the meeting room.

The censure vote was the latest blowback for Cheney for joining nine Republican representatives and all Democrats in the U.S. House in the January 13 impeachment vote. Just three months after winning a third term with almost 70%, Cheney already faces at least two Republican primary opponents in 2022.

They include Republican state Sen. Anthony Bouchard, a gun-rights activist from Cheyenne, who was at the meeting but not among those who speak. Smith also has said he is deliberating whether to run for Congress again.

Cheney, seen going through security at the House, said in a statement after the vote that she remained honored to represent Wyoming and will always fight for issues that matter to her state

On January 28, Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, of Florida, led a rally against Cheney in front of the Wyoming Capitol. About 1,000 people took part

On January 28, Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, of Florida, led a rally against Cheney in front of the Wyoming Capitol. About 1,000 people took part, many of them carrying signs calling for Cheney's impeachment though several were supportive.

Cheney will remain as the third-ranking member of the House GOP leadership, however, after a 145-61 vote by House Republicans on Wednesday to keep her as conference committee chair.

Trump faces trial in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday over allegedly inciting insurrection when a mob of supporters stormed into and rampaged through the Capitol after a nearby rally led by Trump and close allies.

Liz Cheney is up for re-election in 2022, and is already facing the prospect of a challenge in a primary as she's endured intra-party criticism for her support of impeachment

Censure opponents mainly came from Casper, Wyomings second-largest city, and the Jackson Hole area near Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks.

'Lets resist this infusion of left-wing cancel culture to try to censure and get rid of anybody we disagree with,' said Alexander Muromcew with the Teton County GOP.

Momentum for censure had been growing for weeks as local Republicans in around a dozen of Wyoming's 23 counties passed their own resolutions criticizing her impeachment vote.


According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Taiwan leads Japan and South Korea. Globally it is 11th. Greater financial transparency in politics and judicial independence are the main factors boosting its ranking. Thanks to hi-tech, the island also had the best economy in 2020. It also ranks third in the world for 5G network speed.

Taipei (AsiaNews)  Taiwan is the most democratic country in Asia, this according to the 2020 Democracy Index by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which was released this week.

Taiwan is ranked better than Japan and South Korea, and the three countries are the only full democracies in the continent.

Globally, Taiwan is in 11th position. The top five are Norway, Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand and Canada. The island jumped 20 positions over 2019.

The country's rise reflects a consolidation of positive political and legal development over the past few years, the report notes, especially thanks to greater transparency in financing of political parties and the judiciary's independence from government influence.

Taiwan also set new records whilst the world experienced an annus horribilis because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the island is among the countries that have better managed the health emergency.

Taiwan's economy grew by 2.98 per cent in 2020, Taiwan's statistics bureau reported, doing better than mainland Chinas 2.3 per cent for the first time in 30 years, and outperforming all the other advanced economies.

Technology drove Taiwanese growth. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, Taiwan is the world's leading microchips producer after the United States with about 10 per cent.

Wireless-mapping company Opensignal confirmed Taiwans hi-tech capabilities in 5G download speed.

At 272.2 megabits per second (Mbps), it is third after South Korea (354.4 Mbps) and the United Arab Emirates (292.2 Mbps)

Last July, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen announced that her administration would invest more than US$ 700 million over the next four years to develop 5G networks.

Who will be the next CM of Assam? Sarbananda Sonowal or Himanta Biswa Sarma?

Assam govt recruits 29,701 teachers ahead of Assembly election

India

oi-Briti Roy Barman

Guwahati, Feb 06: Ahead of the upcoming Assembly election, Assam government has given appointment letters to 29,701 teachers to address a shortage at educational institutes in the state.

Another 5,000 teachers would be appointed by the government in the next 10-15 days, Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. Through the recruitment, the government is fulfilling the promises made earlier, he added.

Of the new recruits, 16,484 had been serving in non-provincialised schools for years. Some of them barely have two years of service left.

The remaining 13,217 are fresh recruits who had cleared the Teachers' Eligibility Test.

"Our primary responsibility is ensuring education and health to the people. Some of you will attain the age of retirement soon. The situation created by the previous governments made you waste the prime time of your lives," Dr. Sarma said at the job distribution programme at the Sarusajai Stadium in Guwahati.

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who attended the programme, said he had made an announcement on August 15, 2020, that the State government would give 50,000 jobs.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given us the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat. If we want to achieve it, we shall have to first build Atmanirbhar Assam. The teachers will have an important role to play in it. They shall have to ensure a skilled future generation which can compete all over the world," he said.

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Story first published: Saturday, February 6, 2021, 16:29 [IST]


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Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 21:12:24|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Siddharth Chatterjee, the new UN Resident Coordinator in China, said the country has set a good example in epidemic prevention and control through robust public health measures centered around scientifically proven steps.

"I look forward to joining the UN family in China. We will continue to work in lockstep with the Government of China to fight COVID-19," Chatterjee said on Saturday, as he is about to complete a 21-day quarantine period after arriving in China.

With COVID-19 raging globally, Chatterjee's journey to China was rather strenuous. He was appointed the new resident coordinator in China by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in December last year, tasked with leading the UN Country Team, composed of heads of all UN operating agencies, to carry out relevant development work in China.

In January, Chatterjee flew from Kenya to South China's Guangzhou to take up his new post.

"Upon arrival, I received rigorous and orderly entry screening like other overseas passengers arriving in China," Chatterjee said, jokingly adding that his new role did not bring him any "preferential treatment."

"Officials were wearing appropriate personal protective equipment, checking incoming travelers for signs and symptoms," Chatterjee recalled, adding that all overseas passengers arriving in China were directed to designated hotels to complete a 21-day quarantine period.

During quarantine, Chatterjee communicated with his new UN colleagues in China virtually, kept in touch with family through the internet, caught up on reading, writing and reflecting, and conducted fitness training. Despite experiencing quarantine for the first time, Chatterjee kept his work and life in good order.

Chatterjee said quarantine with a rigorous fitness regimen, including breathing exercises and a bit of yoga, helped keep his mind and body sharp, positively buoyant and in fine fettle. "I even managed to clock an average of 20,000 steps a day," he said.

Chatterjee deemed China's epidemic prevention system comprehensive and systematic. Before he flew to China, for example, he was clearly informed that those who take international flights to China must hold proof of negative COVID-19 nucleic acid and IgM antibody test issued no more than two days before travel.

"Later I acknowledged that these tests form just part of a comprehensive testing and tracing system found in China, which is critical to preventing future outbreaks and clusters," Chatterjee noted.

"As I have witnessed firsthand, China has set a good example in epidemic prevention and control," Chatterjee said, adding that scientifically proved, robust public health measures are most effective to prevent the spread of viruses. "Continuing to encourage wearing masks, maintaining social etiquette and observing good hygiene habits are still crucial in preventing the spread of the virus."

As the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, approaches, the government has called for strict prevention and control measures in view of the complex situation of the epidemic prevention and control. Authorities have issued the stay-put policy to reduce the risk of infections during the usually busy travel season.

"I acknowledge that these responses can place strain on our happiness and well-being, but it is critical that we do not lose sight of our goal to defeat the virus," Chatterjee said.

Through simple public health measures, with adherence to science, as adopted here in China, the world can slow the spread of the virus, save lives and livelihoods and end the pandemic, he noted. Enditem

Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media

State police were called Friday night to the scene of an officer-involved shooting in Stratford, according to a release.

A suspect was seen entering a vehicle at which time Stratford Police officers attempted a traffic stop where force was used, according to a release from Connecticut State Police.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 21:53:47|Editor: huaxia

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ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The 34th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) kicked off virtually on Saturday amid COVID-19 concerns and a joint commitment in the fight against the pandemic.

The AU summit is being under the theme of "Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want."

The assembly, among other things, is expected to deliberate and consider the report on the institutional reform of the AU, report on the progress of the AU response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa, as well as elections and appointments of the leadership of the AU Commission.

Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa who is also the outgoing Chairperson of the AU, told the virtual opening session that the decision to hold the 34th Ordinary Session as a virtual meeting instead of a physical gathering "was based on an assessment by the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) of the risks of holding a physical gathering of this nature at this time."

"As a continent, and as a global community, we are engaged in an unprecedented struggle against the COVID-19 pandemic," Ramaphosa said, adding this disease has caused great suffering and hardship across the continent.

"It is not only a severe health emergency; it is also a grave economic and social crisis," the South African President said, as he emphasized that the pandemic deepened global inequality and threatens to set back progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the AU Commission, also stressed that the 34th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU is being held in a very special context.

"First, there is COVID-19, which has had an unprecedented impact on the normal functioning of all the Organs of the Union, which forces us to this virtual meeting, far from the warmth of the physical meeting to which we are used," he told the virtual gathering.

He also emphasized the importance of the ongoing session, which coincides with the end of the four-year term of the current AU Commission administration.

African heads of states and governments are also expected to elect new AU Commission officials, including the chairperson and deputy chairperson of the Commission as well as commissioners who will be serving a four-year term.

African leaders had during the 28th AU Summit that was held in January 2017 in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia elected Chadian diplomat Moussa Faki Mahamat, and Ghanaian diplomat Thomas Kwesi Quartey, as Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the AU Commission.

During the two-day 34th AU Summit, the Democratic Republic of the Congo will officially take over the rotating chair of the continental bloc from South Africa, according to the AU. Enditem
Taliban chief negotiator Mullah Baradar Akhund arrived in Turkmenistan on Saturday for talks on a wide range of issues that may include but will not be limited to the Afghan peace process

KABUL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th February, 2021) Taliban chief negotiator Mullah Baradar Akhund arrived in Turkmenistan on Saturday for talks on a wide range of issues that may include but will not be limited to the Afghan peace process.

The militant group's political spokesman, Mohammad Naeem, said the delegation of the Taliban's Qatar-based political bureau would bring up "commercial relations" and "political advancement.

"

Mullah Baradar took a break from the peace negotiations in Doha to tour countries in the region as the talks appeared to stall. He visited Iran last weekend to meet with Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.

As the pandemic enters its second year, millions of renters are struggling with a loss of income and with the insecurity of not knowing how long they will have a home. Their savings depleted, they are running up credit card debt to make the rent, or accruing months of overdue payments. Families are moving in together, offsetting the cost of housing by finding others to share it.

The nation has a plague of housing instability that was festering long before Covid-19, and the pandemics economic toll has only made it worse. Now the financial scars are deepening and the disruptions to family life growing more severe, leaving a legacy that will remain long after mass vaccinations.

Even before last year, about 11 million households  one in four U.S. renters  were spending more than half their pretax income on housing, and overcrowding was on the rise. By one estimate, for every 100 very low-income households, only 36 affordable rentals are available.

Now the pandemic is adding to the pressure. A study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia showed that tenants who lost jobs in the pandemic had amassed $11 billion in rental arrears, while a broader measure by Moodys Analytics, which includes all delinquent renters, estimated that as of January they owed $53 billion in back rent, utilities and late fees. Other surveys show that families are increasingly pessimistic about making their next months rent, and are cutting back on food and other essentials to pay bills.

The Biden Administration sees the US as engaged in a strategic competition with China and technology is a central domain of it, the has said.

This administration sees the United States as engaged in strategic competition with China, and technology is a central domain of that competition, Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference here on Friday.

Psaki said China's objective is to undercut America's long-standing technological advantage.

We should have no illusions about China's objectives, which are to undercut America's long-standing technological advantage, she said.

The national security and economic consequences of allowing that to happen are simply unacceptable, she said, adding that this is what President conveys in his conversations with American partners and allies.

But this is a major reason why the president is committed to making major investments in science and technology research and development, as well as supply chain security. We will leverage the full breadth of authorities available to us to protect US national and economic security interests, Psaki said.

However, Republican Senator Ted Cruz released a video, alleging that the Biden Administration is being soft on China.

China poses the single greatest geopolitical threat to the United States over the next. One of the really disturbing patterns we've seen with Biden nominee after Biden nominee is a warm embrace of China, he alleged.

Senator Marsha Blackburn has introduced amendments to counter threats posed by Chinese Communist Party. Senate Amendment 140 will make the funds available to counter Chinese educational and research-based espionage.

Recently, the Biden administration indicated it may provide amnesty to, or halt the investigations of, researchers and academics tied to China.

One of the reasons they gave for this is that the investigations are costly and resource-intensive, she said.

The Biden administration's openness to providing amnesty for Chinese Communist Party-linked researchers in the United States endangers our national security. Many of these researchers are stealing sensitive American technology and trade secrets while spying for the Communist Party. Rooting out and investigating such threats must not be inhibited by a lack of resources, Blackburn said.

US-India Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Chinese experts reminded Indian media not to get over-excited about the upcoming Indo-US military exercises on Monday, as the Biden administration might consider using India as a pawn to contain China under Indo-Pacific Strategy while criticize India's streaky record on race, human rights and religion.

Indian media outlets on Saturday built momentum for the drill, the first US-Indo combat exercise in the Biden era, claiming the exercise will enhance cooperation and interoperability between the two armies and will focus on counter-terrorism operations under the United Nations mandate.

The exercise, dubbed "Yudh Abhyas," will be conducted in Rajasthan, a region near the India-Pakistan border from Monday to February 21, and aims at enhancing defense cooperation and bolstering the bilateral ties, and reflects India's role as a key partner in the Indo-Pacific region, Indian media reported, citing an Indian officer.

Chinese observers said that the drill does not directly target China despite a months-long border tension. And it still remains to be seen that whether US-India ties would match or even surpass the Trump era's, in which India held a "Malabar" naval exercise together with other Quad members - the US, Japan and Australia.

The decision to hold joint exercises in 2021 was finalized during the Trump era in 2020. India also signed the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geospatial Cooperation with the Trump administration in 2020.

Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Saturday that the exercise shows that the Biden administration is broadly aligned with Trump on defense cooperation with India.

Since taking office, the Biden administration has talked about India's importance to the Indo-Pacific region with top Indian officials. However, the senior officials are not generous in using the term Indo-Pacific Strategy, according to the confidential document declassified 10 days before Donald Trump stepped down.

It remains to be seen how serious the Biden administration will be on India, but it is foreseeable that the US will continue to use its defense relationship with India to contain China, which they described as assertive, Qian said.

Analysts believe it is dangerous to be the pawn of the US. "India is not unlikely to face criticism from the Biden administration on issues like religion, race, and human rights," Qian noted.

Although the exercises are taking place near the India-Pakistan border, it is small in scale compared to India's own exercises against Pakistan, so the overall irritation to Pakistan is manageable, Qian said on regional stability.

Indian media reported that about 250 soldiers will join the drill from each side.
Just a couple of years back, analysts were predicting tough times for the cannabis industry as cash and financing were rapidly drying up. Then the pandemic came, and sales skyrocketed. Now, theres yet another huge catalyst.

As the pandemic is easing with the coronavirus vaccine rolling out, the cannabis industry might get another boost.

In a joint statement, three top Senate Democrats announced a push to pass sweeping legislation this year that would end the federal prohibition on marijuana on a Federal level.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and Ron Wyden of Oregon said they would release a draft on how best to legalize and regulate cannabis and cannabis commerce in a post-prohibition America. The Senators stressed that passing the legislation would be a priority for the Senate.

No details were immediately available, but three Democrats said that in the next few weeks, they will release a proposal for legalization that would include measures to protect public health as well as responsible taxes and regulations.

The reform would also provide so-called restorative justice for people who have been convicted of pot-related crimes.

As states continue to legalize marijuana, we must also enact measures that will lift up people who were unfairly targeted in the War on Drugs, the Senators wrote.

In the U.S., 68% of Americans currently favor legalizing marijuana, a record high, while the legal cannabis industry market topped $13.5 billion in 2019 and reached $19.7 billion last year.

In its new study, New Frontier Data projects that cannabis sales in the U.S. are projected to reach $35 billion by 2025.

Fifteen states and Washington, D.C., have now legalized marijuana for recreational use for adults over 21. Thirty-four states currently allow medical marijuana use, while 15 states do not have any laws that allow marijuana.

A few other states were also preparing the legalization for last year; however, the pandemic consumed bureaucratic attention and social distancing has hindered any ballot drives.



Ever since the start of the pandemic, due to various lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, sales of cannabis products have surged as the industry was deemed an essential service.

Sales also boomed during the holiday seasons.

Jane Technologies, an online cannabis marketplace, registered a 241% increase in online sales on Green Wednesday 2020, compared to the previous year. Overall, 2020 online sales increased by an average of 271% compared to 2019.

According to Green Entrepreneur, companies sold $400 million worth of cannabis products in the week leading up to July 4th 2020--a 60% increase compared to the weekly average.

Labor Day is also a big day in the cannabis industry, with sales exceeding a quarter-billion dollars in 2020, representing a year-over-year increase of 23%. The Christmas holiday period also outperformed expectations and generated $427 million.

Now, all eyes will be on how cannabis stocks might be able to ride these Biden Administration tailwinds.

By Michael Kern for Safehaven.com
A Catholic leader expressed his disappointment towards President Biden's remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast and says that Biden "does not speak for the Church."

Catholics across the United States do not acknowledge Joe Biden when he claims to be a part of the church as his administration's policies are mostly conflicting with the church's beliefs. He was even criticized by pro-life leaders because of his "less-than-inspiring speech" at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, according to Townhall.

His speech includes a message to call for unity amid the difficult situation and a condemnation of the "political extremism" which was clearly based on the Capitol Hill riots last Jan. 6.

"For so many in our nation, this is a dark, dark time," Biden claimed.

Brian Burch, the president of the national faith-based advocacy organization CatholicVote, called Biden's remarks on the prayer breakfast "unremarkable" because his speech lacked details including the issues most important to people of faith.

"President Biden's brief unremarkable address at the National Prayer Breakfast this morning ignored the aggressive and hostile steps already taken by his administration against people of faith, including the anti-science transgender mandate and the deeply unpopular decision to fund abortion around the world," Burch said in a statement.

"It's important to also remember that President Biden does not speak for Catholics or the Church. In fact, he explicitly departs from many of the Church's non-negotiable beliefs and teachings." He added.

Burch also explained that this is the reason why the Catholic Bishops of the United States of America have shown deep concerns about Joe Biden's policies which were said to "'advance moral evils' on issues such as marriage, family, religious liberty, and the defense of vulnerable children in the womb."

"Our country is desperately in need of healing and unity. Throughout our history, our leaders have called the country to prayer and obedience to the truths of our Judeo-Christian heritage. President Biden's words this morning were both underwhelming and disappointing." Brian Burch continued.

Biden also flip-flopped on the Hyde Amendment during the campaign trail. The Hyde amendment is the measure that bans federal fundings of abortion for several times. It is one of Biden's first executive orders to undo the Mexico City policy that was renewed by Trump, which would mean that federal funds are allowed to go to overseas abortions.

Progressive groups urged Biden to skip the breakfast prayer since their beliefs dos not align, but every president since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953 has made an appearance. Although, the event was entirely virtual this year due to the coronavirus outbreak. Biden and all the other speakers appeared via taped remarks.

Biden, being just the second Catholic U.S. president often speaks about his faith and its influence on his life which is ironic after signing a number of executive orders that are in contrast with his religious beliefs.

'America's Next Top Model' star urges women to honor God with their time on social media

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Former Americas Next Top Model contestant Leah Darrow is challenging women to honor God with their time on social media, warning that one of the devils greatest tactics is distraction.

In 2004, Darrow shot to fame after appearing on the hit reality show Americas Next Top Model. After her elimination, she had a successful modeling career in New York City, but it wasnt enough.

In 2005, Darrow had a miraculous encounter during a photo shoot where she saw herself standing before God with empty hands. She felt God telling her she was made for more.

At that moment, she walked out of the shoot and never looked back, dedicating her life to God. Today, she is a wife, mother of six, bestselling author, app creator, and public speaker who challenges women to find their identity in Christ.

During an appearance on pro-life advocate Abby Johnsons hit podcast, "Politely Rude," Darrow shared how shes now on a mission to help other women connect with God.

She recently founded Lux Catholic App, a sisterhood of women who are asking questions about the Catholic faith, seeking truth and striving toward holiness.

Described as a guilt-free and troll-free social media for busy women  not just Catholic women  the Lux Catholic App is designed for connection and prayer for women, Darrow said.

I wanted women to have a place where they could ask honest questions about the faith and not be torn down and get responses, she told Johnson. I wanted women to have a place where they would have sincere, true spiritual formation that's geared toward women.

Darrow admitted she came up with the idea after she became tired of feeling crappy on social media due to the negative environment prevalent on many platforms.

So I just thought, Oh, well, what the heck, I'll just create an app, she said.

The app is guided by rules that ensure users are honoring God and each other with their comments, and weve never had to delete or kick anyone out, she said.

Its a very deep community that suffers together and prays, she said. I think there's just something about how God put it together that has made it to where it's not judgy and we're not sharing random things of our life. We've come there very purposeful and very Christ-centered in a way to really pray together, and it's stayed that way. By the power of the Holy Spirit, it should stay that way, and we are very protective that it does stay in that lane.

Darrow, who has a masters degree in theology, noted that oftentimes, women bash their husbands on online communities  a habit she said doesnt honor God.

We don't honor our spouses in the way that we should, she stressed. We don't pray for them in the way that we should.

I find it ironic ... that we'll pray to get a husband, but we don't pray after we got the husband, she added. It's kind of like reinvigorated my hope and a little bit in humanity to see women together praying.

Touching on the dangers of social media and the importance of being wise about circles of influence, Darrow said women need to be very, very protective of the time that we spend on social media and what we're allowing into our life.

Theres just so many things that are more important, she stressed. If you're going to take away your time from the face to face interactions with the people God's placed in front of you, how are you doing that? What are you going to do? Who are you going to listen to? What voices are you going to allow into your life?

The Other Side of Beautyauthor challenged listeners to go unfollow at least five people on social media.

There are at least five people you're probably following right now that are not breathing life into your life, Darrow said. That doesn't mean necessarily that this person is attacking you; it just means maybe their content  and it could be neutral, it could even be positive  is rubbing that wound that God's not asking you to have rubbed right now.

One of the best tactics that the devil, that evil has, is distraction, she added. To distract us with what somebody else says, to distract us with being offended, and even distract us with our passions, with our feelings. We have to keep them. It is challenging and it is a constant thing. But if we don't, we will lose peace, and we will lose ... our vision and our purpose of what Christ is calling us to do.


The hosts of The View were widely criticized on social media after a few of them grilled former Obama adviser Van Jones for complimenting Donald Trump and posing for a photo with conservative commentator Candace Owens.

Jones appeared on the ABC daytime talk show on Friday to promote a documentary film he produced alongside View co-host Meghan McCain about bridging the political divide that has roiled America in recent years.

But the conversation turned tense when hosts Sunny Hostin told Jones that he was distrusted by African Americans, Ana Navarro criticized him for taking a selfie with Owens, and Joy Behar ended the segment by telling him to take a nap.

Jones defended himself against accusations that he was giving racial cover to Trump, saying that his outreach to the then-president as well as other Republicans was to advance prison reform.

Van Jones (right), the CNN commentator and former adviser to ex-President Barack Obama, was criticized by The View co-hosts, including Ana Navarro (left), for his outreach to Republicans

Navarro asked Jones if he didn't regret taking a selfie photo with Candace Owens, the conservative commentator, in 2018

Jones has worked with Trump administration officials, including Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and White House advisor, on criminal justice reform. Jones is seen second from left alongside Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, at the White House in May 2018

Jones has praised Trump for signing into law the First Step Act in late 2018. The law, which passed with overwhelming bi-partisan support, eases mandatory minimum sentences for those convicted of nonviolent, drug-related crimes.

He also said he had no regrets about posing for a selfie with Owens, a conservative commentator who has been criticized for making provocative comments about the black community and liberals in general.

The left-leaning hosts of The View took issue with Jones seeking common ground with Republicans at a time of deep polarization in the country, particularly during the Trump era.

Hostin, who is African American, pointedly told Jones during the segment: People in the black community dont trust you anymore.

She then mentioned how Jones broke down in tears while on CNNs air after the networks announced that Joe Biden was the projected winner of the recent presidential election.

Now Van, you do spend a lot of time threading the middle and trying to unite people, Hostin said.

But there are those who accuse you of being a political opportunist - a chameleon, so to speak - who provided racial cover for former, disgraced, twice impeached President Trump.

View co-host Sunny Hostin (left), who is African American, pointedly told Jones during the segment: People in the black community dont trust you anymore.

Hostin then read aloud quotes by Jones in which he says that Trump did not get enough credit for helping the black community.

Yet just recently you cried on CNN when Joe Biden was elected the 46th president, and you said its easier to be a parent now, character matters now, truth matters, she said.

You even mentioned George Floyd and said a lot of people felt they couldnt breathe.

People in the black community dont trust you anymore.

What is your response?

Jones politely smiled and responded: Well, I dont think thats true.

People may not like everything Ive said on television and I try to be balanced, Jones said.

But look at what I have done. Who among my critics have been able to get people together to help folks at the bottom?

When we fight like this about everything and you cant give anybody even a little bit of credit for anything, who it hurts is not the politicians, its not the pundits, its regular folks who don't have anything.

Jones continued: Im never going to apologize for putting the interest of people at the bottom first.

People need champions. Whoever is in that White House, you have a responsibility to go in there and advocate and try to get people home out of prison. Im going to keep doing it, whoever is in that White House.

McCain then spoke up in Jones defense while invoking her father, the late Senator John McCain of Arizona, who gained a reputation as a 'maverick' for at times defying his own party, the Republicans, in favor of working with Democrats.

Jones appeared on the ABC daytime talk show on Friday to promote a documentary film he produced alongside View co-host Meghan McCain (left) about bridging the political divide that has roiled America in recent years

McCain praised Jones on Twitter, saying she was 'proud to call him a friend'

Jones replied to McCain: 'Always proud to work with you!'

John McCain, who was a nemesis to Trump, died in August 2018. His widow, Cindy McCain, and his daughter, Meghan McCain, voted for Biden, a longtime family friend.

I want to say you have been such a life raft to me, and given me so much hope to live in the spirit of how my dad taught me to, Meghan told Jones during the segment.

And a lot of people come up to me almost hourly saying, I loved your dad, I loved your dad, I loved your dad, we need more like him.

Well, do you know what he did? He worked with the other side all the time.

Thats what he did. And he made hard choices and he was bipartisan, and he saw the good in people.

McCain said during the segment that she didnt think theres any way to come to the table with extremists who traffic in dangerous dog whistles and conspiracy theories.

Toward the end of the segment, co-host Joy Behar (left) told Jones it was time to 'take a nap' after Navarro asked him about his selfie with Owens

Van, take a nap pic.twitter.com/xCLcVBlr6Y  Deja The View (@dejatheviewpod) February 5, 2021

But she did express concern about the path were headed down if we write off a huge swath of this country as irredeemable.

Jones agreed, saying that it was necessary to engage Trump voters in dialogue so as not to throw away his supporters because your trash you just threw away could become the Proud Boys treasure, it could become the Nazis treasure.

But the other co-hosts kept pressing Jones. When it was Navarros turn to ask questions, she was perplexed at how Jones held discussions with members of Trumps family.

Youve lost a lot of people who trusted you and who saw you as a voice because of the positions you took during Trump, Navarro, a Republican anti-Trumper, told Jones.

Navarro then noted that Trumps son-in-law and former senior adviser, Jared Kushner, reportedly tried to get CNN to fire Jones during the 2016 campaign.

Then, all of a sudden, you show up working with nepotism Barbie and nepotism Ken, Navarro said, referencing Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, who was also a White House adviser during her fathers term in office.

Navarro also took Jones to task for showing up in pictures with Eric Trump and Candace Owens.

So I think there are people who wonder, and Im one of them, how did that evolution happen? Navarro asked.

How did you go from being this very principled critic of the Trump administration as I was to all of a sudden, being in the White House celebrating with them?

Jones responded by saying he had no regrets and that he was proud of his work lobbying the Trump administration to support the prison reform legislation.

He said that 95 per cent of the time he criticized Trump and Republicans while on CNN.

But when they do something right, Im going to say it - and then Ill get beat up [by liberals] for saying it, Jones said.

Towards the end of the segment, Navarro once again asked Jones if he regretted posing for a selfie with Owens, who I think is very hurtful.

Do you not regret that? Do you not see that youre giving her legitimacy? Navarro asked.

On social media, Owens blasted The View co-hosts, specifically Navarro, for criticizing Jones over the selfie photo

Owens wrote: 'The women of #TheView are taking their obsession with me to new heights'

In a later tweet, Owens wrote: 'Van Jones and I disagree on about 95% of issues. That aside, we acknowledge and respect one another and can find plenty to smile about when in the same room.

Kayleigh McEnany, the former White House press secretary under Trump, tweeted: 'This is INSANE & INTOLERANT! @VanJones68 is one of the kindest people. When few put politics aside, he did in partnering w/ the Trump admin on criminal justice reform. But apparently he cant take a picture w/ @RealCandaceO? More of Van, less of this!'

Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News and NBC star, tweeted: How gross - he cant even take a picture w/someone they dont like? Im Team @VanJones68. Good for him & @RealCandaceO for letting humanity triumph over politics once in a while.

Another Twitter user wrote: 'Van you are walking a really high tight rope but at the end of the day the only thing that matters is that you come from a place of Integrity with Kindness in your Heart. 'You my Brother are doing good work don't be swayed.'

'Van I'm Conservative and don't always agree with you but [I 100 per cent] applaud you for putting the people ahead of the hits you knew you would take,' wrote one Twitter user

Rick Kimball tweeted: 'Van, applaud you for making this film. I am a right leaning independent and look forward to seeing the film. I agree we need to find ways to better understand each other and bring our country together.

Elisha Krauss tweeted: 'So @VanJones68 and @MeghanMcCain make a documentary about the importance of bipartisanship and then all yall get mad at him for... being bipartisan?'

Jones responded: I take smiley pictures with lots of people.

Before he could finish his reply to Navarro, Behar interjected, saying: Youre going to have to take it outside.

Behar apparently needed to end the segment with Jones, whose appearance on The View stretched to a lengthy 20 minutes.

Ill take pictures with anybody, Jones said as Behar read a promotional script for the Jones-McCain documentary The Reunited States seconds before going to commercial.

Behar ended the segment by saying: Van, take a nap.

On social media, Owens blasted The View co-hosts, specifically Navarro, for criticizing Jones over the selfie photo.

'OMG I cannot stop laughing,' Owens tweeted. '@ananavarro just questioned Van Jones for taking a smiling picture with Candace Owens.

'Um...what?

'The radical Left wants to unite America by making it a criminal act to smile in pictures with conservatives.

Liberals on Twitter, however, were not as forgiving. One Twitter user wrote: 'Cool. Its crazy how @VanJones68 went from a man who worked side by side with Prince to empower vulnerable communities to being someone who enables white supremacy and works with a woman who is married to a white nationalist.'

James Horns tweeted: 'I do believe youve done amazing work Van but I also agree with Ana. Candace Owens has said horrific & deplorable false statements about black people.'

'Utterly psychopathic.'

'To add context. Van Jones and I smiled together in a picture at a bi-partisan event attended by both Republicans and Democrats for the First Step Act prison reform...

'The women of #TheView are taking their obsession with me to new heights.'

In a later tweet, Owens wrote: 'Van Jones and I disagree on about 95% of issues. That aside, we acknowledge and respect one another and can find plenty to smile about when in the same room.

'Rabid attempts to dehumanize Trump-supporters reach new heights when smiling becomes condemnable.'

Kayleigh McEnany, the former White House press secretary under Trump, tweeted: 'This is INSANE & INTOLERANT!

'@VanJones68 is one of the kindest people. When few put politics aside, he did in partnering w/ the Trump admin on criminal justice reform.

'But apparently he cant take a picture w/ @RealCandaceO?

'More of Van, less of this!'

Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News and NBC star, tweeted: How gross - he cant even take a picture w/someone they dont like?

Im Team @VanJones68. Good for him & @RealCandaceO for letting humanity triumph over politics once in a while.

Elisha Krauss tweeted: 'So @VanJones68 and @MeghanMcCain make a documentary about the importance of bipartisanship and then all yall get mad at him for... being bipartisan?'

Meghan McCain tweeted: 'Working with @VanJones68 is one of the great privileges of my career. I am so proud to call him a friend and all of the incredible work done in our film @the_reunited.

'He and the filmmakers are trying to bring us together instead of divide, something too rare these days.'

Jones replied to Meghan McCain, tweeting: 'Same back at ya!! I hope everyone will watch @the_reunited and share it with someone with whom they disagree.

'Everyone can learn something from this documentary. Please watch and share. Always proud to work with you, @MeghanMcCain!'

Jones also got support on Twitter from other right-leaning voters.

In October, Van Jones (top right) said that Trump 'doesn't get credit' for the 'good things' he has done for the black community. Jones appeared alongside Jake Tapper (left) and commentator Scott Jennings (bottom right) on CNN on October 23

Jones has praised Trump in the past for signing into law the First Step Act, which is aimed at easing prison sentences for those convicted of nonviolent offenses. Trump is seen above in the Oval Office with Alice Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old black woman who was freed from prison by the president after she served more than 21 years for a nonviolent drug offense. The image was taken in the Oval Office on August 28, 2020

'Van I'm Conservative and don't always agree with you but [I 100 per cent] applaud you for putting the people ahead of the hits you knew you would take,' wrote one Twitter user.

'History will judge you as one of the best voices of this divided period.'

Rick Kimball tweeted: 'Van, applaud you for making this film. I am a right leaning independent and look forward to seeing the film.

'I agree we need to find ways to better understand each other and bring our country together.

'I hope the film will help me better understand those I disagree with.'

Another Twitter user wrote: 'Van you are walking a really high tight rope but at the end of the day the only thing that matters is that you come from a place of Integrity with Kindness in your Heart.

'You my Brother are doing good work don't be swayed.'

Liberals on Twitter, however, were not as forgiving.

One Twitter user wrote: 'Cool. Its crazy how @VanJones68 went from a man who worked side by side with Prince to empower vulnerable communities to being someone who enables white supremacy and works with a woman who is married to a white nationalist.'

That was a reference to Meghan McCain's husband, Ben Domenech, the co-founder and publisher of The Federalist, a right-leaning online news source.

James Horns tweeted: 'I do believe youve done amazing work Van but I also agree with Ana. Candace Owens has said horrific & deplorable false statements about black people.'
Military rule in Myanmar might 'never end' after coup, religious leader warns

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The military coup in Myanmar might signal the end of democracy in the country if it succeeds, a religious leader from Myanmar now living in the United States said.

On Feb. 1, Myanmars military seized power, capturing the nations elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and overturning nine years of civilian government. Suu Kyi had spent 15 years in prison while peacefully advocating for democracy in Myanmar. She leads the pro-democracy NLD party.

The religious leader originally from Myanmar, whose name will not be revealed due to security reasons, told The Christian Post that even when democracy was functioning, Suu Kyi had to worry about the militarys response to her actions. When the military attacked Myanmars Muslim minority, there was little she could do to oppose them.

American people need to know that in order to make change in Myanmar, this is the final and the last opportunity. If nothing happens at this point, this rule will never end. It has been five years since moving into democracy, and we are moving back to the beginning again, he said.

He stressed that Myanmars people love Suu Kyi, but its unclear how much power she has to negotiate with the military.

The last five years have been peaceful and prosperous for Myanmar, he noted. As the people had freedom and the country was succeeding economically, the military felt its power fading, he observed.

A lot of people talk about the bad things about the military junta. The junta sees themselves as losing their people, and the people are hating them so much, he said.

The military likely launched a coup because it knew it would not control Myanmars future, he contended. In the 2020 election, the NLD party won in a landslide.

The military, led by Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, claimed that the landslide election victory of the pro-democracy party was a result of voter fraud and declared a one-year state of emergency. It now enforces a curfew on citizens and has closed the countrys airports.

International Christian Concern Southeast Asia Regional Manager Gina Goh expressed concern that the military would crack down on minority religious groups as they did in the past.

The military is notorious for its relations with the ultranationalist ultra-Buddhist group the Ma Ba Tha, she said. The military together with Ma Ba Tha has targeted the Muslims in the country, but they also go after Christians. Once they get a hold of the power, they might resort to things they were doing before they passed the power to the civilian government. They kill. They rape minority Christians.

The religious leader who spoke to CP believes a lack of support for Myanmar from the Trump administration may have given Myanmars military the confidence it needed to launch the coup. In contrast, visits from former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the Obama administration encouraged democracy, he argued.

In Myanmar, the military holds immense power and controls 25% of the government, according to the countrys constitution. Military leaders are nationalists who support the countrys majority religion of Buddhism.

[The coup is] a power play," said Goh. "The military is almost like a gang. They can use their power to intimidate people.

The military has paid protesters to support the coup alongside soldiers, the religious leader said. International pressure and sanctions will not affect the armys decisions.

A lot of people have been praying for Myanmar and many countries have shown their concerns, he said. There is nothing international pressure can do to the military junta. They know how to handle it. They have known how to handle it for a long time. They dont care about the political sanctions or all of it.

The best thing Christians worldwide can do to help is pray, he said.

I dont know what will happen right now. The military junta hates Christians, he said. People are crying right now. They are all sad, including me. We dont even know what we feel right now.
WhatsApps new privacy policy has managed to create quite a controversy in India that has seen millions of users in the country try out other messaging apps. Telegram has emerged as a popular alternative for many, but the biggest hurdle for most users is that all their important chats are present in WhatsApp. Telegram is looking to capitalize on the trend by offering users an option to import their WhatsApp chats to it.

WhatsApp itself does not offer an option to export its chats to any other messaging service. At best, it allows users to export a chat and its media content as a zip file or send the conversation as an email but thats about it. Telegram has created a tool that uses the chat file exported by WhatsApp and imports them into an existing conversation in Telegram. If you are looking to import your WhatsApp chats to Telegram, below is how you can do it.

How to Import WhatsApp Chats to Telegram

Step 1: Open WhatsApp and go to the chat that you want to export. Tap the contact name on the top to bring up the Contact Info page.

Step 2: Select the Export Chat option. You will then be prompted to decide on whether you want to export the chat with the media or without it. Select an option depending on your preference.

Step 3: From the Share sheet that opens up, select Telegram and then select the contact to which youd link to import the conversation.

Step 4: You dont necessarily have to select the same contact whose chats you are exporting from WhatsApp. Confirm your selection by tapping Import. Depending on the size of the chat and media content, the importing process can take anywhere between a few seconds to a few minutes.

All imported chats will show in the Telegram conversation with an Imported label along with the date on which they were sent or received.

While not perfect, Telegrams tool will at least let you import all your important WhatsApp conversations to it so that you can ditch the latter. Do remember that while Telegram is more feature-rich than WhatsApp, its messages are not end-to-end encrypted by default. Instead, you will have to start a secret chat with a contact to ensure that all messages are safe and secure.
Chinese Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile Threat Requires Navy, Space Force Cooperation

US naval forces face an unprecedented threat from Chinese anti-ship ballistic missiles

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The U.S. Navy views Chinas anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) capabilities with great concern.

The United States has been able to project power all over the world with carrier strike groups (CSG)an aircraft carrier with layered defenses. CSGs are more secure than land basesits harder to destroy something that movesand would allow aircraft to hit hundreds of targets daily for months.

Chinas military considers its ASBMs trump cards against the U.S. Navys ability to deploy its ships off the Chinese coast, according to Andrew S. Erickson, a scholar of Chinese military strategy who taught at the U.S. Naval War College.

Vice Adm. Jeffrey Trussler, deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare, said at a virtual event hosted by the Intelligence and National Security Alliance: Im not going to get [into] much more detail of what we know and dont know about it. But theyre pouring a lot of money into the ability to basically rim their coast in the South China Sea with anti-ship missile capability. Its a destabilizing effort in the South China Sea, in the East China Sea, all those areas. When their claims of some of these contested islandstheyre militarizing those areas.

Its something that confuses the international order and concerns the allies in the region. Its one reason we work to keep the global commons open and the free flow of traffic.

ASBMs are a greater threat compared to conventional anti-ship missiles and can be launched from well outside the 100-nautical-mile maximum range of the SPY-1 Aegis radars. These radars are mounted on fleet escorts, such as the Ticonderoga-class cruisers and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. The Chinese DF-21D missile has a range of 1,300 miles while the DF-26 has a range of 2,400 miles. This gives them the ability to launch a surprise attack that could make it harder to defend the fleet.

These weapons can be fired from mobile launchers. Experience from the 1991 Persian Gulf War showed that finding mobile missile launchers to destroy them can be among the most challenging things to do in a combat situation, because they can move, and it can be a bit like finding a needle in a haystack.

The U.S. Navy currently has 48 Aegis-equipped vessels capable of fielding the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system, (pdf) which can intercept missiles and protect U.S. carriers and other warships. That number is projected to increase to 65 by 2025, and seven Japanese destroyers also have the BMD system. This system proved its worth during a November test. A Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) on the destroyer USS John Finn successfully intercepted an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that had been launched from Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific.

However, serious upgrades of their capability to negate Chinas ASBM advantages are needed.

Vice Adm. Jon A. Hill, director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, noted that you cant shoot what you dont see. Space Force-controlled ballistic-missile launch detection satellites provide the fastest and most accurate missile defense. Hill stressed the need for cooperation between space assets and the Aegis system, last August. Space assets are crucial because they can see targets beyond the range of the ships radar.

A year ago, the infant Space Force played an integral role in alerting American forces in Iraq that Iranian ballistic missiles were inbound. This warning saved lives and kept casualties to a minimum. The Space Force must do the same to support the Navys fleet activities in the Chinese theater of operations in the Western Pacific, Taiwan Strait, South China Sea, and the East China Sea.

Last August, China proved its carrier killers could hit moving ships when it test-fired its DF-21D and DF-26 ASBMs at targets located between Hainan Island and the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) fired the DF-26 from a base in northwestern Chinas Qinghai Province and the DF-21D from a base in the countrys Zhejiang Province, located north of Taiwan.

The DF-26 can carry a nuclear warhead and can conduct precision strikes in the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean, and the South China Sea while remaining safely deep inside Chinese territory, the Pentagons 2020 report (pdf) on Chinese military power states.

Intelligence analysis suggests that the DF-21Ds warhead can maneuver like an aircraft through the atmosphere upon reentry, which makes it harder for defenders to kill. China is believed to have approximately 94 launchers capable of firing the DF-21D missile. This necessitates the development of improved abilities to track and shoot down the hypersonic glide vehicles, capable of traveling at between Mach 5 and 10between 3,806 and 7,680 mphthat are deployed by the DF-21D. By comparison, jetliners travel at 0.785 Mach or 583 mph.

The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) awarded a contract to Aerojet Rocketdyne a year ago to develop an interceptor to negate the advantage of hypersonic weapons under its Glide Breaker program. A sea-based component of this program that can counter theater-based weapons systems such as the DF-21D is a must. These improvements are crucial due to the short time between when the PLA would launch its ASBMs and when they would be in range for the Aegis system to intercept before they disable American carriers or other warships.

A change in thinking is required such that the BMD can counter ICBM threats to the U.S. homeland and to the fleet.

U.S. missile defense almost exclusively focuses on strategic threats from Russian and other nuclear missiles. The way the BMD system is deployed must be entirely reevaluated, and neutralizing Chinas ASBM advantage must be the top priority. If aircraft carriers are vulnerable, Americas ability to protect itself and ensure freedom of navigation for the rest of the world will be in jeopardy.

John Rossomando is a senior analyst for defense policy at the Center for Security Policy; he served as senior analyst for counterterrorism at The Investigative Project on Terrorism for eight years.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Researchers during a new study have found a sharp decline in overall heart surgery volume and an unexplained increase in deaths after coronary artery bypass grafting, due to the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis.

The findings of the study were published in the journal 'The Annals of Thoracic Surgery'. The research was presented at the 57th Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

"This study was a true herculean analysis and tour de force that showed the COVID effect on adult cardiac surgery volume, trends, and outcomes," said Tom C. Nguyen, MD, from the University of California San Francisco.

"The pandemic has changed the world as we know it, causing a dramatic drop in adult cardiac surgery volume and worsening patient outcomes," added Nguyen.

Dr Nguyen and colleagues queried the STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database from January 1, 2018, to June 30, 2020, and The Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Dashboard from February 1, 2020, to January 1, 2021.

The researchers examined data from 717,103 adult cardiac surgery patients and more than 20 million COVID-19 patients in an effort to determine how the pandemic affected adult cardiac surgery on national and regional levels.

"Only the STS National Database has the level of granularity, COVID variables, and longitudinal follow-up to answer the questions posed in this important study," said Dr Nguyen.

"Our research also analyzed data by regions to get an idea of how specific areas did during the COVID pandemic," added Dr Nguyen.

According to the study results, there was a 53 per cent decrease nationwide in all adult cardiac surgery volume when compared to 2019 and 65 per cent fewer elective cases in the United States. COVID also impacted non-elective cases, resulting in a 40 per cent decrease.

In addition, the data showed that no what matter the procedure--isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), isolated aortic valve replacement (AVR), isolated mitral valve replacement (MVR), CABG AVR, CABG MVR, isolated MV repair, and CABG MV repair--there was a significant decline in case volume, 54 per cent, as compared to 2019.

Regionally, the Mid-Atlantic area (New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania), was among those most affected by the COVID crisis, experiencing a 71 per cent decrease in overall case volume, 75 per cent fewer elective cases, and a 59 per cent reduction in non-elective cases. Another hotspot, the New England region (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island), showed a 63 per cent reduction in overall case volume.

The researchers also found that prior to the COVID surge, the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions had excellent outcomes with an observed-to-expected (O/E) ratio of less than 1, which represents a better-than-expected mortality rate. However, during the COVID surge, there was a 110 per cent increase in the O/E for all adult cardiac procedures and a 167 per cent increase for isolated CABG, meaning more patients were dying than expected.

Though the data did not directly address the cause of increased mortality, many surgeons say they currently are limited to operating on only the most urgent coronary bypass cases and patients who tend to be sicker.

"These numbers should not serve as a deterrent to patients seeking care for chest pain or other cardiac symptoms," said Robbin G. Cohen, MD, MMM, from Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, who was not directly involved with this study.

"If anything, they are a warning to get into the system as soon as possible," added G. Cohen.

At the time of the presentation, there were 95.4 million global cases of COVID-19 with more than 2 million global deaths. The US accounted for more than 24 million cases and approximately 400,000 deaths.

In the past year, this crisis has altered or halted virtually every aspect of society, and the practice of cardiothoracic surgery clearly has not been immune. The abrupt cessation of surgery in mid-March 2020 has proven to have had far-reaching implications, as the negative effects of cancelled and postponed procedures on patient health outcomes now are being realised.

"We clearly demonstrated that if you have heart surgery during COVID, you have an increased risk of morbidity and mortality. No doubt that COVID hit us hard," said Dr Nguyen.

According to Dr Nguyen, this study is only the first of many more "granular" analyses to come. The researchers plan to examine trends and outcomes of COVID patients vs. non-COVID patients, as well as delve more into the COVID effect on specific adult cardiac procedures such as aortic dissections.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.

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increase usage and understanding of digital and communications technology

address potential barriers to digital inclusion

address the need for digital literacy training

address the need for access via reliable and affordable devices

address the need for language and disability accommodations

develop relevancy and advocacy campaigns within specific communities and populations

As part of an effort to incorporate new technology throughout Salt Lake City government, Mayor Erin Mendenhall announced the creation of its first innovation department during her state of the city address last week.The departments goal, which is a part of a larger technology adoption plan called Tech Lake City, aims to implement an integrated software system to enhance internal government functions, along with creating a digital equity infrastructure.This team will lead in creating a culture of innovation in city government, helping Salt Lake City to modernize business processes, standardize our approach to project management, improve public transparency, streamline inefficiencies and promote the use of data to drive decisions, Mendenhall said during a livestream of the address.One of the inefficiencies the department will tackle is merging its finance and HR management systems, which currently operates on 27 different software systems, into one easy-to-use platform.Our finance software management system is from 1993, Nole Walkingshaw, the citys chief innovation officer, said. Our other systems range in age from the mid-2000s to the 20-teens along with modern software.As a result, the city is currently looking for a vendor to work with the innovation department to achieve this goal.Another area the department will focus on is integrating the citys Digital Equity For All policy. Passed in September 2020, the policy aims to provide residents with the opportunity to access and use information and communication technologies reliably.The resolution, which was inspired by the importance of technology during the pandemic, aims to incorporate three concepts: relevant content, services, hardware and digital literacy into the citys policymaking.To achieve this, the department will:Other efforts will include engaging and including the community by focusing on ongoing stakeholder engagement; increasing local government involvement and leadership; and developing an interactive community website to access information from the community and city government.As for building digital equity, the department is looking to collaborate with partners, city leaders, community members and other organizations to ensure access and foster opportunities for all citizens to engage in a fully digital society.
Sinn Fein will be required to give details of their political spending in Northern Ireland to the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) in the Republic following a new ruling by the watchdog.

Sipo is to issue new guidelines requiring parties with political operations on both sides of the border to provide financial reports on their activities in the North and the South.

The public spending watchdog's new rules were revealed in a report presented to the Seanad on the 4m donation Sinn Fein received from reclusive English millionaire William Hampton.

The report said Sipo "notes differences" in how parties with operations in the North and South submitted financial statements.

"While some elect to show their accounts for the entire organisation, north and south, others have chosen to only submit statements of account for operations in the Republic," it said.

Sipo said it is their view that in order for parties to "adhere fully" to financial reporting rules they should submit "comprehensive and consolidated statements of account which reflect the full operation of the party".

"The commission intends to modify its guidelines to clarify this expectation, and will submit modified guidance to the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government in the New Year for approval. The current guidelines will continue to apply until such time as revised guidelines are approved," they added.

Sipo also clarified that a donation in kind still counts as a political donation under their rules.

"The matters referred to by the Seanad in its query, such as the conduct of research, provision of social media services or employment of staff funded in the north and employed in this jurisdiction, could potentially fall within the definition of donation."

The report was sparked by a motion tabled by Fine Gael Senator Barry Ward asking that Sipo investigate the donation bequeathed to Sinn Fein in Mr Hampton's will. Mr Ward raised concerns about Sinn Fein using the 4m donation to fund activities in the South through its offices in Northern Ireland.

"I'm delighted Sipo recognised that Sinn Fein should make a clear statement on what their finances are and how the are spending it in both jurisdictions," Mr Ward said. "However, I still have significant questions about the 4m donation," he added.

A Sinn Fein spokesperson said: "We will be happy to provide a consolidated version of these to Sipo when their guidelines are updated."


A new ice cream made using a plant-based oil instead of traditional fat tastes 99.5 per cent the same as the real thing, according to its creators.

Swedish company Lub Foods is confident it's recreated the treat's creamy flavour and texture by using epogee fat, known as EPG.

For each unit of fat, the plant-based oil can cut up to 92 per cent of calories thanks to its molecular structure which our digestive enzymes are unable to break down, meaning barely any is absorbed by the body, reports The Times.

'Our trick has been making epogee fat taste like dairy,' explained Niclas Luthman, co-founder of Lub Foods.

Swedish company Lub Foods is confident it's recreated the treat's creamy flavour and texture by using epogee fat, known as EPG. The ice cream was launched under the subsidiary Nick's Foods last year

He added that while many brands which make sugar and fat-free ice cream struggle with getting the right texture, Lub Foods has spent years making hundreds of tweaks to its recipe to ensure it tastes authentic.

It is now confident its consistency and flavours, which includes variations of 'Choklad' (chocolate), Swedish Mint chip, Karamell Swirl, Strawbar Swirl and Peanot Butter Cup, are '99.5 per cent perfect'.

The ice cream was launched under the subsidiary Nick's Foods last year, and sales in the US hit 7.2million [$10 million].

The brand has also seen success in its native Sweden; Mr Luthman, who co-founded Lub Foods in 2014, told how within six months of launching, they'd won one per cent of the Swedish ice-cream market.

The ice cream is made using a plant-based oil instead of traditional fat, and its creators claim it tastes 99.5 per cent the same as the real thing

'Our chairman said not to bother because we wouldnt be able to compete with the likes of Unilever,' he recalled. 'I thought, "I'm going to show you".'

Lub Foods offer a range of sugar-free snacks, chocolate and drinks as well as ice-cream; Mr Luthman set it up after being diagnosed with pre-diabetes.

Of all the ice cream flavours, he said vanilla was the trickiest one to refine due to it being so subtle.

'There is nowhere to hide,' Mr Luthman told the publication. 'You can cover the taste of anything with caramel or mint flavour but vanilla is hard.'

While it's proving a hit overseas, it's yet to hit the shelves in Britain because EPG hasn't been approved by The European Food Safety Authority, which regulated food in the UK until this year.

Mr Luthman acknowledged that the EU process is 'very slow' at approving things but hopes the ice cream will get the green light within two years.

Nick's ice cream has attracted dozens of five star reviews on its website, with many remarking on how similar it tastes to the real thing.

Nick's ice cream has attracted dozens of five star reviews on its website, with many remarking on how similar it tastes to the real thing

One wrote of its Butter Pekan flavour - a rich, mapley ice cream with bits of nuts: 'Hard to tell it was healthy. SO impressed with the buttery flavor and loaded with pecan pieces, very impressive!!'

Another remarked: 'This has all the goodness including that silky "mouth feel" of full fat ice cream without the guilt!'

And one said they'd tried five flavours and all were 'wonderful', adding: 'Butter pecan - tastes like full calorie!!! Yummy.'
The wooden main gate leads into the former Nazi German Stutthof concentration camp in Sztutowo, Poland, on July 18, 2017. (Czarek Sokolowski/AP Photo)

Secretary to Nazi Camp Commandant Charged With 10,000 Counts of Accessory Murder: Prosecutors

BERLINGerman prosecutors have charged the elderly secretary of the former SS commandant of Stutthof with 10,000 counts of accessory to murder, arguing that she was part of the apparatus that helped the Nazi concentration camp function.

The 95-year-old also faces an unspecified number of counts of accessory to attempted murder for her service at the camp between June 1943 and April 1945, Peter Mueller-Rakow, spokesman for prosecutors in the northern town of Itzehoe, said Friday.

Despite her advanced age, the suspect will be tried in juvenile court due to the fact that she was under 21 at the time of the alleged crimes, Mueller-Rakow said.

The suspect, whom Mueller-Rakow would not identify in line with German privacy laws, is believed to be in good enough health to stand trial.

She has previously been partially identified as Irmgard F. by Germanys NDR public broadcaster, which interviewed her at the retirement home where she now lives in a small community north of Hamburg.

She confirmed to NDR that she had worked as the secretary to SS officer Paul Werner Hoppe in Stutthof, but said she never set foot in the camp itself and did not know of murders taking place there.

Hoppe was himself tried and convicted of being an accessory to murder, and sentenced to nine years in prison in 1957. He died in 1974.

The wooden main gate leads into the former Nazi German Stutthof concentration camp in Sztutowo, Poland, on July 18, 2017. (Czarek Sokolowski/AP Photo)

NDR cited a 1954 statement Irmgard F. had made when interviewed as a witness ahead of the trial, in which she told authorities all Hoppes correspondence with higher SS administration had gone past her desk and that the commandant had dictated her letters daily.

She also said she did not know of prisoners being gassed, but told authorities at the time she was aware Hoppe had ordered executions, which she presumed were as punishment for infractions, NDR reported.

The case against her will rely on new German legal precedent established in cases over the last decade that anyone who helped Nazi death camps and concentration camps function can be prosecuted as an accessory to the murders committed there, even without evidence of participation in a specific crime.

In the trial, we will focus on the suspect who was in the camp as a secretary, and her concrete responsibility for the functioning of the camp, Mueller-Rakow said.

Initially, a collection point for Jews and non-Jewish Poles removed from Danzignow the Polish city of GdanskStutthof from about 1940 was used as a so-called work education camp where forced laborers, primarily Polish and Soviet citizens, were sent to serve sentences and often died.

From mid-1944, tens of thousands of Jews from ghettos in the Baltics and from Auschwitz filled the camp along with thousands of Polish civilians swept up in the brutal Nazi suppression of the Warsaw uprising.

Others incarcerated there included political prisoners, accused criminals, people suspected of homosexual activity, and Jehovahs Witnesses.

More than 60,000 people were killed there by being given lethal injections of gasoline or phenol directly to their hearts, shot, or starved. Others were forced outside in winter without clothing until they died of exposure, or were put to death in a gas chamber.

Last year, a former SS private, Bruno Dey, was convicted at age 93 of more than 5,000 counts of accessory to murder for serving at Stutthof as a guard and given a two-year suspended sentence.

By David Rising
According to leaked documents PM Boris Johnson is planning to reduce the role of private sector in NHS England. Photo: Getty

The UK government could overhaul the National Health Service (NHS), reversing controversial policies put in place by former prime minister David Camerons coalition government in 2012.

According to leaked documents, PM Boris Johnson is planning to reduce the role of the private sector in NHS England.

Camerons policies under the 2012 Health and Social Care Act (HSCA) were seen as a step towards the privatisation of the NHS at the time.

The draft white paper, published by health news website Health Policy Insight also says that the health secretary would get more power under the changes.

Under the proposals emphasis is put on reducing bureaucracy and improving integration between the different departments of the NHS.

The HSCA introduced clinical commissioning groups  which had control over local healthcare provisions  moved some power from the health secretary to NHS England and provided a greater role for the private firms in healthcare.

The new plans show that the private and voluntary sectors will continue to have an important role but that their influence will be limited.

Instead of a system that requires a competitive tender process for contracts, the paper says the NHS and local authorities will be left to run services and told to collaborate with each other.

Where competitive processes can add value they should continue, but that will be a decision that the NHS will be able to make for itself, the draft White Paper says.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson declined to comment on leaks, but said: The NHS set out the need for new legislation to support the changing health and care sector in the NHS Long Term Plan, and last summer the Health and Social Care Secretary outlined how we must apply the lessons of this pandemic as we continue to deliver this plan.

The spokesperson said that the DHSC is rightly considering where changes need to be made to build back better. This includes everything from tackling bureaucracy to driving forward the integration of health and care services.

Story continues

Full details will be set out in due course, the spokesperson said.

READ MORE: UK orders 50 million CureVac vaccines to fight mutant COVID-19 strains

There will be "enhanced powers of direction for the government" to "ensure that decision makers overseeing the health system at a national level are effectively held to account, the document says

But lessons learned from the coronavirus pandemic have prompted the government to support the NHS in a way that is more integrated less bureaucratic.

The COVID pandemic demonstrated plainly that this broader approach to health and care is not only desirable, but essential. We have seen first-hand how different groups have been impacted in different ways by Covid-19, and how wider factors play a part in our health outcomes.

The plans also shine more focussed light on GPs, hospitals and social care services working together to improve patient care.

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has welcomed the plans commenting that they marked a very big change, but the right change.

Hunt told BBC Radio 4s Today programme, that greater scrutiny is needed for private sector firms working with the NHS.

If we are going to allow local monopolies to come back in the NHS, we need to make sure, in the details of these reforms, theres a proper accountability mechanism, he said.

WATCH: What UK government COVID-19 support is available?
Some local health departments have been allowed to build up sizable inventories while others did their best to inject shots in arms as quickly as they arrived. While some medical providers have begun reaching out to patients, many vaccine seekers are often forced to make longshot cold calls to lists of places theyve heard might have shots, or stalk websites that flash openings so briefly that those seeking them compare the hunt to the kill-or-be-killed plot of The Hunger Games books and movies.
AstraZeneca expects results from the US clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccine in the next four to six weeks, the firm's research chief Mene Pangalos said on Friday.

The US has a contract for 300 million doses of the Oxford University-designed shot, expected to be delivered this year.

Oxford and AstraZeneca's vaccine is already approved in the UK, but was delayed in the US amid regulators' criticisms that the trial data contained errors, such as an accidental dosing regimen.

But encouraging findings about the 70 percent effective shot continue to roll in. Oxford also announced Friday that preliminary tests suggest that its vaccine is about as effective against the UK's B117 variant as it is against earlier circulating forms.

And UK officials said Friday that additional data from AstraZeneca's trials suggest the shot is effective in people over 65, after the first data review suggested the shot's potency dropped off in the elderly.

But the US has been insistent upon basing its vaccine authorizations on trials conducted domestically, and thoroughly reviewed by its Food and Drug Administration (FDA). With final data at least a month away, it could be March or April by the time AstraZeneca's vaccine is added to the American arsenal.

AstraZeneca expects results from the US clinical trial of its 70% effective COVID-19 vaccine in the next four to six weeks, the firm's research chief Mene Pangalos said on Friday

The US has ordered 300 million doses of AstraZeneca's shot, pending its authorization by the FDA. Those doses could be a massive boost for the American vaccine rollout

Asked about when the U.S. trial results would be ready, given high transmission rates during the trial, Pangalos said that they had been high during 'the latter period of the trial.'

'I think we're getting very close to getting data. I would say in the next four to six weeks we should have the results for that study reading out,' he told reporters.

Some experts had expected the data sooner than that, given the high infection rates in the United States during the period of testing.

In January, the US saw a staggering record of 6.5 million infections in a month.

The death toll rose by nearly 100,000 fatalities last month.

AstraZeneca's shot has already been rolled out in the UK, where the 70 percent more infectious B117 variant is now dominant and triggered a massive surge of infections and the strictest lockdowns the country has seen.

That lockdown came as Britain started rolling out the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Over 10 million people have received a first dose of either AstraZeneca or Pfizer's shot. Moderna's is approved in the UK, but has not yet been rolled out because the country did not turn in its dose order soon enough.

Britain had said that it believed the vaccines were effective against variants that are circulating in the UK.

'Data from our trials of the ChAdOx1 vaccine in the United Kingdom indicate that the vaccine not only protects against the original pandemic virus, but also protects against the novel variant, B117, which caused the surge in disease from the end of 2020 across the UK,' said Andrew Pollard, Chief Investigator on the Oxford vaccine trial.

Despite ranking sixth in the world for the pace of its vaccinations, the US is predicted to reach herd immunity just in time for New Year's 2022

Countries like the US and UK will reach herd immunity within a year at their current vaccination paces, while countries like China and Canada could take up to six years

Oxford and AstaZeneca have continued to test trial participants for COVID-19 in ongoing UK trials.

Between October 2020 and January 14, the investigators sequenced the genomes found in samples taken from 323 covid-positive people who had received either Oxford's shot or a placebo, according to a pre-print study that has not yet been peer-reviewed.

Those who got the real vaccine had lower viral loads and remained positive for a shorter period of time - despite the fact that the level of neutralizing antibodies was about nine-fold lower.

However, the vaccine was about equally good at preventing people from developing symptomatic COVID-19 from B117 as it has been against older types of the virus.

Other recent data also suggests that Oxford's vaccine reduces transmission - an important function no other vaccine has proven to play (although they likely do have some effect on the ability of the virus to spread).

Still, Sarah Gilbert, co-developer of the vaccine, said that, although the vaccine had efficacy against the UK variant, it might need to be adapted for a future variant.

'We are working with AstraZeneca to optimize the pipeline required for a strain change should one become necessary,' Gilbert said.

The mounting positive findings about Oxford's jab has raised questions about the FDA's reluctance to at least begin reviewing international data from its trials, even if it is a little messy.

AstraZeneca CEO Pangalos said in a Wednesday press briefing that he doesn't think that completing the US trial will be necessary 'in terms of getting an approval.'

But there hasn't been any evident activity from the FDA so far, despite the agency's decision to expedite review of data from US-based Novavax's ongoing trials.

Waiting for 'cleaner data' from the completion of AstraZeneca's US trials would be 'a reasonable decision under normal circumstance,' Dr Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, told The Hill.

But, 'there's a reasonable question to ask: are these normal circumstances?' he added.
Rupert Grint is a beloved English actor, who is best known to fans as the redheaded, mischievous Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter film franchise. Grint, who began his career as a child performer, has worked on a variety of projects since the beloved film series ended, and is currently working on a brand-new series for Apple TV+, called Servant.

Still, Grints work in the Harry Potter series remains iconic, and the actor has spoken out on numerous occasions about how much fun he had on the set  even admitting that he was guilty of stealing a valuable item from the set of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

When was Rupert Grint born?

Rupert Grint | Indigo/Getty Images

RELATED: 8 Reasons the Harry Potter Franchise Will Never Die

Grint was born in Harlow, Essex, in 1988. The eldest of five siblings, Grint took an interest in acting and performing when he was a very young boy.

He started acting in various school plays, impressing his teachers and peers. In 2000, Grint took part in auditions for the upcoming film Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. A big fan of the books, Grint made an impression on showrunners and was cast as Ron Weasley, Harry Potters best friend.

Grint was only 11 years old when he landed the part and marked his very first movie role. Grint bonded quickly with his co-stars, and when the film was released, audiences and critics alike applauded his natural ability to play the redheaded wizard-in-training. Grint, along with his co-stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, was shot to worldwide fame.

Rupert Grint is best known for his work in the Harry Potter films

Harry Potter's Rupert Grint Joins Instagram and Reveals Name of His Baby Girl https://t.co/0WvlnM6i8q  E! News (@enews) November 10, 2020

RELATED: Harry Potter: What Fans Think of Ron and Hermiones Relationship

After the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone in 2001, Grint became a star. He went on to appear in every movie in the Harry Potter franchise, virtually growing up on camera. However, just as Grint continued working on the blockbuster franchise, he also branched out to film other projects as well, including movies like Thunderpants, Driving Lessons, Wild Target, and Into the White.

In 2011, Grint and his castmates appeared in the final film in the Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows  Part 2. Although a major chapter in Grints life closed forever, the young actor continued working on his career, acting in a wide variety of projects.

Grints personal life has flourished over the past few years as well, recently welcoming a baby with his longtime girlfriend, Georgia Groome.

What item did Rupert Grint steal from the set of Harry Potter?

Rupert Grint Says He Quit Smoking, Sleeps More Since Welcoming Daughter: It 'Happened Overnight' https://t.co/Cv5L64862v  People (@people) January 18, 2021

RELATED: Harry Potter: How Much Are the Stars Worth Today?

As any young child would, Grint got into a lot of mischief over the years while filming the Harry Potter movies. As the young actor revealed in a 2011 interview with The Daily Mail, he made off with several trinkets over the years.

Well, I kind of stole, I suppose, the number off the Dursleys house, 4 Privet Drive, the actor admitted.

Grint also told The BBC he stole the golden dragons egg from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: I took the golden egg that was in the fourth film  a dragon egg. Apparently it was worth a few thousand dollars. I put it in a pillowcase, it was with James Oliver, it was a joint effort. But they tracked it down and got it off us.

These days, Grint is more focused on parenting his young daughter than getting involved in hijinks. Still, it is likely that he looks back on those days with fondness and nostalgia.
The former senator representing Bayelsa east, Senator Ben Murray-Bruce and other Nigerians have reacted to the purported ban of cryptocurrency trading by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In a circular dated 5th February 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria notified Deposit Money Banks, Non-Financial Institutions, other financial institutions against doing business in Crypto and other digital assets.

The apex bank also directed financial institutions to close the accounts of persons or entities transacting in or operating cryptocurrency exchanges.

The Apex bank further warned the Nigerian Financial Stakeholders that any breach of this directive will attract serious regulatory sanctions.

"The Central of Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) circular of January 12, 2017 ref FPR1DIR/GEN/C1R106/010 which cautioned Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFIs), Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) and members of the pubic on the risk associated with transactions in cryptocurrency refers."

"Further to earlier regulatory directives on the subject, the Bank hereby wishes to remind regulated institutions that dealing in cryptocurrencies or facilitating payments for cryptocurrency exchanges is prohibited."

"Accordingly, all DMBs, NBFIs and OFIs are directed to identify persons and/or entities transacting in or operating cryptocurrency exchanges within their systems and ensure that such accounts are closed immediately."

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"Please note that breaches of this directive will attract severe regulatory sanctions. This letter is with immediate effect."

However, many Nigerian's including the former lawmaker condemned the move saying it was ill-informed.

I thought it's universal knowledge that decisions or policy regarding finance or economy should never be hasty? #crypto

-- Ben Murray-Bruce (@benmurraybruce) February 5, 2021

If the ban on crypto by CBN is true ehn, it points yet again to the ill informed, backward, poverty promoting dinosaurs  leading us. Use your time  to investigate and close accounts sponsoring terrorists in the country if you don't know what to do!!! GAWD #endsars 

-- Dj Switch (@dj_switchaholic) February 5, 2021

Welcome to a country where our government Bans Crypto and Pardon Terrorists

-- Roviel  (@ObongRoviel) February 5, 2021

Omoh, 2 years now Crypto have been everything, paid my final year school fees, paid my rent, did my school project, got a good Android phone, all because of trading cryptocurrencies. Nigeria don't like anything giving us hope to keep living. #WeWantOurCryptoBack

-- I AM CODED  +  (@CodedUpdate) February 5, 2021

It would be recalled that the CBN had in 2018 declared that cryptocurrencies are not a legal tender in Nigeria.

The apex bank said in the circular that "cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ripples, Monero, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Onecoin, etc and Exchanges such as NairaEx are not licensed or regulated by the CBN."
Donald Trump was reportedly in talks to acquire a 40 per cent stake in Parler in exchange for the then-president agreeing to post first on the social media app that has become the platform of choice for many of his supporters.

The negotiations, which reportedly took place while Trump was still president, were ended after White House lawyers objected, saying such an arrangement would violate ethics rules and potentially expose him to bribery charges.

News of the talks was first reported by BuzzFeed News, which obtained documents outlining the proposed deal.

According to BuzzFeed News, Trumps company would have immediately received a 20 per cent stake while the remaining 20 per cent would have been handed over in tranches over a two-year period.

Donald Trump (seen above in West Palm Beach, Florida, on January 20) was offered a 40 per cent stake in social media app Parler, according to BuzzFeed News

Parler bills itself as a social media platform that allows for 'free expression.'

The then-president would have had to agree to make Parler his primary mode of communication with his supporters.

That meant Trump would have had to post all of his social media content - including posts, videos, and livestreaming - on Parler for at least four hours before posting on any other platform, according to the proposal.

Parler also asked Trump to link back to the site when posting to the other social media platforms or whenever he emailed his supporters.

Trump would also have been required to give Parler access to his email lists so that the site could promote its platform to his many supporters.

Brad Parscale, Trump's former campaign manager, broached the idea of Trump partnering with Parler in 2019

According to BuzzFeed News, Trump's representatives were in discussions with two Parler stakeholders - Fox News commentator Dan Bongino (left) and investor Jeffrey Wernick (right)

Trumps company, the Trump Organization, was negotiating with Parler executives on behalf of the then-president when the idea was first raised last summer, according to the report.

Parler was represented in the talks by two of its prominent shareholders - Fox News commentator and Trump-backer Dan Bongino and Jeffrey Wernick, one of Parlers earliest investors.

DailyMail.com has sought comment from Parler and Bongino.

The president was never part of the discussions, Trumps former campaign manager, Brad Parscale, told BuzzFeed News.

The discussions were never that substantive.

And this was just one of many things the campaign was looking into to deal with the cancel culture of Silicon Valley.

Wernick told BuzzFeed that Trump was never involved in any discussions about bringing him to Parler.

'We have spoken to several people about potential stakes in the company for producing certain things,' Wernick said.

He said nondisclosure agreements that were made between Parler and the Trump Organization precluded him from detailing specifics of what was discussed.

Legal experts quoted by BuzzFeed News said that the reported arrangement could have been illegal since Trump would essentially be getting a financial reward from a company that received exclusive content while he was a sitting president.

After Trump lost his re-election bid in November, the two sides revisited the idea but the talks broke down after Parler was deplatformed by large tech giants like Apple, Google, and Amazon who accused it of failing to moderate extremist content.

Parler hoped that Trump would help boost its traffic by getting him to post content on its platform before he did so on other social media apps.

Trump advisers thought that Parler offered an alternative to the mainstream apps like Facebook and Twitter, which has long been accused of anti-conservative bias.

While the outgoing president was negotiating with Parler, he was using the other platforms to mount a public relations campaign aimed at discrediting President Joe Bidens election victory.

Earlier this week, Parler CEO John Matze said he was fired after a disagreement with one of the company's chief financial backers over its content moderation policies

In the weeks that followed the November 3 election, Trump posted hundreds of messages alleging that he was victimized by widespread voter fraud that robbed him of victory.

Twitter and Facebook both placed disclaimers on his posts, stoking suspicions that the companies were seeking to censor the outgoing president.

On January 6, Trump held a rally near the White House on the same day that the Congress was meeting to ratify Bidens election victory.

After Trump spoke, hundreds of the rallygoers stormed the Capitol, overrunning police and sending lawmakers frantically hiding in fear for their lives.

Five people, including a Capitol police officer, died in the riots.

Amid the chaos and ensuing tension after the riots, Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms banned Trump, saying that there was a risk he would use his accounts to foment more violence.

In an instant, Trump was deprived of his key mode of communication with his 88 million Twitter followers as well as the more than 35 million people who followed him on Facebook.

After Trump was banished from the mainstream apps, millions of users flocked to Parler, though it, too, faced trouble.

Parler, which is home to mostly far-right users who support Trump and in many cases cheered on the riots, was removed from Apple and Google app stores.

It was also taken off a web-hosting platform by Amazon, making it inaccessible to users.

The large tech companies accused Parler of failing to crack down on extremist content and calls for violence.

Talks between the Trump Organization reportedly broke down after Parler was removed from its cloud-based servers by Amazon Web Services

Parler disappeared from the web last month with an error message saying 'we can't connect to the server' after Amazon pulled the plug

Parlers then-CEO, John Matze, 27, accused the large tech giants of censoring his platform.

Parler last month sued Amazon for antitrust violations. It has also tried to come back online with the help of a Russian internet security company, DDos-Guard, but users have still been unable to post.

Earlier this week, Matze said he was fired from his post by the companys board after a disagreement with Republican mega-donor Rebekah Mercer, one of the apps key financial backers who owns a majority stake.

Mercer has reportedly put in place a team to run the site in Matzes absence - including British lawyer Matthew Richardson and former tea party activist Mark Meckler.

Matze said on Wednesday that he and Mercer disagreed over whether Parler should do more to moderate extremist content on its platform.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Matze wanted to bolster the sites content moderation mechanism so that it could be allowed to return to the app stores managed by Google and Apple.

Matze said that the company board did not agree with his suggestion to ban certain groups that were affiliated with domestic terrorists.

Matzes claim was disputed by Amy Peikoff, Parlers chief policy officer, who called his statements misleading.

The owners and managers of the company worked tirelessly to build a resilient, non-partisan platform dedicated to freedom of expression, civil discourse, and user privacy, she said in the statement.

The idea of Trump becoming a part owner of Parler was first raised by former Parscale.

Trump was removed from social media apps Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and others in the wake of the January 6 riot at the United States Capitol in which five people died

Trump's banishment from Twitter meant that he no longer could communicate with his 88 million followers on the platform

Trump was also banned by Facebook, where the former president had more than 35 million followers

Parscale broached the idea with Trump during a meeting last year at the White House, according to BuzzFeed News.

A Trump-Parler partnership intrigued Parscale, who first raised the idea of the then-president creating an account on the controversial platform.

In the days after Trump was being encouraged by some of his aides to set up accounts on Parler and another social media platform with fewer restrictions on hate content, Gab.

But he ultimately decided against it after his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and another adviser, Dan Scavino, discouraged it, Bloomberg News reported.

Matze said that at last count Parler has some 15 million users on its site, including the former president's two eldest sons, Eric and Don Jr, as well as many former White House staffers who served in the Trump administration.
New Delhi:

Pakistan wants to hold dialogue with India to resolve all outstanding issues, including Kashmir so that peace can be restored in the region, Sartaj Aziz, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs adviser on foreign affairs, has said.

Azizs remarks came amid escalating tension between India and Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC).

He also accused India of increasing the tension on the LoC to divert attention from the human rights violations in Kashmir, The News International newspaper reported.

He claimed that in the last one year, India had committed 450 LoC violations, killing many innocent people.

Aziz said that Pakistan wanted to hold dialogue with India to resolve all outstanding issues, including Kashmir so that the peace could be restored in the region.

More News: Cross-LoC bus service between Poonch & Rawalakot halted due to shelling by Pakistan

At the same time, Aziz said Pakistan would continue political, moral and diplomatic support of Kashmiris until and unless Kashmiris achieve freedom from India. He said India could not suppress the vigour of Kashmiris for freedom.

India being a democratic country should give chance to the people of Kashmir to decide their future course, he said.

If referendum could be held in Italy and Britain, then why not in Kashmir?, he asked.

Aziz claimed that if a plebiscite was held in Kashmir no Muslim would decide to live in India.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
The federal government allocated too much vaccine toelder-care facilities,and many states are now redistributing hundreds of thousands of the unused doses to others - a move expected to expand vaccinations to more people, more quickly, according to officials involved in the effort.

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said Thursday that he is redirecting 170,000 doses of unused vaccine intended for long-term-care facilities. In Texas, health officials said they would redistribute 126,750 doses. In Illinois, the state is redirecting about 97,000 doses. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, announced on Twitter last week that the state was reallocating 37,800 doses to vaccine providers. "These surplus vaccines should be made available to members of the general public right away rather than at the completion of the [long-term-care] program," McMaster wrote. In Maine, the state is initially taking about 4,000 doses from nursing homes, assisted-living facilities and other locations.

"We're not letting those doses go to waste," said Nirav Shah, director of Maine's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in a briefing for reporters.

"I'm frustrated," he said in a subsequent interview. "We have more doses than we needed [for long-term-care facilities]. We're starting to take them."

Any additional doses will help increase supply, Shah added.

The additional doses come at a time when state officials say demand is far outstripping supply as the slow and often-chaotic vaccine rollout enters its second month.

"This latest step by the federal government - to work with states to transfer doses back to the general state supply - should help to alleviate a barrier many have complained about," said Jennifer Kates, a senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation. "It's understandable that some recalibration would be needed. But, at two months into the rollout, they hopefully can pivot quickly, given the stakes."

When the vaccine began rolling out last month, states could sign up to have CVS and Walgreens inoculate residents and staff members in long-term-care facilities. Every state except West Virginia chose the program, overseen by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Doses were sent directly to the pharmacy chains, which coordinated with the facilities to schedule vaccinations. The doses were counted as part of the state's allotment.

But they were allocated by the number of beds, not the actual number of residents, in each facility, leading to the provision of more than needed. Workers in long-term-care homes also turned out to be far less willing than expected to be vaccinated, adding to the surplus. Still more became available when people administering the vaccine found they could get six doses out of each vial of Pfizer's product, rather than five.

The CDC is working with 32 jurisdictions on a case-by-case basis to "transfer doses back from pharmacy partners when there is an excess," said spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund. She declined to say how many total doses are being redirected.

"The program is still ongoing, with vaccination wrapping up in skilled-nursing facilities and ongoing in assisted-living facilities . . . so there is no way at this time to know exactly how many doses are still needed to complete vaccination at the remaining facilities," she said.

In the initial weeks of the program, the CDC required that jurisdictions allocate "ample vaccine supply" to ensure that residents and staffers could be inoculated without interruption or delays, she said.

"Now that pharmacies have made substantial progress in efforts to vaccinate the long-term-care facility populations . . . we are working with jurisdictions to ensure they are able to easily use any excess vaccine for other targeted populations," Nordlund said.

States can defer or cancel subsequent allocations to long-term-care facilities, or the CDC can transfer doses back to the states, she added. Some places are choosing to leave excess vaccine doses with CVS and Walgreens to vaccinate other priority groups.

Advocates for the elderly are monitoring the situation closely to make sure residents and staff are not shortchanged.

"Obviously, after months during the pandemic where older adults and the people who care for them were not prioritized, it was really heartening that CDC recommended that states prioritize older people and the people who care for them," said Lisa Sanders, spokeswoman for LeadingAge, an association of nonprofit providers of aging services.

"There should be enough for older adults and care workers," she added. "We're watching it. At this point, we have not heard of a shortfall."

More than 58 million doses had been delivered across the country as of Friday, and more than 36 million had been administered. That includes more than 7 million people who had received both doses of the two-shot regimen from Pfizer or Moderna, according to the CDC. More than 4 million shots have been given in long-term-care facilities, with nearly 800,000 people receiving both doses. An estimated 260 million residents of the United States are eligible to get one of the vaccines.

Fraser Engerman, a spokesman for Walgreens, said it became clear early in the effort that the CDC had overestimated the doses needed. The company makes three visits to each facility, so it pushed extra doses from the first clinic to the second, then from the second to the third. If the doses were thawed, they were rerouted to other locations, he said.

Even so, "we had to reallocate supply," Engerman said.

Walgreens has administered more than 1.6 million doses at the nearly 26,400 long-term-care locations it contracted to serve, according to its website. Engerman said "thousands" of employees are working to vaccinate elder-care residents and staff, and the company hopes to have 45,000 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians trained by mid-February to help in the broader rollout.

Michael DeAngelis, a spokesman for CVS, said the pharmacy chain had administered nearly 2.5 million vaccines at more than 40,000 facilities. "If we project our vaccine allotment will exceed what's needed, we'll work with a state to redirect an appropriate portion of that allocation so it's repurposed elsewhere," he said in a statement.

In Illinois, state officials are using surplus doses "that otherwise would be sitting in the freezer three weeks from now" to vaccinate a priority group of 3.2 million people - including 1.3 million front-line essential workers and 1.9 million residents age 65 and older, Ngozi Ezike, director of the state's public health department, said in a statement.

In Maine, long-term-care occupancy rates were as low as 50 or 60% of the bed total when the vaccine arrived, said Shah. Other facilities were completely full. When the scale of the problem was recognized, the state moved to claw back extra doses from those facilities and the two pharmacy companies.

Maine has transferred 4,400 doses, with about half going to the general population. The rest are mostly being redirected to independent pharmacies to speed up vaccinations in assisted-living facilities because CVS, the state's pharmacy partner, is not moving quickly enough, Shah said, noting that some CVS clinics are not scheduled to take place until May.

Only one state, West Virginia, chose not to participate in the federal partnership with the drugstore chains, and it has succeeded better than most at delivering the vaccine. Using a network of local pharmacies, West Virginia finished providing second doses to everyone in long-term care at the end of January, said Clay Marsh, the state's coronavirus czar.

For reasons that aren't entirely clear, West Virginia also has seen about 60% of its nursing home staff accept the vaccine, a much higher rate than the national average. Marsh credited the state's small-town nature and a push to convince everyone that inoculation is critical protection for the individual as well as family and friends. As they have seen more people get vaccinated, some residents are jumping on board, boosting the numbers, he said.

"The more people that take it, the more people that take it," Marsh said.

- - -

The Washington Post' Andrew Ba Tran contributed to this report.
Bangkok: The Australian government has serious concerns about Sean Turnell, an Australian economic adviser to Myanmars former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained by police.

Suu Kyi was overthrown in a military coup days ago and, in a message sent to the Reuters news agency on Saturday, he said he was being detained.

Dr Sean Turnell an associate professor in economics at Macquarie University, Sydney, Credit:File

I guess you will soon hear of it, but I am being detained, he said. Being charged with something, but not sure what. I am fine and strong, and not guilty of anything, he said with a smile emoji. He couldnt be contacted again.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said the Australian government was deeply concerned about reports of Australian and other foreign nationals being detained arbitrarily in Myanmar.
The Gardas top gangland investigator has strongly criticised the fake news being pumped out on behalf of the Kinahan cartel.

Assistant Commissioner John ODriscoll said a glossy video making claims of Garda and Government corruption in relation to the Hutch attack at the Regency Hotel five years ago was part of a disinformation campaign by the Kinahan cartel.

The head of Garda Organised and Serious Crime said he has even seen bogus documentation purporting to be from international law enforcement agencies that was part of cartel spin efforts.

He was speaking on the fifth anniversary of the Regency assault by the Hutch crime group which sparked a murderous revenge campaign by the Kinahan crime cartel.

The Garda chief said that while anniversaries were not necessarily different from any other time in posing a risk of attacks, he said Garda gangland units stand prepared and operate on intelligence gathered.

On a video presenting a bizarre Kinahan take on the Regency attack, Mr ODriscoll said it suggested corruption on the part of An Garda Siochana and Government.

He said the people behind it are not accountable.

It illustrates the capacity of organised crime groups where they have generated significant wealth to spend the sort of resources to produce that particular footage, he said.

He said this was the danger with fake news.

He said the problem went beyond Ireland and said he had seen bogus documents purporting to emanate from international law enforcement agencies circulating and included in a book about organised crime.

He also rejected claims from cartel boss Daniel Kinahan that Garda evidence in the courts against cartel associates was just Garda opinion and not proper evidence.

Mr O'Driscoll said gardai were in the process of dismantling the Kinahan cartel and cited the mass convictions in the courts as well as ongoing seizures of drugs, firearms, and cash.

He also provided up-to-date figures on the operations of the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

He said that since the start of 2020, the bureau has made 228 arrests and seized:
Source: Reuters

Climate change may have influenced the outbreaks of the novel coronavirus as well as the 2002-03 SARS pandemic virus, suggests a new study which says the global crisis triggered by the release of greenhouse gasses likely altered the distribution of bat species that carry these pathogens. The study, published in the journal Science of The Total Environment, noted that the southern Chinese Yunnan province and neighbouring regions in Myanmar and Laos form a global hotspot of climate change-driven increase in bat richness.

According to the scientists, including those from the University of Cambridge in the UK, this region coincides with the likely origin of bat-borne ancestors of the two viruses  SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2. Based on earlier studies, the researchers said the number of coronavirus family of viruses present in an area is strongly correlated with the local bat species richness.

As the species richness increases increases, they said there may be an increase the probability that a coronavirus (CoV) with potentially harmful properties for human life is "present, transmitted, or evolves in the area." "Species richness, in turn, is affected by climate change, which drives the geographic distributions of species by altering the suitability of ecological habitats, forcing species to disappear from some areas whilst allowing them to expand in others," the scientists wrote in the study.

In the study, the researchers estimated how climate change has impacted global bat species richness over the last century. They said a global hotspot of climate change-driven increase in bat richness in the region may have been the likely origin of the bat-borne ancestors of the novel coronavirus and the SARS virus.

"This provides a possible mechanistic link between climate change and the emergence of the two viruses," the study noted. According to the scientists, regions around Central Africa, several scattered patches in Central and South America, and "notably a large spatial cluster located in the southern Chinese Yunnan province and neighbouring regions in Myanmar and Laos," have experienced significant increases in bat species richness due to climate change-driven range shifts over the last century.

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

They said in parts of Myanmar and Laos there has been an estimated climate change-driven increase of around 40 bat species. The scientists said this corresponds to a rise in the local number of bat-borne coronaviruses in the order of nearly 100 viruses, given that each bat species carries about 2.67 CoVs on average.

"Given the possibility raised by our analysis that global greenhouse gas emissions may have been a contributing factor in the SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks, we echo calls for decisive climate change mitigation, including as part of Covid-19 economic recovery programmes," they wrote in the study. However, the scientists clarified that future research applying alternative models of vegetation change and species distribution is needed to confirm the pattern suggested in the study.

Commenting on the findings, Paul Valdes, Professor of Physical Geography at the University of Bristol in the UK, said "habitat loss may have played a much larger role in biodiversity change than any small effect from climate change and this is not incorporated into their model." Valdes, who was not involved in the study, believes it is premature to conclude from the available data that climate change influenced the emergence of the novel coronavirus.

Kate Jones, Professor of Ecology & Biodiversity at University College London in the UK agreed. According to Jones, the risk of new viruses jumping from animals is a complex interplay of not only ecological hazard but human exposure and vulnerability.

"It may turn out that increases in human populations, human movement and degrading natural environments through agricultural expansion have a more important role to play in understanding the spillover process of SARS-CoV-2," she added. Another scientist, Matthew Struebig, who was also not involved in the study, said in a statement that while the approach used in the analysis is "interesting", the data on bat species distribution used in the analysis is "patchy at best" and "not ideal".

Struebig, who is affiliated with the University of Kent in the UK, said in a statement that the "evidence really should be backed up further." He believes the study has "too many assumptions" to conclude that climate change increased the likelihood of the emergence of the two pandemic viruses.
At 6pm on February 6, the Ministry of Health announced 5 more cases of Covid-19, including 4 locally-transmitted cases and 1 imported case.

The four domestically-transmitted cases were detected in the provinces Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh, Binh Duong and HCM City.



Bac Ninh recorded 1 new case - patient 1977, who was transmitted from patient 1565. This person was quarantined and tested for the first time on January 28. The first test result was negative for SARS-CoV-2. For the 2nd test on February 6, the patient was found to be positive. The patient is now treated at Bac Ninh General Hospital.

The new new case in HCM City - patient 1979 is a 27-year-old man, an employee at Tan Son Nhat airport. Epidemiological investigation is underway. He is isolated and treated at Cu Chi Field Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City.

Binh Duong had 1 new case - patient 1980, a 21-year-old man, known as F1 case of patient 1979. He is treated at the Medical Center of Thuan An city, Binh Duong.

Quang Ninh recorded 1 new case - patient 1981, a 22-year-old man, who had close contact with a Covid-19 patient wo was related to the outbreak at an industrial zone in Chi Linh city, Hai Duong. The man is quarantined and treated at Vietnam-Sweden Hospital, in Uong Bi district, Quang Ninh province.

The imported case - patient 1978  is a Vietnamese citizen, 29, who returned from Japan on February 1. After entering Tan Son Nhat airport, he was immediately quarantined and tested in Long An. Test results on February 5 found that this person was positive for SARS-CoV-2. He is isolated and treated at Long An Provincial General Hospital.

The new patients brought the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 1,981, including 398 infections in the community since the pandemic broke out again in northern Hai Duong and Quang Ninh provinces on January 27.

The Subcommittee for Treatment reported that three patients who infected with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in the latest outbreak in northern Hai Duong province were declared to be free from the virus on the same day.

A total of 1,468 patients have been give the all-clear from the virus so far while the number of deaths related to the disease remained at 35.

Among patients undergoing treatment at medical establishments, 10 tested negative for the virus once, three twice and two thrice.

As many as 83,104 people who had close contact with COVID-19 patients or entered Vietnam from pandemic-hit regions are being quarantined, including 759 in hospitals, 24,098 in state-designated establishments and the remaining 58,247 at their residences.

Nguyen Lien
VERMILION, Ohio -- A driver died and four Vermilion firefighters were hurt Saturday after a car crashed into a firetruck while they assisted with a flipped car, according to Vermilion Mayor Jim Forthofer and the State Highway Patrol.

The incident happened early Saturday morning on Ohio 2 near the Baumhart Road exit, according to a news release from highway patrol.

The driver, identified as 56-year-old John Goolman of Berlin Heights, drove into the back of the fire truck that was parked at the scene, the statement says. The four firefighters were struck by the truck after the driver ran into it, Forthofer said.

One firefighter went to a local hospital and the other three declined treatment, he said. The firefighter who was taken to the hospital has since been released.

The driver was pronounced dead at the scene after striking the firetruck, Forthofer said.

The crash is under investigation.

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As the number of Texans who have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine climbs above the 2 million mark, many health care workers in the states 1A bracket still have not.

High vaccination rates among this population could be key to convincing members of the public who may be hesitant to sign up for their own shots. Trusted experts who can talk about their vaccination experiences can combat misinformation about vaccine content and safety, and speed along herd immunity.

Yet only 58 percent of health care workers said they would take or have received the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a national health policy think tank.

It lines up with most Houston hospitals figures. Baylor-St. Lukes Medical Center has vaccinated more than 13,000 people, including 7,500 1A health care workers, which represent 58 percent of the total first doses administered at the hospital.

ASK A REPORTER: Bring the Houston Chronicle Health Desk your COVID questions

Memorial Hermann has vaccinated more than 32,500 health care workers. United Memorial Medical Center in north Houston, where the U.S. Army set up a COVID care unit last summer, has vaccinated about 60 percent of its frontline workers. HCA Houston Healthcare also said it provided thousands of vaccine doses to its employees, but declined to provide a figure.

Vaccine providers need to immunize doctors and nurses to prevent them from getting sick and causing more harm, experts said.

Hospitals have an additional set of obligations to communities to provide safe medical care, said Janet Malek, a Baylor College of Medicine professor who studies medical ethics. If their own employees are getting sick, they pose a risk to patients and their co-workers.

Some hospitals are using perks to convince workers to get vaccinated, leading to better results. Houston Methodist offered $500 bonuses for employees working during the pandemic. One of the eligibility criteria? Getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

Houston Methodist has vaccinated approximately 92 percent of its doctors and 75 percent of its frontline workers, which include nurses and therapists who work with COVID-19 patients.

While we would like to have 100 percent vaccinated, this is still great to see, Dr. Rob Phillips, Houston Methodists chief physician executive, wrote in an email to employees.

Even though the promise of a bonus may not sit well with outsiders, Malek said it makes sense for a hospital to do whatever it takes to fulfill its obligations for safe medical care.

Vaccine hesitancy

Most of the vaccine hesitance came before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna for emergency use, but medical leaders are still struggling to get their staff on board. In December, Dr. Joseph Varon, chief of staff at United Memorial Medical Center, told national media that his nurses  despite seeing dozens of COVID-19 patients a day  did not trust the vaccines then in development.

Two months later, Varon has had some luck swaying nurses who were initially going to wait to get vaccinated. But hes still struggling to convince the last 40 percent to get the shot.

These are nurses that see people die, he said. The amount of misinformation is huge.

Many told him they dont trust new vaccines or medications because of racist medical trials like the Tuskegee syphilis study, or theyre worried safety precautions were skipped as vaccine developers received more funding to get emergency use authorization.

The coronavirus vaccines have been developed so quickly because it builds on previous research from the SARS and MERS epidemics, and breakthroughs in vaccine technologies in the last 30 years enabled scientists to create materials such as mRNA quickly. The vaccines are authorized for emergency use during a public health crisis by the FDA, speeding up their availability in the U.S. This means there has to be scientific evidence it is effective, and no approved alternative.

By vaccinating as many health care workers as possible, hospitals are able to ensure they have a full workforce in case of surges.

The frontline health care workers are caring not only for COVID but every other medical illness right now, said Dr. David Lakey, a former Texas health commissioner who sits on the Texas COVID-19 Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel. And if they are sick, then you lose that critical workforce to care for the rest of us.

Another 33 percent of health care workers said they're hesitant to get it, but will as more data comes out or if it's required by their employers.

NEW REPORT: One in five Texans do not want the COVID-19 vaccine, University of Houston reports

Its encouraging for the public to hear that roughly six in 10 health care workers are willing to be immunized, said Liz Hamel, one of the Kaiser Family Foundation studys authors.

Even people in the medical profession have never seen a vaccine be pushed out and approved this fast, Hamel said. Hesitance is a perfectly natural standpoint to have at this point.

People are more likely to trust doctors and nurses for information about the vaccine, Hamel said. Eight in 10 people surveyed by the Kaiser Family Foundation said they would consult a health care provider before getting the shot, and that includes asking for information from friends and family who work in clinical settings.

But even if health care workers can persuade more people to get immunized, they need manufacturers, the federal government and state officials to expand vaccine supply or people wont bother getting the vaccine.

The more we increase the size of the enthusiastic group, there may be frustration and attitudes changed based on availability, Hamel said.

gwendolyn.wu@chron.com

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Today

Cloudy, breezy, and still very cool with additional rain and drizzle at times.

Tonight

Mostly cloudy and cool with a shower or two still around.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 21:40:37|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The China-U.S. Agreement on Cooperation in Science and Technology signed in 1979 was one of the first deals reached between Beijing and Washington after the two sides started to normalize their diplomatic ties.

Over the decades, cooperation of the two countries in science and technology, which has seen steady development in scope and scale, has grown into one of the underpinnings of the overall China-U.S. relations.

According to the U.S. National Science Foundation, China and the United States are now each other's biggest international peers in co-authored papers.

The two sides have also benefited from working closely with one another in such cutting-edge programs as Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment, electron positron collider and nuclear fusion experiments.

While a robust science and technology cooperation between China and the United States can serve the common interests of both countries, it also bears great significance for global scientific progress in fields like in genome research, quantum computing and space science.

However, over the past four years, the previous U.S. administration left no stone unturned to sabotage the normal cooperation and exchanges in science and technology between the two sides by bullying Chinese tech firms, excluding Chinese scientists, and smearing Chinese students in the United States as spies.

The effort to stoke confrontation between China and the United States continues despite the departure of the previous U.S. administration.

The Atlantic Council, a think tank, recently published a research report titled "The Longer Telegram -- Toward a new American China strategy."

In the report, the writer, who is identified as an anonymous former senior U.S. government official, advocated for America's global technological leadership, and called for a "technology war" with China.

Such a zero-sum game mindset goes against the interests of both countries and peoples, the trend of history as well as the common will of the people in both countries.

The truth is that the scientific development in both China and the United States is increasingly connected after more than four decades of exchanges and cooperation.

A study by MacroPolo, a U.S. think-tank, estimated that Chinese-educated researchers comprised nearly one-third of the authors of the papers accepted and promoted at a prestigious A.I. conference in 2019, more than from any other country.

In 2019, nearly 150 leading U.S. biomedical researchers signed a letter to oppose actions to exclude Chinese scientists in the country and limit collaboration between the two sides.

The world will also suffer from a "technology war" between China and the United States. Such a war will slow down global scientific innovation and development, and place barriers for the world community to jointly tackle global challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.

Thanks to Chinese and American scientists who have been working with each other against all odds over the past four years, bilateral science cooperation between China and the United States is still moving forward.

The U.S. publisher The Scientist Magazine found that "the U.S. and China have the highest rate of collaboration between any two countries with researchers from both countries having collaborated on 122 COVID-19 articles."

"In fact, their rate of collaboration increased by 5 percent over their rate of collaboration on pre-pandemic science and engineering research," the magazine said.

In a world of expanding interdependence, the best way to boost science and technology development is through cooperation. For greater scientific progress that can benefit humanity as a whole, Washington should remove obstacles blocking its cooperation with China, and try to meet Beijing halfway. Enditem
A new batch of federal grant money will again benefit community support efforts in the city of Napa, but this time with a pandemic-driven urgency.

Child care, seniors meals and emergency rent support are among services that will split $740,756 the city is receiving through the federal CARES Act, the funding bill passed in March to help local governments cope with the aftereffects of a coronavirus emergency. The Napa City Council approved the allocations on Tuesday.

The programs receiving cash infusions are filling various needs that have grown sharply as the spread of COVID-19 triggered business shutdowns and layoffs that left millions of Americans struggling to put food on the table, keep shops open or stave off evictions  or look after children forced into stay-at-home virtual learning.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.

The grants represent the second round of CARES Act funding for Napa-based relief efforts during the pandemic, following an earlier round that disbursed $185,344 in community development block grants. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development is requiring cities to use money from the latest round of grants specifically to respond to the pandemics effects, according to city Housing Manager Lark Ferrell.
I, like so many other parents of vaccine-injured children, spend my days sharing our story, and encouraging other parents, and people of all ages, as strongly as I possibly can, to educate before you vaccinate. Once you allow a vaccine to enter your body, or your chid's, or in today's world, your fetus', you can't get it back out. Rather, you have just allowed and unleashed a cataclysmic chain of events to begin unfolding, whose results will now begin to reveal themselves over the course of a lifetime, and whose results will be exacerbated by additional insults in the forms of more vaccines, GMO-laden foods, widespread pesticide use, widespread use of toxic cleaners, tainted water, etc. (Remember, it took decades for it to be revealed that the millions of SV-tainted polio vaccines of the late 1950s have led to many of today's soft-tissue cancers in middle-aged adults, for but one example.) I, along with so many others, am beyond passionate about urging others to do their own research about the dangers and inefficacies of vaccines, and about the fallacy of the theory behind vaccination in the first placewe are borderline fanatical. Why? Because we live with the results of vaccine injury day in and day out. We know firsthand the devastation it leaves in its wake. We know that no one will be held liable or accountable (not the vaccine-maker and not the one who administered the vaccine), that the parent will be solely responsible for the vaccine-injured child from that day forward. We know the battles that lie ahead for any parent of a vaccine-injured childwith school districts, with doctors, with state agencies, with insurance companies, with the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, with community members who are unsympathetic, the list goes on. We want to spare other children from what was done to our children, and from what our children, and our families, endure on a daily basiswith no end in sight.

I had a spur-of-the-moment idea the other day make a video of Ryan, who was severely injured and permanently disabled by his "routine" childhood vaccinations, to give you a visual as to what vaccine injury looks like in a "young man", who is in actuality a young child now encased in a man's body. He is but one of many similar young men in his age group, young men (and young women) who have suffered catastrophic brain, nervous-system, immune-system, and GI-system damage from that which their parents innocently and unknowingly allowed to be done to them by their child's "doctor" without being given even an iota of informed consent.

Managing Editor's Note: Thank you to Laura for this beautiful video of her son. We are grateful for all of our readers, supporters, contributors this Thanksgiving. And we'd like to thank you for the generous support you have shown during our matching gift campaign. Use the donate button on the right or send an email to KimStagliano@gmail.com for a mailing address. (Reminder, there is a matching campaign underway through midnight on Thanksgiving.) Enjoy a safe, happy holiday.

To that end, at this time of year when we make an extra effort and take extra time to pause to give thanks, I am hoping that you will give thanks for our efforts which have hopefully made a difference in your child's life, and in your family's life. Perhaps because of our efforts, your children have been spared from vaccine injury. Perhaps because of our efforts, you have learned to do your own medical research, be it regarding vaccines, cancer treatments, prescription medicines, doctors, alternative medicines and alternative practitioners, etc. Perhaps because of our efforts you are now savvy to the lying propaganda that is spewed at us in every single form of media. Perhaps because of our efforts you have become more sympathetic to those in your neighborhood, at your school, at your church, and in your community who have been injured by vaccination. Perhaps because of our efforts, you now speak out to educate and warn others.

Perhaps because of our efforts, you are very thankful this holiday season and would like to express your gratitude by "paying it backward" to those who've been "the canaries in the coal mine", the warnings to others so that they could avoid the dangerscanaries like our son, Ryan. If you have benefitted because of our hard-earned knowledge, then please consider "paying it backward". Perhaps because of our efforts, you would also like to "pay it forward" and keep the truth circulating ever more widely to spare others from vaccine injury. In either case, I would like to put forth two wonderful ways to both "pay it backward and pay it forward" at once, by making a donation to The Age of Autism blog and to Families for Early Autism Treatment. Below are links to both should you be interested in supporting one or both of these wonderful groupsone whose mission is to daily report on autism and vaccine-related issues, and the other whose mission is to help children affected by "autism" and their families. Both are excellent at what they do, and both help many.

With thanks for all of you who are interested in questioning, learning, sharing truth, and protecting the health and welfare of children, a very Happy Thanksgiving to you! I hope you enjoy and are moved by the video of Ryan (it is about 10 min. long). Please bear in mind that Ryan has received non-stop, intensive behavioral services for almost 18 of his 20 years (tragically, this is not the case for the majority of those with "autism"), and they have made all the difference to both his quality of life, and to our family's quality of life. Despite nearly 18 years of non-stop intervention, he still will not ever live independently, hold down a "real" job, get married, or have children, but hopefully, he will have a life in which he is content, in which he keeps learning, in which he can maintain the appropriate behavioral, social, and academic skills we have worked so hard to teach him so he can continue to access his community and beyond, a life in which we work to keep him as healthy as he can be, and in which he is safe, protected from the harm and abuse that so many like him will suffer at some point in their lives.

To donate to The Age of Autism daily blog See the Campaign HERE.: (Reminder, there is a matching campaign underway through midnight on Thanksgiving.)

To donate to FEAT: www.feat.org Click on "Donations"

To watch the video of our precious Ryan, click "View" below.

Warmly,

Laura
WUHAN, China (AP)  The message was tucked into a bouquet of chrysanthemums left by a mourner at the back of Wuhan Central Hospital to honor a Chinese whistleblower doctor who died from the coronavirus a year ago. It was simply the number of a Bible verse: Matthew 5:10.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, the verse reads.

A year ago Sunday, Dr. Li Wenliang died from the virus first detected in this Chinese city. A small stream of people marked the anniversary with visits to the hospital Saturday, some leaving flowers.

The 34-year-old ophthalmologist was one of eight whistleblowers who local authorities punished early on for spreading rumors about a SARS-like virus in a social media group. His situation, eventually made public in media reports, made him a potent symbol for the perils of going against official messaging in China.

The Chinese public embraced Li, whose presence online had painted a picture of an ordinary person. His wife was pregnant and he was soon to be a father. He sent the rumor because he wanted to warn others.

The public also watched as he fell ill with the disease he was warning them about, eventually worsened, and died.

Li's death was initially reported by Chinese state media on the night of Feb. 6, 2020, but the outlets quickly withdrew their reporting. Some hours later, in the early morning of Feb. 7, Wuhan Central Hospital announced his death.

Chinese people grieved his death, online and offline. Mourners brought flowers to the hospital, while online some people were furious and demanded for freedom of speech  posts that were quickly censored.

Li's death seemed to raise a challenge to the central government, as public anger swelled.

A healthy society should not have just one type of voice, Li had said in an interview with the Chinese business magazine Caixin last year.

Central government authorities conducted an investigation in Li's death, concluding that the officer who punished the doctor should be reprimanded. One police officer was given a demerit, while another was given an official warning, state media later reported.

Story continues

At the conclusion of the investigation, authorities published a Q&A, in which they noted: Li was a Communist Party member, not a so-called person who was against the system.'" It said those who labeled him that way were "enemy forces."

Since then, the epidemic has largely been controlled within China's borders, and the narrative has shifted to one of triumph. China just released a film  Days and Nights in Wuhan  that celebrates Chinas official line that the measures it took, including the unprecedented lockdown it imposed on the city, bought precious time for the world to prepare for the pandemic.

That victorious narrative has been underscored more by the devastation the pandemic has wreaked in many other countries. However, many have questioned China's response to the virus and its level of transparency during the initial weeks.

It wasn't until last month that China finally allowed a WHO team into the country to investigate the pandemic.

Wuhan for the most part has returned to normal, with shopping malls and streets crowded, and there is little visible evidence of the suffering the city went through. Still, a few of its residents mourn quietly.

Li's death is still a sensitive topic, and his family has refrained from giving media interviews. While his Weibo profile has been left up, there has been no largescale public memorial.

The person who left the flowers and Bible verse Saturday declined to be interviewed, saying it was inconvenient.

Another couple who laid down a bouquet at the front of the hospital were told by plainclothes security to bring their flowers to the back of the building, where there was a garden.

A small collection of bouquets, some with messages tucked deep in the flowers, had been laid there by Saturday evening.

Thank you Dr. Li Wenliang, read one.

___

Associated Press photographer Ng Huan Guan contributed to this report. Wu reported from Taipei, Taiwan.
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This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-04-22, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  Multiple Grand Rapids organizations are hosting events celebrating Black History Month, including featured speakers, community discussions, plays and exhibits throughout February.

Most of the events will be held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are also some socially distanced in-person programming and self-guided tours available. There are more options than ever to learn about Black culture, history and experiences.

Black History Month is celebrated every February to highlight the achievements of African Americans and recognize their significant role in U.S. History.

Heres a look at some of the events happening in the area:

NAACP - Bridging the Gap Discussions

The Greater Grand Rapids NAACP will be kickstarting two virtual discussions aimed at connecting Black Americans to history, culture and resources on Saturday, Feb. 20 and 27 at 3 p.m.

Discussions will range in topics from providing context on connections to African culture to using technology to solve challenges in Black communities. Discussions will also feature personal anecdotes and spoken word from advocate and minister Shomari Tate.

Speakers will include Grand Valley State University professor Richard Yidana, University of Kansas professor Randal Maurice Jelks and Spectrum Health Culture and Transformation Health Lead Mary Brown. They will be joined by a cast of panelists and supporting contributors.

Those interested can view more information about this event and more on the Grand Rapids NAACP Facebook page.

Black History Tour of Downtown Grand Rapids

The Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives (GRAAMA) is encouraging people to take a free interactive tour of the citys civil rights history. The two-mile self-guided tour covers 11 historic locations from Fountain Street Church to Crescent Park.

The tour starts with Helen Claytor, a civil rights activist who became the first African American president of the national YWCA in 1967. She also was president of the local Y. In 2014, a statue honoring Claytor, was placed in Grand Rapids Community Colleges Dr. Juan R. Olivarez Student Plaza. Other stops include the historic Fountain Street Church downtown, which has hosted Malcolm X, an African American leader in the civil rights movement, and Langston Hughes, a notable writer who was an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance.

The tour, sponsored through Downtown Grand Rapids Inc., was created by local high school students, who were asked what Black leadership and culture looked like in their home city. Walkers are encouraged to use the free GR Walks app to be guided by podcasts narrated by Grand Rapids City Commissioner Joe Jones, who is also CEO and president of the Grand Rapids Urban League.

Those interested can get started today by downloading the app from the website.

GVSUs Talk Back Tuesday

Grand Valley State Universitys Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity is collaborating with the Office of Multicultural Affairs on an edition of its monthly Talk Back Tuesday series that focuses on the intersectionality of race, gender and the current political climate. The livestream will be held Tuesday, Feb. 9 from noon to 1 p.m.

Held digitally on Instagram and Facebook Live, the discussion will focus on a new governmental administration, Kamala Harris historic election and what the future could look like for Black women in America.

The discussion will be helmed by Brandy Lovelady-Mitchell, director of the Kent Intermediate School Districts Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Michelle McCloud, Assistant Dean for Finance and Project Management at GVSU; and Kelsey Perdue, Kids Count in Michigan project director.

Those interested are encouraged to RSVP. A full list of Black History Month events hosted by GVSU can be found on their website.

Hope College - Light and Hope for the World to See

Author Kwame Alexander will be featured in a virtual presentation at 2 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 26, organized by a cohort of Hope College organizations.

Kwame has authored 32 books with literary accolades such as being a New York Times Bestselling author and holding both a Carnegie and a Newberry medal for his work. He boasts a Coretta Scott King Author Honor, three NCAAP Image Award nominations and founded the #AllBooksForAllKids initiative to increase book diversity in libraries.

The event will focus on a range of topics, including Kwames newest book, Light for the World to See: A Thousand Words on Race and Hope.

The digital event is free to all, but K-12 students and educators are especially encouraged to attend. More information can be found on Hopes NEA Big Read Lakeshore website. Click here to see more events.

Calvin University - From Spoken Soul to Hip Hop

Calvin Universitys Communication Arts and Sciences Department is hosting their own professor Andrea Kortenhoven, who is leading the discussion From Spoken Soul to Hip Hop: Language in Black America.

The lecture will take place in Meeter Center Lecture Hall at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 9.

The lecture examines how black vernacular and Ebonics have influenced contemporary Black English. Ebonie Atkins, assistant in the office of multicultural affairs, said contemporary Black English can be traced back to Africa, so the lectures background will help explain its relevance in todays culture.

The event will be followed by an 8 p.m. poetry jam at the Fish House, which will feature prose exclusively from Calvin students.

On Wednesday, Feb. 16 at noon history professor Eric Washington will examine the churchs role in racism in a lecture titled: The Most Segregated Hour: The History of the African-American Church. The lecture will accompany a luncheon in the Meeter Center Lecture Hall. Contact Ebonie Atkins if interested in attending the luncheon at era@calvin.edu.

See more events scheduled here.

Celebrate at the Grand Rapids Public Library

The Grand Rapids Public Library (GRPL) is inviting the community to join in online programs throughout February for both kids and adults that highlight and celebrate the Black community including the following:

Join GRPL for a virtual series of Black History Month Storytimes premiering on Saturdays at 10 a.m. beginning Feb. 6. Area residents can enjoy books featuring Black characters or that are by Black authors.

On Tuesday, Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. GRPL will present a virtual presentation by the Ebony Road Players of Anne and Emmett. This is an imaginative stage play of a meeting between Anne Frank, a German-Dutch Jewish girl, and Emmett Till, an African American boy, in a place called Memory to share accounts of their lives and deaths. The story compares and contrasts how the racial injustices experienced on both ends were more similar than many people want to accept, according to the website.

On Wednesday, Feb. 17 at noon GRPL will present the Community Spotlight: We Are Lit GR with Kendra McNeil. This lunchtime mini-series is opportunity for people to learn more about local Black-owned businesses and initiatives. McNeil is founder, curator, and owner of We Are LIT, an independent, multicultural bookshop based in Grand Rapids, selling new, diverse books across all genres.

Check out GRPLs Facebook Page and YouTube Channel for more information on these and other programs.

Read more:

7 ways to celebrate Black History Month in Kalamazoo

Black History Month panel reflects on growing up as Just a Kid from Ypsi

Artifacts being revealed as part of Black History Month celebration in Jackson
Daniel Thomas Ruddy faces three charges under the Customs and Excise Act following an HMRC seizure last May

A MAN has appeared in court accused of being involved in smuggling 3 million worth of illicit cigarettes.

Daniel Thomas Ruddy faces three charges under the Customs and Excise Act following an HMRC seizure last May.

He is further accused of converting criminal property, namely money, on dates between May 27 and 30 last year.

A prosecution lawyer told Belfast magistrates court on Saturday the 35-year-old was resident in the Republic of Ireland and that his proposed bail address in Carlingford was outside the jurisdiction.

Ruddys lawyer said that co-accused in the case had been allowed to sign bail at police stations in Northern Ireland while living in the Republic.

He added that their bail conditions had been further relaxed due to Covid-19 restrictions and that Ruddys wife was heavily pregnant.

District Judge Amanda Henderson agreed to release Ruddy on his own bail of 500 with a cash surety of 5,000 to be lodged with the court.

The case adjourned to be heard at Newry Magistrates Court on February 17.




Colorado Springs, CO (80903)

Today

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

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Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
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A museum celebrating the life of former Army Chief General Kodandera Subayya Thimayya, housing a variety of antique weaponry and war relics, was inaugurated on Saturday by President Ram Nath Kovind.

"Sunny Side", the erstwhile ancestral house of General Thimayya, who served as the Chief of Army Staff from 1957 to 1961, has been renovated and converted into the museum here in Karnataka's Kodagu district.

"General Thimayya is the pride of Kodagu and the memorial museum aims to retell the life-story of the General in an inspiring manner", a local official said.

A statue of the General from Kodagu in uniform greets as one enters the museum, which also showcases a slice of Indian military history.To guide the visitors, there is a first person narration, explaining the articles and artifacts kept there.

Reflecting on the humility of the great son of the soil of Kodagu, or the erstwhile Coorg, there is a picture showing him riding a Lambretta scooter.There is also a mural showing Field Marshal Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, who was a British Army Commander during the second World War, coming down to "Sunny Side" to meet General Thimayya.

The museum also acknowledges the contribution of General Thimayya's siblings, including two of his brothers, who too were Army officers, and his wife Nina, who was bestowed with 'Kaiser-e-Hind' award in recognition of her work in public service.Key attractions on the premises of this war memorial include a battle tank, one of those used by the Army during the war with Pakistan in 1971.

Decades-old arms and ammunition, Army guns and rifles and a decommissioned MiG-21 fighter jet, besides a collection of artwork featuring the valour of soldiers on the battlefield, books and articles are among the things on display.The President also paid his respects at the war memorial.Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat was among those present at the inauguration.Earlier, Kovind visited Talacauvery, the origin of the river Cauvery, in the district and offered a special 'Pooja'.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
BRUNSWICK, Ohio -- How does a music teacher celebrate past, present and future? With music, of course.

In 2018, when planning was under way for the Brunswick City Schools new combined middle school, middle school band teacher Gary Allen began thinking about how to musically celebrate the event.

He said he had an idea for a new musical composition that could be performed by what would be the eighth-grade band at the new school. Those students were in the sixth grade at the time, divided among the three separate middle schools.

Ironically, that same year, I saw that a composer from Pennsylvania (was holding) a raffle for a free piece to be commissioned for (a school) band. I thought, how perfect would this be if we were chosen for this? Allen said.

Sadly, we were not selected, so I began thinking of other ways we could find money to make this happen.

I reached out to this composer, Jeff Herwig, and shared my thoughts/ideas with him for what we were thinking about. He was excited about the idea, and we talked back and forth for the two years that followed about how we could make this possible for the 2020-21 school year.

In Brunswick City Schools, we are very fortunate to have the Brunswick Education Foundation, which provides amazing support to our teachers in many different ways, Allen said.

One of these ways is to offer teacher grants each year. When time to apply rolled in the middle of the 2019-20 school year, he decided to apply. His idea was one of those selected.

We are very grateful to the BEF for their generosity to our Brunswick teachers in order to make these amazing extra opportunities happen for our students, Allen said.

He began to work with Herwig online to share ideas and thoughts for what the music would symbolize and how the piece would sound.

Although Allen was selected for this grant, he was not assigned to teach the eighth-grade band this year. His colleagues, Scott Little and Michelle Wank, are this years teachers. They have been super flexible to swap classes with Allen a few times throughout this second semester to familiarize the students with the musical number.

Little and Wank will be doing the vast majority of teaching and rehearsing the new piece with students.

Allen is a Northeast Ohio native. He graduated from Midpark High School in 2009 and attended the University of Akron. He is currently attending graduate school online and will graduate with his masters degree in music education in the spring of 2022.

He grew up in a family with an appreciation for music. His parents sang in church groups and he followed in his mothers footsteps playing trumpet. She actually began to teach him some songs before he took it up formally in the fifth grade.

He plays trumpet to this day. He has performed with several music ensembles and became a private music teacher during his junior year in high school.

His Brunswick affiliation began in 2015 when he was hired to teach K-5 music at Huntington Elementary School. In 2018, he was transferred to teaching middle school band.

He and his wife, Amanda, have a 2-year-old daughter, Isabelle(Izzy).

Ive been lucky to teach at all three middle schools prior to the opening of the new school, he said.

Students began learning some of the music from the new composition after the second draft, with the final composition expected Feb. 15.

Initially, we planned on having our students perform this live for this school year, but, obviously, COVID-19 has turned those plans around for us, Allen explained.

After discussing with my colleagues, we decided that the next best thing would be to create a recording of the piece in order to share with our band families, and for the eighth-grade band to have something super exciting to look forward to as they wrap up their years as middle school students.

However, after some thinking, I had an idea to take this a step further and essentially put together a documentary of Brunswicks middle school(s) history. The Brunswick Historical Society has shared some amazing historical information and pictures that have gotten me started with the script to write for the documentary.

Students will read much of the script for the documentary. Alumni and potentially family members of the now-former Willetts, Visintainer and Edwards schools will be interviewed throughout the documentary, as well.

Allen plans to take the audience through the history of the three schools and to end with the world premiere video performance of the eighth-graders, whose audio and video tracks will be put together for the performance. The performance will premiere on YouTube at 7 p.m. June 3.

A special showing will be shared with the eighth-grade students in class on Friday, May 28, prior to the world premiere, he said. We are very excited to share this with our community!

Read more from the Brunswick Sun.
SPRINGFIELD  The city has applied for a $300,000 state MassTrails grant to design the second segment of the long-planned walking and bicycle trail along the abandoned Highland Division Railroad.

State Reps. Angelo Puppolo and Bud Williams, D-Springfield, sent a joint letter to the state Department of Conservation and Recreation this week urging approval of the grant.

Development of this stretch of railway presents a unique opportunity to provide a safe and dedicated non-motorized alternative to the residents of Springfield, Puppolo and Williams said. The best use for this line is for non-motorized transportation, including walking, biking and running. It is a direct connector between well-populated neighborhoods, commercial nodes and employment centers.

The second section of the project is slated to span from the abandoned rail line at the Martin Luther King Charter School on Dorset Street to Springfield College in the East Forest Park area.

The city received $300,000 in design funds in 2019 for the first segment of the trail in the McKnight area, aided by state Department of Transportation funds. Construction of the 1.5-mile first segment is scheduled in 2022 with a mix of state and federal funds, stretching from behind Rebecca Johnson School on Catharine Street to Agnew Street near Armory Street.

City officials and rail trail activist Liz Stevens, a McKnight resident, on Friday praised the continued efforts to advance the project to the second segment in East Forest Park.

The rail trail will be absolutely wonderful for the city of Springfield and the people who live here, Stevens said. The benefits include opportunities to get out in nature, exercise, and easy access between neighborhoods, she said.

I am totally thrilled, Stevens said.

The creation of a multiphase paved bikeway has been discussed for more than 20 years, according to activists. The railway ran from Enfield, Connecticut, to downtown Springfield. It was decommissioned and abandoned in 1993, and the tracks were removed some years later, activists said.

Stevens said she knew from the beginning that it made sense to expand both south and west of McKnight to link multiple neighborhoods along the rail bed, eventually connecting to the Connecticut River.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said he appreciates the support of Puppolo and Williams in the grant application, and the efforts of city officials and Stevens to move this quality of life neighborhood passive recreational enhancement project along.

Sarno also praised Patrick J. Sullivan, the citys director of parks, buildings and recreation management, and Public Works Director Christopher Cignoli, for their efforts in the rail trail project.

Residents of the neighborhoods have shown overwhelming support for the rail trail project for several years and are a driving force behind the project, Puppolo and Williams said.

The Highland Division is a natural recreation and open space amenity for many Springfield neighborhoods and will enhance those neighborhoods while preventing any adverse impacts on the land, the legislators said.
The former Ohio police officer indicted in the shooting death of Andre Hill pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges.

Adam Coy, who was fired from the Columbus Division of Police in December, entered the plea on Friday, according to Franklin County Court records. A judge set his bond at $3 million and ordered that he have no contact with witnesses in the case and other police officers.

His attorney, Mark Collins, could not immediately be reached on Saturday.

An Ohio grand jury indicted Coy Wednesday on murder in the commission of a felony, felonious assault, and two counts of dereliction of duty. He was arrested that same day and remains in jail as of Saturday afternoon.

Hill, a 47-year-old Black man, was fatally shot on Dec. 22 after two officers responded to a call that a person in a vehicle had been turning the engine on and off.

The officers failed to turn on their body cameras until immediately after the shooting. But an automatic "look back" feature on the device was able to capture 60 seconds of video  without the audio  before the camera was eventually turned on.

The clip showed Coy using his flashlight as he and the other officer walked up the driveway of a home. Hill was a guest of the homeowner and was standing in the garage.

It showed Hill walk toward the officers while holding his cellphone when Coy fired his weapon. Hill was shot four times, according to Attorney General Dave Yost's office.

The body camera footage showed that neither officer rendered aid or medical assistance to Hill as he lay on the ground for several minutes.

Collins said there had been other interactions between his client and Hill and the body camera video only shows a fraction of what happened. He said Coy thought Hill had a gun, but no weapon was found at the scene.

"When he saw the right hand come toward him, he thought there was a silver revolver," Collins previously said.

The attorney said that Supreme Court rulings provide for defenses for officers in these type of shootings.

"An officer can be mistaken about the threat, and that's justified if that mistake was an honest belief and was reasonable," Collins said.

The shooting sparked outrage and Coy was fired from the police department. Columbus police Chief Thomas Quinlan had recommended Coys termination because he failed to activate his body camera prior to the shooting and because he did not provide medical assistance.
If you long for a trip combining relaxation and luxury, there is no finer way to experience it than on a blissful river cruise along the spectacular Rhone valley in southern France.

On this fantastic eight-day holiday you will discover one of the worlds great regions for food-lovers, taste superb Burgundy wines, enjoy delicious Lyonnaise cuisine and unwind in style as you sail through unspoilt countryside, with stops at Arles, Avignon and Lyon.

Whats more, you will be joined on your fabulous trip aboard a deluxe Emerald Waterways Star-Ship by one of the masters of French gastronomy, Michel Roux Jr, the two-Michelin-star chef at Londons famous Le Gavroche restaurant.

The famous bridge at historic Avignon on the Rhone, which is on the eight-day itinerary

Star quality: A luxurious suite on Emerald Liberte, which boasts a fine-dining restaurant, bar areas, a spa, and an indoor heated pool with retractable roof

OUR SPECIAL GUESTS MasterChef star Michel Roux Jr Michel Roux Jr is one of the worlds greatest chefs, taking over Le Gavroche in Mayfair from his late father Albert Roux and earning two coveted Michelin stars. A regular BBC personality, he appeared as a judge in five series of BBC2s MasterChef: The Professionals, as well as presenting Michel Rouxs Service, BBC2s Food & Drink and the BBCs Saturday Kitchen. British food writer Tom Parker Bowles Tom Parker Bowles is an award-winning food writer and critic and broadcaster. He is an author of seven cookery books, a Mail on Sunday columnist and a regular judge on leading cookery shows. Advertisement

Michel will join you for exclusive events, including a private cooking demonstration and a book-signing opportunity where youll receive a copy of his latest book (one per cabin).

He says: I cant wait to join you on the Rhone for this wonderful holiday, during which I will help you to discover the secrets of French cuisine in a region famous for its gastronomy.

REASONS TO BOOK

Meet Michel Roux Jr and Tom Parker Bowles: You will join Michel Roux Jr for an exclusive on-board cooking demonstration, including tasters to sample, while British food writer Tom Parker Bowles will talk about the ingredients used, including his favourite locally sourced ingredients from the region.

That evening, enjoy a delicious menu of culinary delights for your evening meal, selected by Michel Roux Jr himself, followed by a dessert buffet of local delicacies, unique to this cruise.

Youll also have the opportunity to ask Michel and Tom your burning culinary questions during an exclusive question-and-answer session and find out more about their lives and careers.

French flavours with Michel Roux Jr: As well as hosting a private cooking demonstration on board, Michel will sign copies of his latest book (one complimentary copy per cabin) and Tom will join you for a regional wine-tasting on board. You will discover the wine-making tradition of Chalon-sur-Saone and the splendid Burgundy it produces, taste some of the regions finest olives and cheese, and enjoy a Provencale dinner hosted by expert local chef Fabien Morreale.

Sail in style: One of the most recent additions to the Emerald Waterways fleet of Star-Ships, Emerald Liberte offers a truly luxurious way to travel. It boasts a fine-dining restaurant, bar areas, spa, an indoor heated pool with retractable roof which transforms into a cinema at night, and a sun deck to take in the stunning scenery.

Discover Burgundy and the Rhone: As well as visiting Lyon, an essential destination for food-lovers, your eight-day itinerary includes time sailing through the pretty vineyards of Beaune and Provence  the land of lavender and rose  a visit to the atmospheric Roman ruins of Viviers, and memorable stops at historic Avignon and the Roman town of Arles.
BEIJING: The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been curtailing the freedoms of its citizens and viciously clamping dissent. Chinese citizens have had their freedom of speech and right to protest taken away. Chinese state media has also kept the average Chinese citizen in the dark.

Any deviation from the CCP narrative is severely punished, such as the recent sentencing of citizen journalist Zhang Zhan. In previous years, the CCP tolerated slight criticism from Chinese scholars, but its patience towards all forms of dissent have dissipated, including for those emerging from the academic and civil sectors.

China's anti-democratic stance finds its shadow in the occupied regions of Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Tibet and Macao as well. This is especially true for Hong Kong, a city which in 2020 was gripped by popular pro-democracy protests against the overbearing influence of Beijing on the cities policies.

Beijing came down hard on the pro-democracy protesters, and despite popular opposition, passed the national security law that essentially stifled any form of meaningful dissent.

China has been highly criticized for its actions. However, CCP has erected a line of Chinese scholars to defend Beijing's actions. The consistent, coordinated and clear arguments in legal jargon by the Chinese scholars defending Chinas abhorrent actions in Hong Kong is one such recent example.

Chinese scholars have been using the writings of German legal theorist Carl Schmitt about the primacy of the state to defend Chinas heavy-handed tactics in Hong Kong. Carl Schmitt is also known as Adolf Hitler's Crown Jurist.

As per a report in The Atlantic titled The Nazi inspiring Chinas communists, Schmitt through his writings used to defend Nazi Germany and justify Hitler's extrajudicial killings of Jews and political opponents.

Schmitt also claimed through his writing that the sovereign should always have the final say in value conflicts, instead of rule of law having the final say. This is what the Chinese scholars have been using to defend CCPs unlawful and unethical actions.

According to Schmitt, a state's commitment to the rule of law only diminishes the state's decision-making power and renders it unable to protect its citizens from external threats.

These thoughts and ideas have been shared by many Chinese scholars. Chinas obsession with the German Nazi thinker's works began around the early-2000s when his major works were translated into Chinese by Liu Xiaofeng.

As per The New York Times, Chen Duanhong, a law professor at Peking University has served as an adviser to CCP in the past on the issue of Hong Kong and back in 2018 cited the Nazi thinker in his defence of Chinas national security law.

Chen in his writings has stated that when the state is in peril (referring to the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong that were largely peaceful), it has the right to suspend civil liberties of the people and do away with constitutional norms and limitations.

A colleague of Chens, Jiang Shigong has made a similar case while trying to defend China's actions in Hong Kong. Shigong, who is a law professor at Peking University has previously worked at Beijing's Liaison Office in Hong Kong from 2004-2008. He is also credited with authoring China's 2014 government white paper in which Schmitt's ideas are widely used.

As per the paper, the preservation of the state and its sovereignty takes absolute precedence over the civil liberties enjoyed by the citizens. Chen and Jiang are the vanguard of a breed of Chinese scholars known as statists.

Academics like Chen and Jiang believe in an expansive idea of the state, they opine that stability overrides all else and, therefore, justify the state to take away civil liberties like freedom of speech and protest from the people.

Chen and Jiang are not the only Chinese scholars to have adopted the teachings of Carl Schmitt. The Nazi thinker has in recent years become popular in China because Schmitt's teachings serve the very purpose of the CCP for justifying its actions as well as reinforcing its legitimacy.

The forced occupation of Hong Kong is not the only place where the CCP has been accused of taking play-by-play help from an authoritarian regime of the past.

The CCPs genocide in East Turkistan against minority ethnic Muslims has also been compared to the genocide undertaken by Nazi Germany against the Jewish community during World War-2. Reports surfaced last year with chilling accounts of systematic discrimination and repression of Uighur Muslims in occupied East Turkistan (Xinjiang in China).

The first report documented the forced sterilization of Uighur women while the second detailed the seizure of 13 tons of products made from human hair by US Customs and Border Protection. It is suspected that the products were made of unethically collected human hair from imprisoned Uighur Muslims.

Parallels for both these events can be found in the atrocities of the past German regime. As per a report in The Foreign Policy, both these events are reminiscent of the atrocities committed in Nazi detention camps such as Auschwitz.

The East Turkistan Government in exile has also likened the CCPs atrocities against Uighur Muslims to the actions of Nazi Germany. East Turkistans government in exiles Prime Minister Salin Hudayar stated that the CCP was committing a German Holocaust like genocide in the 21 century against Uighurs and other minorities in occupied East Turkistan.

Several other scholars have been able to find similarities between Xi's China and Hitler's Germany. One of these instances is how China seems to be in a hurry to achieve its global ambitions, in a way very similar way to Nazi Germany.

Before and during World War 2, Hitler believed that Germany had to move fast and conquer more lands before its adversaries became too powerful. Chinese strategists have also expressed similar tendencies, they seem to believe that China must act with haste before the Chinese population and economy go into decline/stagnation or the disarrayed western democracies clip it down.

They fear missing out on the opportunity to achieve their domestic and international goals. Given the fact that Chinas scholars are borrowing teachings from Nazi scholars as well as other parallels between German Nazis and Chinese Communists, the comparison between Adolf Hitler and Xi Jinping has merit.

Xi Jinpings ascension within the CCP has drastically changed the Party's Modus-Operandi. China under his leadership has become more authoritarian and less open to criticism or even feedback. Any threat to CCPs authority and primacy is now viewed as an irritant to be removed.

Chinas actions in the past few years have marked the CCPs U- turn from graduating to an open and liberal state under Hu Jintao to the authoritarian and expansionist regime of Mao Zedong. Some even claim that Xi has surpassed Mao and Hitler.

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Its not going to tow your trailer, its not going to tow your boat, its not going to get you out to your favourite camping spot with your family, he said. Loading However, in a sign of increasing pressure on climate action Morrison used his strongest language yet at the National Press Club on Monday, declaring he wants Australia to reach net-zero greenhouse gases by 2050. But he stopped short of committing to a deadline. The federal government has said its on track to reach its 2030 emissions reduction commitment under the Paris Agreement, but its long-term climate pledge is unchanged: to reach net-zero emissions sometime before the end of this century. Morrison said on Monday he wouldnt commit to an emissions deadline until I can tell you how we get there, and argued there werent too many other places which had mapped out a pathway to net-zero.

The policy commitments of Australias major trading partners like Japan, South Korea, China and the UK isnt rated above Australias by the independent analyst at the international Climate Action Tracker. Loading But like the US under the Biden administration, these countries have formed a coalition of the willing and pledged to reach net-zero by 2050 or 2060, which former diplomats and climate-policy watchers say could create enough leverage to push Australia to match their rhetoric. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday ordered government departments to model a carbon price across all areas of the economy, which will include a policy framework to achieve net-zero emissions. This is expected to be announced in the lead-up to the UN climate talks that the UK is hosting in November. Carbon Market Institute chief executive John Connor, a former head of the Climate Institute think tank, says there was no question Australia is falling behind on climate action.

We lack the framework countries are putting in place to guide business investment for industry in infrastructure, transport or agriculture, Connor says. Climate Council researcher Dr Simon Bradshaw says Australia is now almost alone among major advanced economies in remaining stubbornly wedded to its existing target for 2030, rather than stepping up its ambition in line with expectations under the Paris Agreement. Economists say despite Morrisons increasing ambition to hit a 2050 deadline for net-zero, the governments focus on low emissions technology will not be enough on its own to achieve it. Steven Hamilton is a senior economist at the Blueprint Institute, which includes former Liberal MPs Christopher Pyne and Robert Hill. Hamilton says technology wont get us there. Its necessary but not sufficient. What we need is incentives. Its inconceivable we can get to net-zero without a market mechanism to drive investment in lowering emissions, he says.

Connor says other countries were straightening their 2030 targets and the EU and New Zealand are pursuing reforms of markets that price carbon emissions while China launched its emissions trading scheme this week. Loading They are coherent policy frameworks that send signals to industry and provide clear guidelines for investment, he says. An international race is on to be the first nation to develop a hydrogen export supply chain. The fuel source is viewed as a potential boom commodity if its adopted as a zero-emissions replacement for petroleum products. Former Chief Scientist Alan Finkel and eminent economist Ross Garnaut say Australia, with its abundant land and sunshine, can become a hydrogen superpower, and the Morrison government has committed $500 million to support the hydrogen industry.

But Australias investment to date pales in comparison to other nations. Saudi Arabia, the worlds biggest oil exporter, is investing $6.5 billion to drive down production costs and make exports economically viable. Other heavy fuel users in Japan, France, Spain and Germany are each planning to invest more than $10 billion in production and to switch from fossil fuel energy generation to hydrogen. Loading Australias business community is voting with its wallet for more ambitious climate action. An investment splurge on Australias carbon credits markets revealed this week investors have started betting Morrison will wind up with firm climate targets one way or another. Australian export behemoths including Rio Tinto and BHP, as well as the Business Council of Australia, employer groups, major agriculture lobbies and multinational food companies are pursuing carbon neutrality deadlines - in part to avoid being stung with trade tariffs or charges by countries that have set net-zero targets.

Climate change is a key concern for Pacific Island leaders, and showing willing to act on climate action could boost our standing in the region - now viewed as crucial due to Chinas efforts to grow its influence. But a coal-borne wind blowing out of the Nationals party room and against the climate current, is creating choppy waters for the Coalition. Outspoken backbenchers Barnaby Joyce and Matt Canavan raised concerns over the Prime Ministers net-zero pitch this week, warning regional communities and blue-collar workers will suffer. Its an open question whether Morrison thinks the fight on the domestic front is worth it - and hell be keenly aware his performance in the Pacific is unlikely to influence voters in whats expected to be an election year. However, former adviser to Julie Bishop when she was foreign affairs minister, Philip Citowicki, disagrees with this calculation. Increasing international pressure driven by the US means the net-cost to Australian foreign policy is begging to outweigh the domestic political gain, says Citowicki, also a former political aide to Australias High Commissioner to the UK George Brandis.

Its a ticking time bomb for the government to act in this space. Theres an election sooner rather than later, and it makes increasing sense to realign with international momentum. Loading Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama warned in December that inaction on climate change would lead Fijians and our Pacific Island sisters and brothers to be some sacrificial canary for coal-burning countries and high-emitting companies. When it comes to climate change, Im fond of saying every nation is in the same canoe. Currently, that collective canoe is taking on water and there are too few of us trying to patch the holes, he said. Citowicki says growing geostrategic competition in the Pacific is the focus of Australian foreign policy priorities, and working enthusiastically with the Biden administration would help overcome negative perceptions of the Morrison governments closeness to the former Trump Whitehouse.

China labelled Australia a condescending master in the Pacific in 2019 and has since committed to net-zero emissions while rapidly expanding infrastructure and delivering loans throughout the region. He doesnt expect the US to force Australias arm, but to diplomatically state climate deadlines and co-operation in the Pacific is something that is much preferred for the Coalition to pivot to. My personal fixation is John Kerry as the (US) Climate Envoy who has a heavy focus on national security elements of climate change, and it brings a whole new lens for (the Morrison government) to enact legislation to assure Australians we have a climate-resilient strategy, Citowicki says. Washington-based national security expert Richard Weitz says the disruptive threats from climate change will be front and centre in diplomatic relations with the US. Just like when foreign leaders came to Washington during the Obama administration they would come prepared to talk about nuclear disarmament, now they will come ready to talk about making progress on climate change, says Weitz, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute Center for Future Security Strategies.

Weitzs research details how climate-related disasters like droughts and floods could spark conflicts over resources, declining agricultural yields and rising sea levels could cause mass migrations of people across international borders. Loading It would be seen as a sign of a healthy US-Australia partnership, and conversely if Australia was seen as not supporting these initiatives, that could be seen as a source of tension, he says. Its worth noting that the Morrison government had no problem setting a tight deadline on another form of pollution, announcing last a year a 2024 phase-out of dangerous waste exports. But a bold move on carbon emissions is still off-limits.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is searched by U.S. Capitol Police after setting off the metal detector outside the doors to the House of Representatives Chamber on January 12, 2021 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Louie Gohmert and Andrew Clyde have been issued $5,000 fines for refusing to pass through metal detectors outside the House chamber.

The metal detectors were installed following the deadly Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6.

Some Republican members have pushed back against the security measures and one attempted to bring a concealed gun onto the floor.

Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

Two Republican congressmen, Louie Gohmert and Andrew Clyde, have been issued fines of $5,000 each for refusing to pass through the metal detectors that were installed outside the House chamber following the Capitol riot last month, multiple news outlets reported Friday.

The House officially passed new rules this week that include a $5,000 fine for bypassing the security measure on the first offense and $10,000 fines for additional offenses.

Spokespeople for both Reps. Gohmert and Clyde didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Some other Republican House members have pushed back on the new security measures. Reps. Lauren Boebert, Ralph Norman, and Randy Weber have previously refused to abide by the new rules.

Rep. Andy Harris, a Maryland Republican, attempted to bring a concealed gun onto the House floor last month in violation of House rules. Harris reportedly asked a colleague, GOP Rep. John Katko, to hold his weapon, but Katko refused to because he said he doesn't have the appropriate license.

Some Democratic members of Congress have expressed concern for their own safety in the Capitol complex in the wake of the deadly attack by pro-Trump loyalists. Shortly after Harris was found with a concealed weapon, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told CNN that many lawmakers "still don't yet feel safe around other members of Congress."

"The moment you bring a gun onto the House floor, in violation of rules, you put everyone around you in danger," she said. "It is irresponsible. It is reckless."

Story continues

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi condemned lawmakers for violating the safety protocols this week.

"It is beyond comprehension why any Member would refuse to adhere to these simple, common-sense steps to keep this body safe," she said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Hyde follows family tradition, takes home PIAA gold in shot put

"It's awesome," Hyde said. "It really feels like a tradition, now. It will be cool to see our names next to each other in the record books."
This year's Valentine's Day will be unlike no other with Covid Level 5 restrictions still in place, but chef Catherine Fulvio has something planned to prove that Love conquers all.

Using local Wicklow artisan producers that won't break the bank but will lift the heart of any romantic this Valentines, 'Catherine Celebrates Valentines' will air on RTE ONE, Monday February 8 at 7.30 p.m.

Speaking about the upcoming episode, Catherine of Ballyknocken House and Cookery School said: 'This year St Valentine's Day may well be one like no other. Maybe more like Valentines DIY (do it yourself), then we have every reason to make it very special. It's that one day of the year where the emphasis is on romantic gestures. And one of the most romantic things to do is to cook a special meal for your loved one. And in Catherine Celebrates Valentines, I have the perfect meal that you'll fall madly in love with.'

Catherine will start with some shaking and stirring as she shows us how to create a delectable Raspberry Lemon Cocktail and an enchanting Raspberry Lime Mocktail after a visit with Pamela and Brent, owners of Wicklow Way Wines.

Pamela said of the experience: 'It is wonderful that our wines will be included in Catherine's celebratory meal. With such fabulous food and drink producers in Ireland, we are really looking forward to seeing her creations. It is always lovely to speak with Catherine, and we loved having her visit us in our winery in Newtownmountkennedy.'

Following a visit to O'Hanlon Herbs and The Geoffrey Healy Pottery, Catherine sets about making Beetroot and Goats Cheese Ravioli with Lemon Cream Sauce and Walnuts followed by mouth-watering Grilled Dublin Bay Prawns with Roasted Asparagus.

Tom O'Hanlon, Managing Director O'Hanlon Herbs, said: 'We were delighted to join our neighbour and friend Catherine Fulvio and show our Wicklow herb farm and the care and attention we give our produce.

'Fresh herbs are a vital and easy addition to any romantic meal by adding gorgeous flavour texture and lovely visual appeal.'

Speaking about his involvement, Geoffrey Healy said: 'I was delighted to show my friend Catherine the how, what and why in my pottery.'


Commentator: Barbara Whearty outside court after she was cleared of all charges

A Belfast businesswoman is calling on the council to stop anti-abortion groups displaying graphic images of foetuses in the city centre.

Barbara Whearty was speaking after charges against her of unlawfully assaulting two members of the Youth for Life wing of Precious Life were dismissed.

She said women like her, who had suffered miscarriages, shouldn't have to encounter such "traumatic, graphic images" on the streets. She said that she had received support from Alliance, Green, and People Before Profit councillors.

"I absolutely believe in the right to protest. I don't think anybody should be persecuted or punished. But women who have suffered miscarriages, and their families, have a right to be protected from having to view such upsetting images in our city centre," she said. "All groups, whatever they are campaigning on, should have to adhere to a certain code before they are allowed to set up stalls on streets." Ms Whearty, who runs Cafe Cuan in Belfast with husband John Paul, verbally challenged members of the anti-abortion group's stall in an incident in Cornmarket in June 2019. She was later charged with unlawfully assaulting Maria Maynes and Lucy Kelly. It happened after she went into town after giving birth to her son Flynn 10 weeks earlier. "I saw these words 'Abortion Won't Unrape Her' and these shockingly graphic images of foetuses in various stages of development," she said. "I'd a miscarriage the year before I conceived Flynn, and it was a very protracted and bloody experience. "Seeing those pictures on the stand in Cornmarket brought it all back to me. I felt completely overwhelmed. I had a heated discussion with those on the stall about the images. At one stage, it was alleged that I had spat at them. I categorically deny that. "Two months later, I was charged with technical assault. I cannot fault the PSNI - they have a job to do, and they treated me with respect at all times. But I believe the PPS's decision to prosecute was wrong." Ms Whearty, a frequent BBC NI commentator, lost all her broadcast work following the charges. "I've been completely vindicated by the dismissal of the charges. I did nothing wrong. "Belfast City Council needs to take action to set terms and conditions for those setting up stalls in the city centre."

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.
Agriculture has been high on the list as the newly installed Biden administration moves quickly to recoup lost ground on the U.S.s climate change mitigation over the past four years.

Opinion

Agriculture has been high on the list as the newly installed Biden administration moves quickly to recoup lost ground on the U.S.s climate change mitigation over the past four years.

The impacts could spill over the border. While Canadian farmers wont be in line to cash in on the promises made by President Joe Biden and his agriculture secretary nominee Tom Vilsack, they could add some speed to the winds of change already swirling around the role agriculture plays both as a greenhouse gas contributor and climate change solution.

Vilsack told his nomination hearing this week that agriculture represents the "first and best place to begin getting some wins in this climate area," and he committed to working with farmers, ranchers and foresters in finding new sources of revenue tied to more sustainable farming practices.

That message is consistent with a research paper also released this week from the American Enterprise Institute, urging the new administration to move away from the trade-distorting ad hoc subsidies for the sector favoured by Donald Trump and back to payments coming from policies that fit within the disciplines of rule-based global trade.

The authors of that paper, who include former U.S. agricultural trade negotiator Joe Glauber and visiting scholars Vincent Smith and Eric Balasco, point out that before 2018, ad hoc subsidies to American farmers averaged about US$2 billion a year, which is still substantial.

But that ad hoc support rose to a record $35 billion in 2020. That pushed overall government spending on U.S. agriculture to a record US$52 billion in 2020, more than triple the average spend of US$15 billion annually between 2014 and 2018.

"In 2020, government payments were anticipated to account for 39 per cent of all net farm income, higher than any of the previous 20 years," the paper says.

It notes that the "U.S. farm sector is currently in a strong financial position compared to the rest of the economy and can expect higher commodity prices in 2021. Claims the sector is facing a serious financial crisis and needs more government subsidies are overblown."

Canadian farmers are doing relatively well through the pandemic, despite the fact that they receive a fraction of government support compared to their U.S. counterparts.

But the U.S. subsidies still hurt because Canadian farmers are competing in the same global markets. When farmers receive more than a third of their income from government, their production decisions are often decoupled from market signals, which typically leads to oversupplied markets and lower prices overall.

The authors note the Biden administration has identified three key areas of emphasis for agricultural policy: responding to climate change, investing in research and development, and increasing trade liberalization. "Proposed increases in public investments in agricultural research and development, an increased emphasis on conservation programs, a return to liberalizing international trade, and increased access to overseas markets could help transition the farm economy away from its current reliance on ad hoc disaster aid to a more market-oriented industry," the paper says.

Coming up with policies that support sequestering carbon or reducing soil erosion fit into the so-called "green box" of subsidy categories, which are considered the least trade-distorting  which means the government can flow funds into farmers hands without running afoul of world trade rules. Any policies that put taxpayer dollars into farmers pockets increase their competitiveness, but the goal is not to unduly influence production decisions.

That places the U.S. in a stronger bargaining position when negotiating trade deals, which often come down to balancing commitments to reduce trade-distorting subsidies against the potential for increased market access.

The stakes for Canadian farmers in all this are high.

Because our farmers are so dependent on exports, Canada thrives on rules-based trade, which is highly predicated on disciplines around domestic subsidies. With a population 10 times that of Canadas, the U.S. has less to lose if the system of global rules-based trade falls apart, which many feared might happen during the Trump years.

So while Canadian farmers dont get a vote, they do get an opinion. Theyll be hoping Biden returns to more disciplined approach to helping his farmers.

Laura Rance is vice-president of Content for Glacier FarmMedia. She can be reached at lrance@farmmedia.com
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National Professional Officer (Fishery and Aquaculture Value Chains), Mpulungu, Zambia

Organization: FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Country: Zambia

City: Lusaka, Zambia

Office: FAO Lusaka, Zambia

Closing date: Thursday, 18 February 2021

CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST - VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT : 2100313

National Professional Officer (Fishery and Aquaculture Value Chains)

Job Posting: 28/Jan/2021

Closure Date: 18/Feb/2021, 10:59:00 PM

Organizational Unit : FRZAM

Job Type: Staff position

Type of Requisition : NPO (National Professional Officer)

Grade Level : N-3

Primary Location: Zambia-Mpulungu

Duration : Fixed-term: one year with possibility of extension

Post Number : 2008298

CCOG Code : 1H05

Important Notice - Please note that Closure Date and Time displayed above are based on date and time settings of your personal device

The length of appointment for internal FAO candidates will be established in accordance with applicable policies pertaining to the extension of appointments

FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender and nationality

People with disabilities are protected from any type of discrimination during any stage of employment, including the recruitment phase

All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality

The incumbent may be re-assigned to different activities and/or duty stations depending on the evolving needs of the Organization

Organizational Setting

The main aim of the FAO country offices, which are headed by an FAO Representative, is to assist governments to develop policies, programmes and projects to achieve food security and to reduce hunger and malnutrition, to help develop the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors, and to use their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable manner.

The Regional Office for Africa (RAF) supports regional policy dialogue on food security, fisheries, agriculture and rural development issues, facilitates the emergence of regional partnerships, and supports capacity development and resource mobilization for food security, agriculture and rural development in the region. The FAO Regional Office in collaboration with the FAO Zambia Country Office is implementing a project on the Sustainable Development of Fisheries and Aquaculture Value Chains in ACP Countries.

The post is located in the FAO Representation in Zambia.

Reporting Lines

The National Professional Officer reports to FAO Representative (FAOR) and the Chief Technical Adviser for the Sustainable Development of Fisheries and Aquaculture Value Chains in ACP Countries project (FISH4ACP).

Technical Focus

Programme development, technical support, coordination and operational assistance, outreach and reporting to partners based on the knowledge of the local conditions, culture, language and institutions of the country of assignment.

Key Results

Research, technical analysis, and project related services to support the delivery of programme projects, products, and services.

Key Functions

Researches and analyses technical, social, economic, environmental, institutional, and technology related information, data and statistics and/or related policy issues to support the delivery of programme projects, products and services;

Produces a variety of technical information, data, statistics and reports as well as input for technical documents and web pages;

Provides technical support/analysis to various assessments, studies and initiatives and provides technical backstopping to field projects;

Collaborates in the development of improved/updated tools, systems, processes, and databases;

Participates in multidisciplinary teams, and/or leads working groups/teams collaborates with other departments and agencies on work groups and committees and promotes best practices;

Collaborates in, provides technical backstopping to and ensures the quality/effectiveness of capacity development activities within Members such as policy support, organizational development and individual learning events including preparation of related information, learning materials, online tools;

Promotes knowledge sharing and best practices at international meetings and conferences and influences partners in stakeholder consultations;

Supports resource mobilization activities in accordance with the FAO Corporate strategy.

Specific Functions

Acts as the Secretary to the FISH4ACP Value Chain Task Force (VC-TF) and organizes meetings and plans agendas;

Prepares reports every six months for submission to the Project Management Unit (PMU), which will include information on results achieved, constraints and possible solutions, impact evaluation, as well as administrative and financial updates;

Prepares and executes the FISH4ACP annual country level work plan and budget and oversees the preparation of the country level value chain work plan and budget;

Develops and maintains partnerships with country and regional stakeholders who can contribute to achieving FISH4ACP value chain objectives;

Collaborates closely with consultants (national and international) responsible for value chain project tasks and ensures the implementation of a sustainable systems-based value chain approach;

Coordinates, collates and analyses quarterly value chain progress reports from the value chain task forces to gauge the impact of FISH4ACP interventions;

Coordinates the knowledge sharing emerging from the value chain to ensure information is widely disseminated within the FISH4ACP project and externally;

Oversees development and implementation of the FISH4ACP communication strategy at country level;

Supports and monitors the value chain analysis (VCA) in the first year and the value chain development activities in year two through five of the project, facilitating linkages between stakeholders, including the formation of the VCA teams and value chain task forces, and the organization of value chain stakeholder workshops;

Contributes to the data collection and analysis, as well as report-writing (as applicable), with a main focus on the strategy and implementation sections;

Organizes in-person and virtual trainings for fishers and fish farmers/stakeholders with subject matter experts to increase their market readiness and success;

Identifies challenges and bottlenecks in various fisheries and aquaculture value chains nodes in the country and informs the FAO Representative to better inform, advocacy, decision and policy dialogue;

Promotes and stimulates the involvement of fisher and fish worker organizations, including womens organizations, so that they are empowered to take part in relevant decision-making processes and promote their capacity to enhance their income and livelihood security, as well as marketing mechanisms;

Connects fishers, fish farmers and other relevant stakeholders with local/regional and international experts and resources to help them troubleshoot issues;

Leads the regular monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the programme, at country level, throughout the project duration, including the selection of value chain-specific indicators, as well as the regular reporting of progress to the CTA; and

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

Tags aquaculture capacity development continuous improvement data collection data management environmental policy fisheries fishery products food and nutrition food security impact evaluation knowledge sharing monitoring and evaluation natural resource management natural resources nutrition security organizational development project management resource mobilization rural development standards of conduct subject matter expert sustainable development task forces technical cooperation trainings transparency value chain

National of Zambia;

Advanced university degree in development economics, fisheries economics or marine affairs with a specialization in fisheries, aquaculture or natural resource management and/or governance environmental policy or other field related to fisheries;

Five years of relevant experience in fisheries and aquaculture development, trade, fishery products safety and quality, value chain development, field of statistics and data management of fisheries, or related field;

Working knowledge of English;

Working knowledge of the local language

Competencies

Results Focus

Teamwork

Communication

Building Effective Relationships

Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions is desirable;

Extent and relevance of experience in practical sustainable value chain development, technical cooperation-related activities, policy advice and analysis relating to food and nutrition security, fisheries and aquaculture, agriculture and rural development, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes and/or providing technical support and advice on institutional capacity building processes;

Extent and relevance of experience in establishing and maintaining partnerships with the United Nations (UN) agencies, NGOs as well as donors, private sector, universities, research institutions and government institutions and agencies;

Depth of familiarity with fisheries and aquaculture sector in developing countries, and extent and relevance of experience in programme/project management, value chain analysis, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture management;

Extent and relevance of experience in project coordination and an understanding of the purpose and functions of technical programmes, operational guidelines and programme/project management procedures, preferably those adopted by the United Nations or FAO would be considered an asset;

Extent and relevance of experience in editing and publishing communication products related to fisheries and/or value chain activities..

Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency. GENERAL INFORMATION

Staff members in this category are recruited locally and paid according to a local salary scale. Salary scales are reviewed periodically on the basis of comprehensive surveys of the best prevailing conditions of employment in the locality.

FAO reserves the right not to make an appointment, to make an appointment at a lower grade, or to make an appointment with a modified job description.

CONDITIONS OF SERVICE A competitive compensation and benefits package is offered. For information on UN salaries, allowances and benefits, click on the following link: https://icsc.un.org/Resources/SAD/Booklets/sabeng.pdf FAO encourages a positive workplace culture to increase inclusivity and diversity within its workforce. FAO applies measures in which all staff members contribute equally and in full to the work and development of the Organization. This includes:

elements of family-friendly policies

flexible working arrangements

standards of conduct

HOW TO APPLY

To apply, visit the recruitment website at Jobs at FAO and complete your online profile. We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete and includes your employment records, academic qualifications and language skills;

Candidates are requested to attach a letter of motivation to the online profile;

Once your profile is completed, please apply and submit your application;

Your application will be screened based on the information provided on your online profile;

Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/

Candidates may be requested to provide performance assessments and authorization to conduct verification checks of past and present work, character, education, military and police records to ascertain any and all information which may be pertinent to the employment qualifications;

Incomplete applications will not be considered;

Only applications received through the FAO recruitment portal will be considered;

We encourage applicants to submit the application well before the deadline date.
The As filled their biggest need, shortstop, acquiring Elvis Andrus from Texas in a trade Saturday that included sending designated hitter Khris Davis to the Rangers.

Oakland acquired Andrus, former Giants catcher Aramis Garcia and cash from Texas for Davis, catcher Jonah Heim and right-handed pitching prospect Dane Acker, the teams said. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported the As were receiving $13.5 million in the trade.

Andrus, 32, is a .274 career hitter who has logged 145 or more games in 10 of 12 MLB seasons but dealt with injuries in 2018 and 2020. Hell be the As everyday shortstop, general manager David Forst said, replacing Marcus Semien, the 2019 MVP finalist who recently signed with Toronto. Forst said he first talked to the Rangers about Andrus in November. After Plan A, re-signing Semien, didnt happen, the deal with Texas came together in the past week.

This was a position we were going to have to piece together, but instead you (add) a guy who wants to play every day, who plays excellent defense, who has hit in the leadoff spot, Forst said on a video call with reporters. Obviously has not been the offensive player the last two years that he wants to be and that hes capable of being. He told us when we talked to him  he has a lot left in him, he wants to go out and get his career back on track.

Davis, 33, led the majors in home runs (133) from 2016 to 2018 with the As and signed a two-year, $33.5 million extension in 2019. He totaled just 25 homers over the past two seasons  effects of a collision with the wall in Pittsburgh in May 2019 lingered that season  and he lost his everyday DH role in 2020. But he remained a popular teammate. Forst said trading Davis was not an easy thing to do and Davis handled it like a pro, as you imagine he would.

What Khris has brought to the organization and the city really over the last five years is hard to put into words, Forst said. He got here when we were on a down cycle. He gave us all something to sort of look forward to and aspire to, and he kind of was the leader of this group now that has gone to the playoffs three (straight) years.

On a call with reporters, Andrus said it was a little shock being traded, but with the Rangers in a rebuild he welcomed joining an As team that won the AL West in the shortened 2020 season.

Andrus knows the As well as a division rival and said: I really admire the team, especially the last two years, because its really hard to have such young players be that mature like the As have right now, guys like (Matt) Chapman, (Matt) Olson, (Jesus) Luzardo.

Andrus likened playing with Chapman to playing next to former Texas third baseman Adrian Beltre. Andrus also had praise for As manager Bob Melvin, saying: I love that dude. Playing against him, I hate him because hes so smart. So now, playing for him, Im really excited to see whats next in my career.

Financially the deal makes sense for the As, who have spent little so far this winter following a short 2020 season with no ticket revenue. Davis is due $16.5 million in 2021. Andrus is due $14 million in base salary each of the next two seasons, per Spotrac. The money the As receive in the deal helps offset that, while Forst said it will also allow Oakland to explore other moves in the coming weeks  especially adding to a bullpen depleted by free agency.

Andrus is signed through 2022 with an option for 2023 that would vest if he reaches 550 plate appearances in 2022 or 1,100 total plate appearances in 2021-22, according to Spotrac. The option was to become a player option if Andrus was traded, per Spotrac, though it wasnt clear whether Andrus still must reach the plate appearance totals to trigger the player option.

After a strong 2017 season  a career-high 20 home runs, 100 runs and .808 OPS  Andrus suffered a fractured elbow when he was hit by a pitch in April 2018 and landed on the injured list for the first time. He played in 97 games that season, hit .275 in 147 games in 2019, then was limited to 29 games in 2020 due to back issues, batting .194 with a .582 OPS.

Andrus, an All-Star in 2010 and 2012, said his back hampered him badly last year but he lost 10 pounds this winter and focused on speed and agility work. Forst said Andrus got a clean bill of health from a back specialist, and the As feel good about the medical reports.

I feel a lot faster  Im moving in the infield like when I was 20 again, Andrus said.

The As avoid going into spring with inexperience at shortstop and wont have to rush prospects Nick Allen and Logan Davidson, who havent played above A-ball. Oakland also lost second baseman Tommy La Stella to the Giants in free agency, but Forst said hes confident with Tony Kemp, Chad Pinder and Vimael Machin as options at second and added Sheldon Neuse will get a long look this spring.

Heim, 25, debuted last season and was the As backup catcher for the second half and playoffs. Backup catcher candidates this spring will include left-handed hitting Austin Allen, Carlos Perez and Garcia, a 2014 second-round pick by the Giants who played in 37 games with San Francisco from 2018-19, hitting .229 with six home runs.

Matt Kawahara covers the As for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: mkawahara@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @matthewkawahara
San Antonio cinematographer Fidel Ruiz-Healy thought he was going to L.A. to take in the Sundance Film Festival from afar with the rest of his crew.

The group, which quarantined and tested before traveling to meet in California, had been regulars at the Utah festival, but 2021 turned out to be a fortuitous year for Ruiz-Healy.

READ MORE: Polly Lou Livingston, San Antonio voice actress, dead at 91

"Touch of the Master's Hand," a 12-minute short written, directed and produced by Gregory Barnes and shot by Ruiz-Healy was awarded a Jury Award in U.S. Fiction at this year's virtual Sundance. The film was one of the project the duo collaborated on through The American Standard Film Co., a collective of directors, writers and producers.

The dark comedy explores a missionary elder's journey as they "confess the humiliating depths of his pornography addiction."

"The humor of the piece comes from dealing with the shame that's convinced him he's an addict, when he's regular kid with hormones," Barnes said.

Barnes was raised in the Mormon faith, which follows the teachings of Joseph Smith. The film is predominantly in Spanish, which Barnes based on his own missionary work in Argentina.

"We drew from Latin American missions. The film is set in Veracruz, another producer did a mission in Guanajuato, and you're supposed to speak the language while there," Ruiz-Healy said.

They learned of their award Tuesday.

"We came in hoping to watch movies and now we've got of work to do this upcoming year," said Barnes, who hopes to make a feature length version of the script.

RELATED: U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro nominates 'Selena' for National Film Registry

Now based in L.A. and New York, Barnes also has loose San Antonio ties. His grandfather graduated from Jefferson High School in the 1930s.

Ruiz-Healy and Barnes, who met through mutual friends and have collaborated throughout the past several years, have spent time in Texas over the past several months since the pandemic began. Barnes in Marfa, and Ruiz-Healy in San Antonio, where he's also plugging away at another film, "Agua Negra" with his brother, Eduardo.

"Agua Negra," a San Antonio Film Commission grant recipient, is a short comedy/horror film which focuses on two kids getting into mischief along the banks of the Rio Grande when they discover something lurking beneath the waters of the river.

Fidel is a perfect example of San Antonios strong filmmaking talent, and how the skill and love of moviemaking is often cultivated within families, said Krystal Jones, Marketing, Film & Music Administrator with the City of San Antonios Department of Arts & Culture.

SALEM, Ore.  Governor Kate Brown and Senate Majority Leader Rob Wagner on Friday joined a growing chorus of voices calling for Rep. Diego Hernandez to step down following an investigation into allegations of misconduct.

Hernandez, a Democrat representing part of Portland, is accused of harassing several women connected to the state legislature who were former romantic partners of his. Two women told investigators that his persistent and unwelcome romantic advances caused concern that he might undercut their work at the Capitol, while a third reported behavior that could be construed as controlling or abusive.

House Speaker Tina Kotek called for the "immediate safety actions" at the Capitol back in May of 2020 following the recommendations from independent investigators who were looking into complaints regarding Hernandez's conduct. Kotek called on Hernandez to resign "and focus completely on getting the support he needs," after he took a leave of absence.

At the end of January, the results of that independent investigation became public  resulting in renewed calls for Hernandez to resign, this time joined by a constellation of Oregon organizations, including the Oregon Food Bank, Oregon Education Association, and SEIU Local 503.

On Friday, Governor Brown addressed the issue in a press conference primarily covering the state's coronavirus response, also calling on Hernandez to resign.

"If this were any other workplace, Representative Hernandez would already have been shown the door," Brown said.

Hours later, Sen. Wagner released a statement saying that the House Committee on Conduct had concluded that Hernandez violated the Legislature's anti-harassment policy "multiple times."

"I join many of my colleagues, community leaders, advocates, organizations and individuals in the call for Representative Hernandez to resign," Wagner said. "The House Conduct Committee found clear evidence that he created a hostile workplace and committed acts of sexual harassment and unwanted sexual contact. He abused his place of power and his office, violating a position entrusted to him by his community."

Wagner said that if Hernandez did not resign immediately, the House should vote to expel him.

Hernandez recently broke his silence on the accusations with a lengthy social media post, describing the conduct in question as "messy interpersonal relationship moments between consenting adults" and saying that two of the women interviewed "rarely if ever had business in the Capitol."

The Legislature recently expanded rules mandating that lawmakers conduct themselves in a manner that is "free of harassment" to include anyone who conducts business at the Capitol or engages professionally with lawmakers. Hernandez defended himself, in part, by saying that the alleged conduct happened in 2017, prior to to this expansion of legislative rules.

"I take responsibility for my actions, yet I do not believe that these mistakes justify the treatment I have received over the last year, nor the harshest potential outcome of a conduct committee process," Hernandez said. "I want to live in a world where someone who makes mistakes, learns and grows from them, can also be recognized as a good person, who has done good for others, and has helped shape this world to be more equitable."

Hernandez's Facebook page disappeared on Friday afternoon, removing the post.

The Legislature's policies on sexual harassment came under fire in early 2018, after an investigation concluded that Republican Sen. Jeff Kruse had harassed multiple women in the Capitol, including other lawmakers. Kruse resigned, but the fallout from his harassment scandal stretched into 2019, when a state labor investigation concluded that lawmakers, including Rep. Kotek, had been lax in responding to reports of his behavior.
Banking customers across Wexford should take note that some of Ireland's largest banks, Bank of Ireland and AIB, are in a process of selling their ATM machines.

There are concerns that rural areas in particular may lose out in this new move, as banking companies look to keep ATM machines at branches and more popular locations rather than in local retail outlets, shops or hotels.

The danger is that if these machines are sold to other ATM providers, withdrawal fees will increase for customers, both domestic and foreign.

Bank of Ireland is selling off a network of 700 ATMs, while AIB is seeking bids for 375 of its cash machines.

Ulster Bank has already sold a network of 400 ATMs to US giant Euronet, and that company now owns 600 ATM machines in this country, making it one of the dominant operators in the sector.

People in other countries are charged fees of up to 3 every time they want to withdraw cash from independently operated ATMs, and there are fears that the same rules could apply once ATMs operated by Irish banks are removed.

Some independently operated ATMs in this country already have charges for tourists whose home account is not in euro and the fees can be up to 3.95 for withdrawing their funds in euro.

The Central Bank confirmed last week that independent ATM operators are not regulated by it on pricing.
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-05 19:52:56|Editor: huaxia

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This image grabbed from a screen shows Luo Huining (C), director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), sending New Year's greetings to Hong Kong people at a virtual reception to mark the Chinese Lunar New Year in Hong Kong, south China, Feb. 5, 2021. (Xinhua)

HONG KONG, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Luo Huining, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), stressed "patriots governing Hong Kong" and the "one country" principle on Friday.

"We must uphold the principle of 'patriots governing Hong Kong,' firmly abide by the 'one country' principle, act in strict accordance with the Constitution and the HKSAR Basic Law, maintain constitutional order, and implement central government's overall jurisdiction over Hong Kong so that our home Hong Kong can achieve prosperity and lasting peace and stability," Luo said when speaking at a virtual reception to mark the Chinese Lunar New Year.

Vice chairmen of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Tung Chee-hwa and Leung Chun-ying, HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam, Director of the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR Zheng Yanxiong, Acting Commissioner of the Chinese foreign ministry in the HKSAR Yang Yirui, Commander of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Garrison in the HKSAR Chen Daoxiang and political commissar of the garrison Cai Yongzhong attended the ceremony.

In 2020, since the central authorities made a series of important decisions on national security legislation in the HKSAR, Hong Kong has marked a turnaround from chaos to law and order, with the once-rampant street violence being ceased and residents regaining their safety and freedom, Luo said.

Hong Kong's "changes" over the past year were to set things right, Luo said, stressing that as long as the twisted and distorted are back in form, "one country, two systems" will definitely progress steadily in the right direction.

Looking ahead, Luo said he has four expectations for the future of Hong Kong.

The principle of "one country, two systems" will not change, with the bottom line of "one country" further consolidated and "two systems" showing more vitality, Luo said.

"We must uphold the principle of 'patriots governing Hong Kong,' firmly abide by the 'one country' principle, act in strict accordance with the Constitution and the HKSAR Basic Law, maintain constitutional order, and implement central government's overall jurisdiction over Hong Kong so that our home Hong Kong can achieve prosperity and lasting peace and stability," he said.

"Second, people's rights and interests guaranteed by the Constitution and the Basic Law will not change," he said, stressing that Hong Kong will have a stronger capability to ensure social stability and safeguard national security more effectively.

The national security law in the HKSAR must be firmly implemented and democracy and freedom should be upheld under the rule of law, Luo said, adding that more efforts should be made to avoid the trap of "pan-politicalization" and resist the tendency to deviate from good governance.

Besides, Hong Kong residents' way of life will not change and bigger steps will be taken to develop Hong Kong's economy and improve the people's livelihood, Luo said.

More precise and effective measures will be rolled out to address crucial livelihood problems step by step, such as employment, incomes, land, housing and health care, and to solve the entrenched issues that concern Hong Kong residents, so that everyone's hard work and efforts can be rewarded, and people can have a stronger sense of gain, happiness and security, Luo said.

"Fourth, Hong Kong's advantage of being a free market and its openness to the world will not change," Luo said. "It will see enhanced prospect to join the country's development and greater confidence to take part in international competitions."

Hong Kong should seize the major opportunities of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, participate in the domestic circle of the country's internal market, and promote the dual circulation of domestic and international markets to strengthen its economic competitiveness, Luo said.

As 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the faith is stronger than ever that under the leadership of the CPC, the historical trend of China's sound and steady development and the great national rejuvenation can never be stopped, Luo said.

Hong Kong will surely prosper when the country thrives, Luo said.

With the care and support of President Xi Jinping and the central authorities, the strong backing of the motherland, and the joint efforts of the HKSAR government and various sectors of the society, the dark clouds will be dispelled eventually and Hong Kong will become better, Luo said. Enditem
New Delhi: In the backdrop of farmers' protests in India, the British govt has stated that the Agricultural reform is the Indian governments domestic policy issue.

In response to a written question on Friday (February 5) in the British Parliament, Nigel Adams, Minister of Asia in the British foreign office said, "We are aware of concerns in India and here in the UK about how these reforms might affect farming communities", pointing out, "Agricultural reform is a domestic policy issue for the Indian authorities to address."

While voicing British governments assessment of the protests by farmers which turned violent on 26 January, the British minister said, "The right to gather lawfully and demonstrate a point of view is common to all democracies. Governments also have the power to enforce law and order if a protest crosses the line into illegality..handling of protests is an internal matter for the Indian authorities."

Earlier, last week several questions were raised by some British MPs on other India-related issues, but the British government clearly reiterated its stance, which is largely supportive of New Delhi.

A question was asked on China's aggressive actions towards India, to which Adams said, as neighbors, India and China have an important relationship with one another" and London "welcome discussions" while continuing to "support a peaceful resolution" between India and China of the border dispute.

China's aggressive actions in 2020, especially with India at Galwan had led to a major blow in Delhi-Beijing ties. The country's action in Hong Kong with a new law has perturbed the UK and led to sharp exchanges between London and Beijing.

In a related question, on UK govt's ties with QUAD countries- Australia, India, Japan and US, the Minister of Asia said, "No decisions have yet been made on the form UK engagement with the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue could take."

While addressing concerns on Kashmir, Adams said, "The UK's position remains that it is for India and Pakistan to identify a lasting political resolution to the situation, one that takes into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people."

He further elaborated that Kashmirs situation was raised by the British foreign secretary Dominic Raab, during his India visit in December, with his Indian counterpart External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar.

"Officials at the British High Commission in New Delhi engage regularly with human rights organizations on the situation. Any allegation of human rights abuses is deeply concerning and must be investigated thoroughly, promptly and transparently," Adams explained.

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UPDATE: Rodriguez was captured and returned to the Limestone County Jail.

The search involved the Limestone County Sheriffs Office, Athens police and the Madison County Sheriffs Office Canine Unit.

From earlier:

The Limestone County Sheriffs Office is looking for an inmate who escaped Friday night.

According to a news release, at approximately 7:30 p.m., inmate Geovannis Rodriguez, 28, of Shaw Road in Athens escaped the secured perimeter of the Limestone County Jail.

He was held on charges of possession of a forged instrument third degree and burglary third degree. He was booked in the jail on Feb. 2.

Limestone County deputies and prison dogs are searching for Rodriguez Friday night.

Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call the sheriffs office at (256) 232-0111.
Maleaha Aquadro has been charged with multiple offenses after driving head-on into, and seriously injuring Northampton police officer Matt Knowlton at close to 70 mph. However, according to court records, Knowltons primary concern was for Aquadros health after the crash.

According to police documents submitted on Feb. 2 to Northampton District Court, there were seven unopened alcoholic seltzers, a partially consumed bottle of Furtscato wine, one small bottle of Smirnoff and three small bottles of Fireball, all found in Aquadros Jeep at the crash on Jan. 30. A search warrant was issued by Northampton District Court while she was being treated at Cooley Dickinson Hospital to send a sample of her blood for analysis.

On Jan. 30 Knowlton was driving along Rocky Hill Road on Route 66 in Northampton. At roughly 11.27 p.m., the Dash Mounted Radar started to scream signifying a speeding vehicle coming toward him. New England Police Benevolent Association 186 President Joshua Wallace told MassLive that usually, officers would have this turned down or off and rely on the screen to show the speed of the vehicles.

He must have had it on or someone before him had it on. So, the faster youre going the higher pitch and volume, it alerts you to, said Wallace. He was driving out towards Westhampton on Route 66 and he heard the radar scream.

Looking down at the monitor, Knowlton saw that the oncoming vehicle was traveling at twice the speed limit. The speed limit on the stretch of Route 66 is 35 mph, the vehicle was traveling at closer to 75 mph, according to Wallace.

The tactic for police to avoid collisions with oncoming speeding drivers is to wait for them to pass and then turn their cruiser around to follow and signal for them to pull over. As Knowlton pulled to the right of the road, to make enough room to pull a U-turn once the vehicle had passed, the red Jeep started to come toward him, records show.

The driver, 25-year-old Aquadro, works at Linda Manor extended care facility in Leeds, was traveling back from a day of sledding with her brother and other friends on Hospital Hill in Northampton, according to Northampton Police Sergeant Brian D. Letzeisens statement.

The Ford Interceptors that Northampton police and other departments use have side airbags that are mounted in the upper outside edge of the front driver and passenger seatbacks.

The standard Ford Safety Canopy System deploys side-curtain airbags for outside passenger head protection in the event of a rollover accident. They are designed to inflate between an occupants head and the side window, even when an occupants head is leaning toward the window.

According to Wallace, all the airbags in the vehicle went off, even the side curtain airbags.

When Knowlton realized what had happened, he tried to open the drivers door. The crash had twisted the frame of the vehicle and much of the impact from the oncoming Jeep had been closer to the drivers side.

Northampton police said after viewing the video from Knowltons vehicle, they suspect that Aquadros Jeeps right wheels hit a curb or snow and she overcompensated as she negotiated to turn a corner. In the last few seconds, the officer noted that Aquadro made an abrupt turn straight into the cruiser.

The door didnt open and he was pinned by the airbags. He grabbed his knife from his vest, cut at the bags to release the air from them and get free as well as having to cut away his seatbelt.

Officer Matthew Knowlton and another driver were injured in a head-on crash on Rock Hill Road Saturday night. (Northampton Police photo)

Due to the impact, the windows of the cruiser had blown out. Knowlton knew this was the way he would escape the vehicle that was starting to catch fire, according to Wallace.

While pulling himself from the seat a sharp pain shot up from what he at the time thought was his knee. Regardless of the pain, he was focused on getting to the other vehicle to ensure the safety of Aquadro.

The thing that struck Wallace, as he relayed the Jan. 30 scene, was the professional and calm tone that Knowlton had when calling for help on the police radio.

Although Wallace couldnt remember exactly what he said word for word, the message was calm. Wallace relayed to MassLive that after a crash of that magnitude and the injury Knowlton sustained, one might have the propensity to scream for help, but not him.

As a result of the crash, Knowlton received a broken tibia, knee cap and several torn ligaments, according to the police file.

Knowlton is also a member of the 747th Military Police Company of the Massachusetts Army National Guard and is relatively new to the job, having only served in the Northampton police for one year. However, Wallace told MassLive that he was blown away by Knowltons selflessness and professionalism he demonstrated and holds him up as a good example to other officers.

After the call went out from Knowlton, police started to swarm the scene to offer help. Within a few minutes, firefighters and medical crews were also on the scene.

The first officer to respond was Lauren Bolduc who recalled that as she arrived, Knowlton was tending to Aquadro. With the police cruiser starting to ignite, it wasnt safe for him to attempt to get the medical pack. So, he treated her the best he could.

Bolduc said that she pretty much had to hold him back because he kept trying to go check on her, Wallace said once other first responders arrived and took over the care of Aquadro.

Even when he arrived at the Baystate Medical Center where he is still being treated, Knowlton was still concerned as to Aquadros health. From the impact with the police cruiser, she sustained a hip injury and had a suspected brain bleed, according to the police statement. She was being treated at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton but then also moved to Baystate Medical Center due to the severity of her injuries.

Aquadro has been charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, reckless operation of a motor vehicle and several civil infractions: speeding, failure to wear a seatbelt, marked lanes violation, according to police documents.

I cant even say that I would be in the same mind frame he would be. I would want to make sure that shes being taken care of, but as soon as I realized she is being taken care of, I would be concerned about myself, said Wallace, a 12-year veteran of the police. He appeared, from every account Ive heard, not to care about himself. He was only worried about her.

Wallace has set up a GoFundMe page to support Knowlton through the recovery. He highlighted that while most medical costs are covered, there are always unforeseen costs involved like transportation to and from appointments and mediation co-pays. So far the fund has raised $2,719 toward to $5,000 target.

Knowlton is still in the hospital for observation. Once he is released, his sister will care for him while he recovers in South Windsor, Conn., according to Wallace.

The investigation into whether Aquadro was driving under the influence is still ongoing.

We will do whatever needs to be done to help, said Wallace on the reaction from colleagues of Knowlton. He lives in an apartment, but if he had a house, we would be snow blowing his drive.

Related Content:
Huntsville residents Brian and Carolyn Vaughn are the new owners of the Handels Ice Cream franchise in the Rocket City.

Brian Vaughn is a veteran of the U.S. Army, having served the country as a lieutenant colonel.

Handels said the Huntsville store, located at 7086 Hwy 72 W., will open the week of Feb. 8. (Check back with WAAY 31 for updates, as were told the exact date may be Thursday, Feb. 11).

The Huntsville store has been closed since June 2020.

According to the company, Brian Vaughn got his first taste of owning a business when he set up a bicycle repair shop as a teen, working hard to earn $5 a week. He remembers family outings to get ice cream from his childhood, often on Sundays after church, and especially if he had good behavior.

Brian Vaughn said his favorite Handels flavor is Salty Caramel Truffle. Carolyn Vaughn is a fan of Praline Pecan.

Brian Vaugh credits the Army for preparing him for this venture.

The discipline and attention to detail from my Army training will help us consistently serve this great-tasting, top-quality ice cream to our neighbors and new friends, Brian Vaughn said. Vaughns favorite flavor of Handels Ice Cream is Salty Caramel Truffle, while his wife and business partner Carolyn prefers Praline Pecan.

The Huntsville store has been closed for about eight months since the company revealed it suspended operations there due to offensive statements and posts from one of our franchisees.

The company was referring to posts on Facebook said to be made by the Huntsville franchises now-former owner, ranging from several years ago to summer 2020.

After those posts, which contained use of the "n" word as well as posts about the killing of George Floyd, went viral, the Facebook page they were found on was deleted.

The company said then that it does not "tolerate expressions of racism or discrimination in any form."

Handels new release about the Vaughns taking over ownership said the Huntsville location was desired by many.

We were humbled to have over 100 people that wanted to be the new store owner in Huntsville, and we couldnt be more excited about partnering with Brian and Carolyn Vaughn, said Jim Brown, Handels Chief Operating Officer. Brian resonated with the story of Handels founder, Alice Handel, and we see the same traits in the Vaughns: good-natured, hard-working Americans who want to make people happy with a product they love.

A second Huntsville location is planned for later in 2021. Stay with WAAY 31 for updates on that location as soon as we get them.
On Thursday, 4 February, Pope Francis celebrated the first International Day of Human Fraternity in a virtual event organized by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed. The event was hosted in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and saw the participation of the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyib, and the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, along with other international leaders. On the same occasion, the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity, inspired by the Document on Human Fraternity, was awarded. The celebration was linked with the historic signing of the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, two years ago in Abu Dhabi. In his speech the Pope thanked Al-Tayyib for his courage and true fraternity. The following is a translation of the Popes Spanish text.

Sisters and Brothers. This is the word: sisters and brothers. To affirm fraternity.

In a special way, to you, my brother, my friend, my companion of challenges and risks in the struggle for fraternity, Grand Imam Ahmed Al-Tayyib, whom I thank for his company in the journey of reflection and drafting of the document that was presented two years ago. His witness helped me a great deal because it was a courageous testimony. I know that it was not an easy task. But with you we were able to do it together, and to mutually help one another. The most beautiful thing is that that first desire for fraternity was consolidated in true fraternity. Thank you, brother, thank you!

I would also like to thank His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed for all the effort he put forth so that we could proceed in this journey. He believed in the project. He believed in it. And I think it is also right to thank  if you, Honourable Judge, will allow me the term  the enfant terrible of this entire project, Judge Abdel Salam, friend, worker, full of ideas, who helped us to make progress.

Thanks to everyone for having bet on fraternity, because today fraternity is humanitys new frontier. Either we are brothers and sisters or we destroy each other.

Today there is no time for indifference. We cannot wash our hands of it, with distance, with disregard, with disinterest. Either we are fratelli  if I may  or everything collapses. It is the frontier. The frontier on which we have to build; it is the challenge of our century; it is the challenge of our times.

Fraternity means the hand outstretched; fraternity means respect. Fraternity means listening with an open heart. Fraternity means firmness in ones convictions. Because there is no true fraternity if ones convictions are negotiated.

We are brothers and sisters, born of one and the same Father. With different cultures and traditions, but brothers and sisters all. And it is in respect of our different cultures and traditions, of our different citizenships, that this fraternity needs to be built. Not by negotiating it.

It is the moment for listening. It is the moment for sincere acceptance. It is the moment for certainty that a world without brothers and sisters is a world of enemies. I wish to underscore it. We cannot say: either brothers or not brothers. Let us state it clearly: either brothers or enemies. Because disregard is a very subtle form of hostility. There is no need for war to make enemies. Disregard is enough. This technique suffices  it is transformed into a technique  it suffices with this attitude of looking the other way, not caring for the other, as if he or she did not exist.

Dear brother Grand Imam, thank you for your help. Thank you for your witness. Thank you for this journey that we have undertaken together.

The Holy Father congratulates the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, winner of the Zayed Prize



I would like to congratulate the Secretary General of the United Nations on this award and thank him for all the efforts he has made for peace. A peace that can be obtained only with a fraternal heart. Thank you for what you do.

The Holy Father congratulates Latifa Ibn Ziaten, winner of the Zayed Prize



Dear sister, your last words were not said in order to be heard or for convention: we are all brothers and sisters. They are the conviction. And a conviction formed in the heart, in your wounds. You have spent your life for smiles; you have spent your life for non-resentment and, through the pain of losing a child  only a mother knows what it means to lose a child  through this pain you have the courage to say we are all brothers and sisters and to sow words of love. Thank you for your witness. And thank you for being mother to your son, to so many girls and boys; for being mother today to this humanity that is listening to you and learning from you: either the journey of fraternity, either brothers and sisters, or we lose everything.

Thank you, thank you!
RESIDENTS of a housing estate in Tullamore have written to local public representatives demanding action on anti-social behaviour and related issues.

In the submission sent to councillors and TDs, residents of Church Hill say there are significant anti-social behaviour problems within the estate.

There is excessive noise especially during night time hours where residents are unable to sleep due to the activities ongoing in certain sections of the estate, including loud music and general noise making, outlines the statement.

It also alleges that there has been damage to cars and windows of houses in the estate.

The residents also highlight litter issues throughout the estate especially general rubbish and open fires.

Addressing problems relating to Covid-19 restrictions, the residents claim there is extensive movement of people who are not residents into the estate which is creating a higher risk of the virus spreading.

They also maintain that there has been a huge increase in the number of caravans which are occupied.

The residents call on public representatives to raise the issues they have highlighted with council officials, the council's environment section, the Gardai and litter warden.

This matter has been ongoing for a long time and is starting to become a permanent situation to the long term detriment of Tullamore and the residents of the estate, outlines the submission.

It concludes; It would be worthwhile to see if the local councillors of all parties could take a stand on this issue.

Meanwhile, a resident of the Chancery Lane area has also contacted the Tribune concerning the large volumes of rubbish which are being dumped on the green area there.

It is understood that the matter is being investigated by the litter warden and that council officials visited the area and Church Hill in the past few days.

Referring to the Chancery dumping, Cllr Declan Harvey appealed to the environment section of Offaly County Council to take action.
Gardai have uncovered the first known case of Irish holidaymakers producing fake documentation to support their claim that their travel abroad is essential.

Two people departing Dublin Airport on Thursday provided gardai with a letter purporting to be from their employer  an engineering company  stating they were required abroad on essential infrastructure projects.

When officers from the Garda National Immigration Bureau checked with the company, they were told that they never heard of the two individuals.

The letter claimed the two men travelling were due to work on essential engineering projects in Europe.

The two individuals decided to continue their journey and will have two fines, each valued at 500, awaiting them at their home addresses on their return.

Gardai have no power to stop people travelling and sources said the purpose of the fines was to try and discourage people.

People travelling abroad at airports are interviewed by GNIB officers at the departure gates and asked about the purpose of their journey, if it is essential and whether or not they have any supporting documents.

Gardai advise people that if they assess their journey is not essential, they face a 500 fine and a penal process.

The Government increased the fine for non-essential international travel from 100 to 500 because of concerns the initial fine was not large enough, particularly given the cheap flights available.

If people do not pay their fines on return, they risk a court summons.

The discovery on Thursday came a day after GNIB officers at Dublin Airport came across the first known case of people entering the country using fake Covid-19 negative test certificates.

Suspicions were raised initially regarding the passports two men were using, which turned out not to be theirs, but other peoples.

GNIB officers then discovered the men had medical certificates stating they had an antigen test for Covid-19 and were negative.

Although the correspondence looked legitimate, gardai were suspicious of contents of the document. It was on headed paper and issued from Lagos, Nigeria.

On further examination they determined they were false  the first known case in the country.

The men were arrested on immigration offences, charged and held in custody.

Earlier this week, EU police agency Europol warned that gangs were trading in fake Covid certs for international travellers. This included the infamous Irish organised crime network, the Rathkeale Rovers.

On Covid-19 fines, Garda HQ issued a statement saying 3,500 fines had been issued for non-essential travel, including about 375 fines for non-essential journeys to airports/ports.

People travelling to an airport or port to take a holiday abroad are now liable for a 500 fine each for undertaking a non-essential journey, said the statement. Going on a holiday abroad is not essential travel.
Apostle Johnson Suleman, founder of Omega Fire Ministry (OFM) has reacted to the audio recording released by Mike Davids, a former pastor ...

Apostle Johnson Suleman, founder of Omega Fire Ministry (OFM) has reacted to the audio recording released by Mike Davids, a former pastor at the ministry, alleging that he threatened to make him disappear.





The controversy started when Davids alleged that Suleman slept with Faith Edeko, his wife, who currently heads the Abuja branch of Omega Fire Ministries in Utako.

There were reports that the inspector-general of police had ordered a probe of Suleman over the matter but the cleric vehemently dismissed the claims.

However, Davids later filed a N2 billion lawsuit against the clergyman, accusing him of destroying his home and also barring him from seeing his kids.

David went on to release an audio he claimed to have recorded in one of their phone conversations, where Suleiman could be heard making threats to his life.

Reacting, Suleiman agreed that the voice in the recording was his, but it was from a conversation he had with a young lady three years ago.

He also apologised for reacting angrily, stating that he is no longer the man he was at the time.

There is a viral audio that is going on now of me threatening somebody over the phone, telling the person to stay off my phone or the person will die prematurely. That voice was me. It happened three years ago. I reacted out of anger and I am sorry about it, he said.

After 2017, my mentality to life changed, I became very unreceptive. That was me on the phone threatening a young lady to go off my phone and stop talking to me. It was a mistake I made out of anger. It happened two years ago. Ive apologised to my wife for allowing anger to get a hold of me.

The pastor also stated that the recording was doctored by Davids, as he had not spoken to him for two years.

He continued: But we are so disappointed at Mike Davids that he has released an audio where he doctored and put his own voice and present to the world like I was threatening him after he did a video about his wife. Why will I call you to threaten you when your video made no sense? Mike Davids, I want to advise you. You can still repent right now.

I sent you out of Omega Fire Ministries not because of your human weakness because everybody has a problem. Im not a perfect man, Im human. I make mistakes and Im not perfect. But I sent you out of Omega Fire Ministries because of how evil your heart is. You spend all your time plotting against people, planning against pastors, thinking of how to pull pastors down. And that is why I sent you out of the ministry.

You dissolved your marriage with your wife and she was suffering and we decided to help her. You said no she must eat from the gutters, she must suffer. As a father who raised her up, should I let her suffer? My wife spoke to me on the need for us to take care of her and the children.

You said you want your wife back, you live in Abuja with your wife but youve never called her.
A manhunt has been launched for the driver of a black Mazda after a mum went missing from her home in pink pyjamas.

Ju Zhang, 33, was last seen barefoot wearing a pink pyjama top and shorts at her Winchester Avenue home in Epping in Melbourne's north about 5.30pm last Monday.

She had no personal belongings with her except for her mobile phone when reported missing to authorities a day later.

Ju Zhang, 33, (pictured) was last seen barefoot wearing a pink pyjama top and shorts at her Winchester Avenue home in Epping, Victoria

Ms Zhang (pictured) was only carrying her mobile phone when she was reported missing on Tuesday February 2

Police are searching for 34-year-old Doncaster man Joon Tan to assist in their investigation

Tan is believed to be travelling in a black 2008 Mazda CX9 station wagon with the registration WKE 850

Investigators said Ms Zhang's disappearance is 'extremely out of character' and have concerns for her welfare.

Detectives are searching for Doncaster man, Joon Tan, who may be able to assist with their investigation into Ms Zhang's disappearance.

The 34-year-old man is believed to be travelling in a black 2008 Mazda CX9 station wagon with the registration WKE 850.

Police believe Mr Tan may have travelled interstate.

If anyone sees Mr Tan or Ms Zhang, they are encouraged to call Triple 000 immediately.

In an audience with the Focolare Movement (Work of Mary), Pope Francis stressed three points: the post-Foundress era, the importance of crises, and living spirituality with coherence and realism. He greeted the movements new president, Margaret Karram, and cited the meeting in the Vatican Gardens with Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas, a time of promise.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  Pope Francis today met in the Paul VI Hall with members of the Focolare movement (Work of Mary). The audience followed the groups General Assembly, in which new leaders were chosen, in particular, the new president Margaret Karram, present at the meeting together with her predecessor Maria Voce.

In his address, the pontiff stressed the joyful witness to the Gospel that the Focolare Movement continues to offer to the world, which he expressed in three points: the post-Foundress era, the importance of crises, and living spirituality with coherence and realism.

In her greetings Maria Voce thanked Pope Francis for his friendship. This was followed by the greeting of the new president, who mentioned, among other things, the 2014 prayer meeting for peace in the Holy Land with the pontiff himself, Bartholomew I, Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas.

Francis spoke of that event as a time of promise, noting that the promise is always there, even if times are hard.

Karram described how the Focolare assembly was held online, worldwide, with participants in Asia and Oceania who went to sleep after midnight and some in the Americas who got up early in the morning to take parti in its activities.

Each and every one was connected from their home, she said. Thus, the Assembly was even more an expression of the multifaceted reality of the peoples and cultures that make up our movement. We are different in age and vocation, Christians from various Churches, a Jewish rabbi, two Muslims, a Buddhist and people of non-religious beliefs.

She then outlined the path of the Movement for the next six years: the cry of humanity today, especially with respect to the excluded; the environment, the family and the pandemic; living memory and the realisation of the charism of unity as delivered to us by Chiara; our commitment in all areas of the Church and society; our journey together with the new generations.

For his part, the pontiff first outlined the post-foundress situation, urging the Focolare to maintain a dynamic fidelity, capable of interpreting the signs and needs of the times and responding to the new demands that humanity poses.

Every charisma, he added, is creative, not a museum statue, warning against self-referentiality, which always leads to defending the institution to the detriment of people, and which can also lead to justifying or covering up forms of abuse.

On the second point, the importance of crises, he reiterated that every crisis is a call to a new maturity; it is a time of the Spirit, which arouses the need to update, without being discouraged by human complexity and its contradictions.

The pope noted a difference that needs to be acknowledged between the external forum, of those who hold government positions, and the internal forum, of those who help face crises in the intimacy of the individual and the sphere of conscience.

Mixing the sphere of government and the sphere of conscience gives rise to abuses of power, he explained, and to the abuse of other things which we have witnessed when the lid was lifted.

On the third point, living the spirituality with coherence and realism, Francis invited the Work of Mary to act outside and with the fraternal love that overcomes every barrier and reaches every human condition in fraternal proximity without forgetting that closeness is God's style.

Looking within, he urged to promote synodality more and more, so that all members, as custodians of the same charism, are co-responsible and participate in the life of the Work of Mary and its specific purposes.

At the end of the audience, after the apostolic blessing, the pope greeted all the representatives present, about a hundred in all.
Invest NI boss Kevin Holland has played down concerns over a shortfall in its funding due to the loss of EU funds.

Economy Minister Diane Dodds and her department's permanent secretary Mike Brennan told the economy committee in December that the loss of European Regional Development Fund support would leave a shortfall of tens of millions of pounds.

She said the department usually got about 100m a year from EU sources and that indications were that the UK Prosperity Fund, set up to replace EU funding in regions, would provide about 11m.

Mrs Dodds had said the block grant for 2021/22 was in real terms a 15% cut to her department budget from April - a 124m shortfall.

But Mr Holland said this week he had a "more positive outlook".

"The Executive has a budget consultation paper out. We've not been given an indication of our budget next year and we don't anticipate that until a few weeks' time," he said.

"We are very active in discussions around the importance of innovation and export sales, developing skills and supporting investment, next year and beyond. I think there is a more positive outlook than some of the statements we saw at the end of last year.

"We're still welcoming businesses and talking to businesses, and I anticipate working as closely with business next year as in the past, but it is critical to economic recovery that businesses take charge of the recovery map from next year onwards."

The agency pivoted during the pandemic to distribute emergency funds to businesses in need. It had dispersed 51m through 8,700 payments to businesses in Northern Ireland.

Mr Holland said the pandemic would lead to longer-term change in how the agency deals with companies. While its website and systems are geared up for laptop access, younger entrepreneurs expected mobile-compatible systems.

He said new US President Joe Biden, famed for his Irish roots, would not necessarily increase the chances of US investment into here.

"The world is a very competitive place in 2021 and because there's been an economic downturn that competition will be more ferocious," he added.

"But President Biden has talked about 'buy American', which in some ways isn't that different to President Trump's promotion of American business. Some countries are becoming more domestically-focused and we have to face that and it's another reason for Northern Ireland to work on innovation and technology."

He said he hoped Mr Biden or some of his team would visit the island of Ireland in 2021.

The UK's hosting of the G7 summit in June and the COP26 climate change conference in November could present the opportunity.

"It would be great if some of those senior officials can come to the island of Ireland as part of those big events and it's an opportunity to engage with them," he said.

Mr Holland said Northern Ireland's economic cooperation with Great Britain in areas such as research and innovation was "incredibly powerful". There were also "interesting" co-operations across the island of Ireland in areas including medicine and healthcare.

Before joining Invest NI in late 2019, Mr Holland worked as director for Life Sciences, Health and Social Care at the British Embassy in Beijing. He also worked for 15 years for global company Baxter Healthcare.

He explained: "I worked on vaccines for H5N1 (swine flu) and various permutations back when there were a serious global health threat and I worked with Public Health England in China looking at how we help countries prepare for it.

"I've been really stunned at the science which has gone into how we generate vaccines and diagnostics for Covid-19. With Oxford University and AstraZeneca bringing mass vaccination within 12 months of finding the coronavirus, it is scientifically and clinically spectacular and I don't think we would have anticipated that back in March when the first cases were being identified."

Mr Holland said 2020 had been a year of major change. Every level of the organisation had become involved in administering emergency funds, such as the Covid Restrictions Business Support Scheme and the micro-business hardship fund.

Since this week, it is also running a microbusiness e-commerce grant.

Mr Holland has been engaging with overseas companies over Northern Ireland's dual market access under the NI Protocol as a selling point to come and set up here. Such potential investors would not be perturbed by political controversies, he said, adding: "I think when investors look where they will set up, they will look at local media and talk to and listen to national and local politicians, and the more we try and set up a welcoming business environment and talk about a welcoming business environment, the better that is."
Although the Saamana editorial praised Patole as a 'straight-forward and aggressive leader', it also preferred advise that 'restraint' was key to smooth functioning of the three-party government

The Shiv Sena on Saturday appeared to disfavour ally Congress's decision to replace state Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat with Nana Patole and the latter's resignation as Maharashtra Assembly Speaker.

An editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana also said there was substance in NCP chief Sharad Pawar's reported view that the three coalition partners will take decision on the Speaker's post through negotiations now. Patole resigned as Speaker earlier this week to take over as state Congress chief even as the Budget session is to start from 1 March. The Congress shares power in the state with the Sena and the NCP.

The Saamana editorial said the Congress had been given the post of Speaker for five years, and not for forcing an election for the post midway through which should have been avoided.

"NCP chief Sharad Pawar said the three parties will sit together and decide what is to be done about the Speaker's post. One thing is certain, there is substance in Pawar's view," the Sena said. Though organisational changes was an internal matter of the Congress, extra caution is required to ensure the decision does not impact the government, it said.

"Two years ago, the situation was such that no leader was ready to take the mantle of the state Congress chief. Thorat took up the responsibility and the party got more seats than expected in Assembly polls," the Sena said.

"In a time of crisis, Thorat took up the responsibility. In Nagpur the Congress won two seats in the assembly polls. If the Gandhis (apparent reference to Congress

president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi) had addressed some allies, the Congress tally in Vidarbha could have increased," it said.

In Patole, the Congress seemed to have favored a more aggressive face, but "excessive aggression is also not good", the Sena said. The editorial praised Patole as a "straight-forward and aggressive leader who works for farmers and labourers" but also preferred advise that "restraint" was key to smooth functioning of the three-party government.
Gov. Tom Wolf justly has been trying for years to force municipal governments that do not provide for local police coverage to pay for state police coverage.

He has recommended to the Legislature a variety of means to force the free riders to pay for coverage, including flat rates per resident and sliding scales based on variables including demographics.

No recommendation has passed the Legislature due to resistance from the Republican majorities in both houses, many members of which represent rural areas that exclusively use state police  an agency that is not supposed to be a local police force.

For years, the state has covered state police costs by bleeding hundreds of millions of dollars from the Motor Vehicle Fund  $770 million of the agencys $1.3 billion budget last year  which by law is supposed to be used for transportation projects. The result is that millions of Pennsylvanians, mostly in urban areas, pay not only for their own local police and state police, but the bulk of the Motor Vehicle Fund that is not being used to fix their roads and bridges.

Wolf this week tried a new approach. Rather than focusing on the free riders, he proposed a fee on every municipality to raise $168 million for state police, reasoning that every municipality uses some of the agencys services.

Under a formula that includes population, income demographics, and each municipalitys typical use of state police services, each of the states 2,500 municipal governments would pay something.

According to a database developed by PennLive of Harrisburg, here are some local costs under the governors plan: Scranton, $312,933, $4 per resident; Wilkes-Barre, $162,076, $3.97 per resident; South Abington Twp., $102,674, $11 per resident; Carbondale, $34,402, $4 per resident; Clarks Summit, $33,527, $6.82 per resident; Covington Twp., $25,735, $13.65 per resident.

The problem is not local governments that pay for their own primary police coverage. Its those that rely on state police for all coverage. The governor should return to focusing the proposed fee on those free riders.
The coronavirus remains a potent threat to San Antonio and Bexar County as local officials reported 1,724 newly diagnosed cases and 11 more deaths Friday.

The citys risk level is still classified as severe  better than the worst possible stage of critical.

Nearly a quarter of all patients currently hospitalized in San Antonio  24.3 percent  have tested positive for COVID-19, city officials said.

The citys seven-day rolling average of new coronavirus cases rose slightly, to 1,361 per day.

On Friday, 999 patients with COVID-19 were being cared for in San Antonio hospitals. Among them, 372 were in intensive care units, while 217 were on ventilators to help them breathe.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg noted its the first time in many weeks that coronavirus hospitalizations have dropped below 1,000.

The number of patients being treated for COVID-19 in our hospitals has reached a welcome benchmark, he said.

Those hospitalized include 85 people admitted in just the past 24 hours, city officials said. Ten percent of staffed patient hospital beds remained available Friday, while 56 percent of ventilators are still in stock and ready for use.

Nirenberg reminded the public that the citys mass vaccination sites wont accept people who show up without appointments. He also tried to reassure people whose appointments for second doses were postponed due to delays in the state health departments shipments of vaccines.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that the vaccine can be given up to six weeks after the first dose, Nirenberg said Friday. And the time frame may lengthen as new data come in.

Dont fret  your second dose will be just as effective, if not more, if received a little later than scheduled.

On ExpressNews.com: A guide to getting vaccinated in San Antonio

The latest Bexar County residents to die after contracting the virus spanned a wide age range, with the youngest being in their 50s and the oldest being in their 90s. All of them died in the past two weeks. Almost all of them were Hispanic.

They included a Hispanic woman in her 50s and a Hispanic man in his 60s, both at Metropolitan Methodist Hospital; a Hispanic man in his 50s whose death was reported by the Bexar County Medical Examiner and a Hispanic woman in her 60s at University Hospital.

Also among the dead was a Hispanic man in his 70s who was being cared for at Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital.

The oldest victims included four people in their 80s who died at Metropolitan Methodist Hospital  two Hispanic women, one Hispanic man and one man whose race or ethnicity was not disclosed.

Two victims were in their 90s  a Hispanic man at the veterans hospital and a white man residing at Seasons Alzheimers Care and Assisted Living facility.

Since the pandemic began 11 months ago, 180,386 Bexar County residents have tested positive for the coronavirus, while 2,197 of them have died. More than 200 additional deaths are still being investigated by the citys Metropolitan Health District.

Since the pandemic started, 87 percent of Bexar County residents who contracted the virus have recovered. That amounts to an estimated 157,330 people.

City officials are continuing to push every day for more COVID-19 vaccines to be delivered to San Antonio.

We have been making the message very clear to the White House and the state that our vaccines are flowing very well here, Nirenberg said. We have no problem administering them. So we need more to be sent to us.

On ExpressNews.com: The San Antonio Express-News Vaccine Tracker

In nearby Comal County, public health officials reported 37 new cases of the coronavirus and 69 backlogged cases on Friday. No new deaths were reported.

Since the pandemic began last March, 8,435 Comal County residents have tested positive for the virus, while 259 of them have died.

Comal Countys recovery rate stands at 90 percent, with nearly 7,600 residents getting better after catching the virus during the past 11 months.

On Friday, 71 county residents were hospitalized after testing positive for the virus.

Our numbers are decreasing daily, which is exactly what we want to see, Comal County Judge Sherman Krause said in a statement released by public health officials. The weather is nice, and we want to get together again with friends and family, but we cant do that yet.

Recoveries are up, and active cases are down. Right now, we encourage everyone to continue social distancing. Were moving in the right direction.

Across Texas, 10,410 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported Friday, along with 401 more deaths, state health department statistics show.

pohare@express-news.net | Twitter: Peggy_OHare
Attention seeker: Donald Trump hands out pens to steel workers at the White House in Washington in March 2018. AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File

Donald Trumps impeachment trial this coming week will do more than render a verdict on the past conduct of the former US president. The Republican Party hes led since 2016 is also in the dock  with its future clout and relevance on the line.

After the House of Representatives voted to impeach Mr Trump for incitement of insurrection last month, speculation about possible conviction in the Senate gained currency in Congress and the mainstream media. Television reports constantly replayed his fight like hell plea at the January 6 Save America rally in Washington before the deadly siege at the Capitol.

Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell worked to delay the trial until after the president finished his term on January 20, and the Kentucky lawmaker told colleagues of his indecision about guilt or innocence. He went so far to proclaim, The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people.

Such candour is noteworthy. Prior to Mr Trumps first impeachment trial a year ago, Mr McConnell stated there was zero chance of conviction, and he was operating in total co-ordination with the White House.

In the House during the impeachment debate, Republican leader Kevin McCarthy pointed his finger directly at the White House, The president bears responsibility for Wednesdays attack on Congress by mob rioters.

Yet the California legislator ultimately voted against impeaching Mr Trump, and, unlike his counterpart in the Senate, hes been backtracking since then on assigning blame.

I dont believe he provoked it, if you listen to what he said at the rally, he commented on January 21. More recently, hes finding instigators wherever he turns: ...everybody across this country has some responsibility.

During the month since the insurrection, Republican reaction has crystallised, and opinion among most party members is that Mr Trump doesnt deserve the ignominy of Senate conviction.

Read More

A minimum of 17 GOP senators would need to join all 50 Democrats to find the ex-president guilty, a judgment that could result in banning him from seeking the White House again. In the House impeachment vote, 10 Republican members sided with 222 Democrats for a 232 to 197 margin to initiate the trial. Those legislators are now being treated as political pariahs, with most either facing Republican challengers for the 2022 mid-term elections or censure from party organisations in their districts.

Most prominent among the intrepid 10 is Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the number three in Republican House leadership. Before casting her vote, she asserted: The president of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack.

Turning up the volume of her criticism, the daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney declared: There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.

A week after Ms Cheneys statement received media coverage, she had a Republican primary opponent for 2022. As calls grow to remove her from Congressional leadership, shes standing her ground.

Republican senators are watching the backlash befalling the impeachment-approving House members. They are also following post-impeachment polling that reveals Mr Trump on firm footing within his party.

For an NBC News survey, self-identified Republicans were asked whether they are supporters of Donald Trump or of the Republican Party. The identical percentage  46  answered either the person or the party, with just 3pc saying both.

When quizzed about compromising with President Joe Biden, only 25pc of Trump Republicans agreed to that suggestion, while 55pc of Party Republicans favoured working together.

Despite being impeached twice, losing decisively last November and being caught on audiotape trying to overturn voting results, Mr Trumps hold on the GOP remains both muscular and intimidating. Recent rumours hes considering launching his own political organisation, the Patriot Party, produced paroxysms of panic in Republican circles.

Bereft of social media communication, the former president is finding new ways to remain at the centre of Americas political life. Figures like McCarthy journey to Mar-a-Lago, Mr Trumps Elba-like Florida club, to plot future moves and activities. Phone lines there hum in overdrive.

Immediate pursuits encompass raising money  over $290m (240m) has been collected since election day, including $31.5m in a new fund for personal political expenses  and orchestrating revenge against the errant House members  with Ms Cheney heading the list.

Though defeated and out of office, Mr Trump often seems inescapable, an agreeable consolation for a lifelong attention-seeker. Theres even talk of him hitting the road to speak at rallies that hes made a trademark production.

Non-partisan observers wonder what lasting impact an unprecedented president might have now that hes left the Oval Office.

How long will Donald Trump command the fervent allegiance of his political base? Will what he does (and the recognition it receives in the media) become a distraction, even an obstruction, to the Biden administrations work and its agenda for governing?

The final Gallup survey of the Trump presidency measured a job approval mark of 34pc and an overall average during his term of 41pc, the lowest ever. However, among Republicans he maintained 88pc approval over four years  higher than any other Republican president, including Ronald Reagan, since Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s.

Numerous polls of late show a majority of Republicans think the ex-commander-in-chief should run again in 2024 and make him their clear favorite.

Despite sturdy support within his party, Mr Trumps four-year approval measurement by Gallup indicates little crossover appeal from outside his party. Among independents his approval was 37pc; with Democrats it was a measly 7pc.

The upcoming impeachment trial should provide definite clues about Americas political future. Utah senator and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney calls Donald Trump the 900lb gorilla within the GOP.

The zoological metaphor might not be flattering to Mr Trumps self-image, but it captures his strength as the Senate begins to decide his fate.

Robert Schmuhl is professor emeritus of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame

 Washington Post
New Delhi:

Foiling infiltration bid along the Line of Control (LoC), three terrorists were neutralised by Indian Army in Naugam sector of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.

A search operation was underway in the area. Suspicious movement was noticed along the LoC in Naugam sector last night and the terrorists were tracked till dawn, when they were challenged by troops, an Army official said.

He said in the ensuing gunfight, two militants have been killed so far as the operation was in progress.

After witnessing the situation in Valley, the authorities have suspended LoC Poonch Rawlakote Bus service for one week.

J&K: Cross-LoC Poonch Rawlakote Bus service suspended for one week.  ANI (@ANI_news) July 10, 2017

Also Read | J-K: Indian Army guns down two terrorists, foils infiltration bid in Kupwara's Keran sector

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
press release

The funeral of struggle stalwart Mme Rebecca Kotane, which will be held this Saturday, 06 February 2021 at Pella village outside Zeerust in the North West Province, has been declared a Special Provincial Official Funeral Category 2 by President of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa.

Mme Rebecca Kotane (108), who was the wife to the late struggle icon and the former General-Secretary of the SACP, Moses Mauwane Kotane passed away this past Sunday, a few days before turning 109 years on 12 February 2021.

North West Premier, Prof. Tebogo Job Mokgoro will together with other dignitaries including Ministers Blade Nzimande and Lindiwe Sisulu, deliver speeches and messages of condolences as part of the funeral proceedings.

The Eulogy will be delivered by Former President, His Excellency Kgalema Motlanthe.

Ma Kotane participated in the defiance campaigns in 1950s and the mobilisation towards the adoption of Freedom Charter in 1955. She was part of a group of women who played a leading role during the 9 August 1956 Women's March to the Union Buildings, and was among the women who were detained by the apartheid regime.

A Special Provincial Official Funeral Category 2 is accorded to distinguished persons specifically designated by the President of South Africa on request by the Premier of a province. As a sign of respect, the President has instructed that all National Flags be flown at half-mast in the North West on the day of the funeral of Mama Rebecca Kotane.

The funeral service will start at 07h00 and all Alert Level 3 Lockdown regulations, including the attendance of only 50 people will be observed.

The funeral service will be streamed live on the North West Office of the Premier Facebook page.
The government has extended the current lockdown for two more weeks until after Lunar New Year, which means gatherings of more than five people remain banned over the nation's biggest holiday. But many people intend to gather with their families anyway.

A growing number of people are frustrated after they were also prevented from gathering with their loved ones over Chuseok last year.

One 39-year-old resident of southern Seoul said, "My parents-in-law called me and insisted that we come visit them over the holiday because they haven't seen their grandson for a year. I told them that we could end up getting fined if someone reports us, but they got angry at me."

Those caught breaking the rules face a fine of up to W100,000 per person (US$1=W1,117). The ban on gatherings has prompted some to have their sons and daughters visit in rotations of up to five people at a time.

"I'm afraid my parents will feel sad if none of their children come visit during the Lunar New Year holiday, so my siblings plan to take turns stopping by," said one 41-year-old who plans to visit his parents in Daegu.
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A sex columnist has called for women to end the shame they might feel about owning a vibrator.

The self-proclaimed 'Queen of TMI' Nadia Bokody has dispelled three common myths about vibrators which will surprise and please both women and men.

Sydney-based Ms Bokody says like a lot of people she once thought owning a sex toy was 'a tragic act reserved for desperate singletons unable to find a man'.

But she has become an advocate for vibrators, now seeing there is no shame in owning one - or more - because she now sees that shame over sex toys comes from male control over women's sexuality.

Nadia Bokody (pictured) from Australia, shared the importance of not dictating your partner's behaviour for a lasting relationship in a column for News.com.au

'I wholeheartedly feel every woman should experience the unadulterated ecstasy of on-demand orgasms.'

'Its my belief investing in a vibrator is the first step on the path to female empowerment.'

'There is power  and in turn, a certain threat posed to a culture that prioritises male desire at all costs  in women understanding and owning their pleasure,' she wrote in a column for news.com.au.

The first vibrator myth Bokody, who rocketed to fame after claiming to be a sex addict after the breakdown of her marriage, addresses is that vibrators do not desensitise the user.

'There is absolutely no credible research to prove it, and it defies basic logic,' she wrote.

'Vibrations simply help promote blood flow to the area, which serves to increase - not decrease - sensitivity and is consequently why they're so effective at bringing most women to climax.'

The second vibrator myth she is keen on busting is that these sex toys are a threat to men.

Nadia Bokody started having casual sex for the first time in her life after she separated from her husband

Maybe some men she says, but 'only most desperately insecure men'.

'Speaking as a woman who has been happily coupled with a man for four years, if your sexual partner is confident in himself and his bedroom abilities, he won't be threatened by a sex toy,' Ms Bokody wrote.

'Conversely, it will turn him on. What guy would complain about that?'

Another myth Ms Bokody dispels is that using a vibrator cannot become addictive.

'Whether you use your vibrator once a week or a few times a day really doesn't matter.'

'There's no correct number of times for your body to experience pleasure within a set time period.'

Ms Bokody, a Sydney-based columnist and mental health advocate, said while she has no regrets about the life she leads, she regularly faces a barrage of abuse online

'Unless you're legitimately calling in sick to stay home with your vibe often enough to be at actual risk of losing your job, you're good to keep going, girlfriend.'

Previously Ms Bokody has advised against trying to stop men watching porn and visiting strip clubs.

She argued that being in love doesn't make either of you become asexual, and that while it's natural to feel jealous when your partner looks at an attractive individual, it doesn't mean it's always necessary to act on the emotion.

Bokody has claimed that sex addiction isn't a real thing and that having casual sex after her marriage ended liberated her.

She has since detailed how the casual encounters changed her outlook on life and perception of herself.

Ms Bokody has said while she has no regrets about the life she leads, she regularly faces a barrage of abuse online.

'I've been called 'diseased'... and a 'wh*re', among other degrading insults I won't share. Almost all of it has come from men,' she revealed in a column written for news.com.au.
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / February 5, 2021 / Plant Based Investment Corp. ("PBIC", or the "Company") (CSE:PBIC), announced today that the Company has acquired 2,000,000 units (the "Units") of Grown Rogue International Inc. ("Grown Rogue") (CSE: GRIN) through a non-brokered private placement offering (the "Offering").

The Company subscribed for a total of 2,000,000 Units, at a price of $0.16 per Unit, for a total subscription of $320,000. Each Unit is comprised of one common share of Grown Rogue (each a "Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant (each a "Warrant"), each Warrant entitling the Company to acquire one additional Common Share until February 4, 2023 at a price of $0.20 per Common Share. Furthermore, Grown Rogue has the right to accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants to thirty days following written notice to the Company if the closing market price of the Common Shares is at or above $0.32 per Common Share for a period of ten consecutive trading days.

Early Warning Disclosure Pursuant to National Instrument 62-103

Prior to the Offering, the Company held 30,000,000 Common Shares and 15,000,000 Warrants of Grown Rogue, representing approximately 27.31% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares of Grown Rogue on a non-diluted basis and approximately 36.04% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares of Grown Rogue on a partially diluted basis, assuming the exercise of the all of the Warrants held by the Company.

As of the date hereof, after giving effect to the Offering, the Company beneficially owns or controls 32,000,000 Common Shares and 17,000,000 Warrants of Grown Rogue, representing approximately 27.11% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares of Grown Rogue on a non-diluted basis and approximately 36.28% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares of Grown Rogue on a partially diluted basis, assuming the exercise of the all of the Warrants held by the Company.

The Common Shares and Warrants of Grown Rogue were acquired for investment purposes. While Company currently has no plans or intentions with respect to the Common Shares and the Warrants of Grown Rogue, the Company may from time to time acquire additional securities of Grown Rogue, may sell all or a portion of its securities of Grown Rogue or may continue to hold the Common Shares and Warrants of Grown Rogue, or other securities of Grown Rogue, depending on market conditions, the Company's view of Grown Rogue's prospects, other investment opportunities and other factors considered relevant to the Company.

About Plant-Based Investment Corp.

Plant-Based Investment Corp. (formerly, Cannabis Growth Opportunity Corporation) ("PBIC") is an investment corporation that offers unique exposure to the global cannabis sector. PBIC's main objective is to provide shareholders with long-term total returns through its portfolio of securities, both public and private, operating in, or that derive a portion of their revenue or earnings from products, services and technologies related to the cannabis plant family, its various compounds and other combinatory ingredients and products.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements with respect to the Company. These forward-looking statements, by their nature, involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following risks: risks associated with the Company's business plan and matters relating thereto, and risks associated with the Company's investments and financial objectives, as well as other risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those detailed from time to time in the Company's public filings on SEDAR. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.

For further information please contact Plant-Based Investment Corp.:

Paul Crath, CEO

Tel: (647) 660-5066

SOURCE: Plant-Based Investment Corp

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/628177/PBIC-Announces-Investment-in-Grown-Rogue
The arrest of a man wounded in the Sean Graham bookmakers atrocity as he attended an event on the 29th anniversary of the massacre "adds insult to injury to the families of the victims", the deputy First Minister has said.

Mark Sykes was shot several times in the 1992 attack which claimed the lives of five men. One of them - Peter Magee - was Mr Sykes's brother-in-law.

Video of the incident uploaded to social media showed angry exchanges between PSNI officers and relatives outside the Ormeau Road bookmakers, and showed Mr Sykes being handcuffed within yards of the memorial.

Read More

Mr Sykes was arrested on suspicion of disorderly behaviour and was taken to Musgrave Street police station. He was later released.

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill said she had requested an urgent meeting with Chief Constable Simon Byrne.

The Sinn Fein leader said he "needs to understand the damage that the actions of his officers today has had on community confidence in policing".

"The arrest by the PSNI of this man who was at a wreath laying ceremony attended by family members of those killed has caused unprecedented anger and distress across the community," she said.

"The PSNI's response tonight is inadequate. It further adds insult to injury to the families of the victims who have been waiting almost three decades for truth about the deaths of their loved ones."

The Chief Constable said later that it "illustrates there are no easy answers" to policing coronavirus regulations that prohibit mass gatherings.

Mr Sykes' solicitor, Niall Murphy of KRW Law, said the commemoration had been restricted to the five families, "who maintained a dignified silence and left flowers".

Mr Murphy denied his client had engaged in disorderly behaviour.

"The only disorderly behaviour which occurred on the Ormeau Road today was by the police, who had no right to be there, and who have wreaked havoc on community relations both on the Ormeau Road and in the wider community," Mr Murphy said.

The Police Ombudsman said it had received a complaint "and investigators will be examining all available evidence in order to consider the appropriateness of the actions taken by police, including the arrest".

The police action was heavily criticised by nationalists.

Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly contrasted the arrest of Mr Sykes to the PSNI's approach to a loyalist show of strength in east Belfast last week.

Expand Close Anger: Sinn Feins Gerry Kelly said the polices behaviour beggars belief / Facebook

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Whatsapp Anger: Sinn Feins Gerry Kelly said the polices behaviour beggars belief

"It beggars belief that police have acted in such a heavy-handed way with victims of loyalist violence in a week where the PSNI didn't as much as take a name or stop a single member of an East Belfast UVF criminal gang of more than 50 men whose intent was to violently intimidate people out of their homes," the Sinn Fein MLA said.

South Belfast MP Claire Hanna said the PSNI's intervention had been "heavy handed and disproportionate".

And Innocent Victims United spokesman Kenny Donaldson said: "It is baffling that PSNI waded into the middle of today's event, which appears to have been limited in numbers attending, where PPE appears to have been worn and social distancing observed."

He said "many will scratch their head in wonder that the occasion the PSNI choose to uphold the law is at an anniversary gathering when bereaved families and survivors of terrorism have come to remember their loved ones".

The Chief Constable said his officers had come across a group of between 30 and 40 people at the memorial event.

"As the event concluded, two officers approached a person to talk to him about a breach of the Health Protection Regulations," he said.

"The situation quickly escalated and a man was arrested for disorderly behaviour and resisting arrest. He was taken to Musgrave Police Station and was released at 4.04pm. In the course of the incident a police officer sustained a minor injury to his face."

Mr Byrne said he had personally briefed the First and deputy First Ministers, South Belfast MP Mrs Hanna and others.

"I fully recognise the sensitivities of this incident and just how difficult a day this would have already been for the families who lost loved ones in the atrocity. That should not be forgotten," he said. "We are acutely aware that this is the latest incident to raise concerns about the enforcement of Coronavirus Regulations, and illustrates there are no easy answers."
Joe Biden has said that Donald Trump should no longer receive intelligence briefings, citing his "erratic behaviour" unrelated to the storming of the US Capitol.

In comments that will be sure to trigger intense controversy among Republicans and Mr Trump's supporters, Mr Biden said there was no benefit to him receiving them, and that he may even let "slip" classified or sensitive information.

In an interview with CBS News, due to be broadcast over the weekend, Mr Biden said he would rather not speculate out loud, when asked what he feared could happen if Mr Trump continued to receive the briefings.

I just think that there is no need for him to have the intelligence briefings. What value is giving him an intelligence briefing?

He added: What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?

Former presidents have tended to retain as a matter of courtesy access to high-level briefings if they request one. CNN said Mr Trump was not believed to have asked for one.

It said such briefings could be made in a number of ways, and the intelligence community would help put together any material that was presented.

The comments from Mr Biden came as the president again dodged a question on whether he would vote to impeach his predecessor, were he still a member of the Senate.

Having been impeached twice by the House - the only US president to be censured that way, the upper chamber is to next week begin its trial of the charge against Mr Trump.

Follow live Biden updates

No president has ever been convicted by the Senate, and if he was, Mr Trump could be banned from running from office again. As it currently stands, most observers believe Democrats will not win over enough Republican senators to secure the 67 votes they would require to convict him.

I ran like hell to defeat him because I thought he was unfit to be president. I've watched what everybody else watched, what happened when that crew invaded the United States' Congress, said Mr Biden, when pressed about how he would vote.

But I'm not in the Senate now. I'll let the Senate make that decision.

Mr Bidens comment that providing Mr Trump with sensitive information could carry a risk, may ring true with those who remember the 2017 controversy over a meeting then President Trump had with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian ambassador, Sergei Kislyak.

It was later reported that during the meeting at the Oval Office, Mr Trump had mentioned information about an upcoming operation planned by Isis, that had been passed to the US, apparently from Israel. It revealed Israel had a source inside the extremist organisation.

The White House denied any classified information had been shared and Mr Trump said he had the absolute right to do.

Earlier this week, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the intelligence community supports requests for intelligence briefings by former presidents and will review any incoming requests, as they always have.
An Tain Arts Centre are asking people to take photographs on February 19th to chronicle life in Dundalk during COVID-19 lockdown

We are living in historic times and An Tain Arts Centre is inviting people to capture a day in their life during the COVID-19 pandemic for a special photography project.

They are asking people to take a photograph on Friday February 19 which will capture a snapshot of daily life in Dundalk and the surrounding areas during the pandemic.

The idea came after An Tain Arts Centre put a call out for suggestions for projects that would include community involvement. This one draws inspiration from previous initiatives which sought to capture a Day in the Life of Ireland. The first such project saw 80 internationally renowned photographers travelling to Ireland in 1991. Subsequently, the public were invited to get involved similar projects to raise funds for charities, mostly recently in 2010 when Ray D'Arcy led a call out for people to photograph A Day in the Life of Ireland.

Now, An Tain Arts Centre and The Argus want people to capture a day in Dundalk during the pandemic.

Maryclaire Cowley, Audience Development Manager at An Tain Arts Centre, explains that the idea is for people to take photos which illustrate what life is like for them during the pandemic.

'We want a snapshot of your life,' she says. 'Whether you're working from home, home schooling the kids, enjoying the countryside, walking the dog or running errands in Dundalk town or surrounding areas, we want you to photograph something from your life on that day and send it to us,' she says.

In the run-up to Friday February 19, An Tain Arts Centre will be sharing photography tips on their social media pages so that everyone can give the project their best shot.

'Members of Dundalk Photographic Society and An Tain Photographic Group have kindly offered to share some tips which will help people to take the best possible photos,' says Maryclaire.

'The project is for everyone,' she continues. 'It's for amateur photographers with Canon or Nikon cameras, it's for people with smart phones.'

'The idea is to capture a slice of live during this time when Level 5 restrictions are in place, and everyone is wearing masks when they are out an about and socially distancing. We want to get an insight into how people are living through these times when uncertainty is prevalent and our daily lives are in a constant state of change depending on the level of restrictions in place.'

People can also document the way our town centres, villages and shops have changed, with signs indicating that masks must be worn, social distancing observed, one way systems and other measures which have become part of the landscape over the past year.

Paul Hayes, Director with An Tain explains at Transition Year students in St Louis Secondary School are also getting involved in the project.

'The TY students studying art with Fergal Kilkenny and Aine McEneaney will be taking images which illustrate the impact which the pandemic is having on the mental health of young people.'

'We're very excited about the project which should provide a very good record of this time.'

The photos taken on Friday February 19 will then be curated into an online exhibition which will be available to view on An Tain Arts Centre's virtual gallery.

A selection of the photographs will also be published in The Argus to coincide with the virtual exhibition.

To get involved, follow the camera club tips on social media to find out how to take

Make a note in your diary to take a photo on Friday February 19 which illustrates what life is like for you during this time and email the image to info@antain.ie with a description of the image or who appears in the photograph. Please put 'A Day in Dundalk submission' in the subject line of the email. If anyone is submitting an image with children in it, they should make sure they have the permission of the parent or guardian to do so.
21 runners killed during mountain race in northwestern province of Gansu; Indian variant of Covid-19 found in Guangzhou; Beijing willing to arrange for vaccines to be sent to Taiwan

May 28, 2021 08:15 PM

Salma Hayek has said she was told her career would die when she was in her thirties and she would never make it in Hollywood as a Mexican actress.

The star of films such as Frida, Desperado and from Dusk Til Dawn, 54, said she wants other women to realise they are not over when they reach a certain age.

Hayek, who is starring in the new Amazon film Bliss with Owen Wilson and will soon appear in the Marvel film The Eternals, told the PA news agency: Its like the best time in my career.

They told me my career would die mid-thirties. First of all, they told me a Mexican is never going to make it, because at the time, the new generations, it was impossible for a Mexican to have a leading role in Hollywood.

And it was like it was not real  it was like this strange reality that now has become a normality. But not at the time.

And I think its great, Im proud of it, I want to shout it to the world, because I was told so many times it couldnt happen and I almost believed them but I fought it and I won.

And I want other women to realise that, because even in your thirties you feel the pressure, in your forties you feel the pressure  and late blooming, its a beautiful thing.

And were not over at this time, or at another time. if youre creative and enthusiastic and curious about life, life can be exciting forever, the entire time.

In Bliss, Wilson plays a man who was recently divorced and sacked from his job, who meets Hayeks Isabel, a woman living on the streets and convinced that the polluted, broken world around them is a computer simulation, and the actress said the film feels particularly resonant during the current pandemic.

She said: There are so many conspiracy theories and when you talk about whats real or not, I think one of the things that are separating us is that everybodys creating their own reality.

Its interesting that this movie comes out as this time, because I think with all the confinement, we created our own Bliss world through technology and in that cave you can find so many different ways at looking at things.

So, everybodys doing their own reality and its kind of separating us because whats real or not real, its not one thing anymore.

Bliss is out now on Amazon Prime Video.

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Two members of a Romanian organised crime gang who made dozens of fake credit cards and used them in Dublin shops in the wake of a deep skim of UK bank customers' details have been jailed.

Daniel Almajanu (35) made fake cards using a card reader/writer machine while Albert Gimy Linul (29) visited various shops buying things with the fake cards, including cartons of cigarettes which were then sold on.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that during an extensive skimming operation in the UK a Romanian criminal gang based there used a deep insert skimmer to collect details of customers of the HSBC bank outlets.

Both Almajanu and Linul were considered to be members of that organised crime group, the court heard. The court heard that Almajanu made fake cards using this information and then gave the fake cards to Linul.

Linul of Prussia Street, Dublin used the cards to buy cartons of cigarettes on a number of occasions in several newsagents in Dublin and these cartons were sold on for profit.

Garda Ciaran Ronan of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau told the court that Linul stole a total of 1,185 from the UK bank.

Passing sentencing on Wednesday, Judge Melanie Greally said evidence was given that these offences represent an offshoot of an organised and sophisticated international fraud.

Judge Greally said it was accepted that Linul was operating at a relatively low level. She said Almanjanu was responsible for recruiting his co-accused and played a pivotal organisational role.

She sentenced Linul to three years imprisonment and sentenced Almajanu to four years and four months imprisonment. She backdated both terms of imprisonment to the dates the men went into custody.

Linul pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing a total of 60 fraudulent bank cards at various locations in Dublin between February 13 and February 14 this year. He also pleaded guilty to eight counts of using a fake HSBC bank card at a number of Dublin shops, ten counts of theft and two counts of attempted theft from HSBC on dates between November 1, 2019 and February 4, 2020.

Almajanu, of North Circular Road, Dublin, pleaded guilty to two counts of having custody of 53 fake bank cards and one count of making 65 fake bank cards at various locations in Dublin between January 1 and February 13 this year.

He also pleaded guilty to one count of possessing a laptop specifically designed to make false cards.

Both men were arrested when gardai noticed them acting suspiciously in Temple Bar in February this year. A number of fake cards were found on them and in Almajanu's car.

Gardai found more cards in the Prussia Street flat, along with a Lenovo laptop and a card reader/writer machine used for making fake cards. A number of cartons of cigarettes were also discovered.

Linul has two previous convictions in Ireland for dangerous driving and handling stolen property and 22 previous convictions abroad - including his native Romania - for theft, fraud and drug offences.

Almajanu, who is also originally from Romania, has no previous convictions here, but four convictions in Romania and the UK for similar fraud offences.

Olan Callanan BL, defending Linul, said his client was well educated and attended college before he dropped out and worked in construction and car washes. He moved to the UK to work in construction and got involved in low level criminality over there, the court heard.

He was deported from the UK and moved to Ireland shortly afterwards, where he got involved in this operation. He has been in custody since last February, is doing well there and is the unofficial barber on his prison floor landing, Mr Callanan said.

Aidan McCarthy BL, defending Almajanu, said his client knows what he did was wrong and is remorseful for his actions. He has also been in custody since his arrest.
[February 05, 2021] DEADLINE ALERT: Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. Reminds Investors That a Class Action Lawsuit Has Been Filed Against Covia Holdings Corporation and Encourages Investors to Contact the Firm

Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm, reminds investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on behalf of investors that purchased Covia Holdings Corporation (Other OTC: CVIAQ) securities between March 15, 2016 and June 29, 2020 (the "Class Period"). Investors have until February 8, 2021 to apply to the Court to be appointed as lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. Click here to participate in the action. On March 22, 2019, the Company filed a Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 (the "2018 10-K") with the SEC (News - Alert) , which provided the Company's fiscal year 2018 financial results and position. In the 2018 10-K, the Company revealed that it had received a subpoena from the SEC investigating certain value-added proppants. On this news, the Company's share prices dropped by $0.45, or approximately 6.9%, from closing at $6.50 on March 22, 2019 to close at $6.05 on March 25, 2019, the next trading day. On November 6, 2019, the Company filed a Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2019 (the "3Q19 10-Q") with the SEC, which provided the Company's third quarter financial results and position. In the 3Q19 10-Q, the Company revealed that, in addition to the March 18, 2019 SEC subpoena, additional information was requested and subpoenaed regarding current and former employees. On this news, the Company's share prices dropped y $0.07, or approximately 4.3%, from opening at $1.63 on November 6, 2019 to close at $1.56.



On June 29, 2020, the Company announced that it had entered into a comprehensive restructuring agreement with lenders and voluntarily filed petitions under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code to implement the agreement. On June 30, 2020, the NYSE delisted the Company, stating in part, "the Company is no longer suitable for listing [. . .] after the Company's June 29, 2020 disclosure that the Company filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code[.]"

On this news, the Company's share prices fell $0.18, or 37.5%, from closing at $0.48 on June 29, 2020, suspending trading June 30, 2020, and resuming trading OTC on July 1, 2020 at $0.30. The complaint, filed on December 10, 2020, alleges that defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) the Company's proprietary 'value-added' proppants were not necessarily more effective than ordinary sand; (2) the Company's revenues, which were dependent on its proprietary 'value-added' proppants, was based on misrepresentations; (3) when Company insiders raised this issue, the defendants did not take meaningful steps to rectify the issue; and (4) as a result, defendants' statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. If you purchased Covia securities during the Class Period and suffered a loss, are a long-term stockholder, have information, would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Brandon Walker, Melissa Fortunato, or Marion Passmore by email at investigations@bespc.com, telephone at (212) 355-4648, or by filling out this contact form. There is no cost or obligation to you. About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.: Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York and California. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210205005399/en/

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Yes, along most or all of the coast

Yes, but only places where an entry fee can cover their cost

No, people can continue swimming at their own risk

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State Auditor Rob Kane, a former longtime state senator from Watertown known for his easygoing manner in the state Capitol and his banter with other state employees, died unexpectedly Friday.

Few details, including the cause of 53-year-old Kanes death, were available Friday night.

Rob Kane was a great guy with a terrific sense of humor, said Len Fasano, the former Senate minority leader who served with Kane. He was always dedicated to the institution and service district extraordinarily well. Im going to miss his routine phone calls, his humorous texts.

Watertown police Detective Mark Conway said police were sent to Kanes Taft Circle home Friday to check on a party that was not answering the phone.

Officers met family on scene at which time the homeowner, Robert Kane, 53 years old was found deceased in the residence, Conway said. He said there did not appear to be any suspicious circumstances, and said the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is investigating the death.

In a statement Friday evening, Gov. Ned Lamont said he was saddened to hear of Kanes passing.

My prayers and condolences go out to his family, friends, and colleagues, Lamont said. Rob took pride in his public service on behalf of his constituents, understanding he was their voice in Hartford. He then assumed the role of state auditor, working on behalf of all taxpayers. All public servants should be commended for their work on behalf of our residents, and Rob took his work seriously. He will be missed at the Capitol.

Since 2017, Kane, a Republican, was one of the two state auditors  one from each major party  who oversee the office that reviews the finances of all state agencies, along with Democrat John Geragosian.

Kane served as state senator for the 32nd Senate District, after winning a special election in January of 2008, until his appointment as state auditor.

Our hearts are filled with grief, Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly (R-Stratford) said Friday, describing Kane as a champion for the people of Connecticut.

As a state senator, he served the people of the 32nd District with skill, style and compassion. Rob loved Connecticut, he loved public service, and he took great pride in helping people in need. He also loved his family and his children very much, Kelly said. We in the state senate were proud to call him our friend and colleague. We will miss his smile, his laugh, and his positive presence at the State Capitol. Our thoughts and prayers are with Robs family during this incredibly painful time.

Kane had been the top Republican on the General Assemblys Appropriations Committee and when in office he helped pass legislation creating the Oxford Airport Development Zone, the Connecticut Antiques Trail, and a Safe Harbor for Exploited Children. He was recognized by numerous groups including the AARP, The Alzheimers Association, and the Connecticut Association for Healthcare at Home, which named him as a legislator of the year.

He was a conscientious public servant in his near decade-long tenure as a legislator who always advocated for what he believed to be in the interests of his constituents and the state, said Democratic state Senator and Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney. On behalf of the entire Senate Democratic Caucus, I extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to his children and his entire extended family.

He was the founder of KarTele in Waterbury, a cellular phone company, and served on numerous local and regional boards, and had been the board director of the Greater Waterbury Chamber of Commerce.

He was a graduate of Central Connecticut State University and earned an MBA from the University of New Haven. He was a longtime resident of Watertown and was the father of two children.
A senior TRS leader of Adilabad said there is no clear direction to cadre and second rung leaders from party high command about the partys stand on the three farm laws.  By arrangement

ADILABAD: TRS cadre and leaders in Adilabad district are in confusion over the party's stand on new farm laws enacted by the BJP-led government at the centre. As a result, they are unable to answer farmers who are asking them about whether the TRS is in favour or against the farm laws.

Earlier, the party high command asked its cadre and leaders to participate in Bharath Bandh against the farm laws. TRS cadre outnumbered all others during the Bharat Bandh in the district against the three central laws.

However, news has now spread that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is supporting farm laws. Because of this, TRS cadre and leaders are remaining silent on this topic. They are refraining from openly supporting the agitating farmers on borders of Delhi.

A senior TRS leader of Adilabad said there is no clear direction to cadre and second rung leaders from party high command about the partys stand on the three farm laws. They are thus remaining silent even as the Congress party has taken the lead in organising protests in Adilabad district.

TPCC state general secretary Gandratha Sujatha accused the TRS high command of taking a U-turn after participating in the Bharath Bandh opposing the farm laws. This exposes the internal understanding between the BJP and TRS leadership, she charged.
Vijayawada: In an unprecedented move, the AP State Election Commission has directed the director-general of police to confine minister for panchayat raj and rural development Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy to his residential premises till the completion of gram panchayat polls on February 21.

The SEC took serious note of the minister's warning to District Collectors and Returning Officers in the state not to obey SEC's instructions. The minister allegedly threatened to blacklist them if they follow his instructions, especially with regard to prevention of forced unanimous elections. The minister also said that while the present election commissioner would be in power till March 31, 2021, their government would continue beyond it and asked the returning officers to disregard the election commissioners directions and declare all unanimous elections. The minister was also quoted as saying that the election commissioner was doing so to gain MP/MLC seat from Telugu Desam Party.

The state election commissioner issued the order on Saturday to confine the minister to his residential premises with no access to media so as to prevent him from making inciteful utterances that could have an adverse impact on ongoing polls, and also on general law and order situation in Chittoor district and elsewhere.

The election commissioner said that the intention for issuing such an order was to carry out the mandate given to the SEC to hold free and fair elections and to insulate the District Collectors and Returning Officers from fear psychosis emanating due to the threats and warnings issued by the minister through the media and also to enable the electorate to exercise their franchise freely uninfluenced by threats and intimidation.

The SECs order will come into effect immediately.

At the beginning of his 214-page judgment, Justice Denis McDonald said he was struck, quite forcefully by the realisation that people who take out insurance might never truly know what they are signing up for.

The pubs-versus-FBD case shows how any policy is open to interpretation, after four business owners were forced to spend 11 days in the Commercial Court arguing the meaning of everyday words.

Chris Kelly, owner of Sinnotts Bar, said in his evidence that the policy was in simple English, but this detailed judgment shows nothing is straightforward with the English language when it comes to insurers parting with money.

There are 22 pages in the judgment dedicated to the meaning of the word following.

Many parties who take out insurance policies are likely never to have considered, at the time that the policy was taken out, that so much time and effort would be spent in debating the meaning of words found in the policy such as by or following or as a result of or event or occurrence, Justice McDonald said.

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Dublin pubs Sinnotts, the Leopardstown Inn, Lemon & Duke and Seans Bar in Athlone all took action over the insurers refusal to pay-out on business interruption claims for the Covid-19 pandemic.

Their policies each had an extension which stated they were entitled to recover losses if forced to close by order of a Government or local authority following outbreaks of contagious or infectious diseases on the premises or within 25 miles of same.

The policy in question has been sold to approximately 1,300 publicans throughout Ireland ranging from the owners of small rural pubs to larger urban pubs.

Justice McDonald disagreed with FBDs interpretation that the closure of bars was not due to an outbreak of Covid on the premises or within 25 miles, but because of the national situation.

The language clearly responds to outbreaks of disease both on the premises or within 25 miles, he said.

He is of the view that the language used did not suggest that outbreaks occurring simultaneously outside that radius would deprive the publicans of cover.

While three of the pubs did not anticipate the Covid-19 pandemic when taking out insurance, Justice McDonald found it wasnt entirely unpredictable.

The emergence of a new disease of pandemic proportions was always a possibility, he said.

The case of Lemon & Duke was different from the rest in that a specific side letter was furnished to managing director Noel Anderson on March 2, 2020, outlining he would be covered in the event his pub had to close due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He switched insurers based on this representation, made in an email by FBD employee Paul Shanahan.

In my view, the email is quite clear. It does not represent that cover would be provided in respect of losses sustained solely as a consequence of the impact of

coronavirus; it very clearly states that the pub must be forcibly shut down and cannot be voluntary, Judge McDonald said.

This case was more straightforward than the others. He indicated any reasonable person would have believed they were covered if given the same assurances as Mr Anderson.

FBD put forward many times during the hearing that the pubs would have suffered substantial losses if they remained open, and therefore shouldnt be entitled to recover all losses because they had to close.

The trends leading up to the Government-ordered closure showed business was falling off a cliff, as senior barrister Declan McGrath put it.

However, Justice McDonald found it would be contrary to the nature of an insurance policy as a contract of indemnity to allow the effects of the insured peril to reduce the payment to be made to an insured who has the benefit of cover for that peril.

Justice McDonald said quantifying the loss would be dealt with at a later date.

FBD is defending its decision to go to court, describing it as the fairest way to reach a resolution. It vowed to arrange interim payments to affected policyholders after Justice McDonald ruled in favour of the plaintiffs.

Three of the publicans issued statements welcoming the result, but for them, it never should have got this far.

We were forced to go through 10 months of deep financial uncertainty and significant additional risk in taking this action, to arrive at an outcome which should have been clear from the outset, Mr Anderson said.

Chris Kelly, director of the Chris Kelly Group, accused FBD of failing to put its customers first.

He was a long-term customer who paid a 250,000 premium each year.

While Stephen Cooney, co-owner of the Leopardstown Inn and executive director of the Loyola Group, questioned the point of insurance.

FBD let us down when we needed our insurance most.

For decades, San Antonians have watched the citys public housing stock slowly slip away, with the demolitions of Victoria Courts, Mirasol Homes, San Juan Homes and Wheatley Courts  the last large complex felled by the wrecking ball.

But Alazan Courts, the citys oldest and largest complex, with 501 apartments, has suddenly been spared a similar fate.

The San Antonio Housing Authority had for years planned to work with a for-profit developer to raze and replace the aging West Side complex with mixed-income apartments. But under the direction of a new leader, the agency reversed course in January, pledging to rebuild public housing for the citys most financially vulnerable residents.

We became concerned that it was really going to become destructive to their lives, said Ed Hinojosa Jr., 62, who was named the agencys interim president and CEO after his predecessor stepped down in early January.

Bucking a 30-year trend toward privatization, Hinojosa said SAHA would rebuild Alazan Courts itself, replacing the government-run housing units at a minimum of one for one to avoid displacing hundreds of families struggling to pay rent during the pandemic.

It was an unexpected but welcome reversal for the housing advocates and community organizers whod fought against the mixed-income development plan for years, with little compromise from the agency.

A month before, SAHA had sent a scathing letter to one of the projects fiercest opponents, the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, calling the centers efforts a hate-speech-driven public display and alleging it was spreading false rumors by arguing the new construction would displace families.

Six weeks later, the agency changed its message. Staff members acknowledged the communitys concerns that San Antonio needs more public housing, not less and fears that the lowest-income residents may not be able to return to Alazan after it is rebuilt. In a statement, the agency promised it was committed to the redevelopment in a method that will not displace our residents.

Public housing, the new CEO said, provides a safety net that the private market cannot.

The most important thing to a low-income individual is housing stability, whether theyre in a low-income area like ours or somewhere else, Hinojosa said.

Jerry Lara /San Antonio Express-News

Preserving public housing has always been part of the agencys focus, Hinojosa said, but hes now more optimistic that the federal government will provide funding for the program.

President Joe Biden has said the government should pump more money into affordable housing. Democrats in Congress now have a slim majority, and the progressives in the party have advocated for more public housing funding, renewing hope among advocates after decades of bipartisan cuts, Hinojosa said.

But it is unclear how much more funding will be funneled to housing authorities such as SAHA, which is the largest agency of its kind in Texas.

In my opinion, Congress has failed for decades to fund the program, said Deborah Thrope of the National Housing Law Project, which advocates for the preservation of public housing. And I dont see any reason why theyre suddenly going to turn around next year.

Instead, housing advocates and community organizers point squarely to Hinojosa as the catalyst for change. Within three weeks after he assumed control, the SAHA board walked away from the deal with a developer it had tapped for a number of projects over the years. The agency committed to listening to what our residents are asking for and a new direction to meet the needs of our communities.

Hooray for SAHA probably being the first in the country to say, Public housing is important, said Graciela Sanchez, director of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. Thats a reverse of the last 30 years, not only for the city, but on the national level.

S.A.s first big complex

Photos by Jerry Lara / Staff photographer

The Alazan Courts were among the first wave of public housing complexes built at the end of the Great Depression, aimed at creating jobs amid the economic crisis and providing families with safe and clean housing. The Apache Courts, its southern neighbor, were built soon after. Until then, many of the Mexican American families residing on the West Side had lived in homes with dirt floors and no indoor plumbing.

Yet as the decades passed, the Alazan-Apache apartments fell into disrepair. The concrete buildings lack modern amenities such as central air conditioning. By 1985, then-Mayor Henry Cisneros proposed tearing the buildings down and replacing them with new public housing.

But his proposal didnt go far. Under the leadership of President Ronald Reagan, the federal government slashed housing budgets by billions of dollars in the 1980s, and in the decades that followed, Democrats and Republicans continued to squeeze public housing budgets. Instead, they incentivized housing authorities to partner with private developers to replace government-run housing with apartments targeted to a mix of low-, middle-and high-income tenants.

Jerry Lara, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

Housing authorities were often under tremendous political pressure to clean up a problematic site, and then they are also facing financial pressure, said Jake Wegmann, a professor of community and regional planning at the University of Texas at Austin. A lot of sites began to deteriorate, and there became a kind of increasing drumbeat to redevelop a lot of public housing sites.

Until recent research began to show otherwise, federal housing policy experts believed that families living in poverty would find it easier to climb the economic ladder if they were surrounded by higher-income families. As a result, the U.S. has demolished 250,000 public housing units since the mid-1990s.

In San Antonio, which has ranked among the poorest large cities in the country, the number of units dropped 24 percent, from 7,927 in the 1990s to 6,062 today. Meanwhile, the demand for SAHAs housing programs has tripled: Today, more than 45,000 families are on SAHAs wait list, compared with 15,000 families in 2000.

We have this kind of crisis of a lack of low-income rental housing decades in the making in this country, and traditional public housing units, whatever their flaws, are a vital reservoir of that kind of housing, Wegmann said. To me, its a terrible mistake to tear them down.

Last year, SAHA told its board of directors and the public that if the agency demolished Alazans 501 units, families living there would be able to move into vacant public housing apartments at other properties or to unrented units at other new mixed-income complexes or would be given rental vouchers, commonly called Section 8.

But Olga Kauffman, who now serves as SAHA board member, knew that moving financially  and sometimes physically  fragile families would be easier said than done.

Jerry Lara, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

She worked as a case worker with residents of Wheatley Courts, a 1940s complex that was torn down in 2015, to ensure they still had access to health care after they moved. Even with millions of dollars in grant funding, years of project planning and case managers, some of the Wheatley Courts families ended up without stable housing after the demolition, Kauffman said.

Some families were given rental vouchers, under the impression theyd be able to rent a single-family home with a backyard for their kids, only to find out that many private landlords wouldnt rent to them. Childrens mental health deteriorated under the stress of moving to new schools. Adults with chronic conditions struggled to find new physicians.

Kauffman will never forget one family, headed by a mother in her 30s. The mother was already under severe stress and had chronic health conditions. After the move, she had trouble keeping up with her doctors and medications. She began having more and more seizures.

Two or three years after the move, Kauffman said, the woman died.

It was so tragic, Kauffman said. She had three beautiful kids.

Fatally flawed plan

Jerry Lara /San Antonio Express-News

The plan to rebuild Alazan ramped up most recently in 2017, when the housing authority set its sights on the same federal grant that poured $30 million into the redevelopment of Wheatley Courts.

But it didnt get the desired grant for Alazan. Nonetheless, under former CEO David Nisivoccia, the agency continued pushing forward and asked private developers to submit proposals for the rebuild. In fall 2019, SAHA picked the NRP Group  a private developer that the agency had worked with to build apartments for tenants with a mix of income levels.

At the time, the developer proposed knocking down the 501 apartments and replacing them with 648 units in two phases. Only 10 percent of the units  33 of 324 apartments in each phase  would be reserved for families making less than 30 percent of the area median income, or about $26,200 for a family of four.

Jerry Lara /San Antonio Express-News

Even those units would cost too much for the families currently living at Alazan, housing advocates warned. On average, an Alazan household earns $8,796 a year and pays $131 in monthly rent, the housing authority said last year.

In 2020, opposition to NRPs plan swelled, until it reached a boiling point during a November board meeting in which the agency weighed whether to begin the official planning process to demolish Alazan.

Almost 70 people signed up to speak about the proposal  the vast majority against it. Tenants, citing personal experience, told board members that aging apartments were better than ones they couldnt afford.

Christine Drennon, a Trinity University professor, told the board that the idea that mixed-income development will lift people out of poverty is fatally flawed. Research has shown that it can have the opposite effect: It can push the residents with the lowest incomes into unstable housing, hurt the local businesses and schools and rip apart a neighborhoods social fabric.

The board voted 5-2 to move the plan forward. But board members hadnt been told how much tenants would have to pay to rent the new apartments.

We have a pretty new board, said Ana Cha Guzman, who was appointed in late 2019, after SAHA picked NRP as the developer. We came in, and we didnt know about these plans.

Members later began asking the housing authority exactly how many units would be reserved for families with the lowest incomes. Guzman had voted in favor of the demolition, but she said she and others were concerned that displacement would sever tenants from the neighborhood support networks that had grown over the last 80 years.

Meanwhile, the housing authority was preparing for its own transition. Nisivoccia was leaving San Antonio for a job at the Denver Housing Authority. Hinojosa, who was raised in South Texas and worked for the agency for almost two decades, would take over temporarily until SAHA found a permanent replacement.

After David left, I said, Ed, we cant do this, Guzman said. We just cant do this.

Scrapping the private plan

Jerry Lara /Staff photograher

Nisivoccias last day was Jan. 6. Two weeks later, Hinojosa announced that SAHA had scrapped its agreement with NRP. It would replace all 501 public housing units, citing data that showed an increasingly dire picture of the pandemics toll on residents finances.

As of December, almost 300 out of 500 Alazan households were behind on their rent, according to SAHA. Of all families living at the complex, 213 earned less than $150 per week, 125 earned less than $100 per week and 37 earned less than $60 per week.

The only way for them to be able to move forward with plans is to include us, said Kayla Miranda, a tenant at Apache Courts since 2017. Its never best for the residents to displace them.

The mother of four has become an advocate for her neighbors, fighting against SAHAs fees, aiding families facing eviction and speaking against the private development plan. When Nisivoccia was in charge, she said, he responded only once to her emails.

But since Hinojosa took the helm, hes visited her and other advocates twice at community resource fairs. He donated grocery store gift cards and a box of masks to hand out. When residents held virtual panel discussions to address what they wanted to see changed with the housing authority, he attended all three.

I emailed him probably 20 times, Miranda said, and hes responded every single time in less than 24 hours, even on the weekends.

Jerry Lara, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

Still, Miranda and other advocates worry that razing Alazan and redeveloping it will result in higher property taxes for their neighbors on the West Side.

The housing authority says its committed to rebuilding the complex from scratch and that renovating the concrete buildings wouldnt make financial sense. Instead of demolishing the units in two phases, SAHA is now planning to redevelop the complex in multiple sections, possibly taking down 50 to 70 units at time, Hinojosa said.

Its unclear how the housing authority will pay for the redevelopment. Hinojosa estimates that each unit will cost about $100,000  with 500 units, thats a price tag of $50 million. Because the agency is developing the apartments itself, it wont have to spend up to $5 million on fees associated with private development and could consider selling off vacant land it owns to help finance the project.

Hinojosa knows SAHA will have to get creative and look for solutions outside the norm. The agency, he said, will seek funding from the city and the new Congress. In recent years, SAHA has received just a fraction of the funding it needs for public housing upgrades  about $11 million per year to address a growing backlog worth $350 million.

This is an exciting time, Hinojosa said. I think that the pandemic and the economic crisis are causing people to sort of rethink some of the things weve been doing for many years.

marina.riker@express-news.net
Restaurants will no longer be allowed to sell pre-packaged meals through arrangements with supermarkets and other outlets, as Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley definitively closed this loophole yesterday.

Rowley said this would not be allowed to continue, as it defeats the purpose of the public health regulations. Restaurants and street food vendors were among those businesses ordered to close to limit the movement of people and curb the spread of Covid-19.
On Waitangi Day, Jacinda Ardern is fond of using a bridge as a metaphor when reflecting on her country's health.

New Zealand's national day commemorates the Treaty of Waitangi, the historic agreement between Maori and the Crown that underpins the nation.

Ms Ardern's bridge represents both the gap and the connection between the Maori world, and of that of non-Maori, or Pakeha, in New Zealand.

Ms Ardern (pictured, centre) with Finance Minister Grant Robertson (right) is seen cooking sausages on February 6 for locals during the annual celebration

New Zealand's national day commemorates the Treaty of Waitangi, the historic agreement between Maori and the Crown that underpins the nation (pictured, the Prime Minister serving snags to Waitangi locals on February 6)

Ms Ardern (pictured left) used a bridge as a metaphor to represents both the gap and the connection between the Maori world, and of that of non-Maori, or Pakeha, in New Zealand

Too often, Ms Ardern believes, is it Maori who do the legwork.

'Every day since the signing of the treaty, you have stepped and walked over that bridge. Every single day,' she said in Waitangi this week.

'From your ancestors through to today ... I know that Maoridom is exhausted.

'And we have not walked that bridge often enough.

'That's why we must constantly pledge to do things differently.'

Waitangi itself is also governed by a bridge; a one-lane road onto the treaty grounds that all entrants must cross.

Ms Ardern (pictured with daughter Neve) said she thinks Maori are too often doing the legwork of bridging the gap between Maori and non-Maori

On February 6 each year, people make the crossing in their thousands, walking by foot or crawling in their cars in the darkness for a dawn service.

Pinned to the bridge are dozens of Maori nationalist flags, fluttering over azure waters.

The journey and the service lends itself to reflection: has the Treaty's intended equality and partnership between peoples come to fruition?

'Every Waitangi Day is a chance to reflect on ... how are we progressing, our partnership, our relationship, but also constantly looking forward with hope,' Ms Ardern said.

'There are things that we need to do better. But I do absolutely believe that you get a sense here of real optimism about what can be achieved together.'

On February 6 each year, people make the crossing to Waitangi over a bridge in their thousands, walking by foot or crawling in their cars in the darkness for a dawn service (pictured in 2021)

Ms Ardern's optimism has been met with a healthy dose of cynicism and on-the-ground truths by some Maori leaders. Pictured: The Navy perform during Beat the Retreat with the NZ Navy at the Waitangi Treaty grounds on February 05

Ms Ardern's optimism has been met with a healthy dose of cynicism and on-the-ground truths by some Maori leaders.

On Thursday, political leaders heard disheartening stories of social disengagement, police harassment and entrenched Maori poverty.

Hirini Tau, a local Maori elder, told the PM 'don't just come sit down once a year and go back to Wellington.'

Just as in Australia, indigenous Kiwis are overrepresented in prison populations, have worse health outcomes, and underrepresented in positions of power.

What's different in New Zealand is the platform given to indigenous issues.

As is now traditional, Ms Ardern (pictured on February 6) has spent several days on the treaty grounds in the lead-up to Waitangi Day, visiting nearby communities and events, all with a distinct Maori flavour

As is now traditional, Ms Ardern has spent several days on the treaty grounds in the lead-up to Waitangi Day, visiting nearby communities and events, all with a distinct Maori flavour.

At those gatherings, she has trumpeted her government's achievements for Maori.

That includes the teaching of local history in Kiwi schools at long last, a new public holiday for MaoriNew Year, and growth in Maori-specific agencies.

She can also boast five Maori ministers and 15 Maori MPs in her caucus of 65, both records.

Perhaps that's why Maori Development Minister Willie Jackson said this week 'we're the most successful government for Maori issues that you've ever seen'.

The Prime Minister (pictured serving sausages on February 6) has trumpeted her government's achievements for Maori

Whether or not that bold statement stands at the end of Ms Ardern's tenure will depend on whether she can make inroads on the tougher stuff.

That's reducing inequality. Getting Maori off the housing waiting list and into homes.

Increasing Maori employment. Emptying Aotearoa's prisons.

Ms Ardern says making progress on those issues is 'absolutely why we are here as a Labour Party'.

'We will always be the first to put our hand up and say we've got more to do,' she said.
Hundreds of asylum seekers are being housed at a large hotel near Heathrow as the Government struggles to find accommodation for passengers forced to quarantine after arriving from virus hotspots.

Ministers have so far failed to secure a single room for the scheme  intended to prevent deadly new strains of Covid-19 spreading in Britain. Yet taxpayers are spending a fortune to put up more than 400 immigrants at the four-star Crowne Plaza hotel just two miles from the UKs biggest airport.

Astonishingly, officials have chosen not to move the asylum seekers into two nearby immigration removal centres, where there is space for more than 800 people and which would free up vital rooms for passengers required to self-isolate for ten days.

Boris Johnson last month announced plans to force arrivals from 30 red list countries to quarantine in hotels, but the scheme has been delayed in part because of problems finding accommodation. Yet some 10,000 migrants are being housed at hotels across the UK, despite official figures showing only 290 of the 2,462 beds at seven purpose-built immigration centres are currently occupied.

At Harmondsworth, two miles from the 100-a-night Crowne Plaza, 527 beds are lying empty. There is space for a further 300 people at Colnbrook, half a mile further on. Alp Mehmet, from the Migration Watch UK think tank, said last night: This is a frankly barmy situation. The Government is struggling to find hotel rooms for travellers to quarantine in, but there are hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers staying in a hotel right next to the airport. You couldnt make it up.

An 8ft fence was erected around the perimeter of the Crowne Plaza last summer, yet migrants last week strolled past private security guards contracted by the Home Office  many of them not wearing masks. As further evidence of the apparent indifference to safety, a hand car-wash business is operating in the hotels car park in contravention of lockdown rules. There is even a sign advertising the service at the nearby exit of the M4.

Migrants who have often risked their lives to reach Britain are in despair at safety measures.

It is not a good system  people are too close together, claimed Ilyat Alkaldi, 42, who fled Kuwait and completed the final leg of his journey across the Channel by dinghy from Calais. He has been housed at the hotel since October and claimed migrants roam the corridors and visit each others rooms. Djomou Bamou, 32, who was smuggled into the UK in a car, said: We can walk around wherever we want. There are lots of people here.

Astonishingly, officials have chosen not to move the asylum seekers into two nearby immigration removal centres (pictured), where there is space for more than 800 people and which would free up vital rooms for passengers required to self-isolate for ten days

Each room has a double bed, an en suite bathroom and flatscreen TV. Staff leave three basic meals outside rooms each day while dining areas and leisure facilities are closed. Housekeepers clean the rooms once a week.

Groups of migrants can be seen chatting on smartphones outside the hotel or strolling to a parade of shops in nearby West Drayton.

Among them was Atif Ali, 21, from Pakistan, who was smuggled into the UK in the back of a lorry after spending two years living in the infamous Jungle camp in Calais. After three months here in this hotel I feel like I am going crazy, he said. You just sleep, its boring.

The apparent freedom afforded to the migrants contrasts with the draconian measures awaiting passengers who will be placed in quarantine after flying in to Britain. Government-hired security guards are expected to patrol each hotel floor to ensure compliance.

However, Government officials still need to find 28,000 rooms to accommodate them after admitting that no contracts have yet been awarded. Given its location, the Crowne Plaza and its 500 rooms might be considered an ideal location, but it has been block-booked by the Home Office until March.

Taxpayers are spending a fortune to put up more than 400 immigrants at the four-star Crowne Plaza hotel just two miles from the UKs biggest airport

Ministers have been accused of hopelessly inadequate planning, with tender documents sent out to hotel chains only on Thursday night. Rob Paterson, the boss of Best Western, said: In any normal company, if you went out and announced a programme nationally and you hadnt thought about how you were going to plan that, and you hadnt spoken to the people involved Im not sure Id have a job if I did that in my company.

Tory MP Sir John Hayes, a former Transport Minister, said: This is a ridiculous situation. Hotels are not the best place for asylum seekers. They should be in secure accommodation or else we risk them disappearing into the black economy or being exploited.

The Mail on Sunday has revealed how at least 20 hotels across Britain are being used to house migrants who had crossed the Channel as part of a 4 billion, ten-year contract between the Home Office and outsourcing firms.

Last night the Home Office said it is legally obliged to provide accommodation to asylum seekers. A spokesman said: At all of our sites we put in place a range of measures to ensure they are safe and asylum seekers, like everyone else, must follow the coronavirus regulations.
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Wild weather is set to batter both of Australia's coasts in the next 24 hours as parts of the country suffer through a once-in-a-decade flood event.

WA Premier Mark McGowan has told drivers to stay away from the state's deluged roads after hundreds of millimetres of rain drenched the Kimberley, Pilbara, and Gascoyne regions in the state's north in the space of just five days.

Heavy rain is also expected on the east coast, with the chance of widespread severe thunderstorms in some parts of New South Wales on Saturday night, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Rain is forecast for much of NSW and Tasmania on Saturday night due to a low pressure system (pictured)

Parts of WA's north have experienced heavy flooding with consistent rain over the last week (pictured)

Low pressure systems on both coasts are causing the heavy rainfall.

Along with NSW, there will likely also be strong winds, rain, hail and possible storms for southern Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania.

Some towns in Tasmania recorded their highest daily rainfall in five years on Friday.

The low pressure system in WA's north is bringing heavy rain, damaging wind gusts, and abnormally high tides as the system moves down the west coast to hit Perth on Sunday night.

The Gascoyne region of WA has been particularly battered by heavy rain which has already caused widespread flooding.

'The advice is that this is a one in 10 year flood. DFES is monitoring the situation and emergency surfaces are responding to calls for help,' Mr McGowan said.

On Saturday morning the Bureau of Meteorology warned there could be severe thunderstorms across parts of NSW

Lake Macquarie on the NSW coast was drenched on Saturday (pictured)

'Authorities are concerned with people who try to drive through floodwaters, so please take the advice seriously. Do not try to walk or drive through floodwaters, this is extremely dangerous. Do not risk your life and the lives of emergency surfaces personnel by entering floodwaters,' he said.

Firefighters battling a devastating bushfire that has destroyed 86 houses on the outskirts of Perth hope the rain forecast over the weekend will help douse the flames, state authorities said on Saturday.

Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate in Perth, complicating a five-day lockdown imposed on Monday on the state capital after Western Australia detected its first coronavirus infection in 10 months.

Exhausted firefighters are hoping for rain in Western Australia (pictured, firefighter in the midst of intense fire outside Wooroloo on February 2)

State Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm said fire fighters have stopped the fire from spreading but it is still actively burning.

'We expect light rain to commence early this afternoon, but the really heavy rain that will really help us with the fire won't occur until later this evening and into tomorrow,' Mr Klemm said on Saturday.

NSW and the Australian Capital Territory will see patchy rain on Saturday night and Sunday - some areas have already experienced more than 100mm with Canberra getting 30 to 50mm.

More rain is expected in WA (pictured) as a low pressure system moves south toward Perth

Cloud cover across the Sydney region help suppress storms from properly forming, the Bureau of Metoerology said on Saturday afternoons, though heavy rain is still expected.

Port Macquarie on the state's mid-north coast will receive the majority of the rain.

Victoria will be mostly sunny in the northwest but showers are expected for the northeast.

Melbourne will see partly cloudy skies with a top of 25C and a chance of showers.

Queensland's southeast will experience a warm weekend with mostly clear skies.

Emergency warnings remain in place for parts of Avon Valley National Park, Brigadoon, Bullsbrook, Gidgegannup, Upper Swan and Walyunga National Park. Pictured: A melted water tank is seen outside a house in Gidgegannup on February 4

The states north will be warm with showers while thundrerstorms could develop in the southwest.

While in South Australia, Adelaide will see a high chance of showers on Saturday, easing on Sunday.

Mild temperatures are expected in the state's north.

And in the Northern Territory there will be warm temperatures with highs in the low 30s in Darwin and showers across much of the state.
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WHERE IS DOOR-TO-DOOR TESTING BEING OFFERED? Door-to-door testing has been ordered in 11 authorities London W7: Hanwell (South African variant) N17: Tottenham (South African variant) CR4: Mitcham (South African variant) West Midlands WS2: Walsall (South African variant) WR3: Worcestershire (South African variant) WR9: Worcestershire (South African variant) East of England EN10: Broxbourne (South African variant) South East ME15: Maidstone (South African variant) GU21: Woking (South African variant) North West PR9: Southport (South African variant) Liverpool (Original variant with E484K mutation) South West Bristol (Kent variant with E484K mutation) Advertisement

Worcestershire today revealed two postcodes will be 'surge tested' after the South African coronavirus variant was detected.

Worcestershire County Council has set up surge testing in the WR3 postcode and parts of the WR9 postcode after cases of the variant with no links to international travel were identified.

It comes as a million people in the North West of England have been told to take a Covid test if they have a runny nose, as part of a clampdown on a mutated virus detected in the region.

And the UK today recorded 18,262 new coronavirus cases - down a fifth in just one week.

In a triumphant sign that the UK's third national lockdown has slowed the spread of a highly-infectious Covid-19 variant, the daily case total is down 21.5 per cent on the 23,275 last Saturday.

Britain's daily death toll has also seen a week-on-week drop - with 828 fatalities recorded today. The figure is 31 per cent lower than the 1,200 seen on this day last week.

A mobile testing unit has been set up at The White Hart pub in Fernhill Heath, near Worcester, for adults with no symptoms living within walking distance, a drive-through testing site will open and door-to-door testing will be rolled out.

Worcestershire County Council said: 'Working in partnership with NHS Test and Trace, every person over the age of 18, living in the WR3 postcode and some WR9 postcodes, is strongly encouraged to take a Covid-19 test this week, even if they are not showing symptoms.'

The council revealed between 7,000 to 9,000 residents will be tested in the two postcodes.

Meanwhile, residents in the Liverpool city region, Preston and Lancashire have been urged by health bosses to get swabbed if they have even the slightest suspicion they are ill.

It comes after more than 40 cases of an altered strain of the original virus, which carries a mutation experts fear makes vaccines less potent, was spotted in the three areas.

Meanwhile, all passengers arriving in Britain from countries not on the Covid hotspot list could have to take four tests during their isolation period.

In another significant toughening of border policy, travellers from safer countries will be told they must take the PCR tests during the standard ten-day home quarantine period.

While SAGE warned only mandatory hotel quarantine for all UK travellers would 'come close' to to stop new strains entering the country, it has emerged.

On the Worcestershire outbreak Dr Kathryn Cobain, director for public health in the county, said: 'I urge everyone offered a test to take it up to help us to monitor the virus in our communities and to help suppress and control the spread of this variant.'

Despite the frantic bid to try and stop the mutated variants spreading in Britain, scientists have warned the cases identified so far are likely just the 'tip of the iceberg'.

Door-to-door and mobile testing began in Britain at the start of the month as part of urgent efforts to swab 80,000 people. This came after 11 cases of the variant were identified in people who had no links to travel - suggesting it may be spreading in communities.

In other coronavirus news:

All passengers arriving in Britain from countries not on the coronavirus hotspot list could take up to four tests during their at-home isolation in another significant toughening of border policy;

The UK recorded 18,262 new coronavirus cases - down a fifth in one week - and 828 fatalities in a sign the UK's third national lockdown has slowed the spread of the deadly disease;

Pubs will be allowed to serve alcohol when they reopen - senior sources have claimed - with the 10pm curfew and 'substantial meals' rule both set to be axed under a map 'to unlock' the country;

The boss of the UK's Vaccine Taskforce is 'very confident' Britain can offer jabs to all over-50s by May as they say the UK leads the way in the fight against mutant coranvirus variants;

The coronavirus pandemic will drag on for another seven years at the current rate of vaccinations worldwide, new Bloomberg calculations predicted;

More than 1.4 million businesses which took out pandemic 'bounce back' loans will be given more time to repay them, in a 'pay as you grow' scheme Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to announce;

Teaching unions including NAHT demanded ministers reject proposals to extend the school day as they claimed there were 'better methods' to help pupils catch up on lost time in the classroom;

Boss of the Commission on Human Medicines said regulators had received information to prove the Oxford vaccine was safe and effective for over-65s.

Staff instruct a person on how to carry out a Covid-19 test at a mobile testing unit set up at the White Hart pub in Fernhill Heath, near Worcester

A member of the public grimaces as he is tested for Covid-19 at a mobile testing unit set up at the White Hart pub

Residents have already started arriving at the mobile testing site at The White Hart pub near Worcester this afternoon

A trickle of residents have been slowly arriving at The White Hart pub in Fernhill Heath near Worcester this afternoon

A mobile testing unit has been set up at The White Hart pub (pictured) in Fernhill Heath, near Worcester, for adults with no symptoms living within walking distance, a drive-through testing site will open and door-to-door testing will be rolled out

The mobile coronavirus test site being set up at the White Hart pub in Fernhill Heath, Worcestershire, this afternoon

Worcestershire County Council said: 'Working in partnership with NHS Test and Trace, every person over the age of 18, living in the WR3 postcode and some WR9 postcodes, is strongly encouraged to take a Covid-19 test this week, even if they are not showing symptoms.' Pictured, the test site near Worcester

Any positive results as part of surge testing programmes will be sent for genome sequencing to identify the variant - a process which usually takes around a fortnight.

The alteration, scientifically known as E484K, is also found on the South African and Brazilian variants which have led to Britain toughening up its border controls.

Even though the mutation does not specifically cause any different symptoms to the original strain, officials are broadening the criteria for a swab as a safety net to snuff out cases that would normally go undetected.

'Surge testing' has been ordered in 11 authorities after the South African variant of coronavirus was detected in the UK

Staff instruct a person on how to carry out a Covid-19 test at a mobile testing unit set up at the White Hart pub in Fernhill Heath earlier today

A Covid-19 mobile testing unit set up at the White Hart pub in Fernhill Heath, near Worcester, as the area became the latest instructed to undergo a 'testing surge'

Workers hurried to get the site near Worcester set up as the council announced two postcodes needed to be tested

As workers put up a tent to share those getting tested from the drizzly weather, residents started to arrive in Fernhill Heath

Any positive results as part of surge testing programmes will be sent for genome sequencing to identify the variant - a process which usually takes around a fortnight. Pictured, The White Hart pub

Police officers and other emergency services go door-to-door to collect Covid-19 tests from residents homes on February 3 in Maidstone

A million people in the North West of England have been told to take a Covid test if they have a runny nose, as part of a clampdown on a mutated virus detected in the region

The wider range of symptoms includes shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle or body aches, a sore throat, congestion or a runny nose, and nausea or vomiting.

Public Health England said the most recent tests rolled out in a number of areas of the country this week will be prioritised in a bid to speed up the process.

Liverpool and Warrington find cases of mutation known as E484K Public Health England has identified cases of the original virus strain with the mutation, scientifically known as E484K, in the Liverpool City Region and Warrington. The mutation has also been found in Preston and West Lancashire, according to health officials. The E484K mutation  also found in the South African and Brazilian variants  appears to boost the virus's ability to avoid the immune system, raising the risk of reinfections or the current crop of vaccines being less effective. It has appeared separately in cases of both the Kent variant and on the original version of the virus. Neither are yet being described as new variants but represent physical differences to the virus that could change how it behaves. It comes after 32 people in Liverpool have also been struck down with the original strain of the virus with the E484K mutation. MailOnline understands the cases were spotted three weeks ago. A cluster of an initial five cases was detected on January 10 among staff at Liverpool Women's Hospital who had attended an event outside the hospital, believed to be a funeral. Warrington Council have said they will get behind enhanced contact tracing in the town. Thara Raj, Warrington's director of public health, explained how 'some residents may be concerned' but added it shouldn't 'cause any further alarm'. Ms Raj added: 'We are monitoring the situation closely and all necessary public health interventions are being undertaken.' Dr Sakthi Karunanithi, director of public health and wellbeing at Lancashire County Council, said: 'If you live in Preston or West Lancashire and you're feeling under the weather, please get a Covid test. 'Understandably, some residents may be concerned but all viruses mutate over time so this should not cause any further alarm. Advertisement

Testing of around 10,000 people in Maidstone, Kent, was completed on Thursday night.

In Surrey, testing in Woking was expected to finish on Friday with door-to-door deliveries in Egham and Thorpe due to begin on Saturday.

Sefton Council said efforts to identify the variant in the Norwood area of Southport in Merseyside would continue into the weekend.

Testing in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, is being rolled out for another week until February 12, the council said.

Around 10,300 people in Walsall have been tested so far and some 560 tests had been conducted in the affected areas in Birmingham, the West Midlands Combined Authority was told.

Mobile testing units and home testing kits were also deployed this week to Hanwell, west London and Mitcham, south London.

Testing will also continue into next week in Tottenham, north London.

Matthew Ashton, director of public health for Liverpool, told the i newspaper: 'We are concerned that people may not think they have Covid because they are not displaying the classic symptoms and, as a result, could be unwittingly spreading the infection to others.

'The virus is changing all the time, so it is essential that we redouble our efforts so we stay one step ahead of it, and we know some people have been testing positive with other symptoms.'

Around 40 cases of the original strain of Covid carrying the E484K mutation were spotted in Liverpool, Warrington and Lancashire.

In another twist to the UK's Covid crisis, officials have also spotted 11 strains of the Kent variant which have that mutation, suggesting it is also evolving again.

Dr Sakthi Karunanithi, director of public health and wellbeing at Lancashire County Council, added: 'If you live in Preston or West Lancashire and you're feeling under the weather, please get a Covid test.

'It doesn't matter if you don't have the three classic symptoms of a fever, loss of taste or smell, or a cough - even a headache could be an indication you may have this mutation.

'Understandably, some residents may be concerned but all viruses mutate over time so this should not cause any further alarm.

'Alongside our partners, please rest assured that we are monitoring the situation closely.

'It is important to stress that there is currently no evidence that this mutation alone causes more severe illness or is more transmissible.

'The best way to control the spread is for everyone to continue to abide by the lockdown rules and following the simple steps of washing your hands, using a face covering and making space from each other.

'While Covid has been here for a while now, these new variants remind us that we all need to keep doing what we can to stay safe and avoid spreading Covid to each other.'

The variant discovered in the North West is said to be less concerning because it is an altered version of the original strain so is less transmissible than the Kent one.

Officials are more worried about the mutated variant in Bristol because it poses a double threat - it is the Kent strain and therefore more transmissible but also carries the E484K mutation which opens the door to it being vaccine resistant.

Clive Dix, chairman of the UK Vaccine Taskforce, told BBC Radio 4's Today it was 'absolutely' possible to produce a vaccine that was comprehensive at tackling new mutations

Neither are yet being described as new variants but represent physical differences to the virus that could change how it behaves.

Meanwhile, the boss of the UK's Vaccine Taskforce is 'very confident' Britain can offer jabs to all over-50s by May and say the UK is leading the way in the fight against mutant variants.

Downing Street confirmed on Friday that the vaccine programme is intended to reach all those aged 50 and over, as well as adults aged 16-65 in an at-risk group, by May - having previously said it aimed to do so 'by the spring'.

Vaccines tsar Clive Dix, speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, said: 'Every time we've been set an objective in the taskforce, we've met it and we will work day and night to ensure whatever the target that is feasible can be met.

'I'm very optimistic that we will definitely meet the May target.'

Dr Dix, who took over from Kate Bingham at the end of last year, denied there was likely to be a slowdown in the rate of vaccinations when second dose jabs were also due to be administered.

'No, I'm confident that we are going to be supplying enough vaccine to roll out any type of protocol,' he added.

Dr Dix also said scientific studies taking place in the UK would help the world get 'ahead of the game' on vaccine-evading new variants.

While admitting there was the 'possibility' of a so-called 'black swan' mutation emerging that could escape the vaccines currently on offer, he added: 'The UK is properly at the forefront of surveying all of these variants.

Broadcaster and author Loyd Grossman, 70, receives an injection of the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at North Cotswold Hospital, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire

'We have actually sequenced nearly 50% of all the virus that has been sequenced in this pandemic at the Sanger centre in Cambridge.

'Taking that data and having scientists look very seriously at what's emerging - where the mutations are occurring, what they might do to the protein - we can kind of second guess some mutations that haven't even occurred yet and we can go ahead and make those.

'And that's part of the collaboration - we'll make libraries of future vaccines, just small amounts, enough to then, if it does occur, do a quick clinical study to see that it works and then start manufacturing.'

Kent Covid variant has started to mutate further to become more like South African strain The Kent Covid variant has started to mutate further to become more like the one that evolved in South Africa in what scientists have dubbed a 'worrying development' that could make vaccines less effective. One of the key mutations on the South African and Brazilian variants appear to make the virus more able to resist immunity that has been developed by past infection or from the current vaccines. And this mutation has now been found at least 11 times in different cases of people infected with the Kent variant, Public Health England revealed, raising fears it could become a permanent feature of the British strain. Both the Kent and South African variants already share one mutation, named N501Y, which makes the virus spread faster. And if this mutation, named E484K, sticks around as well the variants could become extremely similar. E484K has been concerning scientists because it changes the shape of the virus's outer spike protein in a way that makes it difficult for the body to recognise it if it is only used to looking for older versions of the virus without the mutation. This could raise the risk of reinfection or reduce how well vaccines work  but top Government advisers insist jabs should still be effective. SAGE adviser Professor Calum Semple suggested today that the risk of the Kent variant  and other versions of the virus  continuing to evolve was 'inevitable' and 'will occur in time', and this mutation would likely be part of that. Speaking about the threat, Professor Ravi Gupta, an infectious diseases expert at Cambridge University, said: 'The number of sequences is low at present, though enhanced surveillance is being undertaken by PHE. There may be more cases out there given how high transmission has been. We need to continue vaccinating and drive down transmission.' PHE scientists revealed they had found the E484K mutation in the Kent variant in a paper published yesterday. The report said the mutation, best known for being the most worrying part of the South African and two Brazilian variants, had been found in 11 cases of the Kent strain up to January 26. It said: 'Preliminary information suggests more than one acquisition event,' which means the cases were not all part of the same outbreak and the mutation had sprung up randomly on multiple occasions in different places. The coronavirus is mutating all the time as a result of genetic errors when it multiplies, and the changes that make it able to spread more quickly or to survive longer inside the human body are the ones that are likely to stick around. They will be passed on to future generations if they give the virus a survival advantage, and the ability to spread faster and keep spreading for longer will help versions of the virus with that mutation to become dominant by overtaking slower, weaker versions. Experts said it was likely that the E484K mutation had appeared in cases of the Kent variant by chance, although it was possible someone had been infected simultaneously with the South African strain. Advertisement

The testing blitz in the North West is separate from the door-to-door 'surge testing' being carried out in nine other postcodes in England.

On Tuesday, extra coronavirus testing was deployed into certain neighbourhoods in Woking in Surrey, Walsall in the West Midlands, as well as parts of London, Kent, Hertfordshire and Lancashire. Today 'surge testing' was announced in Worcestershire.

That programme is aimed at clamping down on cases of the South African variant. Officials have chosen those nine postcodes because they believe the strain is spreading in the communities there.

More than 80,000 adults are being targeted as part of that programme and residents have been asked to take a test regardless of whether or not they have symptoms.

Health officials have been joined by local police, councillors and firefighters to dish out the tests.

Last week Matt Hancock said: 'In those areas where this [South African] variant has been found  parts of Broxbourne, London, Maidstone and Southport, Walsall and Woking  we're putting in extra testing and sequencing every positive test.

'Working with local authorities we're going door to door to test everyone in those areas and mobile testing units will be deployed offering PCR tests to people who have to leave their home for work or other essential reasons.

'We have also seen 11 cases of mutations of concern in Bristol and 32 in Liverpool, and are taking the same approach. In all these areas it is imperative that people must stay at home and only leave home where it is absolutely essential.'

People will not be told what variant they are carrying because this cannot be seen in a routine test, but the plan intends to find positive cases among people without symptoms in a bid to isolate them before they can infect others.

Mr Hancock suggested the testing could be extended to neighbouring postcodes when he was pushed in the Commons by Labour's Jonathan Ashworth.

'We absolutely do that where it is epidemiologically sensible,' he said.

'So, for instance, if the case is found on the border of a postcode, obviously we go across that border and we also investigate linked premises, for instance if somebody had a child at a school or is going to work in a particular workplace.'

However, experts are sceptical about the testing scheme and say there are far more people infected with the strain than is currently known and that testing will slow it down, at best.

Public Health England has discovered the cases through random spot-checks on the swabs that people testing positive have submitted through the official testing scheme. This means that only a small proportion of the cases are sampled and, if they can be picked up randomly, it is likely there are large numbers of them.

Professor Andrew Hayward, an infectious disease expert at University College London and a member of SAGE, said that the 11 cases are the 'tip of the iceberg'. He told Sky News: 'We sequence between five and 10 per cent of cases so you can immediately tell from that that we have a big under-estimation of the number of cases.'

And Professor Calum Semple, a researcher at the University of Liverpool and also a member of SAGE, said on BBC Radio 4: 'There is probably a few more cases out there than we even know about'.

But the scheme suffered a hiccup when 100 people in Southport were left queuing for more than an hour in the rain while waiting for a Covid test  only to be told the PCR kits had not arrived.

Mr Hancock called for residents in the affected areas in England to stay home and take 'extra special precautions'. The Health Secretary said: 'We need to come down on it hard and we will... It's a big effort getting this new variant essentially finding every single case of it, that is the goal.'

A briefing document described the plan as 'a two-week sprint' in 'an attempt at eradication of the new variant if at all possible'.

Volunteers in Woking were told to hand deliver the swab test but if a resident refused to take one, they should avoid getting involved in a confrontation.

Residents who take the tests are told to swab their own nose and throat and then to place the completed test in a dedicated secure post box and not to post in in the mail.

A driver drops a test kit into a box at coronavirus testing centre at Walsall College in the West Midlands, where at least one case of the South African Covid variant has been found

And in West Ealing, in London, local people queued from 9am to get tested for the coronavirus at a centre manned by 20 staff close to the area's high street.

Those turning up to be tested were asked to book online but a council official said this requirement had been scrapped and that anybody turning up, who lived or worked in the area, could get tested without an appointment.

Two tents were put up in a car park where the tests were carried out and members of the public stood in socially distanced queues.

Carol Hall, 50, does her shopping in the area and lives nearby and was one of the first people to get tested at the centre.

People queue at the Covid testing centre at Splash World in Southport on February 2. Southport is one of eight areas in England about to start urgent testing for the South Africa variant of coronavirus, after cases were found with no known links to travel or previous cases

Cars are pictured queuing at a drive-in test centre in Maidstone, Kent, which is one of the areas where the South African variant has been found and where efforts are ongoing to stop the spread of the virus

She told MailOnline: 'I'm not sure how worried I am about the South African variant but the call has gone out to get a test so I've done it to be on the safe side...

What do we know about the Kent variant? Name: B.1.1.7, formerly VUI-202012/01 Where did it come from? The variant was first found in Kent and can be traced back to September 2020. Scientists noticed that it was spreading in November and it was revealed to the public in December. What makes it new? The variant, which is a version of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes Covid-19, has a series of mutations that change the shape of the spike protein on its outside. The main one is known as N501Y. This appears to make it better able to stick to the cells inside the body and makes it more likely to cause infection and faster to spread. How did that happen? Viruses, particularly ones spreading so fast and in such huge numbers, mutate all the time. To reproduce they basically force living cells to copy and paste the viral genetic code, and this can contain errors that lead to slightly different versions of the virus. Often these mutations make no difference but, if they make the virus stronger, they can stick around for further generations and become the norm. What can we do about it? Nothing much. People who catch the virus won't know which type they have, and it will still cause the same symptoms and illness. Officials can try to contain it by locking down the areas where it is most prevalent, but if it is stronger than other versions of the virus it will eventually spread everywhere and become dominant as long as people continue to travel. Will our vaccines still work? Yes, it's very likely they will. Scientists on SAGE are fairly sure the mutations the Kent variant carries do not significantly affect how well the immune system can handle it. People who have a vaccine modelled on an older version of the virus, or who have been infected with Covid-19 before, are likely to be immune to it. This is because the main mutations are only on one part of the spike protein, whereas the immune system is able to target various other parts of the virus. Advertisement

'The test caused me a bit of discomfort. You have to put a stick right up against your tonsils, it's not a nice thing to do.

'It made me cough and gag but then so was everybody else. It's not pleasant but it's very minor discomfort. I feel fine now and glad that I've had the test.'

Retired engineer David Woodhead was among the first to be handed a PCR swab kit as part of the door-to-door blitz in Woking.

The 75-year-old said he was more than happy to take part in the testing - but was worried that he lives in an area where the mutant South African strain has been found.

A volunteer dropped off the swab test kit in a sealed grey package. Inside was a swab and a mini test tube for the tips of the swab to be deposited.

Mr Woodhead said: 'This is a really good thing, and hopefully it will help root out this South African strain. I've had one PCR test before when I had to go to Ashford Hospital for a MRI.

'I have only been going out once a week to Sainsbury to do my shopping and have been staying inside. I'll continue to stay indoors until this is all over.'





Volunteers carried about a dozen packages as they went door to door in the St Johns area of Woking, one of two areas in the Surrey commuter town where the strain has been detected.

Most people receiving a package were fully aware of why they were being tested.

One resident, who asked not to be named, said anyone who refused to take a test should be made to stay indoors until the pandemic was over.

'I can't see any reason why someone round here should refuse to take a test. It is all about saving lives and we have to do what we are asked.

'I've never had a PCR test and have been told it can be painful, but that is a small price to pay. We all have to get on with it and do what we can.'

The volunteers have been instructed not to get into a confrontation with any resident who refuses to take a test package.

Despite the seriousness of the situation one resident at a sheltered housing accommodation block attempted to lighten the mood by wearing a clown mask.

Volunteers were startled after the resident answered the door wearing the frightening mask to collect his swab kit.

He identified himself as Joe and said he would happily take part in the mass testing.

Other residents who received their swab kits said anything that helped the current lockdown be lifted was a welcome measure.

Sarah Whitehead, who is pregnant with her first child, was apprehensive about having her first PCR test but was determined to do her part.

Two volunteers dish out a Covid test to an elderly lady in Goldsworth and St John's, an area of Woking involved in a testing blitz to flush out cases of the South African variant

Boris Johnson discussed the state of play in the coronavirus crisis with Cabinet - with most ministers dialling in remotely but Priti Patel in the room

'I just want the lockdown to be lifted and go back to normal, so anything that brings that a step closer is fine by me, said the 33 year old.

'I've never had a test before but will gladly take this one as it means we could be one step closer to beating the virus.'

Sturgeon piles pressure on PM by saying schools can open from Feb 22 Nicola Sturgeon gave Scottish schools the green light to start reopening after half term next month as she suggested the country could start exiting lockdown at the start of March. Primary, nursery and some secondary pupils will head back to class from February 22 if the coronavirus rate is low enough, the First Minister told Holyrood today. She also confirmed that she was introducing a blanket requirement for international arrivals to Scotland to go into hotel quarantine for a fortnight, making her border rules tougher than those introduced by Boris Johnson. In a direct attack on the Prime Minister's decision only to target travellers from 'red list' countries, Ms Sturgeon said it would not work and called on him to mirror her approach. Updating MSPs in Holyrood on Tuesday, the First Minister said progress had been made as a result of compliance with lockdown restrictions, but 'continued caution' was needed. From February 22 all children under school age in early learning and childcare will return. Pupils in Primary 1 to Primary 3 will also be allowed back into school, as will those in the senior phase of secondary school. Ms Sturgeon also said there could be some 'gradual easing' of the level 4 lockdown from the start of March. 'If our progress continues, then I am cautiously optimistic that, as more and more people get vaccinated and with the protection of some of the additional measures that I will cover shortly, we may be able to begin looking towards a careful and gradual easing around the start of March.' An update on possible easing will be given in two weeks, Ms Sturgeon said. Advertisement

Her husband Paul,35, added:' Everyone has to do their part now. '

One of the volunteers going door to door was Natalie Kirk who had travelled from her home in Guildford to walk the streets in the areas identified as having the South African strain.

She said:' I felt I wanted to play my part. We have all got to pull together.'

After more than an hour of knocking on doors she said they had yet to have anyone refuse to take a swab test kit.

But she said a number of people had not answered their door and they had been left a leaflet to explain that they would be called again later in the day.

Experts fear there could be hundreds more cases already in the UK because PHE only analyses one in 10 random positive samples and the strain cannot be spotted in standard PCR tests. All of the swabs confirmed to have Covid will be sent to labs for further testing.

Health officials are anxious not to let another Covid variant run rampant, after Britain struggled to get a grip on the Kent strain which sparked a devastating second wave that plunged England into its third lockdown at the start of January.

Like the Kent variant, the South African version carries the N501Y mutation which makes it far more transmissible than the original Covid strain. And it has additional mutations on its spike protein which scientists fear will make it difficult for the immune system to recognise, even in vaccinated people. But early tests have shown the current crop of vaccines still work against the variant but may be slightly less effective.

Ministers have already banned travel from South Africa and surrounding countries in response to the threat. In response to the ever-growing threat of dangerous new variants, the Government ordered mandatory hotel-quarantines for arrivals from 30 'red list' countries  including Portugal and South Africa.

The PCR test  considered the gold standard method worldwide  looks for three genes present on the original virus that came out of China, the S gene, N gene and ORF1ab. Health officials are able to spot the Kent strain with regular PCR because that variant is missing the S gene.

But the South African version is much harder to track because it shares all three genes with the original strain so PCR results cannot differentiate between the two, meaning researchers need to manually sequence each sample in a laboratory.

PHE sources claimed they were 'not expecting a surge in cases' because the strain is no more transmissible than the dominant Kent one currently plaguing the country, so it has no 'evolutionary edge' over it. Prime Minister Boris Johnson also said this morning he was 'confident' that all the vaccines the UK has ordered will 'provide a high degree of immunity and protection against all variants'.

And Mr Johnson said he was convinced lockdown was now working and bringing even the fast-spreading variants of the virus under control in Britain, with an internal report revealing ministers believe the outbreak is 'stabilising'.

But Labour said it was 'deeply worrying' that the South African strain appeared to be spreading in the community, claiming it 'shows the UK Government's quarantine system is not working'.

A man takes his own coronavirus test at a mobile swabbing centre in Walsall as testing continued in the West Midlands

Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, Labour's Shadow Home Secretary, said: 'This is deeply worrying. It shows the UK Government's quarantine system is not working with the country being exposed to dangerous strains of the virus and new cases now appearing.

People are pictured queuing outside a temporary test centre in Ealing, West London

'While door-to-door testing is welcome in areas where cases of the South African variant with no links to travel have been identified, how can the Home Secretary justify keeping our borders open to Covid, allowing around 21,000 people to arrive every day?

'Conservative MPs must vote with Labour today to secure our borders against Covid and help to prevent progress on the vaccine being undermined. The Government must also ensure that adequate isolation support is put in place for those required to self-isolate.'

Matt Hancock said it was 'on all of us' to contain the new South African variant within the community.

'It is not straightforward and as you say there may be further cases we don't know about yet and our genomic sequencing is in place to try to spot them,' he told a Downing Street press conference.

'The most important thing is that people in the postcode areas outlined need to take extra special precautions.

'It is absolutely vital that people in those areas minimise all social contact and get a test when the opportunity arises'.

Mr Hancock added that the Government contact tracing system now finds 95 per cent of contacts. 'It has built up to this very effective level,' he said.

In Woking, Surrey, a team of volunteers will hand deliver 9,000 PCR tests to homes and then collect them from doorsteps three hours later.

A spokesman Woking Borough Council said: 'Once the kits have been delivered the volunteers will return in about 3hours to collect them.'

Ealing Council in West London has asked all residents living and working in parts of the borough to get at Covid test as soon as possible.

A testing centre has been set up in a local car park and extra staff are to be deployed there from tomorrow to cope with an expected surge in demand.

Oxford/AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine IS effective for over 65s, say experts More evidence is emerging that the Oxford Covid vaccine works in older people, according to vaccine experts in the UK. Sir Munir Pirmohamed, boss of the Commission on Human Medicines, today said regulators had received extra information from Oxford University and AstraZeneca scientists to prove their jab was safe and effective for over-65s. The data, which is not yet publicly available, is coming now from same clinical trials in the UK and around the world that got it approved in the first place. They enrolled thousands more older people after the jab was green-lighted. European leaders have ruffled the vaccine-maker's feathers in recent weeks by claiming the vaccine doesn't work on older people and refusing to use it. In the same week that politicians were slinging mud at AstraZeneca for scaling back its deliveries, many European countries openly criticised the vaccine, with France's President Macron calling it 'quasi-ineffective'. Oxford scientists hit back against the claims, with Professor Andrew Pollard saying he didn't understand what Mr Macron's comment meant. And the team behind the ground-breaking vaccine said the idea that it didn't work had 'no basis'. Advertisement

A Council statement revealed that the South African variant was discovered in a resident following random sampling by national test and trace officials and that they were notified about it last week.

The Council also revealed that over the coming week, free home tests will be delivered to every household in the identified area. Residents of all ages will be asked to complete the test and hand it back to a collection service.

The impacted area includes approximately 5,500 households in the W7 and W13 postcode areas of the borough.

The Council is also planning to hold a public meeting for residents later this week.

An official told MailOnline at the testing centre which is located in the Dean Gardens Car Park that around 100 people had been tested over a two-hour period when news of the South African strain of the virus became public.

He added: 'We're going to have two teams for the rest of the week because we are expecting a lot of people. The first part of the day was very quiet but when news got out about the South African strain there was a huge rush for testing.'

Many residents were disappointed however, after arriving for a test only to discover that the temporary testing centre closed at 3pm.

Ali Kelly, 52 said: 'The Council have got us all in a panic about this South African strain and it would have made sense for the testing centre to stay open for longer.

'I came down here as soon as I heard the news because I wanted to get a test and put my mind at rest. I suppose I'll have to come back tomorrow but it's quite ridiculous that at a time like this, the testing centre is closed.'

Julian Bell, leader of Ealing Council said in a statement: 'I urge people living or working in the area with or without symptoms to get tested so that any others with this variant can be identified to protect them, their loved ones and the wider community.

'The government has told us that there is currently no evidence that this variant causes more severe illness or that the regulated vaccine would not protect against it.'

So far Pfizer and Moderna's jabs, of which the UK has ordered 57million doses, appear only slightly less effective against the South African variant, according to lab studies by the jab makers published last week.

Even with the slight reduction in efficacy, the research strongly suggests the vaccines will still be able to kill off the new strain before it can cause serious illness.

Researchers took blood samples from vaccinated patients and exposed them to an engineered virus with the worrying mutations found on the South African variant.

They found there was about a noticeable reduction in the production of antibodies, which are virus-fighting proteins made in the blood after vaccination or natural infection.

But, in a boost to the world's immunisation efforts, the team said the number of antibodies produced was still high enough to kill the mutant strain.

Clive Dix, chairman of the UK Vaccine Taskforce, said this morning scientists were helping to 'second guess' future mutations of coronavirus in order to create new potential vaccines.

Asked whether it was possible to produce a vaccine that was comprehensive at tackling new mutations, he told BBC Radio 4's Today: 'Yes, absolutely.

'The UK is properly at the forefront of surveying all of these variants.

'We have actually sequenced nearly 50% of all the virus that has been sequenced in this pandemic at the Sanger centre in Cambridge.

'Taking that data and having scientists look very seriously at what's emerging - where the mutations are occurring, what they might do to the protein - we can kind of second guess some mutations that haven't even occurred yet and we can go ahead and make those.

'And that's part of the collaboration - we'll make libraries of future vaccines, just small amounts, enough to then, if it does occur, do a quick clinical study to see that it works and then start manufacturing.'

Mr Dix added that studies of coronavirus would help the country and the world get 'ahead of the game' on vaccine-evading new variants.

Asked whether there could be a mutation that could escape the current vaccines on offer, he told Today: 'Of course - when it will occur and whether it will occur is one thing.

'That's what happened with flu, we get these pandemic threats with flu.

'We should learn from flu... I believe this virus will be very similar - it will last a long time, it will be travelling around the world in different places, it will be endemic in certain countries and we need to do that work, yes.

'I think there is the possibility but we will be ahead of the game.

'We're not going to wait for it to happen - we now have capabilities in the UK to be responsive and that capability won't just be for the use of the UK of course.

'Once we've done it, it will actually help the whole world because it will be part of that whole surveillance and reaction.'
A Phillipsburg man faces drug and weapons charges following an 8-week investigation into drug dealing, said Warren County Prosecutor James Pfeiffer.

Matthew Williams, 37, was arrested after authorities executed a search warrant Friday morning at his apartment on South Main Street, according to the prosecutor.

Authorities reportedly seized heroin, the anti-anxiety drug Xanax, marijuana and synthetic marijuana, as well as a loaded firearm and an imitation handgun.

Williams is charged with third-degree heroin distribution; third-degree heroin possession with intent to distribute; and single counts of second-degree possession of a weapon while committing a drug offense, second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, fourth-degree possession of an imitation firearm and possession of drug paraphernalia, a disorderly persons offense.

Upon conviction, the second-degree offenses carry a maximum 10 years in state prison, with up to five years on the third-degree offenses and up to 18 months on the fourth-degree charge. The disorderly count carries a maximum 180 days in jail.

Assisting Phillipsburg police in executing the warrant were New Jersey State Police, Pohatcong Township police, Hackettstown police, Washington Township police and the prosecutors office narcotics unit, according to the release.

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Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
A 24-year-old who quit her job to launch a robe business during lockdown has been left stunned after seeing Khloe Kardashian sporting her designs on Instagram while on a Turks and Caicos Island holiday.

Founder Maddie McNab, from Melbourne, only launched her brand Robed.Co on December 10, 2020 after noticing a 'gap in the market' for high-quality silk robes.

'It's such a surreal experience and I feel humbled knowing Khloe chose to support us; I was so excited after I found out and truly couldn't believe it,' Maddie told FEMAIL.

To gain the attraction of the celebrity, Maddie got in touch with Khloe's stylist Janelle Miller who said Khloe quickly became 'obsessed' with the chic gowns.

Khloe shared three images with her 129million Instagram followers, causing a spike in US sales for the small start-up business.

Founder Maddie McNab, from Melbourne, only launched her brand Robed.Co on December 10, 2020 after noticing a 'gap in the market' for high-quality silk robes

Reality television start Khloe Kardashian (pictured) shared three images with her 129 million Instagram followers wearing the sheer robe, causing a spike in US sales for the small start-up business

Maddie (pictured) was previously working for a retail company but quit her job to focus on the brand and had studied international business at university

Maddie originally had the product idea two years ago but didn't start working on the business until the Australian coronavirus lockdown in March last year.

'I realised no other business in Australia was dedicated to selling sheer robes made from organza silk,' she said.

'During lockdown I thought I may as well dive headfirst into starting the business because I had so much time on my hands.'

Maddie was previously working for a retail company but quit her job to focus on the brand and had studied international business at university.

In one of the three images shared on Instagram, Khloe is seen sunbathing on a deck chair wearing the robe beside her sister Kourtney (pictured)

'It's such a surreal experience and I feel humbled knowing Khloe chose to support us,' Maddie said (Khloe pictured wearing the robe)

The sleek design made from 100 per cent organza silk features elastic cuffs on the wrist, a front v neckline, French seam finish and a dropped shoulder

'During lockdown I thought I may as well dive headfirst into starting the business because I had so much time on my hands,' Maddie (pictured) said

PRODUCT DETAILS: 100% organza silk Fully adjustable waist band Elastic cuffs at wrist Front V neck line Dropped shoulder Extra length at back of robe French seam finish The robes are designed to be worn by all body types and are measured based on height Advertisement

WHY IS ORGANZA SILK EXPENSIVE? Clothing made from 100 per cent organza silk is expensive as the material is difficult to work with The material is lightweight and airy, making it an elegant fabric to wear It's difficult to decorate this type of fabric without causing any damage The Robed.co products are priced at $440 each Advertisement

The design and manufacturing process took months to complete as Maddie wanted to ensure the robes looked perfect, felt luxurious and are inclusive of all body types.

'When designing the robes, I had an image in mind of the look I wanted to achieve and knew organza silk would be the perfect material to use,' she said.

Maddie's two sisters are in the fashion industry while their dad is a businessmen, who all helped with the lead-up to the brand's launch.

The sleek design made from 100 per cent organza silk features elastic cuffs on the wrist, a front v neckline, French seam finish and a dropped shoulder.

'Since the fabric is so light, you feel like an elegant princess wearing the robe because the extra length flows in the wind as you walk,' Maddie said.

While the price is quite steep at $440, other robes made from the same high-quality material by alternative brands can cost as much as $2,000.

'For the price and the style, customers will receive a robe they can't get anywhere else,' she said.

The robes are designed to be worn by all body types and the sizing is based on height for ideal lengths

While the price is quite steep at $440, other robes made from the same material by alternative brands can cost as much as $2,000

The robes are designed to be worn by any body types and the sizing is based on height for ideal lengths.

'It's the drawstring waist that allows the product to be worn by women of any shape or size as it can be worn tight or loosely,' Maddie said.

The 'petite' size is perfect for those who are 167cm and below, the 'standard' size is for those between 170 to 177cm and the 'tall' size is for 180cm and above.

The robes are available in three colours - white, black and baby blue - and all are available on the Robes.Co website.

Since launching the business, Maddie admitted it has been challenging running the brand by herself and keeping up with orders, but couldn't specify the number of robes that have already sold.

'We only order a specific low number of robes at a time which will increase as we grow the business,' she said.

Maddie is excited to see what the future holds for the brand and will continue working with social media influencers to promote the stylish, comfortable products further.
A KADOMA man escaped death by a whisker after he was allegedly poisoned by his young wife.

Francis Khondanani, who is Development Trust of Zimbabwe Board member for Mashonaland West Province, reportedly had tea that was laced with poison by Tanyaradzwa Denhere, 24, who packed her things and is on the run after the act.

Khondanani and Denhere have been married for four years. Police in Kadoma are currently investigating the suspected food poisoning case under RRB number 4547203 and have since requested that Mr Khondanani be medically examined.

According to a letter addressed to ZRP Kadoma dated 24 January 2021 Kadoma General Hospital had approved that a tea sample that had been presented to them be taken to a private laboratory for analysis.

This serves to confirm that the above presented to us with a sample of tea. He suspects it might have been tempered with in an attempt to poison him, reads the letter.

Unfortunately we do not have the laboratory capacity to analyse the tea. We have suggested that the sample be taken to a private laboratory for analysis.

Khondanani said he had not yet recovered but had improved. I have been to Harare for medical checks and I am getting better though I have not fully recovered yet, he said.

The doctors are currently examining a sample of the tea I drank that day so we are waiting for results but meanwhile I have opened a case at Kadoma Central Police station.

He said his wife had made the tea for him and he did not consume anything on the day.

I dont know what came over Mai Noku. We have been together for four years and God blessed us with a daughter Nokutenda.

We were always happy, and recently we toured the countrys resorts from Nyanga, Kariba and even Bulawayo because thats what she loved. I took her places and she really looked happy to me, said Khondanani.

On Saturday 23 January, she said she was not feeling well in the morning. She literally fell into my arms and looked pale and was shivering and she asked me to hold her because she felt sick. She really looked scared and when I asked her she said hana yangu iri kurova. She insisted she was okay but I had to make sure she sat down until she felt better.

I later left the house without taking breakfast and told her I would eat during lunchtime but upon coming back I was shocked to find her busy with the house chores. I asked how she was feeling and she said she was very fit. She offered me a cup of tea and I took it before leaving for work.

When I was about to leave, Mai Noku akandimhanyira akati asi munonyara kukisser mukadzi wenyu here? I smiled back ndikati no ndinonyarei zvangu then she came closer to me and I kissed her cheek. This was the first time she did something like that but handina kuzviisa mumusoro. She stood by the gate waving at me kusvika mota yaenda, he said.

It did not take much time before I started having stomach cramps, by this time I had reached the office. I thought it was something minor but it got worse and I postponed my 2pm meeting.

I had to drink two litres of fresh milk trying to vomit but it didnt change. Ndaingorutsa mukaka wegawega and drove back home. I couldnt walk straight the pain was severe and sharp.

When I got home I found Mai Noku gone, all her clothes were not there. I had a running stomach and I am sure that saved me. I later managed to go to the hospital. H Metro
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Looks like Lackawanna County voters will have choices for sheriff.

In the May 18 primary election and in the Nov. 2 municipal election.

Sheriff Mark P. McAndrew, a Democrat, plans to seek a third term. He likely wont have opposition.

Glenn Capman, a former county deputy sheriff, and David Elliott, Scrantons former police chief, both Republicans, want to replace him.

Capman and McAndrew announced their candidacies on Facebook pages. One will win the Republican primary, meaning a challenger for McAndrew this fall.

McAndrew has won tough races before.

In May 2013, he won a three-man Democratic primary, beating former county detective Rob Mazzoni and county detective Nick DeSando. McAndrew had 12,368 votes, Mazzoni, 10,862; and DeSando, 9,223.

That November, McAndrew defeated longtime chief deputy sheriff Dominick Manetti, the Republican nominee, 27,900 to 17,132.

In 2017, McAndrew ran unopposed for the Democratic renomination, picked up the Republican nomination through write-in votes and won reelection unopposed.

Its unusual for a two-term incumbent row officer to face major challenges, but Capman and Elliott both see McAndrew as vulnerable for some reason.

One of the big things, in my opinion, is Im tired of politics. Im not a politician. I believe its time for the communities to start working together, Capman said Friday.

Capman, 47, a Throop resident, said he wants to start programs to train local police in the use of Tasers, offer training in handling guns and legal self-defense to people with concealed-carry permits and to raise money from businesses to pay for training deputy sheriffs who grew up in difficult backgrounds.

Capman and McAndrew have a history.

Capman resigned from the sheriffs office in September 2019 to take a job as a county corrections officer. That happened after McAndrew accused Capman of speaking to a television reporter about an active shooter training program for deputies without his permission.

The episode escalated with McAndrew denying Capman a promotion to sergeant and assigning him to midnight shifts. The case wound up before a Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board hearing examiner, who charged McAndrew with illegally retaliating against Capman. The examiner recommended the labor board order McAndrew to unconditionally offer Capman the sergeant promotion, reimburse him for sergeant back pay and rescind a verbal warning for job performance.

The full labor board sided with the examiner and ruled in Capmans favor last April.

Presumably, all that could come up during the race, but Capman said he wont criticize or attack Elliott or McAndrew unless they criticize him first.

They could (bring it up) if they want to. If they want to do it, let them do it, Capman said. If they criticize him, he will be ready to fire back, he said.

McAndrew, 55, wouldnt bite on the question of whether Capmans case will come up.

Im going to run on my record and Im going to run on what Ive done in the office, McAndrew said.

He said the sheriffs office smoothly handled the transition to the Lackawanna County Government Center, a new juvenile detention center and the new criminal justice center. The office has had no trouble assuming the serving of domestic relations warrants and the duties of protecting magisterial district judge offices. The office has done its job handling sheriffs real-estate sales, prisoner transports, criminal warrants and protection-from-abuse orders and many other duties, he said.

My staff is doing a very good job, McAndrew said.

If the race gets nasty, Ill be ready, he said.

Elliott said he doesnt expect a nasty race.

Glenn and I have known each other for a long time, Elliott said.

He doesnt know McAndrew as well, but he isnt planning nastiness if he wins the Republican nomination either, he said.

Elliott, 51, of Scranton, touted his more than 20 years as a Scranton police officer, the administrative experience gained in nine years as city police chief and three years as Marywood University security chief and his years as a criminal justice instructor at local colleges.

As police chief, he revamped operations to update technology, cut overtime and raised more money for police equipment through grants, he said. If elected, he will professionalize hiring, cut overtime, emphasize fiscal responsibility and give deputy sheriffs the best tools to work with, he said.

I think Im the best qualified, he said. Thats what Im going to run on.

Miscellanea

 Last week, we pointed out the Lackawanna County Court would add another former district attorney if Magisterial District Judge Paul J. Ware wins the upcoming judicial race, but we didnt realize thats also true of attorney Mary Walsh Dempsey, the former Scranton city councilwoman. Dempsey pointed out she served as an assistant district attorney in 2012 when Andy Jarbola was district attorney. She handled criminal matters related to the Scranton Housing Authority and worked with police on drug raids and community policing.

 Heard about a poll in the judicial race this week asking questions about possible candidate Mike Giannetta, the Scott Twp. supervisor. The poll also asked if the voter knew anything about Ware, Dempsey, attorney Patricia Grande Rieder, county solicitor Frank Ruggiero and District Attorney Mark Powell. Rieder said shes still considering running. Powell already has announced he will seek a second term as district attorney. Ruggiero, a rumored candidate last year, said he thought about running, but wont this time. If he runs for judge, it will be for the next opening, which would be in 2023, he said.

 Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-8, Moosic, hired a new campaign finance director, Blakely Wall, who was Midwest and South finance assistant at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, according to Politico.

BORYS KRAWCZENIUK, The Times-Tribune politics reporter, writes Random Notes. bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com; @BorysBlogTT on Twitter.
The only reason Sydneys been growing by 100,000 people per year over the best part of a decade is because of overseas migration, McCrindle says. Now with the borders closed, its really highlighting Sydneys challenge and that is that the locals are voting with their feet and moving elsewhere. Loading McCrindle says Sydneysiders were leaving because of unaffordable housing and congestion but hindered by the lack of job prospects outside the city. The pandemic changed the employment side of the equation for many people and McCrindle believes that shift is here to stay. The pandemic also prompted a move for Melanie Toner, 37, and her husband, Lachlan Hill, who were renting in Glebe and had bought a holiday house on acreage just outside Tumut north-west of the Snowy Mountains. Before the pandemic they were heading to Tumut every weekend, a four-hour drive away. When COVID-19 hit, they decided to give up the lease in the city and move to the country full time.

Toners husband, an engineer, got work with the Snowy Mountains hydroelectricity project, while Toner was able to do her job in online compliance from home. Toner says she is adjusting to country life but admits she misses Sydney more than her husband, especially not having the social interaction at work and with local markets and yoga classes paused for most of last year because of coronavirus. It was a bit more of a struggle for me but we do like it here, she says. The neighbours are lovely and friendly; theyre constantly dropping off eggs and vegetables and things. Its hard to get a feel of what its really like to live here because of COVID - I havent really got out into the community that much yet and I havent met anyone my own age. I imagined it will be lonely but so far it hasnt been so bad. McCrindle says interstate moves to places like the Sunshine Coast in Queensland have always been popular but intrastate moves within NSW are a rising trend. What last year showed was that we are in a federation of states and those state borders, while we didnt give them much consideration for the last century, can actually hold substantial and material impact for people, McCrindle says.

Loading The influx of cityslickers can be challenging for those already living in regional towns. Aleta Bates from the Sunshine Coast says the situation with Sydneysiders and Melburnians moving to the region and pricing out locals is at crisis levels. We have nowhere to go if we cant get a rental, she says. Its not like we can pop on down to Sydney or Melbourne and grab an empty rental thats been left as a result of this mass exodus. Elizabeth, 28, from Bathurst says people are struggling in the Central West too.

There was a rental crisis before COVID, but now its near impossible for locals to find a rental, says Elizabeth, who requested her last name be withheld. There are 15-plus applicants and those moving from Sydney are prepared to pay extra dollars on already overpriced rentals. There are so many people who are struggling at the moment. Elizabeth says she was still living at home because landlords would not accept someone with a casual job and she had heard of single parents living out of suitcases in hotels with their children. For many people, hybrid working between home and the office has made a move within easy reach of Sydney more appealing, making it more viable to live in the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast, Illawarra or Southern Highlands. In a sense, these people are not divorcing Sydney, theyre just realigning the relationship, McCrindle says. Theyre not going to totally cut all ties, theyre looking to set up their life within a connection point of Sydney. Digital strategist Joanne Jacobs, 49, moved from Lavender Bay to Leura in September and plans to commute to Sydney about once a fortnight to visit clients.

When the pandemic hit, she and her business partner spent three months working from home, and ultimately decided they no longer wanted to keep their office in Surry Hills. Jacobs then acted on her long-held desire to move to the Blue Mountains for the cooler climate and natural beauty. Its been the best decision, I absolutely love it, she says. Ive cut my cost of living by about a third, its an absolutely gorgeous place to be and its only two hours on the train so its actually commutable if I need to come into Sydney for a meeting. McCrindle says research from the National Sea Change Taskforce more than 10 years ago suggests one in five people who move from the city to the regions return within five years. Nicola Heath and her husband moved from Stanmore in the inner west to Adamstown in Newcastle in 2016 with two young children, and now have a third child.

Nicola Heath and her husband Paul moved from Stanmore to Newcastle several years ago and have noticed an influx of Sydneysiders recently. Credit: Heath made the decision to work as a freelance writer to enable the move, while her husband works at the hospital. She says there are an increasing number of Sydneysiders moving to Newcastle for the affordability and lifestyle benefits. At her childrens primary school, the school has grown from two kindergarten classes when her eldest daughter started two years ago to three-and-a-half this year. Some things have worked out as expected and some havent - she loves the lifestyle and being close to the beach but is yet to fulfil her dream of home ownership because of rising prices in Newcastle. Theres loads I miss about Sydney but having young children often meant that I couldnt enjoy Sydney in a way that I could before kids, Heath says. I miss public transport, but not the traffic, and I miss the diversity.

Corinne Podger, in her 50s, moved to Mittagong for family reasons in 2018. Until last year her work as a media trainer took her all over the world, but since COVID-19 she has only left the Southern Highlands five times. Corinne Podger says Mittagong is beautiful but she would prefer to live closer to a big city. Credit:Rhett Wyman Podger does not drive and she finds that really limiting in a country town, the lack of street lights around her house curbs her desire to go out at night, and she finds it challenging not having access to cultural activities at the same level as when she lived in Sydney, Melbourne or London. Its not to say that there isnt a vibrant cultural scene in the Southern Highlands but its not the Opera House, its not Hamer Hall, Podger says. Ultimately Podger would like to move to within an hour of either Sydney or Melbourne.

Melanie Tait, 40, from Marrickville is one of those who returned. She moved to Hobart in 2014 for work and moved back in 2018. Melanie Tait moved to Hobart for several years but was drawn back to Sydney. Credit:Steven Siewert She is glad she spent the pandemic year in Sydney, within easy access to her parents and family, rather than dealing with state border closures. I really loved it there but ultimately found it very lonely so I came home, Tait says. I made nice friends but it just wasnt enough. I really wish it had been different as I love Hobart. When I got back to Sydney I felt like the lights had been switched back on.
The important thing, the province of Manitobas minister of health seems inclined to suggest, is not to dwell on the past.

The important thing, the province of Manitobas minister of health seems inclined to suggest, is not to dwell on the past.

When asked directly  twice  on Thursday how much accountability the province bears for the shocking COVID-19 calamity that claimed the lives of 56 residents of Maples Long Term Care Home, Health Minister Heather Stefanson would only say the provincial governments focus is on implementing the 17 recommendations included in an external review of the tragedy.

Maples care home critically understaffed as it battled Manitoba's worst outbreak Click to Expand Speaking via livestream, Dr. Lynn Stevenson said the Maples Long Term Care Home was severely short-staffed and unprepared to care for extremely ill seniors during an intense COVID-19 outbreak. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press) Posted: 3:16 PM Feb. 4, 2021 Maples Long Term Care Home was severely short-staffed and unprepared to care for extremely ill seniors during an intense COVID-19 outbreak  in which 56 residents died  while appeals for help were initially unheeded, an external review has concluded. Lynn Stevenson, a former associate deputy minister in the B.C. Ministry of Health and registered nurse, outlined the findings of her review into Manitobas largest and deadliest personal care home outbreak on Thursday. Read Full Story

"I think what we need to do is move forward here," Ms. Stefanson asserted, while twice sidestepping questions about the level of responsibility the provinces policies, practices and supports related to long-term care might bear for the Maples outbreak and its consequences.

What happens in the long-term care sector in the future will be of crucial importance to the thousands of families who rely on the services provided by care-home operators. The recommendations, prepared as part of the investigative report by Lynn Stevenson, a registered nurse and former associate deputy minister in the B.C. ministry of health, provide a practical framework that should assure Manitobans that the events that led to the provinces most deadly care-home outbreak will not be repeated.

The necessary steps will offer comfort to current and future residents of the Maples facility and other care homes. They do not, however, provide the answers and accountability that are demanded and deserved by the families of those who died as a result of the Maples outbreak. And in that regard, Ms. Stefansons evasion of those direct questions represents an abrogation of responsibility that is lamentably in keeping with the provincial governments track record of responses during the current global pandemic.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Minister of Health and Seniors Care Heather Stefanson

As Ms. Stefanson is new to the health portfolio, she might not yet have at-the-ready answers to the myriad questions related to COVID-19s impact on seniors care. But she also speaks for the government, whose record on protecting Manitoba care homes from tragedies presaged by outbreaks in Quebec and Ontario pretty much speaks for itself.

Her predecessor on the health file is remembered for having referred to pandemic-related deaths in care homes as "regrettable but... unavoidable," and for chastising physicians who criticized the provinces pandemic response by questioning their motives and insisting that "the people in charge have got this"  just days before upward-spiralling case counts forced the province to implement code-red restrictions.

In that context, and the context of scathing criticism of for-profit care-home operator Revera  which owns Maples  for COVID-19-related failures and fatalities in numerous jurisdictions across the country, perhaps a purely-forward focus is not what the health minister should be prescribing. A frank public assessment of failures and responsibility is a necessary element of the process that will also include Ms. Stefansons promised implementation of the reports 17 recommendations.

A frank public assessment of failures and responsibility is a necessary element of the process that will also include Ms. Stefansons promised implementation of the reports 17 recommendations.

Not surprising were the reactions of opposition-party leaders Wab Kinew ("deeply troubling") and Dougald Lamont ("shameful") to the report. Of greater concern and relevance is the fact family members of some who died in Maples compromised care were also quick to reject its findings.

"To have Stevenson... not hold this government responsible for that disaster... Stevensons report, I do not trust it," said Eddie Calisto-Tavares, whose 88-year-old father died Nov. 11, days after the horrific conditions at Maples were publicly revealed by paramedics.

For this family and so many others that suffered similar unfathomable losses, the suggestion that "what we need to do is move forward" must be particularly difficult to absorb.
In rallies since the takeover, hundreds of students and teachers took to Myanmar's streets to demand the military hand power back to elected politicians

Yangon: Hundreds of members of Myanmar's deposed ruling party declared themselves Friday to be the sole legitimate representatives of the people and asked for international recognition as the country's government, as protests against the military takeover swelled.

Nearly 300 politicians from ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party announced they had named a committee to carry out the functions of Parliament, according to a National League for Democracy party Facebook page.

In a letter to the United Nations and the international community posted on social media, the party also asked for targeted sanctions and for businesses to cut ties with the military, which has vast lucrative holdings.

The party promised to act in the best interests of our people and in the very essence of democracy.

The lawmakers had been set to take their seats Monday in a new session of Parliament, when the military announced it was taking power for a year and detained them, though most have since been released. It was not clear what, if any, practical effect the lawmakers' declaration would have. Several countries have already denounced the coup, and the US has threatened new sanctions.

Resistance has been gathering steam ever since the takeover - seen internationally as a shocking setback in the Southeast Asian country, which had been making significant, if uneven progress, toward democracy after decades of military rule. Military pushback is ramping up as well, and the latest politician detained was Win Htein, a senior member of Suu Kyi's party. Suu Kyi and President Win Myint are also under house arrest - and have been charged with minor offenses, seen by many as merely providing a legal veneer for their detention.

In the largest rallies since the takeover, hundreds of students and teachers took to Myanmar's streets Friday to demand the military hand power back to elected politicians. Demonstrations spread to several parts of the country, even in the tightly controlled capital.

Opposition to the coup began initially with people banging pots and pans outside their windows in Yangon, the country's largest city - under the cover of darkness each evening to avoid being targeted. But now people are being more vocal and visible, and students and medical workers have led the charge.

About 400 protesters in total rallied at two universities in Yangon, some flashing a three-fingered salute, a sign of resistance borrowed from The Hunger Games movies, that they adopted from anti-government protesters in neighboring Thailand. They chanted Long live Mother Suu - a reference to Suu Kyi - and We don''t want military dictatorship.

We will never be together with them, lecturer Dr. Nwe Thazin said of the military at a protest at the Yangon University of Education. We want that kind of government to collapse as soon as possible.

At the city's Dagon University, meanwhile, many carried papers printed with images of red ribbons - the symbol of the civil disobedience campaign that activists and Suu Kyi's party has called for.

I believe we will have to lead this movement, said student Min Han Htet. All the people, including the students, will have to bring down the military junta. We will have to make sure that juntas never appear again in the next generation.

There was also at least one demonstration Friday in Naypyitaw - highly unusual for the city, which was purpose-built under the previous military government, has a heavy military presence and lacks the tradition of protest of the former capital, Yangon. Medical staff at the city's biggest hospital gathered behind a big banner condemning the coup. Medical personnel have been at the forefront of the resistance.

Another protest was held in Myanmar's southern Tanintharyi Region, where about 50 chanting people marched, reported the online news agency Dawei Watch.

The military has tried to quash the Opposition with selective arrests and by attempting to block Facebook to prevent users from organizing demonstrations. The blocking of Facebook has been only partially successful but is still a blow in a country where it is the primary tool for accessing information on the internet for most people since traditional media is state-controlled or self-censored.

The military''s takeover Monday began with the detention of senior government officials, including Suu Kyi. She is healthy and remains under house arrest at her official residence in the capital, Naypyitaw, party spokesman Kyi Toe said.

Win Htein, Suu Kyi's longtime confidant, meanwhile, was taken from his home in Yangon to Nay Pyi Taw, on Friday, according to Kyi Toe.

The 79-year-old had publicly called for civil disobedience to oppose the coup. He told Britain''s BBC radio in a phone call early Friday that he was being arrested for sedition, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

According to Myanmar''s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 134 officials or lawmakers and 18 civil society activists were detained by the military in connection with its takeover, though some have already been released.

The UN Security Council, in its first statement on the matter, stressed the need to uphold democratic institutions and processes, refrain from violence, and fully respect human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law. While the US and others have described the military''s actions as a coup, the Security Council''s unanimous statement did not.

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Bahrain welcome Bidens commitment to Saudi defense and addressing Iranian threats against it

Bahrain welcome Bidens commitment to Saudi defense and addressing Iranian threats against it

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The terming of Iran as a direct threat to Saudi Arabias sovereignty by US President Joe Biden was welcomed by Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

President Bidens speech was historic, said Saudi Arabias Foreign Affairs Minister Adel Al Jubeir.

We are looking forward to working with our friends in the US to end conflicts and confront challenges, as we have for over seven decades, Al Jubeir said on his official Twitter account.

The US President identifying the threats posed by Iran in the region had said, Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks, UAV (drone) strikes and other threats from Iranian-supplied forces in multiple countries. We will continue to support and help Saudi Arabia defend its sovereignty and its territorial integrity and its people.

The speech shows Joe Bidens commitment to cooperate with Saudi Arabia to confront the threats against it, said the Foreign Ministry of Bahrain in a statement.

Bahrain also welcomed the United States backing to resolve the Yemeni crisis through diplomatic means.

On this note, the Kingdom welcomed the appointment of Tim Lenderking as the US envoy to Yemen.

Biden had named veteran US diplomat Timothy Lenderking as the US special envoy for Yemen in a bid to step up American diplomacy to end the war in Yemen.

Bahrain also hailed the steps taken by Saudi Arabia to enhance the chances of reaching a political solution to the Yemeni crisis.
BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- By playing the trick of a so-called diplomatic breakthrough, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority in Taiwan will only disgrace itself and will be doomed to fail, a Chinese mainland spokesperson said Friday.

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remarks in response to the latest announcement by the government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, which terminated the establishment of a "Taiwan office" in Guyana.

The DPP authority earlier promoted its recent move to establish an office in Guyana, calling it a "diplomatic breakthrough."

"We always oppose China's Taiwan region developing any official ties with countries that have diplomatic relations with us," said Ma.
A fugitive wanted for murder and several other charges has been added to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List.

A cash reward of up to $5,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest and capture of 20-year-old Marques Jujuan Thompson. He is described as 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds.

Thompson is wanted for murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm, battery, stalking/intimidation and a probation violation, according to the announcement from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Authorities have been searching for Thompson since August 2020 when he violated his probation and left his last known address in Texarkana. Since then, he is suspected of being involved in multiple shootings, including one fatal shooting on Jan. 12 in Texarkana. Thompson also has ties to the Dallas area.

The cash reward is funded by the Texas Crime Stoppers, which receives funding from the Governors Criminal Justice Division.

The Crime Stoppers hotline is 1(800)252-8477. Tips can also be submitted online at https://www.dps.texas.gov/Texas10MostWanted/MostWanted by clicking on links under the photos of those listed. Those interested can also submit tips via Facebook on the @texas10mostwanted page by clicking the link in the pages about section.

All tips are anonymous regardless of how theyre submitted. Those who give tips will be provided with a tip number instead of having to use their name.

DPS urges people not to try to apprehend the fugitives as theyre considered armed and dangerous.
".

Sudan warned Ethiopia Saturday against going ahead with the second phase of filling its mega dam on the Blue Nile, saying it would pose a "direct threat to Sudanese national security

"If Ethiopia goes ahead with filling the renaissance dam next July, this will be a direct threat to our national security," Sudan's Water Minister Yasser Abbas told AFP in an interview in the capital Khartoum.

"It will also threaten the lives of half the population in central Sudan, as well as irrigation water for agricultural projects and power generation from (Sudan's) Roseires Dam."

Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia have been locked in inconclusive talks for nearly a decade over the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, after Addis Ababa broke ground on the project in 2011.

Ethiopia, which says it has already reached its first-year target for filling the dam's reservoir, has recently signalled it would proceed with the filling regardless of whether a deal was struck.

Khartoum hopes the dam will regulate annual flooding, but fears that its own dams, including the Roseires and Merowe, would be harmed if no agreement is reached.

"It will be impossible to operate the Roseires Dam without a binding agreement and daily exchange of information on the amount of water flowing from the renaissance dam," Abbas said.

Without a deal, the minister added, the "Merowe Dam will also lose 30 percent of the electric energy it generates and drinking water stations will be affected".

Sudan has suggested mediation by the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union and the United States to help break the impasse.

The latest three-way talks were held last month in the presence of observers from the African Union and European Union, but failed to make headway.

Relations between Addis Ababa and Khartoum have been sour in recent weeks following tensions over the Al-Fashaqa border region, where Ethiopian farmers cultivate fertile land claimed by Sudan.

The Nile, the world's longest river, is a lifeline supplying both water and electricity to the 10 countries it traverses.

Its main tributaries, the White and Blue Nile, converge in Khartoum before flowing north through Egypt to drain into the Mediterranean Sea.

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Palestinians search for bodies after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City in 2014 - FINBARR O'REILLY /Reuters

The International Criminal Court on Friday night ruled that it had jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories, in a landmark decision that opens the door to war crime investigations against Israeli soldiers.

After months of deliberation, senior judges announced that the court had jurisdiction over "the territories occupied by Israel since 1967," referring to Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The decision may also lead to a probe into crimes allegedly committed by Palestinian terrorists, such as the Islamist group Hamas.

The ruling is a hammer blow to the Israeli government, which has argued vehemently that the court does not have jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories because they are not a sovereign state.

But it is a major coup for Palestinian leaders, who have led an international campaign demanding that Israeli soldiers are investigated for alleged war crimes, in particular those said to have been committed in Gaza from 2014 onwards.

Judges said their decision was based on jurisdictional rules in the court's founding documents, such as the Rome Statute, and insisted it was not part of an attempt to rebrand the Palestinian territories as a state.

The move to investigate alleged war crimes in the Palestinian territories was brought by Fatou Bensouda, the court's chief prosecutor, who last year said there was a "reasonable basis" to begin legal proceedings.

She then asked ICC judges to rule on whether the situation fell under the court's jurisdiction, before a formal investigation would be opened - and on Friday the judges ruled in her favour.

Ms Bensouda has become a controversial figure in Israel due to what is perceived as her relentless pursuit of alleged war criminals in the Israel Defence Forces. Most Israeli citizens have served in the armed forces and feel personally targeted by the campaign for a war crimes probe.

Israeli media has branded the Gambian-born prosecutor as the country's public enemy number one, while Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu once accused her of pure antisemitism.

Story continues

Ms Bensouda vehemently denies the antisemitism charge, and insists that the court pursues its work with the utmost independence, objectivity, fairness and professional integrity.

Human rights groups and the Palestinians say an international legal case is long overdue, in particular over the Gaza war in 2014 where more than 1,400 Palestinian civilians died according to the United Nations.

Responding to the news on Friday, Mr Netanyahu accused the ICC of behaving like a "political body" rather than a " judicial institution," and claimed that the decision undermined the "right of democracies to defend themselves against terrorism".

Gabi Ashkenazi, the Israeli foreign minister, added: "The ICC has no jurisdiction to deliberate the Palestinian case. The State of Israel is a robust democracy with an independent and effective legal system that is deeply respected all over the world.

"The judges decision rewards Palestinian terrorism, as well as the refusal of the Palestinian Authority to return to direct negotiations with Israel, and will further polarize both sides."

The US state department appeared to back Mr Netanyahu in the row last night, warning of "serious concerns" and said it was conducting a review into the decision.

In a statement, the Palestinian foreign ministry hailed the decision as a "historic day for the principles of accountability."

Mohammed Shtayyeh, the Palestinian prime minister, said it was "a victory for justice, humanity, the values of truth, fairness, freedom and for the blood of the victims and their families."

Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas official, described the decision as "an important development that contributes in protecting the Palestinian people."
Posted Friday, February 5, 2021 5:22 pm

After the South Lewis County Airport was officially added to a state shortlist for potential expansion, Toledo residents ratcheted up the pressure for county commissioners to publicly voice their opposition.

In a chaotic meeting held by Citizens for Responsible Aviation in Toledo on Wednesday, Commissioner Gary Stamper fielded a barrage of questions and criticism.

Stamper stuck to his messaging that the small airport has no chance of being picked by the Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission (CACC), and that keeping its name in the running could instead free up funding for smaller projects. But when he said he wanted to wait until after CACCs meeting later this month before making any decisions, Stamper was met with a chorus of, why wait?

I would actually like to hear the information, Stamper said.

Residents pleaded with Stamper, insisting that the risk is too high and that major expansion would ruin the rural area. Later that night, in a letter to commissioners that echoed many of the concerns raised during the meeting, Toledo resident Scott Seroshek argued that expansion would lead to pollution, crime and traffic, and that many residents would pack up and leave.

Do you think anybody lives in Lewis County because they want any of those big city, urban problems? This is clearly a case of profiting by those not directly impacted, he wrote. If you have any respect for the residents in the county you represent, now is the time to publicly remove endorsement from the Toledo airport expansion.

According to CACC, any airport selected to support Sea-Tac-level traffic would require up to 4,600 acres of land. And even though the CACC is also looking at smaller airports to provide supplemental support, those would also require 1,000-2,000 acres.

Well, Toledo has 95 acres. So first off, its not a possibility, Stamper told the crowd. He noted that the county is interested in getting funding to add hangars or enhance security at the airport. There is quite a bit of money out there for airports. So we felt like this is a good way to leverage some funding.

CACC has also noted that the shortlist of six locations is still preliminary, since public engagement was largely stifled by the pandemic. But residents such as Joh Jones are still wary, questioning why Toledos airport would be on such a small list if there wasnt a significant chance of it being selected.

When Stamper told residents that he only knows what the public knows, he was met with more criticism from residents arguing he should actively seek out information given the potentially major impacts expansion could have in his district.

All Im asking for is clear, accurate, concise information so that people can be informed and either support or not support, resident Larry Davidson said.

But the commissioner described the process as still in its early stages. Earlier that day, the two newly-elected county commissioners Sean Swope and Lindsey Pollock received their first official update on the situation. CACC has also extended its deadline for choosing a location and developing a plan from 2022 to 2024.

One resident, Michael Messmore, voiced support for controlled expansion of the airport, saying it would make it easier for family members to visit.

He was quickly drowned out by dissenting voices.
After months of battling a very expensive pandemic, regional health authorities in the province have received more than $60 million to reimburse them for unexpected costs.

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After months of battling a very expensive pandemic, regional health authorities in the province have received more than $60 million to reimburse them for unexpected costs.

Health and Seniors Care Minister Health Stefanson made the announcement Friday.

Last summer, the province committed to reimburse health authorities for COVID-related expenditures, including costs to incremental staffing, enhanced cleaning procedures and additional supplies and equipment, among others.

The province disbursed the funds as follows:

 Interlake-Eastern: $2,700,000

 Prairie Mountain Health (PMH): $3,250,000

 Northern: $2,150,000

 Southern Health-Sante Sud: $1,700,000

 Winnipeg: $21,718,000

 Shared Health: $28,194,000

 CancerCare Manitoba: $875,000

"Prairie Mountain Health has been tracking incremental costs related to COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic and submitting reports to Manitoba Health and Seniors Care on a monthly basis. We have received some funding relative to the first two quarters of the 2020/2021 fiscal year," stated Prairie Mountain Health chief executive officer Penny Gilson in an email to the Sun.

"Incremental costs incurred in that period of time are mainly for salaries to support replacement of staff that are off sick or required to self-isolate due to having symptoms, as well as for staff resources dedicated to screening staff and visitors coming in to our facilities, COVID-19 testing and contact tracing."

Gilson said there were also incremental costs incurred for supplies and equipment related to additional cleaning requirements, physical distancing measures, starting up testing sites and preparing for surge capacity and potential outbreaks.

That funding covers the two quarters, and Stefansons news release stated funding will also be provided for the remaining two quarters later this year.

"I would like to thank the regional health authorities for leading the health system through these challenging times," Stefanson stated.

"We appreciate their dedication and service, and are pleased to provide this funding to ensure they can continue to operate to the highest standard."

 mletourneau@brandonsun.com

 Michele LeTourneau covers Indigenous matters for The Brandon Sun under the Local Journalism Initiative, a federally funded program that supports the creation of original civic journalism.
Through this fortnightly column, Tales From TJ Road, Bachi Karkaria tells the story of Mumbai's metromorphosis

Read more columns in this series here.

***

The Nagrani of TJ Road

Like all Mumbai, this columns eponymous road is home to everybody, caste and class no bar; celebration baar-baar. As for creed, Ive already mentioned the mandirs, mosques, church, even a makeshift gurdwara. But you aint seen nothin yet.

The southern end of TJ Road is pinned with a rare elegant building, all cascading bougainvillea and pointed-arch windows. When it was nearing completion in 2011, Id thought that, amidst the ever-changing shops, and never-moving kabadi-wallas, we were finally getting a boutique-ful arcade. Instead, it turned out to be the centre of a cult with a predominantly lower middle-class following. That of Gururani Nargis Nagkanya Yogini and Jimmy Nagputra Yogiraj, born Parsi but who claim to be the incarnations of Parvati and Shiva, in their snake avatar. Devotees refer to them as Divya Jyoti, Divine Lights.

The hoarding at the TJ Road centre announces a grand Janmotsav for Jimmy Nagputra Yogiraj tomorrow, 7 February. I thought I would slip in and feel the fervour. Access denied! Ravi, their tight-lipped spokesman and the only one authorised to give out information, reminded me that this celebration was virtual, and only regular darshanees could be given the link. Nor would he give the exact number of followers, must be 5-6,000.

Before lockdown, I would see the orderly throngs streaming into the hall, all distinctively  and somewhat incongruously  dressed. Men in pale, long-sleeved shirts, dark trousers, ties complete with tie pin, and the Parsi maroon velvet prayer caps. The women in shiny nylon saris, their heads covered in an old-fashioned, pinned back manner with pallav or scarf. All (including the centres watchmen) wear their faith upon their chest, a badge embossed with hologram images of the duo in their chosen nagshakti form.

Gururani Nargis has not been seen of late, though Ravi stoutly demolished my assumption that she had passed into more ethereal divinity. According to their advertorials in the Parsi Times, Shri Paak Gururani Nargis Yogini laid the foundation of a Divine mission over 60 years ago for the welfare of mankind on earth Shri Paak Jimmy Yogirajs sacrifice has been in equal measure. Btw, Paak is the honorific that Parsis use for Ahura Mazda and His prophet, Zarathushtra.

In her less-exalted past, Nargis reportedly worked at the Railways District Controller of Stores in Mahalaxmi. Her spiritual transformation began after a colleague reportedly shattered her heart. She acquired enough prowess in astrology for people to start believing that she had a higher connection. Even less is known about her consort, other than that his full name is Jimmy Bharucha, and that he used to live at Parels AH Wadia Baug till he moved to the cults first darbar at Ulhasnagar, 52 km from Mumbai. Naturally, he too comes with a mythology. In a rather sacrilegious echo to that of Zarathushtra, the cults 2005 journal wrote that the divine child did not cry at the time of his birth. Instead, With his eyes closed for a considerably long time SHRI PAAK JIMMY (YOGIRAJ) had a smile on HIS face.

One doesnt know when and how he stepped up to his ordained role, but the duo soon began to attract a sizable constituency. Devotees believe that the couples divine powers help their followers overcome deadly diseases, financial challenges, family conflicts, mental illnesses, everything. Not many seem interested in the stated higher mission, the salvation of the soul.

A long-time disciple was quoted as saying If you simply come for a darshan of the Divine Lights with an open mind, your work will be doneWhether you are in the hall or standing at the edge of the ground, you will be equally blessed by their holy vibrations.

Even before social distancing, I doubt if darshans at the newish TJ Road centre had the drama of the Ulhasnagar darbar, where, says Ravi occasional darshans continue. There, devotees would start arriving past 10 pm, waiting patiently in prayer for the Divine Lights, who came when they wanted. Reportedly it was all so reverentially silent that, despite the multitudes camping out in the open in the thick of the night, no one in that industrial town seemed to mind. At TJ Road, the crowd would spill over from the huge hall into the compound, again with no protest. How could anyone complain about such subdued piety considering that this neighbourhood is notorious for year-round amplified sound in the garb of varied devotion?

When the divine duo did arrive  with a motorcycle escort  the chants would rise: Jai Sri Jimmy Nagputra Yogiraj, Jai Sri Gururani Nagkanya Yogini. They would make their way through the prostrated crowd, Gururani in a maxi with dazzling jewelry, Sri Jimmy in sparkling robe. The crowning glory for both was, well, crowns. Once enthroned on the dais, a live orchestra would strike up for devotional songs. Till ill health stopped him, it was led by Ram Laxman, composer for the likes of Maine Pyar Kiya and Hum Aapke Hain Koun! For true belief, there must be a suspension of disbelief.

So, you see, TJ Road hides much beneath its mundane clamour of honks, hawkers and the hum of aspiration.
President of the United States, Joe Biden, on February 5, sent his first message to the African Union ahead of the 34th summit of leaders later this month.



Biden touched on a number of issues ranging from the US commitment to reengage with its international partners in a multilateral manner.



He spoke about cooperation in the areas of diplomacy, security and climate stressing that under his administration, America will be a partner, in solidarity, support and mutual respect.



"We believe in the nations of Africa and the continent-wide spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation, he added.



Transcript: Bidens message to the African Union



Hello everyone,



I am honoured to send the best wishes of the people of the United States in advance of the 34th African Union summit. This past year has showed us how interconnected the world is and how our fates are bound together.



That is why my administration is committed to rebuilding our partnerships around the world and reengaging with international institutions like the African Union.



We must all work together to advance our shared vision of a better future. A future that advances growth and investment, that advances prosperity for all our nations.



A future that advances lives of peace and security for all our citizens. A future committed to investing in our democratic institutions and promoting the human rights of all people, women and girls, LGBTQ individuals and peoplewith disabilities and people of every ethnic background, religion and heritage.



To reach this future, we also must confront the serious challenges that we face. That includes investing more in globval health, defeating COVID-19 and working to prevent, detect and respond to future health crises, and partnering with the Africa CDC and other institutions to advance health security.



Raising our climate ambitions and ensuring that developing nations can mitigate and adapt to climate impacts that are already causing pain.



And engaging in sustained diplomacy in connection with the African Union to address conflicts that are costing lives all across the African continent.



None of this going to be easy, but the United States stands now to be your partner, in solidarity, support and mutual respect. We believe in the nations of Africa and the continent-wide spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation.



And through the challenges ahead, although they are great, there is no doubt that our nations, our people  the African Union, we are up to this task. I hope I can be with you next time in person, I want to thank you though. Thank you and may God bless you all.









The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to working with the African Union to advance our shared vision of a better future.



Watch President Bidens Message to African Union Summit Participants: pic.twitter.com/tXFX4Tp9PD

 The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 5, 2021

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.

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Mr. Peanut is back to his old self, er, shell.

And yes, his trademark monocle, top hat and cane are back as well.

Planters Peanuts, founded in 1906 in Wilkes-Barre, has revived its iconic mascot, which was killed off around this time last year and replaced by Baby Nut.

The company recently revealed Mr. Peanuts return in a How it started. How its going. meme that is currently popular online, showing a photo of Baby Nut in Feb. 2020 next to a picture of the resurrected Mr. Peanut today.

Local businessman Thom Greco, an avid Planters Peanut memorabilia collector who is trying to bring a museum to Mr. Peanuts birthplace, said he always believed Mr. Peanut would be back and was happy to hear the news.

We thought that was going to happen, Greco said. In our opinion, Baby Nut was brought along to give attention to Planters Peanuts to a younger generation.

Greco said he recently purchased a significant amount of Planters memorabilia  including an antique peanut roaster with Mr. Peanut sitting on top  during an auction in Alabama following the death of one of the best known Peanut Pals, a group dedicated to Planters memorabilia.

He hopes to one day showcase the items in a visitor center and museum in Wilkes-Barre, which remained Planters home in a South Main Street building until 1961.

The more the city embraces Planters Peanuts, the better, Greco said.

In a commercial prior to last years Super Bowl, Planters killed off its beloved mascot in a fiery crash of his NUTmobile.

The tragic death of one of the worlds most recognizable brand characters was designed to build anticipation for Planters $5.6 million Super Bowl ad of Mr. Peanuts funeral  attended by a host of other notable company mascots, such as the Kooll Aid Man and Mr. Clean. At the funeral, a tear from Kool Aid Man dropped on Mr. Peanuts grave. Baby Nut soon sprouted up.

Instead of spending that kind of money again on a Super Bowl ad, Planters this year is donating $5 million to reward people who have gone A Nut Above.

This year, instead of spending $5 million dropping me off a cliff again  please dont  Im spending it on the people who helped make the world a little less nutty, Planters wrote on Mr. Peanuts Twitter feed.

The return of Mr. Peanut is the mascots fourth transformation in a year. Within seven months of the Super Bowl, Baby Nut became Peanut Junior  a 21-year-old adult nut, minus Mr. Peanuts famous top hat, monocle and cane. In December, the nut transformed again into a 50-year-old named Bartholomew Richard Fitzgerald-Smythe, or Bart for short.

Through it all, the mascot retained the @MrPeanut handle on Twitter.

Last week, Planters hinted at a return to the traditional Mr. Peanut by tweeting Found my monocle. See you soon, accompanied by a video that said Hes back with a bang. On Wednesday, the new and improved Mr. Peanut was revealed.

The return of the original Mr. Peanut comes at a time when Planters parent company Kraft Heinz is in talks to sell Planters to Hormel Foods Group for $3 billion.
Social media platform, Twitter, on February 6 condemned Myanmars move to block access to its platform, days after a state of emergency was announced. While speaking to TechCrunch, a spokesperson for the platform said that they are deeply concerned about the order to block internet services. The suspension of the microblogging website undermines the public conversation and the rights of people to make their voices heard, the spokesperson said. They also added that Twitter will continue to advocate to end destructive government-led shutdowns.

In the name of public interest and state stability after blocking Facebook, the Myanmar Army had further expanded its internet crackdown and blocked Twitter as well as Instagram days after seizing power in a coup. On February 4, the new military government blocked access to Facebook as resistance to Monday's coup surged amid calls for civil disobedience to protest the ousting of the elected civilian government and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar Ministry of Transport and Communications ordered internet service providers and mobile networks in the country to block Twitter and Instagram, on Friday. Specifying Norwegian company Telenor, the company which provides mobile services in the country. The company further said in a statement that though the directive has a legal basis in Myanmar's telecommunications law, Telenor Myanmar has challenged the necessity and proportionality of the directive and highlighted the directive's contradiction with international human rights law, reported ANI.

READ: UN Chief: UN Will Seek To Unite World, Reverse Myanmar Coup

READ: Citing State Stability, Myanmar's New Military Blocks Twitter & Instagram After Facebook

Myanmar crisis

Suu Kyi has been charged by the military with offences related to some walkie-talkies allegedly imported with improper licence and for shaking hands during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the police document. She among other leaders from the civilian government was put under house arrest on February 1 as armed forces took the power after complaining over the voter fraud in the recent general election in November 2020. Myanmar President Win Myint, who was also arrested and removed from the office, would be reportedly charged with offences under the natural disaster management law.

Myanmar is under the control of the military and a state of emergency for a year. In the run-up to the November 2020 election, Army chief Min Aung Hlaing, who has acquired the power of the nation now, had claimed that civilian government was making "unacceptable mistakes. Meanwhile, amid rising tensions in Burma, Facebook services were disrupted on Thursday as the military reportedly ordered telecom companies to block the social media platform. However, the Myanmar military stressed that it will protect and abide by its constitution.

READ: Myanmar Politicians Defy Coup, Say They Are True Government

READ: Myanmar Restaurant In Bangkok Promotes Anti-coup Activity



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LOWELL  The body of a missing 75-year-old man was recovered from a brook by police Friday afternoon. Investigators said there does not appear to be any evidence of foul play.

Marcella Dwork, spokesperson for Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan, said the remains of Saroun Kouch of Lowell were discovered at about 2 p.m. after an extensive search of the area near Lawrence and Whipple streets not far from where the man was last seen.

He was last seen at about 10:30 p.m. Thursday night.

Investigators from the Lowell Police Department, Massachusetts State Police, Tewksbury Police and a regional response team swept through the area Friday and found the dead man.

The incident remains under investigation.
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The United States President, Joe Biden, has pledged full cooperation with African countries in areas of shared interest.

Mr Biden said his administration is committed to partnering with Africa in the areas of trade, commerce, security and health.

In a video message he delivered Friday at the 34th virtual African Union Summit, the U.S. leader urged African leaders to work with the U.S. to advance a shared vision of a better future.

A future of growing trade and investment that advances the prosperity of all our nations. A future that advances lives of peace and security for all our citizens.

A future committed to investing in our democratic institutions and promoting the human rights of all people  women and girls, LGBTQI individuals, people with disabilities, and people of every ethnic background, religion, and heritage, he said.

He added that to reach this future, it is key to invest more in global health in order to defeat COVID-19, while working together to avert future public health crises.

Raising our climate ambitions and ensuring developing nations can mitigate and adapt to the climate impacts that are already causing pain. And engaging in sustained diplomacy, in concert with the African Union, to address conflicts that are costing lives across the African continent.

But the United States stands ready to be your partner, in solidarity, support, and mutual respect. We believe in the nations of Africa. In the continent-wide spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation.

And though the challenges are great, there is no doubt that our nations, our people, and the African Union are up to this task, he said.
Burmese people living in Thailand hold pictures of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a protest in front of the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021. Sakchai Lalit/Associated Press

Hundreds of doctors, teachers, students, and others in Myanmar are protesting the military's coup.

On Monday, the military announced it would be taking over the country for at least a year.

Photos show the growing demonstrations in the region as uncertainty about the country's future persists.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

After a week of increasing uncertainty over Myanmar's future, hundreds of teachers and students joined growing demonstrations across the country Friday, to protest the military's coup and show support for jailed leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

On Monday, Myanmar's military announced it would be taking over the country for at least a year following the detainment of several top Myanmar politicians. The military cited mass voter fraud as justification for the coup hours before the new parliament was scheduled to meet for the first time since the November election.

According to the Associated Press, the country's election commission rejected any claims of voter fraud in the elections that saw the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party win only 33 of 476 possible parliamentary seats.

Anger among people in Myanmar has been growing since the coup, as activists and dissidents have encouraged acts of civil disobedience in protest.

Earlier this week, medical professionals from 70 hospitals across the country pledged to stop working in protest. In a statement to the international medical community, the doctors said they refused to recognize the military regime.

Protests on Thursday led to at least 30 detainments over pot-banging, according to Al Jazeera.

Friday, hundreds of teachers and students gathered outside the Yangon University of Education campus to protest, holding signs, wearing red ribbons, and displaying the "three-finger salute," inspired by The Hunger Games, but used in recent years by protesters throughout Asia, according to Reuters.

There were reportedly similar protests of teachers and students at Dagon University in Yangon.

Story continues

Burmese refugees and nationals in neighboring countries have also gathered to protest the coup with activists in countries like Thailand, India, and Indonesia.

Demonstrators in Myanmar displayed a three-finger slate in protest of the coup.

Supporters show a three-finger salute of protest while four arrested activists make a court appearance in Mandalay, Myanmar, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. Associated Press

Medical staffers at 70 hospitals across the country pledged to stop working in protest.

Staffers of the University Hospital flash the three-finger protest gesture while holding signs that read: "Protect democracy" and "Reject the military coup, Free our president, Respect our votes" Friday, Feb. 5, 2021 in Yangon, Myanmar. Associated Press

Hundreds of teachers and students joined the protests on Friday.

Teachers from the Yangon Education University flash the three-finger protest gesture while holding signs that read: "Civil Disobedience Myanmar Teachers" Friday, Feb. 5, 2021 in Yangon, Myanmar. Associated Press

People banged pots and pans as an act of civil disobedience.

People beat pots and pans to make noise as they participate in a symbolic act of civil disobedience to protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2021. Associated Press

Activists who were arrested saluted during their court appearance.

Min Nyi Nyi Kon, center left, Pyae Sone Aung, right, Ye Win Tun, left, and Saw Oak Kar Oo, center right, show a three-finger salute of protest during their court appearance in Mandalay, Myanmar, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. Associated Press

Burmese people in Thailand joined the protests.

Burmese people living in Thailand hold pictures of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a protest in front of the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021. Sakchai Lalit/Associated Press

They did the same in India...

Myanmarese refugees in India participate in a protest against the ousting of Myanmar's elected government and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in New Dehi, India, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. Manish Swarup/Associated Press

In Japan...

Myanmar people living in Japan and supporters chant during a protest in front of the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. Eugene Hoshiko/Associated Press

In Indonesia...

Activists display posters as they board a minivan during a protest against the ousting of the Myanmar's elected government and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi outside the Embassy of Myanmar in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. Dita Alangkara/Associated Press

And in Nepal.

A small group of Nepalese Civil society activists hold placards reacting to the developments in Myanmar during a protest in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021. Niranjan Shrestha/Associated Press

Read the original article on Insider
In went the needle, moments later withdrawn. I didn't even feel the AstraZeneka vaccine going into my arm. Just a brief event, so quiet, superficially so humdrum, just like the flu injection. Time to do cartwheels all the way home, yes? Emphatically no. I will be sticking to lockdown even after the three weeks until the serum takes effect.

The Government is afraid euphoria after injection will undo the benefits of lockdown and this is a coherent fear. I immediately blessed my good fortune in surviving long enough, but that was the fullest extent of my euphoria.

I did feel renewed sadness for the huge number of victims who have already died and for their families and friends. During my life as a reporter, a person often sent among people upon whom calamities had befallen, I never became hardened to disaster and misfortune and neither did any of my journalist colleagues, notwithstanding our commonplace image in fiction.

The scars of some 3,000 deaths during 30 years of the Troubles remain: in less than a year, we have lost at least over half that number already. As a society, we won't survive this brutal assault either without emotional scarring.

So, I left the vaccination hall much more subdued than I had imagined. However, I also felt gratitude to the scientists and laboratories who have produced vaccines.

Big Pharma, portrayed as the big, bad wolf in so many thrillers, emerges with enhanced reputation. From a standing start in a miasma of loud doubt during the first half of 2020, there are, almost unbelievably, over 50 prospective vaccines in trials and the World Health Organisation (WHO), which the US has now thankfully rejoined under President Biden, is working with scientists, business and global health organisations to speed up the pandemic response and, equally importantly, to distribute it fairly and worldwide.

It needs saying again and again that none of us is safe until we are all safe, at home and far away.

I continue to harbour disquiet about the official policy with regard to the vaccines approved for use in the UK. NHS staff are in the frontline (a cliche, I know). On entering the vaccination hall, I asked the staff if they'd been vaccinated. They all said yes, for I would have been very uncomfortable being vaccinated by health workers who themselves had not been protected first.

But my discomfort increased on asking the young doctor injecting me when he would be getting his second jab, needed for the full protection offered by the serum. "I don't know," he replied. "we haven't been given any information about the second." Had it been possible, I would have donated that doctor my first injection as his second.

The decision by the UK Government to increase the time between the vaccinations to up to 12 weeks is worrying the British Medical Association, because the decision flies in the face of the testing by the vaccine creators.

The Government's own Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) says unpublished data suggests the AstraZeneca vaccine is still effective with doses 12 weeks apart. That was reassuring for me. But Pfizer has said it has tested its vaccine's efficacy only when the two doses were given up to 21 days apart.

The World Health Organisation has recommended a gap of four weeks between doses, to be extended only in exceptional circumstances to six weeks.

I'm not a scientist, but it is disturbing when a government, which has up until now continually stressed the importance of clinical trials in convincing us all that the vaccines are safe, then decides to use the vaccines in a manner departing from those clinical trial conditions.

I understand the argument that it may be better to give more people the first dose and fewer the second to take the pressure off the hospitals. The Government says: "The rescheduling of second doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine will bring faster protection to greater numbers of people most at risk from the virus - including more healthcare workers."

I very much hope so, but nobody has trialled that. More seriously, Britain is alone in extending that second dose timing. Those vaccine trials, involving members of my own family for AstraZeneca, provided, in effect, the instruction manual from the vaccine inventors for usage.

It does not inspire confidence when those trial conditions were cast aside unilaterally by the same team which has presided over the UK having one of the worst Covid outcomes in the world.

Globally, Covid-19 cases are now touching 100 million, with over 24 million in the woefully managed US alone. Many European countries are enduring, nationally, a second wave and national lockdowns as the virus continues.

Emphatically, it can be done better, critically within island nations like ours. New Zealand, with a population roughly that of the whole of Ireland, has had 25 deaths from covid in total.

Even better is Taiwan. At the time of writing, Taiwan is virus-free, having suffered around 600 coronavirus cases and seven deaths out of a population of just under 23 million. That is because they learnt from experience - something we seem to have difficulty with.

Taiwan was badly hit by SARS in 2003, with 346 cases and 73 deaths. That resulted in the creation of Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) to manage outbreaks. It did a superb job this time around.

So, before the next pandemic, let's put our own powerful CECC in place right now, not later, and make it cover the whole island, because the sea is an effective barrier.

For reasons everyone knows, such a cross-border epidemic command centre may have too many enemies - even though the next pandemic could be even worse.

Our politics and pandemic are rotten bedfellows.

Don Anderson is a former BBC Television News reporter
The total number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 till date in Delhi, majority of them being healthcare workers, has crossed the one lakh-mark, officials said on Saturday.

On Saturday, over 9,500 beneficiaries were given the shots, including frontline workers. The turnout was about 53 per cent.

"The target was 17,900 and 9,510 people got vaccinated, with AEFI (adverse events following immunisation) in nine persons," a senior official said.

On Friday, more than 9,200 healthcare workers had received COVID-19 vaccine shots in in the third week of the inoculation drive, with a turnout of more than 50 per cent.

"The count of total number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 so far has crossed 1,00,000-mark," a senior official said.

Vaccination of frontline workers has also started, he said.

District Magistrates of several districts like South West, North, North West, East and West have come forward to get themselves vaccinated and set an example, officials said.

Several police personnel have also come forward to get vaccinated, they said.

The district administrators have sought to inspire confidence in the general public regarding the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, a senior official said.

Sources on Friday had said vaccination would begin for frontline workers too from Saturday onwards. Frontline workers include, police, civil defence staff, DJB and electricity department employees, among others.

After the arrival of the vaccine, first doses of it were administered to healthcare workers on priority.

Also, the number of scheduled days, from initially being four days -- Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday -- have now been extended to six days a week Monday to Saturday, the officials said.

After sluggish start -- the exercise was kicked off on January 16 -- the inoculation drive had picked up pace in the last several days.

The targeted number for vaccination on February 5 was 18,400, officials said. The turnout was about 50 per cent.

"On Friday, 9,216 people were administered vaccine, and AEFI (adverse events following immunisation) was reported in 12 persons," a senior official of the Health Department said.

On Thursday, 9,494 healthcare workers had got the jabs, with a turnout of about 51 per cent.

Under the nationwide mega vaccination drive launched on January 16, a total of 4,319 (53 per cent) health workers, against a target of 8,117, were administered the shots at 81 centres across the city on day one.

On the second scheduled day, the figures had stood at 3,598 (44 per cent of the target). The sharp fall had come after one severe and 50 minor adverse effect cases were reported on the opening day of the vaccination drive.

The count on third scheduled day was higher at 4,936 beneficiaries (48 per cent).

The district-wise distribution of total 9 AEFI cases on Saturday were -- Central (4), East Delhi (1), New Delhi (0), North Delhi (1), North East Delhi (1), North West Delhi (0), Shahdara (1), South Delhi (1), South East Delhi (0), South West Delhi (0) and West Delhi (0), according to the data shared by authorities.

With low turnout of healthcare workers on first two days of the COVID-19 vaccination drive, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had said the exercise is voluntary and a matter of "personal decision" for people whether to get a shot or not, but all efforts are being made to boost their confidence.

He had reiterated that it is a voluntary exercise and people are making their own decisions, as it's the initial phase.

(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 Tema Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Barima Tweneboah Sasraku II, has entreated chiefs to endeavour to resolve land disputes in the region.



He said disputes over land had become a major source of conflict in the area, which the commander said was undermining the development of the region.



Barima Sasraku, who is the Chief of Jukwa-Mfuom and Adontenhene of the Abuakwa Nifa Division of Denkyira in the Central Region, said it was important for chiefs to use their time-tested traditional conflict resolution mechanisms to end all unresolved conflicts to pave way for continued development.



Courtesy call



Barima Sasraku was speaking during a courtesy call on the Paramount Chief of the Kpone Traditional Area, Nii Tetteh Otu II, at his residence at Kpone last Wednesday.



He was accompanied by the Staff Officer,



Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mr John Oduro; the Prampram Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Mr Washington Dodzi Foli; the Regional Operations Commander, Supt George Effah; the Kpone Municipal Police Commander, Supt Mr Seth Tay, and the acting Regional Public Relations Officer, Chief Inspector Mrs Stella Dede Dzakpasu.



Barima Sasraku explained that the visit was to officially inform the traditional council, the chiefs and the people about his assumption of office and express gratitude to them for the support given to the police over the years.



Challenges



Barima Sasraku said since assuming office in August last year, one of the challenges he had identified was the issue of land disputes and said although some efforts had been made by previous commanders to resolve some age-old land disputes, the chiefs needed to delve into the time-tested traditional systems of resolving disputes to bring closure to the conflicts.



Going through the records, I realised that there are a number of land issues within Gbetsile and Apollonia, which are both communities within the Kpone Traditional Area.



As a chief, your authority is over people and land. As leaders, we are supposed to manage the challenges we face so that our people can live in a very peaceful atmosphere, he added.



Barima Sasraku further urged the chiefs to also tackle the issue of land guards and its attendant threats and commended the Kpone paramountcy for the sustained peace in the area.



The commander also paid a courtesy call on the Municipal Chief Executive for Kpone Katamanso, Mr Solomon T. Appiah, to thank him and the assembly for their support in constructing a police station at Katamanso.



He said the facility would go a long way to boost security at Katamanso and neighbouring communities.



Mr Appiah said the assembly would continue to collaborate with the police in their security and peacekeeping duties.



Appreciation



Nii Otu expressed appreciation to the Tema Police Command for the visit.



The Chief of Gbetsile, Nii Teye Kojo Amankwa Sune I, said it was the first time in 32 years that a police commander in the Tema Region had visited the palace and said the gesture bode well for cooperation between the two institutions.



He said issues of land disputes were a major challenge and appealed to the government to demarcate the traditional boundaries between Kpone and its neighbouring communities, such as Prampram, to promote peaceful coexistence.

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.

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New Delhi:

In order to protect the Earth from a future killing asteroid attack, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has planned to crash a refrigerator-sized spacecraft, which will force it to change its orbit. The spacecraft will be fired about nine times faster than the speed of a bullet into the space.



The NASA has said that it would be their first mission ever to demonstrate an asteroid deflection technique for planetary defence, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART).



"DART would be NASA`s first mission to demonstrate what`s known as the kinetic impactor technique, striking the asteroid to shift its orbit, to defend against a potential future asteroid impact," Lindley Johnson said. Johnson is the planetary defence officer at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

The asteroid Didymos, which is based on a binary system, consists of two bodies, Didymos A (780 metres in size) and Didymos B (160 metres in size).

ALSO READ: NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captures a hidden galaxy IC 342



Scheduled to be launched in 2010, DART would impact Didymos B, which is the smaller of the two bodies.



"A binary asteroid is the perfect natural laboratory for this test," Tom Statler. Statler is the programme scientist for DART at NASA Headquarters.



"The fact that Didymos B is in orbit around Didymos A makes it easier to see the results of the impact, and ensures that the experiment doesn`t change the orbit of the pair around the sun," he added.

DART would fly to Didymos after the launch. It would be using autonomous targeting system on-board to aim itself at Didymos B.



With a speed about nine times faster than a bullet, the spacecraft would strike the smaller body. To be precise, the speed would be approx. six kilometres per second.



Allowing the scientists to better determine the capabilities of kinetic impact as an asteroid mitigation strategy, the earth-based observatories would be able to see the impact and the resulting change in the orbit of Didymos B around Didymos A.



"DART is a critical step in demonstrating we can protect our planet from a future asteroid impact," the DART investigation co-lead Andy Cheng said.

ALSO READ | Alien life: Methanol molecules around Saturns moon Enceladus found for the first time

For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Kashmir: People across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir hailed government's decision to restore 4G Internet, the demand had come mostly from students and businessmen.

Since the spread of coronavirus pandemic, all schools in Jammu and Kashmir were closed and only online classes were conducted making it difficult for the students to participate in online classes. Now, they feel have welcomed the step which they were demanding for months.

Urwa a class 12 student said, We were facing network issues for online classes now, we will benefit by the restoration of 4G, we can study properly.

Another student Adeeba Feroz Shah said, It will be beneficial as we were suffering by 2G Internet in our online classes. Schools were closed because of pandemic now classes will be smooth, we are very happy.

Not only students even the common man of Kashmir seems to be welcoming the 4G Internet speed. Most businessman feel that the problems that they were facing will now be solved. Tourism operators are very happy with the restoration of high speed Internet speed.

A businessman Muzaffer Ahmad said, We were facing losses in business now this 4G restoration will make things easier.

Earlier, 4G internet was restored on a trial basis in central Kashmirs Ganderbal and Jammu regions Udhampur on August 16, 2020. But in the remaining 18 districts of Jammu and Kashmir, 4G interent remained suspended for security reasons as mentioned by the government.

Yesterday, the government issued a formal order to announce the restoration of the services, and said that the same was done on the recommendations of a committee constituted on the orders by the Supreme Court last year.

The order read: Keeping in view the advice of the Special Committee and upon careful review of the overall security scenario, I, Principal Secretary to the Government, Home Department [Competent Authority under sub-rule (1) of Rule 2 of the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules, 2017], hereby revoke the restrictions on mobile data services and fixed line internet connectivity placed vide Government order No. ffome-02(TSTS) of 2021 dated 22.01.2021, except to the extent that the pre-paid SIM card holders shall be provided access to the internet connectivity only after verification as per the norms applicable for post-paid connections."

The decision, he said, was taken after an objective assessment of the prevailing circumstances and necessity of continuation of (speed) restrictions, the Special Committee, constituted under the orders of the Supreme Court in its order dated May 11, 2020 in case titled "Foundation for Media Professionals Vs. UT of J&K and others", held its 6th meeting on Febuary 4. Among other things, it (committee) took note of the inputs and apprehensions of the security agencies and police forces as also the assessment of opening of high speed mobile internet connectivity in the districts of Udhampur and Ganderbal.

However, he said that the IsGP, Kashmir/Jammu, who are the authorized officers in their respective areas of jurisdiction, shall ensure compliance of the order by the service providers forthwith.

The internet services were snapped in Jammu and Kashmir hours before the government of India abrogated the article 370 and 35A on August 5, 2019.

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When NVIDIA introduced RTX 30 laptop graphics, it also sowed some confusion. There are no longer labels distinguishing between efficient (Max-Q) and full-performance GPUs, making it possible for a laptop with a lower-spec yet full-power chip to outperform a top-end component thats power-constrained. However, NVIDIA is trying to minimize that chaos  a spokesperson told The Verge the company now requires laptop makers to be transparent on RTX 30 specs.

PC builders now have to disclose the clock speeds, power demands and Max-Q features in their product pages to convey the expected GPU performance for a given laptop, NVIDIA said. You should get a better sense of which laptops have the most powerful real-world performance.

It may take some time for that requirement to manifest in the real world. ASUS is divulging more detailed specs, but that isnt yet true for everyone. The requirement could be vital once companies consistently adopt it, though. In some cases, you could save money by buying a mid-tier laptop thats faster in practice than a more expensive model.
Joe Biden has reaffirmed his commitment that none of his family members will receive a role in his administration, while making an apparent dig at former First Daughter Ivanka Trump.

This commitment came when the president and First Lady Jill Biden gave their first interview with People Magazine after moving into the White House last month.

Mr Biden said he intends to "run" his administration "like the Obama-Biden administration", referring to his time as vice president for President Barack Obama between 2008 and 2016.

But his office would be different to the Trump administration because "no one in our family and extended family is going to be involved in any government undertaking or foreign policy," Mr Biden said.

"And nobody has an office in the place," he added. "They always have access to Pop and Nana but nobody (will have an office)."

His statement followed Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, telling reporters last week that the administration would not allow businesses to imply they had the president's endorsement when advertising  highlighting another difference between the Biden and Trump administrations.

Read more: Live updates from the Biden administration

Donald Trump defied norms with how integrated members of his family into his administration.

His daughter Ivanka Trump served as a "adviser to the president" with emphasis on the "education and economic empowerment of women and their families," according to the White House website. This despite Ms Trump having no government experience prior to her father winning the presidency.

The advisory role resulted in Ms Trump having her own staff and office in the West Wing of the White House, which officials previously compared to as "walking into an Apple store".

Prior to the 2016 election, Ms Trump solidified a role among New York's high society. She created her own clothing and shoe line, which shut down in 2018 following ethics complaints and accusations of conflicts of interest due to her role in the White House.

Mr Trump moved into the White House in January 2017, and his eldest daughter and her husband, Jared Kushner, soon followed by purchasing a home in Washington DC.

The former president quickly brought in Mr Kushner as another trusted senior adviser in his administration. Mr Kushner, who also had an office in the White House, would go on to lead the Trump administration's response to Covid-19 and key foreign policy initiatives.

These roles within the White House for two of Mr Trump's family members raised eyebrows, but the president reportedly wanted his eldest daughter in an even higher role within the administration.

Former deputy campaign manager Rick Gates revealed that Mr Trump allegedly wanted his daughter as his vice president running mate prior to selecting Mike Pence, according to his book Wicked Game: An Insider's Story On How Trump Won, Mueller Failed, And America Lost.

This move was ultimately shot down by Ms Trump, according to Mr Gates.

The Trump presidency ended with just one term, but now members of the family, including Ms Trump, might have set their sights on continuing their legacy in politics. Daughter-in-law Lara Trump, the wife of Eric Trump, was reportedly contemplating a Senate run in North Carolina while son Donald Jr Trump was also eying his own potential politics run.

Ms Trump could also make a reappearance in politics by running for office in Florida.
Hyde follows family tradition, takes home PIAA gold in shot put

"It's awesome," Hyde said. "It really feels like a tradition, now. It will be cool to see our names next to each other in the record books."
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Two years ago, when Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller released a landmark list of priests credibly accused of sexually assaulting and abusing children, he said that apologizing once wouldnt suffice.

Two years after that defining moment, his words torment survivors of crimes that amounted to rape.

None of the cases might have resulted in imprisonment, but they embroiled the Catholic Church in a global cover-up and scandal.

Survivors involved in SNAP San Antonio, a chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, say the archdiocese hasnt been forthcoming since.

Instead, they say the archdiocese has been managing the fallout and liability.

This week, the Archdiocese of San Antonio said in a statement that it plans to update its 2019 list.

Its statement didnt say when or how the archdiocese plans to release new or updated information on credibly accused priests.

The archdiocese also didnt say whether the new information would be delivered online or would be made public by the archbishop himself, as he did in 2019.

Requests for interviews with the archbishop or other archdiocesan officials were denied.

The archdioceses written statement said, approximately 25 new reports have been made since the publication of the 2019 Report on Child Sexual Abuse by Clergy in the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

Abuse survivors did not identify any clergy not already named in the report, and involved either clergy who were already named in the report or clergy whose identities were unable to be established.

The archdiocese and its lay-led Archdiocesan Review Board, in existence before the 2019 list was released, is in the process of preparing an update to the 2019 report that will retain the same general format and level of detail.

The statement downplayed liability, saying the archdiocese doesnt believe, in most cases, that the people of our parishes today should be responsible for financial judgments or settlements related to these reports of past abuse, (but) we have come together as a Church to offer counseling and pastoral support to all those who have brought forward allegations.

One San Antonio survivor said this week she hasnt been able to see her therapist, because the archdiocese has refused to continue paying for the therapy after vowing to do so in writing.

The archdioceses statement said that since 2019 it has helped 18 people with counseling or therapy and paid out $25,000 in legal settlements in situations where, under legal advice, this seemed appropriate.

At the same time, it surpassed its $60 million capital campaign goal, which will build new parishes and repair old ones. Over the years, the archdiocese also has closed schools and either closed or merged parishes.

Because I asked about a survivor whod asked to meet with Garcia-Siller, without success, the statement said the archbishop has met with several survivors and remains open to such encounters.

But only those not threatening civil litigation and (who) are not communicating with us through legal counsel, the statement said.

The 2019 report named 54 priests involving about 150 cases dating to 1941.

Zac Zepeda, co-leader of SNAP San Antonio, who was sexually assaulted at age 12 by a priest at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, said the archdiocese has been soft-pedaling the crisis and devoting less time to survivors healing.

Hes a deacon at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Helotes and he has served on the same altar with Garcia-Siller, he said.

Steve Bartley, another survivor, said religious orders have behaved the same way, including the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Some of its members worked in local Catholic schools. The order also operates the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio.

Bartley was in an archdiocesan high school when he was sexually assaulted by Galeb Mokarzel, an Oblate priest named on the list.

The order has paid for his counseling. I heard nothing from the archdiocese, Bartley added.

He and other survivors say Catholic leaders are in a hurry to move on and wash their hands of it.

While more accused priests die in solitude, their victims continue to experience post-traumatic stress disorder. Many are in their 70s.

Sometimes new pain is layered onto the old.

When Bartley, a retired law enforcement investigator, was getting compensated by the Oblates, he was told assistant treasurer Father Rocky Grimard would process payment.

Bartley googled him. He found that in 2015, Grimard was arrested and charged for indecent exposure and soliciting sex from two undercover officers. He got six months probation.

eayala@express-news.net
Lyons initially denied being at the Capitol when he spoke to FBI agents, according to the complaint. He later admitted he was there and said he entered the building through a set of rear doors and wandered into the Rotunda to get his bearings. He said he was in the big boss office  a reference to Pelosi  and saw a broken mirror and about 30 people inside. Lyons left after a Capitol police officer came in and ordered the crowd out, according to the complaint.
Five people died when an angry mob, white supremacists among them, stormed the U.S. Capitol. Oakland native Kamala Harris was sworn in as the first woman, first Black and first Asian American vice president. A new president began rapidly dismantling the racist legacy of his predecessor through executive orders. And COVID-19 killed roughly 80,000 Americans, half of them minorities.

This was only in January.

Thirty-one days were all we needed to be reminded of Americas enduring duality, where progress and inspiration are only moments from ugliness and hatred. One of our own holds the second-highest position in the land, but only days before Harris took office, a few of our own were also in the crowd on Jan. 6.

San Francisco thinks of itself as a place of reform and second chances, but many are getting nervous as the district attorney applies that philosophy to crime. Residents want homelessness in the Bay Area addressed, but only if the needed affordable housing isnt built near them. Demands for racial equity were loud across California in 2020, yet voters were not compelled to lift the states ban on affirmative action.

The Bay Area, its clear to me, is in a critical and challenging moment, where our longstanding progressive ideals are increasingly colliding with behavior that contradicts them. Its at this moment that Im beginning this new column for The Chronicle exploring a region struggling to understand its identity. As I report it, I will be listening to our marginalized communities, chronicling the regions unbalanced power dynamics and pushing to the forefront issues of exclusion and discrimination.

This column also appears in the context of the social and political awakening that is Black Lives Matter, a movement that expanded around the world last year in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Here, thousands of people protested in cities from San Rafael to Vallejo to San Jose. For many Black people, especially those in the Bay Area who make up a small fraction of the population and often feel ignored, this racial reckoning has made us finally feel seen.

Well have complicated conversations about policing in the Bay Area. Deadly violence is at record highs in Oakland. In San Francisco, a city where Black people make up 5% of the population, a Black person is six times more likely to be arrested than a white person. And a dialogue is growing locally around crimes against Asian residents. In this column, Ill break down the actions and inaction of the powerful, whose policies and decisions impact marginalized groups every day.

And thats not just people with skin like mine. Minority communities are trying to adapt to a rapidly changing Bay Area. In San Franciscos and Oaklands Chinatowns, residents and business owners are struggling with job loss, evictions, poverty and crime, and are looking to city and state legislation for financial lifelines. This column will reflect the kaleidoscopic image of life in the Bay Area by being inclusive to stories from all marginalized groups.

For instance, Black and Latino people in places like San Francisco and Oakland are used to having their lives upturned, and COVID-19 has made things worse. The same plight is being faced by Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders in Santa Clara County. The suffering feels universal, but it shouldnt happen in silence.

This column will also take note of progress and success. Like that of Moms 4 Housing, a collective led by women of color that has been able to create transitional housing in Oakland for homeless mothers. Cities like San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley have started substantive conversations around reforming policing. BART has announced plans to hire civilians trained in social work to respond to homelessness, mental illness and drug addiction on its system. And in Silicon Valley, an initiative was launched that challenges companies to fill 25% of their executive positions with hires from underrepresented groups by 2025.

Still, it took just six days into 2021 for us to be reminded of how far we have to go. It was an unprecedented day in American history, but one people of color have been predicting could happen for years.

The racism that felt so palpable during the Trump presidency has been prevalent for hundreds of years everywhere in this country. In California, Chinese and Mexican people were beaten and killed during the Gold Rush, as were the Black slaves brought here by white Southerners to work in the mines. Racism in the Trump era didnt suddenly appear. It was just given new life and made plain.

What makes our journey through this pain more unique is the Bay Areas diversity. Ethnic identities from around the world call the Bay Area home, meaning what happens in far corners both domestically and internationally quickly reverberates here. Because of our shared experience of being pushed to the margins, we know that if we stick together we will find a way through.

In March, a week or so after the Bay Areas first shelter-in-place orders, I walked into a crowded neighborhood grocery store in East Oakland hoping to find toilet paper. Shoppers all had the same nervous, confused look as they hurried through the emptying aisles. Masks had yet to be mandated, but everyone seemed aware of the danger of the coronavirus. When I reached the toilet paper section, I found empty shelves.

Just as I was turning to leave, a Black man shopping nearby tapped me on the shoulder. He took a package of toilet paper from his cart and handed it to me. He said nothing, but gave me a knowing nod.

Im thinking about that man as I begin this journey.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Justin Phillips appears Sundays. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JustMrPhillips
Arise and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time. Winston Churchill

Proclaim Liberty throughout All the land unto All the Inhabitants Thereof. Inscription on the Liberty Bell

(Natural News) Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told Breitbart News on Monday that Googles dominance of internet advertising is the financial heart of the companys other de facto monopolies. Antitrust legal action against this dimension, he added, is crucial to addressing the technology companys left-wing political censorship and manipulation of information online.

(Article by Robert Kraychik republished from Breitbart.com)

In October, Ken Paxton announced that Texas was suing Google for engaging in anticompetitive and exclusionary practices that eliminate competition for internet searches and search advertising. The lawsuit was joined by the Justice Department and the States of Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, and South Carolina.

I wish that our Congress would engage as well, said Paxton of antitrust legal efforts against Google in an interview on SiriusXMs Breitbart News Daily with host Alex Marlow. I dont think thats going to happen. Too many of them likely benefit from campaign contributions and support [from Google]. Theres all kinds of Google money flowing freely through Congress.

The Texas-led multi-state antitrust lawsuit against Google is related to where Google makes its money, which is advertising, Paxton stated.

LISTEN:

Marlow said, [Googles] monopoly in search is well known. They control maybe 90 percent of the worlds searches, but they also have a massive monopoly in terms of advertising, and this is something that I think does deserve more attention.

Paxton replied, [Online advertising] is really what funds every other monopoly they have, and whatever good or evil purposes they have.  What theyve been successful at doing is taking over advertising on the internet. When you think, as a consumer, that youre getting something free, the reality is youre not getting free searches.

[Google] represents almost all the buyers of advertising on the internet, remarked Paxton. They represent almost all the sellers of advertising  and then they control the exchange, the means by which these buyers and sellers get together. Google has all the information and knows whos bidding what, as so they control all the exchanges. They control all the transactions.

Paxton continued, It would be like Goldman Sachs [being the] only stock exchange, representing buyers and sellers and knowing all the information between them, or among them, and knowing how to bid and control the market, and thats what [Google has] done.

Paxton went on, Theyve done a very excellent job of taking over the market and creating monopolistic behavior and crushing competition and innovation, and creating a very high-volume [and] high-margin business that costs consumers through higher advertising costs. Those costs are passed onto consumers in an exorbitant way without their knowledge.

Paxton noted how Google commodifies personal data from its users collected through its search service. He said, Companies like Google are gathering all the data on all of us, thousands and thousands of data points that they are not compensating the consumer for, and then theyre using that data to make exorbitant sums of the money.

Paxton concluded, If we dont get control of this, we may never control it. [Google] will become more wealthy, more dominant, and [seize] more control of what people buy, what people say, what people think, who they vote for. Itll be complete dominance, and its a scary thought. Im pro-free market, pro-business, but when you get one dominant company [which] is controlling consumer choice and controlling the cost, its a real problem.

As of this articles publication, Google was valued at $1.39 trillion in market capitalization.

Read more at: Breitbart.com and EvilGoogle.news.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- National Press Club leaders expressed relief Saturday at news that al Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein has been released from prison after four years of unjust detention without trial.

The following is a statement from National Press Club President Lisa Nicole Matthews and National Press Club Journalism Institute President Angela Greiling Keane:

"Mahmoud Hussein had been held for more than four years without a trial or formal charges. This is outrageous treatment by the government of Egypt. Because Mr. Hussein produced a story in which he interviewed representatives of both political parties in Egypt, he was accused of being part of the Muslim Brotherhood (one of the parties). This was not the case. Interviewing a member of a political party does not mean a journalist is part of that party. Not interviewing both parties might mean that the person is not acting as a journalist. Journalism is not a crime and Mr. Hussein is not a criminal. We are encouraged that Egypt's government has ended its cruel treatment of Mr. Hussein and allowed him to reunite with his family. We hope it is a sign that Egypt will act like a member of the community of nations and release other journalists it is currently holding in its legal system or in extralegal forms of detention. It is long past time they do so."

Founded in 1908, the National Press Club is the world's leading professional organization for journalists. The Club has 3,000 members representing nearly every major news organization and is a leading voice for press freedom in the United States and around the world.

The National Press Club Journalism Institute, the Club's non-profit affiliate, promotes an engaged global citizenry through an independent and free press and equips journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire civic engagement

Contact: John M. Donnelly, NPC Press Freedom Team Leader: 202 650 6738; [email protected]

SOURCE National Press Club

Related Links

http://press.org


It looks like the aftermath of a tornado.

There are dirt plots where there used to be makeshift homes; tent poles stacked like firewood; fencing and scrap metal scattered across a desert valley greened by winter rain; a cold firepit and a pile of kitchen essentials where a cooking tent once stood.

This is what remains of the herding community of Khirbet Humsu in the occupied West Bank, after Israeli forces demolished it for the third time in as many months. On Wednesday, just minutes after the army left, Palestinian residents were at work repairing their fences  hoping to gather their sheep before dark, knowing the army might return the next day.

We build it up and they tear it down, said Waleed Abu al-Kbash as he stretched fencing between two posts. Where am I supposed to go? I have a thousand head of sheep.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war, and the Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state. Khirbet Humsu, perched on the rolling highlands above the Jordan Valley, is part of the 60% of the West Bank known as Area C, which is under full Israeli military control as part of interim peace agreements from the 1990s.

Israel planned to annex the Jordan Valley and other parts of the occupied West Bank last year after getting a green light from the Trump administration, but it put annexation on hold as part of a U.S.-brokered normalization agreement with the United Arab Emirates.

It still maintains complete control over the territory, leaving Bedouin communities like the one at Khirbet Humsu at constant risk of displacement. Shepherds who rely on seasonal rains and scattered springs are also at the mercy of an arbitrary cycle of demolition and rebuilding.

The first time Israel demolished Khirbet Humsu was in early November, as world attention was focused on the U.S. election.

BTselem, an Israeli human rights group, said Israeli forces demolished 18 tents and other structures that housed 74 people, including many children. They also demolished livestock pens, storage sheds, cooking tents, solar panels, water containers and feeding troughs, and confiscated 30 tons of livestock feed, a vehicle and two tractors. The U.N. said it was the single largest demolition of its kind in the past decade.

Israeli forces returned on Monday and again on Wednesday, using bulldozers and heavy equipment to demolish structures that had been rebuilt and carting away others on large trucks. Most of the families have stayed in the area through each demolition, quickly setting up tents with the help of activists and aid workers after the soldiers leave.

Israel said in November that the structures were built without permission, which the Palestinians and rights groups say is almost never granted. Just a few kilometers (miles) away on either side are two large Jewish farming settlements, with rows of greenhouses, animal enclosures and irrigated fields.

COGAT, the Israeli military body that oversees civilian affairs in the West Bank, said it informed residents of Khirbet Humsu that the area is in a military firing range and reached an agreement with them to move the community to another area. It said residents voluntarily dismantled structures on Monday but then refused to move, leading the military to confiscate them.

Residents who spoke to The Associated Press seemed unaware of any agreement with the military.

Amit Gilutz, a spokesman for BTselem, said that even if there were an agreement, it would have been made under duress as Israel controls the area and can demolish at will. Either way, he says it amounts to forcible transfer, a war crime under international law.

Gilutz said the displacement was a test for the new U.S. administration. President Joe Biden has vowed to adopt a more even-handed approach to the conflict and hopes to revive peace talks. Gilutz said Israel would view the administrations silence as a green light.

This is not an isolated case, he said, referring to other Bedouin communities across the West Bank where residents are unable to build and have little if any access to electricity or water because of Israeli restrictions.

For the most part, Israel avoids actually loading people up on trucks and dumping them elsewhere, he said. Rather, what it does is it makes life impossible for these people so that they leave, as if by their own choice.

The displacement has broader implications. Area C encompasses most of the agricultural land in the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley, which the Palestinians say they would need to develop a viable, independent state. Rights groups say that by consolidating its grip on the land  with or without formal annexation  Israel puts a two-state solution even further out of reach.

Israeli leaders have long argued that the keeping the Jordan Valley is essential for protecting Israels narrow coastal heartland.

Nidal Abu al-Kbash, another member of the extended family in Khirbet Humsu, believes the military wants to clear them away so it can build settlements and training bases on the land, which is fertile and has a freshwater spring. He too was at work Wednesday repairing fences.

We have no alternative, he said. Were not leaving.

Short link:


Orphan Designated Drug with August 2021 PDUFA date

Management to host conference call at 10:00 AM Eastern Time on February 3, 2021 and

Key Opinion Leader webinar to be held at 2:00 PM Eastern Time on February 5, 2021

TORONTO and CHICAGO and MONTREAL and WEDEL, Germany, Feb. 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Medexus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Medexus) (TSXV: MDP) (OTCQX: MEDXF) (Frankfurt: P731) is pleased to announce that it and its wholly-owned United States-based subsidiary, Medexus Pharma, Inc. (Medexus Pharma and together with Medexus, the Company) entered into a Commercialization and Supply Agreement with medac Gesellschaft fur klinische Spezialpraparate m.b.H. (medac), pursuant to which medac has granted Medexus Pharma an exclusive license to commercialize treosulfan, a bifunctional alkylating agent, in the United States (the License Agreement).

Treosulfan is an innovative, orphan-designated agent developed for use as part of a conditioning treatment for patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). If approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Company expects that a treosulfan-based regimen will be the first in a new conditioning treatment class, Reduced Toxicity Conditioning, resulting in a unique combination of improved survival outcomes compared to reduced-intensity regimens and decreased toxicity compared to standard myeloablative regimens. A Prescription Drug User Free Act (PDUFA) date to review the New Drug Application (NDA) in respect of treosulfan by the FDA has been scheduled for August 2021.

The Company intends to leverage its strong, existing commercial infrastructure in the United States to address the underserved allo-HSCT market through its commercialization of treosulfan. medac conducted a phase III randomized study (the Phase III Study) comparing the results of treosulfan-based therapy with busulfan-based reduced intensity conditioning in advance of allo-HSCT for adult patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) who were considered ineligible for standard myeloablative conditioning regimens. The planned confirmatory interim analysis of the Phase III Study demonstrated that non-inferiority was achieved in the treosulfan group compared to the busulfan group in two-year event-free survival with 64.0% (95% CI 56.070.9) in the treosulfan group and 50.4% (95% CI 42.857.5) in the busulfan group (HR 0.65 [95% CI 0.470.90]); p=0.0000164 (adjusted p-value for testing non-inferiority of treosulfan compared to busulfan).1 Despite lacking indications for use in patients with AML or MDS, busulfan is the current market leading alkylating agent for allo-HSCT. Prior to genericization in 2016, busulfan reached peak annual sales of U.S. $126 million in the United States.2

The NDA in respect of treosulfan was filed by medac in August 2020 and seeks FDA approval for use of treosulfan as part of a conditioning regimen for allo-HSCT for adults with AML and MDS. The NDA is supported by the completed follow-up results from the Phase III Study covering all 570 randomized patients including superiority testing, which may result in even stronger claims than non-inferiority in a final label for treosulfan, if approved by the FDA.3

On April 8, 2015, the FDA granted medac Orphan Drug Designation for treosulfan as a conditioning treatment prior to allo-HSCT in malignant and non-malignant disease in adults and pediatric patients. In accordance with the Orphan Drug Act, seven years of exclusivity for this indication is expected upon FDA approval. According to the most recent data from the Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR), there were an estimated 9,028 allo-HSCT procedures in the United States in 2018, growing at about 3% year over year. Another 14,006 autologous-HSCT (auto-HSCT) procedures, which also routinely feature conditioning regimens that include alkylating agents, were completed that same year.4

Treosulfan was granted marketing authorization in combination with fludarabine by the European Commission in June 2019, indicated for use in combination with fludarabine as part of a conditioning treatment prior to allo-HSCT in (i) adult patients with both malignant and non-malignant diseases, and (ii) pediatric patients older than one month with malignant diseases. In Canada, Medexus is currently distributing treosulfan via the Special Access Program.

H. Joachim Deeg, MD, Professor of Medical Oncology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Professor of Clinical Research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and Physician at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, commented, Treosulfan has proven to be a potent drug for transplant conditioning in several phase II trials for both malignant and non-malignant disorders, conducted at our own Center and several other institutions, earning the label high intensity, low toxicity. Of note, clinically meaningful improvements in favor of the treosulfan group for event-free survival, overall survival, and transplant-related mortality were seen in medacs study, and a treosulfan-based regimen promises to be the preferred standard conditioning therapy for this study population, which represents the growing population of older and comorbid patients with AML or MDS, and beyond.

Mary Horowitz, MD, MS, Professor of Hematologic Research at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Scientific Director for the CIBMTR, commented, It is incredibly important for clinicians to have more options for patients undergoing allo-HSCT. I am very happy to see that medac and Medexus have teamed up to work towards bringing treosulfan to the U.S. market. The data on treosulfan thus far is highly encouraging, suggesting it could fill an important gap for higher risk patients who cannot tolerate the typical toxicity profile of currently available high-intensity conditioning regimens.

The License Agreement

Upon entering into the License Agreement, Medexus Pharma paid medac a non-refundable upfront payment of U.S. $5 million. Under the terms of the License Agreement, Medexus Pharma must also pay medac (i) up to an aggregate of U.S. $55 million in non-refundable regulatory milestone payments, contingent upon the achievement of certain regulatory events in connection with the FDAs review process (the Regulatory Milestone Payments), and (ii) up to an aggregate of U.S. $40 million in non-refundable sales milestone payments, contingent upon Medexus Pharmas achievement of certain net sales goals (the Sales Milestone Payments, and together with the Regulatory Milestone Payments, the Milestone Payments). In addition, Medexus Pharma will pay medac a low single-digit royalty on its net sales of treosulfan in the United States.

The License Agreement is effective as of today and continues until the 10th anniversary of FDA approval of the initial NDA, unless earlier terminated by either the Company or medac in accordance with their respective rights under the License Agreement. Going forward, medac will continue with primary responsibility for development and regulatory matters in respect of treosulfan, including preparing and obtaining FDA approval of the initial NDA. After such FDA approval, Medexus Pharma will maintain regulatory approval of treosulfan in the United States and leverage its significant commercial experience in leading the commercialization effort for treosulfan. medac will also be responsible for the manufacturing and supply of treosulfan to Medexus Pharma in accordance with the terms of the License Agreement. The Company and medac will work together to finalize the preparations for commercialization of treosulfan ahead of the PDUFA date and expect to launch shortly after FDA approval.

Ken dEntremont, Chief Executive Officer of Medexus, stated, We are pleased to execute another transformative transaction with medac. In 2018, when we acquired medacs U.S. affiliate, we anticipated that treosulfan could be a significant advancement in HSCT. This transaction marks another major milestone for Medexus and is indicative of our continued effort to further expand into the U.S. through what we believe will be a highly accretive transaction for the Company. Given the drugs therapeutic profile and the data generated to date, we believe that treosulfan could exceed peak sales of busulfan of U.S. $126 million from use in allo-HSCT alone. This belief is re-enforced by the fact that that busulfan is currently being used off-label for the indications for which treosulfan has Orphan Drug Designation. Importantly, we believe there is a large unmet need as the current standard of care is not suitable for numerous at-risk groups, due to the high toxicity effects. Treosulfan has demonstrated excellent event-free survival and overall survival among such groups and as a result, should be well positioned to become the new standard of care in the U.S., with more than 100 publications supporting the safety and efficacy of treosulfan. We are proud to be working towards providing patients with a new solution that could have a very meaningful impact on their lives.

Jorg Hans, Chief Executive Officer of medac, emphasizes, This licensing deal with Medexus offers us the unique opportunity of providing patients and physicians with our very promising new treatment option in the area of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation now also in the United States. The treosulfan-based conditioning regimen stands out for its combination of being highly effective - similar to the potency of the myeloablative procedure - while simultaneously exhibiting significantly reduced toxicity. We at medac are very proud of our first-in-class conditioning agent as it addresses a huge need in the area of conditioning treatments especially with regard to high-risk patients. Therefore, this product fully meets our company goals of improving patients quality of life and supporting healthcare professionals in the best possible way. As a shareholder in Medexus we see the expansion of our relationship as a true win-win.

Medexus and Medexus Pharma were represented by Munsch Hardt Kopf and Harr, P.C. and medac was represented by Baker & McKenzie LLP with respect to the License Agreement.

Conference Call Details

Medexus will host a conference call on February 3, 2021 at 10:00 AM Eastern Time (U.S. and Canada) to discuss the License Agreement and to provide an operational update.

The conference call will be available via telephone by dialing toll free 888-506-0062 for Canadian and U.S. callers or 973-528-0011 for international callers, or on the Medexus Investor Events section of the website: https://www.medexus.com/en_US/investors/news-events.

A webcast replay will be available on Medexus Investor Events section of the website (https://www.medexus.com/en_US/investors/news-events) through May 3, 2021. A telephone replay of the call will be available approximately one hour following the call, through February 10, 2021 and can be accessed by dialing 877-481-4010 for Canadian and U.S. callers or 919-882-2331 for international callers and entering conference ID: 39898

Key Opinion Leader Webinar

Medexus will be hosting a Key Opinion Leader webinar to discuss treosulfan on February 5, 2021 at 2:00 PM Eastern Time (U.S. and Canada), followed by a question-and-answer period. Ken dEntremont, CEO, will be joined by H. Joachim Deeg, MD to discuss the clinical data supporting treosulfan.

To join the webinar, please register here: Treosulfan Key Opinion Leader Webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. The webinar will also be live streamed on YouTube for those who are unable to use Zoom: YouTube Live Stream.

Questions may be asked during the webinar or can be emailed ahead of time to info@adcap.ca. A replay will be made available on the Medexus website.

H. Joachim Deeg, MD

H. Joachim Deeg, MD, is a Physician at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, a Professor of Medical Oncology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and a Professor of Clinical Research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He currently holds the Miklos Kohary and Natalia Zimonyi Kohary Endowed Chair for Cancer Research. He is an expert in bone marrow transplantation, myelodysplastic syndromes, and myeloproliferative neoplasms. Dr. Deeg is a board-certified oncologist with more than 40 years of experience treating blood-disorders. He has a medical degree from the University of Bonn School of Medicine. Dr. Deeg completed his residency at the University of Rochester, NY and did a fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/ University of Washington, Seattle.

Mary Horowitz, MD

Dr. Horowitz is the Robert A. Uihlein Professor of Hematologic Research and Deputy Cancer Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. She is also Scientific Director Emeritus of the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR). The CIBMTR is a research collaboration between the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)/Be The Match and the Medical College of Wisconsin. The CIBMTR collaborates with the global scientific community to advance hematopoietic cell transplantation and cellular therapy worldwide to increase survival and enrich quality of life for patients. The CIBMTR facilitates critical observational and interventional research through scientific and statistical expertise, a large network of transplant centers, and a unique and extensive clinical outcomes database. Dr. Horowitz also leads the Coordinating Center of the U.S. Blood and Marrow Clinical Trials Network, a multicenter group funded by the National Institutes of Health to test new therapies to improve the safety and effectiveness of transplantation. She has co- authored more than 400 publications addressing diverse issues in clinical BMT.

1 Beelen, DW et al., Final Results of a Prospective Randomized Multicenter Phase III Trial Comparing Treosulfan / Fludarabine to Reduced Intensity Conditioning with Busulfan / Fludarabine Prior to Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Elderly or Comorbid Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia or Myelodysplastic Syndrome. Blood. 2017;130 (Suppl 1):521

2 Symphony Health PHAST Data 2020

3 Beelen, DW et al. Final Evaluation of a Clinical Phase III Trial Comparing Treosulfan to Busulfan-Based Conditioning Therapy Prior to Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation of Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Myelodysplastic Syndrome Patients Ineligible to Standard Myeloablative Regimens. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 25 (2019) S1-S6, p. 53, Abstract No. 04.

4 D'Souza, A, Fretham C, Lee SJ, et al. Current Use of and Trends in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in the United States. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2020 May 11: S1083-8791(20)30225-1

About medac GmbH

medac GmbH is a privately held, global pharmaceutical company with a growing pharmaceutical and diagnostics business. Since its foundation in Germany in 1970, medac has been specializing in the treatment of diseases within the indication areas oncology, hematology, urology and autoimmune disorders. medac is committed to the refinement of existing and the development of new therapeutic products  always with the focus on improving patients quality of life. medac has become known for developing innovative products also in less common indications. This dedication has resulted in a comprehensive portfolio of pharmaceutical products that help make a difference in the lives of patients. medac continually invests in its product development and manufacturing as well as logistic capacities to meet both patients needs and the demands of healthcare professionals.

About Medexus Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Medexus is a leading innovative and rare disease company with a strong North American commercial platform. From a foundation of proven best in class products we are building a highly differentiated company with a portfolio of innovative and high value orphan and rare disease products that will underpin our growth for the next decade. The Companys vision is to provide the best healthcare products to healthcare professionals and patients, through our core values of Quality, Innovation, Customer Service and Teamwork. Medexus Pharmaceuticals is focused on the therapeutic areas of auto-immune disease, hematology, and allergy. The Companys leading products are: Rasuvo and Metoject, a unique formulation of methotrexate (auto-pen and pre-filled syringe) designed to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other auto-immune diseases; IXINITY, an intravenous recombinant factor IX therapeutic for use in patients 12 years of age or older with Hemophilia B  a hereditary bleeding disorder characterized by a deficiency of clotting factor IX in the blood, which is necessary to control bleeding; and Rupall, an innovative prescription allergy medication with a unique mode of action.

For more information, please contact:

Ken dEntremont, Chief Executive Officer

Medexus Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Tel.: 905-676-0003

E-mail: ken.dentremont@medexus.com

Roland Boivin, Chief Financial Officer

Medexus Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Tel.: 514-334-8765

E-mail: roland.boivin@medexus.com

Investor Relations (U.S.):

Crescendo Communications, LLC

Tel: +1-212-671-1020

Email: mdp@crescendo-ir.com

Investor Relations (Canada):

Tina Byers

Investor Relations

Tel: 905-330-3275

E-mail: tina@adcap.ca

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New Delhi:

With a 110-metre long national flag, Gorkhaland supporters on Sunday marched in the national capital to reinforce their demand for a separate state and the immediate imposition of Presidents Rule in West Bengal.



Protestors belonging to the Gorkha Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti (GSSS) here demanded the Centres intervention in removing paramilitary forces with immediate effect.



The West Bengal government is treating common people like terrorists and killing them. The central government should remove paramilitary forces and terminate the services of the Director General of Police, GSSS president Kiran B K told PTI.



The protesters marched from Rajghat to Jantar Mantar carrying the flag, depicting 110 years of their struggle for separate state.



The march culminated at Jantar Mantar where they joined their co-supporters who had been protesting for three weeks now.



Just like Bengalis have their identity, we are fighting for ours. We are getting killed for seeking the rights we deserve. The Centre should look into the issue, said Stuti Thami of Darjeeling, adding that she was ready to die but not to stay under the West Bengal government.



Some of the placards that protesters carried criticised the BJP for its attitude before and after the elections.



The Gorkha Janmukti Marcha (GJM) today planned to take out rallies against the alleged killing of its supporters in police firing in Darjeeling as the indefinite shutdown in support of their demand for a separate Gorkhaland entered the 25th day amid a strict vigil by the Army and the police.



The Army was re-deployed yesterday after fresh violence erupted in the Darjeeling hills where Gorkhaland supporters torched a police outpost, the toy train railway station and clashed with the police at two places.

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Imagine you have some neighbors in a mansion down the road who pamper one child with a credit card, the best private school and a Tesla.

The parents treat most of their other kids decently but not lavishly  and then you discover the family consigns one child to an unheated, vermin-infested room in the basement, denying her dental care and often leaving her without food.

Youd call 911 to report child abuse. Youd say those responsible should be locked up. Youd steam about how vile adults must be to allow a child to suffer like that.

But thats us. That household, writ large, is America and our moral stain of child poverty.

Some American children attend $70,000-a-year nursery schools, but 12 million kids live in households that lack food. The United States has long had one of the highest rates of child poverty in the advanced world  and then the coronavirus pandemic aggravated the suffering.

Now we could have a thrilling breakthrough: President Joe Biden included a proposal in his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that one study says would cut child poverty by half. We in the news media have focused on direct payments to individuals, but the historic element of Bidens plan is its effort to slash child poverty.

The American Rescue Plan is the most ambitious proposal to reduce child poverty ever proposed by an American president, Jason Furman, a Harvard economist, told me.

A couple of decades from now, America will be pretty much the same whether direct payments end up being $1,000 or $1,400. But this will be a transformed nation if were able to shrink child poverty on our watch.

So the most distressing part of 10 Republican senators counterproposal to Biden was their decision to drop the plan to curb child poverty. Please, Mr. President, dont budge on this.

And senators, what are you thinking? Is the supposedly pro-family party battling to preserve child poverty?

So many of them speak about religion and Jesus and children, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who has long pushed for these anti-poverty measures, told me. How do you leave behind millions of children and their families living in poverty?

Perhaps some misread the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus says (19:14) suffer the little children to approach him; he absolutely does not recommend the little children shall suffer.

To their credit, some Republican senators, including Mike Lee of Utah and Marco Rubio of Florida, have spoken positively of elements in the Biden plan against child poverty. But overall whats astonishing is that a program so important to Americas future has received little attention.

To me, its the most transformational thing thats under discussion, and nobodys talking about it, said Luke Shaefer, a poverty expert at the University of Michigan.

The centerpiece of the child poverty plan is an expansion of the child tax credit, up to $3,600 a year for young children. This would cost as much as $120 billion a year and, critically, would be paid out monthly to families that earn too little to pay taxes. Even a sum as modest as $3,600 is transformative for many low-income families.

One reason to think that this would be so successful is that many other countries have used similar strategies to cut child poverty by large margins. Canadas parallel approach cut child poverty by 20 to 30 percent, depending on whos counting, and Britain under Tony Blair cut child poverty in half.

None of this is simple, and monthly stipends dont solve all problems. One child in 8 lives with a parent struggling with substance abuse. While Ive seen many families striving to do their best for their children even as theyre crushed by low-wage jobs, I once visited a home in Arkansas in which a boy had three televisions in his bedroom but no food in the house. Love and dysfunction can coexist.

So lets be honest: The child tax credit would help enormously, but we also need home-visiting programs, high-quality preschool, lead reduction, addiction treatment, and other support for moms and dads, serious efforts to combat family homelessness, and initiatives to help parents get better jobs in ways that lift them and their children out of poverty.

Maybe you think this is unaffordable? One prominent estimate suggests that child poverty costs the United States about $1 trillion annually in reduced adult productivity, increased crime and higher health care costs  so the question isnt can we afford to help children, but can we afford not to?

Yes, all this is messy, but other industrialized countries manage to do better than we do at helping children, because those countries make it a priority.

Now we can make it our priority, too, helping children and our country alike. As Furman says, investments in children are not just a handout but a hand up. Lets empower our nations children and stop abusing them.
Sligo born journalist Paddy Clancy is back in Sligo University Hospital fighting Covid-19 - the location where he contracted the dreaded virus some weeks ago after being admitted over an ongoing kidney condition.

The Bridge Street native (77) has been telling of his shock and annoyance at catching Covid in a hospital setting.

The journalist who presented RTE Radio's Morning Ireland slot, What It Says In The Papers, for almost three decades spoke candidly about the virus: "It kills people like me. It can kill people like me. And I'm not ready to go," he told RTE's Primetime last Tuesday night, becoming emotional.

He was speaking from his Rossnowlagh, County Donegal home before he was readmitted to SUH and had been isolating in his bedrrom.

"I'm well used to that view for the last 20 years and I just love it," he said, describing the view of Donegal Bay from his home.

According to Primetime Paddy is part of a growing number of patients who caught Covid while in hospital.

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Paddy has a chronic kidney condition that required hospitalisation on 23 December last at SUH.

"I felt safe going into Sligo Hospital. I really did. I had already been swabbed before we went in and I returned negative," he recalled.

Paddy was put in a six-bed general medical ward where five of the beds were occupied with patients.

Two weeks into his stay in hospital, a man in a bed across the ward became ill and was diagnosed with Covid-19.

"They were behind the closed curtain, so we obviously heard what was going on," Paddy told Prime Time.

The man was moved to a Covid ward in the hospital, while the remaining patients were deemed close contacts.

Infection control measures were increased on the ward, fewer staff came into the room, and patients were asked not to go out onto the corridor.

"We were desperately looking after each other. Trying not to touch each other. The doctor suggested if we wanted to put on our face masks we should do so and sleep with them on, which I did."

Within a number of days, all of the remaining patients tested positive for Covid-19, including Paddy.

"I was told on Friday evening [15 January] that I had Covid, and you don't really want to hear the language I used addressing the doctor," Paddy said.

"We were all staying two meters away. The beds were two metres apart. I'm only guessing it's the UK version of Covid.

"We were told it would spread faster than the regular version. And it did."

Paddy is now back in SUH for treatment for Covid-19.

"I understand that the health service has been in a major crisis. I understand that. I can't get really angry with [the staff]. I'm angry with the system," he said.

In November 2019 Paddy was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the NewsBrands Ireland Journalism Awards in the Mansion House, Dublin.

The award honoured Paddy's long career in journalism which included working for The Irish Sun and Daily Mirror.

In a statement, the HSE said that, up to the end of last year, 967 people had caught Covid in hospital. However, that figure has increased dramatically in the past three weeks.

Since 27 December, 846 patients have also caught Covid in hospital.

The HSE says when community transmission rates are at the level they are, it is "inevitable and unavoidable that there will be outbreaks in hospitals."

It said there was "extensive testing of people on admission to hospital and while in hospital," so that infection control measures could be stepped up to reduce the risk of transmission to others.

Speaking to Prime Time, Prof Martin Cormican, the HSE's clinical lead on infection and antimicrobial resistance, said that seeing the number of people who had contracted Covid in hospital made it "amongst the most disappointing days of his professional life."

The virus, Prof Cormican said, "exploits the tiniest lapse in concentration."

"I know colleagues who have avoided infection for months, took extreme care, and then caught infection."

Earlier this year, researchers at University College Dublin used genome sequencing to track how Covid was spreading in a Dublin hospital. In one instance, six patients across two wards were infected with Covid along with a number of staff members who worked in the two units.

The lead author of the study, Prof Kirsten Schaffer, told Prime Time that the study was done before mask wearing became more stringent among hospital staff treating non-Covid patients.

"I think what we weren't really aware of is the human factor. All the measures we implement are only as good as we have human compliance.

"And it is very difficult as a healthcare worker to wear a mask throughout the shift all the time," she said.

"Healthcare workers have to have lunch. They have to have coffee breaks. Nobody wants to go for lunch by themselves."

Prof Schaffer said that non-Covid patients should be encouraged to wear masks as much as possible. "We advise patients to wear a mask whenever they're in public areas of the hospital or outside the rooms, but we don't necessarily advise them to wear the mask all the time when they're lying in bed by themselves in their room," she said. I definitely think we should encourage patients more than what was done."

Prof Cormican said that, while masks are provided to patients if they wish to wear one while in their beds, many patients find it "impossible and uncomfortable to wear a mask all of the time that they are in hospital. We can't make wearing a mask a condition of accessing healthcare," he said, "because people have a right to access healthcare and some people simply can't wear a mask."

Prof Cormican said that hospitals were doing everything they could to prevent patients from catching Covid-19. "But I can't guarantee somebody that if they go into hospital that they won't get Covid. I'm afraid that's not how it works," he said.

"We're up against an extremely difficult infectious organism."
Tess Klachefsky and Jordan Cieciwa were ready to have a baby.

They planned. They saved. They built their careers. They bought a house. They got married in June 2019 and Klachefsky was pregnant within weeks.

"And, wouldnt you know it, the world was like, Hey, guess what  heres a pandemic," says Cieciwa, 40, with a laugh.

Jordan Cieciwa and Tess Klachefskys baby, Betty, was born last March two weeks after the pandemic hit the province. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

Betty, their daughter, was born on March 25 at St. Boniface Hospital, just shy of two weeks after Manitoba declared its first case of COVID-19. Their experience has been nothing like they expected and nothing they would have chosen.

"I was really scared," says Klachefsky, 33, of when the pandemic hit. It was another blow: Klachefsky was at the end of a rough pregnancy and was grieving the loss of her mother, who had died in November 2019. In the weeks following Bettys birth, the world was shut down, leaving Klachefsky isolated with her grief and a new baby.

"My mom would be the person that I would turn to to help me navigate any situation  especially motherhood," she says.

"Theres no good time to have a baby" is something people like to say. But having a baby during a global pandemic is especially fraught.

The loneliness of solo ultrasounds. The excruciating feeling of being told by your fertility clinic you have to wait some more after youve already waited for so long. The sadness of grandparents who have yet to hold their grandchildren. The disappointment over cancelled celebrations, rites of passage unmarked. The fear of a virus.

Even during the best of times, becoming a parent is a life-altering experience that comes with a roiling stew of emotions. Parents have always had to navigate a new normal; its a whole new world when someone is born. Pregnant people and parents of newborns often feel shame and guilt for feeling any emotion that is not heart-bursting joy  or for feeling disappointment that their pregnancy and birth didnt look the way they wanted it to.

"People have different expectations, and theyre not always met. Birth can be beautiful and magical and all of those things  but it can also be stressful and it can also be traumatic."  Erin Bockstael

"Our programming really strives to validate and affirm and acknowledge those feelings because really, thats such a reality in pregnancy and birth," says Erin Bockstael, a team leader in the Mothers Program & Health Promotion at Womens Health Clinic. "People have different expectations, and theyre not always met. Birth can be beautiful and magical and all of those things  but it can also be stressful and it can also be traumatic."

Becoming a parent can already be anxiety-provoking  "its a brand new job that you have no training for, and its one that youre particularly invested in doing well," as Bockstael puts it  but the pandemic has heightened feelings of worry and uncertainty.

In one program, participants do an exercise called Im OK If. "And we go through all those feelings. Like, Im OK if I feel sad, if I feel empty, if I feel disappointed, if I feel anxious, and we talk about, are we OK? And how can we support ourselves maybe feeling closer to OK? And what are the things I can reach out for if I need more help if Im not OK?

"Theres like a social script people feel they need to follow, which is, I have a healthy baby, so I cant complain kind of thing," she adds. "But its not complaining to name what youre feeling."

Klachefsky would agree with that sentiment.

Jordan Cieciwa didn't expect to be a stay-at-home dad but loves hanging out with Betty and feeling like a part of her learning experience. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

"I think we have to be careful about doing the, Well, at least I dont have it as bad as so-and-so or Its not as bad as it could be, because I think that can really be a way to silence people and invalidate their struggle," she says. "Because yeah, it could always be worse. But that doesnt mean that what somebody is dealing with isnt really hard."

One major frustration Klachefsky encountered was not being able to access the material supports she needed. "I had a really hard time breastfeeding Betty at first. And the public health nurse came twice, but what I really needed was a lactation consultant, and I didnt have access to one unless I went to a clinic. And I was too scared to go to a clinic."

Ten months on, Klachefsky is grateful for her "chubby, healthy, happy baby," as well as "a really great partner who is just as much of a parent as I am"  but its been a hard time.

For Cieciwa, Bettys arrival dovetailed with a job loss owing to the pandemic. Now, hes embracing a new identity as a stay-at-home parent.

"My dream in life was never to be a stay-at-home dad, but the situation the pandemics created, it looks like that will be what Im doing for the next couple of months. I am loving hanging out and watching her do everything, and feeling like Im part of her learning experience."

But the lack of community around them has been difficult. When Klachefsky got pregnant, they were excited about sharing experiences with friends who were also expecting, and getting out and taking their daughter places.

"It was like, Oh, this is gonna be so great. We can have all these times together and yada-yada-yada," Cieciwa says. "Now, its just Tess and me versus the world."

This may have been Cyara Birds third pregnancy, but it was her first time being pregnant during a global pandemic.

Bird, 24, lives in Little Black River First Nation, on the eastern shores of Lake Winnipeg, with her husband Gabriel, their daughters Wya, 4, and Wrenley, almost 2, and their new son, Larson, who was born in Oct. 22.

Cyara Bird hated the fact her husband missed out on a lot of firsts with their son, Larson. "He didnt get to see his only sons first wiggle on the ultrasound, he didnt get to hear Larsons heartbeat until I was in labour. I know how much it hurt him to not be able to see all of those firsts. (Supplied)

She was early in her pregnancy when the pandemic began, and was nervous about how COVID-19, then much less understood, might affect the health of her baby. "I became a germaphobe," she says via email. "Most mothers have this fierce instinct to protect their babies, earth side and in the womb. Even to this day I obsessively sanitize, wash my hands and feel the need to shower before holding my son after Ive been out shopping."

Bird had a scary complication early in her pregnancy in which her placenta partially detached. Her hCG level had dropped, which can be a sign of miscarriage.

"My husband couldnt even be with me in the room (at the Selkirk Regional Health Centre)," Bird says. "He had to wait in our vehicle. I had to text him to tell him I might have lost our baby and that was one of the most empty feelings I have ever experienced."

Bird was put on bedrest, and her husband continued to have to wait in the car during appointments.

"He missed out on so much of my pregnancy and thats time he will never get back," Bird says. "He didnt get to see his only sons first wiggle on the ultrasound, he didnt get to hear Larsons heartbeat until I was in labour. I know how much it hurt him to not be able to see all of those firsts. It was hard on me, too, especially with the complex complication I had, every appointment was precious because I never knew if it would be my last."

Not having husband Travis Wiess (holding five-year-old Felix) with her for ultrasounds and other appointments was challenging, says Katie German. Jasper was born in December. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

With a December due date, Katie German, 37, was pregnant with her second son, Jasper, for the whole pandemic. Felix, her firstborn, is 5.

"It was a nice focus to have, as opposed to just freaking out about the pandemic," she says, feeding her five-week-old during a Zoom call. "It was much different pregnancy than our first one. Our first one was by the book, super easy, no issues whatsoever. And this one was like, totally off the map, very different."

German says that first ultrasound was terrifying. "Im just sitting there by myself with an ultrasound technician, hoping that nothing was going to be said that I wouldnt be able to handle."

Like Bird, German says one of the biggest challenges was that her husband, Travis Wiess, was not able to be at any ultrasounds or appointments. "Hes a part of it too, right?" she says. She took a sneaky video of a subsequent ultrasound with her phone, but it wasnt the same.

Accessing a human to talk to was another challenge, German says. "There were a couple times that things came up, and the go-to is call Health Links  but Health Links was, at times, just crazy amounts of time waiting."

Still, being pregnant during a pandemic came with unexpected silver linings. German works in theatre and, in normal times, shed be busy. "Theres never a good time to (be pregnant), unfortunately, because theres always shows and theres always auditions. So having sort of a pocket of pause was really lovely."

Jasper was born on Dec. 16. Wiess is working from home, and having him around during the first few weeks of their sons life has also been a gift. In normal times, being at home alone with a newborn can be incredibly isolating. "Youre by yourself, and so you need to have people come and see you or you need to go visit people."

The birth of Louie helped Andrea Tiwari, with fiance Nelson Salazar, cope with the loss of her father. (John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press)

In addition to navigating her first pregnancy during a pandemic, Andrea Tiwari, 31, was also dealing with the stress of running a restaurant  Tiwari is owner/chef at Bindys Caribbean Delights in the Forks Market  and, like Klachefsky, grieving the loss of a parent. Her father, Bindra (Bindy) Tiwari, died last August.

"Its been a crazy year," she says via FaceTime while her four-month-old son, Louie, who was born Sept. 29, naps. "And I have to say, though, Louie has brought so much joy to that sadness in my life. The grieving process of a parent is very, very hard. And Im just so blessed that I have Louie here now with me to keep me focused on something good."

In the early days of the pandemic, people joked that lockdowns would result in a baby boom, ushering in an entire generation of "coronials."

The first wave of babies who were conceived during the pandemic only started being born in the past several weeks, so its a bit early to attach numbers to this claim. Still, fertility and economic experts are saying the coronial baby boom is looking more like a baby bust  especially in the pandemic-ravaged United States.

One thing is certain: pandemic or no, babies are still being born, every day. And Dr. Leslea Walters helps bring them into the world.

Walters is an obstetrician-gynecologist who practises out of Millennium Medical Centre and delivers at the Womens Hospital at Health Sciences Centre. In December 2020, the first month of "coronial" baby births, Walters says hospital births  at both St. Boniface and HSC  were down by 100 compared with December 2019. In January 2021, there were 150 fewer hospital births compared with January 2020.

When COVID-19 arrived in Manitoba in March, it was a time of anxiety for her obstetrical unit, she says. They were hearing grim stories out of hard-hit places such as New York City and Italy, and werent sure yet how hard Manitoba would be hit and how it would affect them.

"Obstetrics is, in our minds, a very specialized part of medicine," Walters says. "You cant just pull a nurse from anywhere, you cant just pull a physician from anywhere to provide obstetrical management without hugely affecting outcomes."

After about three months of working in a rotation, they were able to get back to something resembling normal with added personal protection equipment. Walters says they have been able to maintain a support person for women in labour, even through the strictest hospital shutdowns.

"There have been people who were positive with COVID and were sick, who were not able to have a support person with them. And its been a very small number, but we all hate it. The patients hate it. The nurses hate it. The doctors hate it. Its terrible."  Dr. Leslea Walters

"Generally speaking, every healthy woman coming in having a baby has their supportive partner with them," Walters says. "But there have been people who were positive with COVID and were sick, who were not able to have a support person with them. And its been a very small number, but we all hate it. The patients hate it. The nurses hate it. The doctors hate it. Its terrible."

Still, there are positive upshots to the restrictions: not all family members are supportive in the delivery room, Walters points out. Some patients have told her its a relief to have that decision taken away from them.

And as for labouring and delivering in a mask, it hasnt been as big an issue as she expected. Many patients are concerned about the health of those caring for them.

"Women are warriors," Walters says. "So it doesnt surprise me that women are able to labour and deliver with a mask on. We see women at the height of their strength and resilience every single day. They just take it in stride. Its amazing what women can do in the midst of this whole thing."

German, Bird and Tiwari all gave birth at the Womens Hospital at HSC within months of each other.

"I felt so taken care of and heard, and anytime I was nervous about something, they took the time to actually sit down and talk to me about things. I didnt ever feel on the sidelines or like that I needed to be rushed through," German says. "I just think that was really cool, especially with everything that theyre dealing with right now."

"The nurses and doctors were so amazing and did their absolute best to support both my husband and I," Bird says. "It was hard not being able to see my mom and have her there when I was giving birth, but the nurses and doctors did just such an amazing job being compassionate, patient, and they were just so supportive. It was my best birth by far."

Tiwari was alone in triage until she was about four to five centimetres dilated. "It was kind of scary because I was exhausted, I was in pain. I just wanted (my fiance) to be there to hold my hand or rub my back, and he was out in the waiting room."

But once things progressed, her fiance, Nelson Salazar, was allowed to join her in the delivery ward which, as it happens, is where his mother works.

"She actually delivered Louie," Tiwari says with a laugh. "And so it was an extra-special moment. My fiance was there. His mom was there. Like, what grandma gets to say, I delivered my grandson?"

Rory and Lisa McDonald are expecting their baby by surrogate in May. (John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press)

Rory and Lisa McDonald will welcome their first baby in May 2021 and, for a while, they were worried neither of them would be able to be in the room for the birth.

The McDonalds are expecting via surrogate. A few years ago, Lisa, 30, had a cancer scare that led to having an emergency surgery to have her uterus removed. Because she still has her ovaries, Lisa and her husband Rory, 32, were able to do in vitro fertilization (IVF)  the process by which an egg is fertilized with sperm outside the body to form an embryo, which is then transferred into a uterus.

The uterus, in this case, belongs to a close cousin and friend named Sarah, who offered to carry their baby. In early March, they began the process at Heartland Fertility and Gynecology Clinic, the only fertility centre in Manitoba. Rory and Lisa felt like things were moving forward  and then the pandemic hit.

"We had thousands of dollars worth of drugs on our dining room table and we get a phone call from Heartland saying, Stop, dont take anything. Were closing everything down because of COVID," Lisa says. "We had waited almost two years for that moment."

They were delayed almost two months. Owing to COVID-19 restrictions, the couple could not be with their surrogate, either.

"That was really, really difficult," Lisa says. "It was already hard that we had to do (surrogacy) in the first place, and now we had to do it alone. We werent allowed to be with Sarah."

The three of them would have been at the embryo transfer; instead, they FaceTimed with Sarah afterwards. "You just felt disconnected," Rory says. "I mean, even more disconnected, because its already not Lisas body."

The embryo transfer was successful, but the couples excitement has been muted. Public health restrictions meant neither Rory or Lisa could attend those first ultrasounds and appointments. Its standard, in a surrogacy, to have an agreement drawn up by a lawyer between the biological parents and the surrogate. Per their agreement, one parent must be able to be at appointments. Rory and Lisa ended up having to advocate for themselves, and their OB-GYN finally agreed to allow one of them to attend appointments. "Normally you wouldnt have to do that," Lisa says. "COVID led us to have to do these kinds of things."

That hasnt been the only stress. Their surrogate contracted COVID-19 early on, so not only were they worried for their cousin, they were worried for their baby. Everyone is healthy now.

And though the due date is still months away, its likely only one parent will be able to attend the birth. Lisa is struggling with that.

"Its already such a sad process that, like, obviously we wish it was us and not having to involve a third person. Were thankful we have a surrogate and all but still, it doesnt seem fair," she says. "How can someone, even a hospital, say, No, youre not allowed to be present at your childs birth after all youve been through?"

Morwenna Trevenen and her husband Kyle Collins waited years to hear: Congratulations, youre pregnant. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

Morwenna Trevenen, 38, and her husband, Kyle Collins, can relate to the fertility waiting game. The couple got married in 2013 and started trying for a baby immediately. What followed was seven long years of failed intrauterine inseminations, havoc-wreaking hormone treatments, painful procedures, disappointment and heartbreak  including an adoption in 2016 that was reversed 10 days later. Shes currently writing a book about her experience.

After taking some time to process that loss, Collins parents offered to pay for one round of IVF. "Thats the only reason that we tried it because we decided we were done and we couldnt handle the emotion of it anymore," Trevenen says. "And we were sick of hemorrhaging money, and we had to pay our mortgage."

And so, they began the IVF process with Heartland in the months before the pandemic.

"Our last appointment in March was with our doctor over the phone because of COVID, and he gave us the news that of the five embryos wed had, only one of them was going to be viable  and we couldnt do anything because of COVID," Trevenen says.

Trevenen had the embryo transfer done in July. The stakes were high  one embryo, one shot. But this time it was good news. Over the crackle of speakerphone, Trevenen and her husband finally heard the words they thought they may never hear: "Congratulations, youre pregnant."

"We just sort of stared at each other and not moving for a sec because we couldnt process it," she says. "We were so used to, for so many years, Im sorry, were gonna try again or Im sorry, it didnt work."

Their baby, a boy, is due at the end of March/early April.

"People are missing that connection and all those gatherings and rituals that involve being part of your community that help mark this transition. So things like baby showers or baptisms, blessingways, naming ceremonies  those all had to be reinvented, too."  Erin Bockstael

Now, Trevenen is navigating the pandemic as a pregnant woman, dealing with the inconvenience of having to buy maternity clothes online during a code-red lockdown or being out running essential errands or meeting a client for work and having to pee, again, with nowhere to do so.

But she is also grieving all the celebratory rituals of pregnancy she wont get to experience, especially after waiting  and wanting  for so long.

"And now to have it, and I feel like Ive been ripped off," Trevenen says. "It sounds stupid, but before getting pregnant, I was like, and then if it works, Ill go for lunch with my girlfriends, and theyll feel my belly and Ill get to have a baby shower with my family  finally, for me. Not for everyone else.

"Like, the important thing is that youre healthy and that the kid is healthy and that you finally got it and, like, this is great. And its a blessing," she says. "But its a constant warring of emotions and feeling upset and then feeling upset about being upset."

Its worth noting, too, that people who have gone through successful fertility treatments may feel extra pressure to slap a big happy-face sticker on their experience.

"And research bears that out," WHCs Bockstael says. "People who have had fertility challenges, a history of pregnancy loss, people who adopt feel more shame and stigma around naming any feelings about the difficulties of parenting, just because they have additional pressure to feel grateful for every moment."

Like Trevenen, Tess Klachefsky is mourning what could have been.

"I feel really angry and really resentful about being robbed of my mat leave," she says. "With my mom dying, and now in this new phase of life and feeling so alone, I was really looking forward to having like, you know, Mommy and Me classes. Several of my friends also had babies, so getting together going for lunch  just really, really normal things."

Family members and friends being unable to hold or even meet their babies has been a source of heartbreak for all the parents interviewed for this story. For Cyara Bird and Katie German, not being able to have their older kids meet their new sibling in the hospital was especially hard.

Family members and friends being unable to hold or even meet their babies has been a source of heartbreak. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

"My mom hasnt held him yet," German says, her voice cracking with emotion. Her December due date meant a code-red birth. Her extended family is missing the baby-baby time, as German puts it, when they are squishy, wrinkly and new.

"My heart will remain broken forever because my Nana and Papa didnt get to hold my son as a tiny newborn," Bird says. "Time is so precious and if I couldve changed one thing about this experience, it wouldve been being able to visit my grandparents after giving birth."

"The saddest thing I think was not being able to introduce him to my family right away," Andrea Tiwari says. "Everyone was just so excited after the loss of my dad to have something really joyous to look forward to."

Trevenen, too, feels bad for her in-laws in Calgary who are missing the pregnancy of their only grandchild. "They feel like theyre getting ripped off, too. They dont get the experience. My mom can at least come and stand on the front step and wave."

Its takes a village to raise a child, the saying goes. But what happens when you cant gather as a village?

Klachefsky offers some practical advice for those who may have new parents in their circle. "Dont say, Let me know if you need anything," she says. "Replace that with an action. So, Hey, Im gonna bring you dinner tonight. Itll be on your steps.

"Check on the new moms in your life," she says. "Any mom, but, especially the new moms. I think were kind of suffering. Its been a really, really difficult time."

During her pregnancy, German was able to find community virtually. "I got to take a prenatal class online with (midwife) Melissa Brown through Zaagiidiwin (an Indigenous maternal health and wellness community) and getting to participate in it made me feel way more knowledgeable and gave me something to focus in on and be excited about rather than concerned all the time," she says. "Being a Metis woman, it was good to have the traditional knowledge, since I couldnt connect through regular ceremony. It was ceremony in itself."

Andrea Tiwari is staying in close virtual contact with her mom and two younger sisters, who live in Ontario. "My son definitely knows what FaceTime is, because every time I hold the phone up now hes waiting to see someone on the other end of the screen or someone talk to him." (John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press)

Tiwari is staying in close virtual contact with her mom and two younger sisters, who live in Ontario. "My son definitely knows what FaceTime is, because every time I hold the phone up now hes waiting to see someone on the other end of the screen or someone talk to him."

"People are missing that connection and all those gatherings and rituals that involve being part of your community that help mark this transition," Bockstael says. "So things like baby showers or baptisms, blessingways, naming ceremonies  those all had to be reinvented, too."

Several weeks ago, Rory and Lisa McDonald hosted a drive-by reveal.

"We told our family and friends by text, saying Hey, if you drive by our house tonight, were going to have a light in our upstairs sunroom thats either going to be blue or pink and you can find out what the sex is going to be," Lisa says.

"Youre upset that you cant have a normal experience. And then you kind of get over it, and then you adapt. Thats what weve learned to do."

And so, on a particularly freezing-cold night, friends and family distantly celebrated the happy news, a rose-coloured light in the December darkness. Its a girl.

jen.zoratti@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @JenZoratti
The Indian diaspora which celebrates its 176th Indian Arrival Day in Trinidad and Tobago is not an abstract entity, but one that flowers the socio-economic and cultural growth and development of our peoples.

It remains a proud moment for all of uspoliticians, sociologists, economists, civic, religious and cultural leadersin world history.
Big Tech (Reuters)

Planned legislation to establish new business areas in Nevada would allow technology companies to effectively form separate local governments.

Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak announced a plan to launch so-called Innovation Zones in Nevada to jumpstart the state's economy by attracting technology firms, Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Wednesday.

The zones would permit companies with large areas of land to form governments carrying the same authority as counties, including the ability to impose taxes, form school districts and courts and provide government services.

The measure to further economic development with the alternative form of local government has not yet been introduced in the Legislature.

Sisolak pitched the concept in his State of the State address delivered Jan. 19. The plan would bring in new businesses at the forefront of groundbreaking technologies without the use of tax abatements or other publicly funded incentive packages that previously helped Nevada attract companies like Tesla Inc.

Sisolak named Blockchains, LLC as a company that had committed to developing a "smart city" in an area east of Reno after the legislation has passed.

The draft proposal said the traditional local government model is "inadequate alone" to provide the resources to make Nevada a leader in attracting and retaining businesses and fostering economic development in emerging technologies and industries.

The Governors Office of Economic Development would oversee applications for the zones, which would be limited to companies working in specific business areas including blockchain, autonomous technology, the Internet of Things, robotics, artificial intelligence, wireless, biometrics and renewable resource technology.

Zone requirements would include applicants owning at least 78 square miles (202 square kilometers) of undeveloped, uninhabited land within a single county but separate from any city, town or tax increment area. Companies would have at least $250 million and plans to invest an additional $1 billion in their zones over 10 years.

The zones would initially operate with the oversight of their location counties, but would eventually take over county duties and become independent governmental bodies.

The zones would have three-member supervisor boards with the same powers as county commissioners. The businesses would maintain significant control over board membership.

The governor's economic development office did not respond to questions about the zones Wednesday.
Here what to do in Ocean City on rainy days

Even on rainy days Ocean City has a host of indoor activities  like shopping, movie theaters, wineries and breweries  to entertain.
While calling in to the Worcester School Committee meeting Thursday night, as the return to hybrid education during the COVID-19 pandemic was discussed once again, parent Liz Joyal offered a call to action: anyone who wanted to hold the committee accountable should send an email.

Joyal, through the email address reopenWPS@gmail.com, is looking to connect with other parents who have the same goal: holding the Worcester Public Schools administration and school committee accountable to getting kids back into classrooms.

The vision is to really provide a place for parents to support one another and collaborate and advocate for reopening of the Worcester Public Schools, Joyal said in an interview. Im hoping to organize concerned parents to continue to keep the school committee and superintendent accountable to these [hybrid learning return] dates.

Worcester students have been learning remotely for nearly a year now. The district first had a plan to bring some students into school buildings for hybrid learning in November. But then came hurdles. Building HVAC updates were not complete and then Massachusetts entered its second surge of the pandemic.

Return dates kept getting pushed back. The committee on Thursday voted to have children with complex disabilities and New Citizens Programs students return to classrooms on March 15. All other students will have a chance to go back on March 29, if March 22 is not possible.

I would say what we really need to do, in a lot of ways, is to hold the school committee, the superintendent and the district to these dates in March that they voted to approve. I think thats our next step, said Joyal, who has a son in the eighth grade.

Superintendent Maureen Binienda in an interview said the district intends to hold to those dates, though a flare-up of the virus, or possibly of a virus variant, could affect the return to buildings.

Initially, the district was not planning for the majority of students to return until April 5. That date was amended to March 29 in a motion by member Molly McCullough. Tracy OConnell Novick was the sole member to vote against the motion.

Im encouraged, Joyal said. Anything at this point is helpful. Anything to give students hope and see that there is a future in some way with their schooling.

Joyal said she is not worried about virus spread in school buildings for hybrid learning.

I think we can do this, she said. Were living the rest of life with masks on and were OK.

State data does show there has been some transmission of the virus in schools, however, it has not been widespread.

As of Thursday, K-12 schools have seen 26 new clusters of COVID from Jan. 3 to 30, according to Department of Public Health data, including 117 confirmed cases of the virus and 192 contacts. There are 44 clusters that were identified before Jan. 3 but have not yet met the criteria for closing.

School clusters include cases associated with a school where in-school transmission cannot be completely ruled out, officials have said, although other transmission settings are considered more likely.

Evidence of possible in-school transmission includes two or more cases that share a classroom or other school setting; timing between cases, as the average time between exposure and development of disease for COVID-19 is 5 days; and ruling out of other exposure settings, officials said. A cluster is considered closed after 28 days have passed since the last confirmed case.

Previously, Binienda told MassLive that she wanted all employees vaccinated before hybrid learning could begin. With the new March dates and the rollout of the vaccine in Massachusetts, that may not be possible.

Im still hopeful that our Group C staff, that work with our most complex special needs students, that theyll be able to get those vaccines. Im optimistic on that, Binienda said. We need to open schools now. Were just really hoping [the vaccine] is going to be available for our teachers.

The state is in Phase 2 of its vaccine rollout plan, which does include K-12 employees. It is not yet clear when those employees will be able to start getting vaccinated. This week, Worcester officials announced that a vaccination supersite will be opening at Worcester State University.

Up until remote learning, Joyal said her familys experience with the public schools has been a good one. Before Joyal adopted her son, his education had a lot of interruptions, she said.

The Worcester Public Schools did an amazing job with him, an absolutely amazing job, and thats why Im so disheartened, she said, that so much of what they have done, the learning loss that they helped him overcome, is now falling away.

Families in Worcester are split on whether they plan to send kids back to school this year. Worcester has 23,986 students in its system, according to education department data. Binienda said during Thursdays school committee meeting that, so far, 11,555 students are interested in hybrid learning and 10,469 students plan to stay remote. The district is waiting to hear from more than 900 families.

Not all parents are frustrated by the lack of in-person learning. Several parents thanked the school committee on Thursday for keeping students safe and at home.

Its going to run the gamut from people that are very happy, people that are alright, people that arent happy with it, Binienda said. Thats the way most things run.

One common thread through remote learning is that parents and students are thankful for the hard work of teachers, who are making the best of a difficult situation.

While remote learning has been sufficient for some students, Joyal said it has not been beneficial for her son.

Its harder and harder to give hope to our son that he will go back to school this year, Joyal said.

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There may be no Charleston neighborhood that has transformed with the speed and splash of Cannonborough-Elliottborough.

Throughout the area, which is nestled on the West side just south of the Septima P. Clark Parkway, there seems to be an ever-evolving proliferation of fastidiously rehabbed homes, cheery local boutiques and inviting new boites. They are regularly the stuff of prestigious awards, glossy lifestyle spreads and national television shows.

Case in point: In January, another three restored structures swooped up Carolopolis Awards  the annual nod from Preservation Society of Charleston bestowed upon projects employing exceptional standards in design, craftsmanship and historic integrity.

The fact that these buildings fell to such disrepair is another matter. Many who watch local development ebbs and flows attribute such vacancies and neglect to longstanding taxation practices that have been untenable for past residents.

It's true, such preservation efforts only bring back the buildings but rarely the former residents. However, many are committed to maintaining Cannonborough-Elliottborough as a dynamic mix of the residential and the commercial  in short, a living, working, multifaceted urban neighborhood.

Form and function

About those coveted Carolopolis Awards. Kristopher King, executive director of the Preservation Society of Charleston, noted that the focus of the awards is the building's project, not its intended purpose.

Whether a structure is being spiffed up as a single-family home, a local shop or short-term rental is beyond the scope of the award's recognition.

One of the things that our application really doesn't ask is what the use is, King said, noting the process does not contemplate cultural, social, tax and other such shifts. It really is focused on before and after (projects).

That being said, King does view such preservation upticks as an indicator of the market.

We're very interested in how these patterns are emerging. And over recent years, we've seen a lot more (that are) not on the peninsula, which is really exciting. We had our first in West Ashley last year, he said.

A neighborhood changed

According to King, the pattern in Cannonborough-Elliottborough speaks to its very unique evolution.

There's been a tremendous amount of change, arguably more so than in any other neighborhood over 20 years, King said.

You have a neighborhood that was predominantly long-term residents. That was predominantly African American. That also possessed the core commercial district for the African American community.

A preservation spike in an area can be a boon for the greater cause.

It confirms ... that our value proposition extends beyond the mandate of the city, he said.

However, such preservation does not necessarily beget attributes like livability or diversity, which market forces in Charleston continue to threaten.

Sure, there's been a lot of positive, but there's also been a lot of negative, King said.

Uncovering history

Later this spring, the Preservation Society of Charleston will launch an initiative that documents the neighborhoods history.

It's a difficult narrative, King said, when considering the changes in both the percentage of full-time residents and its demographic.

Victoria Rae Moore, facilitator of ConNECKtedTOO, a community arts initiative that explores issues like gentrification through the lens of small businesses, suggests new residents learn about their new home.

"As the neighborhood evolves, I implore new and future residents to know the area's history," she said.

She noted that in 1968, the year Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, the only hotel in Charleston that catered to Black people was the Hotel James in Cannonborough-Elliottborough.

"You also would have found the Lincoln Theatre (opened in 1920 for an African American audience), Taylors Bakery, where residents looked forward to buying snack-bags of crumbs for just a nickel and a number of other Black-owned businesses  so many ... in fact, that some refer to that time and space as Charlestons Black Prosperity Street."

Even with this legacy, King noted also that Cannonborough-Elliottborough is not currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which would afford tax credits to those developers with the means to fully meet the highest standards.

Determined diversity

Diversity is a term that comes up regularly, applied by stakeholders to use, style and residents. Over the past few years, there have been projects committed to retaining it.

Moore points out that though the racial demographics have shifted, today there are many small businesses in the community including Veggie Bin, Poke San and Rose Florist, which opened in 1972 and is still operated by its original owner, Donald Bennett.

"Beyond their goods and services, these mom-and-pop-sized operations are cultural assets. Their presence and their stories are integral to the neighborhood's vitality," she said.

King also points to two single-story, mixed-used structures at 92A and 92B Spring St., which were built between 1907 and 1908 by Huldah J. Prioleau, one of the first female Black physicians in South Carolina. She used 92B as her office, and rented the other as a barbershop.

In its recent rehabilitation project, Jeffrey Roberts, managing partner at JJR Development, worked with architect Julia Martin to reinstitute wood siding, windows and doors, and opened 92B Spring St. with a storefront.

"We just think they fight way above their weight and someone needed to preserve them," said Roberts, who believes it bodes well for Charlestonians to fight for the little ones that other people wouldn't save, particularly vernacular buildings like the Spring Street structures and another that is now Sugar Bakeshop, that were important to those traveling north and south along U.S. Highway 17.

Roberts also points to the community's span of styles and uses, acknowledging invaluable contributions of leaders like Marion Hawkins, president of Cannonborough-Elliotborough Neighborhood Association, for championing them. Hawkins and his wife Lori were also recognized with a Carolopolis Award this year for the rehab of 84 Cannon St., which is adjacent to their boutique inn in a fully restored, three-story circa 1860s single house at 86 Cannon St.

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A recent mixed-used restoration can be spotted from the Septima P. Clark Parkway at 267 Rutledge Ave. It was rescued from dereliction by owner Lindsay Nevin, president of Flyway, a company involved in numerous aspects of the construction and real estate industry, and represents a collaboration with designer Andrew Gould of New World Byzantine.

King holds the project up as an example of a highly visible corner structure.

It has that nonresidential use, which we think is critical to the survival of neighborhoods.

Originally built in 1901 as John Meyer & Co. Grocery, the 2-story wood-frame building was distinguished by an ornate bracketed cornice and tripartite gable window.

The vestiges of that history moved Flyway to take on the much altered, rot-ravaged property with the vast majority of its historic character gone or covered up and its original storefront lost. However, when they pulled a couple of the panels back, they realized that the barrel vaulted ceiling was still in place.

No one had probably seen it for decades. And that was really the inspiration that pushed us over the edge to move on the structure, Nevin said.

Even in the midst of pandemic shutdowns, the building now shows heartening sparks of urban verve. On a given evening, outdoor tables flank its new ground-floor restaurant, Chasing Sage, where patrons partake of ramen or Saturday night sushi, bathed in the glow of light from its interior. A handsome, pint-sized bar named The Guilded Horn and residences are also housed in the building.

That's just the sort of home-meets-hub vibe that King commends, particularly in light of market pressures.

A lot of people have this very protective mentality that you've got to keep it all residential. It's almost sort of a gated community mentality," he said. "What makes these neighborhoods so great is the fact that these are urban neighborhoods, the diversity of use.

He also cites shops like Sugar Bakeshop at 59 & 59 Cannon St. (and another Carolopolis Award winner) that embody that welcome, historic mix. Two years ago, Roberts acquired the historic mid-1800s Charleston single house and bakery when its owners retired. Deeming it essential to the lifeblood of the neighborhood, he backed longtime manager Kat Palmisano to continue running it.

Other projects are attracting small, local business owners to the commercial strip. A recent mixed-used rehab by Ramsay Management Group at 46 Spring includes five commercial storefront bays as well as short term rental units. The developer, Alex Ramsay, aims to fill them with local artisans and others from the creative sector.

Among them is The Tiny Tassel, a jewelry and accessories brand founded by Spartanburg native Mimi Striplin, who was previously part of Cannonborough Collective at 185 A St. Philip St. It recently announced it will soon open in one of the five newly renovated storefronts at 46 Spring St. A few of her designs reference nearby streets like Percy and Bogard.

Cannonborough-Elliottborough is such a special part of town for me. From my apartments in college to my favorite bakery, local shop and now The Tiny Tassels first flagship, the neighborhood has always been a favorite of mine, said Striplin.

A legacy realized

But it's the invested residents that make the neighborhood a standout. A Carolopolis winner from 2018 is a two-story Victorian wood-frame house residence at 94 Bogard St. Its owner, Judith Aidoo-Saltus, is the third generation of her family to live in the house. She and her wife Julia worked with Flyway and New World Byzantine on the project, which was followed on the television program This Old House."

This is, in my opinion, one of the most significant projects that we saw, King said. The house stood vacant for around 15 years, resulting in severe deterioration.

To do it that well is such an incredible contribution to the streetscape in the neighborhood, but obviously so significant that it's able to be maintained by the long-term owner, King said. To me that's one of the most positive examples of a project that we've seen in the neighborhood.

The rehab was extensive, entailing efforts like the removal of a structurally unsound 1960s addition and restoring or replacing components like a failing roof, wood siding and windows.

It was little more than termites holding hands, King said.

Of course, such efforts require deep pockets. In a 2018 Post and Courier interview with Aidoo-Saltas, she reflected, In a strange way, the strength of Charleston, which is its beauty and commitment to preservation, means that the average human being or average family from the neighborhood where my great-grandpa lived couldnt afford to refurbish their home.

Nevin, who has worked on projects close by that have come down through generations, believes efforts like those undertaken by Aidoo-Saltas also help show people what's possible in resorting these structures back to their original glory.

Theres definitely some good, high-quality work going on," he said. "Our ability to help continue to set that example will pay dividends with other folks being able to ... understand whats possible.

Some of them entail rigorous research that can offer a deeper knowledge of the area. Among them is 133 Cannon St., another of this year's Carolopolis sweep, for which Tift Properties worked with Andrew Gould and Arnett Construction, finding documentation of similar proximate structures to recreate the facade.

And new construction can also lend to the existing flavor of the area, like Catfiddle Street, a single-family residential development designed by Urban Ergonomics that represents a collaboration between George Holt and Reid Burgess.

"The developers and designers very much understand the urban context associated with new development," Nevin said. "They've just done a fantastic job as far as paying attention to detail and sensitivity to scale  and what historically has been the development patterns throughout the neighborhood."

In building these structures to last, they have trained an eye on the past that can endure for decades to come, thus perhaps vouchsafing the neighborhood's future.

"Always have respect for the people who came before," Roberts said.

At 19 Humphrey Court, sisters Christine Maitland and Theodosia Wright are winding up a two-month preservation project with Wayne Green, owner of TrimLine Contracting.

Green knows the ins and outs of the neighborhood well, as both his grandfather and his wife's grandfather once owned grocery stores there. The project involved repairing and replacing the wood siding on their house and painting it, something that had not been so extensively attended to since their father built the house in 1935. Prior to that, her family had lived a few houses down.

"We're doing it up," said Maitland, adding that she aims to keep the house there for another seventy-plus years.

She said the repairs have warmed up the house considerably. Those expertly, fastidiously restored boards also hold the possibility that longstanding Black residents can remain in the place they have always called home.
Geneva: UN-sponsored talks produced a new interim government for Libya on Friday aimed at resolving a decade of chaos, division and violence by holding national elections later this year.

Mohammed al-Menfi, a former diplomat from Benghazi, will head a three-man presidency council, while Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, from the western city of Misrata, will head the government as prime minister.

Libya has been engulfed in chaos since a NATO-backed intervention ended Muammar Gaddafis four-decade rule in 2011 and has been split since 2014 between warring administrations backed by foreign powers in the west and east.

My appeal to everybody is to recognise and accept these results and to work with the new authorities that were elected, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.
Damascus, Ankara and Moscow turn up the heat on US-backed group; UN Syria envoy says, "We can't continue like this."
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Finance minister T. Harish Rao had presented the 2020-21 Budget with an outlay of Rs 1.8 lakh crore. The Budget for 2021-22 is expected be less than Rs 1.5 lakh crore. (Representational Photo:DC)

Hyderabad: The Telangana Budget is set to be downsized by at least 20 per cent from the last year, as the financial condition of the state has been badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown.

The government has suffered revenue losses of over Rs 50,000 crore due to the lockdown and slowing down in the economy.

Finance minister T. Harish Rao had presented the 2020-21 Budget with an outlay of Rs 1.8 lakh crore. The Budget for 2021-22 is expected be less than Rs 1.5 lakh crore.

It may be recalled that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had pruned Budget size by 20 per cent in 2019-20 citing the economic slowdown and drastic cuts in Central government funds and grants.

The recent Union Budget also came as a big disappointment for the TS government with cuts in Central tax devolution and imposition of agriculture cess on fuel which is estimated to result in a loss of over Rs 5,000 crore in 2021-22.

The CM has been holding meetings with finance officials at Pragathi Bhavan to finalise the new Budget for the past three days. Officials explained to the CM the need to prune the Budget size.

The 2020-21 Budget proposals were prepared estimating the state's revenue growth rate at 15 per cent. Growth fell short of target and revenues also fell. None of the budgetary targets could be met. There is little chance of making good the losses in the remaining week till the financial year ends on March 31.

The state government also paid a heavy price for stopping property registrations to facilitate the launch of the Dharani portal.

The earnings through property registrations remain the worst-affected among all sectors. The Budget had targeted earning Rs 10,000 crore through property registrations but the government collected Rs 3,189 crore, thanks to Dharani portal for which the government stopped registrations from September 7, 2020, to October 29.

On GST, the government had set an earnings target of Rs 32,671 crore but has realised only Rs 18,429 crore so far. Against the sales tax target of Rs 26,400 crore, Rs 13,954 crore could be collected.

The Budget had estimated that the state would receive Rs 10,906 crore as its share in Central taxes but the Centre has released just Rs 5,412 crore so far.

The silver lining is the Centres grants-in-aid to the state government surpassed the budgetary estimates, thanks to Centre releasing more grants to help states to overcome Coronavirus-induced financial crisis.

While the Budget expected Rs 10,525 crore, the Centre has released Rs 11,000 crore so far.

The non-tax revenue earnings also took a severe beating due to the pandemic. Against of the target to earn Rs 30,600 crore, only Rs 2,450 crore was realised due to the slump in registration of new vehicles, collection of transport taxes and mining cess.

The earnings through imposition of other taxes and duties also nosedived from Rs 6,041 crore expected to Rs 2,650 crore.

The excise duty collected on liquor also fell due to closure of liquor shops for nearly three months closure of bars, pubs from mid-March to September-end. The budgetary target was Rs 16,000 crore but the state has earned only Rs 8,874 crore so far.
It is the murky saga of sex and skulduggery that has gripped Scottish politics  and could help to save the Union by stemming a surge in support for independence.

The toxic feud between First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and her predecessor Alex Salmond is being watched closely by senior Government figures in London. They have become increasingly convinced that Mr Salmond has been stitched up by a jealous cabal around Ms Sturgeon.

With the most recent polls showing a narrow majority in favour of breaking away, Boris Johnsons pro-Union allies are doing little to disguise their delight at the sight of the two most powerful advocates of Scottish nationalism tearing each other apart.

The SNP last month accused Mr Johnson of panicking over the support for Scottish nationalism when he paid a snap visit over the border to urge the UK to unite against Covid, declaring that the debate over independence was irrelevant to most people.

The toxic feud between First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and her predecessor Alex Salmond is being watched closely by senior Government figures in London. Pictured in April 2014

But in a sign of how seriously Mr Johnson takes the issue, last week he appointed Oliver Lewis  the trusted aide nicknamed Sonic, who played a pivotal role in the successful Brexit trade negotiations with the EU  as head of a new Union unit to shore up support for the UK.

Mr Salmonds allies believe that Ms Sturgeon wanted to place a stake through the heart of the former First Minister to end any threat he posed to her leadership; their professional rivalries have been lent an extra dimension by the differences in temperament between the rotund, gregarious Mr Salmond and the steely, diminutive Ms Sturgeon.

After a court cleared Mr Salmond last year of multiple claims of sexual misconduct, he accused Ms Sturgeons government of systematic dishonesty by secretly facilitating the complaints by women  with Ms Sturgeons husband, Peter Murrell, who is also the SNPs chief executive, said to have encouraged the police to pursue the allegations.

Mr Salmond was accused of sexually assaulting nine women while he was First Minister, but a jury found him not guilty on 12 of the sexual assault charges, while another was found not proven.

Mr Salmond (pictured in 2014) was accused of sexually assaulting nine women while he was First Minister, but a jury found him not guilty on 12 of the sexual assault charges, while another was found not proven'

The women who made the allegations against Mr Salmond included an SNP politician, a party worker and several current and former Scottish Government civil servants and officials. He declared angrily outside the court that the claims were deliberate fabrications for a political purpose, and that he had never attempted to have non-consensual sexual relations with anyone in my entire life.

His defence team claimed during the trial that a senior Scottish official in Ms Sturgeons government, known as Woman A, had contacted some of the other complainers before Mr Salmond was charged  something that his lawyer said absolutely stinks.

Claims by Mr Salmonds allies  that he was the victim of a conspiracy orchestrated by Ms Sturgeon  was bolstered by the emergence of a message from Mr Murrell to another SNP official in which he said that it was a good time to be pressurising Mr Salmond over the claims.

Mr Salmond is scheduled to set out his claims at length in public for the first time on Tuesday, when he is due to give evidence before a Holyrood committee investigating the Scottish Governments handling of complaints against him.

However, that appearance has been placed in doubt after the committee refused to publish a key plank of Mr Salmonds evidence, in which he argues that Ms Sturgeon has breached the ministerial code by misleading Parliament over how she first learned about the allegations. Mr Salmond wrote: Most seriously, Parliament has been repeatedly misled on a number of occasions about the nature of the meeting of April 2, 2018. The First Minister told Parliament that she first learned of the complaints against me when I visited her home on April 2, 2018. That is untrue and is a breach of the ministerial code. Breaching the code is normally a resignation offence. James Hamilton QC is investigating Ms Sturgeon over the issue.

However, it is understood that Mr Salmond now plans to pull out of the hearing if the committee has not published the evidence by tomorrow, and instead hold an explosive press conference to set out his claims based on text and WhatsApp messages, collated during the criminal investigation, which he says points to a conspiracy. One senior SNP source close to Mr Salmond said: There are some 700 electronic messages  WhatsApp groups and text messages.

Ms Sturgeon is due to give evidence at the committee on February 16, and is expected to be the final witness. Her husband has been recalled to appear for a second time tomorrow.

She has dismissed the claims of conspiracy as a heap of nonsense  but Mr Salmonds allies question why she made the Scottish Governments policy on harassment retrospective. One SNP source said: The timescale is confirmation that they were going after Alex Salmond. This was not done for any other reason.

The claims are increasingly believed by senior figures in Mr Johnsons Government. One source said: Salmond has got his bit between his teeth, and his claims about Sturgeon are looking increasingly convincing. Before the souring of their relationship, Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon had been close political allies, with Mr Salmond acting as her mentor.

When he agreed to become leader for the second time, in 2004  ultimately leading the SNP to power for the first time in its history  it was as part of a joint ticket, with Ms Sturgeon as his deputy.

But when Mr Salmond finally stepped down, after losing the 2014 independence referendum, tensions grew over his demand for Mr Murrell to stand down as SNP chief executive.

His allies say those tensions dramatically escalated into all-out war in early 2018, when it was rumoured that, after losing his Westminster seat, Mr Salmond would stand for the Scottish Parliament  something which they say provoked a competitive reaction from Ms Sturgeon and her inner circle, and ultimately the criminal trial.

A source said: There is a jealous and insecure element to Nicola and her gang.
A single Instagram post seen by 57 people can be enough to destroy your business and your life. Just ask Sara Christensen. A couple of years ago, she owned a successful company that brought business leaders together into mastermind groups. Then, in October 2019, an internet mob took it all away, and more. Today, Christensen, who still lives more or less in hiding, has some advice for small-business owners and solopreneurs in case the same thing happens to them. And make no mistake: What happened to her could happen to anyone.

It all began when a woman named Emily Clow applied for a job at Christensen's six-person company. Christensen was planning to hire a marketing manager who would handle the company's social media, so she asked applicants for links to their social-media accounts. "I wanted to see how they were representing themselves online because they were going to be representing my brand," she says. Clow had posted a picture of herself to Instagram standing in a swimming pool, wearing a revealing bikini.

Without thinking too much about it, Christensen reposted the picture to her own Instagram account. She cropped out Clow's head to conceal her identity, and added text that began, "PSA (because I know some of you applicants are looking at this) do not share your social media with a potential employer if this is the kind of content on it. I am looking for a professional marketer--not a bikini model."

Christensen says she meant no harm. "I had employed hundreds of people just out of college and mentored them," she explains. "My intent was to communicate to new employees that employers do look at your social media. But obviously that was not how it landed in the world."

Was this a bad idea? You bet. Should she have asked herself how Clow would react when she saw it? Probably. Even so, what happened next was completely out of proportion to Christensen's misdeed. It was also terrifying.

Clow emailed to ask if Christensen would take down the post, which she immediately did. Only 57 people had seen it, she says. But in the meantime, Clow reposted the image to her own Twitter feed, complaining, "i was objectified earlier today by a company because of a picture of me in a bikini." That tweet gathered a little attention, Christensen says. Then @SheRatesDogs, which has over 500,000 followers, retweeted it, and Clow's complaint went viral. "Some blogs picked it up, and then it went bigger," Christensen says. "Then the mainstream media picked it up, and then it was this out-of-control inferno."

Over the next couple of days, the internet mob attacked Christensen every way it could. "Every asset I had for my business was destroyed," she says. "My podcast had thousands of bad reviews. Anything I had online was just inundated. My clients were also attacked and told in no uncertain terms that they needed to not do business with me anymore." The mob also flooded Facebook and other social media with complaints that Christensen had violated their terms of service, which resulted in all her accounts being shut down. Death threats poured in, not just to Christensen, but also to her clients. Unsurprisingly, they all left her.

Then she was "doxed"--her home address and other personal information was published online. She began receiving death threats at home. "I had an eight-page, handwritten letter sent to my house telling in great detail how they're going to kill me and my family and cut my dogs' heads off," she recalls.

Badly rattled, Christensen called in law enforcement. "The FBI said that in these circumstances, most of the credible threats are from people who are highly practiced and can make themselves anonymous. So the FBI generally can't find them before something happens."

Fearing for their lives, Christensen and her family sold their house. "We lived all sorts of random places for more than six months, trying to run away from the doxing and the death threats," she says. Now, more than a year later, they have a home again, but very few people know where. "I kind of live underground. I don't tell my neighbors what my name is. I have to fiercely protect our physical safety because it's still an issue."

Christensen says she's still "radioactive" and couldn't get a job at Starbucks. But, after a year of trauma, she's gone public, at least professionally, as a speaker and consultant sharing what she's learned, warning business owners that the same thing could happen to them, and teaching them how to protect themselves. Here's her advice.

1. Don't assume it can't happen to you, even if your social media is completely inoffensive.

You may think posting only bland, product-related items to social media will protect you from the troll army. Not necessarily, as some of the case studies Christensen points to on her website show. A taco truck company was attacked for agreeing to park and sell tacos outside an immigration detention center in Buffalo, New York. A deli in Minneapolis was attacked and lost its lease because of racist statements the owner's daughter made online eight years earlier. You can be very, very careful, but it's impossible to know what will set off an internet attack, or when.

2. Have a plan.

"Businesses need to have a plan for this, because when you're in it and you have no plan, you cannot respond in a thoughtful way, especially if the lives of you and your family are being threatened," Christensen says.

Your plan should include lining up PR and legal services with experience in this area because of the complexities involved. "You need reputation management and physical security," she says. You also should have someone who can coordinate all these efforts in a crisis. Christensen says that when she was being attacked, with her life under threat and hackers trying to access her bank account, she wasn't able to do things like reach out to the hundreds of media outlets that she says published inaccurate stories about her. "Digital social hazards are new, so I think a lot of businesses haven't caught up to them yet," she says. "But they can be as disruptive as a tsunami or an earthquake or having a product deemed unsafe."

3. Keep your home address and personal info private.

"I can't believe how many people I see posting on social media, saying, 'We're at our kids' school.' They're giving the name and location of the school. If someone is launching death threats at you, you do not want that information out there," she says.

Because credit companies routinely sell information, she recommends against using your home address for taking out any kind of loan, or pretty much anything else. "When you go to the dentist, they do not need to know your home address," she says. If your home title is in your name, or your home address is on your driver's license, that information is easy for attackers to find, she says. "But it can be scrubbed, 100 percent."

4. Rethink your dependence on social media.

If an online mob decides to attack you, social-media companies may not be much help. "I was getting thousands and thousands of DMs on Instagram," Christensen says. "There was no way to reach out to Instagram and say, 'I'm being attacked. Can you help me?' I had to report every single one of those individually. That was the last thing I had time and energy for."

That was bad enough, but getting attacked on Facebook was worse, because that's where Christensen had been conducting part of her business. "Be really careful about using social media as an information repository," she says. "Some of our Facebook groups had documents or resources stored in them. That all goes away if Facebook decides to shut down your account because some people say you're violating their terms of service."

5. Decide what your public positions will be.

Should your company comment on political issues? Should it try to avoid the fray? These are difficult questions in today's polarized world, and the right answers will be different for every company. Whatever it is for you, Christensen advises, think it through in advance and consider your communications carefully. "You probably don't want to hire a virtual assistant halfway across the world, with English as a second language, to be doing your social-media posts."
Microsoft Corp said on Friday it will suspend all donations by its political action committee (PAC) through 2022 to all U.S. lawmakers who voted to object to the certification of Joe Biden's election as president. The software maker will also suspend contributions through the same period for state officials and organisations who supported objections or suggested the election should be overturned.

Microsoft said it "will promote and join a conversation with other businesses and organisations that want to strengthen democracy. Recent events have raised issues of importance to PACs across the business community." Microsoft President Brad Smith told employees on Jan. 21 that over the last four years 20% of its PAC donations "had gone to members who voted against the Electoral College."

Smith said PACs were important "not because the checks are big, but because of the way the political process works. Politicians in the United States have events, they have weekend retreats. You have to write a check, and then you're invited, and you participate," according to a transcript released by the company. "Out of that ongoing effort, a relationship evolves and emerges and solidifies."

Smith added there are times "I call people who I don't personally know. And somebody will say, 'Well, you know, your folks have always shown up for me at my events, and we have a good relationship, let me see what I can do to help you.'" PACs for dozens of major U.S. companies have halted donations to the 147 House and Senate members who voted against Biden's certification, including Walmart Inc, Marriott Inc, AT&T Inc,, Amazon.com Inc, Comcast and American Express.

Alphabet Inc's Google and General Electric Co PACs have also suspended donations through 2022, while Dow Inc said it would extend its suspension to senators voting against certification for up to six years.

Also read: Trump should not receive intel briefings, says US President Joe Biden
President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is looking closer than ever to being signed into law. The plan is very likely to include a booster $1,400 third stimulus check to add to the skinny $600 pay out in December.

Talks on a bipartisan deal came to an end after a group of 10 Republican lawmakers proposed a non-starter, a targeted bill of just $600bn.

With a bipartisan deal off the table, and a 60-vote majority necessary to pass the bill normally, Democrats opted to use a process called budget reconciliation. For this type of bill, passing a budget resolution allows Democrats to pass a bill using simple majority of 51, in other words without the support of the GOP.

Who voted to pass the budget reconciliation in the Senate?

Early Friday morning the Senate passed a budget resolution which paves the way for President Joe Bidens $1.9 trillion stimulus package to be passed.

All 48 Democratic Senators and both Independent Senators  Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine  voted in favour of the resolution. The 51-50 vote in the Senate required the tie-breaking intervention of Vice President Kamala Harris as both caucuses voted along party lines.

Later on Friday the House of Representatives also passed the motion, paving the way to pass the American Rescue Plan. The vote was 219-209 along mostly partly lines to approve the resolution as amended by the Senate. Jared Golden was the only Democrat to vote against the measure. House Democratic leaders have said the chamber should be ready to pass relief legislation by the end of the month, if not sooner.

Because the Senate amended the House-passed budget resolution in a vote-a-rama, the version passed Friday morning will now go back to the House, where lawmakers are expected to vote on it quickly.

Senate vote-a-rama: what happened?

Passage of the stimulus package came after a prolonged spell of amendments in the Senate known as vote-a-rama, where Senators are permitted to table a series of amendments to the impending bill. This ritual has become a part of Senate business and serves as a way for each party to call for a vote on a series of contentious issues.

In this instance it allowed each party to get the other on record on a series of issues, which may dictate the future of Bidens coronavirus response. Most were roundly dismissed during this round of voting but one, related to the new round of stimulus checks, garnered almost unanimous support.

An amendment tabled by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine called for "upper income taxpayers" to be excluded from receiving the payments. Of the 100 Senators, 99 voted in favour in of the amendment suggesting that there is bipartisan support for tightening eligibility requirements.

At this stage the amendment is not binding but it will be food for thought for President Biden, who is already reportedly willing to make some concessions on the scope of the stimulus payments.

Mail Force yesterday struck a mammoth 1million deal for new computers for lockdown pupils.

The laptops will go to 5,000 of Britain's most needy schoolchildren and will arrive in several batches over two weeks  starting on Monday.

The landmark moment has come thanks to Daily Mail readers who have donated so generously, along with a parade of philanthropists and big companies.

Donations have poured into the campaign to help schoolchildren unable to follow their online classes.

Huge numbers of families are on the wrong side of the 'digital divide'  the gulf between those able to afford enough devices for learning and those not.

Mail Force yesterday struck a mammoth 1million deal for new computers for lockdown pupils. The laptops will go to 5,000 of Britain's most needy schoolchildren and will arrive in several batches over two weeks  starting on Monday. (Above, pupils from Moston Fields, Manchester)

Mail Force has ordered more than 3,000 Samsung Chromebook 4 devices. These sleek machines are heralded as among the most easy to use on the market, getting children online quickly and easily

Mail Force's significant intervention would be enough to supply a computer to every primary school pupil eligible for free school meals in the city of Bristol.

Or it would cover the same category of pupil in all secondary schools in Nottingham, or a third of those in Cambridgeshire or County Durham.

The mountain of machines would fill a dozen vans and would be enough to give to all the children in five typical inner city comprehensives.

DONATE YOUR NECTAR POINTS There is a new way to help the campaign  by donating Nectar points. Readers can now choose to give some of the points they have built up with the popular rewards scheme. Nectar points can be collected by spending at Sainsbury's, Argos, eBay, Sky, Currys PC World and a host of other British retailers. Usually they are swapped for money off purchases, but now a unique new way of using them has been arranged by the Daily Mail, to give to the Mail Force charity. People can donate either 500 or 1,000 Nectar points to the charity at a time  and there's no limit to the number of times they can donate. Simply go to www.MyMail.co.uk and sign in or join for free. At the top of the home page, click 'Donate your Nectar points', and you can then choose whether you would like to donate 500 or 1,000 Nectar points to the campaign. Advertisement

Last night Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: 'This campaign continues to go from strength to strength and it's brilliant to see that, alongside the 1.3million devices the Government is providing, the generosity of Mail readers means more top-of-the-range laptops will be going to children and young people who need them.'

Mail Force has ordered more than 3,000 Samsung Chromebook 4 devices. These sleek machines are heralded as among the most easy to use on the market, getting children online quickly and easily.

Robert Halfon, chairman of the education select committee, said: 'Lots of schools just need a simple Chromebook to get a child up and running.

'They are perfect to solve the problem of significant numbers of children who do not have any access to their online lessons.'

A further 1,300 laptops are Acer TravelMate devices, which are specially designed with school pupils in mind and can be flipped from being a tablet to full laptop mode. The charity has also ordered a consignment of Samsung Galaxy Tab A7s.

The brand new machines are on top of 4,250 laptops that are already being donated by some of Britain's leading companies.

Mail Force's Computers for Kids campaign, backed by the Daily Mail, only launched at the end of last month, but has already raised 7million in cash and laptop donations.

As well as buying new machines, donated devices from companies can be repurposed for the classroom.

For around 15 they can be expertly refurbished fit for home schooling use.

All of the new laptops the charity is funding are on top of the 1.3million being bought by the Government.

The Mail Force devices are being gifted to the Government and schools can apply for them in the normal way through the Department for Education website.

The campaign's computers will boost the overall number available, helping more and more pupils keep up with schoolwork.

And even when the pandemic restrictions are lifted, the extraordinary effort to furnish children with laptops will have a lasting effect.

Last night Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: 'This campaign continues to go from strength to strength and it's brilliant to see that, alongside the 1.3million devices the Government is providing, the generosity of Mail readers means more top-of-the-range laptops will be going to children and young people who need them'

It will help youngsters to catch up with their missed learning, and the overall legacy will last for years.

Research suggests this generation of children whose education has been stalled could suffer up to 40,000 in lost earnings over their lifetime as a result.

Mail Force was set up last year to help get PPE to nurses and doctors who desperately needed it. Now the charity is determined to ride to the rescue of schoolchildren.

Big companies such as Camelot, Lloyds, Sainsbury's, Direct Line, Peak Scientific and Dixons Carphone have pledged to help, along with philanthropists such as Sir Tom Hunter.

Donations also continue to arrive from generous readers. Grandmother Joan Mottershead, who said her own family was struggling with just one device, supported the campaign with a 25 donation.

She wrote: 'I have four grandchildren in school and they are having to share a computer.'

OAP Ann donated 15 from her pension and said: 'No child should be deprived of the chance of education. They are the future and will have to pay the bills for this pandemic.'

Kitty Muldoon sent a cheque, with a letter saying: 'I am a long-time reader of the Daily Mail and admire your campaign for the children of the UK during this awful pandemic. Although a pensioner, not being able to get out to spend, I have this spare cash! Good luck and well done.'

HOW TO DONATE TO COMPUTERS FOR KIDS CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO YOU, THE READER: How to send us donations The Daily Mail has launched a brand new campaign, Computers For Kids, to raise money for Mail Force  a charity which aims to provide much needed school equipment and resources for pupils across the UK learning from home. With schools closed, we are left with the dilemma of hundreds of thousands of pupils in the UK having no access to a computer in their home. As part of this campaign, companies are donating their old laptops which, for around 15, can be wiped, professionally refurbished and made safe and fit for home schooling. They can then be delivered to a child or young person who needs one. In addition, the campaign is looking to support children's needs in other ways such as funding brand new laptops and tablets, and assisting with data access and connectivity for online learning. Any surplus funds will be used to support of the work of UK schools via other means. TO MAKE A DONATION ONLINE Visit mailforcecharity.co.uk/donate and follow the steps to complete your donation. Please don't send us your old device. TO MAKE A DONATION VIA YOUR PHONE To donate 10 - text KIDS10 to 70115 To donate 20 - text KIDS20 to 70115 TO COMPANIES: Could you give your old laptops? Upgrading office computers is something all companies do from time to time  and there has never been a better time to donate old laptops. If you are a company with 50 laptops or more that you could give, please visit www.computacenter.com/daily-mail to check they are suitable and register your donation. We will arrange for collection by our specialist partners Computacenter. Please note: we cannot accept donated laptops from individuals. COMPANIES SHOULD GO TO: computacenter.com/daily-mail TO SCHOOLS: Where to apply for the computers Schools must apply to the Department for Education, which is managing the demand and prioritising the schools most in need. The Mail Force initiative means more laptops will become available more quickly. SCHOOLS CAN APPLY HERE: https://get-help-with-tech.education.gov.uk Advertisement

Home school's hard enough when you DO have devices, says KONNIE HUQ, so let's help the families who don't

By KONNIE HUQ for the Daily Mail

Brace yourselves!', 'Eeeek', 'Help!', 'Oh no... not again!' read the messages on school WhatsApp feeds across the country when the news broke.

It was December 19, a Saturday  the first Saturday of the school Christmas holidays to be precise  and as parents tucked their kids into bed that evening, excited for the Christmas break ahead, a last-minute Boris briefing, snuck into the agenda at 8pm, delivered the hammer blow.

That was when we all knew this would be no ordinary Christmas holiday. Not just because we were going into lockdown again, but because children would not be going back to school in January.

Parents everywhere began secretly despairing, myself included.

Home schooling had definitely been the worst part of the first lockdown for me.

'Last lockdown I knew parents that had to skip online learning as they didn't have the resources at home,' says children's author and former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq (above, with sons Huxley and Covey and husband Charlie Brooker)

After three months of it, I doubt I was alone in saluting the patient, tolerant, knowledgeable teaching staff I'd taken for granted all this time.

Now, suddenly, builders who could lift steel girders, company execs used to closing big deals and all manner of other hardworking people realised they were no match for schooling their own offspring.

Juggling your own life, domestic chores, a 9 to 5 job, a baby  or whatever else it might have been  with schooling 'locked down' children proved enough to tip most of us over the edge.

The coolest and calmest of parents found themselves losing their rag. 'Snack? No you can't have a snack, we're in the middle of fractions!'

We would have clapped teachers on the doorsteps if we could, whilst praying: 'Take them back! Reopen those schools! Pleeeaasse!'

As for actually understanding the work, I thought I was quite with it, but I definitely don't remember learning about digraphs and trigraphs and what even is a fronted adverbial?

I have an eight-year-old, Covey, and a six-year-old, Huxley, who attend the local primary school.

Konnie home schooling her sons. 'We all want schools to reopen again. But in the meantime, it's vital all children have access to education online so they don't get left behind,' she says

Last lockdown, homeschooling for me was more a case of getting them to draw a picture, do some reading, try some times tables and that was bad enough.

This time round, schools are offering better organised, more structured teaching online.

'Be on Google Classroom at 9am for a live registration, download the timetable, upload your work, if you have any queries type them in the comments section...'

Working from home, teaching from home, doing everything from home, the juggling goes up a notch. 'I can't do a Zoom at 2pm to go over the latest sales figures, my son has a live maths lesson, sorry.'

I am literally now sharing my iPad (the one I'm writing on currently) with a six-year-old. Meanwhile my eight-year-old is working on an old laptop with a fraying wire.

But what if you don't have a computer? These things don't come cheap. Are disadvantaged families to be discriminated against? Tech shamed?

Of course, schools are trying to provide laptops for those in need, but my children's suburban west London state primary has four forms for each year group  that's roughly 120 children per year.

'Computers for all' is a noble goal but no mean feat.

And the sad reality is, not every school and every parent can manage that. As a result, thousands of children will go unschooled during lockdown.

Last lockdown I knew parents that had to skip online learning as they didn't have the resources at home.

Hopefully the school has helped them this time round  the Government has now handed out over 850,000 devices  but many more are still in need. And that's a tragedy.

Just as it is every child's right to have an education in school, it is every child's right to not miss out on one during what will have been well over a year, maybe even two, of school closures due to the pandemic.

We are living in times where, at the wealthier end of the spectrum, tech is being treated as disposable; and at the other, there are children in the UK that don't even own a book, let alone a laptop.

It's time to redress the balance. Hopefully, the Mail's Computers for Kids will help close the gap and get technology to where it's needed.

We all want schools to reopen again. But in the meantime, it's vital all children have access to education online so they don't get left behind.

Cookie and the Most Annoying Girl in the World by Konnie Huq is out now (Piccadilly Press, 6.99).
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In the Khunzakhsky district of Dagestan, the number of new patients with poisoning is growing, the press service of the Ministry of Health of the republic informed in Instagram.

"64 poisoned people have already been identified, the overwhelming majority are schoolchildren from the village of Arani. The main symptoms are diarrhea, nausea, weakness, abdominal pain, fever and dysentery, the message of the ministry reads, Interfax reports
Brexit legislation is adding to a delay in the implementation of powers that will allow the authorities to seize criminals' assets in Northern Ireland, it can be revealed.

In June last year, Justice Minister Naomi Long announced that unexplained wealth orders (UWOs) would be in place by October.

Obtained through the courts, the orders force an individual to explain the source of funding of assets worth more than 50,000.

Failure to prove the assets were financed legally can lead to them being seized. It is hoped the legislation will help authorities tackling paramilitaries and organised crime here.

It has now emerged, however, that the volume of Brexit-related legislation going through Westminster, as well as the impact of the Covid pandemic, means the powers will not be in place until later this year.

Former PSNI Deputy Chief Constable Alan McQuillan, who also served as head of the former Assets Recovery Agency, said the powers need to be in place as soon as possible to hit organised criminals in their pockets.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said Ms Long wrote to the Home Secretary Priti Patel in June 2020 to ask for the commencement of provisions of the Criminal Finances Act 2017, including unexplained wealth orders, to be progressed as soon as possible.

Most of the legislation has to be laid at Westminster.

"The Home Office advised that commencement was not likely to be possible until 2021 due to ongoing impacts of Covid-19 on Parliament and the volume of EU Exit-related legislation requiring consideration. The minister has continued to press for commencement as soon as possible," they added.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Mr McQuillan said: "I wouldn't say there are millions in assets waiting to be seized, but there's definitely quite a bit.

"It's understandable that due to Brexit and Covid things have been delayed, but these orders need to be in place post haste so authorities can further crack down on organised crime here, particularly paramilitaries.

"It will have an impact here, perhaps not so much on those top-level criminals with dozens of houses and the like, but certainly with the mid-level guys.

"With loyalist paramilitaries you would see a lot of money going in one hand and out the other, drugs and the like, whereas republicans are more corporate-minded. There are visible assets there that can be seized.

"There is also the danger of criminals based in Great Britain using Northern Ireland to hide their assets, as the powers aren't in force here yet, but they are in the rest of the elsewhere in the UK."

He added it will likely be several months before there is any real progress with UWOs and the National Crime Agency, who lead on such cases, will not have orders ready to hand down from day one.

The DoJ spokesperson said that preparation work on revisions to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 codes of practice to account for the new UWO provisions is under way.

"These codes have just been consulted on and will be finalised to coincide with the commencement of the Criminal Finances Act provisions," they said.

"The Home Office is also preparing other secondary legislation needed to support commencement.

"The department will continue to work with the Home Office to achieve commencement of the powers as soon as the parliamentary timetable permits."

The first unexplained wealth order was issued back in 2018 to Zamira Hajiyeva, the wife of the former chairman of the International Bank of Azerbaijan, Jahangir Hajiyev.
Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.
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Nay Pyi Taw, Feb 6 : In the wake of the military coup, Myanmar has blocked access to micro-blogging platform Twitter and photo-sharing app Instagram on Saturday, just two days after the country directed state-owned telecom companies to take a similar actions against social media giant Facebook.

A statement issued by Telenor, one of the four operators in Myanmar, said all mobile operators, international gateways and internet service providers in the country received a directive from Myanmar's Ministry of Transport and Communications to suspend social media platforms Twitter and Instagram until further notice, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Ministry's directive asked the operators to temporarily suspend the access of Twitter and Instagram under Section 77 of the country's Telecommunications Law, mentioning that the move is made in the name of public interest and stability.

The restriction of access to Facebook was imposed on Thursday till Sunday.

According to BuzzFeed, Facebook had designated Myanmar a "temporary high-risk location" after a coup earlier this week.

The military in Myanmar seized control of the country on Monday over the disputed results of the November 8, 2020 parliamentary polls in which the former ruling party, National League for Democracy (NLD), obtained more than 80 per cent of the seats and increased its parliamentary majority.

Before the coup, the military detained former State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, former President U Win Myint, along with other senior NLD officials.

A year-long state of emergency has also been declared.
According to a video published on Twitter by the Turkish Defense Association on February 4, 2021, the Turkish Navy has successfully destroyed a target with the Turkish-made ATMACA anti-ship missile that was fired from the TCG Knalada (F-514) corvette.

According to a video published on Twitter by the Turkish Defense Association on February 4, 2021, the Turkish Navy has successfully destroyed a target with the Turkish-made ATMACA anti-ship missile that was fired from the TCG Knalada (F-514) corvette.

Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link

Test fire of ATMACA anti-ship missile from TCG Knalada (F-514) of the Turkish Navy. (Picture source SSB)

The ATMACA is a surface-to-surface anti-ship missile developed locally in Turkey by the Turkish company Roketsan which can be integrated to frigates and corvettes. The program for the development of the ATMACA missile was initiated by SSM (The Turkish Defense Association) now SSB in 2009. A contract was signed with Roketsan to develop an new anti-ship cruise missile according to the requirements of the Turkish Naval Forces.

The design of the ATMACA missile started in 2012 and the first firing test took place in March 2017. The serial production contract for ATMACA was signed between Roketsan and the Presidency of Defense Industry on 29 October 2018.

The Turkish navy plans to deploy the missile on Ada-class corvettes, Istanbul-class frigates, G-class frigates and planned TF-2000 class destroyers.

The ATMACA missile has a length of 4.8m and a weight of 800 km. The guidance system of the missile consists of global positioning system (GPS), inertial navigation system, barometric altimeter and radar altimeter to navigate towards its target. The missile will be powered with a fully indigenous KTJ-3200 engine, developed by Kale Group. The missile has an active Radio Frequency (RF) Seeker manufactured by Aselsan, radar mounted at the front of the missile providing information about the target.

The ATMACA missile has an effective range of 200 km and a maximum firing range of 360. It is equipped with a high-explosive penetrating warhead weighing 250 kg.

TCG Knalada (F-514) is an Ada-class ASW (Anti-Submarine Warfare) corvettes in service with the Turkish Navy. The ship is armed with eight ATMACA anti-ship missiles as well as one 76 mm (3 in) OTO Melara Super Rapid naval gun, 12.7 mm ASELSAN STAMP remotely operated weapon station, 21 RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) a small, lightweight, infrared homing surface-to-air missile and two 324 mm Mk.32 triple launchers for Mk.46 torpedoes.



TCG Knalada (F-514) is an Ada-class ASW (Anti-Submarine Warfare) corvettes in service with the Turkish Navy. (Picture source SSB)
An officers ability to intervene is definitely something we support and to have a law to reinforce that I would be very supportive of, Kreis said. But the language that was put in this bill were still trying to understand, does this get to the point? Does this really enable us to reinforce an officers duty to intervene?

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Restrictions on funerals to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country are beginning to have negative impact on players in the death business.



Whiles a few entrepreneurs in the sector have closed shop, others are hoping the ban on funerals will be lifted soon for a quick revival of the industry.



They said the ban on funerals, with less than 30 people allowed to attend burial events, was hitting hard and frustrating.



Madam Dorcas Antwi, 24, a Dealer in funeral supplies, told the GNA the sector was dying slowly.



She said because dead bodies were no longer being laid in state, bereaved families were spending less for burials, with some, unwilling to honour the dead because of the pandemic.



Madam Antwi said it was getting dire with many families now practicing from morgue to cemetery.



She said there was an increase in demand for tomb flowers and garments for deceased persons when restrictions were relaxed, but no more.



Mrs. Alice Dodoo, an Event Caterer, also bemoaned the low patronage of catering services due to the restrictions.



She said all pre-orders had been cancelled after the restrictions were announced and said her investments were going bad.



Before the restrictions, three clients made pre-orders. They called me later and cancelled the orders because the funerals have been cancelled, she said.



At the Gillman and Abbey Funeral Service Limited in Accra, Mr. John Coffie, the Managing Director said, funerals are now conducted in a private manner rather than the traditional way...



He said due to the restrictions, some clients were buying less expensive caskets because there would be no funerals.



Mr. Coffie said the number of clients who visited their showroom continued to go down with reduction in sales.





People do not visit our showrooms as frequent as it used to be. From Monday to Thursday, we have not recorded sales as we expected.



He said on the average, they sold 15 caskets in a week, however, it had not been same since the restrictions.



Mr. Coffie said the patronage of services of pallbearers had also reduced.



Atta Kwaku John, an Undertaker, based at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, said COVID-19 and the restrictions were gradually throwing them out of job.



He said for about three weeks, he dressed only one dead body and said if the situation continued, he would look for a security job.



Serwa Akoto, another Undertaker, said many clients were opting for private burials and shunning their services.



Now, we are just there. We dont prepare bodies and there are no funerals so you can imagine. Things are now difficult. The business is dying, yes. It is dying, she lamented.



Mr. Percy Ashong, the family Head of the Awusa-Kpong family, in Accra, told the GNA that due to the restrictions, decisions concerning funeral rites and the honouring of the dead were being reconsidered to ensure compliance with procedures set out to curb the spread of the virus.



As a family, we perform some rites for the dead ...but we are reconsidering them because of the pandemic and the funerals will not be like before. We will not buy some things and we may not need the services of many people..., he said.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Saeed in jail, Lashkar plans special prayers for 10 terrorists who struck Mumbai on 26/11

The 26/11 mastermind, an ISI asset who till date is treated as a VVIP in Pakistan

Saeed to Lakhvi: Arrests in Pakistan more protective than preventive

Delhi court issues arrest warrant against Hafiz Saeed for money laundering

India

pti-Deepika S

New Delhi,Feb 06: A Delhi court on Saturday issued an arrest warrant against Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief and 26/11Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed in a money laundering case related to terror funding in Jammu and Kashmir.

Besides issuing thenon-bailable warrant (NBW) against Saeed, Special Judge Praveen Singh also issued warrants against three co-accused Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, separatist Altaf Ahmad Shah alias Funtoosh and businessman from the UAE Naval Kishore Kapoor who are currently lodged in the Tihar central jail here, seeking their production before the court.

The court passed the direction while taking cognisance of a chargesheet filed in the matter by the Enforcement Directorate for alleged money laundering.

The judge also issued summons to the representatives ofWatali's company M/s Trison Farms and Construction Pvt Ltd, which has also been named as accused in the matter.

Special Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana, appearing for the ED, told the court that the accused hatched a criminal conspiracy to carry out subversive and secessionist activities in Jammu and Kashmir.

The accused established a network of cadres who were funded through Pakistani agencies via hawala dealers and local conduits by raising funds through local donations and funds have also been received from abroad, Rana told the court.

Saeed to Lakhvi: Arrests in Pakistan more protective than preventive

The ED had filed a case based on an NIA matter against Saeed, Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin and others for "conspiring to wage war against the government" and fomenting trouble in the Kashmir Valley.

The separatist leaders have been accused of taking a cut before handing over the money to generate trouble.

Saeed has also been accused of using the services of Watali for passing on the money to the separatists and some individuals who were actively indulging in stone-pelting in various areas of the Valley, the ED said in the charge sheet.

In the NIA's case, besides Saeed, Salahuddin and Watali, the agency had also named hardline pro-Pakistan separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani's son-in-law Altaf Shah alias Altaf Fantoosh, Bashir Ahmad Bhat and Javed Ahmad Bhat as accused.

(CNN)  Northern Ireland's Brexit backlash has arrived. It snuck in through a side door the European Union rashly opened last week when it threatened to trigger the most contentious part of the Brexit deal, article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol, and has quickly escalated.

The EU Commission announced it could invoke the clause to impose controls on exports to Northern Ireland -- which unlike mainland Britain, remains part of the Single Market -- to prevent vaccines traveling out of Ireland and into Britain via Northern Ireland. Hours later, Brussels backed down from the threat amid furious protestations from UK and Irish.

But the damage was done. Brexit's tightly wound terms, dictating an open border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, and controls on Northern Ireland sea border with mainland GB, began unspooling almost immediately. The province's top politician, pro-Brexit First Minister Arlene Foster's retort was predictably icy: "This is an incredibly hostile and aggressive act by the European Union."

Foster's Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, are pro-British, pro-Brexit, but opposed to the new EU/UK trade deal that demands customs checks on some goods arriving in Northern Ireland from the UK mainland.

Within days British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was threatening to scupper those checks, potentially further unraveling the trade deal he so tortuously agreed to less than two months ago, further heightening tensions in Northern Ireland.

None of it augers well for the new EU/UK relationship, nor the fragile political stability in Northern Ireland, particularly as the first casualty could be its most precious commodity, enduring peace in Northern Ireland.

In the days after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's gross diplomatic faux pas, a crude scare campaign of rough written graffiti daubed Northern Ireland's walls. The stark warnings threatened port workers, "all border port staff are targets" and "no Irish Sea border," an apparent rejection of Johnson's Brexit deal.

This was quickly followed by Northern Ireland's DUP Agriculture Minister, Edwin Poots telling port workers in Belfast and Larne to stay away from work. EU officials who work with them on new post-Brexit checks on live animals and fresh food were also advised to stay home. On Friday, some of them returned to work.

While these apparently intimidating threats are not a harbinger of a return to the paramilitaries and the dark days of the 1970s, 80s and 90s sectarian violence known as "The Troubles," it is a reminder that the emotive forces that underpinned it remain malevolent, and in some cases motivated.

Only this past week in Belfast police stopped a gang of almost two dozen masked men, who local media reported were linked to a feud within a pro-UK loyalist paramilitary group.

Northern Ireland is still riven by identity politics of pro-British and pro-Irish visions, and these latest developments hint at a perhaps unintended symbiosis of a potential paramilitary threat aligning with politicians' goals, just as they did, to deadly effect in the past.

DUP MP Ian Paisley Jr., who follows his father as an outspoken bastion of pro-British sentiment, warned Johnson: "I tell you that the protocol has betrayed us and has made us feel like foreigners in our country." With characteristic flourish, in the House of Commons, he told Johnson to act: "Tea and sympathy will not cut the mustard.

A reality for Paisley and Foster alike is post-Brexit, the DUP's popularity is fading, according to polls published this week in the province's flagship newspaper, the Belfast Telegraph. Some supporters heading for harder line fringe Unionist outfits and some for the Province's political middle ground, the Alliance Party.

None of these repercussions seemed relevant last week during the acrimonious dispute over who is more entitled to tens of millions of doses produced by British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca: the UK or the EU.

At the time it stunned seasoned EU hands: Finland's former PM and EU political insider Alexander Stubb called it "nativist and protectionist" an act of "vaccine nationalism."

Most galling for Northern Ireland's pro-EU politicians, like Belfast South MP Claire Hanna of the moderate pro-Irish SDLP, is that despite some empty food shelves in supermarkets, many felt they'd dodged a Brexit bullet. "We were probably getting to a point where people were getting over the initial shock of Brexit," Hanna told CNN.

But it seems too late now. The cat is out of the bag, and the DUP's anger, and opportunity to recoup support, is unleashed.

Despite von der Leyen's swift backtracking, Foster's party is demanding the protocols be scrapped, returning Brexit to the top of the political agenda.

Political tensions are escalating: anti-Brexit, hardline pro-Irish nationalists Sinn Fein say the DUP only have themselves to blame.

Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald called for "cool heads" telling the BBC that "those who championed Brexit and are crying salty tears now because of the consequences of Brexit needs to accept that those are consequences of their decisions."

It's a sore point for the DUP. Johnson agreed the Brexit trade deal knowing the East/West border controls  effectively a frontier in the Irish Sea between Britain and Northern Ireland  would anger the party. But he got away with it, in part because his Brexit deal helped him to win a large enough parliamentary majority at Westminster, that the DUP had no more leverage over him.

Chilling irony

Von der Leyen's missteps and Johnson's reaction to them are now re-kindling DUP hopes of a Brexit reset. The EU though is not rolling over.

European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic, who helped to negotiated the protocol, told Irish broadcaster RTE that "the United Kingdom should deliver on what they committed to do, that we would have proper implementation of the protocol. For us this is absolutely key for avoiding a hard border, for maintaining the peace."

Sefcovic's UK counterpart, senior Cabinet minister Michael Gove had requested limiting border checks and extending the transition period on inspections due to end early April until January 2023.

More talks are scheduled for next week.

A smooth Brexit deal in Northern Ireland was always a rickety prospect. Someone was inevitably going to be upset, while expectation management (tea and sympathy) was always going to be needed.

The risk for Northern Ireland now is that Johnson holds open the door that von der Leyen so carelessly cracked ajar, and let in the dangerous draught of nationalism.

It would be a chilling irony, if a spat over vaccines became the catalyst  plunging Northern Ireland into increased instability and risking the return of the region's violent past.

This story was first published on CNN.com "Brexit is just weeks old, and it's already threatening fragile political stability in Northern Ireland"
Tanya Pliberseks deft handling of a hallway run-in with Craig Kelly last week spurred at least half a dozen interviews for the opposition frontbencher - and a series of questions about her leadership ambitions.

For Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese, who cant quite shake off speculation about his future despite Labor being locked 50-50 in the two-party preferred vote with the Coalition, the hallway clash came at precisely the wrong time as it allowed Plibersek - through happenstance - to once again showcase her considerable talents.

Plibersek insists her focus is 100 per cent on holding the government to account and wont even accept the premise of the question when asked about the leadership of the Labor party.

Labor MP Tanya Plibersek and Liberal MP Craig Kelly clash as they cross paths in Parliament Houses press gallery. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Doing so, she told Sky News on Wednesday, is not just boring for people to listen to this constant internal stuff, its actually really disrespectful at a time like this, when everyone is focused on the pandemic in the first instance and the economic recovery in the second instance. (Plibersek declined to comment for this article.)
China's economic rebound is cooling down, with the key purchasing manager's index published by Chinese business magazine Caixin showing a slight drop in January.



The index published on Monday put January at 51.5 points, down 1.5 against the previous month.



Values above 50 points on the index indicate an expansion of economic activity, while values below 50 indicate a deterioration in the situation.



The official purchasing managers' index of the Chinese statistical office had already revealed a slightly less optimistic mood at the weekend. The PMI index fell from 51.9 to 51.3 points.



China's chief statistician Zhao Qinghe explained that the slight decline was due to reduced business activity around the Chinese New Year celebrations, which fall on February 12 this year.



Some of the most recent Covid-19 cases in China would also have temporarily impaired production and operation at some companies.

Source: dpa/GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-05 22:40:44|Editor: huaxia

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Aerial photo taken on March 18, 2020 shows the container dock of Yangshan Port in Shanghai, east China. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

What's behind the whine that "America suffered losses" is a sheer ignorance of the "interests surplus" Uncle Sam has obtained from China, and of each other's different industrial structures and resources.



by Xinhua writer Ma Qian

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- From a self-serving trade war to brazen sanctions against Chinese firms, Washington's willful bullying and containment of China has plunged the bilateral ties into a serious plight over the past four years.

However, the constructive economic interactions between the two sides have maintained much vitality and resilience, offering hope for a return of the China-U.S. relations to the right track.

Over the past four decades, China-U.S. trade and economic cooperation has served as a stabilizer for the bilateral ties.

Before the U.S. trade war against China, the two countries, with a decade of joint work under the mechanism of Strategic and Economic Dialogue, had maintained effective communication, properly managed differences and promoted mutual trust on trade and economic issues.

Such an economic bond has benefited both sides. The two countries have been major trading partners and key investment sources for each other for years.

Back in 2017, the China-U.S. trade relationship supported roughly 2.6 million jobs in the United States across a range of industries, including jobs that Chinese companies created on the U.S. soil, according to the U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC).

An engineer works at test vehicle area in Chinese-funded electric car producer Karma's headquarters in Irvine, California, the United States, June 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

However, the situation turned sour during the term of former President Donald Trump's administration, as it wielded the banner of protectionism under the self-centered slogan of "America First," accused China of ripping off the United States and launched a trade war against China.

What's behind the whine that "America suffered losses" is a sheer ignorance of the "interests surplus" Uncle Sam has obtained from China, and of each other's different industrial structures and resources.

In contrast to "making America great again," the unilateral act of starting a trade war against China and stoking decoupling with China has made U.S. companies and ordinary citizens pay a high price, and also spoiled the potential of U.S. economic growth.

The trade war has caused a peak loss of 245,000 U.S. jobs, and a significant decoupling of two countries could cut down U.S. Gross Domestic Product by 1.6 trillion U.S. dollars over the next five years, according to a recent study released by the USCBC.

It is conspicuous that the world's two largest economies are closely interdependent with complementarities in many areas. Although those China hawks in Washington could roll out bellicose policies to bash the Asian country, they could, in no way, cut off the bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

Such interaction between the two sides has sustained its constructive role and thwarted, to some extent, the political will to decouple the two countries.

Despite COVID-19 impacts, the China-U.S. two-way trade in goods grew by more than 8 percent to over 580 billion dollars in 2020.

In the business field, U.S. enterprises have generally remained bullish on the Chinese market, many of which increased investment in China and cooperation with their Chinese counterparts, such as Tesla, Walmart and Exxon Mobil.

Photo taken on Jan. 7, 2020 shows China-produced sedans at Tesla's gigafactory in Shanghai, east China. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

The Wall Street Journal reported last year that China became "a vital refuge" for U.S. companies as the country's "rebounding consumer economy helped offset the damage from tumbling sales back home."

A similar close bond exists in the financial sector as well. As a growing number of Chinese companies went public in the U.S. capital market, more Wall Street giants decided to build up their presence in China.

BlackRock, the world's biggest asset manager, received greenlight for a partnership with a Chinese state-owned bank. Fitch Ratings was approved to enter China's credit rating market, thanks to the country's further opening up of its financial market.

As the world's two largest economies, the United States and China are obligated to promote bilateral ties, which is in the interest of not only themselves, but also the rest of the world.

To date, the China-U.S. relations have come to a new crossroads. By sticking to constructive economic interactions between the two sides, any efforts to bring the China-U.S. relations back to the normal and healthy track can be reasonably expected in the foreseeable future. 
EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2021

The United States Is Threatened with British Counterinsurgency, To Root Out the Constitution

Feb. 5 , 2021 (EIRNS)Robert Grenier, the former head of CIA Counterterrorism during the Afghan and Iraq wars under George W. Bush from 2004-2006, has joined forces (perhaps subconsciously) with one of the leading British intelligence assets at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA), Dr. Leslie Vinjamuri, to bring counterinsurgency and British subversion together in an effort to permanently wipe out the Constitutional Republic, returning the former American colony to the British System.

Vinjamuri is Director of the U.S. and the Americas program and Dean of the Queen Elizabeth II Academy for Leadership in International Affairs at Chatham House, and headed the Chatham House U.S. Election Series. In her Feb. 4 article, The Trial of Trump Is Not Enough To Repair Democracy, Vinjamuri asserts that the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol Building was not only an insurrection, as the Democrats and anti-Trump neocon Republicans call it, but it was an attempted coup. This is quite ironic, since Chatham House was at the center of the four-year attempted coup against the United States known as Russiagate, in which Vinjamuri played a significant role. She demands that in addition to Trump being convicted in the impeachment trial, a fuller account from a bipartisan commission is essential to repair Americas global reputation. She adds that the threat to democracy in America comes from within the political system itself. Ignoring the fact that the United States is a Republic, she calls for overturning that political system, rooting out the 75 million Trump supporters, to begin the process of understanding how to restore democracy in the U.S.

In lockstep with Vinjamuri is former CIA counterterrorism chief Grenier, interviewed on NPR on Feb. 2. He described Donald Trump as equivalent to Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein (against whom he had directed the counterterror campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq). Trump, he claims, is seen as the charismatic leader of a great many violent people. And I think that needs to be countered. So long as he is there and leading the resistance, if you will, which he shows every sign of intending to do, he is going to be an inspiration to very violent people.... Defeating him politically was the first step. Given the continuing threat he poses, convicting him in the Senate and barring him from elective office is not only a just punishment for his crimes, but also a national security imperative. Then, he adds, We must isolate and alienate the committed insurgents from the population. Just as Al Qaeda in Iraq depended on a much larger community of disaffected Sunnis for tacit support and recruitment, we face the prospect of there being a mass of citizenssullen, angry and nursing their grudgesamong whom the truly violent minority will be able to live undetectably, attracting new adherents to their cause.

This should deeply disturb every Americanindeed, every citizen in the world. Donald Trump, whatever his failings, was committed to ending the regime change wars launched by Bush and Obamaand was the first president since Reagan who did not start a war. Here we have the architects and implementers of those wars, in the U.K. and in the U.S. intelligence community, calling for regime change and counterterror operations against the American populationindeed, approximately half the population. Will they use the approach of Tony Blair and George W. Bush in Iraq, to kill and displace millions of innocents, in an endless war against our own people? Will they actually create terrorists, as they did in Iraq, Libya and Syria, by laying waste to cities and villages across the nation? Isnt it strange that a riot in DC, already shown to be instigated by FBI assets, is declared a terrorist insurgency, while the months and months of armed insurrectionists in cities across the country were praised as peaceful demonstrators by the Democrat leadership, and are declared to be justified anti-fascists and anti-racists rather than insurrectionists?

This is guaranteed to keep the nation totally divided, perhaps in a Hobbesian war of all against all, while the financial system explodes, the pandemic continues out of control, and the military-industrial complex prepares for war with Russia and China (see Bidens speech below).

The British are quite aware that the American Republic is dying, and hope that their former colony will soon be back under Royal control.

There is no solution to this unfolding disaster within the United States alone. The speeches by Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin at the Davos event last weekcontained in the current issue of EIRpresented the dangers inherent in the current crisis, but also the possibility and the urgency that the U.S., Russia and China come together to reject the geopolitical divisions of the world, to join forces in a new paradigm. Go to The LaRouche Organization to get on the mailing list for regular updates on this effort.
Many of us have heard the saying that God is a refuge. We may have heard it in sermons, songs, or speeches. Some of us may have seen an aesthetically pleasing social media post with some statement about God being a refuge pasted over a picture of a raging sea. But how many of us have actually stopped to consider what that means?

We all feel the storms of life beat down on us. For some of us, it may seem like we never have a moments peace; its just one thing after another. Some of us may be asking, Will I ever get a break? The answer may lie in that post we scrolled past or the sermon weve long forgotten. Maybe the answer is in that idea weve heard a hundred times: God is our refuge.

What Does God Is Our Refuge Mean?

Safety. Security. And, ultimately, rest. A place to flee to when storms and enemies surround us. This is the idea of refuge. It is a place where we feel protected from anything that might try to destroy us. In the case of soldiers, a refuge might be a base, a bunker, or friendly territory. For a child, refuge may be the arms of a parent or guardian. Whatever the case, the person finds shelter and protection from danger.

When we see or say that God is our refuge, it means that God is where we flee to when trouble comes. Many of us have a tendency to run anywhere but to God when things get hard. Instead, we run to family or friends, hobbies, work, or pet sins for relief from the pressures around us. Weve somehow convinced ourselves that these temporal things can provide us rest and protection. In reality, these things merely distract us from our troubles; they do not give us rest. True rest from danger, pressure, and hardship can only be found in God.

What Is the Context of Psalm 46?

One very well-known passage of Scripture that describes God as a refuge is Psalm 46:1-2, which says, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea. Why is this being highlighted? What is the reason for the psalm?

First, we need to know who wrote the psalm. The title of the Psalm tells us that it was written by the sons of Korah. These men were descendants of Korah, who led a rebellion against Moses and Aaron in Exodus. God punished Korah by sending an earthquake to open up the ground and swallow Korah. Several generations later, a few of his descendants became musicians of David and served in the musical facet of worship in the Tabernacle. The writers of Psalm 46 came from this line of men.

There are two probable events that could serve as the historical context of Psalm 46. One is Gods deliverance of Jehoshaphat from the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir in 2 Chronicles 20. The other possibility is the Lords defeat of Sennacherib, King of Assyria, in Isaiah 37. In both cases, the Lord miraculously intervened on Israels behalf and saved them from their enemies.

What Does the Bible Say about God Being a Refuge?

The Bible is packed with references to God providing refuge to his people. To look at every instance in detail would fill a book. The most frequent references to the reality of God being our refuge are found in the Psalms. We can learn much about the character of God through the praise and prayers of the psalmists.

Psalm 91 beautifully illustrates that people who take refuge in God will be saved from their enemies. The psalm begins with the statement, He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. That might seem a little redundant at face value. But if we think about it, it is actually a tremendous truth. The words dwell and abide point to the fact that the person being talked about doesnt just wander around on his own then run to God when he gets spooked. No, this person lives every minute of his life under the protection of God. This protection is only for those who belong to God, who dwell with him and trust him. The rest of the psalm describes the ways God protects his own. We see protection from traps and snares, pestilence and plague, wild animals, and enemy attacks. This is not meant to be a literal list of the things that God will protect us from. The psalmist is illustrating how all-encompassing Gods care is. He mentions many destructive circumstances and says that God will overcome all of it.

Many psalms bring out different aspects or functions of Gods presence as a refuge. For example, Psalms 18:2, Psalms 30; Psalms 31:2; Psalms 61:3; Psalms 91:4; Psalms 144:2 all use military imagery to describe the refuge of the Lord, including shield, stronghold, and fortress. This terminology would inspire us to think of an active warzone. Soldiers fighting a fierce enemy need safety, a place to go to rest and not fear. This is the type of refuge the Lord provides. When we are weary from the fight, whatever that may be, God is there to offer us rest and safety from the enemy. He will not let us fall.

Another aspect of Gods refuge is found in Psalms 36:7, Psalms 57:1, and Psalms 61:4, which all describe taking shelter under the wings of the Almighty. These words could evoke an image of a mother bird spreading her wings to protect her chicks. Whether the threat is from the wind, storms, or predators, a mother bird will gather her babies under her wings to protect them. Gods protection is similar in that he is a personal refuge. He is not a cold structure awaiting habitation. He cares and comes to the aid of his children. When we are powerless to help ourselves, he spreads his wings over us and shelters us.

One more theme of Gods refuge comes from Psalms 2:12; Psalms 5:11; Psalms 31:19; Psalms 34:8, Psalms 37:40; and Psalms 64:10. All these speak of joy, blessings, and deliverance for those who seek refuge in God. The Lords protection is not only an absence of danger but the presence of blessing. Those who take refuge in the Lord find great joy and peace, regardless of whether or not their circumstances change.

4 Reasons to Know God Is Our Refuge

We have every reason imaginable to believe that God is our refuge, but lets look at four specific reasons together.

Jesus invites us into his rest (Matt. 11:28-30)

This wonderful passage in Matthew relates to Jesus invitation for us to find rest in him. This rest comes when we accept his authority over our lives and give him control. Jesus says, Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. He uses the image of a yoke, which is a wooden frame used to keep two oxen together as they pulled a plow or cart. These were extremely heavy and placed on beasts of burden. But Jesus flips the word on its head when he says that his yoke is easy. What he is saying is that his lordship and guidance over our lives is not burdensome, but a blessing! Submitting to his authority and will for our lives brings us rest. This is the purpose of refuge, to be able to rest in safety. Jesus provides that for us.

Nothing can separate us from God (John 10, Romans 8:38-39)

John 10 is an absolutely beautiful passage in which Jesus calls himself The Good Shepherd. In this chapter, he details how he is different from other shepherds who came before. He says that he does not run when trouble comes but stays and lays down his life for his sheep (John 10:15). Later, he says that no one can snatch his sheep from him (John 10:28-29). They have been given to him by the Father, and no one has the power or authority to take them away. The Apostle Paul echoes the same promise in Romans 8:38-39, where he says that nothing in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.The one in whom we take refuge cannot lose us. He cannot fail. No one can overpower him. If we are in the hand of God, we are secure.

Gods promises are reliable (Hebrews 6:13-20)

The writer of Hebrews tells us that when God made a promise to Abraham all the way back in Genesis, he then confirmed that promise by swearing an oath. And not just that, but he swore by himself because there is nothing and no one higher than him. Abraham believed God and waited patiently for him to deliver on his promises. And he did because it is impossible for God to lie. For God to lie would be for him to deny his own nature. In that case, he would not be God. Just like Abraham, we can have confidence that the God we take refuge in will keep his promises.

The Bible gives us examples of people who took refuge in God

The Bible doesnt just say, Take refuge in God. It gives us examples of what that should look like. We have already mentioned David's writing psalms expressing how wonderful it is to take refuge in God. This is a man who went through a lot of tough times in his life, some of them because of his own sin. Yet, in spite of all that, he praised God in good times and bad. He was honest about his situations, but the Lord was never far from his mind. David had great peace and hope in hard times because he found refuge in God.

From the New Testament, we could look at the Apostles as examples of men who sought refuge in God. Keep in mind, these men did not have easy lives. Church tradition tells us that all of the Apostles were martyred except John. And it wasnt that people didnt try to kill John; its that they couldnt, so they exiled him to the island of Patmos, where he died of old age. Yet, even as these men were persecuted, beaten, dragged before courts, imprisoned, shipwrecked, betrayed, starved, and more, they found hope, rest, and peace in God. The book of Acts alone details several accounts of the Apostles and other early Christians who sought refuge in God.

To hear that God is our refuge might sound like a cliche sometimes. But it may be helpful for us to consider what it means for God to be our refuge and why we can be confident in that reality. Taking refuge in God may not mean that all our troubles miraculously go away when we go to God for help. But it does mean that when we intentionally sit in the presence of God, we will find peace, rest, and strength to keep fighting the battles in front of us. Next time we feel like giving up or think that we cant bear another day of wrestling with our circumstances, let us run into the arms of our heavenly Father and find rest for our souls.

Photo credit: Unsplash/Sam Bark

Rylie Fine is a freelance writer and editor. She is passionate about the Bible and seeks to equip other believers to study it for themselves. Rylie lives in northeast Ohio with her husband, Evan.

This article is part of our larger resource library of popular Bible verse phrases and quotes. We want to provide easy to read articles that answer your questions about the meaning, origin, and history of specific verses within Scripture's context. It is our hope that these will help you better understand the meaning and purpose of God's Word in relation to your life today.

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(CNN)  Myanmar further expanded its internet crackdown, ordering a block of Twitter and Instagram days after the country's military seized power in a coup.

The move comes barely a day after a similar block of Facebook.

On Friday, the Myanmar Ministry of Transport and Communications ordered mobile networks and internet service providers in the country to block Twitter and Instagram, according to Norwegian company Telenor, which offers mobile services in the country.

"While the directive has legal basis in Myanmar's telecommunications law, Telenor Myanmar has challenged the necessity and proportionality of the directive ... and highlighted the directive's contradiction with international human rights law," the company said in a statement.

NetBlocks, a service that tracks internet disruption and shutdowns worldwide, reported Twitter restrictions across several other networks in Myanmar on Friday.

Twitter said it is "deeply concerned" about the order.

"It undermines the public conversation and the rights of people to make their voices heard," a company spokesperson said in a statement to CNN Business. "The Open Internet is increasingly under threat around the world. We will continue to advocate to end destructive government-led shutdowns," the spokesperson added.

A spokesperson for Facebook, which owns Instagram and whose own platform was blocked earlier on Thursday, said in a statement: "Telecom providers in Myanmar have been ordered to permanently block Instagram. We urge authorities to restore connectivity so that people in Myanmar can communicate with family and friends and access important information."

The escalating crackdown on online services is part of the Myanmar military's effort to secure its grip on power after deposing the democratically-elected government earlier this week.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's de facto leader, along with President Win Myint and dozens of other senior figures in their National League for Democracy (NLD) were detained in pre-dawn raids Monday. Hours later, the military declared that power had been handed to commander in chief Min Aung Hlaing, in response to unfounded allegations of election fraud. A state of emergency was declared for one year.

Late Wednesday, an arrest warrant was issued for Suu Kyi over unspecified "import and export" offenses, while Win Myint was remanded in custody under the country's Disaster Management Law, according to an NLD spokesman.

While the dramatic overthrow of Suu Kyi's government attracted international attention, continued disruptions to internet access and communications mean that many in Myanmar may still be unclear about what is taking place.

-- CNN's Philip Wang, James Griffiths and Helen Regan contributed to this report.

This story was first published on CNN.com Myanmar blocks Twitter and Instagram
To really excel as a locksmith in Miami, its important to keep honing your skills. Staying abreast of the latest products and technology will help you stand out and attract more clients more often.

At one point or another, everyone needs a locksmith. Whether you lock your keys in your vehicle or your key breaks off in your lock at home, there are certain scenarios where only a qualified locksmith can assist you.

If you are considering a career as a locksmith in Miami, there are a few requirements to be aware of, which we will cover in this guide.

Before we get into them though, why should you become a locksmith in the first place? Is it a worthwhile endeavor?

Locksmiths provide an essential service and are professionals you can rely on in a vulnerable situation. Theres nothing quite like the relief you feel when you have a locksmith to help you get back into your home or vehicle. Locksmiths are also there to help you feel safer in general by assisting with the installation and repair of residential and business security solutions.

The locksmithing profession is going to be around for a long time to come, so if you want to learn a new skill and be able to assist people when they need it the most, this might just be the profession for you.

Lets get into some of the specific requirements for becoming a locksmith or joining a team such as Quickly Locksmith in Miami.

Skills Required to Be a Good Locksmith.

In order to be a good locksmith, there are a few skills you cant do without, including:



Problem-Solving Abilities. Locksmiths are natural problem solvers. Some problems are simple, while others require you to think of a unique solution. As a locksmith, you need to be comfortable with expecting the unexpected.

Dexterity. An eye for detail is essential when picking and fixing locks. Without hand-eye coordination and dexterity, you could end up making a problem far worse.

People Skills. As a locksmith, youre going to be dealing with people a lot. Not only do you need to be good with people, even the rude ones, but you should also be a clear communicator.

A Good Memory. Once you become a locksmith, you are going to encounter a lot of different products and brands, so a good memory is a must. Fortunately, things dont feel as overwhelming once you gain some experience.

Experience with Tools & Equipment. Without knowledge of the tools and equipment a locksmith uses, you wont be able to do much to help your customers. This is where courses and qualifications come into play.

Understanding the Different Types of Locksmiths.

While there is always the option to offer a variety of lock and security-related services, some locksmiths choose to specialize. Here are some of the options to consider:



Emergency Locksmith. If you want to be available to help customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, consider becoming an emergency locksmith. As an emergency locksmith, you endeavor to reach a customer as quickly as possible, regardless of the hour. Emergency locksmiths are also able to charge higher rates due to the convenience.

Residential Locksmith. This is probably the most common type of locksmith in Miami. They deal with a variety of lock and security-related concerns related to residential properties. Some of the services they offer include lock repair and replacement, key copies, re-keying, and lockout assistance. Many of todays residential locksmiths also offer emergency services.

Commercial Locksmith. A commercial locksmith only deals with businesses and are most familiar with multi-use and keyless systems. Small, medium, and large businesses turn to commercial locksmiths to help secure their business premises and assets.

Industrial Locksmith. If you would prefer to only work with larger businesses that require monthly maintenance, industrial locksmithing might be a better choice for you. Typical services include replacing doors and installing security and access control systems in warehouses and industrial environments.

Automotive Locksmith. As the name suggests, an automotive locksmith specializes in vehicles, including cars, vans, trucks, and bikes. Services include car key replacement and copies, key programming, and lockout assistance. Many residential and emergency locksmiths also tend to offer automotive services.

Safe Locksmith. While this falls in with commercial and industrial locksmithing, some professionals choose to specialize in safes and vaults alone. Naturally, this type of locksmithing requires very specific skills and knowledge.

Forensic Locksmith. Lastly, forensic locksmiths work specifically with the police and FBI. This requires knowledge of security systems and locks, as well as crime scenes, so additional training and qualifications are necessary. A forensic locksmith is responsible for identifying weaknesses in security systems and the tools and methods to gain entry to a building or home.

How many of these areas you would prefer to specialize in is entirely up to you.

Next, lets get into the specific requirements for becoming a locksmith in Miami.

National Locksmith Requirements.

To become a locksmith in the United States, you need to meet the following requirements:

Age of 18 or older

No criminal record

Completion of necessary locksmith training based on desired area of expertise

Achieve at least 70 percent on the certification exam, which tests 10 chosen areas of expertise (more on that below)

Official license depending on state of operation

Business license if self-employed

Florida Locksmith Requirements:

If you want to become a locksmith in Florida specifically, you will start with a background check and fingerprinting  services you need to pay for yourself. All records are checked within the FBI and by the state of Florida before you can start operating as a locksmith.

Every county in Florida also has specific requirements. Some require a locksmith to have a license, while others dont  most counties dont. Along with the background checks and fingerprinting, some locksmiths may even need to be an apprentice for at least a year before they can operate on their own.

Potential locksmiths can refer to their local county website for details on the specific requirements. If you cant locate this information online, the organization that facilitates your training will be able to guide you.

Quickly Locksmith Miami services Dade county and has a license from the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. Dade is one of the few counties that has more specific requirements for locksmiths.

Locksmith Certification Exam  What It Covers.

To become a qualified and reputable locksmith like Quickly Locksmith, you need to be tested on 10 mandatory categories during your certification exam. This includes:

Codes and Code Equipment

Cylinder Servicing

Key Blank Identification

Key Duplication

Key Impressioning

Professional Lock Opening Techniques

Lockset Functions

Lockset Servicing

Basic Master Keying

Cabinet, Furniture, and Mailbox Locks

There are also 26 elective categories that you can add to your exam should you want to add additional specialties to your skill set. Some of these extra categories include domestic and foreign automotive, keyless mechanical locks, safe deposit locks, alarms, and closed circuit television.

Becoming a Locksmith in Miami  Additional Requirements:

Along with the above requirements, here are a few other aspects to be aware of.

Association Memberships:

While locksmiths in Miami dont officially need to belong to any professional groups, it is great for building more trust with potential customers. The Associated Locksmiths of America is one example of a professional membership group. However, there are others to choose from too, each of which will cater to the needs of different locksmiths. Once you become a member, you can display the badge on your website or your social media profiles to start building more trust in your community.

Insurance and Bond Protection:

To operate in Florida, locksmiths need to maintain at least $25,000 worth of liability insurance. This ensures you are protected should anything go wrong during a job.

Locksmith Equipment:

Before you can start operating as a locksmith, you will need the right tools and equipment. This includes everything from a key duplicator and extractor to re-keying kits. You will also need a way to get to and from clients and a place to store your equipment. Its only once you register as a locksmith with the state of Florida that you can purchase the necessary tools.

Where to Find Locksmith Training in Florida:

A simple Google search is all thats required to find locksmith training facilities in Florida. If you dont necessarily want to attend in-person training, online programs are available too. Locksmith Training HQ and Assured Locksmith Training are two training facilities you can consider.

To take a certification exam, most locksmiths contact the Associated Locksmiths of America (ALOA) as they grant one of the widest varieties of designations. In fact, ALOA can facilitate your training too.

Undergoing the necessary training and examinations will ensure you start your career as a locksmith on the right foot and can gain the trust of potential customers.

It can take several months to become a locksmith, but on-the-job training will take another few months, if not a year or two. Patience is key when learning to become an experienced locksmith, but your efforts will be well worth it.

Honing Your Skills as a Locksmith:

To really excel as a locksmith in Miami, its important to keep honing your skills. Staying abreast of the latest products and technology will help you stand out and attract more clients more often.

Learning from a mentor is another great way to get valuable experience and become an industry-recognized locksmith.

There are also a number of online courses and seminars that you can register for throughout the year that will keep you at the top of your game  a must if you want to stand out as a reputable professional in Miami.
Police arrest a male at a property in the Oldpark area of North Belfast in relation to the murder of Danny McClean on February 4th 2021 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Police arrest a male at a property in the Newlodge Road area of North Belfast in relation to the murder of Danny McClean on February 4th 2021 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Police arrest a male at a property in the Oldpark area of North Belfast in relation to the murder of Danny McClean on February 4th 2021 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Police arrest a male at a property in the Newlodge Road area of North Belfast in relation to the murder of Danny McClean on February 4th 2021 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Police have been granted an additional 48 hours to question two men arrested as part of the investigation into the murder of Daniel 'Danny' McClean in Belfast.

The two men, aged 46 and 39, were detained in the city on Friday and taken to Musgrave PSNI Station for questioning.

Danny McClean was shot multiple times while sitting in a parked car in the driveway of a guesthouse on the Cliftonville Road in north Belfast earlier this week.

The shooting was reported to police shortly after 8pm and McClean, aged 54, was pronounced dead at the scene.

He had links to dissident republican group ONH (Oglaigh na hEireann) and previously served in the British Army. McClean was expelled from the gang two years ago amid informant allegations. He was on bail facing arms charges and staying in a nearby bail hostel at the time of his murder.

Detective Chief Inspector Neil McGuinness, senior investigating officer in the investigation, said the "brutal" killing has "left Danny's family devastated and the local community traumatised by the callous actions of his murderer".

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"We continue to ask anyone who was in the Cliftonville Road or Clifton Crescent area of north Belfast on Tuesday, February 2, between 7.30pm and 8.30pm or who may have seen Danny or a red Audi Q2 in and around the area or adjoining streets between 7.30pm and 8.30pm on Tuesday, to pick up the phone and get in touch," he said.

"Alternatively, information can be uploaded onto the Major Incident Public Portal at: https://mipp.police.uk/operation/PSNI21Q02-PO1 , where information such as video, images, CCTV and dash-cam footage can be uploaded to assist with our investigation.

"We would appeal to anyone with any information in relation to Dannys murder to contact detectives on 101, quoting reference 1593 02/02/21, or use the MIPP portal. You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/ ."

Justice Minister Naomi Long branded the murder "senseless" and those behind it have left a family grieving and a community in shock.

"This appalling crime places additional pressures on our first responders, at a time when they are already dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic and all of the additional challenges that brings with it. There is no place in society for the gun and it is time to stop these attacks," she added.

The driver suspected of causing a fatal eight-car collision while intoxicated and driving a stolen vehicle in San Francisco on Thursday was on supervised release from prison and facing charges in another DUI case from December, officials said.

Jerry Lyons, 31, was booked into San Francisco County jail Thursday night on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and other crimes. Family has identified the victim as 26-year-old Sheria Musyoka.

Police said Lyons was driving a 2003 Ford Explorer reported stolen out of San Jose when the crash occurred before 8 a.m. Thursday near Higuera Avenue and Lake Merced Boulevard. Four people, including Lyons, were injured in the collision.

The crash was the latest and most serious of Lyons many brushes with the law this past year following his April 11 release from prison. He served about a year and a half of a four-year sentence on a 2018 grand theft conviction.

Upon his release, Lyons was placed on three years of post-release community supervision  a less restrictive alternative to parole thats overseen by the San Francisco Adult Probation Department, records show. Under community supervision, a person who violates terms of their release can be sent to county jail but not state prison.

Before Thursdays crash, Lyons had been arrested at least seven times in the Bay Area since his release from prison in April. Most of his arrests were in San Mateo County for allegedly committing crimes including car theft, petty theft, shoplifting and possession of drug paraphernalia, records show. He also had two warrants issued for failing to check in with the probation department.

San Francisco police arrested Lyons on Oct. 9 after finding him with a parked Honda Civic that had been reported stolen, they said. Police officials said that Lyons at the time was on probation in San Mateo County as well as post release community supervision out of San Francisco, which allowed police to search him without cause.

The search revealed a pouch of suspected methamphetamine as well as whats known as a master key that can start ignitions on vehicles. Lyons was booked on suspicion of auto theft, possession of methamphetamine, possession of a burglars tool and on violating community supervision.

Prosecutors referred the case to probation officials but did not file new charges because the victim, whose car was stolen, did not identify Lyons as the suspect when shown a photo lineup, according to San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin.

The arrests and community supervision violations amounted to at least two more stints in San Francisco County Jail last year. In May, Lyons spent 10 days in jail for failing to report to probation.

In December, he spent nearly a month behind bars due to another probation violation following an arrest for another alleged DUI.

On Dec. 3, Lyons was arrested by California Highway Patrol officers in San Francisco on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle and driving under the influence, police said. After toxicology results came back on Jan. 22, San Francisco prosecutors told CHP officers that they would proceed with new charges of DUI and driving without a license.

CHP officials said that in response to San Franciscos move they sent Lyons a notice that he would be cited, which required him to report to the CHP office. If he did not do so within 14 days, officials said they would have issued a warrant. The crash came 13 days after Jan. 22.

Lyons two most recent contacts with police came last month, when he was arrested by Daly City police on Jan. 4 for public intoxication and then on Jan. 8 by San Mateo police for public intoxication and possession of drug paraphernalia.

San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe said Lyons currently has six open misdemeanor cases out of his office, but the COVID crisis has pushed all court appearances on misdemeanors back well into 2021.

In addition to vehicular manslaughter, Lyons was booked on Thursday on suspicion of reckless driving with bodily injury, unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle, driving under the influence of alcohol, violating probation, driving at an unsafe speed, failing to stop at a red light, hit-and-run and receiving stolen property.

Boudin on Friday said that Lyons latest case had not yet been formally presented to prosecutors, and that his office would likely make a charging decision next week.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com, Twitter: @meganrcassidy

Editors note: This story has been updated with the victims name and information from the California Highway Patrol.

(Natural News) Never allow a good crisis (to) go to waste. Its an opportunity to do the things you once thought were impossible.

(Article by Pat Buchanan republished from TownHall.com)

Thus did chief of staff Rahm Emanuel advise Barack Obama on the financial crisis he inherited in 2009.

Following the Capitol riot by a mob of pro-Donald Trump protesters, the left took Rahms counsel, seizing upon and exploiting the episode ever since to paint the right as Americas safe harbor for domestic terrorism.

According to leftist columnists and commentators, going back to the 60s, the real threat of domestic terrorism has always come from the right.

That is not, however, how some of us remember those days.

The most destructive acts of violence in the 60s were the urban race riots that began in Harlem in July 1964, when 15-year-old black youth James Powell was shot by a police lieutenant.

In 1965, Watts blew up, followed by Newark and Detroit in 1967.

In 1968, 100 U.S. cities exploded in racial violence after Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis on April 4.

Anti-war riots followed the urban riots, beginning with an attack on the Pentagon in October 1967 and the occupation of Columbia University in 1968. That August, leftists ignited a riot at the Democratic Convention that nominated Hubert Humphrey in Chicago.

After President Richard Nixon took office in 1969, a mass anti-war protest in Washington, D.C., spun off a mob that trashed the Department of Justice. A riot at Kent State in May 1970 precipitated the killing of four students by the Ohio National Guard, and follow-on riots on scores of campuses that shut down higher education for the rest of that spring semester.

That same year, terrorists in a Greenwich Village townhouse blew themselves up with a 2,000-pound bomb they were making to massacre noncommissioned officers and their wives and girlfriends at a dance at Fort Dix, New Jersey. This was followed two months later by an explosion that blew up the mathematics building at the University of Wisconsin, killing a father of three.

As Nixon speechwriter Ray Price recorded in his memoir, between Jan. 1, 1969, and April 15, 1970, More than 40,000 bombings, attempted bombings and bomb threats, were recorded in the United States.

In the 1969-1970 school year there were 1782 demonstrations, 7561 arrests, 8 people killed, and 462 injured, (299 of those injured were police). There were 247 cases of campus arson and 282 attacks on ROTC facilities.

The criminals responsible for this carnage were leftists.

What about 2020, the year of mass protests that followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May.

According to the London Daily Mail, with the riots, arson and looting that began in Minneapolis spreading to Portland, Seattle and 140 other cities, the National Guard was called out in 21 states, six people died, scores of police were injured and between $1 billion and $2 billion in property was damaged or destroyed.

According to insurance company figures, it was the costliest urban violence since the LA riot of 1992, when a Simi Valley jury acquitted the four cops involved in the beating of Rodney King.

Other forms of domestic terrorism are far more common but all too frequently ignored because we Americans have come to take them for granted.

As Heather Mac Donald wrote in The Wall Street Journal just days ago:

The year 2020 likely saw the largest percentage increase in homicides in American history. Murder was up nearly 37% in a sample of 57 large and medium-sized cities. Based on preliminary estimates, at least 2,000 more Americans, most of them black, were killed in 2020 than in 2019.

Dozens of children, overwhelmingly black, were killed in drive-by shootings. They were slain in their beds, living rooms and strollers. They were struck down at barbecues, in their yards, in malls, in their parents cars, and at birthday parties. Fifty-five children were killed in Chicago in 2020, 17 in St. Louis, and 11 in Philadelphia.

While the riot was taking place at the Capitol, where a cop and four protesters lost their lives, less-noted lethal events were happening all over America in the first days of the new year. Writes Mac Donald:

The anarchy of 2020 has continued into 2021. Shootings in South Los Angeles rose 742 percent in the first two weeks of the year. In Oakland, homicides were up 500% and shootings up 126 percent through Jan. 17. In New York, murders were up 42 percent and shooting victims up 15% through Jan. 17.

The truth: The vast majority of criminals who rob, rape, shoot and kill Americans in the tens of thousands each year, and the people who did almost all of the rioting, looting, arson and assaults on cops in 2020, never wore MAGA hats.

Pas dennemis a gauche. No enemies on the left. The enemy is always to be found on the right. And because reality contradicts this central tenet of liberal ideology, it cannot ever be conceded.

Read more at: TownHall.com and DomesticTerrorism.com.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 5)  A Mandaluyong court has junked the case against a journalist and a union organizer who were arrested for alleged illegal possession of firearms and explosives last December.

The Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court Branch 209 on Friday dismissed the case against Lady Ann Salem, an editor of alternative media outfit Manila Today and communications officer of the International Association of Women in Radio and Television, and union organizer Rodrigo Esparago.

In a previous statement, the Criminal Investigation and Detection GroupNational Capital Region said the two were arrested as part of its campaign against loose firearms and criminal groups.

Police said they seized handguns, grenades, and ammunition, among others from Salem. An armalite, pistols, and ammunition were seized from Esparago.

Presiding judge Monique Quisumbing-Ignacio argued the law enforcers' search warrant was declared void for being vague after they failed to seize only those items listed in the warrant.

Instead of only one laptop and one unit of cellphone, the law enforcers took four laptops and five cellphones of different brands.

"The raiding team did not limit themselves to the items listed in the Search Warrants... The seizure of these items is unlawful as even the 'plain view doctrine' is clearly inapplicable to these cases," the order read.

The court also found substantial inconsistencies and contradictions in the testimonies of informant Kharl Lou Dela Cruz Geronimo, Patrolman Ernie Ambuyoc, and Police Captain Michael Nathaniel Visco.

"Since the sole basis of the issuance of the Search Warrants were their sworn statements and testimonies, the Court finds that probable cause was not sufficiently establish," it said.

Several groups denounced Salem's arrest, calling it another attempt to silence free press.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines previously noted that Manila Today was one of the alternative media outfits red-tagged in a recent Senate hearing.

"Icy's (Salem) arrest is proof this administration is bent on silencing the independent and critical Philippine media so it can manipulate the flow of information to the detriment of our people and of our democracy," the NUJP said.
Rain relief is imminent after another dangerous night on the frontline of a devastating bushfire in the Perth Hills that has destroyed at least 86 homes.

Hopes are high that forecast weekend rain will help firefighters get on top of the week-long blaze as a tropical low tracks towards the southwest.

But weary firefighters are expected to face their toughest challenge, with conditions forecast to worsen before they get better.

Hopes are high that forecast weekend rain will help firefighters get on top of the week-long blaze as a tropical low tracks towards the southwest (pictured, a home destroyed on Friday in Perth Hills)

Weary firefighters are expected to face their toughest challenge, with conditions forecast to worsen before they get better (pictured, a destroyed property in Gidgegannup on Wednesday)

'We are expecting incredibly strong winds - stronger than we've had already - tomorrow ahead of that tropical low,' Department of Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm told reporters on Friday.

'At this time, we're being advised that we will see rain on or about the fire ground at approximately 11am (on Saturday). But between now and then, we have still got the challenges of these really strong winds.'

West Australian officials on Friday confirmed five more burnt-out homes were identified.

Exhausted firefighters are hoping for rain (pictured, firefighter in the midst of intense fire outside Wooroloo on February 2)

West Australian officials on Friday confirmed five more burnt-out homes were identified. Pictured: Remains of a shed and chicken coup destroyed by a bushfire in Gidgegannup from February 4

Emergency warnings remain in place for parts of Avon Valley National Park, Brigadoon, Bullsbrook, Gidgegannup, Upper Swan and Walyunga National Park. Pictured: Melted water tank is seen outside a house in Gidgegannup on February 4,

Emergency warnings remain in place for parts of Avon Valley National Park, Brigadoon, Bullsbrook, Gidgegannup, Upper Swan and Walyunga National Park.

People bound by Clenton Road, O'Brien Road and Ewing Road have been warned there is still uncontained fire activity, and should leave now if they intend to do so and the means of exit are clear.

The fire has burned almost 11,000 hectares in total.

Efforts to allow some residents to return home are continuing with areas east of Toodyay Road opening up from 4pm on Friday.

Roads including the Great Northern Highway and Railway Parade have reopened, while speed restrictions on the Tonkin Highway have been removed.

Efforts to allow some residents to return home are continuing with areas east of Toodyay Road opening up from 4pm on Friday (pictured, utility vehicle destroyed by a bushfire on February 4)

Western Power says some 465 homes remain without power, with repairs to damaged electricity networks potentially continuing for weeks (pictured, remains of a house on February 4 in Gidgegannup)

Firefighters have worked overtime to clear damage from seriously affected areas, including fallen powerlines, while also dealing with flare-ups on the northern flank of the bushfire and re-establishing containment lines.

'You must shelter before the fire arrives as the extreme heat will kill you well before the flames reach you,' the DFES said on Friday.

Western Power says some 465 homes remain without power, with repairs to damaged electricity networks potentially continuing for weeks.

Department of Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm (pictured on February 3) told reporters he is expecting 'incredibly strong winds' on Saturday
As Republicans and Tea Party members remember and celebrate the revisionist life history of Ronald Reagan on what would be his 107th birthday today. Let us, the friends, the family, and the loved ones of the victims of Ronald Reagans bigotry and homophobia remember the REAL legacy of genocide, war mongering, and poverty that he left behind all in the name of God and never let it be forgotten.

Ronald Reagan was and always should be remembered as the President who helped bring back poverty to the masses, the President who changed American foreign policy, by selling arms to Iran, and forwarding the profits to right-wing Central American dictators to help fund their death squads, and most of all as the President who is personally responsible for the deaths of thousands who died of AIDS and literally wiped out almost an entire generation of gay men.

Ronald Reagan deliberately ignored one of the deadliest diseases in history of the world which is now affecting over 70 million people around the globe all in the name of God, bigotry and homophobia.

In 1981 with the emergence of the AIDS epidemic also came the emergence of the Christian Right, who Reagan ushered into power and seized the moment that AIDS was a sign of Gods abhorrence for gay men. . Reagan, who saw the first signs of the AIDS epidemic in 1981, his first year in office, . said maybe the Lord brought down the plague because illicit sex is against the Ten Commandments.

Ronald Reagan may have done laudable things but he was also a monster and, in my estimation, responsible for more deaths than Adolf Hitler. He is one of the persons most responsible for allowing the plague of AIDS to grow from 41 cases in 1981 to over 70 million today. He refused to even say the word out loud for the first seven years of his presidency and when he did speak about it it was with disdain. He was, in the words of his domestic policy adviser, Gary Bauer, irrevocably opposed to anything having to do with homosexuality (personal communication from the White House office in April of 1983). The Tragedy of Todays Gays (Penguin, 2005), I can locate no work of any urgency, or indeed, much work at all, on AIDS during his entire presidency, thus allowing many millions of gay men all over the world to be exposed to the virus without so much as a warning from anyone in his government. Those of us on the front lines can attest to this stone wall that was unbreachable.  Larry Kramer.

AIDS research was chronically under-funded in the beginning of the outbreak when money for research and treatment were the most needed. When doctors at the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health asked for more funding for their work on AIDS, they were routinely denied. Between June 1981 and May 1982 the CDC spent less than $1 million on AIDS and $9 million on Legionnaires Disease. At that point more than 1,000 of the 2,000 reported AIDS cases resulted in death; there were fewer than 50 deaths from Legionnaires Disease. This drastic lack of funding would continue through the Reagan years.

Newly unearthed audio of Ronald Reagans White House Press Secretary in daily meetings with the Press Corps from that period puts a face on the homophobic Reagan administration and proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that because AIDS affected mostly gay men that the Regan administration could not be bothered and did could care less that American citizens dying because of their homophobic bigotry.

It would not be until October 1987 when pushed that Reagan would publicly speak about the AIDS epidemic in a major policy address. By the end of that year, 59,572 AIDS cases had been reported and 27,909 of those women and men had died. He and his administration did almost nothing during the first seven years of the epidemic.

In 1986, Reagan ordered Surgeon General C. Everett Koop to prepare a major government report on AIDS. Critics attacked Reagan for ordering the report on the same day he submitted requests to reduce the AIDS budget, according to the Globe. Koops report called for mandatory sex education for children as early as elementary school, but Reagans education secretary, William Bennett, and his undersecretary of education, Gary Bauer, strenuously opposed those efforts, calling for abstinence-oriented education.

With AIDS research being underfunded community education and prevention programs were routinely denied federal funding and would have been even more so if Regan had had his way. Only when pushed did Reagan offer any assistance.

Finally in 1986 Reagan requested $85 million for AIDS research, but Congress horrified at the low number bumped that figure up to $244 million only to have Reagan then unsuccessfully try to rescind $50 million of that figure, according to the Boston Globe, but he ultimately agreed to Congress figure. In 1987, Reagan proposed cutting the research budget for AIDS down to $214 million. Congress again responded dramatically against Reagen by raising it to about $400 million.

The Boston Globe reported that in 1986  1987 that AIDS patients were dying at a rate of about 80 per week.

As Barbra Streisand put it in an address to an AIDS Project Los Angeles fundraiser in 1992: I will never forgive my fellow actor Ronald Reagan for his genocidal denial of the illness existence, for his refusal to even utter the word AIDS for seven years, and for blocking adequate funding for research and education which could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

By the end of 1989, 115,786 women and men had been diagnosed with AIDS in the United Statesmore then 70,000 of them had died.

This is Ronald Reagans TRUE legacy, and everyday may we never forget it and remember those who died because of it.
A report from the University of Texas at Austin projects that coronavirus hospitalizations in the Midland-Odessa region will continue declining significantly. By March, hospitalizations are predicted to fall to the lowest numbers seen since last spring.

The report analyzed the 22 Trauma Service Areas in Texas and used hospitalization data and cellphone mobility data to estimate the local state of the pandemic in each TSA and to make short-term projections of COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU needs.

Hospitalizations in the Midland-Odessa TSA have been declining since mid-January, according to the report. There were 218 coronavirus patients hospitalized on Jan. 16 and 117 hospitalized on Feb. 3. If the current trend continues, the report projects that number will be down to 41 on March 2.

There have also been 44 percent fewer infections reported in the last 14 days compared to the previous two weeks.

The report states that the reproduction number in the Midland-Odessa region has fallen to 0.71, the lowest its been throughout the pandemic. A value higher than one indicates the pandemic is growing, while a value below one indicates it is subsiding.

With the current reproduction number, theres only a 10 percent chance the pandemic is growing, according to the report.

Midland Memorial Hospital reported 30 active COVID-19 cases earlier this week, a sharp decline from more than 100 patients in November. CEO and President Russell Meyers has previously attributed that drop to the increasing availability of a vaccine and the success of MMHs antibody infusion center in treating vulnerable populations.

Only a handful of the several hundred patients who have received the antibody treatment, which is available for those 65 and older or otherwise high-risk who have tested positive, have gone on to require hospitalization, according to Meyers.

The positivity rate in Midland is down to the lowest level in more than four months. About 12 percent of people tested by MMH this week were COVID positive, the lowest rate since the week of Sept. 26.

The drop in COVID-19 hospitalizations in the Midland-Odessa region follows a statewide trend. Hospitalizations in Texas are down from about 14,000 in mid-January to 10,523 on Thursday.
Nay Pyi Taw, Feb 6 : Former Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in detention since the military took control of the country earlier this week, is in good health, an army official said.

The development was confirmed by the official to the Xinhua news agency on Friday.

Following their detention on Monday morning Suu Kyi and former President U Win Myint were remanded in custody for violating the National Disaster Management Law and Import-Export Law until February 15, the official added.

Friday's development came a day after U Win Htein, patron of the former ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party, was arrested.

U Win Htein is known to be one of the former de facto leader's trusted confidants.

"We are checking out under which section of laws U Win Htein was charged," Kyi Toe, the party's information committee member, said in an online post.

The President and the State Counsellor, along with other NLD officials were detained by the military early Monday morning just ahead of the coup.

After the military seized control of the country, the President's Office declared a one-year state of emergency and the state power was handed over to Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing.

The coup was staged over the disputed results of the November 8, 2020 parliamentary polls in which the NLD obtained more than 80 per cent of the seats and increased its parliamentary majority.

The military or the Tatmadaw had called for an investigation into voting lists, alleging fraud and discrepancies.

But the Union Election Commission rejected the allegations of election fraud on January 29.

Monday's actions reversed a 10-year period of democratic transition following 50 years of military rule.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Akshay Sharma, Founder, WoodFeather

For hobby pilot and brand consultant Akshay Sharma, a venture that began in a serendipitous moment  when he could not find a wooden replica of a vintage aircraft propeller he wanted as a decor accessory for his newly built home  is now paying global dividends.

His boutique decor brand, WoodFeather, has been picked by Paramount Pictures Top Gun franchise, starring Tom Cruise, to design, create and sell, globally, propellers inspired by Maverick, the next movie in the super-successful series.

Woodfeather X TOP GUN -Maverick

Two years ago when Sharma stumbled upon an article on Maverick, which will release in July 2021, something sort of clicked in his head. I felt goosebumps go up my arms. It would have been a missed opportunity if I did not do something with Top Gun, he says, the excitement palpable in his voice. Several disruptions  caused by Black Lives Matter protests and the COVID pandemic  later, the Burma teak art decor propellers have been launched on the WoodFeather website, from where they can be ordered.

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

It takes sheer audacity for someone to believe that they can work with Tom Cruise and the Paramount team without knowing a soul in the company. It takes tenacity to see it through.

Woodfeather X TOP GUN -FA-18

I made a couple of experimental pieces, tweeted them and tagged Paramounts official Twitter handle, stating I am a fanboy, showcasing what I had made, and asking if they had an India office. Someone from the LA office forwarded the tweet and his contact to Bhavik Vora, CEO of Black White Orange, who is Paramounts merchandising partner in India. Incidentally, I had sold a propeller to Adik Mehta, the design head of his company, and he had taken it to the office to flaunt it.

All the segments of this Rubik Cube fell into place perfectly and Vora asked Sharma to make a pitch, which first went to Paramounts Singapore team, then to LA, and finally to Tom Cruise, who is involved in all decisions related to one of cinemas richest, and biggest, franchise properties.

The Maverick Collection

Woodfeather X TOP GUN - P51-D

Sharma has created four striking designs for his Top Gun collection, based either on the movies characters or the spiffy aeroplanes that feature in it. There is one inspired by the blue helmet, with white and red stripes, worn by Maverick, he says. Everything, from the colour, the decals and the famous movie dialogues have been translated into the design of the propeller. For another piece, Wingman, we have taken individual patches of the eight pilots from the Top Gun Academy and put them on the propeller. Among the striking pieces is F/A-18, inspired by the fighter jet that Tom flies in the movie. The fourth piece has P-51D  a vintage aeroplane that he flies as a hobby in the movie  as its muse. The plane, incidentally, is Toms aircraft.

Each of the wall art pieces will be handcrafted from Burma teak reclaimed from old bridges, structures, railway tracks, or bought at auctions. There is a ban on selling Burma teak from an existing tree or growing trees to harvest the wood and only old, reclaimed pieces are available. The handcrafting process takes all of six to seven weeks. The propellers are priced between USD 1100 or 1200, depending on the complexity of the design.

Woodfeather X TOP GUN - Wingman

The offbeat world of aviation decor

For Sharma, the passion for flying has come full circle. My design business is inspired by my love for aeroplanes. They are essentially modelled on World War I or pre-World War I aircraft, which were powered by wooden propellers. I take creative liberty to work with certain kinds of wood that were never used to make propellers back then, just so that the art pieces look gorgeous. The vintage-looking Classic Collection is crafted from wood such as maple and mahogany. In striking contrast is the Signature Collection, with funky painted propellers.

To ensure complete personalisation, Sharma, who is the designer, brand manager and marketer of WoodFeather, jams with his clients to understand what they are looking for and where they are likely to display the propeller. Sometimes, they ask for their name to be embossed on it, sometimes it is an important date or signature. They treat it like an heirloom.

The statement propellers are usually ordered by flying enthusiasts or owners of luxury homes who are looking for an unusual art object. Several of his clients are based internationally, even though sending a piece abroad is a cumbersome process, requiring him to fill over 25 forms. But the market is lucrative and Sharma hopes his Top Gun collection will be his calling card for bigger business in global markets.

Internationally, aviation decor is a thing but in India, it is still considered rather offbeat. Sharma has forgotten the number of times when people have mistaken the propellers to be ceiling fans at the design exhibitions he showcases at. After the Top Gun collaboration, the perception will hopefully change.
YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmars new military authorities appeared to have cut most access to the internet on Saturday as they faced a rising tide of protest over their coup that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government.

Lawyers who graduated from the Yadanabon University flash the three-fingered salute of protest while holding a banner that reads "We condemn the unlawful coup. No to dictatorship" Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021 in Mandalay, Myanmar. The military authorities in charge of Myanmar broadened a ban on social media following this week's coup, shutting access to Twitter and Instagram, while street protests continued to expand Saturday as people gathered again to show their opposition to the army takeover. (AP Photo)

YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmars new military authorities appeared to have cut most access to the internet on Saturday as they faced a rising tide of protest over their coup that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government.

Numerous internet users noted a slow disappearance of data services, especially from mobile service providers, that accelerated sharply late Saturday morning. Broadband connection also later failed, while there were mixed reports on whether landline telephone service and mobile voice connections were still working.

Netblocks, a London-based service that tracks internet disruptions, said Saturday afternoon that a near-total internet shutdown is now in effect" in Myanmar, with connectivity falling to just 16% of normal levels.

The broad outage followed Friday's military order to block Twitter and Instagram because some people were trying to use the platforms to spread what authorities deemed fake news. Facebook had already been blocked earlier in the week  though not completely effectively.

The communication blackout is a stark reminder of the progress Myanmar is in danger of losing after Monday's coup plunged the nation back under direct military rule after a nearly decade-long move toward greater openness and democracy. During Myanmar's previous five decades of military rule, the country was internationally isolated and communication with the outside world strictly controlled.

Suu Kyis five years as leader since 2015 had been Myanmar's most democratic period despite the military retaining broad powers over the government, the continued use of repressive colonial-era laws and the persecution of minority Rohingya Muslims.

The blockages are also adding greater urgency to efforts to resist the coup. In one of the largest protests so far, about 1,000 people  factory workers and students prominent among them  marched down a main street in Yangon, the countrys biggest city, and were met by more than 100 police in riot gear.

In this image made from video, riot police block the road to prevent protesters from marching forward Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021, in Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmars new military authorities appeared to have cut most access to the Internet on Saturday as they faced a rising tide of protest over their coup that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi's elected civilian government.(AP Photo)

They shouted down with dictatorship and other slogans, marched with their hands in the air and flashed three-fingered salutes, a symbol of defiance adopted from protesters in neighbouring Thailand. There was no violence reported.

Similar-sized demonstrations took place in at least two other areas of the city. At Yangons City Hall, protesters presented flowers to police, some of whom carried assault rifles.

Other reports that slipped through the communications blockade said protests were held in other cities, including Mandalay, the second largest.

Telenor Myanmar, a major mobile operator, confirmed it had received Friday's order to block Twitter and Instagram. In a statement, Twitter said it was deeply concerned about the order and vowed to advocate to end destructive government-led shutdowns.

It undermines the public conversation and the rights of people to make their voices heard, its spokesperson said.

Since the coup, social media platforms have been major sources of independent news as well as organizing tools for protests.

Amnesty International called the shutdown a heinous and reckless decision at a time when Myanmar was coping with the coup, years of civil conflict and the COVID-19 crisis.

Those opposed to the coup and the arrests of activists and politicians have also been gathering at night at windows and on balconies around Yangon, banging on pots and pans.

On Friday, nearly 300 elected lawmakers from Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party who met in an online meeting declared themselves as the sole legitimate representatives of the people and asked for international recognition as the countrys government.

They were supposed to have taken their seats Monday in a new session of Parliament following November elections when the military announced it was taking power for a year.

The military accused Suu Kyi and her party of failing to act on its complaints that last Novembers election was marred by fraud, though the election commission said it had no found no evidence to support the claims.

Suu Kyi and President Win Myint are also under house arrest and have been charged with minor offences, seen by many as merely providing a legal veneer for their detention.

In addition to the 134 officials and lawmakers who were detained in the coup, some 18 independent activists were also held, said the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Myanmar. Some have been since released.

The office of Australia's foreign minister said in a statement Saturday that the government was deeply concerned about reports of Australian and other foreign nationals being detained arbitrarily in Myanmar.

The statement said the government was concerned in particular about one Australian who was detained at a police station. The statement did not provide details on the identities of those being held or the reasons for their detention.

In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pledged Friday that the United Nations will do everything it can to unite the international community and create conditions for the military coup in Myanmar to be reversed.

Guterres said Christine Schraner Burgener, the U.N. special envoy for Myanmar, had a first contact with the military since the coup and expressed the U.N.s strong opposition to the takeover.
We applaud the efforts being made to save the critically endangered eastern bristlebird (Sunday Age, 31/1). However, in the other extreme on Victorias west coast, the near threatened rufous bristlebirds habitat is under threat. An extensive strategic firebreak (vegetation) is being slashed around coastal communities, thus destroying bristlebird habitat. On discussion with the state Environment Department, I got the impression that asset protection trumps bristlebird survival. Andrew Breedon, Williamstown

Re. Labors EV tax set for a rough road (Sunday Age, 31/1). To go to an extreme, if all road-using vehicles were electric, how would public roads be funded? Currently the level of revenue derived from the fuel excise tax is dropping as vehicles become more fuel efficient, so the burden of revenue-raising disproportionately falls to those on lower incomes. Often they live in outer areas with limited public transport and cannot afford the new, more fuel-efficient models or, heaven forbid, an EV. Maybe governments should be looking at scrapping the petrol-diesel excise and using a congestion-style tax that does not unduly penalise those who can least afford it.

Josephine Bant, Collingwood

A Kelly-Palmer party?

I wonder whether Craig Kelly is auditioning for a role in Clive Palmers next political party  Kelly tried to influence experts (The Age, 6/2). Didnt Palmer buy 30 million doses of hydroxychloroquine? This might have been a useful inducement to some voters if Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly had not said last month there was no evidence to show it or ivermectin should be rolled out to Australians. Now Kelly can promote it along with that other resource of diminishing value, coal.

Gill Riley, Doncaster East

Great minds together

I am about to buy some new furniture and wonder whether former export manager and now backbencher Craig Kelly could offer me some advice. In return, I can share my ideas about treatments for COVID-19 with him.

John Weston, Melton
An argument followed, during which the officer pulled out his gun and fired at least two shots at Mr. Martinezs feet, witnesses told reporters. Videos taken by witnesses, which spread widely on social media, show the juggler jumping to avoid the shots then running toward the officer with his props in the air. The officer then shot him in the chest, witnesses said, and he died at the scene.

Police officers described the shooting as an act of self-defense, saying Mr. Martinez was threatening the officer with a machete-like weapon. Witnesses interviewed by news media Friday night said it was a tin sword, a prop for his juggling show.

In interviews with several media outlets, Panguipullis mayor, Rodrigo Valdivia, described Mr. Martinez, 25, as a quiet, respectful young man who was well known in town because he had lived on the streets on and off for several years, performing for its many tourists and using the municipal shelter and food kitchen during the winter.

Mr. Valdivia, in a hastily called news conference by the destroyed municipal building, placed responsibility on the police for the shooting, saying the officer and his partner had not followed protocol in a routine ID check. Witnesses also faulted them for not trying to help Mr. Martinez as he lay dying. A nurse standing near the shooting was the first to assist him until an ambulance arrived.

The mayor also blamed the police for the fires, saying they had entrenched themselves in their own quarters and left other government buildings unprotected. Since protesters were unable to attack the police station, Mr. Valdivia said, they turned to other government symbols.
The emergence of WhatsApp as a business communication tool marks a major shift in the pre-existing structures and hierarchies in the customer engagement landscape. Harsha Solanki, Managing Director, Infobip  India, decodes WhatsApp Business API and analyses how it can help brands substantially bolster their omnichannel engagement strategy.

As a viral outbreak plunged the world into a state of uncomfortable uncertainty in 2020, brands across sectors employed digital technology to cast new light upon things and illuminate the way towards a new normal. Brand marketers, naturally, adapted to this rapidly transforming dynamic. With digital emerging as the primary mode of engagement in the post-pandemic world, they began making innovative use of existing and emerging communication channels to drive engagement, expand outreach, and improve retention.

However, even as these newer channels become an ever-important part of the marketing value chain, the truth is that the potential of digital engagement within the context of the business remains largely underutilised. While most brands now use social media channels to reach out to their customers, they do not often appreciate the true value that relatively simpler digital tools can add to their customer engagement strategies.

In particular, brands are guilty of neglecting one of the most powerful tools in their digital arsenals  WhatsApp.

WhatsAppening: Why WhatsApp should be one of the most preferred channels for customer engagement

One of the most popular messaging apps in the world, WhatsApp has more than 2 billion users across 180 countries who use it to text, call, and share information in 60 different languages. More than half of the American users use the app at least once a day. It holds even truer for India, home to more than 400 million WhatsApp users every month and one of the apps biggest markets among South Asian countries. WhatsApp boasts of an impressive 64% penetration level that cuts across the urban-rural divide in the country; a recent survey found that, in 2018, over 39% of Indians living in rural areas spent between one and two hours every day on WhatsApp, while around 5% of the respondents spent a whopping seven hours daily on the app.

The reason why consumers across demographics and geographies depend on WhatsApp are rather straightforward. It is a secure communication channel and one of the most easy-to-use applications that people use to connect with each other, be it colleagues, friends, or family.

Considering these data-backed arguments, it is astonishing that the average customer does not use the app to engage with brands  yet. This is because, like the air we breathe, WhatsApps omnipresence is often taken for granted, with many brands overlooking the channel in their outreach and engagement strategies. Part of this boils down to the lack of awareness about the role that it can play in complementing and driving new-age customer engagement strategies. Brands are also often restricted by the fact that they do not possess the necessary solutions that can help them capitalise on WhatsApps massive reach.

This is where WhatsApp Business API enters the picture

The easy-to-integrate solution can help businesses automate, streamline, and optimise their customer engagement strategies and reap superior dividends. More importantly, it does so without the need to spend an enormous amount of capital on setting up a tech-intensive infrastructure.

With the WhatsApp Business API, brands can substantially bolster their omnichannel engagement strategy. They can share notifications, e-receipts, package delivery locations, e-tickets, financial transaction alerts, etc., with customers who choose to receive them on their WhatsApp chat window itself. The API solution also enables businesses to provide customers with a highly personalised channel that offers superlative support. With the WhatsApp Business API, enterprises can drive enhanced, 24/7 customer support augmented with automated self-service solutions powered by chatbots.

The addition of chatbots  not just over WhatsApp but across all the channels preferred by the consumer, including Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Signal, SMS, Viber, etc.  can take care of repetitive, generic queries. The solutions offered by leading players in this space can provide quick answers to FAQs or offer menu options to customers by setting up rule-based keyword chatbots powered by if/then logic. Besides enabling omnichannel messaging from a single interface, such advanced chatbot solutions allow agents to focus on queries of a more complicated nature to build customer relationships and drive loyalty. The deployment can also substantially reduce the average response time, thus enhancing the overall customer experience.

One of Indias leading NBFCs reaped the benefits of this approach when it used the WhatsApp Business API to educate customers about types of financial loans through an interactive chatbot. The integration helped them reach a younger audience and tap into a more diverse audience base for their gold loan products. This marked a significant expansion in the NBFCs customer base and enabled it to reach out to newer demographics across the country.

Communicating the value of the WhatsApp Business API to customers

Before launching WhatsApp as the new business communication channel, businesses need to prepare an effective awareness campaign aimed at existing and potential customers. In line with the strict rules of engagement outlined by WhatsApp, they can connect with only those customers who have opted in to receive notifications or reached out to the brand channel directly. Hence, it is vital for businesses to communicate the value of this innovative channel to their customer base.

Businesses have a variety of options at their disposal to achieve this feat, including PR activities, newsletters, digital ads, newsfeed announcements on official social media channels or websites. They can also leverage Facebook and Instagram ads that click-through to WhatsApp so customers can easily start a chat with them. Enterprises can use this method to drive opt-ins, conversion rates, and customer experience and retention.

The emergence of WhatsApp as a business communication tool marks a major shift in the pre-existing structures and hierarchies in the customer engagement landscape. Digital technology is creating newer pathways in a rapidly evolving world, where businesses can no longer rely on conventional sensibilities and methodologies to target the new generations. Brands that match their stride with the latest goings-on in the industry will stand to gain a competitive edge over their peers and reap superior dividends.
The loss of Rob Kane, called a strong conservative by his Democratic opponents, was also mourned by those same opponents after the state auditors untimely death Friday at the age of 53.

Rob was a friend, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said on Twitter. He and I battled  in the State Senate and in many elections. He was a strong conservative. But friendships and finding common ground meant more to Rob than partisanship. I miss him already.

Like Murphy, state Sen. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, the senate majority leader, said he and Kane could spar about politics but always remained friendly.

We could fiercely disagree and did, but we would then immediately pivot to talking about our kids or something we both found amusing, Duff said. He will be missed.

Kane was unexpectedly found dead at his home Friday evening. The Watertown Police said Saturday that an autopsy had been performed but did not provide any details about the results of that autopsy.

The cause of death is pending further studies, according to a release. The Watertown Police Department has no further information to be released, other than there does not believe to be anything suspicious.

Kane was a longtime state senator representing Watertown, though he took on a role as one of the states two auditors in 2017, opposite Democrat John Geragosian.

In 2019, Kane said Connecticuts system, relying on two state auditors, one from each party, was unique in the United States and should serve as a model of bipartisanship.

Were the only state out of all 50 states with a Republican and a Democrat state auditor, Kane said then. Its a very good role model for state and federal government.

Kane was also enamored with the history of the Office of the State Auditor.

Our office was created in 1662, Kane said. I think it was King Charles, as he was sending money to the colonies, wanted to make sure that his money was protected. He created the office of the auditors.

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EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation

ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason

Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan

Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia

Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest

"Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan

Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator'

Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow

Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast

We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve

OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan

Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory

Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances

Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections

Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day

Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan

Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake

Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS)

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS)

Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time

Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation

Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country

Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor"

Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building"

Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh

Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials

MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan

Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas

France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party

Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms

Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh

NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country

104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion

Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation

Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination

Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity

Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well

Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions

Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never!

Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial

Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?"

France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity

Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election

Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia

US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China

Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war

Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet

Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases

Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now

Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village

California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan

US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces

Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can

UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians
January 2020 feels like a lifetime ago. Before Coronavirus restrictions turned much of the world dark, no one could stop talking about Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitts reunion at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. The sweet photo of the former flames running into each other made the rounds. The captured moment ignited reconciliation rumors. The rumors quieted down after a couple of months, but Aniston may have just reignited the discussion with an Instagram photo of her dog.

Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt ended their marriage in 2005

Aniston and Pitts romance captivated the masses in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but not nearly as much as their 2005 divorce. In the months after they announced their separation, headlines speculated about the reason for their split. More than 15 years later, most people agree that Pitts interest in Angelina Jolie ended the union.

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston | Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Turner

RELATED: Did Jennifer Anistons Famous Marriage to Brad Pitt Spoil Her Future Romantic Pursuits?

Pitt moved on quickly, dating and then marrying Jolie. Aniston worked through a series of relationships with high profile men before settling down with Justin Theroux. She dated both Vince Vaughn and John Mayer in the years after her split from Pitt. Each breakup was met with new headlines, exclaiming that Aniston was still pining for Pitt.

Fans have insisted the pair are going to end up together ever since their respective second divorces

Talk of Aniston and Pitt died down once both had married other people. Pitt and Jolie made things official in 2014. Aniston said I Do to Theroux in 2015 after around four years of dating. That seemed to be the end of that, but those marriages werent built to last, either.

The front page of The Daily News in 2005 | NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images

RELATED: Was Jennifer Aniston Warned About Justin Theroux Before They Divorced?

Jolie shocked the world in September 2016 when she filed for divorce after an argument on a flight back to California. In February 2018, Aniston and Theroux released a joint statement announcing the end of their marriage. Theroux almost immediately returned to New York, while Aniston remained in California. Before the ink had dried on Anistons official statement, fans speculated that she and Pitt would get back together.

Jennifer Aniston flamed reconciliation rumors with a photo that fans insist includes Brad Pitt

Fans who are desperate to see Aniston and Pitt reconcile have been busy looking for clues that they might be spending time together again. This week, they think they have found it. According to Marie Claire Australia, Aniston caused a stir when she posted a selfie to her Instagram stories. The photo, whose focus was supposed to be Anistons dog Clyde, included another person in the background. Fans are convinced its Pitt.

Jennifer Aniston | Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

In the snapshot, a man can be seen lying on the floor behind Aniston and her adorable pup. Only his torso, legs, and hand are visible in the shot. Still, followers insist it looks like it could be Pitt. They point to the unidentified mans style of dress as definitive proof. Rumor also has it that Aniston and Pitt are working close to each other, with the former flames filming their respective projects on the same lot. Aniston is working on the next season of The Morning Show, while Pitt is said to be shooting his upcoming movie, Bullet Train.
The Lehigh Valley ended 2020 with an unemployment rate virtually unchanged for three months, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry reported this week.

The good news is Decembers preliminary unemployment rate of 7.1% was 9.6 percentage points lower than the April peak of 16.7% as the coronavirus economic shutdown took hold.

For three months beginning in October, the rate was about flat, starting at 7.2%, rising to 7.3% in November then shrinking again to 7.1% in December.

Thats for the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area covering Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton and Warren counties. Unemployment rates are adjusted for seasonal fluctuations like holiday hiring.

The preliminary statewide unemployment rate was down 0.1 percentage points to 6.7 percent from November to December, while the national rate remained unchanged from November at 6.7 percent.

The following chart looks at the Lehigh Valleys unemployment rate for 2020 and how it compares to the state and nation. Click here to view it if it is not displaying.

Compared to pre-coronavirus figures, Decembers unemployment rate for the Lehigh Valley region was 2.4 percentage points higher than the 4.7% unemployment rate for February across the region.

Labor and Industry figures released Tuesday show the number of people employed across the Lehigh Valley region decreased by 57,400 from February to April, then rose by 34,800 -- 60% -- from April to December.

While Decembers employment numbers are encouraging news, we know that certain industries are still feeling pain during a recovery that has not been equal for all sectors of the economy, George Lewis, vice president of marketing, communications and research at the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation said in a statement this week.

We lost 1,400 jobs in the hospitality sector in December as in-person dining was suspended during what is historically a busy time for restaurants, but we also saw distribution and online retail companies ramp up to respond to the surge in the e-commerce purchases during the holiday shopping season, he continued.

This chart compares the Lehigh Valley region to unemployment rates in other MSAs for November and December. You can click here if it is not displaying.

Nationwide data released this week for January show the struggles that have afflicted the American job market since the viral pandemic tore through the economy nearly a year ago are keeping a tight lid on hiring.

The U.S. Labor Departments report Friday that employers added a meager 49,000 jobs in January, after having slashed 227,000 in December, did nothing to brighten that picture. Still, the unemployment rate slid to 6.3%, its lowest level since March, from 6.7% in December.

And January was the first month since June in which the economy generated more jobs than it did the month before: After a bounce-back of 4.8 million added jobs in June, net hiring had weakened to 1.7 million in July, 1.6 million in August, 716,000 in September, 680,000 in October and 264,000 in November  and then actually shrank in December.

All told, the United States still has 9.9 million fewer jobs than it did in February last year, just before the coronavirus erupted across the country.

In a sign of potential relief, new confirmed COVID-19 cases have fallen in half, from a daily average of around 250,000 in early January to just over 120,000 more recently. Still, the caseload remains high, and numerous states and localities have maintained restrictions on business hours and capacity. In addition, many Americans have avoided shopping, traveling, dining out and attending mass events for fear of infection.

Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital markets, called Januarys job gain underwhelming.' But he added that the outlook is brightening as the vaccine rollout gains pace, and the jobless rate keeps tracking lower.'

Lehigh Valley job-seekers can find resources from Pennsylvania CareerLink Lehigh Valley at careerlinklehighvalley.org and Lehigh Workforce Investment Board Inc. at lvwib.org.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

The Associated Press and supervising reporter Kurt Bresswein contributed to this report. Reach him at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
Oregons allotments of COVID-19 vaccine will increase by 20%, Gov. Kate Brown announced Friday, meaning most seniors, educators and health care workers will have the opportunity to be fully vaccinated by early May, a full month ahead of previous timelines.

This is really good news, Brown said, during a live-streamed news conference.

The windfall comes as Oregon has struggled to pin down an accurate timeline for vaccinating the first waves of eligible vaccine recipients, and public health officials predict chaos as seniors ages 80 and older deluge the vaccination system with their newfound eligibility starting Monday.

Brown did not offer specifics about the increased vaccine shipments, including when the additional doses would start arriving or in what numbers. Brown said she learned about the increase during a phone call this week with the White House.

Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen said Oregon will start receiving 11,600 additional doses of Moderna vaccine per week starting at a date he didnt specify, plus an additional 12,000 doses per week starting as soon as next week to pharmacies that plan to administer the vaccines to the public through a federal program.

In all, Allen said Oregons weekly allocation of first doses would balloon from 52,000 to more than 75,000. That amounts to a total increase of 44%. The difference between Browns stated 20% increase and the numbers Allen supplied appears to be that Brown was only counting the 11,600 Moderna doses.

By the beginning of April, Allen said, Oregon should be able to offer a first dose to about 75% of eligible seniors age 65 and older; daycare, preschool and K-12 employees; inmates; and phase 1a members including healthcare workers and long-term care residents. He said by early May, about 75% will have had the opportunity to be fully vaccinated with second doses.

Three-quarters of people vaccinated might approach the maximum who will choose to be immunized against COVID-19. Allen said the state has done surveys showing that about 80% of Oregonians said they probably want to get vaccinated or are certain they do.

With most Oregonians in these early waves inoculated, Allen said by early April the state could open up vaccination eligibility to new groups -- such as other essential workers and people with underlying conditions. He said its possible the general population in Oregon could start receiving shots in the arm in July and everyone who wants to be vaccinated would be come fall.

Allen indicated it was possible that the timeline could shorten -- if Johnson & Johnsons new vaccine or others in the works receive emergency authorization and start arriving in Oregon this spring.

Also Friday, Brown confirmed she will immediately allow the process of vaccinating all incarcerated people in Oregon to begin. That not only includes roughly 11,000 inmates at 14 state prisons, as a federal judge had ordered earlier this week, but thousands of other inmates locked up at Oregons jails and youth younger than 25 at the states youth correctional facilities.

Both Brown and Allen called for fortitude as the rollout extends eligibility to their age groups: 75 and older starting Feb. 15, 70 and older starting Feb. 22 and 65 and older starting March 1.

Next week, when seniors begin to become eligible, we will see some degree of chaos, Allen said. Next week, many older adults will inevitably voice frustration. Next week, you will not have to look hard to see people experiencing confusion. We will fall short.

But, Allen added, were working hard to reduce the amount of chaos.

Allen also said Oregonians turns eventually will come.

Im asking older Oregonians for patience in exchange for this promise: While it will take time, every senior who wants to get vaccinated will get a vaccine in coming weeks, Allen said.

Brown said one technique she hopes will help avoid some of the nightmares weve seen in other states is incrementally adding seniors by age group each week, whereas many other states open eligibility to anyone 65 and older all at once. She said that wont alleviate the problems.

There will still be some hiccups in this process but we are going to be able to get through them, Brown said.

Oregon expects only 52,500 first doses from the federal government for next week, essentially equal to what its received in recent weeks, with the expected pharmacy doses beyond its purview.

Of those 52,500 first doses, the state will allocate 20,000 for seniors 80 and older. There are about 168,000 Oregonians in that age group, but according to the state about 30,000 of them already have received at least one dose of vaccine largely because they were part of phase 1a and likely lived in congregate care settings. That leaves up to 138,000 remaining people in that age group who are potentially vying for 20,000 available doses next week.

The remainder of the states weekly allotment of first doses will be divvied up as follows: 13,000 for phase 1a, 11,500 for educators, 5,000 for inmates and 3,000 for tribes, officials said.

The governor noted that the state has been doing better than most in getting first doses into the arms of its population -- ranking 12th among states with 8.8% inoculated with a first dose. Nationwide, 8.4% of Americans have received one dose so far.

The governor also said Oregon has warded off infections more successfully than most places in the country, ranking fourth for known coronavirus cases and deaths per capita in the U.S. since the pandemic began.

But Oregon is also one of the last states to make seniors eligible for vaccinations, and shes faced immense criticism for that decision.

Its unclear if any seniors in the 80-plus age group actually will be able to get needle jabs on Monday. The governors office said the states online vaccination information tool -- Get Vaccinated Oregon at covidvaccine.oregon.gov -- wont be up and running until that same day.

State officials say seniors also can call 2-1-1 for information. The governor said shes deploying 30 members of the National Guard to answer the line.

Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter

-- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee
President Joe Biden speaks as Vice President Kamala Harris looks on during an event on the economic crisis, in the State Dining Room of the White House Jan. 22, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Mumbai, Feb 6 : Thousands of peasants, workers, tribals, political and social activists, including many women, took to the roads and highways across Maharashtra as part of the nationwide 'Chakka Jaam' agitation to demand scrapping of the three farm laws and express solidarity with the farmers' protests in Delhi, here on Saturday.

Activists blocked prominent roads, state or national highways and other important thoroughfares in 34 of the state's 36 districts - including Mumbai and excluding Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg - squatted and halted traffic, waved banners and placards, shouted slogans and sang devotional or patriotic songs, amid tight police security, according to Samyukta Kisan Morcha spokesperson P. S. Prasad.

Barring the Bharatiya Janata Party, the agitation saw the participation of all major parties such as the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party, Congress, the Left parties as well as farmers organisations like All India Kisan Sabha, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti and Bharatiya Kisan Sena.

"The agitation was near-total in places like Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Pune, Kolhapur, Solapur, Nashik, Ahmednagar, Osmanabad, and others with farmers, workers and political activists participating peacefully in huge numbers," Prasad told IANS.

In Yavatmal, police detained farmers' leader and Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission President, Kishore Tiwari, who is accorded a MoS status, while leading a 'chakka jaam' protest on the national highway.

Expressing support to the farmers in Delhi, NCP State President Jayant Patil said this is the first time in Independent India that a central government was "hiding from the people" in such a manner.

"The government is scared to face the people, the farmers and the workers...Hence it is resorting to tactics like hammering nails and barricades on roads," Patil said.

Leading an agitation in Kolhapur, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) President Raju Shetti said that the so-called celebrities speaking in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled central government forget that it is the "crores of ordinary masses" who have raised them to their celeb status.

"These people are doing a lot of 'teev-teev' (referring to the tweets), but once the people dump them, even a dog won't sniff at the celebs," Shetti warned.

He warned that the farmers agitation would be intensified by laying siege to the income tax and GST offices if the government fails to revoke the three farm laws.

While All India Kisan Sabha leaders like Dr. Ashok Dhawale, Dr. Ajit Nawale, led the protesters in different districts, CPI(M) legislator Vinod B. Nikole led the blockade by hundreds of farmers and labourers on the highway in Ahmednagar.

In Nashik, SSS state president Sandeep Jagtap spearheaded the 'chakka jaam', Buldhana SSS leader Prashant Dikkar led the protesters on the highways.

'Chakka jaam' protests were organized in other districts such as Jalna, Beed, Latur, Nagpur, Nanded, Washim, Parbhani, Nandurbar, Dhule, Jalgaon, Aurangabad by various leaders.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Difficult to understand at this stage, how we, as an island nation still hasn't got to grips with travel restrictions on people coming to Ireland.

It's a complete joke and makes an utter mockery of the fact we all have to stay within 5k of our homes when holiday flights from Lanzarote arrive back into the country.

The Taoiseach Micheal Martin admitted last week that out of some 800 people who flew into Dublin airport one day last week, half were returning holiday makers.

Media reports suggested others arriving into the country were Spanish students and other nationalities including many from Brazil. There was even one report of a chap from Sligo coming back from the recent Conor McGregor fight in Dubai!

Hardly essential travel any of it, but this is the kind of nonsensical situation we have to put up with on this little island of ours.

Up to last week I naively thought it was virtually impossible to travel in and out of Ireland unless is was for essential travel such as medical or business.

How wrong I have been. Sun holidays are obviously more important for some people than keeping their communities or those dearest to them safe.

We'd all love a sun holiday at this stage but most of us have been responsible and have knocked the idea on the head in 2020 and it looks likely to be the same scenario in 2021.

How irresponsible some people have been in travelling abroad as new variants of the Covid-19 virus make it so much easier to catch and spread.

Anyone travelling for a holiday out of Ireland should be met with heavy fines on their return. We can't have one rule for one and another for the rest of us. Up to January 24, 2021, 909 fines had been processed for non-essential travel by Gardai with a further 645 currently being processed.

We are all familiar with the checkpoints and high visibility patrols at public amenities across the country in support of public health regulations and yet we have so many people just ignoring everything and carrying on as normal.

Gardai say travel to airports and ports should only be taken for essential reasons. and that holidays abroad are not deemed essential but is anyone being turned back when they arrive at the airport? Stern lessons need to be dished out.
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The authorities in Russia reportedly continued to detain supporters of jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny and closed the center of the country's second-largest city even though no anti-government rallies were planned.

Snow removal equipment was used to block access to central St. Petersburg on February 6, where large rallies against Navalny's jailing were held the last two weekends. Subway stations in the city center were also closed and police reportedly said that 30 raids were conducted against opposition supporters.

The blockades in St. Petersburg were gradually removed in the late afternoon.

Police action was also reported elsewhere, including in Vladivostok, where more than 100 demonstrators were arrested during anti-government and pro-Navalny rallies on January 31.

The homes of a number of activists, opposition politicians, and journalists were raided on February 6 in relation to an investigation into the blockage of roads ahead of a previous rally in the city, on January 23.

Video published by police in the Far East city reportedly showed the arrest of blogger Gennady Shulga at his home, with his head being pushed to the floor in front of an animal's food dish. Local media reported that a small rally held in Vladivostok on February 6 was dwarfed by police.

Demonstrations have been held in more than 100 cities nationwide after Navalny, a well-known anti-corruption crusader and Kremlin critic, was arrested upon his return to Russia on January 17 following months of treatment abroad for a poisoning he says was ordered by President Vladimir Putin.

Navalny was in court twice this week. On February 2, he was sentenced to nearly three years in jail after a court converted a suspended sentence relating to fraud into jail time.

The second case, in which he is accused of defaming a World War II veteran in comments he made on Twitter, was temporarily postponed and is expected to resume next week. Navalny has accused Russian officials of "fabricating" the slander case relating to the comments he made about several people who appeared in a pro-Kremlin video.

After more than 10,000 protesters were detained during nationwide anti-government demonstrations on January 23 and 31, a close aide to Navalny held off on announcing any new protests.

"We will properly organize them and definitely hold another big one in spring and summer," Leonid Volkov announced on a YouTube live stream.

Russia will hold key parliamentary elections this fall. Navalny and his team are encouraging citizens to vote for politicians running against candidates from the pro-Putin United Russia party.

With reporting by dpa



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This next-generation advanced wound-care dressing, MaxioCel is based on Bioactive Microfiber Gelling technology that accelerates healing through quicker granulation

Axio Biosolutions, based in Bengaluru, has announced that it has received CE Certification from Europe for its next generation advanced wound-care product range, MaxioCel. The regulatory approval paves the path for Axio to tap into a fast growing $14 billion advanced wound-care market, globally.

This next-generation advanced wound-care dressing, MaxioCel is based on Bioactive Microfiber Gelling technology that accelerates healing through quicker granulation. It also provides comfort and has shown faster healing on chronic wounds, such as pressure ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers, venous leg ulcers, cavity wounds, skin abrasions, donor sites and post-operative surgical wounds during clinical studies.

With more than 100,000 units shipped since its launch 18 months ago, MaxioCel has had a huge impact in Indian market.

Dr Raghuram Sekhar, Consultant Vascular and Endovascular Surgeon, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Mumbai who has been a long term user of Maxiocel affirms, MaxioCel is a unique and advanced wound care dressing material. In different kind of cases that we used it, we witnessed rapid granulation and overall wound improvement while keeping the patients comfortable.

The CE approval will now help Axio with access to the second largest global market for advanced wound-care products. As part of its strategic plans, Axio will soon be launching MaxioCel in 15+ countries in Europe including reimbursement markets with multi-million revenues in this year itself.

Responding to the CE certification and subsequent access to the European market, Leo Mavely, Founder and CEO, Axio Biosolutions said, Since its launch, MaxioCel has made a huge impact on patient lives and the medical fraternity in India. We are excited to have the opportunity to extend this innovative and highly effective solution on a global level.

The Junta de Andalucia's regional health service has announced two new health centres for under-served neighbourhoods of the Costa del Sol.

After years of calls for better local healthcare provision, the first steps to planning the building of a medical centre in the Playamar area of Torremolinos should start in the middle of this year. The announcement was made on a visit to the town by the Junta's local representative in Malaga province, Patricia Navarro, who said the centre was needed to meet existing and future demand.

"When we recover, Torremolinos will get its vibe back and it will be a place not just for tourism but also to live," she explained.

Local politicians have been calling for more primary healthcare in the resort as the facilities are the same as 1999 when Torremolinos had the much lower population of 40,000.

Mayor of Torremolinos Jose Ortiz said, "Since I've been mayor, I've been asking the Junta de Andalucia for this . So if this possibility is on the table, we'll be the first ones to work together to turn it into reality."

A ten-year delay

Meanwhile, on a later visit to Fuengirola, Navarro also announced plans to put the contract out to tender this year for the new centre in the Los Pacos area.

The building will be on a 2,500-metre plot of land on Calle Aliaria that was given to the regional government by the town hall in 2007.

The original project for a centre in Los Pacos was halted ten years ago and the new construction budget is expected to be seven million euros.

Mayor of Fuengirola Ana Mula said, "We can now say that this isn't a just a promise or an intention. There's a budget to start it, which is a clear commitment from the Junta that we will soon have the centre," explained the mayor.

Controlling COVID-19 is my only focus: Yediyurappa on speculation about attempts to unseat him

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General KS Thimayya Memorial: 'Sunny Side' museum showcases a slice of Indian military history

India

oi-Deepika S

Kodagu, Feb 06: 'Sunny Side', the erstwhile ancestral house of General Thimayya, who served as the Chief of Army Staff from 1957 to 1961, has been converted into the museum in Kodagu.

The museum celebrating the life of former Army Chief General Kodandera Subayya Thimayya, housing a variety of antique weaponry and war relics, was inaugurated on Saturday by President Ram Nath Kovind.

The memorial museum aims to retell the life-story of the General in an inspiring manner. A statue of the General from Kodagu in uniform greets as one enters the museum, which also showcases a slice of Indian military history.

To guide the visitors, there is a first person narration, explaining the articles and artifacts kept there.

Reflecting on the humility of the great son of the soil of Kodagu, or the erstwhile Coorg, there is a picture showing him riding a Lambretta scooter.

Karnataka allows cinema halls to operate at 100 per cent capacity for 4 weeks

There is also a mural showing Field Marshal Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, who was a British Army Commander during the second World War, coming down to "Sunny Side" to meet General Thimayya.

The museum also acknowledges the contribution of General Thimayya''s siblings, including two of his brothers, who too were Army officers, and his wife Nina, who was bestowed with ''Kaiser-e-Hind'' award in recognition of her work in public service.

Key attractions

Key attractions on the premises of this war memorial include a battle tank, one of those used by the Army during the war with Pakistan in 1971.

Decades-old arms and ammunition, Army guns and rifles and a decommissioned MiG-21 fighter jet, besides a collection of artwork featuring the valour of soldiers on the battlefield, books and articles are among the things on display.

At least, 24 arms used by the soldiers of the Indian Army are at the museum.

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Story first published: Saturday, February 6, 2021, 19:00 [IST]


Fifty Arab City Schools teachers and staff members are newly vaccinated this week!

The latest group from Arab City Schools to get the coronavirus vaccine involved nine bus drivers. We spoke with two who both agree that one of their reasons to get the shot was to do what they can to get life back to normal.

"I want life to get back to normal," said Len Garrison, Arab City Schools bus driver.

"Let's get this thing, do what you're supposed to do, and let's move on. Life's too short," said Steve Hallman, Arab City Schools bus driver.

Garrison and Hallman are the latest Arab City Schools staff to get their coronavirus shot at the Marshall County Health Department.

"Great! Simple! Easy! Everybody needs to go do it!" described Hallman.

Superintendent Dr. Johnny Berry told us about 60% of the staff signed up to take the vaccine. This week, 50 were on the list, including bus drivers, teachers and other staff.

The district isn't sure just yet when the next group will get their shots.
Three Dorset beach huts have been set alight and 30 more have been broken into in a spate of targeted burglaries and arson attacks, police said.

Three beach huts in Hengistbury Head, Christchurch, which are some of the UK's most expensive, were destroyed by fire in the early hours of this morning.

Dorset Police were alerted to a report that three beach huts were on fire at 2.40am today by the fire service.

On attending officers established that a further 30 of the 360 beach huts on the picturesque Mudeford Spit had been broken into, with doors and windows smashed.

The beach huts in Hengistbury Head, Dorset, which are some of the UK's most expensive, were burnt beyond repair

Three huts totalling the value of around 1million were burnt in the arson attack

It is not known at this time whether anything was stolen.



A website offering some of the huts for holiday lets describes them as 'pretty much the only beach huts in the country where you can stay overnight' - thankfully nobody was inside any of the beach huts and no one was injured during the incident.

One hut has been completely destroyed, only a charred shell remains of another and a third suffered extensive damage.

A full investigation is under way and a cordon is in place to allow for a thorough examination of the scene.

Detective Inspector Andrew Kennard, of Bournemouth CID, said: 'There has been considerable damage caused to a large number of beach huts and I would like to reassure the community that we are carrying out detailed inquiries into the incident.

One hut has been completely destroyed, another only a charred shell remains and a third suffered extensive damage. There are around 360 huts on the Mudeford Spit

Beach hut owner Stephen Bath. The wooden huts at the desirable Mudeford Spit in Christchurch, Dorset, now sell for about 325,000 thanks to the picturesque location

'I am appealing to anyone who was in the area and either witnessed what happened or saw any suspicious activity to please get in touch.

'I would also urge residents in the nearby surrounding area to check their home CCTV systems for any relevant footage to assist my investigation.'

The beach huts, which offer impressive views of the Dorset coastline, regularly fetch up to 300,000 when they are sold.

Residents in the surrounding area are being asked to check their CCTV for any relevant footage

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A fishing boat which sank off the coast of Duncannon last month has been successfully lifted without any damage to the local environment.

The Aztec had been fishing for sprat in the Waterford Estuary on January 11 when it began to take water and subsequently sank. However, following a lengthy and complicated operation on Friday last, the ship is now residing at the New Ross shipyard with no lasting damage. The Lara 1 floating crane - assisted by Ocean Supporter - travelled from the UK to lead the salvage.

'It all went by successfully, the boat was taken to Waterford Port where it was decontaminated before being moved to New Ross shipyard,' said Wexford County Council Senior Executive Scientist, Brendan Cooney.

'It took a good number of hours to complete, a lot of the difficulty was down to the spring tides, the divers were dealing with poor visibility, and could only seen a half metre in front of them at times.'

Captain Darren Doyle is the Harbour Master at the Port of Waterford and oversaw an operation which he described as 'textbook'. 'It was quite an intensive procedure, we would have started at 8.30 a.m. and been there until 8.30 p.m.,' Captain Doyle said.

Outlining the scale of the job, the captain listed the number of crews involved in ensuring The Aztec was safely brought to shore.

'There was a dive team consisting of five divers, coast guard volunteers on the beach, marine officers, then obviously the crew of 15 on board the Lara 1. There were also crew members on the Ocean Supporter rescue boat.

'It was a very difficult operation because of where the boat was situated, it was on the channel which was impeding the vessels. We had to lay down a wreck marker buoy and make a number of trips in and out.'

With 2,000 litres of diesel and 15 tonnes of rotting fish on board, there had been concerns that any type of spillage could have been damaging for the local environment, but Mr Cooney confirmed the ship had been removed without incident.

The Aztec will now undergo a series of inspections and repairs before it is ready to set sail once more.
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Two more Texas real estate agents have been arrested for storming the US Capitol Building after flying into Washington DC on a private jet.

Jason Lee Hyland, 37, and Katherine 'Katie' Schwab, 32, were charged Thursday with disorderly conduct and knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building without lawful authority, The Daily Beast reports.

The charges come two weeks after another member of their private jet posse - 50-year-old Jennifer 'Jenna' Ryan - was also arrested on the same offences.

Ryan documented the group's extravagant trip to DC, sharing photos to social media from inside the plush private plane.

Jason Lee Hyland (far right) and Katherine 'Katie' Schwab (center) were charged Thursday over their role in the storming of the US Capitol Building on January 6. Jennifer 'Jenna' Ryan (right) was charged with the same offences last month. The trio are pictured prior to flying from Texas to DC on a private jet on January 5

The Frisco-based real estate broker told NBC News last month that she spontaneously decided to travel to the nation's capitol after receiving a Facebook message from an 'adorable' stranger who was looking for people to join him at Donald Trump's 'Stop The Steal' rally on January 6.

That stranger is purported to be Hyland - who also works in the real estate industry in Frisco.

Hyland, who is a certified student pilot, has now admitted to organizing the flight logistics to DC.

According to charging documents, he allegedly messaged the group of people joining him on the private jet in a chat titled 'Patriot flight'.

'Thanks for joining me to DC to stand up for America. This will be historic  no matter the outcome,' he is purported to have written on January 4.

'We will leave from us trinity hanger at Denton Airport tomorrow.'

The group flew out of Texas on January 5. They landed in DC several hours later and spent the night in a hotel before heading to Trump's rally on the morning of January 6.

Later, Ryan, Schwab and Hyland were all caught on camera inside the Capitol as a mob of angry Trump supporters stormed the building.

Ryan and Schwab are seen posing for a picture on board the plush private jet

Hyland and Ryan are seen smiling for a photo after disembarking from the private jet, which they charted to Washington DC

Schwab and Ryan are pictured posing on board the private jet with two other men. Those men have not been charged with any offenses

According to charging documents, Hyland claimed he walked up the steps of the Capitol in a 'funnel' of people. He claims he was only inside the building 'for a very short time'.

Schwab similarly claims that she was 'was pushed by the crowds' into the building's lobby.

She told investigators that she started to get crushed due to her 'small stature' and a Capitol Police Officer quickly helped her to exit the building.

Both Hyland and Schwab have since been released from custody after being charged in relation to the siege.

Schwab, who worked in real estate in Dallas, has reportedly been fired from her job.

However, it appears that she may have managed to find romance with Hyland during the turbulent two-day trip to DC.

Last month, Ryan told NBC that she first had her eye on Hyland during the interstate escapade. But she hinted that he ended up with Schwab instead.

'He was adorable... [but] there was another adorable girl there, too, and they ended up getting together, darn it,' she stated.

According to charging documents, Hyland claimed he walked up the steps of the Capitol in a 'funnel' of people. He claims he was only inside the building 'for a very short time'. The FBI released this image purportedly showing Hyland in the Capitol's lobby

Schwab similarly claims that she was 'was pushed by the crowds' into the building's lobby. The FBI released this image purportedly showing Schwab in the Capitol

Ryan is seen inside the Capitol during the siege on January 6

Meanwhile, Ryan has other problems on her hands, aside from her failed attempt at romance.

The outspoken blonde has been booted off PayPal after she asked her supporters to send money via the online payment system to help cover her legal fees.

Despite flying in style, it appears Ryan does not have cash to splash on court costs, and turned to PayPal late last month to help raise funds.

'I am accepting donations to pay legal fees and losses due to my arrest and charges by the FBI for protesting at the US Capitol. Thank you for your support. Any amount helps,' Ryan tweeted on January 21 along with a link to her PayPal account.

'I have to go to trial in Washington DC for this misdemeanor. I believe I was wrongfully arrested and charged and we have to fight for my freedom and [clear] my name.'

However, Ryan's bid to raise funds were thwarted when PayPayl kicked her off the platform.

'PayPal has a policy to allow fundraising for legal defense purposes,' a PayPal spokesperson told CBS News.

'PayPal thoroughly reviews accounts, and if we learn that funds are used for anything other than legal defense, the account will be subject to immediate closure. We can confirm that the account in question has been closed.'

Ryan is seen posing next to the private jet which whisked her to Washington DC, where she allegedly participated in the siege of the Capitol

Jennifer 'Jenna' Ryan, 50, has been booted off PayPal after she asked her supporters to send money through the online payment system to help cover legal fees for charges relating to the Capitol riots on January 6

Ryan has fiercely maintained her innocence in the Capitol riots in multiple media interviews.

The single realtor - who said she loves Trump, firmly believes his unfounded claims of voter fraud and has always wanted to attend one of his rallies - told NBC News: 'I have no guilt in my heart.'

'My intention was not to have a riot. I did not want to have a riot. I was documenting what was going on in the environment I was in.'

'I'm glad I was there, because I witnessed history,' she added later. 'I'll never get the chance to do that again. No one will probably ever be able to go near [the Capitol] again.'

Ryan, Hyland and Schwab are among the 175 people who have been arrested so far on charges related to the violent insurrection led by Trump supporters at the Capitol. Charges range from curfew violations to serious federal felonies related to theft and weapons possession.

In total five people were killed during the siege, including one US Capitol Police officer who was struck in the head with a fire extinguisher.

The FBI and other law enforcement agencies continue to search for the identities of several other individuals who were photographed rioting in the Capitol.
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CHICO, Calif. - The homeless in Chico are being kicked out of city parks and homeowners are being impacted across the city.

Several homeowners say the homeless have tents set up right behind their properties.

Now they're looking towards the city council to find solutions, and find them fast.

Police and Public Works continue to move encampments and those in them out of city parks, but neighbors are saying they just moved around the corner on Humboldt Ave., and it hasn't stopped.

"I've been on this block for ten years? Yeah, ten years," said Shanell Haynes, who lives close by Humboldt Ave.

"Given the homeless situation now, is this the worst it's ever been?", asked Action News Now.

"This is the worst it's ever, ever been," replied Haynes. "I mean it's hard for me to bring my children outside, lately, it's just, I don't want to be here because I see it all day long."

"So we really put the cart before the horse by forcing them out of the place where they were camping without having a place set up for them," said over the phone Chico city Councilmember Scott Huber.

He agrees with neighbors that things should've been put in place before enforcement began.

"Because if you push people out of where they are and they don't have a place for them to go," he said. "Then they end up going all kinds of places that you don't want them to go."

"I have had so many phone calls with people about that location, what can we do?" said Councilmember Kami Denlay.

"I have to deal with garbage pickers on maybe Tuesday mornings I can't put my garbage out until garbage is coming, because someone is gonna dig the night before," said Haynes about her recent experience with the homeless. "Something's gotta change, I've always thought like this, I've been in that situation, I used to be homeless myself. In ten years I've noticed that it is not easy."

Denlay urges people to be patient with enforcement.

"We have these officers who are trying to help with enforcement but they're also responding to shootings and robberies. They're juggling it," she said.

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Military medics from the British Army began vaccinating people in Scotland against Covid-19 last week, adding jabs in arms to their arsenal of efforts to save lives and slow down the spread of the coronavirus across the country.

As they have for centuries in times of crisis  albeit this time against an invisible enemy  our Armed Forces are stepping up. Men and women from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England, shoulder to shoulder on behalf of the whole United Kingdom, offering up their talents and strengths in the service of us all.

I heard Nicola Sturgeon recognise their valuable contribution last week in the Scottish Parliament during First Ministers Questions, when she embraced the support of our Armed Forces  funded in part by Scottish taxpayers, she also noted  for the vaccine rollout in Scotland. And I couldnt agree more, with either her description or the huge gratitude she expressed for their help.

We are all in this together. The UK Government working with the devolved administrations in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Stormont, using the historic ties we have built up over 300 years to face down the terrible threat of Covid-19. Our greatest ever peacetime team effort.

Michael Gove (pictured) writes: Military medics from the British Army began vaccinating people in Scotland against Covid-19 last week, adding jabs in arms to their arsenal of efforts to save lives and slow down the spread of the coronavirus across the country

And what we have learned along the way is the crucial part that pooling our knowledge, sharing our experiences, learning from each other and working together across the UK will also play in us building back better and stronger from the pandemic.

Help has been given to all four nations: financial, military and medical, and our citizens have come together in kind.

Across the country, lives and livelihoods are being supported by 280 billion worth of financial support provided by the UK Treasury to weather the storm, including furlough payments for 900,000 workers in Scotland.

Our health services are pulling together, with ambulance calls in Scotland being answered by teams in England to ensure there is no delay, underlining our pledge of mutual aid around the UK.

At the Lighthouse Lab at the University of Glasgow  which the Prime Minister toured on his recent visit to Scotland, to meet and hear first-hand from frontline health professionals their experiences of tackling Covid-19  technicians from the 650-strong workforce have been processing test samples since April 2020, playing a pivotal part in the UK pandemic response. Thats what our four nations do in times of need: support one another.

We are all in this together. The UK Government working with the devolved administrations in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Stormont, using the historic ties we have built up over 300 years to face down the terrible threat of Covid-19 (stock image)

And, of course, it is UK Government investment, in the form of research funding for universities and scientific institutions in Scotland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales, that has funded the innovative vaccines that are our exit route from lockdown to more normal lives.

Some of those vaccines were tested by volunteers in Scotland, manufactured in England, put into glass vials in a plant in Wales  and dispatched by the UK Government to all parts of the UK.

In return for the 300 million it put into developing vaccines, the UK Government has so far secured 400 million doses: an excellent rate of return by any measure.

As for the UKs vaccination programme itself, almost unbelievably, given the astonishing progress, it is only two months  almost to the very day  since it all began. On December 8, 2020 a grandmother in Coventry, 90-year-old Margaret Keenan, became the first person anywhere on Earth to be vaccinated against Covid-19 outside a trial.

From this standing start, the UKs world-leading rollout has so far vaccinated more than 10 million people and counting. Things have been a bit slower in Scotland so I was delighted to see the pace picking up last week, where more than 200 military personnel are now supporting our brilliant NHS professionals, setting up 80 vaccination centres to help speed the rollout even more.

I couldnt have been happier when my parents in Aberdeen  as with so many of us, I was unable to see them this Christmas or indeed since  got their jabs just a few days ago.

Our health services are pulling together, with ambulance calls in Scotland being answered by teams in England to ensure there is no delay, underlining our pledge of mutual aid around the UK (stock image)

Of course, bold leadership has led the team effort. It was the Prime Minister, on the front foot, who ensured that work on an independent UK vaccine supply began back in February 2020.

The UK Vaccine Taskforce he created under Kate Bingham made a series of far-sighted investments into a range of technologies, including the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab.

These no-nonsense decisions to prioritise speed and a strong supply chain above cost have paid off for the UK. In comparison to the stuttering performance of governments across Europe, the UK  by being in at the start and making gutsy choices, and with our combined strength  has secured therapies that will transform lives not only across our country, but the globe.

The Oxford vaccine has so far been granted conditional authorisation or emergency use in nearly 50 countries, spanning four continents. The UK is keen to take a leading role in helping the developing world to benefit from its protection  a great way to extend the benefits of our team effort around the world.

I know from speaking to the First Minister on one of the calls between the four UK administrations that have become more frequent during the Covid-19 crisis that Nicola is very supportive of such an initiative.

During our joint mission over the course of the pandemic, the pattern has been for we politicians to talk, co-operate and collaborate more, and therefore to achieve more, for people and communities everywhere.

With our collective strength, working as four nations, we can do more to protect the most vulnerable in society and carry on reducing the transmission of the virus in the community.

Vital steps that will allow us to focus all our energy and attention on easing restrictions, coming out of lockdown together and putting the nightmare of Covid-19 behind us  as one United Kingdom.

Children in Amber Alert found safe near Mitchell

The missing children were recovered and are safe, according to the Davison County Sheriff's Office.

'Toolkit revealed a lot': Jaishankar on document shared by Greta Thunberg

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Feb 06: Foreign Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said an investigations into the 'toolkit' tweeted by teen climate activist Greta Thunberg and others in connection with the farmers' protest has "revealed a lot".

"I think it has revealed a lot. We have to see what else comes out," Jaishankar was quoted saying by ANI.

Jaishankar also defended the ministry's reaction in the wake of farmers' protest getting world-wide attention and said that the they didn't know very much.

"There was a reason why Foreign Ministry reacted to statements which some celebrities gave out on matters on which they obviously didn't know very much," he said.

Internet suspended again at borders where farmers are protesting

According to police, the toolkit has a particular section which says digital strike through hashtags on or before January 26, tweet storms on January 23 onwards, physical action on January 26 and watch-out or join farmers march into Delhi and back to borders.

The document ''''toolkit'''' was aimed to spread disaffection and ill-will against the government of India and creating disharmony among various social, religious and cultural groups, the police added.

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Story first published: Saturday, February 6, 2021, 19:40 [IST]

By Sam Nussey TOKYO (Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp is expected to extend earnings recovery when it reports third quarter results on Monday as frothy markets drive a rally in the value of its tech investment portfolio and offer fertile ground for listings. The Japanese conglomerate is seen posting a net profit of 171 billion yen ($1.63 billion) in the October-December quarter, according to an average estimate of four analysts polled by Refinitiv SmartEstimate. That compares with net profit attributable to shareholders of 55 billion yen in the same period a year earlier, when ...
[February 05, 2021] LEAF Completes $159 Million Acquisition of East Side Games Inc.

VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 5, 2021 /CNW/ - LEAF Mobile Inc. (TSXV: LEAF) ("LEAF" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed its previously announced acquisition (the "Acquisition") of East Side Games Inc. ("ESG"). "We are tremendously excited to officially welcome East Side Games, a leading Canadian publisher and developer of mobile games, to the LEAF Mobile family," said Darcy Taylor, Chief Executive Officer of LEAF Mobile Inc. "ESG has an outstanding track record of bringing world class franchises to life and providing top tier mobile experiences to their users. The values and a purpose-driven mentality within ESG's team culture are strongly aligned with LEAF's. We are confident that this acquisition will generate significant long-term shareholder value and we look forward to continuing to add top-tier, like-minded studios to the LEAF Mobile family moving ahead." "The team at ESG is extremely excited to take this massive next step in our journey. By amalgamating our assets and talent with LEAF Mobile, we become one of, if not the leading, publicly traded mobile game company in Canada. Now, together with LEAF, we look to supercharge our game growth and secure new IP licenses, while adding bench talent and diversifying our successful game portfolio. In my new role as Chief Revenue Officer of LEAF Mobile, I look forward to executing our M&A strategy and building development partnerships for our IdleKit platform. We are confident that the framework we have built in the IdleKit product will change how game development is done industry wide," states Jason Bailey, cofounder of ESG and now Chief Revenue Officer of LEAF Mobile. The Acquisition Pursuant to the Acquisition, LEAF acquired all of the issued and outstanding securities of ESG, such that ESG is now a wholly-owned subsidiary. In consideration, ESG paid a purchase price of approximately $159 million, after reflecting positive adjustments for ESG's cash and working capital at closing. Payment was comprised of approximately $19 million in cash, and the issuance of 444,444,444 common shares of LEAF ("LEAF Shares"). The remainder of the purchase price is contingent upon LEAF reaching certain milestones. If LEAF receives $100 million in gross revenue, on a consolidated basis, on or before February 5, 2022, the ESG securityholders will receive an additional $10 million in cash, and an additional $10 million payable in cash and/or LEAF Shares at the direction of Jason Bailey, as representative of the ESG securityholders. Further, if LEAF receives $150 million in gross revenue in the subsequent 12 month period (ending February 5, 2023), the ESG securityholders will receive a further $10 million cash, and a further $10 million in cash and/or LEAF Shares, at the direction of Jason Bailey, as representative of the ESG securityholders. If LEAF Shares are selected, they will be issued at $0.225 per share, to a maximum of 88,888,888 LEAF Shares.



The LEAF Shares issued under the Acquisition are subject to "lock-up" agreements for a period of 36 months in favour of Eight Capital, Haywood Securities Inc., Paradigm Capital Inc. and Scotia Capital Inc. (collectively, the "Agents"), agents of LEAF with respect to its recently completed offering (the "Offering") of subscription receipts (the "Subscription Receipts"). Please see LEAF's news release dated February 4, 2021 with respect to the Offering. One-third of such shares will be released from the "lock-up" agreements on an annual basis. New Directors and Officers

On completion of the Acquisition, Jason Bailey, chief product officer of ESG, has been appointed as Chief Revenue Officer of LEAF, and as a director to LEAF's board of directors. Additionally, Mike Edwards, Jonathan Bixby and Birgit Troy have each been appointed as directors of LEAF. Mr. Edwards will also serve as the Chair of LEAF's board of directors. Darcy Taylor, Ian MacLeod and Mark Rutledge have resigned as directors of LEAF. Mr. Taylor will continue in his role as CEO of LEAF. LEAF thanks Messrs. MacLeod and Rutledge for their service. A total of 24,000,000 incentive stock options have been granted to Mr. Taylor and the directors, exerciseable at $0.225 per share for a period of five years, subject to LEAF's incentive stock option plan. Conversion of Subscription Receipts Concurrent with the completion of the Acquisition, the Subscription Receipts of LEAF will convert automatically into LEAF Shares on a one-for-one basis, such that 102,222,221 LEAF Shares will be issued. The conversion will take effect on February 8, 2021. Proceeds from the Offering were released from escrow and used primarily to fund the payment of the cash consideration payable under the Offering. Additionally, Haywood Securities Inc. received an advisory fee of 4,268,825 LEAF Shares. Graduation to Toronto Stock Exchange LEAF has also received approval to list the LEAF Shares for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. As a result, the LEAF Shares will be delisted from the TSX Venture Exchange. Trading of the LEAF Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange will remain halted until delisting. Trading of the LEAF Shares under the symbol "LEAF" will commence on the Toronto Stock Exchange at the open of markets on February 10, 2021. About East Side Games East Side Games, was founded in 2011 and has become of the most recognised independent developer and publisher of free to play mobile games. Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, they have focused on making the best narrative idle games in the business, and creating the technology for developers to tell amazing stories. With a track record of over a decade of producing successful titles. ESG currently publishes and operates successful franchise titles including Archer: Danger Phone, Dragon Up: Idle Adventure, The Goldbergs: Back to the 80s, It's Always Sunny: The Gang Goes Mobile and Trailer Park Boys Grea$y Money. East Side Games was recently recognised on the "Top 50 Mobile Game Makers 2020" list compiled by Pocket Gamer Biz, on the "Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers" list compiled by Canada's Top 100, as well as on the "Canada's Top Growing Companies 2019" list compiled by Globe & Mail Report on Business and 2020 Red Herring Top 100 North America Winners. East Side Games strongly believes in community-driven design, making games built for fans by fans, and having the best culture around. Their games and their team have the same goal; to be inclusive and for everyone. For more information, visit www.eastsidegames.com. About LEAF LEAF Mobile Inc. (TSXV: LEAF) is a leading free-to-play mobile game group, creating engaging games that produce enduring player loyalty. Our studio groups entrepreneurial culture is anchored in creativity, execution and growth through a diverse portfolio of original and licensed IP mobile games that include; Archer: Danger Phone, Dragon Up: Idle Adventure, The Goldbergs: Back to the 80s, It's Always Sunny: The Gang Goes Mobile and Trailer Park Boys Grea$y Money. Cheech & Chong Bud Farm, Bud Farm Idle Tycoon, Bud Farm Grass Roots and Bud Farm 420. We are headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, and its common shares will be listed for trading on Toronto Stock Exchange. Our games are available worldwide on the App Store and Google Play. For further information, please visit: www.leafmobile.io and join our online communities at Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Darcy Taylor

CEO Suite 909 - 510 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, V6C 3A8 Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Leaf Mobile Inc.

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Health officials have raised concerns that a global shortage of needles and syringes could slow the vaccine roll-out by June.

The warning was issued before the current global scramble for so-called low dead space syringes that can extract an extra dose from vials of the Pfizer vaccine.

The Health Business Services (HBS) Procurement in the HSE raised the issue during a meeting of the Covid-19 Immunisation Strategy Group in November, prompting the authorities to place a call out to manufacturers and suppliers to gauge stock levels for the year.

The HSE did not provide specific details on current or future supplies of syringes and needles in response to queries from the Irish Independent.

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Syringe makers are currently scrambling to meet demand for the now scarce speciality syringes that are needed to eke out a sixth shot from the five-dose glass vials.

Some European countries have been drawing fewer than the approved six doses because they do not have enough of the specialty syringes.

Low dead-volume syringes are designed to leave less vaccine trapped between the syringes plunger and needle  the dead volume  once a shot is given.

Minutes from a meeting of the Covid-19 Immunisation Strategy Group on November 4, obtained by the Irish Independent, reveal that Health Business Services Procurement in the HSE raised the issue of the global shortage of needles and syringes, which could delay delivery of same to Ireland to June/July 2021".

During the meeting, HBS Procurement said there was a lack of information around the specification of needles and syringes required for the vaccines in the portfolio.

On December 2, the HSE advertised a Request for Information (RFI) relating to the availability of needles and syringes among suppliers and manufacturers, on e-tenders, the Governments electronic tendering forum.

The HSE asked for details on the number of units (in millions) of various syringes and needles, available for delivery to the Republic of Ireland this year.

This included details on low-dead space syringes.

The vaccine from BioNTech and US partner Pfizer was initially sold in the EU in vials meant to deliver five doses, but a global shortage of shots and a viability assessment on dosage convinced the EU drugs regulator to approve the extraction of six doses from the same vials on January 8.

The decision increased availability, prompting Pfizer to raise its output targets for this year to 2 billion vaccines from 1.3 billion initially envisaged.

In response to specific queries about the current and future supplies of syringes and needles, the HSE said HSE Procurement are aware of supply chains challenges associated with low dead space syringes.

No details were supplied relating to current stock levels or future orders.

An HSE spokesperson said that the HSE is satisfied that we have secured the required volumes to meet the demands of the vaccination programme with all orders currently being received operating in accordance with the order schedules.

The spokesperson added: We continue to place a significant focus on managing these supply lines.

The Covid-19 immunisation Strategy Group was formed after a recommendation from Nphet in June last year.

The group held its first meeting in August.

The objective of the group was to ensure the timely development of an immunisation plan for Ireland so that when a vaccine (or vaccines) becomes available the country will be ready to deploy this in the most effective manner.

In September, the group discussed the possibility of a private market for vaccines.

Minutes show that consensus from participants indicated that, given the current information available, the expectation was that all stocks would be for purchase and distribution at State level.

On another occasion, the deployment of lay vaccinators to administer the Covid-19 vaccine was discussed.

The chair of the Covid-19 immunisation strategy group said civilian vaccinators could be used, under the supervision of medical personnel, in the event of more innovative methods of administering the vaccine being needed.

In the UK, where more than 10 million vaccine doses have been administered to date, vaccine volunteers are being trained by St Johns Ambulance Service to administer jabs.

Full training is given, which means that anyone can volunteer to help, whether they have experience in health care or not.

The organisation says it has plans to train more than 30,000 volunteers between now and spring 2021.
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Chile led the Global Opportunity Index 2021, published by the Milken Institute, which identified it as the region's most attractive country for foreign investment.

SANTIAGO, Chile, Feb. 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- InvestChile, the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency, highlighted the results of the Milken Institute's Global Opportunity Index 2021, which positioned Chile as the Latin American country with the greatest potential to attract foreign investors.

"Chile received the highest ranking in the region due to its strong performance across all categories measured, particularly regarding how friendly its institutions are to foreign investors," stated the California-based institute.

According to the report, Chile showed the best performance in the five categories measured by the Index - business perception, economic fundamentals, financial services, institutional framework, and international standards and policy - and ranked 36th globally. In Latin America, it was followed by Uruguay (48th), Costa Rica (55th), Mexico (64th) and Panama (65th). Sweden led the global ranking, followed by the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

The director of InvestChile, Andres Rodriguez, commented that the results are good news for Chile, particularly given the situation of foreign investment globally. "World foreign direct investment was down by 42% in 2020, so it is important to stay competitive, offer good business opportunities and stand out regionally," he said.

"Despite the pandemic, InvestChile's portfolio grew by 23% last year, with a 20% increase in the number of projects, demonstrating the interest of foreign investors in starting operations or expanding their business in Chile. In this process, it is essential that they have a public agency like InvestChile, which assists foreign investors and provides free advice to facilitate their installation and expansion in our country," added Rodriguez.

The Global Opportunity Index assesses countries' strengths and challenges according to the support that their institutions and policies provide for foreign investment. The annual ranking uses 96 variables, including a country's macroeconomic outlook, potential for future innovation and development, access to financial services and compliance with international standards, as the basis for a forward-looking analysis of the potential for foreign investment in 145 countries.

Press Contact:

Francisca Schwerter, fschwerter@investchile.gob.cl

Denisse Vasquez, dvasquez@investchile.gob.cl

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Most Congress leaders and sympathisers in Maharashtra admit that one characteristic that their party lacks in Maharashtra is aggression.

Hit by a series of desertions from its ranks before the 2019 state assembly elections, the Congress had almost given up on its chances. Series of unforeseen circumstances saw it being propelled into power as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regime in Maharashtra with the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). However, there is a perception that it has let itself be bullied by its ally, the NCP, which is steadily encroaching on its turf.

However, in Nanabhau Falgunrao aka Nana Patole, the Congress has managed to get an aggressive face to head its state unit in Maharashtra. It is expected that Patoles image as a leader of the other backward Kunbi (peasant/ tiller) community, which has significant numbers in Vidarbha, will help the Congress regain lost ground from the BJP in the crucial region where it once held undisputed sway. Vidarbha has 62 of the 288 seats in the Maharashtra legislative assembly.

The 1963-born Patole exemplifies the concept of a permanent rebel in politics, switching sides between the Congress and BJP with ease, while striking out on his own at times.

Born to a government servant, the resident of Sukali village located in Bhandara districts Sakoli taluka cut his teeth in politics during college days as the leader of the Congress student wing National Students Union of India (NSUI) and later as a Youth Congressman.

After being elected to the Bhandara zilla parishad in 1992 as an independent against the official Congress nominee, Patole returned to the party. However, he rebelled yet again during the 1995 assembly polls against Dayaram Kapgate of the Congress and contested as an independent, but lost.

He, however, made his maiden entry to the state legislative assembly in 1999 as a Congress MLA representing the Lakhandur assembly constituency, repeating his feat in 2004. Patole was an active MLA in the House, often raising issues relating to the people of Vidarbha.

But Patole lived up to his reputation as a rolling stone and fell out with his party again, quitting his assembly seat in protest against the then Congress-NCP governments failure to address the woes of paddy farmers. In 2009, he fought the Lok Sabha polls from the Bhandara-Gondia constituency against the BJPs MP Shishupal Patle and NCP heavyweight Praful Patel.

In 2006, Maharashtra and the nation had been shaken by the brutal murders of the Buddhist-Dalit Bhotmange family in the Khairlanji village in Bhandara and many of those named as the accused were OBCs. This had sharpened the divide between the Dalits and the OBCs in the region.

Patole, who headed the OBC Chhava Sangram Sanghatana took an aggressive pro-Kunbi stand during the polls, leading to massive polarisation. His supporters claimed that the Khairlanji murders were not a caste-driven crime and pointed to the rape and murder of a minor OBC girl by a Dalit youth at Bhandara in 2006.

Eventually, Patel won the polls but Patole was the runner-up, with the BJPs Patle being pushed to third place. Patole soon joined the BJP and was elected to the assembly from Sakoli in Bhandara. In 2014, riding the Modi wave, which buttressed his support base among Kunbis and its Zade sub-caste which he belongs to, Patole emerged as a giant-killer trouncing Patel. Patole defeated Patel, with whom he had a running battle, by a margin of almost 1.50 lakh votes.

However, the rebellious spark in Patole refused to die down. In 2016, when senior BJP leader and Maharashtra forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar was being cornered, allegedly at the behest of a faction in his party, over the disappearance of a tiger Jai from the Umred Karhandla wildlife sanctuary near Nagpur, Patole waded into the controversy.

Patole wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the issue. Patole claimed that the tiger had been poached along with more such big cats and alleged that local forest officials were involved.

In 2017, Patole did something which was other seen as unthinkable. He spoke out against Modi, and claimed that he was asked to keep mum when he tried to raise issues relating to farmers in a meeting of state MPs with the Prime Minister. Patole also attacked then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and met dissident BJP leader Yashwant Sinha during his agitation in Maharashtra. He was reported to be upset over being denied a ministerial berth.

Eventually, Patole quit the BJP in the same year and joined the Congress later. He delivered yet another blow to the BJP after the NCPs Madhukarrao Kukde defeated the BJPs candidate Hemant Patle in the subsequent by-elections. Trying to live up to his reputation as a giant slayer, Patole contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as a Congress nominee against the BJPs heavyweight and union minister Nitin Gadkari from Nagpur, but lost.

Subsequently, he was elected for his fourth term to the state assembly from Sakoli defeating then minister of state and Fadnavis confidante Parinay Fuke, who like him is a Kunbi but from another sub-caste (Tirole). Despite his election as the assembly speaker, it was obvious that Patoles choice for the position would be akin to putting a square peg in a round hole. Congress ministers often grumbled that Patole would unilaterally summon officers from their departments for meetings without keeping them in the loop.

Though change was in the air for a long time in the state Congress due to revenue minister and Patoles predecessor Balasaheb Thorat holding multiple positions and being a mild leader, what may have swung things Patoles way may have been his aggression, OBC identity and political location in Vidarbha. Also, other contenders like energy minister Nitin Raut, who is a Dalit from Nagpur, were not eager to relinquish their ministerial posts.

However, as the MPCC chief, Patole will have to wear the proverbial crown of thorns. Apart from keeping ally NCP in check and preventing further erosion of the Congress vote base, Patole must also balance the contradictions of the partys alliance with erstwhile foe Shiv Sena and more importantly keep his rebellious tendencies in check.

The victory of the Congress from the Nagpur graduates constituency in the state assembly, which was a BJP bastion, shows that the party still retains goodwill among its core voters in Vidarbha and can stand a chance if its leaders put up a united fight.

Despite the gradual erosion of its electoral base, the Congress is a divided house. The notoriously outspoken Patole will have to accommodate various warring factions often engaged in a fratricidal civil war with each other living up to the saying in Marathi: Bada ghar, pokal wase (a huge house with a hollowed out edifice).

So, will Patole be able to walk the tightrope or will the permanent rebel in politics rear his head again? Wait and watch.
Louise McGouran, Marcus Campion (7) with Charlotte (2) and Isabelle McGouran (8) at the Buggy Parade at the 2019 Our Balbriggan Grasshoppers Festival. The 2021 edition of the festival will be online. Pic: Fintan Clarke

The Grasshoppers Early Years Festival, for children aged 0-6 and their carers, will return with a series of online events, starting on Tuesday, February 23.

The Festival, which first took place in 2019, is returning with a programme of arts workshops and performances tailored for a young audience.

The theme of the festival is the lighthouse, and children are asked to submit entries to an art exhibition to create an image of the iconic lighthouse in Balbriggan.

All entries should be sent to actinguparts3@gmail.com and one lucky participant will have a raffle prize of a specially framed Balbriggan Lighthouse, designed by local artist Alison O'Grady.

All entrants to the art exhibition and the Buggy Parade will be put in a draw for Lidl Vouchers in Balbriggan worth 40.

The Buggy Parade, one of the most popular elements of the inaugural edition of the Festival in 2019 will also return virtually.

All community groups, families and friends with children aged 0-6 years are invited to decorate their buggy as they wish and send a photo of it to actinguparts3@gmail.com.

Meanwhile Rebecca Gilbert of the Irish Institute of Music and Song will conduct two workshops, 'Sing to Your Baby' on Tuesday, February 23 at 10am and 'Let's Sing Together' on Thursday, February 25 at 10am. No musical or singing experience is necessary.

Cliodhna Noonan of Acting Up Arts, which organises the festival said: 'We wanted to reach communities of young children from all cultures and backgrounds in Ireland's youngest town through visual arts, music, storytelling and movement.

'The festival aims to celebrate what we all have in common and to create wonderful memories together as a community.

'With the pandemic roller coasting back and forth it was difficult to plan Grasshoppers for 2020. However, we are back with a fully virtual version for 2021 and we can reach further with this edition of the festival as it goes online.'

She added: 'We hope that preschool and childcare groups open for essential workers will avail of the morning sessions and that families will come online via zoom to meet the international and local experts for some stories, movement and creativity.'

The festival will also feature interactive virtual workshops from Ireland, Lithuania, Croatia, Greece and Italy.

It will feature a storytelling workshop with Svetlana Patafta (Croatia), a Dance Workshop with Andra Burca (Romania), a Lights Workshop with Emily Kml (Greece) and a Music Workshop Story with Teatrukas (Lithuania).

It will also feature a virtual story telling performance and workshop for families called 'In Trolland,' which is a puppet story written and developed by Cliodhna Noonan and Jacques Matthiessen, and designed by local artist Akvile Sim.

'In Trolland' will be streamed as a workshop for families on Saturday, February 27 but it is envisaged that the performance will be live and in person later in 2021.

The Festival is supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, Fingal County Council Arts Office and Our Balbriggan Initiative.

Full details are available at grasshoppersfestival.com which also has a link to an events booking website, Gr8.
Six nuns have died in one convent in Newbridge amid growing concern that nuns and priests living in congregated settings have not been prioritized for the Covid-19 vaccine.

The six nuns, who were members of the Holy Order Convent in Newbridge, Co Kildare, died in the last two weeks following an outbreak at the facility.

In the wake of a number of pleas from religious orders to be recognised under the cohort one roll-out, this week the Office of the Chief Clinical officer held discussions with the National Immunisation Advisory Authority about prioritising these types of facilities in the roll-out.

It is understood religious communities in the HSE Community health organisation area 1, covering Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim and parts of Cavan and Monaghan, have been asked to forward details and numbers of religious over-65 to the HSE in preparation for the roll-out of the vaccine in the next week.

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Care settings catering for elderly members of religious orders, where dozens of retired nuns and priests are being cared for outside the remit of the Health Information Quality Authority (HIQA), had not been listed for vaccination in cohort one. It is understood many of the settings, where some members are in their 80s and 90s and are cared for by privately contracted healthcare workers and nurses, had outbreaks of Covid-19 last year. Deaths occurred as a result.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, David Rose, Secretary General of the Association of Leaders of Missionaries and Religious of Ireland, said the organisation was very concerned about Covid-related deaths in religious communities.

Many older religious live in communities, convents and monasteries that are not nursing homes but are at risk, he said.

We have highlighted this risk to older religious and their carers to the HSE and asking for a date when the vaccine will be made available to them. We understand that the HSE is considering for priority additional congregated settings included religious, and that is very welcome. In response to the issue, the HSE said it will be offering vaccinations across a range of non-registered facilities next week including, for example, some religious retirement facilities.
Young artists from Chinese conservatories of music and their U.S. partners will jointly present a virtual concert on Saturday to celebrate the upcoming Spring Festival.

"Sounds of Spring -- China-U.S. Musicians Virtual Concert 2021," which begins at 8:00 PM EST on Saturday, features guest artist, famous Chinese pianist Lang Lang, and students, faculty from a dozen Chinese and U.S. music colleges and universities, according to the Chinese embassy in the United States.

The culmination of the event will be "Cloud Art Music - WE" performed by a cloud choir which groups 212 musicians from world major orchestras and 302 professors and students from world partner conservatories.

The concert is co-production by the Central Conservatory of Music, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Tianjin Conservatory of Music, Wuhan Conservatory of Music, Bard College Conservatory of Music, Berklee College of Music, Eastman School of Music of University of Rochester, Manhattan School of Music, New York University, Yale School of Music, Tianjin Juilliard School, and Shanghai Orchestra Academy.

The Spring Festival, which falls on Feb. 12, marks the beginning of the Year of the Ox. The second animal of the Chinese zodiac, the ox is known for diligence, dependability, strength and determination.

Like Greene, he climbed aboard the juggernaut of Donald Trumps popularity, aping his views on coal and hydroxychloroquine and making excuses for Vladimir Putins outrages. Kelly continued to sing along with Trumps anti-democratic anthem even after the presidents juggernaut ran into the electoral ditch; Kelly claims that the Capitol riots were actually a false flag operation carried out by the political left just to discredit Trump. The Australian Medical Associations president, Omar Khorshid, has described Kellys COVID-related advocacy as crackpot. Loading Why does an outwardly sensible Australian politician carry on like this? For the same reason Greene and many other Trump imitators have  because it wins attention. Craig Kelly has 96,000 followers on Facebook and 10,000 followers on Twitter. Other backbenchers envy these numbers. For a 57-year-old MP whos been languishing in the wastelands of backbench irrelevance for a decade and without prospect of promotion, this sort of validation is political crack. Remember the old adage that a lie can travel half-way round the world before the truth has got its boots on, as British Prime Minister James Callaghan said in 1976? The internet  and social media in particular  has intensified this effect and made it precisely measurable. A 2018 study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology tracked about 126,000 news stories tweeted by 3 million people between 2006 and 2017. It found that it took the truth about six times as long as falsehood to reach 1500 people on Twitter. Today a lie can travel six times around the world before the truth has its boots on. Why? Because of the emotional impact of fake news. Say the MIT researchers: False news was more novel than true news, which suggests that people were more likely to share novel information. Whereas false stories inspired fear, disgust, and surprise in replies, true stories inspired anticipation, sadness, joy, and trust.

Political lies, it turns out, are the gold medallists of the misinformation Olympics. False political news also diffused deeper more quickly and reached more than 20,000 people nearly three times faster than all other types of false news reached 10,000 people. Social media, in other words, turns crackpot politics into political crack. Donald Trump knew that. He built a movement on it. Thats why people like Kelly do it and keep doing it. To get attention. This suits unprincipled or desperate politicians beautifully; it disadvantages the serious or sane. As for the social media companies that are the drug runners, political polarisation is a great business model, in the words of Deb Roy of MITs social media lab. Where does it end? We know where it led on January 6 in the US with a president making a lunge to rule as a dictator and his shock troops storming the Capitol. Scott Morrison had long tolerated Craig Kellys nuttiness in the name of free speech, but this week drew a line. Where do you draw the line? poses a senior government figure. At public health. Kellys misinformation was a threat to public health. The Prime Minister, after a couple of false starts and the embarrassment of watching Kelly roundly crushed by Labors Tanya Plibersek in an impromptu corridor debate, eventually demanded that Kelly control himself.

Craig Kelly and Tanya Plibersek argue in the hallway of Parliament House on Wednesday. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer The British tech expert and journalist Jamie Bartlett opened his most recent book, The People Vs Tech, with these words: In the coming few years either tech will destroy democracy and the social order as we know it, or politics will stamp its authority over the digital world. He saw it coming. He wrote that two years ago. Loading Australia finds itself at the forefront of trying to stamp its authority over the digital world. This is happening on a number of fronts. The big issue in Canberra at the moment is the governments proposed digital media bargaining code. Morrisons government is preparing to legislate the code into place. The purpose of the code is to make the US-based multinationals pay Australian professional media outlets for using their news. Thus far, the Big Tech firms simply distribute the local media companies news to the users of Google or Facebook. So the local outfits pay the reporters and editors to produce the news which is then distributed by the American digital firms. The tech giants pay nothing for it. The Australian businesses bear all the costs; Google and Facebook bear none yet get the revenue from the online ads that the news stories attract.

The local publishers want a return on their products. The Australian news outfits have haemorrhaged ad revenue to Big Tech over the past decade and a half. The Morrison government, with Labors support in principle, agrees that the Australian publishers should share in the revenue to allow them to stay in business. Loading If Big Tech bleeds them completely dry, disinformation, conspiracy and propaganda would go from being readily available to being dominant. Google and Facebook agreed in principle and entered negotiations on a voluntary revenue-sharing formula. But their negotiations with the biggest media companies, notably News Corp and Nine, publisher of this masthead, failed. The government is now promising a mandatory code instead. This was what provoked Google into threatening to turn off its search engine for Australian users. It was a bad misjudgment. It failed to move the government and only hardened public and political opinion against Big Tech. These guys live in a bubble of their own existence and think everyone loves them, says a senior government figure. These guys are the tobacco companies of 10 or 20 years ago. Would Google really shut off its search engine for Australia and walk away from some $4 billion a year in revenue? Australias e-safety commissioner, Julie Inman-Grant, says Googles tantrum is not new: Theyve done it before. She recalls that, when the federal government planned to create her office of e-safety six years ago to protect Australian children from online harm, Google and other Big Tech firms threatened to quit Australia in protest. Of course, they did not. Well wait and see how serious they are.

Loading When Google made its threat, Microsoft took it as an opportunity. Its chief rang Morrison and offered to fill the void with its own search engine, Bing. Itd be happy to invest in Australian media businesses, Microsoft said. The threat prompted The Financial Reviews tech editor, John Davidson, to try the non-profit search engine, Duckduckgo. He found it looks a lot like Google, only without the creepy and deceptive ads. Davidson bid Google farewell: Goodbye Google. Dont let your bags of unpaid taxes slow you down on the way out. Google, realising it had overplayed its hand, phoned Morrison this week. He made the point that if the Big Tech firms simply negotiated with the Australian media companies in good faith, they could strike a voluntary deal. The compulsory code was a back-up, not the first and only course. A parliamentary inquiry is to report next week; Morrison hopes to legislate within weeks. The head of the US News Media Alliance, David Chavern, representing some 2000 American news publishers, says Australias choice was a cutting-edge move that is not only about the future of news publishing but also whether we can build communities based on facts instead of misinformation and hate.
Right on time, the establishment media spill the juiciest story on the U.S. election, months after the contest. Almost as if they were just another cog in the Democrats' machine.

Time magazine now confirms that there was a massive shadow campaign  a "secret cabal," as they say  made up of the unions, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Silicon Valley to take down Mr. Trump, change election laws, and stymie any lawsuits filed before or after the fact. A lot of this was amazingly done in plain sight and may not be technically illegal, including the $400 million Mark Zuckerberg funneled into local election offices, which, I will explain, was crucial to the whole project. That's a fact Time doesn't really understand

You see, even as Nancy Pelosi was ripping into Mr. Trump at the Chinese New Year celebrations for scaring people about the Wuhan virus, the wise-guy Democrats had already figured out the angles on the scam they were to pull off. Just a week later, Time tells us, the key political guy at the AFL-CIO, Mike Podhorzer, had a Zoom meeting to instruct his troops all around the country. Podhorzer had been putting together an anti-Trump coalition since mid-2019, but he saw his golden opportunity with the virus lockdowns.

Turn Election Day into election months, he figured, to help the massive army of union-paid Democrat get-out-the-vote activists  organizations like the one Stacey Abrams runs for them in Georgia  then have a dozen weeks to harvest ballots and browbeat people into going to the polls.

Democrat governors immediately started pushing back primary dates and issuing orders to allow expanded early and mail-in balloting. Wisconsin was typical, the governor ordering last-minute election changes in a power play with the Republican Legislature, being denied only in the state Supreme Court.

But partisan Democrats in every position around the country used the primaries as a tune-up for further mischief in the November elections. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court notoriously extended the absentee ballot receipt date, a blatantly partisan and unconstitutional action.

My home state of Kentucky was not at all different. The Democrat governor had been able to push back the primary day and limit in-person voting for the primary. He also wanted to make the general election all mail-in. Fortunately, the secretary of state refused to go along, and the two remained deadlocked for months. Eventually, a decent compromise was worked out.

But here's where Zuckerberg's money played the crucial role. Elections are run by county governments in the U.S. They don't have unlimited funds or unlimited personnel. When the Democrats mandated full mail-in balloting and early voting to go with in-person voting, it threatened to be a disaster in many urban jurisdictions they hoped to carry. These places often cannot execute a well-run election in a normal year. Now they were being asked to run essentially three parallel elections at the same time. The resources were not there, as proved by the mess in the Georgia primary in the Atlanta counties.

If big-city voters were turned away or their ballots lost, all the devious plans would have backfired, and Trump would win in a landslide. Cue Mark Zuckerberg's checkbook. A mysterious non-profit started handing out big bucks in the fall to local election offices all across the country, and it appears most of the money went to critical swing states. It is unclear exactly where, as they don't have to report any of these contributions, and, in fact, Zuckerberg is eligible for a tax deduction, as this money went to government agencies, not parties or candidates!

Now, certainly we should get to the bottom of some of the more sensational charges in Election 2020. But my hunch about 2020 is just to follow Prof. Occam and go for the simple explanation. The Democrats did what they always do: fund an enormous GOTV and street money campaign, and this time they worked in more early and mail-in voting. With Zuckerberg's money, they kept the knuckleheads who run America's big cities from messing it up.

President Trump actually predicted many times last year that this is how it would happen . Getting it stopped in time was another matter. One bit of good news, though, is that having been hit over the head enough times, Republican legislatures are finally moving to crack down on early voting laws and make election day just that: a day, not a season.

Frank Friday is an attorney in Louisville, Ky.

Image: Anthony Quintano via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
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My wife and I had our first shots of a COVID-19 vaccine last weekend (AstraZeneca, since you ask), and none of our children is old enough to be particularly vulnerable. I therefore no longer have a dog in this fight, and can write with godlike impartiality about who else should get the vaccine.

Opinion

My wife and I had our first shots of a COVID-19 vaccine last weekend (AstraZeneca, since you ask), and none of our children is old enough to be particularly vulnerable. I therefore no longer have a dog in this fight, and can write with godlike impartiality about who else should get the vaccine.

We can all (or almost all) agree that the most vulnerable should come first: care-home residents, health workers, over-70s, and people with serious underlying diseases. Among adults under 50 who catch COVID-19, only 200 out of a million die; among those over 70, 54,000 do. So everybody else can afford to wait another month or so, and let the vulnerable go first.

But who is "we"? Almost always, it means people in our own country, not the whole world. Not even the country next-door, in most cases: there is now a most unedifying row between the United Kingdom and the European Union over vaccine supply, although they are among the richest countries in the world.

The EUs 27 nations have 960 million doses of five different vaccines on order, with options for several hundred million more. The U.K. has 250 million doses on order from the same five companies (Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, Oxford/AstraZeneca, Novavax and Johnson & Johnson). Thats enough for everybody in the EU with plenty left over, and more than twice as much as the U.K. could possibly use. And still they fight over who gets it first.

The U.K. signed a key contract with AstraZeneca in June, while the EU wasted three more months on internal politics before signing with the same company  which is now facing production difficulties in its main EU-based factories.

London says it signed first, so it should get its doses first. Brussels, panicked by rising public anger at the slowness of the rollout  the EU has given only two doses per 100 residents, while the U.K. has delivered 12 per 100  demands a share of what the same company is producing in Britain. There will be tears before bedtime.

If this is how rich neighbours behave toward each other, is there any hope that they will support vaccination in poor countries far away? As it turns out, yes.

"Vaccine nationalism" is not an all-or-none thing. If the whole street is on fire, I will save my children first, but Ill go back to save the neighbours kids too, and even their cats if theres time. Its not children at risk in this case, but the principle is the same.

Nobody can criticize Britain, for example, for putting its own most vulnerable people first  but it is on schedule to have them all done by the middle of this month.

As soon as that is accomplished, it should share some of its supply from AstraZeneca to save the lives of elderly French and Danes and Greeks rather than devoting it all to its own relatively safe middle-aged people. And as other supplies come online, it should share more widely, too.

Within a few months, as more vaccines are approved and production ramps up, more doses will be produced each day than can be injected into the citizens of rich countries in the same day. This will happen because those countries pre-bought large quantities of many different vaccines in order to be sure of having some winners.

The vaccines almost all worked, so we are in the happy situation of looming over-supply  and theres no need to wait until the rich countries have vaccinated everybody at home. Once their own vulnerable people are safe, they can spare some for the vulnerable elsewhere.

Canada, for example, has bought 214 million doses of vaccine, with options on 200 million more. There are 38 million Canadians, so say 30 million recipients  many of whom will be getting one-shot vaccines. Canada will have at least 150 million doses left over  or 350 million, if it exercises its options.

"Absolutely, we will be sharing with the world," said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and the U.K., which will end up with around 200 million spare doses, should be saying the same thing.

The United States has orders with six companies for 800 million doses, with options on another 1.6 billion. There are more than 800 million spare doses bought and paid for worldwide. Start sharing now, not after everybody has been inoculated at home.

This is not charity; its self-interest. So long as the virus is circulating widely in poorer countries, it constitutes an enormous reservoir in which new mutations will occur frequently  and some of those mutations might render existing vaccines ineffective. The vaccines can be tweaked to deal with new variants, but we dont want to be playing catch-up for the next five years.

Gwynne Dyers latest book is Growing Pains: The Future of Democracy (and Work).
New Delhi: The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday (February 6, 2021) said that they have arrested the chief of Lashkar-e-Mustafa terror organisation Hidayatullah Malik.

Malik was arrested from Jammu following a joint operation by Jammu and Anantnag police.

"Today, at about 03:30 PM an operation was launched with the assistance of Jammu police at Kunjwani Jammu. During the joint operation, the said terrorist attacked the joint party and tried to escape from the spot but the team while displaying exemplary discipline and dedication apprehended him tactfully because Kunjwani area of Jammu is a very crowded place," police said.

They added that incriminating materials, arms and ammunition including two pistols and grenades were recovered from Hidayatullah Malik's possession.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police informed that Malik is a categorised terrorist from the Shopian district and is the Chief of Lashkar-e-Mustafa which is an offshoot of Jaish-e-Mohammad in Kashmir in the Kashmir valley.

According to police, the first arrest in this chain was Ayaz Bhat of Anantnag from whom one pistol was recovered on January 18, 2021, and on his disclosure, two more terror associates namely Rayees Mir of Pampore and Shakir Itoo of Shopian were arrested from whose possession two grenades were recovered.

Subsequently, four more terror associates hailing from Anantnag were arrested and two pistols, AK-47 rounds and hand grenades were recovered.

During the further course of the investigation, arrested terrorist associates revealed that terrorist Hidayatullah Malik is putting up in Bathindi area of Jammu and planning a major attack in Jammu City.

Accordingly, a special team of Anantnag Police was constituted and deputed to Jammu to launch the operation.

Notably, terrorist Hidayatullah is one of the ten accused of Pulwama case (May 27, 2020) pertaining to detection of the powerful car bomb which was later on destroyed on the spot to avert any major mishap.

(With inputs from agencies)



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THE 14-day incidence rate of Covid-19 in Limerick has dropped further while the five-day moving average of new cases is now below 40 for the first time this year.

According to the National Public Health Emergency Team, 22 new confirmed cases of the disease have been reported in Limerick this Saturday - down from 60 last night.

The 14-day incidence rate now stands at 322.7 (per 100,000 population) while the five-day moving average is 38.2.

Nationally, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre has been notified of 55 additional deaths related to Covid-19, 36 of which occurred in February.

The HPSC has also been notified of 827 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

Of the cases notified today, 297 are in Dublin, 76 are in Cork, 56 are in Galway, 46 are in Wexford, 37 are in Kildare with the remaining 315 cases spread across all other counties, including Limerick.

As of 2pm this Saturday, 1,177 Covid-19 patients were in hospital of which 177 were in ICU.

Commenting on the latest figures, Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health said: "There are a few old habits that collectively we have to break in order to suppress Covid-19 together. We know that people who feel unwell typically avoid calling their GP over the weekend, and wait to see if they improve. You should no longer do that  you must phone your GP at the first sign of anything like Covid-19 symptoms. Do not adopt a wait and see approach.

Dr Holohan says people should not leave their homes or go to work if you have any cold or flu like symptoms at all. "Breaking these habits will limit Covid-19s opportunity to spread from person to person," he said.
Kristaps Bluss is just one of the pro drifters to have competed in an HGK Racing developed drift car over years, and he has had his fair share of success in the Formula Drift Series. But after a series of highly fascinating BMWs, it was time for a change. And with Russian drifter Nikita Shikov requiring a new car for the 2021 season, the Toyota Supra Jet project was initiated.It all started with a sideways shakedown on dirt roads, in a movie that was posted some time ago, and the Supra once again confirmed its potential . Asked about how the project debuted, the owner of HGK Racing, Harijs, said that "We wanted and did not want to build the Supra at the same time, but when it came to the shop we realized that, of course, the car was really good. I liked it!"The plan was all set, and several people and companies were involved in the build. The stripping down part was probably the easiest, as it only took 3 days. Body reconstruction was up next, and given the scale of the project, they had it treated with a special kind of chalk and then 3D scanned inside and out. Soon after, a special delivery from Wisefab came in, that would allow the vehicle to have an increased steering angle - essential in pro-level drifting.With more horsepower in mind, bigger wheels would be required. But 18-inch wheels would not fit under given conditions, especially considering the increased steering angle, so more bodywork followed. Next, the fuel cell was located in the middle of the car, bearing in mind that good weight distribution is also essential when going at insanely high speeds, and sideways at the same time.The stock electric steering rack of the Supra was ditched in favor of a BMW E90 one, which is widely used in all HGK builds. When work on the front end was completed, the roll cage was up next. HGK usually builds NASCAR style roll cages, but this time they improved the design, given their extensive experience, and came up with an updated solution. When the roll cage was half-done, the ARE dry-sump system was positioned behind the passenger seat.When work on the chassis was about 60% complete, HGK sent the Supra to a third party company, that would start working on the actual body parts for the build. Two months later, after all the measurements and initial mock-up fitting was done, they got the car back and finalized the roll cage. The car then had to be painted, inside and out, and they opted for the same McLaren Silver they use on all their projects.The original seat mounts were kept, making the job slightly easier, although new brackets were built to accommodate the Sparco bucket seats. As many components as possible were relocated from the engine bay to the rear axle, to further improve the weight ratio, including the HGK custom-built radiator. The company was using CRR radiators in the past, but because they were using custom-built ones, prices had gone up too much, and they just started manufacturing their own products.The car was then sent to Chepa Racing in the Ukraine, where the new 2JZ unit would be installed. After a few months spent in Kyiv, it came back to HGK Racing so that bodywork could be finalized. As Kristaps Bluss describes the process, this is perhaps one of the most difficult parts of the build, as the computer designs don't always fit perfectly into real-life applications. All in all, it took 12 months for the build to be finished, and HGK Racing managed to nicely summarize the whole process in this 20-minute video.

Posted Friday, February 5, 2021 5:27 pm

The Washington State Patrol has no immediate plans to remove fencing around the state Capitol despite Senate Minority Leader John Brauns request Thursday.

The fences were erected last month in response to security threats, the deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol, and a same-day incident at the governors mansion that included assaults on journalists.

Governor, that was the first week of January. This is the first week of February. Respectfully, it is time to take down the fences which are separating the public from their elected officials in the Legislature, Braun wrote. If there are specific and credible security threats which would counsel against taking the barriers down, we would appreciate being briefed by specific law-enforcement.

Braun also echoed Republicans opposition to a virtual session  a decision informed by the pandemic, rather than security reasons, and voted on by lawmakers.

If you wont let people inside the building to serve as witnesses to our actions, we at least should be able to hear their voices from their traditional public forum on the steps of the building, he wrote.

Mike Faulk, a spokesperson for the governor, said the question of removing the fencing should be directed at Washington State Patrol (WSP), not the governor.

The senator should talk to the State Patrol before he politicizes peoples safety, Faulk wrote in an email.

Spokesperson Chris Loftis said WSP hoped the need for heightened vigilance and security measures would ease sooner rather than later, but confirmed there are no plans in the near future to take down the fencing. Recent violent events, he said, have undoubtedly moved us all into a new security environment.

At this point there are many unknowns and considerable uncertainty as to how the environment will evolve. Until we have greater clarity, (Department of Enterprise Services) Capitol Security and WSP will maintain our current security precautions including temporary fencing on the Capitol Campus, Loftis said. We will continue to monitor security developments on local, state and federal levels as well as work with associated law enforcement and other public safety partners to constantly evaluate risks and trends.
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.



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Over 56 lakh (5.6 million) people have been inoculated till now and there has been no case of serious or severe adverse event following vaccination or death attributable to the vaccination till date, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday.

Of the 56,36,868 beneficiaries vaccinated,Additional Secretary in the Union health ministry Manohar Agnani said 52,66,175 are healthcare workers and 3,70,693 are frontline workers whose vaccination started on February 2.

He further said that 54.7 per cent of the healthcare workers registered on the Co-WIN app have been vaccinated.

On Saturday, Agnani said total 2,20,019 beneficiaries were vaccinated. He said there was no case of serious or severe AEFI or death attributable to vaccination till date.

"No new case of hospitalization or death reported in the past 24 hours," he added.

Agnani said 13 states and UTs, including Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, have vaccination coverage of 60 per cent among health care workers while 12 states and UTs, including Delhi, Punjab and Assam, have less than 40 per cent vaccination coverage among HCWs.

He said Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Saturday reviewed the performance of vaccination drives with all states and UTs.

"He advised states/UTs to improve coverage, beneficiary turn out per session and minimize vaccine wastage," Agnani said.

He said states and UTs have been asked to complete the first dose administration to all health care workers by February 20 and mop-up rounds by February 25.
Suella Braverman: 'The Prime Minister has made it really clear that we're going to do everything that we can, whether that's legislatively, or indeed if it comes to it, invoking Article 16... to ensure that there's no barrier in the Irish Sea' - Neil Hall/Shutterstock

Boris Johnson is not going to let the European Union "push us around" and is right to threaten to override parts of the Brexit deal, the Government's chief law officer has said.

Suella Braverman, the Attorney General, backed the Prime Minister to get changes to the deal, which means the UK-EU border is in the Irish Sea, which will be good for Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

Speaking to the Telegraph on Sunday, Mrs Braverman said: "Boris stood up to the EU last year and we got a good deal. I am really confident we are not going to let the EU push Northern Ireland around.

"We will do whatever it takes to ensure that we get a good settlement for Northern Ireland, and a good settlement for the Union."

Mrs Braverman backed Mr Johnson - who threatened last week to invoke Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol, a move which could impose a hard border on the island of Ireland - unless the EU negotiated.

She said: "The Prime Minister has made it really clear that we're going to do everything that we can, whether that's legislatively, or indeed if it comes to it, invoking Article 16... to ensure that there's no barrier in the Irish Sea."

Mrs Braverman urged the EU to apply the same rules at the border as the UK to ensure fair play.

She added: "It is about getting an equivalent interpretation of the rules, and we can't have one party taking disproportionately excessive interpretation or application of rules, and one party being forced to accept that."

A report from the Centre for Brexit Policy on Sunday calls for the UK and EU to agree that both sides will enforce the others rules at the border.

This proposal known as Mutual Enforcement would commit each side to enforce the rules of the other with respect to trade across the border.

The news came as it emerged that Joe Biden's administration is monitoring the Northern Ireland border situation closely, but is reluctant to get "mixed up" in the aftermath of Brexit.

Story continues

The European Union's recent blunder triggering Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol in a row over vaccines, threatening to effectively create a border on the island of Ireland, set off alarm bells in the US state department.

There was no public comment on the issue at the time from the US administration or Mr Biden, who has made statements on the subject in the past, and is deeply personally committed to the Good Friday Agreement.

However, a former senior Democrat US state department official, with links to the administration, told The Telegraph: "Whatever the EU or the UK does [in relation to Northern Ireland] the administration wants to tread carefully, wait and see what develops, and not take a hard position.

"It's a tough one because you have the UK, Ireland and the EU, and you can't win. With Biden, though, there is this sense of closeness with Ireland. But his officials never wanted to get mixed up in Brexit; you only get into trouble."

He added: "It is a tightrope for him. Obviously, he wants to have a good relationship with the EU and the UK. At the same time there's a considerable Irish American constituency here. It's a tightrope he could fall off."

Suella Braverman: Why I had to change the law just to get my maternity pay

Most expectant mothers slip away from the office in the weeks before they are due to give birth as they contemplate months of maternity leave.

Suella Braverman is a bit different. The Attorney General has had to change the law just to guarantee that her employer - HM Government - will pay her salary while she takes her time off with her new baby.

Mrs Braverman, who is expecting her second child at the beginning of next month, was surprised to discover that there was no way in law for the Government to pay her while she was on maternity leave.

Instead, she was faced with having to resign, to allow her boss Boris Johnson to find someone to do her job, and then hope that the Prime Minister would reappoint her on her return to the office.

The result is the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Bill - dubbed 'Suella's Law' or the 'Braverman Bill' in Whitehall - which will bring the treatment of Cabinet ministers who have babies, into the 21st century.

Mr Johnson, who became the first Prime Minister to become a father again 10 Downing Street last year, has led the charge to modernise the law.

"The choice between taking leave to recover from childbirth and care for a new-born child, or resigning from office, is not acceptable in modern times," he thundered in his statement to MPs last week.

Speaking to the Telegraph in a Zoom call from her home on Friday night, Mrs Braverman appeared to be wearing the weight of all this fuss lightly. "This is obviously a landmark moment for the Government," she says.

"I'm very honoured to be making a little bit of history as the first Cabinet minister to have a baby whilst in office and to take maternity leave, and I'm incredibly grateful to the Prime Minister for seeing the need and leading the change."

Suella Braverman - Paul Grover for the Telegraph

Mrs Braverman admits she had not expected to have to change the law to win her right to six months' maternity leave on full pay when like other expectant mothers, she had to "tell your boss you're pregnant after 12 weeks".

She adds: "This particular legal issue hadn't come across my desk as Attorney General. It quickly became apparent that there was a gap in the law."

Civil servants are now in a race against time to pass the law through both Houses of Parliament before Mrs Braverman gives birth to her baby daughter, a sister to her 18 month old son, George.

Mrs Braverman's last day in the office is Feb 26 and she is due to give birth in the following week. "That is one of the reasons for moving very quickly," she says.

"We have a limited window in which to provide the legal basis for this to happen. I'm a bit of a catalyst for it but the willingness and the commitment to regularise this anomaly has definitely been there for many years."

Labour has made clear that it will not oppose the law change.

More junior ministers have been able to take maternity leave for years. However that right has never been given to Cabinet ministers.

"What this law does is it allows more flexibility and scope for an extra payment to be made to a senior minister who goes on leave so it could apply to any cabinet level minister, she says.

"The issue here is that there's a lot of work, and to do justice to the role of Attorney General, there needs to be someone who is able to work full time and be there as the Government's chief legal adviser.

"And so, you know, doing both at the same time, that somehow juggling it would not have done justice to the role, would it have done justice to me having a new baby?"

There is still more work to do on the Braverman Bill, which has not extended the same privilege to male Cabinet ministers if they became fathers.

Mrs Braverman says: "The Prime Minister has made clear that we are committing to looking at paternity leave, and other forms of leave, and we will be reporting on it."

Mrs Braverman - the first in her family to go to university straight from school - wants the law change to send out a clear message to other women with high powered jobs.

"I hope this sends a message to young women who want to have a young family, that having a young family or starting a family is not out of bounds for them. If they want to work in senior roles," she says.

"I personally am someone who really loves working and I need to work to be happy. And I love being a mum, and I'm really very pleased that the two now aren't mutually exclusive. And it is legal to be both.

"This will be a fascinating story to tell my daughter one day [about] exactly what went on in Parliament to allow her to have some time with her mummy."

Mrs Braverman, 40, pays tribute to the team around her at home - her "very hands on" husband Rael, a manager with car firm Mercedes, who "helps a lot with childcare", as well as assorted grandparents.

Despite more domestic upheaval, work is not drying up for Mrs Braverman, an out and out Brexiteer who refused to back Theresa May's Brexit Bill on any of the three votes in the Commons in 2019.

Mrs Braverman, as the Government's chief law officer, backs Mr Johnson's threat to sort out the vexed Northern Ireland Protocol which is so damaging businesses in the Province.

She says: "The Prime Minister has made it really clear that we're going to do everything that we can, whether that's legislatively or indeed if it comes to it invoking Article 16 of the protocol to ensure that there's no barrier in the Irish Sea."

She adds: "Boris stood up to the EU last year and we got a good deal. I am really confident we are not going to let the EU push us around."

On Tuesday, she is in the Court of Appeal appealing another unduly lenient sentence in a rape case.

Her office is more and more busy from referrals about soft sentences she says. While she says 99 percent of judges' sentences are correct, a greater "awareness of the right to challenge a sentence" has led to the increase.

Longer term, she is working on an end to end review of rape cases to deal with "a very big disparity between the number of complaints of rape and the number of successful convictions".

Mrs Braverman adds: "We need to always strike the right balance that people who are falsely accused of rape, don't have to go through the trauma of being falsely accused."

Soon though Mrs Braverman will turn her mind to the really important stuff - like what to name to give her new baby daughter.

"We have not decided on a name yet," she says, before adding: "Maybe the Latin origins of legislation - 'Legisla'?"

Her colleague Jacob Rees-Mogg, the classicist Leader of the House of Commons, would most definitely approve.

By Derek Francis and Andy Bruce

(Reuters) - British drugmaker AstraZeneca said on Saturday its vaccine developed with the University of Oxford appeared to offer only limited protection against mild disease caused by the South African variant of COVID-19, based on early data from a trial.

The study from South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand and Oxford University showed the vaccine had significantly reduced efficacy against the South African variant, according to a Financial Times report published earlier in the day.

Among coronavirus variants currently most concerning for scientists and public health experts are the so-called British, South African and Brazilian variants, which appear to spread more swiftly than others.

"In this small phase I/II trial, early data has shown limited efficacy against mild disease primarily due to the B.1.351 South African variant," an AstraZeneca spokesman said in response to the FT report.

The newspaper said none of the more than 2,000 trial participants had been hospitalised or died.

"However, we have not been able to properly ascertain its effect against severe disease and hospitalisation given that subjects were predominantly young healthy adults," the AstraZeneca spokesman said.

The company said it believed its vaccine could protect against severe disease, given that the neutralising antibody activity was equivalent to that of other COVID-19 vaccines that have demonstrated protection against severe disease.

The trial, which involved 2,026 people of whom half formed the placebo group, has not been peer-reviewed, the FT said.

While thousands of individual changes have arisen as the virus mutates into new variants, only a tiny minority are likely to be important or change the virus in an appreciable way, according to the British Medical Journal.

"Oxford University and AstraZeneca have started adapting the vaccine against this variant and will advance rapidly through clinical development so that it is ready for Autumn delivery should it be needed," the AstraZeneca spokesman said.

On Friday Oxford said their vaccine has similar efficacy against the British coronavirus variant as it does to the previously circulating variants.

(Reporting by Derek Francis in Bengaluru; Editing by Timothy Heritage, Daniel Wallis and David Gregorio)
Matt Cronin, one of the survivors of the Mallow Shootings. Photo courtesy of Anne Barry

Last Sunday, January 31, marked the 100th anniversary of an incident at Mallow Railway Station that led to the deaths of three innocent railway workers, the single loss of life among railway workers during the War of Independence and Civil War.

The incident, known simply as 'The Mallow Shootings', was outlined in short video posted on YouTube presented by rail historian Peter Rigney of the Irish Railway Records Society.

He explained how on the evening of January 31, 1921 RIC district inspector Captain William H King was walking near Mallow Railway Station, (where the Cork County Council office are now located) when he was fired on by an IRA ambush party.

"He was slightly wounded but his wife, Alice, who was with him was shot dead," explained Mr Rigney.

The station was subsequently raided by a group of policemen and workers were rounded up and taken to the barracks at 'Broadview' (now Matthew Nagle Solicitors) where the Auxiliary Division of the RIC and the Black and Tans were billeted.

"The first group were escorted to the barracks uneventfully. But, shortly after the second group left the station they were told to run and after about ten yards they were fired on," said Mr Rigney.

Two of the men, Denis Bennett, a 17-year-old engine cleaner and father of eight, and Patrick Devitt, a signalman, died instantly. A number of men were wounded, including 23-year-old fireman Daniel Bennett, who died the following day from his injuries.

Signalmen Joseph Greensmyth (68), who was thrown down the 28 stairs leading to the north signal cabin, died the following June.

A little later, a party of Black and Tans, under a head constable, opened fire on the engine driver and fireman of a goods train which had just arrived from Thurles, leaving the train driver seriously injured.

In a piece about the incident the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) said the men were members of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen and the National Union of Railwaymen, both of which were based in London.

"The unions reacted strongly, with ASLEF threatening a strike throughout Great Britain. J. H. Thomas MP, NUR General Secretary (and a privy councillor) raised the matter in the House of Commons, causing outrage, when Hamar Greenwood, Chief Secretary for Ireland was greeted with the jibe of 'here, comes the assassin' as he entered the Commons," reads the article.

The NUR secured access for their lawyer into the military inquiry into the Brigadier-General H.R. Cumming, was killed in an IRA ambush on 5 March, 1921, and another officer finalised the report, which was condemned in Ireland as a whitewash.

"However, due to the presence of T. Healy KC representing the NUR and ASLEF, the report was probably a more thorough enquiry into civilian deaths than generally occurred in Ireland at that time. The Mallow deaths had propelled the behaviour of the Crown forces to the centre of British politics," read the ICTU article.

Survivor testimony

Below is just one example of a survivors testimony from a railway worker called Thomas Moylan.

J.H Thomas, the Labour MP for Derby, a trade union official with the National Union of Railwaymen, read and put on record several testimonies from those that night in the House of Commons which led to much consternation in the chamber.

Thomas Moylan:

"The day after Mrs. King was shot a signalman named Thomas Moylan finished work at 8.30, half-an-hour after curfew.

He was unable to go home and must remain in the signal-box. He was in the signal-box at 10.20 p.m., when he heard shots fired.

A few minutes later some policemen came to the signal-box door and demanded it to be opened. Upon entering the box they ordered Moylan and the others to put up their hands and searched them.

They were then ordered to go to the platform of the station and to stand with their backs to the wall and with their hands up while the police levelled their rifles at them.

The police then said that a woman had been shot, that they had done it, and that if she died 15 railwaymen would be shot for it.

At eleven o'clock the police marched the men to the barracks, with their hand above their heads. Let it be remembered that these were railwaymen on duty, railwaymen taken from their posts while discharging their duty.

Amongst the six men were Moylan, Gyves, and Signalman Hayes. They were searched five times in two different cells.

Between three and four o'clock in the morning the occupants of Moylan's cell were taken out to a military motor, and after being beaten by the police with fists, revolvers, and rifles, they were told to go and carry the dead body of a woman to a lower cell.

On returning they were again, beaten by rifles and revolvers, and detained in the cells till 9.45. They were then told to run, and while running they were shot at. Three were shot dead when running."
J

ust like his boss, Leonid Volkov knew what he was getting into. Alexei Navalnys return to Russia meant his arrest, court, prison, and the start of a protracted struggle. For his right-hand man, it meant a period of voluntary exile in Europe to be out of the reach of the Kremlins long arms.

With the Kremlin critic jailed, this week it fell to Mr Volkov to unveil Team Navalnys updated game plan from his new home in Lithuania. The group was calling a pause to rallies until the spring, he announced. The battle to release Russia's prisoner No 1 would now switch to foreign policy tools".

Speaking with The Independent, the Navalny aide said the surprise change in strategy was the inevitable result of a demonstratively cruel crackdown from the Kremlin. But he insists it was neither a capitulation or wholly unplanned. Mr Navalnys team was still operating according to a manual agreed with him before he left for Moscow  and they had already scored many moral victories.
It was, somehow, a setting simultaneously dramatic and anticlimactic for Vice President Kamala Harriss first tiebreaking vote in the Senate: just before dawn in a sparsely filled chamber, at the end of a 15-hour session in which senators voted on dozens of amendments to one of the largest stimulus packages in American history.

Minus, perhaps, the 15-hour session, it was a scene sure to be repeated many times. The stimulus may be one of their main priorities, but it is also just the first of many policies the Biden administration hopes to pass through a Senate evenly split between parties that disagree on almost everything, even when the American people dont.

In the hours before her vote was needed, Ms. Harris met with several senators  including Raphael Warnock, Democrat of Georgia, and Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri  and participated in the ceremonial swearing-in of Senator Alex Padilla, who replaced her last month as the junior senator from California.

She returned to her Senate office around 3:30 a.m., according to a White House aide. With C-SPAN in the background, she passed the time by writing notes to Senators Dianne Feinstein of California and Patty Murray of Washington, congratulating them on their 9,000th votes, and to Ann Berry, who was named this week as the first Black secretary of the Senate.
Over 70,000 worth of suspected cocaine was seized by the gardai yesterday, following an incident in Mayo in which three people were charged.

Shortly before 7pm yesterday evening, Gardai from the Mayo Divisional Drugs Task Force stopped and searched a man in his twenties on the Main Street in Balla.

Gardai found the man to be in possession of suspect cocaine valued at around 1,500. He was subsequently arrested, taken to Castlebar Garda Station, and detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act of 1984.

During a follow-up operation, gardai conducted a search of a home in Balla with a warrant. During the search, they seized 1kg of possible cocaine with an estimated street value of 71,640 (subject to analysis), as well as various drug paraphernalia.

Two people were arrested at the scene of the search operation. A man and a woman both in their twenties were also taken to Castlebar Garda Station where they were detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act of 1984.

All three people who were arrested yesterday in relation to this matter have since been charged and appeared before a special sitting of Castlebar District Court this afternoon.


Eight convicts with good conduct and approaching the end of their sentences have been deployed at the first petrol pump launched in Indore on Saturday by the Madhya Pradesh jail department, an official said.

The Indian Oil Corporation filling station, near the Central Jail, was inaugurated by MP Prisons and Correctional Services Director General Arvind Kumar.

"Eight convicts whose conduct has been good and who are going to complete their sentences in a year or two have been engaged to work at this fuel station. It has been opened on a trial basis and will be replicated in more cities if the experiment is successful," Kumar told reporters.

"Giving jobs to convicts at the pump would come handy in rehabilitating them after release," said Indore Central Jail Superintendent Rakesh Kumar Bhangere.

Among those working at the fuel pump is Pratap Singh (55), a native of Ratlam district, who has six months to go for his life sentence for murder to end. "I live with my family in an open jail. Employment in a petrol pump station will make my life easier," he said.

The pump will be run by the Indore-based Central Jail Welfare Committee and revenue would be used for prisoners' welfare, officials added.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Western media's disinformation campaign: two tales, one Xinjiang.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_XI-aiCa34



The tale of an oppressed Xinjiang is a fabrication that Western media refuse ... Western media's disinformation campaign - two tales, one Xinjiang ... tools, but the life of decent people in Xinjiang put them above these abuses.

However, people who visit Xinjiang uncover a different story.

The China Daily investigation film exposes the western media's disinformation campaign on Xinjiang. Forced labor, internment camps, and culture genocide... China Daily's documentary went behind scenes to reveal false and repeated western propaganda regarding Xinjiang.

After visiting factories across Xinjiang and interviewing more than 50 workers and employers, China Daily finds that some Western media reports incite disinformation and discrimination about Xinjiang by resorting to manipulative editing, citing unfounded reports and appealing to biases.

A report by the New York Times accused a sanitation station in Xinjiang of committing forced labor, but the workers in the station said they work here voluntarily and felt very confused when reporters proceeded to question their will to work.

In the West, human rights are about a ballot box and the public having the ability to voice political opinions openly. In China, human rights are about having gainful employment, economic opportunity, access to education, health care and being safe in the streets, said Einar Tangen, a current affairs commentator.

An ASPI report promulgated by Western media stated there are approximately 380 detention centers in Xinjiang. However, China Daily visited the alleged "camps" in ASPI's reports and found its data, analysis and conclusions are completely false.

From 1990 to 2016, Xinjiang was blighted by terrorist attacks in which hundreds of people were killed. The vocational education centers, which Western media repeatedly brand as internment camps, offers people in Xinjiang assuagement and to learn working skills.

In a clothing factory in Hotan, we met with Tursonnissar Ali, who attended training at one of the vocational training centers in 2017 in Xinjiang. She said the language and sewing skills she learned in the center offered her more opportunities.

A BBC report accused a kindergarten in Hotan, Xinjiang of housing children of "detainees" and children were forced to speak Mandarin. But we found children in the kindergarten switched between Uygur and Mandarin at their will.

There are growing concerns that the Uygur way of life is affected by false reports. A short video platform user going by the name Haili915 expressed her frustration when she found a video of her had been manipulated on Western social media as proof that China was detaining people.

Many Western media reports choose to dramatize reality and impose their biases when it comes to reporting on Xinjiang. These reports exploit Xinjiang people as political tools, but the life of decent people in Xinjiang put them above these abuses
Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Friday ordered banks and other financial institutions to close customer accounts used in trading crypto currencies and other related transactions
Two members of an Oregon group charged with deciding who gets coronavirus vaccines next received racist, hateful and upsetting messages, prompting state officials to close public access to the groups last two meetings, state officials revealed Friday.

The Vaccine Advisory Committees explicit focus has been to bring equity to the vaccine equation, speaking for underserved communities and helping combat the racism ingrained in Oregons health care system.

But the group appeared to be the victim of some of what it was fighting, with one member receiving multiple hateful, racist emails and another getting upsetting communications, a spokesman for the Oregon Health Authority said.

It was just so disheartening. These are folks who volunteered their time, Rachael Banks, the public health director, told The Oregonian/OregonLive. Theyre there advocating on behalf of their communities.

The 27-member committee made its final recommendations Jan. 28 as part of its eighth meeting open to the public. State officials said they learned about the emails the following day, prompting them to close access to meetings Tuesday and Thursday in the interests of the members comfort and safety, and because the formal recommendations had already been finalized.

Banks said she believes members were more comfortable speaking openly during the closed meetings. But the lack of transparency prevented the public from hearing members concerns about the process, including the little time they had to come up with recommendations and what one member said was a desire for some form of oversight of how vaccines are allocated locally.

Members did not ask the health authority to close the meeting to the public, Banks said, but multiple people on the committee were concerned when they learned about the racist emails.

The agency acknowledged the fine line it has to walk when choosing to close public access to meetings, which previously had been live streamed or recorded for online viewing.

State officials opted not to even take notes from Thursdays meeting.

There is a transparency and community impact when that kind of violent and intimidating speech makes it difficult for volunteers to serve and advocate for the broader community, spokesman Robb Cowie said. Were always navigating these kinds of tensions and dilemmas about, How do we protect volunteers? How do we also ensure an open forum and a transparent forum?

As part of the committees official work, members at one point said they wanted communities of Black, Indigenous and people of color to be vaccinated after the governors priority groups, which include health care workers, teachers and seniors. But in the groups final decision-making meeting last week, state officials said that would be impossible for legal reasons.

Banks acknowledged the equity groups timeline was fast and explained that the legal analysis wasnt provided until the last meeting because the group only proposed prioritizing BIPOC communities later in the process.

At that point, we began having conversations and understanding the legal implications of that, Banks said. But Im sure that it didnt feel like enough time for people.

The committees final recommendations said people with underlying conditions, frontline workers, people in custody and people living in low-income and group senior housing should be vaccinated next.

The recommendations included a general request that health agencies commit to racial and ethnic equity. The group also asked that local health agencies identify, engage and serve people who our health care system has often failed.

The Oregon Health Authority is reviewing the committees recommendations about vaccination order. The earliest anyone from the list is expected to be eligible, aside from prisoners, is this spring.

-- Fedor Zarkhin

fzarkhin@oregonian.com; 503-294-7674
Socialism promises a fairer society. Many people, regardless of their political labels, respond to this goal. Even some Christians see socialism and Christianity as converging belief systems. Both sides say we have a moral duty to care for the needy and hungry.

Any advocacy of socialism generates at least some degree of sympathetic agreement. Some suspect that socialism, compared to capitalism, occupies the moral high ground.

The problem that quickly arises is the matter of choice or free will. Will you accept socialism only because a powerful government threatens you? If you are compelled to do something, the spirituality goes out of it.

Even if you become a socialist because you believe its the enlightened choice, many dangers loom. Mainly, can you withdraw from a socialist agenda if it starts to be oppressive and indeed murderous? How do you back up? Ask the Venezuelans.

Some countries calling themselves Socialist Democrats have shown flexibility moving in and out of socialist arrangements. When leaders see society shifting in dangerous ways, they're able to say let's back up and restore this or that freedom to the people.

This is a hopeful sign. If you value freedom, the necessary option is reversibility. You may see reversibility in socialist, but everything depends on whether the leaders are reasonable and, indeed, benevolent.

Now we have arrived at the crux of the discussion. Socialism to some degree, and communism almost always, seems to be focused on acquiring ever more power. Lenin famously stated what is supposed to happen: "The goal of socialism is communism. This dynamic appeals to leaders who are ambitious and opportunistic.

You may think you see a reasonable pathway to a fairer society. The cunning dictator-to-be sees a quicker road to conquest. Take over a society, kill the opposition, eliminate freedom, make everyone do what you say. Now the dictator is untouchable.

This sort of leader is likely to be exceptionally ruthless. Think of the careers of Stalin, Lenin, Mao, and Pol Pot. Together they killed 100 million people. Common practice for these leaders is putting people in prison, standing them by a ditch and shooting them, or working them to death.

As the Cambodian communists so charmingly explained, "to keep you is no benefit. To destroy you is no loss."

The realities of American politics have become clearer. Apparently we always had a lot of socialists, but they were discreet. Now they reveal themselves. Listen closely to what they advocate, and imagine the repercussions. Beto ORourke casually said we will take your guns, probably causing a massive civil war. Elizabeth Warren demanded open borders. Very quickly we would have another 20 or 30 million foreigners in the country. The long-term effect would be to overwhelm traditional values and patterns. How do you pull back from this systemic shift? The 30 million could quickly become 50 million and then 100 million. How could you stop this flood? Each of these people would vote to welcome in all his relatives.

All of our quasi-communists support sanctuary cities, which is an extra-legal way to create foreign countries inside this country.

A lot of conservative saw Donald Trump as the last hope  not because he was so perfect, but because he was the only one who could keep us away from the abyss. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg are extreme socialists. We knew this for sure in the summer of 2020, when they casually allowed American cities to be looted and burned. These dangerous leaders used the evil technique perfected by Obama in Ferguson, Baltimore, and Charlottesville: order cops to stand aside.

Are communists so crazy in love with their theories that they believe that the American public would say yes, burn our cities? These left-wing ideologues tend to become lost in dishonest theorizing. What policies, no matter how murderous, would these people not support?

Communists will tell you these machinations are good for you. But inevitably the theorizing ends up letting dictators do more evil. Apparently, it's fun to boss around millions of people. Didn't we all sense this during the pandemic when some states enforced unproven regulations that arguably did more damage than the disease itself?

Now our socialists want public schools, who rarely bother with history, to teach all the sins of the American past, as if this were somehow scholarly and balanced. Quite the opposite. Children need to know how much the world venerates the U.S. and why. Students should hear about all the countries we saved. In particular our schools must show what Communist dictators are capable of. Every student should read an article on Pol Pots murderous career. Let kids (and their teachers) see the neatly piled skulls.

Our public schools seem to be committed to the cause of dictatorship. They should be the opposite, making sure everyone is alert to the dangers all around us.

If you let psychopaths like Stalin or Pol Pot run your country, expect misery. If you elect politicians who might consider such an eventuality acceptable, you will never have peace or safety.

Bruce Deitrick Price's new book is Saving K-12: What happened to our public schools? How do we fix them?

Image: divotomezove via Pixabay, Pixabay License.
Washington, Feb 5 (UNI) Former US President Donald Trump will not testify under oath in the Senate impeachment trial set to begin next week, his attorneys Bruce Castor Jr and David Schoen said in response to a letter from the lead House prosecutor.

"We are in receipt of your latest public relations stunt," the attorneys said in a letter on Thursday. "The use of our Constitution to bring a purported impeachment proceeding is much too serious to try to play games."

Earlier on Thursday, Congressman Jamie Raskin, the lead impeachment manager, invited Trump to provide testimony under oath in the impeachment trial on events related to the Capitol riot on January 6.

The US House of Representatives Articles of Impeachment charge Trump with "inciting insurrection" during a January 6 rally, where he urged supporters to protest lawmakers accepting electoral slates from battleground US states that Trump claims were invalid and cost him election victory.

Opening arguments in the Trump impeachment trial are set to begin on Monday, featuring nine US House Democrats named as impeachment managers.

UNI XC-GNK 0451
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Joe Farr, 2020 chair NAIOP-NM, wrote a very important article for the Dec. 14 Albuquerque Journal Business Outlook. His article was titled, Turning the economic corner will take teamwork.

Farr cited several statistics that clearly show New Mexicos economy is not well and other statistics that show we have widespread poverty. He also pointed out that Albuquerque and New Mexico have the reputation for being anti-business. His remedy was for both sides of the political aisle in Santa Fe, as well as city and rural folks, to avoid the us-versus-them mentality and work together. While I appreciate Farrs comments and wish the business and intellectual community would speak out more, I fear our problems are deeper than Farr reveals.

First, our state has no explicitly stated economic growth vision; therefore, it cant have a strategy to implement a nonexistent vision. However, it appears to implicitly have strategic targets: movie-making and space. The latter is largely space defense work.

Government-funded projects already make up 25% of New Mexicos GDP. While government funding is stable, it is also slow-growth, and it lacks profits to tax. Movie-making requires state subsidies and is also slow-growth.

Netflix makes movies here that it streams throughout the world; however, streaming services are attracting new competition. For example, Disney has successfully entered this domain, Amazon streams movies that it offers through Amazon Prime, etc. Nevertheless, if Netflix can attract high-tech services including firms developing augmented reality software and hardware as well as robotics, it will pay off for our state. Even though movie-making may be a necessary step, I doubt that it will be sufficient to build a fast-growth, sustainable private-sector economy.

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Second, we do not have an education strategy. It is difficult to develop a strategic plan for education that supports the states strategic plan for economic growth when there isnt one. When this is the case, universities are unable to develop high-tech education programs that might attract new, high-growth companies and new sources of dollars to our state, so they focus their professional schools on providing graduates for the internal churn economy: law, real estate, insurance, health care, etc.

The outcome is UNM spends the vast part of its academic budget on health sciences. The next step is reduced state appropriation for college and university education because when you dont know where you are going, it is difficult to get excited about the trip.

In the absence of a state strategy for economic growth and an education strategy that supports it, public institutions become bureaucracies and founder in a chaotic state, making day-to-day matters their entire focus. Are we there yet?

In a serious breach of security, an intruder entered the highly secured Joint Base Andrews that houses the presidential plane, Air Force One, and access an aircraft used by US Vice President and other top officials. Following the incident, the US Air Force announced on Friday that it will conduct a global security review.

In a statement, Joint Base Andrews (JBA) confirmed a male individual with two outstanding warrants accessed one of the C-40B aircraft assigned to the 89th Airlift Wing on Thursday night. The unarmed intruder was arrested by authorities in Maryland.

The base, 24 km from the White House in Washington, DC, is home to the unit responsible for Air Force One and other aircraft reserved for the country's elected leaders and top military brass. There was no indication the suspect, who was not named, had links to extremist groups, base officials said.

A US official told CBS News that the security breach did not impact the presidential fleet. President Joe Biden flew from the base to his home in Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday evening. This was first time he was flying on Air Force One after being sworn in as the 46th US President on January 20.

After gaining access to the airfield, the unarmed intruder then entered a C-40 aircraft from the 89th Airlift Wing, known as the presidential wing, officials said. "I think everybody's taking this very seriously, and the acting secretary of the Air Force and the Air Force chief of staff are going to order the Air Force inspector general to fully investigate this issue," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters on Friday.

Commanders also ordered additional security measures at the base, Kirby said. The C-40 plane the intruder walked into is the Air Force equivalent of a 737 airliner, painted in the US government's blue and white colour scheme, and is designed as an office in the sky for senior military, government leaders and members of Congress, NBC News reported.

The plane is outfitted with secure communications, sleeping quarters and work tables, according to the US Air Force. The Air Force's inspector general will conduct an investigation into the break-in, the Air Force said in its statement. It will also conduct a "comprehensive review of installation security and trends" on its bases around the world.

"The security of our installation is paramount," said Col Roy Oberhaus, a commander at Joint Base Andrews in a statement.

"This was a serious breach of security," Oberhaus added. The break-in comes nearly one month after the January 6 riots at the US Capitol by supporters of former president Donald Trump, which has left stricter security protocols in place.
China is reportedly providing 500,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to Nepal. It was reported, during a telephone conversation between Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday evening, saying that China made a commitment that it would provide 500,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine as a grant.

During the call, the two Ministers discussed vaccine-related cooperation among others, according to the Foreign Ministry of Nepal. Gyawali said that the Nepali government and people are grateful for China's timely and valuable vaccine aid.

Earlier this week, the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu had announced that it would provide 300,000 vaccines to the Himalayan nation. But Nepali authorities have not given approval to any vaccine other than Covishield vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, the Swedish-British pharmaceutical giant.

Last month, India provided one million Covid-19 vaccines with which frontline health workers and other personnel like cleaners and ambulance drivers were vaccinated across the country.

Following the Chinese embassy's announcement, the Department of Drug Administration said that it has asked for the necessary documents from the producer of the Chinese vaccine before it gives approval.

Covid-19 vaccine makers should share production capacity: WHO

Barbados PM thanks PM Modi for donation of corona vaccine

Corona cases in Germany increased by 12,908 to 2,264,909
Based on a report by 91mobiles.com, it seems that Xiaomi will be releasing several products such as the Xiaomi Mi 11 smartphone, 75-inch Mi QLED 4k TV, as well as the Mi Electric Scooter Pro 2 on 8 February 2021. But thats not all, it seems that Xiaomi will also release the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team Edition of the Mi Electric Scooter Pro 2 during the launch as well.

However, do take some of the information with a grain of salt, due to the fact that Xiaomi has yet to provide an official statement on the leak. Not only that, but theres also no news on the Malaysia release date, local pricing, and exact tech specs regarding all the products mentioned above.

Would you be interested in getting the smartphone, smart TV, or electric scooter from Xiaomi as soon as it is available in the local market? Let us know on our Facebook page and for more updates like this, stay tuned to TechNave.com.
New Delhi: The Delhi Police intensified security at all border points of the city as thousands of personnel including paramilitary forces have been deployed to deal with any situation emerging out of the nationwide 'chakka jam' being held on Saturday by the farmers protesting the Centre's new agri laws, officials said.

However, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of the farmer unions protesting the three farm laws, said on Friday the protesters will not block roads in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand during the 'chakka jam', even as it asserted that peasants in other parts of the country will block national and state highways for three hours but in a peaceful way.

Delhi Police

After the Republic Day violence, the Delhi Police has deployed additional measures, including tightening security and intensifying vigil across the city and its border points.

Forces have also been deployed at important junctions across the national capital including Red Fort and ITO which witnessed violence on January 26 during the tractor parade by the protesting farmers in which over 500 police personnel were injured and a protester died.

Police are also using drone cameras to keep a tight vigil at protest sites.

Farmers' protest

Multilayered barricades, barbed wires and nail-studded roads at the protest sites are also part of the precautionary measures taken by the police force.

The police will also be monitoring content on the social media to keep a watch on those spreading rumours against the force, officials said.

After the violence on January 26, Delhi Police S N Shrivastava had accused the protesting farmer union leaders of betrayal and breaching the agreement as thousands of peasants deviated from their pre-decided routes for the tractor parade.

Delhi Police

Farmer unions on Monday had announced countrywide ''chakka jam'' on February 6 when they would block national and state highways between 12 noon and 3 pm to protest the internet ban in areas near their agitation sites, harassment allegedly meted out to them by authorities, and other issues.

Police said they have taken additional measures to deal with any situation emerging out of the 'chakka jam'.

"We are monitoring content on the social media to make sure rumours are not spread against the police. The protesters are camping at the borders of Delhi. We are in touch with the police force of other states also," he added.
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State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has cut carbon emission intensity of its operations by over 12 per cent in the last five years as part of making its operations more sustainable, chairman and managing director Shashi Shanker said. Shanker, speaking at the 15th National Convention of Global Compact Network India (GCNI), called for deeper collaborative tie-ups between all stakeholders to help the nation navigate through the unprecedented and changing times.

"On ONGC's efforts towards sustainable growth, Shanker said that over the last five years, the energy Maharatna has reduced its carbon emission intensity (that is, tonnes of carbon di-oxide emitted per barrel of oil produced) by more than 12 per cent," a company statement said here.

ONGC is India's largest oil and gas producer.

He called the platform to "engage and contribute to achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) for people, planet, progress and peace."

He is also the President of GCNI.

Held for the first time through virtual medium, the two-day National Convention of GCNI on February 4-5 was themed 'Raising the SDG Ambition - Pathways for Sustainable Recovery and Growth'.

Emphasizing the role of GCNI, which was founded in 2003, Shanker noted that the organization has spread the message of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) to corporate India and has created a platform that offers a bouquet of services to its members to facilitate better understanding and imbibing the 10 principles of SDGs into their work culture and corporate governance structures.

"GCNI is the only agency in India driving all 17 SDGs chartered by the United Nations. In the past few months, GCNI has taken to the online platform and worked tirelessly towards achieving the SDGs as we inch closer to the set target of 2030," he added.

He cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's motto of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas, Sabka Vishwaas' resonating with the core SDG principle of leaving no one behind.

Showcasing India's progress on the sustainable development front, Shanker referred to the nation's narrative 'Satat Bharat - Sanatan Bharat' to highlight the nation's commitment towards a sustainable future.

He noted that economic growth of any nation requires various forms of energy, which should be accessible, affordable and clean.

"The country's climate action strategies emphasize clean and efficient energy systems, a resilient urban infrastructure and a planned eco-restoration, among others. Today India occupies fifth position in overall installed renewable energy capacity," he said.

Also read: Oil prices gain as OPEC+ continues output cuts, US crude stocks fall
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 5, 2021) - CARLYLE COMMODITIES CORP. (CSE: CCC) (FSE: 1OZA) (OTC Pink: DLRYF) ("Carlyle" or the "Company") and its partner United Mineral Services Ltd. ("UMS"), a private company owned by Robert Dickinson, report the results of an initial three-hole core drilling program completed between September 14 and September 22, 2020 at their Mack copper-molybdenum-tungsten property (the "Mack Project") located 23 km west of the village of Dease Lake, B.C., ("B.C."). Amarc Resources Ltd., an affiliate of Hunter Dickinson Inc. ("HDI"), operated the drill program for Carlyle and UMS. Following the completion of the drill program, Carlyle and UMS will now form a 50:50 joint venture on the Mack Project.

The Mack Project drill program (the "Mack Drill Program") comprised three, very wide-spaced NQ core holes (totaling 583 m) designed to test separate portions of a northwest trending, coincident copper, molybdenum, tungsten and bismuth, soil geochemical anomaly measuring about 1,000 m long and 400 - 500 m wide, located on an overburden covered alpine plateau (see drill plan and copper soil anomaly maps attached). In addition, a British Columbia Ministry of Energy and Mines Open File 1999-3 lists the Mack Project area as having potential for reduced intrusion related gold systems.1 Known example deposits of that type would include Fort Knox in Alaska and Brewery Creek in the Yukon.

The Mack Drill Program was designed to test the anomalous gold concentrations reported from trenching programs outlined in historical assessment reports filed with the B.C. government in 19762 and 19793 and also to determine a bedrock source for anomalous concentrations of copper, molybdenum and tungsten in soil samples collected during a 386-grid sample program completed by UMS in 2018.4

All three holes (MK2001 thru MK2003) intersected the targeted geological setting; a sheeted and stockwork vein/fracture system hosted by granodiorite. No other significant rock types were encountered. Fractures, veins, alteration and occurrences of pyrite, chalcopyrite (copper) and molybdenite (molybdenum) were similar in all three holes but their degree of development varied. Fractures and veins varied in density, alteration intensity varied from none to weak, and sulphide mineralization varied from none to locally 10%. Pyrite occurs disseminated within the granodiorite and also in fractures and veins, whereas molybdenite and chalcopyrite occurrences are restricted to fractures and veins. An increase in the density of structures is generally associated with an increase in molybdenite and chalcopyrite. All three holes host scattered chalcopyrite and molybdenite from the start of the hole to the end of the hole. Chalcopyrite and molybdenite are hosted by quartz-pyrite fractures and veins, although more than 90% of fractures and veins are devoid of these minerals. All three holes returned anomalous, unevenly distributed, concentrations of tungsten (scheelite), anomalous bismuth and with no anomalous gold results.

MK2001 was drilled at an azimuth of 204 and an inclination of -45 to a length of 222 m. It was designed to intersect at moderate depth, the mineralization recorded from the nearby trenches and pits excavated by hand in 1976 and 1979. MK2002 was drilled at an azimuth of 070 and an inclination of -45 to a length of 197 m. It was designed to test an area of coincident moderate to high copper and molybdenum and scattered low gold in-soil anomalies returned from the 2018 geochemical soil sampling survey. MK 2003 was drilled at an azimuth of 237 and an inclination of -45 to a length of 164 m. It was designed to test an area of moderate copper in-soil anomalism also defined by the 2018 geochemical soil sampling survey.

Of the three holes, MK2001 contained a greater abundance of veins/fractures, numerous veins with sericitic alteration halos and the greatest amount of chalcopyrite, molybdenite and scheelite. Holes MK2002 and MK2003 were not as well mineralized as MK2001 and their geochemical results are lower (see Mack Drill Program analytical results table below).

MACK ANALYTICAL RESULTS Drill

Hole Incl. From

(m) To

(m) Int.

(m) Au

(ppb) Ag

(g/t) Bi

(ppm) Cu

(ppm) Mo

(%) W

(ppm) WO3A

(%) MK2001 Entire Hole 2.7 222 219.0 1.3 0.47 5.0 248 0.015 104.4 0.013 MK2001 Incl. 51.0 120 69.0 1.9 0.46 3.8 221 0.021 157.6 0.020 MK2002 Entire Hole 7.3 197 189.7 1.1 0.32 0.8 193 0.019 35.0 0.004 MK2002 Incl. 47.0 119 72.0 1.0 0.36 0.4 168 0.036 39.0 0.005 MK2003 Entire Hole 9.6 164 154.4 1.1 0.37 4.1 214 0.009 26.9 0.003 MK2003 Incl. 17.0 68 51.0 1.2 0.37 3.6 183 0.015 39.6 0.005

AWO 3 is calculated from the W result as follows: W ppm (elemental tungsten) * 1.2612/10,000 = WO3% (tungsten trioxide). Marketable concentrates of tungsten are typically described in terms of WO3% (tungsten trioxide) content.

Although the Mack Project has some characteristics of a reduced intrusion related system, a better mineral system analogy is likely the Northern Dancer (Logtung) mineral system located some 225 km to the north near Watson Lake in the Yukon.5 Logtung is a low grade, large tonnage, tungsten-molybdenum system hosted by an intrusive. Its geochemical signature appears to be similar to the geochemical results obtained from the Mack Drill Program. The extensive area of anomalous mineralization intersected at Mack could represent the margins of such a system. Hole MK2001 returned the greatest number and highest geochemical concentrations of copper, molybdenum and tungsten suggesting mineralization is increasing to the south-east towards the strongest portion of the northwest-southeast trending soil geochem anomaly (see copper soil anomaly map attached). The location of MK2001, and further to the south-east, is in an area with few outcrop exposures. Therefor an induced polarization (IP) geophysical survey east of hole MK2001 across the area of anomalous soil geochemistry could assist in selecting potential new drill targets.

Quality Control/Quality Assurance Program

Mack Project drill core was logged, photographed and cut in half with a diamond saw. 188 half core samples were sent to Activation Laboratories Ltd. ("Actlabs"), Kamloops, British Columbia facility (17025 accredited), for preparation and Au analysis by fire assay fusion of a 30 g sample followed by ICP finish. Prepared samples were sent to Actlabs laboratory at Ancaster, Ontario (17025 accredited) for W assay by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and for Cu, Ag, Mo, Bi and 58 additional element analysis by four acid digestion of a 0.25 g sample followed by ICP-OES/MS finish. Control samples were inserted in each analytical batch at the following rates: standards one in 20 regular samples, duplicates one in 20 samples and blanks one in 20 samples. WO 3 was calculated: W ppm (elemental tungsten) * 1.2612/10,000 = WO3% (tungsten trioxide). Marketable concentrates of tungsten are typically described in terms of WO3% (tungsten trioxide) content.

Debt Settlement and Property Transfers

The Company also announces that it has entered into an assignment, assumption, debt settlement and subscription agreement dated February 4, 2021 (the "Debt Assignment and Settlement Agreement") with each of WEM Western Energy Metals Ltd. ("WEM") and BC Vanadium Corp. ("BCVC"), both wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Company, and Ridgeline Exploration Services Ltd. ("Ridgeline"), to settle certain amounts owed by each subsidiary for unpaid remuneration for geological and mineral consulting services performed by Ridgeline.

Pursuant to terms of the Debt Assignment and Settlement Agreement, the Company has agreed to issue an aggregate of 1,577,138 common shares in the capital of the Carlyle (each, a "Share") at a deemed price of $0.13 per Share as full and final payment of debt in the aggregate amount of $205,028; of which WEM and BCVC agreed to assign, and the Company agreed to assume an aggregate of $170,488 (the "Debt Settlement").

Concurrent to and in connection with the Debt Settlement, each of WEM and BCVC entered into separate mineral property purchase agreements with Ridgeline, pursuant to which Ridgeline agreed to acquire from each of WEM and BCVC respectively 100% undivided, unencumbered legal and beneficial interests in the "Porcher" and "Star" properties, respectively located in the Vancouver and Skeena mining divisions of the Province of British Columbia, as well as the "Peneece" and "Blackie" properties, located in the Skeena Mining Division of the Province of British Columbia (collectively, the "Mineral Properties"), in consideration for the full and final payment of an aggregate of $25,000 in debt owed by each of WEM and BCVC for certain geological and mineral consulting services rendered performed by Ridgeline (the "Subsidiary Debt Settlement").

In addition to the Debt Settlement and the Subsidiary Debt Settlement, the Company has also agreed to issue an aggregate of 1,527,392 Shares at a deemed price of $0.14 per Share to certain creditors of the Company as full and final payment of debt in the aggregate amount of $213,834.93, to settle certain amounts owed by the Company for unpaid accounting, corporate and consulting services (together with the Debt Settlement, the "Settlements").

A director of the Company is also a director and controlling shareholder of Ridgeline. Accordingly, each of the Debt Settlement and the Subsidiary Debt Settlement constituted a "related party transaction" within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The issuance of the Shares and the conveyances of the Mineral Properties to Ridgeline, however, were exempt from the valuation requirements of MI 61-101 by the virtue of the exemption contained in section 5.5(b) as the Company's Shares are not listed on a specified market and from the minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 by virtue of the exemption contained in Section 5.7(1)(a) as the value of the Shares issued under the Debt Settlement and the Mineral Properties under the Subsidiary Debt Settlement did not exceed 25% of the Company's market capitalization.

The Shares issued in connection with the Settlements will be subject to a statutory hold period expiring four months and one day after the date of issuance (the "Issuance Date"), as set out in National Instrument 45-102 - Resale of Securities.

Qualified Person as Defined Under National Instrument 43-101

Linda Erdman, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"), has reviewed and approved the technical content in this release. However, historical information contained in this news release cannot be relied upon as the Company's Qualified Person, as defined under NI 43-101 has not prepared nor verified the historical information.

About Carlyle

Carlyle is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral resource properties. The Company has an option to earn a 100% interest in the Cecilia Gold-Silver Project located in the State of Sonora, Mexico. Carlyle formed a strategic partnership with HDI and has formed a 50-50 joint venture with HDI affiliate United Mineral Services Ltd. on the Mack Project and has an option to earn a 50% interest in the Jake project, both located in B.C., as well owns 100% of the Newton Gold Project in the Clinton Mining Division of B.C. The Company also holds an option to earn a 100% interest in the promising Sunset property located in the Vancouver Mining Division near Pemberton, B.C. Carlyle is based in Vancouver, B.C., and is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") under the symbol "CCC".

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF

CARLYLE COMMODITIES CORP.

"Morgan Good"

Morgan Good

Chief Executive Officer

For more information regarding this news release, please contact:

Morgan Good, CEO and Director

T: 604-715-4751

E: morgan@carlylecommodities.com

W: www.carlylecommodities.com

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 legislation. All statements in this news release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations and orientations regarding the future including, without limitation, the Mack Project. 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 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. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that market fundamentals will support the viability of gold, copper and other precious mineral exploration of the Mack Project, the availability of the financing required for the Company to carry out its planned future activities, and the Company's ability to retain and attract qualified personnel.

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 strain of coronavirus, COVID-19, also poses 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 gold or other precious metals and base metals, changes in the financial markets and in the demand for gold or other precious metals, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting the mineral exploration industry, and risks related to the Company's investments and operations in the mineral exploration sector in Canada and abroad, 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 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.

Neither the CSE 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).





Figure 1

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Figure 2

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1 Lefebure, D.V., Fournier, M.A., & Jackaman, W. (1999). Open File 1999-3 Prospective Areas in British Columbia for Intrusions Related Gold-Tungsten-Bismuth veins.

2 Sadlier-Brown, N., & Nevin. A.E. (1976). A Report on a geological Survey of the Mack 1 to 36 mineral claims (AR6354).

3 Kern, F. (1979). A Report on a work program on Mack 1 to 8, 11, 13, 15. (AR7657).

4 Shirmohammad, F., Rebagliati, M., & Benn, c. (2019). An Assessment report (AR38367) on soil sampling and geochemical modeling of Mack Property.

5 Brand, A.A. (2008). Mineralogy, Geochemistry, and Geochronology of the Northern Dancer Tungsten Molybdenum Deposit, Yukon and British Columbia (University of British Columbia). https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collecions/ubctheses/24/items/1.0052747

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/73788

Remote patient consultations using video conferencing technology are set to endure as a key feature of healthcare provision in a post-pandemic world, a medical supply company has predicted.

Virtual appointments that were embraced out of necessity during the Covid-19 crisis are here to stay and likely to be commonplace in all hospitals going forward, Hospital Services Limited (HSL) said.

The prediction came as HSL became the first healthcare equipment provider in the UK and Ireland to enter a formal partnership with Zoom.

HSL, which specialises in telehealth technology, is working with Zoom to offer healthcare facilities virtual care services for clinicians and patients.

It also envisages Zoom being a key tool for administration and medical education activities.

The company, which has bases in Dublin, Belfast and Nottingham and works extensively in the Irish healthcare sector, believes the use of a well-known platform such as Zoom will make it easier for patients to access services remotely, as many are already familiar with the app and how it works.

Sam McMaster, director of telehealth for HSL, said: The option to leverage the Zoom services as part of telehealth applications and virtual healthcare platforms offered by HSL brings a new and dynamic dimension to the market for these services.

Zoom is the app of choice for many people and has been used extensively in medical education for many years.

Our ability to provide Zoom as a service for our customers in health and to integrate this with the clinical workflows that drive the health service to deliver secure, private, safe virtual consultations will help our customers to transform the health service.

HSL chief executive Dominic Walsh said: The addition of this service to our growing portfolio of telehealth-enabled practices and solutions empowers our customers to deliver integrated virtual health platforms as part of their Covid management plans and in a way that they will remain as part of the health service beyond this pandemic.

Ron Emerson, global healthcare lead at Zoom Video Communications, said: We are excited by the prospect of working with Hospital Services Limited to create more uses for Zoom in healthcare in the UK and Ireland in ways that will exploit the fantastic capabilities, current and future, that Zoom provides.

I know and have worked with the HSL telehealth team for many years and understand the specialist skills and experience they provide that can help healthcare providers to embrace and use Zoom to deliver benefit to clinicians and patients alike.
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A photo of the former Cenikor facility in Baton Rouge. The former drug rehab facility at 2414 Bunker Hill has been sold for $4.1 million to a group out of New Orleans and two tenants have signed leases to move into the property.
(Natural News) Rep. Elise Stefanik and her fellow Republican Congressmen from New York signed a letter Wednesday, Feb. 3, asking the acting U.S. attorney general to immediately subpoena Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his team for all documents and communications related to the states COVID-19 nursing home policies.

This move came after New York State Attorney General Letitia James released a report last week detailing how Cuomos administration had underreported thousands of coronavirus-related deaths in state nursing homes by as much as 50 percent.

Officials of New York State Department of Health immediately issued new data for nursing home COVID-19 deaths, adding more than 3,800 to the previous tally. This increased the overall death toll related to those facilities by more than 40 percent.

In the letter, addressed to acting U.S. Attorney General Robert Monty Wilkinson, the seven House Representatives requested that Wilkinson issue subpoenas to Cuomo, Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa, state Health Department Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker as well as their staff.

They argued that Jamess report showed how Cuomo and his staff recklessly and knowingly underreported deaths in nursing homes across the state after his decision in March last year to require nursing homes to accept COVID-19 patients.

We are grateful to New York State Attorney General Letitia James for revealing the veracity of Governor Cuomos mismanagement in her recent report, but the people of New York deserve greater transparency, accountability, and ultimately, the truth about the cover-up that Governor Cuomos administration engaged in, the letter said.

In August last year, the Republican House Representatives pushed for the Department of Justice, then headed by Attorney General William Barr, to investigate the states nursing home policy. In their letter, they also requested an immediate and thorough update on that probe.

Fellow Democrat puts Cuomo in hot water

The report by James, a Democrat, cast more doubt on the states decision to send nursing home residents who had been hospitalized with the coronavirus back to the nursing homes.

The apparent undercount of deaths in nursing homes also gave weight to speculation that the state may have intentionally played down the number of those deaths to avoid blame.

We will work to ensure that Acting Attorney General Wilkinson and President [Joe] Biden support this pursuit for the truth about Governor Cuomo and his administration, considering the scathing evidence presented in Attorney General Jamess recent report, Stefanik said in a prepared statement. Tens of thousands of innocent people in our great state died, and unlike the Governor, we care.

Stefanik has been a vocal critic of Cuomo throughout the pandemic. She has repeatedly criticized him over the states nursing home policies during the crisis. She was the lead signer in the letter. (Related: Nolte: Andrew Cuomos nursing home massacre revealed as one more true conspiracy theory.)

This is now more than a nursing home scandal, said Stefanik. This is a massive corruption and cover-up scandal.

Cuomos camp was quick to fire back.

Its no surprise this QAnon Trump puppet, her treason caucus and their friends want to talk about anything other than the approaching one month anniversary of the Capitol insurrection that they helped foment and resulted in the death of a police officer, Rich Azzopardi, senior advisor to the governor, said in a prepared statement Wednesday night. Its a naked ploy and New Yorkers see right through it. Maybe someone should investigate what she and the rest of the Trump enablers knew about the organizing and planning of this riot.

Deaths in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have accounted for about a third of the countrys over 430,000 COVID-19 deaths. This is why federal and state authorities have made vaccinating staff and residents at such facilities a top priority. In New York, deaths in those facilities were a great source of controversy.

For several months now, Cuomo had been accused of obscuring a more accurate estimate of nursing home deaths.

Health commissioner explains discrepancy

Dr. Zucker, the states health commissioner, said that the state website had always been clear that the deaths it listed did not include deaths outside of a facility. This means that the states count only included the number of deaths at the facilities and not accounting for the residents who died at a hospital after being transferred there.

The word undercount implies there are more total fatalities than have been reported, he said. This is factually wrong.

While the new data released by the state health department put the total number of deaths connected to nursing homes from less than 9,000 to 12,743, the increase did not alter New Yorks coronavirus death count of more than 42,000.

The department simply reassigned deaths previously counted toward a municipality to the nursing homes those people were residents of.

But aside from the number of deaths connected to nursing homes, Jamess report also scrutinized immunity provisions granted to healthcare providers codified by Cuomo in the state budget.

The report said the protection of immunity may have prompted some nursing homes to make financially motivated decisions at the height of the pandemic, like admitting patients even when the facilities were facing staff shortages or were unequipped to care for them.

For the uninitiated, the New York State budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year offers legal immunities to healthcare providers in the fight against COVID-19. Known as the Emergency or Disaster Treatment Protection Act (EDTPA), it designates immunity from any liability, civil or criminal, for New York healthcare providers.

Follow Pandemic.news for more news and information related to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.

Sources include:

ConservativeBrief.com

NYTimes.com

ExpertInstitute.com
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The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has said President Muhammadu Buhari has not contravened any law by reappointing Mr Ahmed Idris as the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF).

Ngige said this on Friday while addressing State House reporters after a meeting with Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Labour unions have been raising concern over the legality of the stay of Idris as AGF, having reached the statutory retirement age of 60 years in November 2020.

President Buhari reappointed Idris as the AGF in June 2019 for a second four-year term in the office.

The minister said the president only exercised his constitutional powers. According to him, Section 171 of the constitution empowers the president to exercise discretion in appointing persons into some extra-ministerial offices, adding that the same constitution spelt out the offices in the category, to which the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation fell.

"The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation is a sensitive position that deals with financial issues, so he feels, and very rightly too, that this is the man that has been there and he is doing a good work and he wants to continue with him," he said.

Ngige also said that any move by the unions in the university system to go ahead with its planned strike would contravene the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) statute on social dialogue and principles at work.

The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), as well as the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU), had given a notice of strike expected to start midnight of February 5.

The minister, however, asked the unions to give government three months to forward a supplementary budget to the National Assembly to cover arrears of the minimum wage that had not been paid to them.

He said the government had "apprehended" the strike by engaging on social dialogue with the unions.

Mario Draghi, former head of the European Central Bank looks on at the Quirinal palace after a meeting with the Italian president in Rome on Feb. 3, 2021. (Alessandra Tarantino/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Italys Draghi Wins Support of 2 Rival Parties for New Government

MILANItalian Premier-designate Mario Draghi has secured preliminary support from two key parties for forming a new government that will decide how to spend more than 200 billion euros ($240 billion) in European Union funds to help relaunch Italys pandemic-ravaged economy.

The populist 5-Star Movement and the right-wing League both signaled support for a Draghi-led government on Feb. 6, saying they were ready to put aside bitter rivalries for the good of the country and increasing the potential for a broad-based government of national unity.

Draghi, 73, the former president of the European Central Bank, completed a first round of talks with political parties last week. Another round is expected early this week on potential Cabinet ministers and a synthesis from Draghi of his vision for the new government. He also is expected to meet with unions, business lobbies, and other members of civil society.

Italys president tapped Draghi this week to form a government after the resignation of ex-Premier Giuseppe Conte, who lost the support of a small but key coalition party. Before Feb. 6, Draghi already lined up the support of the Democratic Party, former Premier Silvio Berlusconis Forza Italia, former Premier Matteo Renzis Italy Live, and the small Free and Equal party.

After their meetings with Draghi, both 5-Star Movement leader Vito Crimi and League leader Matteo Salvini spoke about acting in the interest of Italy, the first Western nation to be struck hard by the coronavirus. With the economic fallout of the pandemic still being tallied, both acknowledged they would have to put aside political rivalries and betrayals in order to do so.

We wont forget the acts committed by some political forces, who are present in our memories and in our political committees, Crimi said, in what appeared to be a reference to Renzi yanking Italy Alives support from Contes governing coalition and triggering its collapse.

Likewise, Salvini, a former interior minister in Contes first government, noted that he would be sitting alongside politicians who voted to lift his parliamentary immunity so he could be put on trial in Sicily for not allowing migrant rescue ships disembark in Italy when he was minister.

We are ready to overcome everything in the interest of the country, Crimi said of the 5-Star Movement, which was the top vote-getter in the last parliamentary election in 2018 and a key element of both Conte governments, the first with the right-wing League and the second with the left-wing Democratic Party.

Salvinis move to support Draghi puts him at odds with the Brothers of Italy party and its leader, Giorgia Meloni. She said on Feb. 5 that she would remain in opposition. Salvini cited the weight of the EU recovery funds needed to relaunch the Italian economy after a national lockdown and subsequent public health restrictions.

I would rather be in the room where it is decided if the money is used well or not, instead of being on the outside, he said.

Crimi said that Italy would be judged by its European partners on how it spends the considerable funds, and that the 5-Stars want to guarantee the money will be distributed with honesty, transparency, and in the exclusive interest of citizens well-being.

The world is watching us and will judge if the country has changed, Crimi said.

Italian Sen. Emma Bonino, who formerly was an EU commissioner, said she hoped that bringing together parties from such a broad political spectrum wouldnt dissolve into infighting.

What we dont want is that this translates into yes on this, no on that, I cant sit with him, she told SKY TG24. The priorities need to be completing the vaccination program, because without that the economy cant be relaunched, and reform or rewrite the plan for the EU funds.

By Colleen Barry
Every week our Holiday Hero Neil Simpson takes an in-depth look at a brilliant holiday topic, doing all the legwork so you dont have to. This week: How to get personal advice before you book a post-lockdown holiday.

Amid the confusion of quarantine rules and travel corridors, help is at hand for anyone nervous about booking a holiday.

If you dont want to risk being passed from person to person in a call centre if things go wrong, a small band of travel agents offer a mix of expert advice and old-fashioned personal service.

Trailfinders uses technology to recognise your phone number and put you through to the same expert every time you call. One popular choice for the summer is Santorini, Greece

Unsung heroes of the holiday industry include the Travel Counsellors network, who have been offering one-to-one advice throughout the pandemic.

The company website lets you find either a nearby expert or someone who shares your passion, whether its for beach breaks, safaris, ski trips or specific countries.

Customers are then given a direct phone number and email address for their chosen expert so the perfect ATOL-protected holiday can be drawn up together.

Counsellors are independent so they can pick from any airline, hotel or holiday provider.

Customers can access the companys free app, and a 24-hour duty office gives support if anything changes while you are away (travelcounsellors.co.uk).

If you are looking for a traditional package holiday, then staff at Hays Travel can help. While they are not in high-street branches during lockdown, they are divided into small local teams so you can speak to the same people each time. Latest best-buys include the chance to holiday like a rock star with flights and a week at the beachfront Hard Rock Hotel in Tenerife from 599pp  it can be booked with a deposit of just 60 (haystravel.co.uk).

The more adventurous your requirements, the more personal advice you might need, which is where specialists such as Discover The World can come in.

The company recruits well-travelled staff who focus on areas they know best. After an initial chat, customers are looked after by the same specialist throughout their booking. Video calls are on offer as well as phone consultations as you work out the perfect trip (discover-the-world.com).

Dial-a-Flight has been booking holidays all over the world for some 40 years. Latest deals include a luxurious week in the Maldives

Or turn to Trailfinders, which uses technology to recognise your phone number and put you through to the same expert every time you call. Theres an option to use Zoom video-calling for a holiday-planning session and an assurance that your adviser will be in touch if travel rules change after youve booked.

Customers can also rely on the companys much-praised policy of putting payments into a ring-fenced account so refunds can be made fast if holidays have to be cancelled.

Popular choices for summer include Greece, where you can float in an infinity pool at the chic Omma hotel on the island of Santorini  famous as one of the worlds best places to watch sunsets. Book seven nights, including flights and private transfers, from 1,249pp (trailfinders.com).

Experts are also on hand at Dial-a-Flight, which has been booking holidays all over the world for some 40 years.

After getting in touch with the company, each customer is given a private number to a team of no more than six experts who are always there to answer queries.

Customers also receive a courtesy call from their adviser just before their holiday to resolve any last-minute questions.

Latest deals include a luxurious week at the sporty Lux South Ari Atoll resort set on 2 miles of sandy beaches in the Maldives from 1,355pp, including flights (dialaflight.com).




Nvidia's new flagship goes by the name of GeForce RTX 3090 and offers a whopping 24 GB of graphics memory for the consumer sector for the first time. These memory sizes were previously only available in professional graphics solutions like the Quadro or Titan models. One thing is for sure: Criticism due to too little VRAM does not apply with the RTX 3090.

Nvidia clearly deviates from the reference design of the RTX 2000 cards in terms of cooling design. The cooling unit was developed from the ground up, and even three slots are occupied in the GeForce RTX 3090. In return, it finally offers a fan-stop mode, which reduces the noise level in 2D mode significantly. Nvidia also places one axial fan per side, something that we had not seen in this form before. The large 110-millimeter fans push a lot of air through the cooling fins that are distributed over the entire length of the graphics card. This provides a very large cooling surface to quickly dissipate the power loss of the 350 watts. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 weighs a good 2 kilograms. If you install the graphics card horizontally in your system, you should consider a stand. The PCI slot will thank you in the long run. Unlike with the MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X, Nvidia does not include a graphics card support stand with its model.

Another new feature is the 12-pin power connector. This replaces the previous 2x 8-pin connectors. However, in our opinion, its placement is not very well designed, because those who use the included adapter will always have an unsightly cable tangle in front of them in their field of vision. Various power supply manufacturers have reacted and offer suitable cables to be able to manage without the included adapter construction.

Externally, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a connections.


Renault and Stellantis have both decided to suspend the production of new cars due to the lack of semiconductors used for engine management and certain electronic systems, according to a recent report , with operations to resume later this month.Renault will halt the car manufacturing at one factory in France and two more in Morocco and Romania, though the company says this is a temporary solution that would only be used for several days.Stellantis has also decided to suspend the production at its Eisenach factory in Germany and the Zaragoza plant in Spain.Several other carmakers, including Volkswagen, Toyota , and Ford have been struggling to deal with the chip shortage in the last months, though until now, the impact on their output is believed to be minimal despite the temporary suspension of the production.The shortage of essential semiconductors used by automotive companies for critical electronic systems installed on their cars is the result of the global health issue that has caused the demand for other devices, such as laptops and tablets, to skyrocket throughout 2020.With the world entering a massive lockdown and plenty of people moving to remote working, sales of productivity devices took off last year, eventually hitting the manufacturing capacity of the biggest foundries, most of them located in Asia.With not enough chip capacity to meet the demand, the automotive industry has been hit the hardest, despite promises from large companies, such as TSMC, to boost the production and ship more orders to carmakers across the globe.TSMC, which is Apples biggest partner for the manufacturing of the iPhone and other key products, confirmed earlier this year that its chip capacity was already at 100 percent, but it was making efforts to ship orders to the automotive industry too.The chip shortage is eventually expected to hit other sectors too, and South Korean tech giant Samsung has warned that at one point, the smartphone business could also be hit, especially because the largest foundries in the world are continuously redirecting orders. Samsung is concerned the release of new phones would be pushed back, as foundries would eventually prioritize other industry sectors.At this point, nobody knows for sure when the chip crisis is supposed to come to an end, but some estimate the production would finally align with the global demand in the summer, when the sales of some electronics, such as smartphones and tablets, typically decline.
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Now that Donald Trump has left the White House, President Joe Biden has said he will not be getting intelligence briefings because of his 'erratic conduct' that suggests 'he could slip and say something.'

Biden does not want Trump to get intelligence briefings

On Friday night, CBS Evening News asked President Biden whether he thinks his predecessor should be given intelligence briefings. "I don't think so," he said. When asked why Biden said, "Unrelated to the insurrection because of his erratic behavior."

According to the Daily Mail, the President said that if Trump were granted access to extremely sensitive information, he would "rather not guess out loud" his greatest fear. But there was "no reason" for him to be associated now that he has left the White House, Biden added.

Read also: Majority of Republicans to Join A New Political Party if Trump Starts to Create One

Routine intelligence briefings and access to sensitive information have been a tradition for past presidents after leaving office, but not at the highest standards reserved for the present officeholder.

It is said that the move helps outgoing presidents to continue serving the needs of the country. Yet, it is an honor granted to the incoming president out of respect for his predecessor. It is entirely up to the sitting president whether or not to give access to past presidents.

As a privilege, former presidents get intel briefings, but there is no obligation to do so. It could be revoked if Biden feels that Trump's access to classified information is unacceptable, Newsweek via MSN reported.

Trump was previously accused of being careless with intelligence briefings

President Biden's fears are not baseless as Trump has been accused of being careless with intelligence during his tenure in office, not paying attention to briefings, and even exchanging confidential information with other nations.

On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the "intelligence community acknowledges requests for intelligence briefings by former presidents and will review any requests, as they always have."

Biden's suggestion that it may be dangerous to provide Trump with classified details could be real for those who recognize the 2017 disagreement over a meeting that President Trump had with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak.

It was later confirmed that during the Oval Office meeting, Trump had responded to information from Israel about an imminent operation organized by Isis, which had been reportedly communicated from Israel to the U.S. It revealed that Israel had a source inside the terrorist organization, as per the Independent via MSN.

The White House denied sharing any sensitive information, and Trump said he had "the absolute right to do it."

Read also: White House Lets Intel Community Review Intelligence Requests from Trump but He Has Not Made Any

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(Newser)  In what The Hollywood Reporter calls "the latest development of a career in freefall," Armie Hammer is now without a talent agency. A week after his exit from The Offer, a movie about the making of The Godfatherwhich was preceded by Hammer pulling out of Shotgun Wedding with Jennifer LopezHammer has been dropped by William Morris Endeavor. The move comes after the 34-year-old Call Me by Your Name star was slammed for graphic social-media messages he allegedly sent multiple women. After a string of those messageswhich included fantasies of rape, abuse, and cannibalismto one woman were posted online, others who'd been in relationships with him or otherwise interacted with him came forward to say they'd received similar messages and experienced behavior from him that included manipulation, psychological abuse, and coercion, per Variety.

story continues below

Sources tell THR that Hammer's publicist has also ditched him in the wake of these accusations. Hammer hasn't yet confirmed he actually sent the messages, only saying in a statement last month that there were "vicious and spurious online attacks against me" and that he had no intention of addressing "these bull--- claims." In a Monday Instagram post, Hammer's ex, Elizabeth Chambers, said she was "shocked, heartbroken, and devastated" to hear about "everything that has transpired," per USA Today. Although Hammer has exited projects in production, he's set to appear in a bunch of other movies already completed, which Variety notes "will cause a headache for studio executives who will have to scramble to figure out marketing plans and press tours." Among those films are Crisis, co-starring Gary Oldman, as well as Disney's Death on the Nile with Kenneth Branagh and Gal Gadot, and Taika Waititi's Next Goal Wins, in which Hammer has a small part. (Read more Armie Hammer stories.)
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New Hartford, N.Y. - Some local school districts are back to hybrid learning in the viewing area, some are still online with plans to go back to hybrid following the winter break.

The New Hartford School District is planning to return to hybrid learning on February 22.

Friday night, about 150 parents and children combined walked the streets of New Hartford calling for full in-person learning; holding signs saying "No More Zoom" and "Make Students Essential."

New Hartford schools have been fully remote since before thanksgiving and due to high Covid-19 positivity rates in the county in early January, their plans to return to the hybrid model on January 25, have been delayed about 4 more weeks.

Parents told Newschannel2 that they are frustrated by the district's decision and want their kids back in the classroom.

Despite the fact that parents have actually reached out to the school and given the New Hartford district the information about these other districts, we are still closed and that's why we're here today, to let the district know that we want to be open and we will do whatever it takes to be open, said Jason Tallman, New Hartford resident.

When you have to be remote, if you have to ok fine but with the positivity rate that we have right now and the number of cases that we have right now, it just seems ridiculous that we're at home, said Margaret Tallman, New Hartford resident.

I think its taking a big mental toll that they are not getting the one-on-one attention with teachers that they need. Especially with socialization, theyre not seeing their friends face-to-face, said Brittany Derosa, New Hartford resident.

Oneida Countys Covid-19 14-day-average positivity rate is now 3.3 %.

The Superintendent's letter to parents and students in regards to their return to in-person learning is on the districts website.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a day's visit to poll-bound Assam and West Bengal on February 7 to lay the foundation stone for several infrastructure projects.

According to a government statement, Modi will visit Assam on Sunday around 11.45 a.m. and will lay the foundation stone of two hospitals and launch 'Asom Mala', a programme for state highways and major district roads, at Dhekiajuli in the state's Sonitpur district.

Later on the same day, the Prime Minister is scheduled to visit Haldia in West Bengal around 4.50 p.m. There, he will lay the foundation stone of key infrastructure projects.

The statement said Modi will dedicate to the nation the LPG import terminal built by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited in West Bengal, which has been constructed with an investment of around Rs 1,100 crore and has a capacity of one million metric tonne per annum.

It said that LPG import terminal will cater to the growing requirement of LPG in West Bengal and other states in eastern and north-eastern India and is an important step towards realizing the vision of the Prime Minister to provide clean cooking LPG to every household.

The Prime Minister will also dedicate to the nation the 348 km Dobhi-Durgapur Natural Gas Pipeline section, which is part of the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project.

According to the government, the pipeline will help revival of HURL Sindri (Jharkhand) fertiliser plant, supply gas to Matix Fertilizer Plant in Durgapur (West Bengal) and cater to gas demand of industrial, commercial and automobile sectors, and city gas distribution across all major towns in the state.

Modi will then lay the foundation stone of the second Catalytic-Isodewaxing unit of Haldia Refinery of Indian Oil Corporation, which will have a capacity of 270 thousand metric tonne per annum, and once commissioned, is expected to result in a saving of about $185 million in foreign exchange.

Modi will also dedicate to the nation the four lane ROB-cum-flyover at Ranichak, Haldia on NH 41, which has been built at the cost of Rs 190 crore.

The statement said that these projects are in line with Prime Minister's vision of Purvodaya, of driving growth of Eastern India. Governor and Chief Minister of West Bengal, and Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas will be present on the occasion.

In Assam, the Prime Minister will launch 'Asom Mala', aimed at helping improve state highways and major district roads network in the state.

It said that the programme is unique for its emphasis on effective maintenance through continuous field data collection and its linkage with the Road Asset Management System.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will also be present on the occasion.

The Prime Minister will then lay the foundation stone of two medical colleges and hospitals, which are being set up at Biswanath and Charaideo, at a total estimated project cost of over Rs 1,100 crore.

It said that each hospital will have 500 bed capacity and 100 MBBS seats capacity.
The Victorian state government says it is now in conversations with the World Surfing League to ensure Bells Beach receives the coveted Easter long weekend spot next year at the Rip Curl Pro surfing tournament.

It comes after the opening event of the series was shifted to Newcastles Merewether Beach for the first time in 60 years, due to what organisers claim was issues with quarantining international competitors in Victoria.

Stephanie Gilmore at the Rip Curl Womens Pro at Bells Beach in 2018. Credit:WSL

General manager of the World Surfing League Andrew Stark that the only way to get the international surfers into the country was through NSW.

We obviously love Bells Beach, we love that event. But the first event this year, due to the pandemic and the challenging circumstances, has to happen in NSW because thats where the charters landing, he told The Today Show on Sunday.

Its a tough decision happening in global sport right now but weve just got stay alive and keep the tour alive.

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Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said he wasnt aware of the details of what difference the NSW government offered organisers compared to Victoria, but said Sport and Major Events Minister Martin Pakula is currently in talks to have the first instalment of the series return to Bells Beach next year.

As I understand it Mr Pakula and his team are working through those issues to make sure that in 2022, the Rip Curl Pro returns to its traditional home, he told reporters on Sunday morning.

But Victorian opposition leader Michael OBrien said the state governments dithering has let NSW swoop and grab the coveted Easter slot for the tournament, due to take place on April 1-11.

Major events are vital to Victorias economy and our confidence, he said in a post on Facebook.

This isnt just a blow to jobs on the Surf Coast, its a blow to our claim as the major events capital of Australia.
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A man who was stabbed to death in Croydon after neighbours desperately battled to save his life on a night of bloodshed has today been pictured.

Police were called to five separate reports of stabbings in the south London area between 6.56pm and 9.12pm on Friday during a shocking night of violence.

One man, 22, was found with multiple stab wounds inside a property near Crystal Palace Football Club's Selhurst Park stadium at just after 8pm.

The victim, named locally as Lavz, was pronounced dead at the scene an hour later, with horrified onlookers describing how they desperately battled to keep him alive before emergency services arrived.

The Metropolitan Police said a group of men attended an address in Wisbeach Road and the victim was allegedly stabbed in an altercation.

They confirmed today that the stabbings are being treated as 'isolated incidents.'

Pictured: A man, 22, named locally as Lavs, was found with multiple stab wounds inside a property near Crystal Palace Football Club's Selhurst Park stadium at just after 8pm.

Pictured: How the violence unfolded in and around Croydon, south London on Friday night

Detective Chief Inspector Martin Thorpe, from the Met's Specialist Crime team, said: 'We know that a group of males attended the address and an altercation occurred which resulted in the victim receiving a fatal stab injury.

'I am aware that this was one of a number of violent incidents in and around the south London area on Friday evening but there is nothing to connect these incidents together at this time.'

Two arrests have been made so far in connection with the bloodshed, both relating to a stabbing in Dingwall Road, Croydon at around 9.12pm.

The Met said a man in his 40s was taken to hospital for treatment on a non life-threatening wound and was subsequently arrested on suspicion of affray.

Another man, 38, was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and has been taken into custody.

Police were called to five separate reports of stabbings in the Croydon area between 6.56pm and 9.12pm on Friday during a shocking night of violence. Pictured: Police at the scene of a fatal stabbing on Wisbeach Road, Croydon

Pictured: A cordon is in place near a flat in Wisbeach Road after a man was killed in Croydon

Police rushed to the scene to reports of two males with stab injuries, and one man was pronounced dead at the scene

Of the nine males wounded, two sustained serious injuries but neither are now in a life-threatening condition.

A Section 60 order granting police emergency stop and search powers was in place across Croydon until 8am on Saturday.

The bloodshed began at around 7pm last night, when officers were called to Chapman Road, Croydon and a man was rushed to hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening.

Then, 15 minutes later, four men in their 20s were taken to a south London hospital with stab injuries following an incident in Penwortham Road, Streatham.

The violence continued at 8.08pm, when police were again called to reports of two men with stab wounds.

One of the men was rushed to hospital before officers arrived, and another was later pronounced dead at the scene.

A murder inquiry has been launched, and police are appealing for anyone who was in the Wisbeach Road area of Croydon at the time of the attack to come forward.

Detectives say the second man is not in a life-threatening condition.

One man who was injured on Wisbeach Road died at the scene, with witnesses describing how they rushed to try and save the man, 22 , near Crystal Palace Football Club's Selhurst Park stadium. Pictured: The scene

The Metropolitan Police confirmed today that the stabbings are being treated as 'isolated incidents'. Pictured: Police at the scene

At 8.51pm, two men were taken to hospital with stab injuries and one was last night in a life-threatening condition. It is believed both men sustained their injuries during an incident in Jay Gardens, Chislehurst.

The final call was received at 9.12pm, when police arrested a man on suspicion of grievous bodily harm following an incident on Dingwall Road, Croydon.

The victim, whose injuries are not life threatening, was also arrested.

How the violence in Croydon unfolded 6.56pm Police were called to Chapman Road, Croydon to reports of a stabbing. Officers found a male victim, whose condition was assessed as not life-threatening in hospital. 7.15pm Four men, all in their 20s, were rushed to a south London hospital suffering from stab and slash injuries. It followed an incident in Penwortham Road, Streatham. 8.08pm Police were called to Wisbeach Road, Croydon, to reports of two males with stab injuries. One man was taken to hospital prior to police arrival. His condition was not life-threatening. The other victim was found at the scene. Despite the best efforts of paramedics, he was soon pronounced dead. 8.51pm Police were called to a south London hospital after two males arrived with stab injuries. The condition of one of the men was last night being treated as life-threatening. It is believed both men sustained their injuries during an incident in Jay Gardens, Chislehurst. 9.12pm Officers rushed to Dingwall Road, Croydon, to reports of a stabbing. A male was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm. The victim has also been arrested. Advertisement

Gold Commander for London this weekend, Ade Adelekan, said investigations were ongoing regarding the circumstances of the five incidents but said they were 'being treated as isolated'.

He added: 'However, that does not make this series of violent incidents any less shocking and I understand that residents in and around the areas where these incidents occurred will be rightly concerned.'

One resident, who has lived at the block of flats near the scene of the fatal stabbing for more than 20 years, said she saw police and medical staff trying to save a heavily bleeding young man.

She said the man's mother later showed up 'crying and in pieces'.

The witness, who declined to be named, told reporters the man was bleeding from a deep cut to his leg and there was 'blood everywhere'.

She said: 'I heard someone shouting but it's normal because people drink outside, I came down and saw two police and two ambulance guys on the ground with him.'

She said she saw medical staff make an incision in his torso, adding: 'They tried really hard to save him but there was a lot of blood.

'There was blood everywhere, it looked like he was cut in the leg and they tried to stop the bleeding.

'My husband was outside for 45 minutes and said his stepdad showed up and said he was 21. His mum was here crying and she was in pieces. It is terrifying, my son is 19 and I'm worried for him.'

Others reported throwing passersby a towel as they desperately tried to slow the bleeding last night. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene,

One bystander said: 'I saw him lying on the ground. He was in a bad way, but he was alive, he was moving. He was injured on his left leg. I tried my best to help him.

'I work in a care home so when I heard someone had been stabbed I went into the bathroom and picked up whatever swabs and stuff I had.

'I saw lying there on the floor and by time I got there, the police arrived and started to dress his wounds.'

Samuel Henningham, 69, a builder who lives in a nearby block of flats, also spoke of the attack.

He said: 'I came to the window and saw a guy run inside. I was inside my place and my daughter said "something is going on downstairs," so another guy rushed out to try and assist him.

'He was lying on the floor and he was bleeding. My daughter threw a towel down to the other guy so he could wrap it.

Witnesses to the fatal attack near Crystal Palace Football Club's Selhurst Park stadium today described rushing to try and save the man. Pictured: Wisbeach Road today

'He was still bleeding until the police arrived. It took them about 20 minutes.'

Several police officers stood guard around the scene in Wisbeach Road on Saturday morning.

It is located on a quiet estate next to a railway line and officers are making door-to-door inquiries. A white and yellow forensic tent was erected inside the metal gate of a block of flats.

The Metropolitan Police said no arrests have been made in connection with the murder probe.

The Met's Gold Commander for London, Ade Adelekan, today confirmed extra resources would be deployed in Croydon this weekend to reassure residents.

He said: 'While work continues to investigate the motivation and circumstances of these four incidents, I can say that they are being treated as isolated.

'However, that does not make this series of violent incidents any less shocking and I understand that residents in and around the areas where these incidents occurred will be rightly concerned.

The night of violence began at 6.56pm in Croydon, with five separate reports of stabbings received between then and 9.12pm. Pictured: Police at the scene

A section 60 order granting police emergency stop and search powers was in place across Croydon until 8am on Saturday. Pictured: Police at the scene of a stabbing

'Extra resources were deployed last night and will continue to be deployed over the weekend. I would ask people to speak to those officers if you have any concerns or please call 101.

'Violence has no place on our streets and I want to reassure Londoners that our officers will work tirelessly to locate and apprehend those responsible.'

Detective Superintendent Nicky Arrowsmith said on Friday: 'Sadly, tonight we have seen a number of needless and completely abhorrent violent altercations, including one that has tragically resulted in a loss of life.

'Officers will be on patrol throughout the night across the South Area Command Unit, with additional resources from the Violent Crime Taskforce and Territorial Support Group deployed to deter and prevent any further violence.'

Police asked anyone with information that could help officers investigating these incidents to make contact.

Det Sup Arrowsmith added: 'Our officers continue to work around the clock to identify and pursue offenders, bring perpetrators to justice, support victims, take weapons off the street, engage and reassure the public, and keep our communities safe in London.

'But we are not complacent and cannot do this alone.

The force said a fatal stabbing of a man in Wisbeach Road, Croydon, at 8.10pm continues to be investigated by homicide detectives from the Specialist Crime Command. Pictured: Police at the scene last night

'We work closely with our communities as they are key to understanding and knowing what is occurring locally.

'We need to hear from anyone who has information about crime, those who carry a weapon, or those who exploit others for gain or revenge, while putting young people's lives at risk - we need this information to help keep London safe.'

The force said a fatal stabbing of a man in Wisbeach Road, Croydon, at 8.10pm continues to be investigated by homicide detectives from the Specialist Crime Command.

The other incidents are being investigated by officers from the South Area Basic Command Unit and the Met confirmed none of the wounded sustained life-threatening injuries.

Steve Reed, Labour MP for Croydon North, said: 'Absolutely horrific news that will devastate our community - thoughts with all those injured, and with the police and medical staff dealing with the situation.'
How and Where I Write

David George Moore

Its been my privilege to be in the personal spaces of several writers. Among others, Pulitzer winner Tony Horwitz warmly welcomed me at his home on Marthas Vineyard as did William F. Buckley at his place on Long Island Sound.

I have interviewed over 200 authors. Everyone has their own style with reading, capturing what they have read, research, and then writing. As I writer myself, I have settled on an approach I feel comfortable with.

Moore: Do you still acquire books as you get older or have you slowed down a bit?

Balmer: Ive slowed down considerably, especially from my early days as a scholar when I felt almost frantic to build my library (lots of trips to the Strand Bookstore in Manhattan). Now, Im even to the point of divesting. Moving helps a lot; Dartmouth is currently renovating our building, and I was able to donate twenty-five boxes of books.

Moore: What are the best time(s) and place(s) for you to write?

Balmer: I tend to write in my study most often, though occasionally on a laptop when Im traveling. As for timing, I write almost anytime, though Im better in the mornings. Sometimes I wake up and find that Ive been turning a phrase or an argument in the night, so Im eager to get started.

Moore: How do you capture your research? Old school with note cards etc., or new school with computer programs?

Balmer: I dont have any specialized computer program. I tend to take extensive notes in Word while doing archival research and then integrate that material into the narrative.

Moore: Do you immediately start writing on the computer (perhaps typewriter) or by longhand?

Balmer: I was the first doctoral student in the Religion Department at Princeton to write his dissertation on computer. In those days (early 1980s) that entailed schlepping to the computer center at the far end of Prospect Street to key in the manuscript, print it out, make edits by hand, and return to key in the changes. Ive been writing by computer ever since, although I acknowledge Barack Obamas point that the danger of doing rough drafts on a computer is that the program tends to reify both the argument and the prose.

Moore: Do you put marginalia in your physical books?

Balmer: I do, but increasingly only in pencil, which makes it easier to sell or donate the books.

Moore: Do you read digital books?

Balmer: No.

Moore: What is some good advice you received on writing?

Balmer: I love Eudora Weltys rejoinder to those who supposed that she enjoyed writing: I love to have written. But I actually do enjoy writing. Its how I think and work through ideas, and the satisfaction of finding just the right word or phrase is utterly exhilarating. (Mark Twain said that the difference between the almost right word and the right word is the difference between a lightning bug and lightning.) At Princeton, Jeffrey Stout used to tell doctoral students to write at least a page a day, which is good advice, but Ive never really needed those prods. I tend to write pretty much all the time, and when Im focused on somethingcompleting a manuscript, for instancenothing can keep me away.

The other point about writing is not something that anyone told me; I guess I came to it intuitively. I believe that scholars have an obligation to communicate beyond the safety of their narrow, specialized academic circleswhich, by the way, have constricted more and more in recent decades. Part of the reason that our society is in such trouble, I believe, is that responsible scholars have ceded the public square to charlatans and pseudo-intellectuals like David Barton and Eric Metaxas. When I began doctoral studies, I vowed that I would never allow my scholarship to become so recondite that I could not communicate at least something to a general audience. I began in graduate school to develop the discipline of writing op-ed pieces, initially with my hometown newspaper, the Des Moines Register; Ive sustained that discipline throughout my career, although the venues have changed over the years depending on opinion page editors. (At present, most of my commentaries appear in the Los Angeles Times, the Santa Fe New Mexican, the Concord Monitor and the Valley News, a local newspaper in Vermont and New Hampshire.)

That said, I want to stipulate that the best and most effective way for scholars to contribute to public discourse is first to establish their scholarly credentials. I recently stepped down from a five-year stint as inaugural director of the Society of Fellows at Dartmouth. We offered highly competitive three-year postdoctoral fellowships (the first year we received more than 1750 applications for five fellowships). The people we brought in were highly promising. Many of them lived up to that promise, but far too many decided they wanted to become activists on some issue or another, which they pursued to the neglect of their scholarship. I have no objection to activism, and most of the issues they chose were ones I consider worthy. But I continue to believe that their advocacy over the course of their careers would have been more compelling if they had first established their credentials as scholars. (That sentiment, as you might expect, did not make me terribly popular.)

Moore: What do you think is your best book?

Balmer: My wife would say that its Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America (now in its fifth edition). I think my best book is Redeemer: The Life of Jimmy Carter, although the publisher has gone to extraordinary lengths to keep it a secret.

Moore: Please name a few of your favorite authors from your own field of study.

Balmer: Im reluctant to do so for fear that, by omission, I will slight a colleague.

Moore: What is a book you should have read by now, but haven't? This will make all of us sleep better!

Balmer: I have not read the second volume of Perry Millers The New England Mind, the one with the subtitle From Colony to Province.

David George Moore is the author of the forthcoming Stuck in the Present: How History Frees and Forms Christians (Leafwood/Abilene Christian University Press). Stuck in the Present: David George Moore: 9781684264605: Amazon.com: Books
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The Metropolitan Police Department of Washington D.C. released an arrest report on a Texas native Friday accused of distribution of child pornography.

Ruben Verastigui, 27, of Northeast, DC, was taken into custody after authorities say an investigation revealed he distributed, received and possessed images of child pornography.

The report reads that detectives from multiple child crimes units in the country's capital conducted a month long investigation on the Texas transplant, Northwest Vista College graduate and avid pro-life advocate.

"Between March 2020 and February 2021, an investigation revealed the suspect distributed, received and possessed images of child pornography," the release states.

Jared Holt, a fellow at Digital Forensic Research Lab, an anti-disinformation project by D.C. think tank Atlantic Council, released several disturbing screen shots from the criminal complaint against Verastigui on his Twitter and made note of his history in work at pro-life organizations.

In the criminal complaint, Verastigui asked another member of an online child porn website to come to D.C. for the purpose of sexually abusing a minor.

RELATED: San Antonio man called out for Capitol riot on TikTok to see case play out in Washington D.C.

Verastigui's LinkedIn page states he is employed as a communications manager at Citizens For Responsible Energy Solutions, a non-profit energy organization in D.C. His employment history spans throughout a myriad of political organizations, including the Republican National Committee and various pro-life organizations.

His bio on the social site reads: "A proud born and raised Texan working in the land of pantsuits and politics. Passionate about creating beautifully creative and comprehensive content for policy and social justice issues. #FutureIsLatino."

The education section of his profile says he attended Northwest Vista college from 2011 to 2014. While he was president of the Northwest Vista College Students for Life, he was one of many pro-life speakers at the 2013 March for Life rally in D.C.

RELTAED: BCSO: San Antonio man arrested for DWI had fake DEA badge and gun in vehicle

Verastigui also served on the Congressional Hispanic Staff Association as a part of their Republican outreach and recruitment effort.

His Instagram, @rubenaaronvera which also remained active as of Saturday, shows him at visiting various political landmarks in D.C., and even posing in the White House.

In the description of a 2019 event Verastigui spoke at held by the Congressional Hispanic Staff Association, it was written that Verastigui is "a proud born and raised San Antonio, Texan."

Karly Williams is a digital producer for MySA. Follow her @karlyjwilliams
Tom Holland who is currently shooting for the upcoming Spider-Man film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has revealed snippets of the process. He went on to say that he feels the project is "really impressive" and that the upcoming Spider-Man movie is the "most ambitious standalone superhero movie ever".

Tom told Variety, "I can say that it's the most ambitious standalone superhero movie ever made. You sit down, read the script, and see what they're trying to do, and they're succeeding. It's really impressive. I've never seen a standalone superhero movie quite like it. And I'm just, you know, again, that lucky little s*** who happens to be Spider-Man in it."

Earlier this week, Holland shared a picture from the film sets on Instagram and revealed that, it "was easily one of the highlights of my career. For those of you that were there, you know what I'm talking about and for those of you that weren't, you better buckle up!!!"

During his interview with Variety, he said that the shooting is yet to be completed but he is very "excited" to see the finished film. "We got a lot more shooting to do. We started before Christmas and shot for like seven weeks. We stopped for the Christmas break, and then we're starting again. I'm just as excited as everyone else to see it, let alone be a part of it," he added.

Tom who is reprising the role as the web-slinger, also talked about turning director for another project. He said that he was tempted to get behind the camera. "I've been trying to scratch that itch for a really long time. And my younger brother Harry and I have been writing a script together," he said.

The brothers reportedly bagged rights to a book series and are working on the script. Meanwhile, Tom Holland will also be seen in a new feature film called Cherry.

ALSO READ: Spiderman's Tom Holland Quits Instagram, Says 'It was Taking Over My Life'

ALSO READ: Jamie Foxx's Electro Set To Return As Villain For Tom Holland's Spider-Man 3
Posted Saturday, February 6, 2021 7:30 am

Editor's Note: In past years, The Chronicle has chosen a single Person of the Year. This year, we selected two, with the second being fallen Washington State Patrol Trooper Justin Schaffer, who was honored posthumously. Additionally, our People of the Year special section is included with Saturday's edition of The Chronicle.

Glenda Forga speaks matter-of-factly when talking about the struggles of the past several years, both for herself and Lewis County Seniors, the nonprofit she leads as executive director.

Since 2013, shes overcome breast cancer, a shattered kneecap, a broken wrist and a burned down house, not to mention the upheaval that came when Lewis County decided to remove the senior centers  where she has worked for 22 years  from its umbrella of full funding.

Taken together, it would all be enough to knock most people to the ground  and keep them there.

But not Forga.

There really is a silver lining for everything, she said. Everything happens for a reason, whether we like it or not.

After making that statement in a recent interview with The Chronicle, she paused, then recalled sage advice from her husband, Jim, when she several years ago contemplated aloud whether she even wanted to pursue treatment for her cancer, which now appears to be in remission.

He said, Theres no way around it, so we have to go through it, Forga recalled. And he was right.

That might as well be the slogan for Forgas experiences in 2020, a year when she and her counterparts were forced to figure out a way to serve the same senior citizens who relied on regular visits to the countys five senior centers before the pandemic with much-needed nutrition and services at home.

Shes quick to point out that the successful solution that followed  meals delivered directly to the homes of seniors  would never have been possible without the help of her staff and community partners such as United Way of Lewis County Executive Director Debbie Cambell and Twin Transits Joe Clark.

Others, though, are willing to provide Forga the credit she so often reserves for others.

JP Anderson, Lewis Countys director of public health, calls Forga a dynamic leader.

When COVID hit, it was like, what do we do, Anderson recalled. The first thing that came to mind was seniors and their vulnerability and how we keep them safe  Glenda and her team sprung into action.

Last year, Lewis County Seniors delivered 157,000 emergency meals to around 600 seniors all across the county, providing much needed sustenance and nutrition to a segment of the population that has borne the brunt of the serious illnesses and deaths linked to the virus.

It is for that reason, and others, that The Chronicle has selected Forga as its 2020 Person of the Year, joining a posthumous honor of the same name given to fallen Washington State Patrol Trooper Justin Schaffer (see the People of the Year special section included with this edition of The Chronicle).

Lewis County Native

Forga was born in Aberdeen, but she has spent her entire life living in south Lewis County, where her family was among the original pioneers in the Toledo area.

Her first involvement with the countys senior centers came in 1999, when she started work at the Olequa Senior Center in Winlock, replacing Nita Daarud, who had held the position for 25 years.

I had huge shoes to fill, she said. But I hit the ground running.

She remained site manager until 2007, when she was promoted to the position of homebound meals coordinator, an experience that would take on more meaning and value 13 years later when the pandemic struck with full force.

After a brief hiatus when the county contracted Catholic Community Services for the role, she returned to the position in 2013.

Thats around the time when personal adversity began to strike in waves.

She was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. She shattered her kneecap and was confined to a wheelchair for six months. She broke her wrist. And to cap it all off, her house burned down.

Just as she was recovered from that cocktail of catastrophes, word came out that Lewis County commissioners, faced with a budget crunch, had decided to no longer fully fund Lewis Countys senior centers.

Facing backlash during a series of fiery public meetings, the county ultimately decided to offer additional but temporary funding, but the centers would need to be weaned off the countys financial support and become a nonprofit.

They said OK Glenda, put together a transition team and figure out what to do, she recalled.

So, with the help of supporters and the staff of the senior centers, thats just what she did.

Several years later, shes quick to bring up that silver lining adage again.

Without the broken knee, her staff wouldnt have learned how to carry out some of her duties, she notes.

Without being forced off county funding, the senior centers wouldnt have the independence and flexibility they enjoy today, she added.

Oh, and the pandemic?

We have even found the silver lining in this COVID, she said. We have found so many seniors out there who really needed our help who werent getting help before all this.

Pandemic Arrives

Forga recalls the tumultuous days of March 2020 when everyone, not just the senior centers, were figuring out how they would operate in a newly viral landscape.

It was March 13 when she arranged a conference call  Zoom had not yet become popular  with all five Lewis County Seniors sites. Everything had been shut down, but there was one key piece of the program that could not, in Forgas mind, be halted.

We have to figure out how to get food out to the people, she recalled saying.

She and her crew worked for 14 days straight, preparing meals that were first picked up by seniors and later delivered directly to their doorsteps.

Forga recalls meeting with the county commissioners to outline the difficult task of getting the nutrition to seniors.

Clark, of Twin Transit, offered to deliver them. Campbell, of United Way, offered to handle the finances involved.

Valuable partnerships emerged swiftly, with the Chehalis School District offering kitchen space early on and others providing volunteer hours and support.

Every time weve needed something, weve just had to figure it out, Forga said. You find that out as youre doing it.

Thats not to say it has been easy.

While Lewis County Seniors have found a groove, there were many times when frustration would get the best of her, she admits.

Ive cried myself silly on the way home, Forga said. Because I just feel a little overwhelmed. Then I just pull up my boot straps and keep going, because if my staff is working so hard, I dont have a right to feel like that.

Looking Back

Forga says she isnt 100% sure why she gravitated to serving senior citizens as a career, but she has a decent idea.

Her father was a veteran of World War II, so her parents were actively involved in Winlocks American Legion post, along with other similar organizations.

As a little girl, she would join her parents in visiting the VA hospital in Vancouver three or four times a year. She would pour coffee and provide cookies to the older patients, as others played music for the veterans and otherwise entertained them.

The memory elicits a few tears for Forga, who said in many ways she believes she works hard for seniors so that her mother will know shes still there, still working to serve the vulnerable and often overlooked population.

Im not sure if thats where it came from, she said, crying. But I cant turn it off.

Forga was particularly irked by recent comments from Gov. Jay Inslee, who suggested seniors looking to acquire the COVID-19 vaccine rely on friends and family to help them reach the resource.

After 22 years, she knows something many on the outside likely do not.

Resources are limited, their ability to get out there is limited, she said. Some are recluses, but they are still our people and we need to take care of them  When I was homebound coordinator, it would shock you how many people dont have kids or family.

Forga hopes Lewis County Seniors can ultimately have a key role in delivering information about the vaccine to seniors, or perhaps even the vaccine itself.

Moving Forward

These days, Forga and her team and partners have developed a rhythm, though funding is always a reason for concern. Fortunately, government grants and support have up until now kept the herculean effort of feeding the countys seniors afloat, but the budgetary tight-rope walk is never really over.

Forga is working on a bachelors degree in business management with an emphasis in human resources, and she hopes to complete it by the end of the year.

She has two children, including Dan Whisler, 38, who has a son, Jaxson, and her daughter Mandie, 35, and husband Jake Flora, who have a little girl named Adeline.

She also provides a lot of credit for her success to her husband of 33 years, Jim.

Ultimately, shes uncomfortable accepting full credit for the success of Lewis County Seniors, both as an increasingly independent nonprofit and a lifeline for the communitys senior citizens.

She always directs that back to her staff.

If I told them all tomorrow that it was over and I couldnt pay them, but that I was going to continue to work, every single one of them would have been in here with me, she said.

How to Donate

Lewis County Seniors is always looking for financial support for the nonprofit.

We still have to actively reach out for money and we have to actively look for sponsors, Executive Director Glenda Forga said. My staff still isnt able to be at their locations and have their fundraisers.

Checks can be mailed to Lewis County Seniors at 2545 North National Ave., Chehalis, WA, 98532. Theres also a donation link on the Lewis County Seniors Facebook page and at lewiscountyseniors.org.

Addressing farmers during the last phase of the month-long 'Krishak Suraksha Abhiyan' campaign, the BJP national president said that Mamata has agreed to implement the Central scheme in Bengal only after realising that her party is losing ground among farmers

BJP president JP Nadda had a meal of khichdi seated on the floor with farmers as he reached out to peasants on Saturday in election-bound West Bengal, and excoriated the Mamata Banerjee government for depriving them of the benefits of the PM Kisan Scheme to "satisfy her ego".

On a day when farmer unions have called a 'chakka jam' against three contentious agricultural laws, Nadda reaffirmed the BJP and the Narendra Modi government's commitment to the welfare of the farming community.

Mocking Banerjee for agreeing to implement the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana only after realising that her party is fast losing ground among the farmers in the state, Nadda vowed justice for them once the BJP is voted to power in West Bengal.

"What Mamata di did to the farmers of Bengal by depriving them of PM Kisan Scheme was an injustice. Due to her whims and to satisfy her ego, Mamata Ji did not allow the scheme to be implemented. This has affected over 70 lakh farmers who for the last two years have been deprived of annual aid of Rs 6,000," he said.

Nadda was addressing a rally of farmers during the last phase of the month-long 'Krishak Suraksha Abhiyan' and 'Ek Mutthi Chawal' campaign which he had flagged off in order to mobilise the farming community in the state in favour of the BJP.

The programmes were also a part of BJP's outreach to farmers to blunt the opposition's charge that the ruling party and the Modi government were "anti-farmer" following farm protests at Delhi's border points.

Nadda said the prime minister recently inaugurated the 100th Kisan Rail, an initiative that will help farmers transport their produce anywhere in the country with great ease. Lauding the Modi government for its pro-farmer policies, the BJP leader said, it ensured that they got 1.5 times more than the input cost for their produce.

"Today, when about 25 lakh farmers of Bengal sent applications for securing the benefits of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme to the central government, Mamata Ji is saying she will implement it. Mamata ji, elections are round the corner. Now, it's too late," he said, castigating the chie minister.

Nadda said the state's people have made up their mind to bid "namaste and tata" to Banerjee and her party after the assembly polls. Nadda taunted Banerjee for losing her cool after hearing "Jai Shri Ram" slogans.

"When I was coming here I was greeted with 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans. But I don't understand why Mamata ji gets angry after hearing it. Had you served the farmers well, you wouldn't have lost your cool," he said, while referring to the 23 January incident at Victoria Memorial Hall in Kolkata. Banerjee had declined to speak at the event to celebrate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's birth anniversary where "Jai Shri Ram" slogans were raised in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Nadda, state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh and other party leaders later had a community feast where they ate a humble lunch of khichdi and vegetable curry while seated on floor with farmers. Amid chants of "Jai Shri Ram", Nadda also led a road show in Malda. Standing atop a decorated lorry with Dilip Ghosh and others, he showered jubilant supporters with marigold petals and waved to enthusiastic crowds that gathered along the 1 kilometre stretch between Foara More and Guru Rabindranath Tagore's statue.

People watched the procession from rooftops and balconies and were seen shooting videos with their mobile phones.

The streets were lined with BJP's flags and buntings as the cavalcade inched its way through the narrow and crowded streets.

Anticancer drug may improve outcome for severe COVID-19 patients

Treating severe COVID-19 patients with the anticancer drug bevacizumab may reduce mortality and speed up recovery, according to a small clinical study in Italy and China that was led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden between February and April 2020. On average, blood oxygen levels, body temperature and inflammatory markers significantly improved in patients treated with a single dose of bevacizumab in addition to standard care. The research is published in Nature Communications.

"To reduce COVID-19 mortality, we aim to develop an effective therapeutic paradigm for treating patients with severe COVID-19," says corresponding author Yihai Cao, professor of vascular biology at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology at Karolinska Institutet. "Our findings suggest that bevacizumab plus standard care is highly beneficial for patients with severe COVID-19 and should be considered as a potential first-line therapeutic regimen for this group."

Bevacizumab is a medication that has been used to treat various types of cancer since 2004. It works by slowing the formation of new blood vessels by inhibiting a growth factor known as VEGF. Many patients with severe COVID-19 have elevated levels of VEGF as well as symptoms associated with this marker, including excess fluid and disorganized blood vessels in the lungs. Against this background, the researchers designed a clinical trial to investigate the effect of combining bevacizumab with standard care for treating patients with severe COVID-19.

Twenty-six patients were recruited from two hospitals in China and Italy between mid-February and early April in 2020. The patients had confirmed COVID-19 and symptoms such as difficulty breathing, low blood oxygen levels and pneumonia. They were retrospectively matched with 26 patients of similar characteristics who received standard care at the same hospitals in roughly the same time period and thus served as the control group.

The recruits received standard care plus a single low dose of about 7.5 mg/kg bevacizumab, which markedly improved blood oxygen levels within 24 hours compared to the control group. By the end of the 28-day follow-up period, 92 percent of the bevacizumab-treated patients no longer needed the same level of oxygen support as before the trial began, compared with an improvement rate of 62 percent for the controls.

None of the bevacizumab-treated patients died and 17 (65 percent) improved so much that they were able to leave the hospital within the follow-up period. In the control group, three died and only 46 percent were discharged within 28 days. Bevacizumab also shortened the duration of oxygen-support to a median of nine days compared with 20 for the standard care group.

Other interesting findings include reduction in fever, an increase in white blood cells and a sharp decrease of c-reactive protein (CRP) levels, an inflammatory marker. No severe safety concerns were detected.

"Many patients with severe COVID-19 require significant oxygen support during long hospital stays, which pose global challenges to medical supplies," Yihai Cao says. "Our study shows that bevacizumab could help reduce the need for oxygen support and reduce days in hospital, thus improving the outcome for the individual patient while easing pressure on medical resources."

The limitations of the study include the non-randomized nature of the trial, the short-term follow-up and the small size of the cohort.

The next step will be to design randomized and placebo-controlled trials by recruiting a large number of patients, allowing further assessment of the potential benefits of bevacizumab both in and of itself and in combination with other therapies such as antivirals and anti-inflammatory drugs.

###

The research was financed by the National Key R&D Program of China, the Shandong Provincial Key R&D Program, the European Research Council, the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Cancer Foundation, the Strategic Research Areas (SFO)-Stem Cell and Regeneration Medicine Foundation, the Karolinska Institutet, the Swedish Children's Cancer Foundation, the Karolinska Institutet Foundation, the Torsten Soderbergs Foundation, the Maud and Birger Gustavsson Foundation, the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg's Foundation.

Publication: "Efficacy and tolerability of bevacizumab in patients with severe Covid-19," Jiaojiao Pang, Feng Xu, Gianmarco Aondio, Yu Li, Alberto Fumagalli, Ming Lu, Giuseppe Valmadre, Jie Wei, Yuan Bian, Margherita Canesi, Giovanni Damiani, Yuan Zhang, Dexin Yu, Jun Chen, Xiang Ji, Wenhai Sui, Bailu Wang, Shuo Wu, Attila Kovacs, Miriam Revera, Hao Wang, Xu Jing, Ying Zhang, Yuguo Chen, Yihai Cao, Nature Communications, online Feb. 5, 2021, doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-21085-8

This story has been published on: 2021-02-06. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.

Canadian figure skater Elladj Balde has been impressing social media lately with videos that show his amazing approach to the world of skating.

Video Transcript

ELLADJ BALDE: i didn't have anyone really that I looked up to that looked like me, that could give me an example of what it is to be a biracial skater in the figure skating world. The thing that I really love about skating is that balance between athleticism and artistry. You need to be extremely athletic in order to do triples, and quads, and land on a blade that's half a quarter of an inch thin.

Figure skating is perceived in society as a girls sport. My whole life, I've had to deal with people laughing at the sport that I did, shaming me. In this COVID world, I had an opportunity to start go skating outside. It was really healing for me.

I was able to be on the ice and just create. I think my intention is really to make people feel. And because of that intention, I'm realizing, that's what people are connecting with. It's more than just the backflip or the skating skills. It's really the experience they have when they watch skating, and I think it's beautiful to be able to introduce this sport to an audience that has never been introduced to skating before.

One of the biggest reasons, too, is to inspire the next generation of skaters of color, black, indigenous, to see themselves in me and think that they can be successful as well. And they can embrace that, and that can be celebrated. Early on in my life, I saw a lot of things that my parents, my dad, had experienced because of systemic oppression.

This summer, after the death of George Floyd, I myself and a few other skaters, we decided that we were going to come together and use our platforms to start the conversation within the figure skating community. We created the Figure Skating Diversity and Inclusion lines for the BIPOC community. Because we see that there is a huge lack of representation in the sport, and there are barriers for skaters of color within the figure skating community.

What we want to do is clean up that path for skaters that are interested in the sport that are from the BIPOC community by helping them with funds, and equipment, and accessibility to ranks, and support mentally and emotionally. That representation is extremely important, because it allows them to be inspired by someone that looks like them. And subconsciously, they get the message that they can be successful as well.

My message is really to just embrace that thing that's unique about you, and embrace your story, and share that story. And if you don't see someone in your neighborhood or in your environment that looks like you that's been successful, then be the one to do it. Embracing that part that's unique, it's going to change the world. I think that's where magic happens, so let's do it.
Photo released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) shows the first image of Mars captured by Mars probe Tianwen-1 from a distance of 2.2 million km. (Xinhua)

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- The China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Friday released the first image of Mars captured by the country's Mars probe Tianwen-1.

The image was captured from a distance of 2.2 million km from Mars, said the CNSA.

The probe conducted its fourth orbital correction on Friday at 8 p.m. (Beijing time), aiming to ensure that the probe achieves a sound planned rendezvous with Mars.

A Mars probe is launched on a Long March-5 rocket from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, July 23, 2020. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

The probe has traveled about 197 days in orbit, flying about 465 million km. It is currently 184 million km from Earth and 1.1 million km from Mars. All probe systems are in good working condition, the CNSA said.

China launched the Mars probe on July 23, 2020. It was designed to complete orbiting, landing and roving in one mission.

The probe completed its first orbital correction on Aug. 2, its second on Sept. 20 and its third on Oct. 28.
A Jandakot burglar caught red handed and barefaced on CCTV during Perths lockdown is one of several people who will face charges for allegedly breaking lockdown rules in the past week.

The 43-year-old Woodlands man was arrested as part of an investigation into several burglaries on Monday and Tuesday during the snap lockdown.

Several people in Perth have been charged with breaking lockdown rules. Credit:Eamon Gallagher

He has been refused bail and faces numerous charges including aggravated burglary and failure to comply with a direction.

In Thornlie, a 35-year-old dog walker became outraged and lashed another man with a dog lead after being reminded he was supposed to wear a mask in public.



German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that the ongoing row with Moscow concerning the arrest and sentencing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny will not affect the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, which Germany is bilaterally building with Russia. Merkel on Friday assured that the gas pipeline project will remain unaffected despite the Navalny issue, which Germany, along with the European Union have raised with Russia. Nord Stream 2 project, which is nearing completion, will fetch Russian gas into Germany via a pipeline being laid under the Baltic Sea.

Read: EU Lawmakers Vote To Halt Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Construction With Russia Over Navalny Row

The United States has already imposed sanctions on the project fearing it would make Germany and the European Union more dependent on Russia for energy resources. However, Merkel has assured that the geopolitics in the region will not change and insisted that the European Union will not become dependent on Russia. Last month, Germany gave permission to resume work on the project, which was halted after a Swiss firm pulled out amid threats of sanctions from the United States.

Read: Germany Approves Resuming Russia Gas Pipeline Work

Pressure renewed

However, the controversial project suffered another blow late last month when the European Union adopted a resolution seeking immediate suspension of work on the 1,230-kilometer pipeline in wake of the Navalny issue. Merkel has been facing both external and internal pressure to drop the project, including from her own party colleagues. The pressure tightened after Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's poisoning last year allegedly by Kremlin.

Read: Germany Faces Pressure To Drop Russian Pipeline Project Over Navalny's Poisoning

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron, who had earlier expressed opposing views to the pipeline project, said on Friday that he is in "solidarity". Merkel is also hoping that the new administration in Washington will halt the US sanctions that are expected to come into effect from February 14. Pressure on Merkel renewed after Russian authorities arrested Navalny upon returning from Germany following medical treatment. Navalny was receiving treatment in Berlin for five months after he was poisoned last August, which sparked international outrage.

Read: US Sanctions On Nord Stream 2 Pipeline A 'competitive Ploy': Russia

(With inputs from AP)
The presidency has described the ambassadorial nomination of the immediate past service chiefs as reward for hard work and exceptional sacrifice.

This was contained in a statement by presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, on Sunday. Mr Shehu also criticised the main opposition party, PDP, for calling for the prosecution of the retired military chiefs.

President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, forwarded the names of Gabriel Olonisakin, former chief of defence staff; Tukur Buratai, former chief of army staff; Abubakar Sadique, former chief of air staff and Ibok Ibas, former chief of naval staff, to the senate for confirmation.

Their nomination comes about one week after they resigned from service and their replacements named.

Reacting to their nomination, the PDP and many other Nigerians accused the Buhari administration of attempting to shield the ex-service chiefs from investigation and subsequent prosecution for alleged crimes against humanity.

Buratai, others gave their best

In reaction to the PDPs criticism, the presidency said the ex-military chiefs gave their best to the nation and would be remembered for that.

Mr Shehu said the allegations that the presidency was trying to shield the ex-military chiefs from prosecution was false.

The Presidency wishes to dismiss the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) attack over the widely praised nomination of the former heads of the Army, Navy, Air Force and the Military Intelligence to the Senate for confirmation as non-career ambassadors.

This transition is normal in decent democratic societies.

But the newspapers and online media are full of pages of laughable criticisms of the President and former Service Chiefs by the party, the latest of which was the false claim that they were nominated as ambassadors so as to shield them from trial by the International Criminal Court, ICC.

How on earth can decent people run down hardworking professionals who have put in their best to defend their country? How can you run down your country and equate that with normal political dialogue and opposition?

What is baffling about this false and baseless assertion is that this is coming, not from Boko Haram terrorists who the military kept largely in check and confined to a known section of the country, Sambisa, but from a so-called leading opposition party that fraudulently kept power for 16 years and is nursing the hope of one day returning to office as an elected government.

What is more, under these corrupt politicians the insurgency conquered large swathes of territory-18 Local Government Areas.

Pray, if a political party, in a blind search for power can spurn the interest of the nation, embrace the language of hate campaign against the countrys military as enunciated by the terrorists, as the PDP does, what will be left for the Boko Haram to do? PDP is doing Boko Harams work! The statement said.

The statement challenged the PDP to provide evidence to back their claims on the abuse of human rights by the ex-service chiefs.

PREMIUM TIMES, Amnesty International and various rights groups and civic organisations have reported on the extra-judicial killings and massacres carried out by the army under Mr Buratai as army chief. These include the 2015 massacre of over 300 Shiites including women children for which no soldier has been prosecuted, the shooting of unarmed #EndSARS protesters in Lekki Lagos, last October and the killing of unarmed residents of Oyigbo, Rivers State last year.

Mr Shehu did not address any of these cases in his statement.

We live in an evidence-based era for arguments. If the PDP has evidence of rights abuse against the military in the war against terrorists, wouldnt it be beneficial to the nation that they publish such evidence instead of levying grave accusations without proves? And to ask, in whose interest are they making these accusations that lack any depth?

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To add, we dont think the ICC, which these childish calls are being made needs to be lectured on democratic values and human rights by the PDP. Who are they, and what is their record in office to lecture anyone? Zaki Biam and Odi where thousands of citizens were on record, the genocide operation comes to mind. Did they report themselves to the ICC?

PDPs attacks on the ambassadorial nominations should be seen in the context of the opposition partys track record as a university of liars, whose modus operandi is to propagate lies.

The President is rewarding hard work and exceptional sacrifice by a set of military leaders who gave their best to the nation and will be remembered, sooner than later, for their contributions to the security and survival of Nigeria as one nation. They should be allowed to move to the next level.

This is so that their examples will help to inspire others if given the opportunity to serve, Mr Shehu said.
The Federal Government is targeting that at least 30 percent of passenger vehicles in Nigeria will be electric cars by 2025.

Speaking at the unveiling of Nigeria's first locally assembled electric car, Hyundai Kona, in Abuja on Friday, the Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Jelani Aliyu, said the electric cars have come to stay.

Aliyu said Nigeria would not be left out in the transition from fuel-powered vehicles to electric cars.

Aliyu said the Federal Government has invested about $1 billion in the auto industry in Nigeria as at 2019.

The NADDC boss said the Stallion Group, which led the innovation in electric cars in Nigeria, has invested about $300 million in Nigeria.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, said electric cars would lead to reduction in fuel consumption and environmental degradation.

He said the Trade Ministry has been working with NADDC to review the automotive policy to further strengthen the automotive industry in Nigeria.

He encouraged automotive plants to invest in developing electric vehicles in Nigeria.

The Chief Executive Officer of Stallion Group, Anant Badjatya, said the company, which has operated for over four decades in the country, has done significant investments in the country.

Badjatya said electric cars are the future of the automobile industry and Nigeria should not delay keying into it.

He said Hyundai Kona is powered 100 percent electrically and has zero emission.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Eritrean troops in Ethiopia's northern region of Tigray have been engaged in looting, sexual violence and assaults on refugee camps in the region, the US Embassy in Eritrea said on Friday.

The embassy also called for an extensive investigation into crimes against humanity currently being committed by the Eritrean forces deployed there and their immediate pullout.

"The United States has asked the Eritrean government to withdraw its forces from Tigray immediately," the embassy said in a tweet circulated by the local media in Ethiopia.

"We have conveyed our grave concerns about credible reports of human rights abuses committed by Eritrean forces and other actors in Tigray."

The embassy said transparent and independent investigations were urgently required in Tigray to determine those responsible for the atrocities being committed there.

The Ethiopian military launched an operation in the country's northern tip in November 2020 after months of a political standoff between the Addis Ababa-based federal government and the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF).

The TPLF which dominated Ethiopian People's Revolutionary and Democratic Front (EPRDF) that ruled the country for three decades, lost its grip on power after the death of longtime leader Meles Zenawi and later the change of regime to the hands of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

The TPLF opposed political reforms introduced under Abiy and later walked out of the talks to form a unitary political party, the Prosperity Party (PP).

At the height of the political contest, the TPLF officials, controlling the regional state of Tigray, held elections in September and were later accused of attacking federal government troops stationed in the region, which sparked off a conflict.

The US mention of Eritrea in the conflict is the first such official attempt to publicly name Asmara, which was targeted by air strikes from the TPLF militias at the early stages of the conflict.

Tigray, home to about 5 million people, has been the epicentre of the conflict since November.

-0- PANA AO/AR 5Feb2021
The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) will continue to work on the imposition of sanctions, this will also concern the MPs of Ukraine, NSDC Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said.

"I am sure that in the near future the imposition sanctions will continue against a certain category of persons - both individuals and legal entities. Moreover, I can safely say that there will be a number of parliamentarians who are sitting in the Verkhovna Rada today," Danilov said on the air of the Freedom of Speech program on ICTV on Friday evening.

He said: "We have more than enough documents to do it."

Speaking about the imposition of sanctions against three TV channels, Danilov drew attention to the fact that the criminal proceedings, the materials of which became arguments for the imposition of sanctions, are being investigated by the Security Service of Ukraine.

According to him, for the eight months the NSDC, on behalf of the president, has been analyzing the Ukrainian information space, how it is funded and what funding sources it has.
The Congress on Friday extended support to the countrywide 'chakka jam' called by farmer unions on February 6, saying party workers will stand shoulder to shoulder with farmers in their protest. The Congress also hit out at Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who defended the three new farm laws and criticised the Opposition while speaking in Rajya Sabha.

Whatever the agriculture minister said was "not only totally bereft of facts" but also "grossly objectionable", the party claimed. Farmer unions on Monday had announced 'chakka jam' on February 6 when they would block national and state highways for three hours in protest against the internet ban in areas near their agitation sites, harassment allegedly meted out to them by authorities, and other issues.

Congress general secretary (organisation), K C Venugopal, said the party fully supports the farmers' movement and appeals to the government to climb down from the "high horse of false and misplaced pride", and accede to the justified demands of the farmers by repealing the three farm laws.

On February 6, when the farmer organisations will hold a three-hour nationwide 'chakka jam' from 12 pm to 3 pm in a non-violent and peaceful manner on the national and state highways, the Congress will extend its full support to farmer groups, Venugopal said in a statement.

Congress workers in solidarity with the protesting farmers will stand shoulder to shoulder in this "symbolic and Gandhian" way of protest, he said. Farmers' organisations have already exempted emergency and essential services from this protest, Venugopal noted.

"Joining in the spirit, Congress workers will take full care that the ambulance services, school bus, elderly, patients and women and children are not inconvenienced due to the bandh call," he said. Venugopal said that this farmers' movement, which is being steadfastly supported by the poor, farm labour, SCs, STs, OBCs as well as every "right- minded Indian", is not only aimed at protecting agriculture and farming but also saving the public distribution system.

"However, the power drunk Modi government is trying every mean trick of the trade to tire out and defame the protesting millions. Even today, the Union Agriculture Minister (Narendra Singh Tomar), while speaking in the Parliament, blatantly tried to mislead the House and the nation," Venugopal alleged.

It is public knowledge that the farmers' organisations have held eleven rounds of talks with the government during which they provided point-wise detail of the deficiencies and lacunae in the three laws, "consequent to which even the government has openly agreed to bring about as many as 18 amendments to the said laws", he said.

"In the light of this, whatever the agriculture minister said today in Parliament is not only totally bereft of facts but is grossly objectionable," Venugopal said. Intervening in the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar alleged that farmers were being misled by the Opposition and the agitation was only in one state.

Hitting out at the government, Venugopal alleged, "Driven by the sole motive of benefiting its corporate cronies and steamrolling the laws by the brute force of parliamentary arithimatical majority, the government neither consulted the opposition parties nor took any farmers organisation in confidence, before enacting the laws."

Thousands of farmers have been protesting at Delhi's borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh demanding the rollback of the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporations. However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring farmers better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture.

Also read: Canadian Khalistani outfit behind toolkit on farmers protests shared by Greta, says Delhi Police
Baptist churches breed powerful hand shakers. The act of extending the hand of fellowship in greeting is as important to our services as any other sacred moment. From the time I was old enough to reach up, I learned to be ready for loving handshakes at church.

The preacher met the families at the door to the sanctuary, his huge palm stretched toward approaching worshippers, fingers splayed and thumb cocked as if hitching a ride to Heaven.

The order of handshaking at our arrival was unrehearsed, but always the same. Mom shook hands with our preacher, Brother Harold, first. Words were murmured above my head but my freshly scrubbed ears didnt listen to the talk.

I watched the hands instead: they moved up and down in a rhythm that reminded me of jump rope turns and swing set arcs.

Mom stepped inside New Hope Baptist Church and said hello to other moms and dads. I could hear her talking and laughing and ambling toward our usual pew. The rhythm of the songs that flew from the piano keys at the altar made her progression forward look like a happy parade.

My brothers were next. Preteen boys too sullen to make eye contact knew what was expected. They offered a stiff, cold-shouldered effort to present their limp hand toward the man waiting to grasp it. Sometimes the preacher had to reach out and pull the reluctant arm toward him, priming the pump for a successful shake.

The boys grimaced and prayed for release; they were welcomed and propelled inside the building. As if being drawn by invisible magnets, they slunk to the back pew where their equally bored Id rather be anywhere else friends waited.

Finally, after everyone tall had been hello-ed, Brother Harold bent his head toward me. And right there  my tiny patent leather toe to toe with his shiny black dress shoes  he found me. I wiped my excited palm against my good dress in anticipation.

His smile floated down onto the top of my head, a heavenly sunlight that warmed each strand of my freshly brushed hair. My fingers lifted upward. His hand reached down.

From the first touch of his fingertips, I felt a security as strong and true as my favorite hymn. My tiny fingernails, chewed and scraped from games of hopscotch and jacks, disappeared inside his massive palm and huddled there like fireflies inside a jar.

I watched my entire hand, up to the braided bracelet lines of my wrist, climb inside the preachers warm, firm grasp.

My head tilted on a child-wiggly neck to see his face. Jesus was there, inside his eyes. He said hello and rocked my hand up and down, just like a momma rocks a cradle.

The feeling I carried with me from that handshake kept me warm for the rest of the morning. And those moments, simple and unremarkable, stretched into a forever memory.

It has been many years since I was that little girl. But I will never forget those handshakes on the front steps of our church. Jesus loves the little children  and He sent loving hands to welcome us to His house with strong, caring handshakes.

Dedicated to Harold Bass, New Hope Baptist Church, Sullivan, Missouri

Robin Garrison Leach can be reached at robinwrites@yahoo.com.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 22:11:30|Editor: huaxia

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BRUSSELS, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Belgian health authorities have recommended that the British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine not be used to inoculate people aged over 55.

The recommendation of the Superior Health Council was announced Tuesday evening by Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke on Flemish television VRT.

Explaining the decision, Vandenbroucke said Belgium does not have sufficient information on the AstraZeneca vaccine's effectiveness and side effects for the elderly.

Nevertheless, the health minister said the vaccine works well for people between the ages of 18 and 55.

The epidemiological situation in Belgium shows a continuing upward trend in infections. The public health institute Sciensano reported on Wednesday that in the week of Jan. 24-30, an average of 2,348 new infections per day were recorded, an increase of 9 percent on a weekly basis.

Meanwhile, new hospital admissions continue to decline. In the last week of Jan. 27- Feb. 2, an average of 117.3 new admissions per day was reported by Sciensano. Currently, 1,794 patients are hospitalized, 311 of them in intensive care.

To date, Belgium has recorded a total of 713,271 coronavirus cases and 21,173 deaths since the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in many European countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, 237 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 63 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on Jan. 29. Enditem
Manufacturers of flu vaccine effortlessly distributed a record 193 million shots this season, even as makers of the Covid-19 vaccine have labored to deliver fewer than 60 million doses and states have struggled to get the shots into arms.

The disparity makes the Covid-19 response look like a train wreckbut differences between the flu and coronavirus vaccines explain some (if not all) of the difference.

In a nutshell, there are fewer makers and distributors of the Covid-19 vaccine. It must be frozen at ultracold temperatures, making it difficult to ship and store. Full immunization requires two shots, compared with one for the flu. And because the serum is brand new, health-care providers must allow additional time to monitor patients for potential adverse reactions.

All of this must be documented to ensure the scarce vaccine isnt wasted; allergic reactions are captured; and second doses, which must be administered within a certain time frame, are properly executed.

The challenge is that state health departments have to exquisitely monitor doses as they go in arms," said Litjen Tan, chief strategy officer of the Immunization Action Coalition, an organization that distributes information about vaccines in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With the flu shot, you get it and go away."

Currently, only Pfizer and Moderna manufacture Covid-19 vaccines available in the U.S., although versions from other manufacturers including Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca are planned.

In comparison, at least four major companies make flu shots, which are delivered directly to health-care providers by three major distributors and multiple smaller ones.

Only one distributor, McKesson Corp., delivers Modernas Covid-19 vaccine for the federal government. Because Pfizers vaccine must be frozen at more extreme temperatures, the company packs it in special thermal shippers and works directly with FedEx and United Parcel Service to move it.

There are advantages and disadvantages to having a sole distributor," said Josh Michaud, associate director for global health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit focused on health issues. Its easier for the government to work with one company. Theyre not juggling multiple contracts and points of contact."

When distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine increases, there will be a potent argument" to expand the number of distributors, he said. McKesson is large, but is it able to reach into every corner of every state? Others have relationships with doctors offices and medical establishments."

Manufacturers of flu vaccine also have a head start.

Because the mechanisms for making and distributing flu vaccine are well-established, health-care providers are able to order shots in January or February that will be administered in the fall and winter. Production begins six to nine months ahead of distribution, which is then completed in phases over a period of about four months. This seasons distribution began in August.

In contrast, the first Covid-19 vaccine was authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration on Dec. 11 and distribution began on Dec. 14. The states learn how much Covid-19 vaccine theyll receive about a week in advance.

Its more of a just-in-time management strategy," said Crystal Tubbs, an associate director of pharmacy at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, which administers about 2,000 Covid-19 vaccines a day. Were told five to seven days ahead of time how much vaccine well get the following week. Then we plan appointments."

Flu vaccine can be refrigerated, while Covid-19 vaccine must be stored at extremely cold temperatures.

Modernas vials contain 10 doses of vaccine and must be frozen at minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit.

Pfizers vials contain five or six doses and must be frozen at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit.

Were talking brutally cold," Dr. Tan said. That doesnt mean it cant be done, but we have to slow down. We have to be more deliberate and thoughtful."

After the vials are punctured, all of the doses must be used within six hoursor discarded.

Once someone is vaccinated, they must be monitored for 15 minutes or, if they have a history of allergic reaction, for 30 minutes, to ensure they dont react badly.

The immunization isnt complete until a second dose is administered. Pfizer doses should be administered 21 days apart; Moderna doses should be administered 28 days apart.

Because the Covid-19 vaccine is being given to a population with no previous resistance to the deadly disease, the goal is to inoculate as many people as possible.

With the flu vaccine, around 50%, or maybe a little more, of the U.S. population gets vaccinated in a season," Dr. Michaud said. With the Covid vaccine, the ultimate target is to achieve a herd-immunity level of vaccination. No one knows exactly what that is, but at minimum, its 70%."

So far, the U.S. isnt even close.

Of the 55.9 million Covid-19 doses distributed as of Thursday, only 33.9 million have been administered, according to the CDC.

That includes 27.2 million people, or less than 10% of the population, who have received at least one shot, and 6.4 million, or about 2%, who are fully immunized.

The agency also estimates that 83.1 million people, or roughly 25% of the country, have been infected with Covid-19, although its unclear how long their immunity might last.

Meanwhile, enough flu vaccine has been distributed to inoculate more than 58% of the population, and according to survey results, 53% of all adults have gotten it.

Corrections & Amplifications

The second doses of the Covid-19 vaccines should be administered 21 days apart for the Pfizer vaccine and 28 days apart for the Moderna vaccine. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said second doses must occur within 21 days for Pfizer and within 28 days for Moderna. (Corrected on Feb. 5)

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.)

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Lagos  The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has banned Emirates Airlines' operations in Nigeria for violating COVID-19 protocols.

The ban was in compliance with the directive of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19, it was learnt.

Director-General of the NCAA, Capt. Musa Nuhu announced the ban in a letter to the airline dated February 4, 2021.

The letter was copied to the Chairman PTF, Ministers of Aviation and Health; National Coordinator of PTF, Director-General, UAE, General Civil Aviation Authority, MD NAMA and MD FAAN.

Why the ban?

The NCAA said the ban was necessitated by the continued airlift of passengers from Nigeria using the Rapid Antigen Tests (RDT) conducted by laboratories that are "neither approved nor authorized by the appropriate regulatory."

This, according to the apex aviation regulatory authority is in flagrant violation of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 directive.

"This is a violation of paragraph 5 of the NCAA letter with REF: NCAA/DG/AIR11/16/281 of 02 February 2021 addressed to your good self. The paragraph clearly states, "Based on the forgoing and to enable the Nigerian government to put in place the needed infrastructure and logistics for COVID-19 RDT testing for departing passengers, the PTF has directed that Emirates Airlines should either accept passengers without RDT pending when the infrastructure and logistics are put in place or suspend its flights to and from Nigeria until such a time when the required infrastructure and logistics are fully established and implemented".

The DG added that the airline has not been in compliance with the two options given by the PTF as records of operated flights by Emirates Airlines from Lagos and Abuja obtained from the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has shown.

It listed the Emirates flights and date of operations as obtained from NAMA to include: Flight: UAE784 (Lagos-Dubai) with 195 passengers on board and UAE786 (Abuja-Dubai) with 154 on board operated on 03 February 2021.

Also Flight UAE784 (Lagos-Dubai) with 199 passengers on board and Flight UAE786 (Abuja-Dubai) with 175 passengers on board.

"This is in addition to an advert by Emirates airlines for RDT by the Travel clinic and medical Mobile Laboratory in Lagos and Abuja, two organizations that are not approved by the regulatory bodies and PTF to conduct RDT for departing passengers," added the letter.

According to the DG, the PTF takes these violations of its instructions seriously and as therefore directed that "Emirates should suspend its operations to Nigeria (Lagos and Abuja) effective 72 hours from midnight (2300z) on Thursday 04 February, 2021".

"During the 72 hours leeway, Emirates airlines is only authorized to bring in passengers into Nigeria while outbound passengers are not allowed".

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"The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority will impose additional sanctions on Emirates airlines for the violations of the PTF directive and COVID-19 Protocols".

"Emirates Airlines will be informed in due time as when to resume operations to Nigeria," the letter added.

Daily Trust reports that the suspension came three days after the Airlines banned transit flights with Nigerian passengers on board from coming to the UAE which automatically barred other airlines from carrying Nigerian passengers.

'Protocols disturbing'

President of NANTA, Mrs. Susan Akporiaye had said the protocols could "put additional financial pressures" on passengers while expressing shock over the protocol from the Dubai Airport Authority, requesting that Nigerian passengers undergo a rapid response COVID-19 antigen test before departure to Dubai is disturbing.

The rapid response antigen test, she noted, can only be done in Lagos and Abuja with Dubai bound passengers from the two Nigerian cities, paying 36, 800 naira and 25, 800 naira respectively, in addition to the PCR test from approved laboratories by Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Presidential Task force.
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Lev Parnas and David Correia, Civil Action No. 1:21-cv-995 (S.D.N.Y. filed February 4, 2021).

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Lev Parnas of Boca Raton, Florida and David Correia of West Palm Beach, Florida for raising millions of dollars from investors by making false and misleading representations and misappropriating the bulk of those funds to pay for personal expenses.

As alleged in the SEC's complaint, from January 2013 through mid-2019, Parnas and Correia raised over $2 million from investors through investments in their entity, Fraud Guarantee. According to the complaint, Parnas and Correia told potential investors that their funds would be used to develop products that would help customers recoup losses resulting from investment or consumer fraud. The complaint further alleges that despite Parnas's and Correia's representations, the funds were instead largely used for personal expenses including travel, jewelry, cars, and disbursements at a casino. As alleged, Parnas and Correia also falsely told potential investors that they had raised millions of dollars from other investors and that they had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own money into Fraud Guarantee.

The SEC's complaint, filed in federal district court in Manhattan, charges Parnas and Correia with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The complaint also charges Parnas and Correia with acting as unregistered brokers in violation of Section 15(a) of the Exchange Act. Correia has agreed to settle the Commission's charges by consenting to a bifurcated judgment enjoining him from violating the charged provisions, with disgorgement and penalties to be resolved at a future date upon motion by the Commission. The settlement is subject to court approval.

In September 2020, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced criminal charges against Correia and Parnas related in part to the conduct described above. Correia pleaded guilty in that matter on October 29, 2020.

The SEC's investigation has been conducted by Lindsay Moilanen, Jordan Baker, John O. Enright and Sheldon L. Pollock of the New York Regional Office, and the litigation will be handled by Lee Greenwood and Ms. Moilanen. The case is being supervised by Sanjay Wadhwa. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
Benjamin Akhile and Bernie D'Arcy received very welcome news last week, a phone call from his lawyer informing them that Ben's deportation order had been revoked.

'I got the call from Ben's lawyer, who had just received an email from the Department of Justice,' said Bernie.

'I was up on the street in Wicklow, on my way into SuperValu.

'I'd say people thought I had gone mad! I was crying, bawling my eyes out,' she said. 'I had to keep on asking was it real.'

Ben (54) received an 11th hour reprieve in December.

He had been instructed to present for deportation to Sierra Leone but the Taoiseach Micheal Martin announced a stay on such actions during the pandemic, when Deputy Jennifer Whitmore brought the matter to Mr Martin's attention in the Dail. Ben lives in Wicklow Town with Bernie, his partner of seven years.

The couple made their way to Dublin to be present and be told that the deportation would not go ahead. However at that time, the order remained in place despite the fact that the State would not act on it in the immediate future.

Bernie said that they are both still on a high and gathering their thoughts before taking further steps towards applying for citizenship. 'It's a step in the right direction,' said Bernie.

'It's hard for it to sink in so I haven't researched the next steps yet. It's been fought for so long. Now we're just taking it all in and absorbing it, but it's massively welcome good news.'

She phoned Ben from the street, and he kept on asking her if she was sure, and was the email definitely for him. 'I said yes, the email is for you, and the call is for you.'

People have been phoning, emailing and sending messages from all over the world. Prior to the revocation of the order, people had regularly been asking if there was any news to report.

Ben is due to have a third operation for kidney stones on February 11, and is in a lot of pain. 'At least he's not down in the dumps and doesn't have deportation hanging over him,' said Bernie. 'He can focus on himself and his health and get himself built back up again. Ben has such skills that have been sitting dormant and can now be tapped into again. It's like he's been reborn again, he can live his life.'

During his time in Ireland Ben (54) has completed many courses right up to Fetac 6. He was a journalist in Sierra Leone and he has a degree in mass communication. He has not been permitted to work here due to his status as an asylum seeker.

The average life expectancy in Ben's home country is 54, and 58 per cent of its population lives in poverty. Journalistic scrutiny is not welcomed by the government there.

One thing Bernie is looking forward to is them being able to travel abroad together, something other couples possibly take for granted. 'I'm a public speaker and was going abroad to speak at seminars but I couldn't have Ben with me, he'd say goodbye to me at the airport.'

'It's a great relief,' said Ben. 'It's been so long. I've been 14 years in this country and deportation has been on my shoulders for nine years.'

He said he has been through many many things since this latest welcome news.

'I want to thank Bernie because she got the courage to do it, and the humanity inside of her to do it. I so appreciate what she did.'

He said that there would have been no fight without Bernie leading the campaign. 'With all her support and comfort, by organising the campaign and also her emotional support,' said Ben. 'I felt like I wanted to give up and she kept me going and encouraged me not to give up. I would pray to God to do it not for me, but for this lady because she is suffering.'

He said that the bureaucracy involved in the process in which he has been embroiled for 14 years was frustrating. '

One plan he has for the future is to write his own story. 'I'm going to really take the time and write. In direct provision I started writing, but couldn't continue when I had depression. Now the cloud is gone and I can write again.'

He plans to take some courses. He studied print journalism in Africa and hopes to study multimedia to update his skills.

'The system is cruel,' said Ben. 'The policies of the government towards us is cruel and actually killing people. Other people in my position who don't have support and are just alone, how will they cope?'

He said he is grateful to the minister for the revocation of the order and may play a role in lobbying for change in the future.

Benjamin and Bernadette met in a church in Donegal. He was living in Cliff View House direct provision centre and she was visiting her sister. He was later transferred to a Dublin centre, and Bernie then asked him to move in with her. She lived in Dublin at the time and they moved to Wicklow.

'I can't believe it's over,' said Bernie. 'But there are still people in direct provision and it needs to be abolished.'
The AstraZeneca vaccine should not be used for people over 65, according to the recommendation of the High Council for Infectious Diseases.

In an interview with RTL on Saturday, Minister of Health Paulette Lenert clarified that this decision would not have a direct impact on the vaccination campaign's progress, however this assumption will also depend on the delivery speed of the vaccine.

The minister explained that in the first phase, professionals of the health sectors would be vaccinated, regardless of their age. This means that the AstraZeneca vaccine could be employed for them.

Luxembourg is yet to receive its first doses from the British-Swedish pharmaceutical group, with 11,700 doses expected to arrive next week. On Saturday morning, however, it still remained unconfirmed.

When asked about Luxembourg's treatment compared to other countries, she did not feel there was an imbalance, as the vaccine doses cannot be delivered everywhere at the same time. Luxembourg, for example, was the first EU country to receive the Moderna vaccine. In terms of speed, she justified weekday-only vaccinations by explaining there simply was no need for weekend vaccinations at this point.

However, she did stress her concern about Luxembourg's position in the EU vaccination campaign. The reason for this is that, unlike other countries, the government decided to secure the second dose instead of administering it immediately, and then not being able to guarantee a second dose to patients who had already received their first jab.

Paulette Lenert believes that the potential consequences of not having a guaranteed second dose of the vaccine could be worse than a slight delay in statistics.

The minister did not want to give any concrete information on the state of measures after 21 February. The situation both in Luxembourg and abroad raised many concerns. With the news on schools and the new variants, there is still a pressing need for caution.
Its been exciting to watch Irish designer Katie Ann McGuigan wow at London Fashion Week repeatedly every season because of her highly original eye for digital graphic prints.

Katie Ann grew up with colour, spending every day after school and her weekends at her parents Orior furniture and interiors business in Newry, surrounded by the most incredible fabrics and a sea of contrasting colours and textures.

I honestly feel this exposure during her childhood gave her an advantage over her peers, and last year she pivoted into interiors with an exciting rug collaboration with her brother, Ciaran, who works in New York.

Katie Anns SS21 collection features what she describes as a diluted mint in her generous-sized printed silk scarf (235), with its cream and black border over her Sally  a double-breasted silk crepe de chine blazer (545) in seafoam mint  and matching Tina double-lined, straight and wide-legged trousers (495), all pictured below.

Katie Ann says her aim is to keep things local. With the supply of digitally printed fabric slowed down because of reduced output in lockdown, she has just decided to drop out of the London Fashion Week digital schedule this month but will launch her collection at the end of February. And whats in there?

I can reveal that Katie Ann has come up with some fab new lifestyle products; she is using Donegal Wool, and she will definitely be going into more homewares.

She also has her made-to-order Carrie leather trench, which comes in at 2,368, and shoe fiends can contact Katie Ann via her website to order her mule shoes with vinyl block heels (699), which come in six colours.

katieannmcguigan.com

Expand Close Scarf, 235; blazer, 545; trousers, 495, by Katie Ann McGuigan. Photograph: Catharina Pavitschitz / Facebook

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Whatsapp Scarf, 235; blazer, 545; trousers, 495, by Katie Ann McGuigan. Photograph: Catharina Pavitschitz

Everyday affirmations

Lockdown has sparked some fascinating fashion businesses for us to explore and introduce into our lives and thats certainly the case with All Things Fiona-Lily.

Its hard not to be impressed by the sheer drive and determination of Fiona McIntyre (main picture, above), the powerhouse behind this ethical fashion brand and website, which also has its own self-care club, currently for members who come from Ireland, Europe and the United States.

Fiona moved to Co Donegal in 2014 with her son, Max, to open a zero-waste coffee shop. All Things Fiona-Lily (ATFL) was initially a sideline, but when the coffee shop had to close down due to Covid-19 restrictions, the fashion line became her full-time job. Fiona wasnt without experience, having worked in visual merchandising in Dublin for over a decade.

Fiona sources end-of-line fabric from different warehouses and saves unused clothing from heading to landfill. But the ATFL business model Fiona has built up is so much more than just rescuing fabric from landfill.

She transforms the stock into colourful sweatshirts in bright and bold colours with positive quotes emblazoned across the front, including the affirmation Stay Hopeful  but over the last year, Fiona has built up a community through her website, and posts about helping to break the stigma around mental health.

Its an issue Fiona knows about only too well, having suffered her own personal battles with anxiety and depression.

When the single mum started to research therapies for herself and her son, she came across CBT and colour therapy  how colour can positively affect our mood levels.

Colour can greatly influence human emotion and behaviour, and it has become such a huge part of my life, and my son Maxs life, and I wanted to use this within my designs and the colour palette of the brand, says Fiona.

The first quotes she used were the daily affirmations that herself and Max would say in the mirror every day, like Be Kind, Stay Hopeful and You Make a Difference.

The brand name is a nod to Fionas maternal grandmother, Lily, from Drimnagh in Dublin, who was a dressmaker in the 1940s and 1950s. Lily is also Fionas middle name.

The current range includes slogan crewnecks in a variety of colours (40), Self Love Club tees (18), Be Kind socks (5), a creative kindness journal (12), positive prints and ATFL pendants (5), Do-You lists (10) and Fionas hand-poured crystal candles (16), which are coming back into stock soon.

A new range of reworked crewnecks is made from faulty batch stock and, instead of repairing the sleeves, Fiona replaces them with other ones in different colours, and prints on her favourite slogans.

This range, called To:Me, will launch on Valentines Day.

allthingsfionalily.com

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Whatsapp Embroidered floral mask, 30, by Susannagh Grogan

Florals for the face

Susannagh Grogan has brought great artistry to her gorgeous silk scarves with flowers that she paints at her Killiney studio in a variety of mesmerising colours. It was only a matter of time before she transferred this love of botanicals to face masks.

Susannagh has a range of cotton masks with embroidered flowers and tiny bead details (above) in shades of lilac, navy, yellow and green. They sell for 30, and this month sees the arrival of new colourways in her popular bee mask.

Im sure this genre of mask will become increasingly desirable, especially given the publicity around Dr Jill Bidens inaugural mask and matching evening outfit, featuring delicate needlework by Dubliner Laura Weber of the New York Embroidery Studio.

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Australians will be able to tap and display COVID-19 proof of vaccination certificates on their phones or carry hard copies with them under plans being finalised by the Morrison government ahead of the rollout of vaccines later this month.

The Express Plus Medicare app and Australians MyGov accounts will both hold digital proof of vaccination certificates, while vaccine providers and Services Australia offices will be able to print out certificates too.

Down the track, retrieving your vaccination certificate could be as simple as double-tapping a smartphone to access the certificate in a digital wallet.

Health workers in Belgium inspect vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus COVID-19 vaccine, which is one of the candidates expected to receive approval in Australia by the end of January. Credit:AP

The rollout of the certificates program has gone to the federal cabinet and The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age can reveal detailed discussions were held in the cabinet about the project 10 days ago.
The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV)s 13th National Congress was a milestone and turning point,

laying the premise for the following terms and ensuring that Vietnam will fulfill the national development goals toward 2030 and its vision to 2045, said Ruvislei Gonzalez Saez, an expert on Asian studies at the Cuban international policy research centre.

Ruvislei Gonzalez Saez, an expert on Asian studies at the Cuban international policy research centre (Source: VNA)

According to the scholar, also Vice President of the Cuba  Vietnam Friendship Association, the congress fulfilled its agenda despite ending one day earlier than schedule. Vietnam also promptly activated its COVID-19 prevention and control mechanisms at national level.

The pandemic challenge showed the ruling partys mettle and outstanding leadership when the country was among top nations worldwide in combating COVID-19 and achieved impressive growth in 2020, the expert noted.



He said the congress, closely observed by international community, took place following a large-scale collective consultation, helping the CPV attract feedback from not only its members but also former leaders, experts, and people from all walks of life in the country and overseas.

He highlighted the Partys leadership and close monitoring have contributed to improving local living standards via poverty reduction, job creation, electrification, and technological development, among others.

The expert said the outcomes of the congresss election demonstrated that the CPV does not depend on rigid stereotypes but moves according to the national interests and progresses in specific circumstances.

He considered the Partys aim of turning the nation into a developed country by 2045 an ambitious but possible one.

He stated Vietnam has brought about lessons on building socialism in the process of perfecting the operation of state-owned enterprises  the economic sector with the most impressive productivity growth over the past year.

Ruvislei Gonzalez concluded that the congress defined the short, medium and long-term development orientations for Vietnam./. VNA
Back in December, reports warned that a 1,620-square-mile iceberg, which broke off from the Antarctic peninsula, was on course to collide with South Georgia Island in the southern Atlantic. In doing so, scientists feared, it would crush coral, sponges, and plankton on the sea floor and also cut off seals and penguins from their normal hunting grounds, forcing them to make long and dangerous detours. As it turns out, The Wall Street Journal reports, "warmer waters and the torque of the current have shattered" the iceberg, known as A68a, into a dozen pieces, which look like they'll drift farther north and miss South Georgia Island.

If that's the case, the penguins and seals will be spared from the collision, and the drifting icebergs may instead cause more problems for humans, possibly obstructing shipping lanes. Still, there are significant risks to marine life, the Journal reports. As the icebergs melt, there would be an influx of cold fresh water into the ocean, potentially killing off phytoplankton and throwing the food chain off kilter. Without phytoplankton, the krill that feed on them would starve, which would in turn lead to "depleting populations" of fish, seals, penguins, and whales.

A research team from the British Antarctic Survey is on its way to study the affects the icebergs have on the area's marine ecology and get a sense of what to expect should more icebergs break off from the Antarctic ice shelf amid rising global temperatures. "Everyone is pulling out all the stops to make this happen," Povl Abrahamsen, an oceanographer and research team leader, told the Journal. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.

More stories from theweek.com

What's the point of Trump's second impeachment trial?

5 brutally funny cartoons about America's bungled vaccine rollout

One of Sarah Huckabee Sanders' main Arkansas gubernatorial rivals just dropped out of the race


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The transition of executive and legislative power in the United States from the Republicans under Donald Trump to the Democrats under Joe Biden is more than an exchange of leadership. It is an exchange of one overriding theory with another.

Trump was elected on the back of the populist movement. There were other factors in his 2016 victory, of course, but this was the most consistent message. According to populists, a small class at the top of the economic and social hierarchy organizes everything in the country to its benefit. This group is the elite, and it has no concept of the common good, only its own.

Joe Biden, if his own assessment -- and that of his advocates -- is anything to go by, was elected for his opposition to bigotry, racism, sexism, and the rest. Again, there were many other reasons to vote for Biden, including Trump fatigue, but many of his public statements, proposed appointments, and executive orders point to white supremacy as the scourge of the country. For Democrats, its not the elites, its the whites.

For some Democrats, it is still always and everywhere the Russians, as Hillary Clinton reminded us by speculating that President Trump was on the phone with Vladimir Putin as they enjoyed the riot at the U.S. Capitol together.

QAnon believes that a conspiracy of pedophiles can explain everything wrong with the world. Antifa, busy rioting again on the West Coast, blames fascism, which it sees everywhere, even as it adopts fascist practices and tactics, going so far as to adopt Mussolinis taste in fashion.

The real uniting feature of these theories  call them all conspiracy theories, if you like  is that there is only one enemy. Just like the ads on the Internet promising one simple trick to cure tinnitus, they offer a simple and simplistic solution.

We can blame social media or the enforced isolation from the lockdowns for the rise of these theories, but they long predate either. The American penchant for one simple trick solutions  a temptation of all democratic societies  was the entry point for snake oil salesmen in the 19th century, as it was for demagogues in ancient Greece and Rome. Democratic peoples like simple solutions.

Alexis de Tocqueville, the 19th-century French politician and commentator on American democracy, observed that one of the effects of an egalitarian society is belief in the equality of intellects: If we are equal, then we must be equally smart. But the world is complicated and difficult to understand  a truth that violates the principle of equality, so to the egalitarian mind it cannot be true. Instead, whatever is to be known must be easy to know. And so, in Tocquevilles words, the human mind aspires to be able to link a multitude of consequences to a single cause.

Blaming elites or whites, pedophiles or fascists provides that simple, single explanation for all the problems of the country. The temptation to succumb to these explanations is built-in. The shame is that we have politicians willing to indulge it.

The country would be better off without any of the injustices that get picked out as the sole concern. A racist society or a democracy lacking legitimacy  let alone both  will collapse into civil war. We are not wrong to be afraid of what people who believe in these theories will do to their enemies. Monomaniacal theorists do not do politics.

Tocqueville thought that Americans kept their democracy from collapsing into chaos because, among other things, they followed the principle of self-interest well understood. He was impressed and even amused by the tendency of explaining actions, especially those directed to the common good, as merely self-interested: They complacently show how the enlightened love of themselves constantly brings them to aid each other.

Well-understood self-interest would go a long way right now. Storming the Capitol did no good for any Trump supporter. Likewise, the burning and looting at BLM protests will do nothing to improve policing practices in minority communities. Instead, maybe this is a good time for some old-fashioned self-interest.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib and other Democratic members of the House wrote a letter to congressional leaders objecting to moves that would expand federal powers to investigate domestic terrorism. They fear that these powers could be used against their own constituents tomorrow, even if they are directed against Trump supporters today. Enthusiastic support in this effort from Republicans might lead them to change their minds, but we need to take our allies where we find them.

Back away from single-cause theories and start trading horses. Do Democrats want to question police practices? Republicans should agree to do so  if Democrats also agree to investigate election practices. This is how politics is done, and everyone benefits from it.

The Senate is evenly split, and the House is close to it. So is the country as a whole. Maybe what the common good needs is a little more self-interest, well understood.
The nationwide 'Chakka Jam' called by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, and backed by the opposition parties in Bihar, did not have much effect on the common people of the state on Saturday.

The leaders of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) held peaceful protests at Hajipur and Didarganj (Patna), respectively, to express their solidarity with the agitating farmers. However, the demonstartions didn't cause much disrupttion to public life.

The opposition parties in participated in the 'Chakka Jam' between 2 pm and to 3 pm on Saturday.

A unit of the RJD blocked the at Hajipur-Patna road for half-an-hour, before the district police of Vaishali managed to remove them after brief negotiation.

Slamming the Nitish Kumar government, RJD General Secretary Bhai Arun Kumar said, "The NDA government is shaken by the public agitation. The government and the administration do not want to listen to their concerns."

Kumar also termed JDU leader Sanjay Singh's remark on the protestors as 'extremely unfortunate'.

"Earlier in the day, Singh compared the protesters to bad elements. The RJD condemns his remark as the protesters are our farmer brothers and their insult is akin to insulting the nation," Kumar said.

Meanwhile, over 100 members of JAP blocked the Didarganj toll plaza on Saturday to show solidarity with the farmers. They even burnt tyres at some places.

Raghvendra Singh Kushwah, the state President of JAP, said: "The three farm bills were passed in the Parliament without consulting the farmers. The farmers do not want these laws. We will stand by them till our last breath, and our agitation will continue until the Centre repeals the three farm laws."

"The three laws allow the corporate companies to create their own private mandis. With that, they will have monopoly over the market. In that case, the farmers cannot get MSP as the rate of crops will be set by the corporates," said Prem Chand Singh, General Secretary of JAP.

--IANS

ajk/arm

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Afghan security forces have killed nine members of the Taliban movement and injured four others during an operation in the country's central province of Uruzgan, the Afghan Ministry of Defense said on Saturday.

According to the ministry, as a result of the operation in the province's Gizab district, the Afghan forces also destroyed the group's weapons, ammunition, as well as two hideouts.

In a separate statement, the ministry said that the air and support forces of the Afghan National Security Forces on Friday targeted the Taliban terrorists who gathered in several areas of the southern province of Kandahar to attack the defense and security forces.

As a result of the operation, 10 insurgents were killed and nine others were injured, the ministry added.

The Afghan armed forces and the Taliban continue to engage in clashes across the country despite the start of peace negotiations between the government and representatives of the group in the Qatari capital of Doha back in September.

(ANI/Sputnik)

Also Read: J-K: Chief of Lashkar-e-Mustafa terror outfit arrested in Jammu
Unlike on every other rocky planet in the solar system, Earths surface is a giant jigsaw puzzle whose pieces are constantly on the move. Each puzzle piece is a tectonic plate, tremendous tartines made of the planets crust and a rigid slice of the underlying, squidgy-but-solid mantle. These plates move around at the same rate that your fingernails grow, bumping into, sliding next to and tumbling under and over each other  and in doing so, they sculpt the face of the world.

Half a century ago, the theory of plate tectonics had just been accepted by an initially skeptical scientific community. The science was in its infancy. Now, as reported in a recent issue of the journal Earth-Science Reviews, scientists are able to precisely recreate the journeys of Earths tectonic plates over the last billion years of its history.

Older computerized simulations tended to recreate the movements of the continents alone, showing them drifting about on an undynamic blue ocean background like croutons bobbing about in soup. This time around, the scientists tried a new approach. They combined magnetic data, which reveals the positions of rocks relative to the magnetic poles millions of years ago, with geological data describing how the plates interact along their boundaries. The result is a high-fidelity simulation, one that models the migration of entire tectonic plates  continents, oceans and all  showing how they fraternize with one another with remarkable precision.

In the past decade, similarly painstaking plate tectonics reconstructions have been made but only for limited windows of geologic time. This is the first time this type of full-blown plate tectonics reconstruction has been assembled for an uninterrupted fifth of Earths history.